Parents and baby girl killed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City. Photo: AP
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents yesterday, hospital officials and witnesses said, while families of hostages called for a 'nationwide day of stoppage' in Israel to express growing frustration over 22 months of war.
The baby's body, wrapped in blue, was placed on those of her parents as Palestinians prayed over them. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the child were believed to have been killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area.
'Two-and-a-half months old. What has she done?' neighbour Fathi Shubeir said. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.'
Israel's military claims it is dismantling Hamas's military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. It said it could not comment on the strike without more details.
Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to widen its coming military offensive.
The mobilisation of forces is expected to take weeks, and Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more of the hostages taken in its attack in 2023 that sparked the war.
Levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to be alive.
They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages pleading for help and food. A group representing the families has urged Israelis onto the streets today.
'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement.
The UN is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water and diseases are spreading, while Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the 'mass relocation' of people from Gaza.
Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251.
The UN and partners say getting aid into the territory of more than two million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, the US State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts 'a full and thorough' review.
The department said 'a small number' of temporary medical-humanitarian visas had been issued in recent days but did not provide a figure.
The US issued more than 3,800 B1/B2 visitor visas (which permit foreigners seek medical treatment in the US) to holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, according to an analysis of monthly figures provided on the department's website.
The move to stop visitor visas for injured people from Gaza comes after Laura Loomer, a far-right Trump ally, wrote on social media on Friday that Palestinian 'refugees' had entered the US this month.
Loomer's statement sparked outrage among Republicans, with US congressman Chip Roy of Texas saying he would inquire about the matter. Congressman Randy Fine of Florida described the visas as a 'national security risk'.
The US has not indicated it would accept Palestinians displaced by the war.
However, it's understood that South Sudan and Israel are discussing a plan to 'resettle' Palestinians.
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Irish Independent
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Irish Examiner
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'The only way to bring (hostages) back is through a deal, all at once, without games,' former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Her boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still held by Hamas. Demonstrators block a road during a protest near Jerusalem (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP) One protester carried a photo of an emaciated Palestinian child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations but now appear more often as outrage grows over conditions for Palestinian civilians after more than 250 malnutrition-related deaths. An end to the war does not seem near. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing competing pressures including the potential for mutiny within his coalition. 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The Houthi-run Al-Masirah Television said the strikes targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service. Israel's military said the strikes were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.
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