At least 25 people killed by Israeli gunshots and strikes in Gaza, some while seeking aid
The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.
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Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
Experts warn of 'worst-case scenario of famine' in Gaza
The total number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its offensive has passed 60,000, according to the health ministry in the enclave. Experts are warning of a "worse-case scenario of famine" in Gaza. Director of Emergency Preparedness for World Food Programme Ross Smith joins Ana Cabrera to discuss the humanitarian crisis. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Over 60,000 Palestinians killed in the 21-month Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry says
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 21-month Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry said Tuesday. At least 77 were killed over the past 24 hours, most while seeking food. Israel's offensive, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and fueled a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Experts warned Tuesday that the territory of some 2 million Palestinians is on the brink of famine, as Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of security have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said the death toll has climbed to 60,034, with 145,870 others wounded since the war started. The deaths include 18,592 children and 9,782 women. Together, they make up nearly half the dead. The ministry is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures but has not provided its own account of casualties. Israeli strikes overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 77 Palestinians, according to local hospitals. More than half were killed while attempting to access aid, health officials said. Hospitals said they received the bodies of an additional 33 people who were killed by gunfire around an aid convoy in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the toll to 58. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired toward the crowd. The Israeli military did not comment on the shooting. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the U.N. human rights office. Israel, which controls large areas of Gaza where aid is distributed, says it has only fired warning shots at those who approach its forces. An additional 14 Palestinians were killed while attempting to access aid near an American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund site in central Gaza, according to local hospitals. GHF said there were no violent incidents near its sites on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the shooting. Air strikes also targeted tents housing displaced people in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 30 people, including 12 children and 14 women, according to Al-Awda hospital. The military said it targeted Hamas military infrastructure over the past day, including rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and tunnels. Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying the militants operate in populated areas The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, the foremost international authority on food crises, said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years. But it said recent developments, including strict Israeli restrictions, have 'dramatically worsened' the situation. Under mounting international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to increase the flow of aid, including expanded humanitarian corridors and international aid drops. U.N. officials say there has so far been little change on the ground and far more is needed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday denied Israel was deliberately starving Gaza and said the focus on hunger was part of a 'distorted campaign of international pressure.' 'This pressure is directly sabotaging the chances for a ceasefire and hostage deal. It is only pushing towards military escalation by hardening Hamas's stance,' he said. The U.S. and Israel have both recalled their negotiating teams over the past week as long-running negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release seem to have stalled. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack that sparked the war, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. The war took a major turn in early March when Israel imposed a complete 2 ½ month blockade, barring the entry of all food, medicine, fuel and other goods. Weeks later, Israel ended a ceasefire with a surprise bombardment and began seizing large areas of Gaza, measures it said were aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages. At least 8,867 Palestinians have been killed since then. Israel eased the blockade in May, but U.N. agencies say it hasn't allowed nearly enough aid to enter and that they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. An alternative Israeli-backed system run by the foundation has been marred by violence and controversy. The World Health Organization says more than 60 people have died this month from malnutrition-related causes, including 24 children under five. Overall, 88 children died of causes related to malnutrition since the start of the war, while 58 adults died this month from malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight. The ministry doesn't include hunger-related deaths in its overall toll. Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo.
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
‘Worst-case scenario of famine' is happening in Gaza, food crisis experts say
TEL AVIV, Israel — The 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,' the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting 'widespread death' without immediate action. The alert, still short of a formal famine declaration, follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths after nearly 22 months of war. The international pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops. The United Nations and Palestinians on the ground say little has changed, and desperate crowds continue to overwhelm and unload delivery trucks before they can reach their destinations. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have 'dramatically worsened' the situation, including 'increasingly stringent blockades' by Israel. A formal famine declaration, which is rare, requires the kind of data that the lack of access to Gaza and mobility within has largely denied. The IPC has only declared famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of Sudan's western Darfur region last year. But independent experts say they don't need a formal declaration to know what they're seeing in Gaza. 'Just as a family physician can often diagnose a patient she's familiar with based on visible symptoms without having to send samples to the lab and wait for results, so too we can interpret Gaza's symptoms. This is famine,' Alex de Waal, author of 'Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine' and executive director of the World Peace Foundation, told The Associated Press. An area is classified as in famine when all three of the following conditions are confirmed: At least 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. At least 30% of children six months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height. And at least two people or four children under 5 per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. The report is based on available information through July 25 and says the crisis has reached 'an alarming and deadly turning point.' It says data indicate that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza — at its lowest level since the war began — and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. The report says nearly 17 out of every 100 children under the age of 5 in Gaza City are acutely malnourished. Mounting evidence shows 'widespread starvation.' Essential health and other services have collapsed. One in three people in Gaza is going without food for days at a time, according to the World Food Program. Hospitals report a rapid increase in hunger-related deaths in children under 5. Gaza's population of over 2 million has been squeezed into increasingly tiny areas of the devastated territory. The IPC's latest analysis in May warned that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn't lift its blockade and stop its military campaign. Its new alert calls for immediate and large-scale action and warns: 'Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the strip.' Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages. Israel eased those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead with a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. The traditional, U.N.-led aid providers say deliveries have been hampered by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of looting, while criminals and hungry crowds swarm entering convoys. While Israel says there's no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza, U.N. agencies and aid groups say even the latest humanitarian measures are not enough to counter the worsening starvation. In a statement Monday, Doctors Without Borders called the new airdrops ineffective and dangerous, saying they deliver less aid than trucks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said no one is starving in Gaza and that Israel has supplied enough aid throughout the war, 'otherwise, there would be no Gazans.' Israel's military on Monday criticized what it calls 'false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza.' Israel's closest ally now appears to disagree. 'Those children look very hungry,' President Donald Trump said Monday of the images from Gaza in recent days.
