LIVE: Israel kills 38 aid seekers in Gaza as Israelis demand truce deal
Two more Palestinians, including a 35-day-old infant, has died of malnutrition at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital, according to a doctor, as a Muslim group in the United States accused Israel of 'forcibly' starving Palestinians in Gaza, 'backed by billions in US taxpayer-supplied weapons and aid'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel ‘engineering massacres' as more Palestinians starve to death in Gaza
Israel is 'engineering chaos and massacres' in the Gaza Strip by continuing to block aid deliveries and opening fire on starving Palestinians seeking desperately needed food supplies, a humanitarian official has warned. Caroline Willemen, Gaza project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, told Al Jazeera on Friday that food remains 'critically scarce' in the besieged enclave despite the increased entry of aid in recent days. 'There is little indication that sufficient aid will arrive consistently,' Willemen said. 'As a result, every day, people risk their lives in a desperate search for food.' The Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday that three more people, including two children, died of hunger and malnutrition in the previous 24 hours. That pushed the total number of starvation-related deaths to 162, including 92 children, since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023. More than 80 Palestinians were also killed in Israeli strikes across the Strip on Friday, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Of those, 49 people were killed and more than 270 others were wounded while seeking aid, the sources said. Condemnation of Israel's starvation policy in Gaza has grown this week, with a global hunger monitoring system warning on Tuesday that the 'worst-case scenario of famine' was unfolding. While Israel has authorised a series of aid airdrops in recent days, top United Nations officials have denounced the scheme as expensive and dangerous while urging Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. 'If there is political will to allow airdrops – which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings,' Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), wrote on X. 'As the people of #Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance.' Olga Cherevko, an official with the UN's humanitarian office (OCHA), also told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza that while there has been a slight increase in aid being allowed in, it is still grossly insufficient. 'The slight increase in what is coming in is not nearly enough to even scratch the surface,' she said. 'The needs on the ground are overwhelming.' 'Deadly incidents a daily reality' Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza continue to risk their lives by seeking aid at notorious sites run by the United States- and Israeli-backed GHF. Ibrahim Mekki, a Palestinian man from Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said he waited at least six hours and risked being shot by Israeli forces just to end up with a few bags of pasta. 'It's a trap, a game,' he told Al Jazeera. 'Letting you move a little, then opening fire.' The UN's human rights office reported that at least 1,373 aid seekers have been killed in Gaza since May, when the GHF began operating in the enclave. Of those, 859 people were killed near GHF-run aid sites and 514 were killed while waiting along food convoy routes, the office said. 'Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,' it added. MSF's Willemen also recounted a harrowing incident from earlier this week, when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians attempting to reach aid trucks near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza. 'People were wounded in the gunfire and in the crush as crowds panicked and ran,' she said. 'These deadly incidents have become a daily reality in Gaza for too long now. The current methods of distribution are engineering chaos and massacres.' Still, Israel and its top ally, the US, have continued to support GHF despite the killings and growing global criticism of the group's operations in Gaza. US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, also visited the enclave on Friday alongside US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to 'assess conditions' and engage with GHF. Witkoff said the trip aimed to help 'craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza'. The Trump administration announced last month that it approved $30m to support GHF's operations. The US provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel annually, as well as diplomatic backing at the UN – assistance that has increased significantly since the start of the war on Gaza.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Palestinian newborns starving in Gaza as infant formula runs out
Palestinian mothers in the Gaza Strip are desperately trying to feed their newborns as Israel's punishing blockade on the besieged enclave has led to dire shortages of infant formula, with some resorting to filling bottles with water and whatever food they can find. Dr Kahlil Daqran told Al Jazeera on Thursday that as supplies of formula run out, many mothers are often too malnourished to breastfeed their infants. 'In the Gaza Strip, we have thousands of children being starved because there is no milk for children under the age of two,' Daqran said. 'These children, their mothers also have malnutrition because there is no food, so the mothers cannot produce milk. Now, our children are being fed either water or ground hard legumes, and this is harmful for children in Gaza.' Azhar Imad, 31, said she has mixed tahini with water in hopes of feeding four-month-old Joury. But she said she fears the mixture will make her baby sick. 'I am using this paste instead of milk, but she won't drink it. All these can cause illnesses,' Imad said. 'Sometimes, I give her water in the bottle; there's nothing available. I make her caraway and herbs, any kind of herbs.' Israel's blockade on Gaza, which has been under Israeli military bombardment since October 2023, has led to critical shortages of food, water, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. Local hospitals said on Thursday that at least two more deaths from Israel's forced starvation were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related fatalities since Israel's war began to 159, including 90 children. The United Nations has warned that Palestinian children are especially vulnerable as hunger grips the coastal territory, and UN officials have repeatedly called on Israel to allow an uninterrupted flow of aid supplies. Israel has blamed the UN for the starvation crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, saying the global body had failed to pick up supplies. UN officials, and several nations, have rejected that claim as false and stressed that Israel has refused to offer safe routes for humanitarian agencies to transport aid into Gaza. Airdrops of humanitarian supplies, carried out in recent days, have also done little to address the widespread hunger crisis. Experts denounced the effort as dangerous, costly and ineffective. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, told reporters on Thursday that the UN and its partners 'continue to seize every opportunity to collect supplies from the Israeli-controlled crossings and replenish those platforms with new supplies'. 'Our colleagues say that, despite Israeli announcements regarding the designation of convoy routes as secure, trucks continue to face long delays that expose drivers, aid workers, and crowds to danger,' Haq said. 'The long waits are because a single route has been made available for our teams exiting Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem crossing] inside Gaza, and Israeli ground forces have set up an ad hoc checkpoint on that route.' As starvation continues to grip Gaza, more Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the controversial Israeli- and United States-backed GHF. A source at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Jazeera that at least 23 people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire at them on Thursday morning as they waited for aid near Netzarim junction in central Gaza. The deadly incident came just hours before the White House announced that US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are expected to enter Gaza on Friday to inspect the aid distribution sites. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the US officials also would meet with Palestinians to 'hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground'. Reporting from the Jordan capital, Amman, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh explained that the trip comes amid growing concern in Washington that US contractors may be found liable for the deaths of more than 1,000 Palestinians killed while trying to reach GHF sites since May. 'There is a lot of pressure and insistence in Israel that those sites must continue to operate even if Israel allows more aid into Gaza,' Odeh said. 'This organisation was set up to bypass the United Nations, and Israel is not ready to let it go despite the resistance from the international community to engage with it in any way because it is accused of violating humanitarian principles.' Hamas said in a statement released via its Telegram channel late on Thursday that it is ready to 'immediately' engage in negotiations to end the war in Gaza 'once aid reaches those who deserve it and the humanitarian crisis and famine in Gaza are ended'. Meanwhile, in Gaza, countless families continue to face a desperate search for food. Nehma Hamouda said she has struggled to keep her three-month-old granddaughter, Muntaha, alive amid the shortage of infant formula. Muntaha's mother was shot by Israeli soldiers when she was pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter prematurely but died weeks later. 'I resort to tea for the girl,' said Hamouda, explaining that her granddaughter cannot process solid foods yet. 'She's not eating, and there's no sugar. Where can I get her sugar? I give her a bit [of anise], and she drinks a bit,' she said. 'At times, when we get lentil soup from the soup kitchen, I strain the water, and I try to feed her. What can I do?'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Inside Israel's role in the killings at Gaza's food aid sites
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US nonprofit backed by the US and Israel, was set up earlier this year to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. Its aid distribution got under way in May, following a prolonged halt in supply deliveries to the enclave. But according to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to access food at the GHF aid hubs. Starving and beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to walk several miles to collect much-needed food packages from the four heavily militarised hubs. Palestinian medics and civilians told Al Jazeera that GHF and Israeli troops have routinely opened fire on the aid seekers, killing dozens at a time. Harrowing accounts have been corroborated by video evidence, whistleblowers and Israeli soldiers, and the killings have fuelled international outcry – including condemnations from heads of state, UN agencies and human rights groups. Who is responsible for the killings? Mainly Israeli troops, but mercenaries working for the GHF are also implicated, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which documents atrocities against Palestinians. Euro-Med also alleges that Israeli forces have enabled Palestinian gangs to loot aid convoys and terrorise civilians. A retired United States special forces officer, Anthony Aguilar, who was formerly employed by the GHF, recently disclosed some of the brutal treatment Palestinians face at aid sites. 'Without question, I witnessed war crimes by the [Israeli military],' Aguilar told the BBC in an exclusive interview. How are the Palestinians being killed? Doctors and survivors in Gaza say that Israel often uses snipers to aim directly at Palestinian aid seekers. Dr Fadel Naeem said he frequently treats survivors in the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City and that most of the gunshot wounds he sees are to the 'head, chest and abdomen'. He noted that Israel also appears to fire indiscriminately at starving Palestinians, sometimes firing tear gas, explosives or artillery shells at large crowds. These attacks often cause serious burns, as well as flesh and shrapnel wounds. 'There is often severe tissue tearing … and many [of the injured] end up with amputated limbs,' said Dr Naeem. Other Palestinians sustain fractures and broken bones, typically by being trampled in the mad rush to flee Israeli gunfire or obtain a bag of food aid. Dr Hassan al-Shaer, who works in al-Shifa Hospital, also says many of the injuries are serious. 'Many of the [injured] victims that come to us also have life-threatening wounds, and they are taken to the operating room immediately,' he told Al Jazeera. What excuse does Israel give for these killings? Israel officially denies firing at Palestinians and frequently claims that its troops only fire 'warning shots' outside GHF distribution hubs to prevent overcrowding. The Israeli army also says 'chaos' at the sites poses an 'immediate threat' to army soldiers. Yet, according to a news report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz on June 27, Israeli troops pose the real threat. Many soldiers who served in Gaza admitted that they were 'ordered to shoot' directly at Palestinian aid seekers by their superiors. 'Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars,' one soldier told Haaretz. 'It's a killing field,' he added. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Katz both deny the allegations and claim that they amount to 'blood libel' against Israel, meaning they equate it to a false and anti-Semitic accusation that Jewish people murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Does medical evidence on the ground support Israel's official narrative? No, accounts from doctors in Gaza hospitals and clinics do not support Israel's claim. Dr Shaer, from al-Shifa, noted that many of the injured people started coming into the hospital when the GHF began aid distribution in late May. Injuries are often compounded with illnesses and weak immune systems, effects brought on by starvation in Gaza. Hakeem Yahiya Mansour, a 30-year-old Palestinian emergency medic in Gaza, added 'death always happens' at GHF sites. 'Most of the calls we get are from the surroundings [of the distribution zones],' he told Al Jazeera. What do the GHF sites look like? Footage of the sites shows thousands of starving Palestinians crowded onto a strip of land roughly the size of a football field, according to Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF. Aid seekers are surrounded by guard towers and are often forced to fight for food parcels that are tossed to hungry crowds at poorly arranged and chaotic distribution points. Tanks are often stationed nearby, and aid seekers can hear the terrifying buzzing of drones above them. According to satellite imagery obtained by Al Jazeera's verification unit, Sanad, Palestinians have little space to manoeuvre or receive aid. Despite the dangers, Palestinians face an impossible choice: die from gunfire or starvation. Many chose to accept the risk and go for aid in the hope of obtaining food for their families and small children. Mohanad Shaaban said he did not eat for three days, pushing him to head to the GHF site on July 30. He remembers seeing two tanks at the site – one on the right and a second on the left. 'The [Israelis] then opened fire on us,' he recalled solemnly. 'Please tell the world to end this famine,' Shaaban said. How is the world responding? Harrowing scenes and images of Palestinians dying of hunger and being killed at GHF aid sites have compelled some of Israel's allies to issue stern condemnations and ultimatums. France, Germany and the United Kingdom recently issued a statement urging Israel to scale up life-saving aid. What's more, France has taken the symbolic step of recognising a Palestinian state, which the UK also threatened to do, unless Israel ends the 'appalling situation' in Gaza and commits to the 'two-state' solution. Canada has also said it will recognise a Palestinian state in September.
