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'.
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Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israel's starvation policy leaves 122 dead in Gaza, mostly children
Gaza's Health Ministry said hospitals have recorded nine new deaths due to starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, as the total number of starvation deaths in the territory rises to 122, including 83 children. At least 52 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn on Friday, Al Jazeera Arabic's correspondent in the territory reports, and casualties continue to mount.
Al Jazeera
17 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
‘We are dying': Palestinians slam world's inaction as hunger ravages Gaza
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are pleading for help as more people have starved to death under Israel's unrelenting blockade of the coastal enclave. The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday that local hospitals recorded nine new malnutrition deaths in the previous 24 hours. That brings the total number of such deaths to 122 since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, including at least 83 children. 'We urgently demand an immediate end to the famine, the opening of all crossings, and the entry of infant formula now, along with 500 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks daily,' the Health Ministry said. 'We hold the Israeli occupation, the US administration, and other states complicit in this genocide—such as the UK, Germany, and France—as well as the international community at large, fully responsible for this historic crime.' Starvation deaths have steadily increased in Gaza this week as Israel continues to maintain a strict blockade on the territory, preventing a steady flow of food, water, medicine and other supplies from reaching Palestinians. The United Nations has warned that children are especially vulnerable as the crisis worsens. Noor al-Shana, an independent journalist in central Gaza's Nuseirat, told Al Jazeera that extreme hunger is affecting all aspects of life in the Strip. She said she now struggles to find enough for one meal per day, while four of her relatives were killed while seeking food at aid distribution points run by the notorious Israel- and United States-backed GHF. 'The world is just saying 'Free Palestine' … We don't want words, we want solutions,' she said. 'Enough, we are tired,' al-Shana added, fighting back tears. 'We are suffocating. We are dying here.' 'Deliberate mass starvation' Separately, sources at hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera that at least 38 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the enclave since the early hours of Friday morning. Of that, at least six Palestinians were killed while trying to collect food at aid distribution sites. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on Friday reiterated criticism of the GHF, calling it a 'cruel' politically driven effort that 'takes more lives than it saves'. Lazzarini called for the UN agency's aid stockpiles to be let into Gaza, warning that the enclave is suffering from 'deliberate mass starvation'. 'Today, more children died, their bodies emaciated by hunger,' he said in a post on X. 'The unfolding famine can only be reversed by a political will.' The Israeli military has blamed international organisations for the crisis, claiming that aid trucks are inside Gaza but that the UN has refused to distribute the assistance. UN officials have rejected that, saying repeatedly that they have not received the necessary approvals from the Israeli authorities to distribute the aid. The UN and other humanitarian groups have also refused to work with the GHF aid distribution scheme, which they say does not adhere to humanitarian principles such as impartiality and independence. As the crisis continues to spiral, United States President Donald Trump on Friday solely blamed Hamas for the apparent collapse of Gaza ceasefire talks, saying the group is going to be 'hunted down'. 'Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad,' Trump told reporters at the White House. The US president's comments came a day after his Middle East envoy said US negotiators had withdrawn from ceasefire talks in Qatar. Hamas responded to the US's announcement with surprise, saying on Thursday that it had submitted a positive and constructive response to the latest proposal it was offered. Despite Hamas's insistence that it is ready to work towards a deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel and the US are weighing ways to secure the release of captives in Gaza that do not depend on a negotiated agreement with the Palestinian group. 'Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,' Netanyahu said. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 59,676 Palestinians and wounded 143,965 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Death toll from starvation in Gaza rises to 115 as Israeli attacks continue
At least 62 people have been killed, including 19 who were seeking aid, in Israeli attacks across Gaza, hospital sources told Al Jazeera, and two people died from malnutrition amid growing international outrage over Israel's conduct in the war. Gaza's Health Ministry said on Thursday that at least 115 Palestinians have starved to death in the enclave since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. Most of the deaths, which include many children, have been in recent weeks. Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in March and has only allowed a trickle of aid into the territory since late May, triggering a dire humanitarian crisis and warnings of mass starvation. In a statement on Thursday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that 'families are breaking down' amid the hunger crisis. 'Parents are too hungry to care for their children,' agency head Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X. 'Those who reach UNRWA clinics don't have the energy, food or means to follow medical advice'. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, added that Israel has been preventing it from verifying aid waiting at distribution centres. Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud said the situation was deteriorating, with Palestinians clamouring for any aid they can find. 'Enforced starvation, enforced dehydration, and hunger are gripping the Gaza Strip, with more people reported with malnutrition and a severe, acute shortage of food supplies and other basic necessities,' he said. 'According to what we hear from health sources, people's immune systems are falling apart. They're unable to fight the many diseases that are spreading because their bodies are unable to fight,' he said. With dire conditions on the ground largely unchanged, international condemnation has continued to grow. On Thursday, more than 60 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) demanded an emergency meeting to push actions against Israel in a letter sent to European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Lynn Boylan, an Irish member of the European Parliament, accused EU leaders of a double standard when it comes to Palestinian lives. 'Clearly, Palestinian lives are not seen by the elite in the EU as equivalent to, for example, Ukrainian lives,' Boylan told Al Jazeera. 'There's a chilling effect, that if you dare to speak up against Israel, if you dare to call out the war crimes that you're witnessing, there is immediately a backlash and an attack,' she said. Outrage among European leaders has also soared in recent days, with 28 countries earlier this week condemning the aid blockade, while calling for an immediate end to the fighting. On Thursday, the United Kingdom's government announced Prime Minister Keir Starmer would hold a call with his German and French counterparts, to 'discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need'. Breakdown in talks As the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to spiral, negotiations to end the war again broke down, with US envoy Steve Witkoff announcing that his team was leaving negotiations in Qatar early. That came shortly after Israel announced it was withdrawing its delegation from the talks. In a statement, Witkoff accused Hamas of showing 'a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'. 'We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,' Witkoff said, without elaborating. Hamas, which has repeatedly accused Israel of blocking a ceasefire agreement, said it was surprised by Witkoff's remarks. 'The movement affirms its keenness to continue negotiations and engage in them in a manner that helps overcome obstacles and leads to a permanent ceasefire agreement,' said Hamas in a statement released late on Thursday. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has continued to push for a deal, while simultaneously supporting the displacement of Palestinians from the enclave to nearby countries, in what would potentially constitute ethnic cleansing. France to recognise Palestine Late on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced he would officially recognise the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Macron said the decision was 'in keeping with [France's] historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East'. The move will make France the largest and arguably most influential country in Europe to recognise a Palestinian state. The move was hailed by the deputy of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said it showed France's 'commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state'. Israeli officials swiftly condemned the move, with Defence Minister Israel Katz calling it a 'disgrace and a surrender to terrorism'. 'We will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence, and undermine our historical right to the Land of Israel,' he said.
