Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah, raising concerns among hostage families
The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy Hamas capabilities and infrastructure.
Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said.
In its daily update, Gaza's health ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out of the Deir al-Balah districts is because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Families of the hostages have expressed concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from the army of how it would protect them.
Gaza health officials have meanwhile warned of potential "mass deaths" in the coming days due to worsening hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Health officials say hospitals have been running out of fuel, food aid, and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations.
Health ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day, and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion because of hunger.
In southern Gaza, the health ministry said an Israeli undercover unit had detained Marwan Al-Hams, head of Gaza's field hospitals, on Monday in a raid that killed a local journalist and wounded another outside a field medical facility run by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
An ICRC spokesperson said the ICRC had admitted and treated patients injured in the incident but would not comment further on their status in order to protect their privacy. It said it was "very concerned about the safety and security" around the field hospital.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has raided and attacked hospitals across Gaza during the war, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, an accusation the group denies. Sending undercover forces to carry out arrests has been rare.
The incursion into Deir al-Balah and escalating number of deaths appeared to be complicating the latest push for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with U.S. backing.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered over the mounting death toll and the hunger crisis, and that this could affect the talks on a 60-day truce and hostage deal.
UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said in a post on X on Monday that it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff as food prices have increased 40-fold.
"Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale," it said.
On Sunday, the health ministry said at least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for U.N. aid trucks to enter Gaza, after saying at least 36 aid seekers were killed a day earlier.
Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots to remove what it said was "an immediate threat." It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated.
Israel's military also said it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community".
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
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BreakingNews.ie
18 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Dozens killed while seeking aid at Gaza crossing as US envoy heads to Israel
At least 37 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a local hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the US Middle East envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Advertisement Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent days as its ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the coastal territory of some two million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. Advertisement US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration's efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war and release hostages taken in the Hamas attack that sparked the conflict, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza. Of those killed in the earlier violence, more than 30 were seeking humanitarian aid, according to hospitals that received the bodies and treated dozens of wounded people. Another seven Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds awaiting aid trucks coming from the Zikim Crossing. Advertisement Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people who it says were killed Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians. It said they were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Advertisement Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said on Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of 'widespread death' without immediate action. COGAT, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said more than 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The United Nations is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter the strip, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. The alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed GHF has also been marred by violence. Advertisement Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the UN human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza, rejecting accounts to the contrary from witnesses, UN agencies and aid groups, and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest of the hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Experts describe the slow and agonizing symptoms of starvation, as Melania joins President Trump to decry the plight of Gaza children
Donald Trump broke ranks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, rejecting his claim that 'there is no starvation in Gaza '. Trump, who has been a strong backer of Israel in its war with Hamas, seems to have changed his stance after images of starving children in the embattled area gripped First Lady Melania Trump. 'She thinks it's terrible,' Trump said on board Air Force One on Tuesday. 'She sees the same pictures that you see. And that we all see. And I think everybody – unless they're pretty cold-hearted or, worse than that, nuts. And during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump said of the images showing malnourished kids in the territory, their limbs emaciated and ribs protruding: '...Those children look very hungry.' 'Some of those kids are – that's real starvation stuff. I see it and you can't fake that.' While many of us may recognize extreme malnutrition when we see it, few are familiar with how it feels. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene became the first Republican in Congress to describe the situation in Gaza as a 'genocide,' reflecting the growing skepticism on the right about Israel's conduct of the war. Daily Mail spoke with medical experts and humanitarian aid workers about the slow and agonizing effects, both physical and psychological, of prolonged food deprivation. All said it starts out the same as for any of us who've skipped meals or fasted – with cravings for food, stomach growls and intense hunger pangs that can feel like cramps. After a few days, the body begins to feed off glycogen, a carbohydrate stored in the liver. But those supplies are limited, so the body then starts breaking down fat for energy. It can take weeks or longer for fat reserves to be depleted. Once they are, the body begins consuming muscle tissue. This phase leads to weight loss and weakness that can perpetuate malnutrition even further. A severe drop in strength makes it difficult to stand up, let alone search for or prepare food. As aid groups told us, the Palestinians we see on the news trekking miles with kitchen pots in hand to beg for food at aid distribution sites or chasing after bags of flour airdropped into Gaza are those who still have the strength to do so. People experiencing more advanced stages of extreme malnutrition are likely confined at home or in tents or makeshift shelters, where most of the estimated 90 percent of Gazans who've been displaced by the war have been living. Their circumstances have become even more dire due to a lack of clean water and the recent extreme temperatures above 90 degrees with 70 percent humidity. As the body breaks down the protein in muscles, cells and organs start to malfunction. Aid groups on the ground told Daily Mail that those who haven't hit the stage of hunger where they can no longer walk are often seeing trekking for miles with kitchen pots in hand to beg for food at aid distribution sites The heart slows, breathing becomes difficult, and the immune system loses its ability to fight off viruses and bacteria, which are prevalent in disaster areas that lack basic water and sanitation systems. Even though a person in this stage of starvation may feel hunger, they typically can't eat or digest enough food to recover without the kinds of slow, steady medical interventions that generally are no longer available in Gaza. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 94 percent of hospitals there have been damaged or destroyed. Terminal starvation usually causes nausea and vomiting, extreme weakness and fatigue. It makes moving nearly impossible, requiring victims to be carried from place to place and frequently moved into different positions to avoid bed sores. Their bodies physically shrink under these conditions, causing their cheeks to hollow, their hair and skin to lose color and their pulse and blood pressure to drop. Starving children often experience 'kwashiorkor,' a severe protein deficiency causing fluid retention and swelling in their feet, ankles and bellies. In babies and toddlers, starvation hampers brain development. And Israel has been blocking shipments of baby formula to the territory. 'Humanity is gone... today we begin surviving on water and salt,' Hasan Essam, who describes himself as a programmer and accountant from the northern Gaza Strip, posted on X last Thursday, July 24. Daily Mail could not independently verify his identity. Humanitarian groups blame Israel for blocking food and medical aid from entering Gaza and for allowing its forces to open fire on desperate civilians gathered at aid distribution points – while relief shipments sit idle inside Israel The United Nations' World Food Program says a third of Gaza's population of about 2 million have been going for days without eating as hundreds of thousands of people there live in 'famine-like conditions' 'The greatest achievement in Gaza today is to live another day,' Essam posted on Saturday. 'I know nobody cares about us, I know we're just a post and it's going to end but I'm really hungry, I'm saying we're hungry.' Essam posted again on Monday to say, 'My body is starting to shrink, and I feel dizzy, tired, and extremely hungry. I only eat one meal a day, or maybe nothing at all. I'm really hungry.' Along with physically breaking down the body, extreme malnutrition also breaks down the mind and spirit. Starving people become obsessed with food to the point of total distraction, and their concentration and problem-solving abilities wane. They usually experience mood swings, including intense irritability and even bouts of rage, even toward loved ones who are trying to care for them. Aid workers say the horror of starvation can be compounded by fury among family members who are normally close. 'A lack of food can turn even the most loving people into animals. That's a natural human reaction,' said a Canadian doctor who has worked among starving populations for the Swiss-based Médecins Sans Frontières, an international group providing medical care in war zones and sites of natural disasters. As physical exhaustion sets in, so, too, do depression, apathy, isolation and withdrawal. Many starving people spend their last days or weeks with altered perception – an almost delirious state that removes them from the reality of their situations. Without any food, humans usually die within two months, depending on their age, size and overall health before starvation sets in. With occasional scraps to eat, the agonizing process drags on longer. Hasan Essam, who describes himself as a programmer and accountant from the northern Gaza Strip, is one of the many Palestinians describing the mass hunger on X, writing that his 'body is slowly falling apart from malnutrition' Rahil Mohammed Rasras, a 32-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from severe malnutrition, succumbed to her hunger and lack of medical access since the majority of hospitals in the area have been destroyed, passing away on July 21 Humanitarian aid groups blame Israel for blocking shipments of food aid and medical care from Gaza and for allowing its army to shoot into crowds of desperate civilians seeking food at aid distribution centers. The Israel Defense Forces killed at least 32 aid seekers on Tuesday. Israel, in turn, blames Hamas for not allowing food supplies to be distributed within the territory. 'Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bold-faced lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' Netanyahu said on Sunday. 'What is interdicting the supply of humanitarian aid is one force – Hamas. Again, the reverse of the truth. Hamas robs, steals this humanitarian aid and then accuses Israel of not supplying it,' he continued. Aid groups this week are warning of an inflection point in Gaza where the window to prevent mass death is rapidly narrowing. The International Rescue Committee reported Tuesday that 'famine thresholds have now been surpassed in Gaza City and that the worst-case scenario is unfolding across much of the Gaza Strip.' 'In the coming days, thousands of Gaza's children will either be rescued or allowed to die,' said the IRC's president. The Israel Defense Forces killed at least 32 Palestinians seeking food at aid drops on Tuesday. But Israel has blamed Hamas for not allowing food supplies to be distributed within the territory The United Nations' World Food Program says a third of Gaza's population of about 2 million have been going for days without eating as hundreds of thousands of people there live in 'famine-like conditions.' The World Health Organization said there has been a 'marked spike' in starvation-related deaths recently, totaling 63 in July, including 25 children. Trump generally has been uncritical of Israel's handling of its war on Hamas, which started after the Gaza-based Palestinian terror group and its allies launched a surprise attack on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Partly at the urging of First Lady Melania Trump, the President said Monday that the US will become 'more involved' in fighting starvation by setting up food centers in Gaza, where the number of people killed since the war began surpassed 60,000 this week, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. That office says the total number of deaths from famine and malnutrition over the last 22 months is 147, including at least 88 children. Human-made famines such as those in Gaza and in Sudan where civil war is having a devastating effect are considered violations of international humanitarian law. British Prime Minister Starmer announced Tuesday that the UK will join France in recognizing Palestine as an independent state in September unless Israel takes 'substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,' including a ceasefire and a commitment to a long-term peace process.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Children and elderly people most vulnerable as Gaza famine deepens, warn experts
Humanitarian experts and doctors are warning that children, elderly people and those with pre-existing health conditions are most at risk of famine in Gaza. Pro-Israeli activists and the country's foreign ministry have tried to challenge the veracity of shocking pictures that have appeared in the international media, despite widespread and well-documented evidence of growing and worsening famine under conditions of Israeli restrictions on aid. One such picture, which was used widely by the international media, including the Guardian, showed a young boy suffering from severe malnutrition, who it subsequently transpired also had a pre-existing health condition. Experts say that children under the age of five, including those with other health issues, and elderly people, will always be most vulnerable in the circumstances of famine. In recent days, aid agencies, governments and the UN's food security monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative (IPC), have provided evidence of increasing starvation, in particular among children under five. Estimates from other recent famines have suggested that the risk of dying for children under five can be twice as high as for adults, with a greater risk for children with health issues. According to the health ministry in Gaza, 154 people have died of hunger since the start of the war, including 89 children. Complicating the issue, say other experts, is the fact that children weakened by malnourishment are vulnerable to other potentially fatal diseases, especially if they are living in the open and in unsanitary conditions. Underlying the risk for the young and those with other health complications, Marina Adrianopoli, a technical expert in the field of undernutrition at the World Health Organization, warned of the risk to 'vulnerable children [who] do not have access to services for the prevention and management of acute malnutrition' a situation she said that can lead 'to widespread diseases, malnutrition and starvation'. 'Acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition in its most severe form, which requires urgent treatment,' she said. 'When a child suffers from severe acute malnutrition, especially when associated with medical complications, this child is at high risk of mortality.' 'Children with acute malnutrition need to be immediately identified and referred for the appropriate treatment which is needed for their survival. Children with wasting are extremely vulnerable, their immune system is compromised, their susceptibility to infections increases rapidly. Saving their lives and averting avoidable mortality can only happen by providing adequate treatment.' Earlier this month, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported an alarming rise in malnutrition at its clinics, warning that 25% of the children and pregnant and breastfeeding women that it screened were malnourished, adding that cases of severe malnutrition in children under five had tripled in just two weeks. Speaking on Wednesday from Deir al-Balah in Gaza, the MSF doctor Mohammed Fadlalla 'categorically rejected the cynical and cruel narrative' that there is no hunger in Gaza. 'Malnutrition is affecting everyone, the sick, the healthy and the old because no one is eating enough. But the people who are most affected tend to be the most vulnerable: children from 0-five, the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes,' he said. The findings and testimony from MSF were amplified this week by the latest alert from the IPC, the UN food security monitor whose data collection and cautious deliberations on determining whether famine exists are regarded as the gold standard on the issue. An IPC alert on Monday warned that two out of the three famine thresholds have now been breached in parts of Gaza, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Unicef warning that time is running out to mount a full-scale humanitarian response. 'Food consumption – the first core famine indicator – has plummeted in Gaza since the last IPC Update in May 2025, with data showing that more than one in three people (39%) are now going days at a time without eating, meaning more than 500,000 people – nearly a quarter of Gaza's population – are enduring famine-like conditions, while the remaining population is facing emergency levels of hunger,' the WFP warned. It continued: 'Acute malnutrition – the second core famine indicator – inside Gaza has risen at an unprecedented rate. In Gaza City, malnutrition levels among children under five have quadrupled in two months, reaching 16.5%. This signals a critical deterioration in nutritional status and a sharp rise in the risk of death from hunger and malnutrition.' The sense of urgency is driven by the fact that impact of famine on the body proceeds slowly at first, then very rapidly as the body uses available fat before beginning to break down muscle cells, which release chemicals, including potassium, chloride and sodium, and cellular debris into the bloodstream, rapidly triggering more serious health issues, including severe malnutrition in young children. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has tried to suggest untruthfully there is 'no starvation in Gaza'.
