More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger, as burial shrouds in short supply
The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.
"Everyone who goes there, comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe," said 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Thari.
He was among mourners at Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of their loved ones killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, according to Gaza's health officials.
At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of UN aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials added.
At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said.
"We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there's no life," Thari told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment by Israel on the incidents of shootings on Sunday and Monday.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, air drops, and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began.
U.N. agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the past week, over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by U.N. and other international organizations.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that more than 600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs.
Palestinian and UN officials said Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements -the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war.
The Gaza war began when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
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BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Swansea doctor's 'helpless' wait to hear from family in Gaza
A doctor says he feels "helpless" as he waits to hear from his elderly father and sister in war-torn Gaza. Dr Ahmed Sabra, who lives in Swansea, has not spoken to his family for close to two weeks, and said they were struggling to find medicine for his niece, who has type 1 diabetes. The UN believes there is mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation in Gaza, and blames the crisis on Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory. In response Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar admitted the situation in Gaza was "tough" but it was a "lie" that Israel was deliberately starving the population. He added Hamas was responsible for what he called "this tough reality".The UN reported at least 63 malnutrition-related deaths in July. Cardiologist Dr Sabra, who was born in the territory but now lives in Sketty, Swansea, with his wife and children, said he was "very emotional" when he last spoke to his 75-year-old father."It was the first time when he told me it's very difficult and there isn't enough food," he said. "He lost 30kg (4st 10lbs) since the start of all this, and he is now almost skin and bone, which is difficult for me as a doctor. I cannot help my own family." He said he mostly speaks to his relatives over WhatsApp, but hearing from them was a "waiting game" because of unreliable connections. "The internet network cover is very bad, sometimes you can't even call. "One of the most difficult times is when there's a total blackout, which did happen a few times. Then you don't know anything."He said he found it "unfair" that his father was living in the war-torn territory."He's somebody who worked really hard all his life and was helping the needy and the poor. And now he is in this situation where he's struggling to find clean water." Dr Sabra's sister has 12-year old twins, and one of the girls has type 1 diabetes. He said in one of the last messages he received from his sister, she told him the only insulin she managed to find was expired."Last week, she sent another message, telling me her daughter's blood sugar was very low and she was just running in the street, shouting for anyone who has any sugar. "A neighbour gave her a small container of sugar, which she managed to give to her daughter. So even basic things, it doesn't exist anymore." He added: "My sister told me that starving is a hundred times worse than being bombed and killed at once, because she is seeing her children starving and she can't provide for them. "A kilo of flour is 200 times more expensive than what it was a year ago."BBC Wales spoke to Dr Sabra after he fled Gaza in 2023, shortly after the current war was visiting his family when Hamas led an attack at a music festival and several villages in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. More than 1,100 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel launched a military campaign in response shortly this week Hamas released the footage of hostage Evyatar David, 24, looking emaciated and weak, drawing strong condemnation from Israel and Western leaders. He is among 49 hostages who Israel says are still being held in Gaza. This includes 27 hostages who are believed to be Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said more than 60,000 people have been killed in the territory since October 2023. When the conflict broke out Dr Sabra was stranded in Gaza for six weeks. He said the five-storey home his family were renting was bombed and and his family travelled to the Rafah crossing, close to the border with Egypt to wife and children were able to cross, but he was turned away because his name was left off a list of British nationals. Four days later his name was added, and he was able to get out. He said hearing of family and friends dying was frustrating and difficult to deal with as he was unable to treat them. "Working in a hospital in the NHS, I deal with death and dying people. But the difficult thing with what's going on in Gaza is just the unknown and you don't have closure," he said."Every day when I hold the phone and open it my fear is I will lose another member of my family."I feel guilty when we eat something, when I know that my family and two million other people are starving."He said "hundreds" of members of his extended family had been killed in Gaza."My wife's nephew, who was killed in February 2024, when he went to get a bag of flour for his family, he was shot in the pelvis and even paramedics were not allowed to come and rescue him. He bled to death."Your loved ones sometimes will be killed, and you don't even know if they've been killed or not. They will just vanish."Referencing the recent casualties at aid centres set up by the Israeli Defence Force in northern Gaza, Dr Sabra said: "Many people are killed at so called aid humanitarian centres, which in Gaza is called, the death trap." BBC Wales has approached the Israeli Embassy in London for a response. Israeli government spokespeople have previously insisted there were no restrictions on aid deliveries and maintained there was "no starvation" and has repeatedly accused Hamas of stealing aid. They have also denied targeting aid distribution centres during attacks.
Leader Live
9 hours ago
- Leader Live
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some two million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he was not aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel'. At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced towards them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the two hospitals. The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is 'an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law'. The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF called their statement 'disgraceful', and urged the UN and other aid groups to work with it 'to maximise the amount of aid being securely delivered to the Palestinian people in Gaza'. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windscreens of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
South Wales Guardian
11 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some two million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he was not aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel'. At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced towards them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the two hospitals. The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is 'an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law'. The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windscreens of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
