
Israel faces growing global condemnation over military expansion in Gaza
Health officials said that 11 Palestinians seeking aid were shot dead, and 11 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours as the new criticism of Israel came with pleas to allow far more food and other supplies to reach people in the besieged enclave.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet with Qatar's prime minister in Spain on Saturday to discuss a new proposal to end the war, according to two officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with the media.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar are preparing a new ceasefire framework that would include the release of all hostages — dead and alive — in one go in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, two Arab officials have told The Associated Press.
Families of hostages were rallying again to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid new fears over the 50 remaining hostages, with 20 of them thought to be alive and struggling.
'The living will be murdered and the fallen will be lost forever' if the offensive goes ahead, said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza.
She called on Israelis including the powerful Histadrut labor union to 'help us save the hostages, the soldiers and the state of Israel' and appeared to call for a general strike: 'Shut the country down.'
A joint statement by nine countries including Germany, Britain, France and Canada said that they 'strongly reject' Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it will worsen the 'catastrophic humanitarian situation,' endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. They said any attempts at annexation or settlement in Gaza violate international law.
A separate statement by more than 20 countries including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates called Israel's decision a 'dangerous and unacceptable escalation.' Meanwhile, Russia said Israel's plan will aggravate the 'already extremely dramatic situation' in Gaza.
The U.N. Security Council planned an emergency meeting Sunday. And Germany has said it won't authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza until further notice.
Officials at Nasser and Awda hospitals said that Israeli forces killed at least 11 people seeking aid in southern and central Gaza. Some had been waiting for aid trucks, while others had been approaching aid distribution points.
Israel's military denied opening fire and said that it was unaware of the incidents. The military secures routes leading to distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two witnesses told the AP that Israeli troops fired toward crowds approaching a GHF distribution site on foot in the Netzarim corridor, a military zone that bisects Gaza. One witness, Ramadan Gaber, said that snipers and tanks fired on aid-seekers, forcing them to retreat.
In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, some aid-seekers cheered the latest airdrops of aid. Hundreds of people rushed to grab what they could, though many have called the process degrading. Aid organizations have called airdrops expensive, insufficient and potentially dangerous for people on the ground.
Israel's military said that at least 106 packages of aid were airdropped Saturday as Italy and Greece joined the multicountry effort for the first time. Footage from Italy's defense ministry showed not only packages being parachuted over Gaza but the dry and devastated landscape below.
Barefoot children collected rice, pasta and lentils that had spilled from packages onto the ground.
'This way is not for humans, it is for animals,' said one man at the scene, Mahmoud Hawila, who said he was stabbed while trying to secure an airdropped package.
Israel alleges, without giving evidence, that Hamas systematically diverts aid from the existing U.N.-led system, which denies it. That system has called for more of the trucks waiting outside Gaza to be allowed not just into the territory, but safely to destinations inside it for distribution.
With temperatures reaching above 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) in Gaza, families fanned themselves with pieces of cardboard or metal trays and slept on the ground outside their tents, while some women collected water well before dawn.
'My children cry day and night. My son scratches his body because of the heat,' said Nida Abu Hamad, whose displaced family shelters in Gaza City.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the new adult deaths from malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours brought the total to 114 since it began counting such deaths in June. It said that 98 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with fighters killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Israel is 'forcing Palestinians into a state of near-starvation to the point that they abandon their land voluntarily,' Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference in Egypt.
The toll from hunger isn't included in the ministry's death toll of 61,300 Palestinians in the war. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, doesn't distinguish between fighters or civilians, but says around half of the dead have been women and children. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties.
Israel disputes the ministry's figures, but hasn't provided its own.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif as toll on journalists in Gaza worsens
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military targeted an Al Jazeera correspondent with an airstrike Sunday, killing him, another network journalist and at least six other people, all of whom were sheltering outside the Gaza City Hospital complex. Officials at Shifa Hospital said those killed included Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qureiqa. The strike also killed four other journalists and two other people, hospital administrative director Rami Mohanna told The Associated Press. The strike also damaged the entrance to the hospital complex's emergency building. Both Israel and hospital officials in Gaza City confirmed the deaths, which press advocates described as retribution against those documenting the war in Gaza. Israel's military later Sunday described al-Sharif as the leader of a Hamas cell — an allegation that Al Jazeera and al-Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless. The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel's military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike. It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In a July 24 video, Israel's army spokesperson Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas' military wing. Al Jazeera calls strike 'assassination' Al Jazeera called the strike 'targeted assassination' and accused Israeli officials of incitement, connecting al-Sharif's death to the allegations that both the network and correspondent had denied. 'Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people,' the Qatari network said in a statement. Apart from rare invitations to observe Israeli military operations, international media have been barred from entering Gaza for the duration of the war. Al Jazeera is among the few outlets still fielding a big team of reporters inside the besieged strip, chronicling daily life amid airstrikes, hunger and the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods. The network has suffered heavy losses during the war, including 27-year-old correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, killed last summer, and freelancer Hossam Shabat, killed in an Israeli airstrike in March. Like al-Sharif, Shabat was among the six that Israel accused of being members of militant groups last October. Funeral-goers call to protect journalists Hundreds of people, including many journalists, gathered Monday to mourn al-Sharif, Qureiqa and their colleagues. The bodies lay wrapped in white sheets at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital complex. Ahed Ferwana of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said reporters were being deliberately targeted and urged the international community to act. Al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death. In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he bemoaned the devastation and destruction that war had wrought and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter. 'I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,' the 28-year-old wrote. The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that at least 186 have been killed in Gaza, and Brown University's Watson Institute in April said the war was 'quite simply, the worst ever conflict for reporters.' Al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after war broke out. He was known for reporting on Israel's bombardment in northern Gaza, and later for the starvation gripping much of the territory's population. Qureiqa, a 33-year-old Gaza City native, is survived by two children. Both journalists were separated from their families for months earlier in the war. When they managed to reunite during the ceasefire earlier this year, their children appeared unable to recognize them, according to video footage they posted at the time. In a July broadcast al-Sharif cried on air as woman behind him collapsed from hunger. 'I am taking about slow death of those people,' he said at the time. Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them closed. Al-Sharif's death comes weeks after a U.N. expert and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign. Irene Khan, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, on July 31 said that the killings were 'part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes and bury any possibility of future accountability.' The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that it was appalled by the strike. 'Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' Sara Qudah, the group's regional director, said in a statement.


Boston Globe
18 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Israeli strike kills journalists in Gaza City, worsening the death toll for the media
Advertisement The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel's military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike. It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In a July 24 video, Israel's army spokesperson Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas' military wing. Al Jazeera called the strike 'targeted assassination' and accused Israeli officials of incitement, connecting al-Sharif's death to the allegations that both the network and correspondent had denied. 'Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people,' the Qatari network said in a statement. Advertisement International media have been mostly barred from entering Gaza throughout the war and Al Jazeera is among the few outlets still fielding a big team of reporters inside Gaza, chronicling daily life amid airstrikes, hunger and the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods. The network has suffered heavy losses during the war, including 27-year-old correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, killed last summer, and freelancer Hossam Shabat, killed in an Israeli airstrike in March. Like al-Sharif, Shabat was among the six that Israel accused of being members of militant groups last October. Hundreds of people, including many journalists, gathered Monday to mourn al-Sharif, Qureiqa and their colleagues. The bodies lay wrapped in white sheets at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital complex. Ahed Ferwana of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said reporters were being deliberately targeted and urged the international community to act. Al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death. In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he bemoaned the devastation and destruction that war had wrought and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter. 'I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,' the 28-year-old wrote. The journalists are the latest to be killed in what observers have called the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that at least 186 have been killed in Gaza and Brown University's Watson Institute in April said the war was 'quite simply, the worst ever conflict for reporters.' Al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after war broke out. He was known for reporting on Israel's bombardment in northern Gaza, and later for the starvation gripping much of the territory's population. Qureiqa, a 33-year-old Gaza City native, is survived by two children. Advertisement Both journalists were separated from their families for months earlier in the war. When they managed to reunite during the ceasefire earlier this year, their children appeared unable to recognize them, according to video footage they posted at the time. In a July broadcast al-Sharif cried on air as woman behind him collapsed from hunger. 'I am taking about slow death of those people,' he said at the time. Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them closed. Al-Sharif's death comes weeks after a U.N. expert and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign. Irene Khan, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, on July 31 said that the killings were 'part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes and bury any possibility of future accountability.' The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that it was appalled by the strike. 'Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' Sara Qudah, the group's regional director, said in a statement. Magdy reported from Cairo.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu Defends Gaza City Takeover Amid UN Warnings
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the planned military takeover of Gaza City, despite increasing global criticism and warnings from the UN.