Baby girl killed with her parents in Israeli airstrike on Gaza
The baby's body, wrapped in blue, was placed on those of her parents as Palestinians prayed over them. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the child were believed to have been killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area.
'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbour Fathi Shubeir said. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.'
Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen its coming onslaught.
The mobilisation of forces is expected to take weeks, and Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in its October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war.
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to be alive.
They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages, speaking under duress, pleading for help and food.
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A group representing the families has urged Israelis onto the streets on Sunday.
'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement.
The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza.
Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said today, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251.
The UN and partners say getting aid into the territory of more than two million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians.
The UN human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday.
It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of 'non-UN militarised sites', a reference to the Israeli-backed and US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza.
Elsewhere, a 20-year-old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' has died after being transferred to Italy for treatment, a hospital said today.
The patient was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late on Wednesday and died yesterday. She was removed from Gaza as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived with a 'with a very complex, compromised clinical picture', according to the hospital.
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UN says at least 1,760 people have been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May
She died after entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, the hospital said in a statement.
Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement said.
The woman, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, had arrived in Italy with her mother.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Gazans – 31 patients and their families – had been flown to Rome, Milan and Pisa on three planes.
In a post on X, Tajani said it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest.
The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration.'
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Irish Post
a day ago
- Irish Post
Irish healthcare workers march through Dublin in show of solidarity with colleagues in Gaza
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The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
Woman, 20, evacuated from Gaza to Italy dies in hospital
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Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland to oversee medical evacuations of sick and injured children from Gaza
Ireland will oversee two or three more medical evacuations of sick and injured children from Gaza as part of its promise to treat 30 paediatric patients from the war-torn territory. The Department of Health expects 18 more Palestinian children to be airlifted with parents or carers in the autumn to receive urgent medical care following two successful evacuations from Gaza through Egypt, and on to Ireland, last December and May. The department said: 'We anticipate that a further two or three medical evacuations will be carried out over the coming months to ensure we deliver on our commitment to receive and treat 30 paediatric patients and provide support to their families here in Ireland. 'To date, we have had two successful medical evacuations with 12 paediatric patients medically evacuated with 12 mothers/carers and 21 family members accompanying the patient.' Ireland is among 10 EU countries to accept medical evacuations from Gaza. 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'Our records show Ireland has accepted 14 patients thus far, though we are aware of the intention to receive more patients.' They added that WHO continues to advocate for increased evacuations. They said: 'But it depends on EU Member States and other host countries accepting more patients, and ongoing logistical and security challenges to ensure the safe movement and transportation of patients. 'WHO has put in place the necessary logistical arrangements within Gaza to increase the number of medical evacuations should there be an increase in offers from receiving countries and security clearance from the Israeli government. 'WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, has been strongly advocating for member states to scale up medical evacuations in line with humanitarian and health principles.' Hamdi Al-Najjar is visited by his brother, Ali Al-Najjar, and two nieces, Samah Al-Najjar (L) and Sahar Al-Najjar (R), while in the intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike hit his home (Image: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images) The Department of Health in Ireland said it is 'not aware of any request made by the WHO or other agencies for Ireland to take more patients than originally agreed'. They said the Ministry of Health in Gaza has the primary role of selecting patients for medical evacuation overseas. The statement added: 'WHO is present on the ground in Gaza and is coordinating evacuations of patients through Egypt and other third countries to EU participating Member States. 'Ireland opts into this response on a case-by-case basis for each child who requires treatment, subject to the available capacity. 'The patients to be selected for treatment in Ireland must be minors, ie under 17 years of age. 'In line with these procedures, the health service in Ireland assesses requests for medical evacuation from the WHO-approved list and, where suitable, makes offers of medical evacuation to Ireland, subject to release of required documentation by the health services in Egypt. 'The offers are then required to be accepted by the patients/carers before medical evacuation.' (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images) The Irish Red Cross, contracted by the Department of Health, provides accommodation and wraparound caseworker support to families brought to Ireland under the Gaza medical evacuation programme. Working alongside Children's Health Ireland, they help families access healthcare, social services, schools, and English classes. They have also recruited Arabic-speaking caseworkers to assist with daily needs, including private hospital transport. Six Gazan families whose children are medically stable will relocate from Dublin to the North West. This follows months of consultation, while families of children who require ongoing specialist treatment will remain in Dublin. According to the Red Cross, the CHI coordination team has worked closely with hospitals to ensure continuity of care while providing transport for specialist appointments in Dublin. The new accommodation is designed to keep families together while placing them close to medical, educational and community services – including halal food outlets and places of worship – all within walking distance. A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'Ireland has already carried out two successful medical evacuations of 12 paediatric patients out of the commitment of up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza. Two of the accompanying adult family members of these children were also on the WHO-approved list, bringing Ireland's total to 14 patients on the WHO list.' Palestinians walk during the evacuation of the Jabalia refugee camp and the Sheikh Radwan and Abu Iskandar neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territories between Israel and Hamas (Image: Mahmoud Issa/Quds Net News via ZUMA Press Wire) They added: 'The current focus of the Department and all relevant authorities is to prepare for the next medical evacuation of paediatric patients from Gaza and accompanying family members through Egypt. We know from experience of two previous medical evacuations that preparation and planning is critical to the success of these complex medical evacuations.' In relation to the number of medical evacuations carried out by Ireland, they said: 'Over 220 patients and over 500 companions have been evacuated under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to 11 Member States (Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Slovakia) and three UCPM Participating States (Albania, Norway, Türkiye) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) and Egyptian, Israeli and Jordanian authorities. Three countries have evacuated over 30 patients, four have evacuated between 10 and 30 patients, including Ireland, and four countries have evacuated between one and nine patients under the UCPM mechanism.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
