Dozens killed while seeking food in Gaza as US envoy heads to Israel
Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the coastal territory of some 2 million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. A breakdown of law and order has seen aid convoys overwhelmed by desperate crowds.
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Canada News.Net
7 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Witnesses report fatalities amid Gaza food distribution efforts
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured while trying to reach food aid in Gaza, according to people who witnessed the events and local health workers. Because of Israel's blockade and military attacks during its nearly two-year-long war with Hamas, it is now tough to get food and supplies safely into the region. Hunger is spreading fast, and many families are close to starvation. To help, some countries have started dropping food from planes. However, aid groups and the United Nations say that this method is not only expensive but also dangerous. Many food parcels fall into the sea or land in unsafe areas where Israeli forces have told people to stay away. Still, Palestinians take significant risks in collecting even small amounts of flour or canned food. In one case, an aid dropped by parachute landed in Zuweida, a town in central Gaza. People ran toward the packages, desperate to grab anything they could. Some began fighting each other, and a few used sticks. One food parcel even fell on a tent where displaced people were living, injuring a man. He was taken to a hospital, and has since died. The crisis worsened last weekend near the Zikim Crossing, a main entry point for aid in northern Gaza. At least 16 people were killed and over 130 were injured, according to hospital records. It's still unclear what exactly happened, but witnesses and health workers said Israeli troops had fired at the crowd. In another location, the Morag Corridor, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on thousands of people waiting for aid trucks. A man named Mohammed al-Masri said soldiers shot young men who were trying to move to the front of the line. "They shot many people in the head and back," he said. Hospitals across Gaza reported receiving bodies from different aid sites. One hospital said it had received 10 bodies from Morag and five more from another aid location supported by an American-Israeli group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). GHF said there were no violent incidents at their sites and that they only use pepper spray or warning shots to control large crowds. However, witnesses and doctors said Israeli forces had shot into crowds again on Monday, this time near the Netzarim Corridor. Eight people were killed, and 50 others were injured. The Israeli army says it only fires warning shots if it feels threatened, and denies knowing of any deaths. The war began in October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel responded with heavy attacks. Gaza's Health Ministry says over 60,900 Palestinians have since been killed—two thirds of them women and children. The UN considers these numbers the most trustworthy, although Israel disputes them, and it has not shared its own count.
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know about Israel's plan to retake Gaza City
Israel announced early Friday that it plans to take over Gaza City, the largest urban area in the territory and one that has already suffered extensive devastation in repeated Israeli raids. Another major ground operation in one of the few areas of Gaza not already under evacuation orders would likely spark even more mass displacement and further disrupt efforts to deliver desperately needed food in the territory, where experts have warned that famine is unfolding. Israel has faced mounting calls from many of its closest allies to end the war, and the plan faces opposition within Israel from families of the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and members of the security establishment who say there is little to gain militarily at this point. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says more military pressure is needed to achieve Israel's goals of returning the hostages and destroying Hamas. Not much is left of Gaza City Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and launched major ground operations there within weeks of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. Several neighborhoods and key infrastructure have been almost completely destroyed. It was Gaza's most populous city on the eve of the war, home to some 700,000 people, about the population of Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands fled under Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war but many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year. Israel already controls and has largely destroyed around 75% of Gaza, with most of the population of some 2 million Palestinians now sheltering in Gaza City, the central city of Deir al-Balah and the sprawling displacement camps in the Muwasi area along the coast. Israel's offensive has already killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them but has not provided its own. Opposition inside Israel Another major ground operation will almost certainly lead to the killing of more Israeli soldiers in hit-and-run attacks, eroding domestic support for the war, and could endanger the remaining hostages. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. Fifty remain inside the territory, around 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive. Palestinian militants have released videos in recent days showing emaciated hostages, saying they are suffering the same starvation as the Palestinian population. Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in tunnels and other secret locations and has hinted it will kill them if Israeli forces draw near. Former security officials have also spoken out against further military operations, saying there is little to gain after Hamas has been militarily decimated. Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, reportedly argued during a Security Cabinet meeting that a more sweeping plan to retake all of Gaza would endanger the hostages and put added strain on the army after two years of regional wars. International outrage Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent weeks as images of starving children have shone a light on the worsening hunger crisis. Twenty-eight Western-aligned nations, including some of its closest allies, called for it to end the war last month. Even President Donald Trump, the strongest supporter it has ever had in the White House, has expressed concern about the hunger crisis. He has said he wants to end the war and return all the hostages, but also that it's up to Israel to decide its next moves. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Israel has dismissed the criticism, saying it has done everything it can to limit harm to civilians and blaming Hamas for their deaths. Netanyahu has denied there is starvation in Gaza despite eyewitness testimony, data compiled by experts and dire warnings from United Nations officials and major international aid groups operating there. Netanayahu has said more military pressure is needed to get Hamas to agree to release the hostages and surrender. But Hamas has already withstood one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II. The militant group says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
CTV News
17 hours ago
- CTV News
Nearly 12,000 children under five in Gaza have acute malnutrition, says WHO
Containers of humanitarian aid are airdropped to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from a Jordanian Air Force C-130 plane, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh) GENEVA - Around 12,000 children aged under five in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, and hunger-related deaths are rising, the Director General of the World Health Organization said on Thursday. 'In July, nearly 12,000 children under five years were identified as having acute malnutrition in Gaza, the highest monthly figure ever recorded,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at his organization's headquarters in Geneva. At least 99 people have died, including 64 adults and 35 children, of whom 29 were younger than five,from the start of this year to July 29. Between June and July, the number of admissions for malnutrition almost doubled - from 6,344 to 11,877 - according to the latest UNICEF figures available. Some 2,500 of those children are suffering from severe malnutrition. Tedros called for greater volumes of sustained aid, via all possible routes. The WHO said it was supporting Gaza's four malnutrition centers, but that supplies of baby formula and nutritional foods were very low. 'The overall volume of nutrition supplies remains completely insufficient to prevent further deterioration. The market needs to be flooded. There needs to be dietary diversity,' said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian Territory, via video link. A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza had declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33% in April. Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin,Editing by Madeline Chambers and Ed Osmond, Reuters
