
Israeli strikes kill 35 in Gaza, many near an aid site, medics say
CAIRO, June 11 (Reuters) - Israeli military strikes killed at least 35 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, most of them at an aid site operated by the U.S-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in central Gaza, local health officials said.
Medical officials at Shifa and Al-Quds Hospitals said at least 25 people were killed as they approached the aid site near the former settlement of Netzarim, and dozens were wounded.
Ten other people were killed in other Israeli military strikes in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, they added.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
On Tuesday, when Gaza health officials said 17 people were killed near another GHF aid site in Rafah in southern Gaza, the army said it fired warning shots to distance "suspects" who were approaching the troops and posed a threat.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there had been "significant progress" in efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, but that it was "too soon" to raise hopes that a deal would be reached.
Despite efforts by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to restore a ceasefire in Gaza, neither Israel nor Hamas has shown willingness to back down on core demands, with each side blaming the other for the failure to reach a deal.
Two Hamas sources told Reuters they did not know about any new ceasefire offers.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in an October 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day.
Israel's military campaign has since killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.

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The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Palestinians seeking aid among 60 killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire
At least 60 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across Gaza on Wednesday, according to local Palestinian health authorities. 25 people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire while approaching a food distribution centre near Netzarim in central Gaza, according to staff at Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals; the Israeli army claimed its troops fired warning shots at people "posing a threat'. Medics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that at least 14 more Palestinians were killed heading towards another Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site in Rafah. The GHF, backed by Israel and the US, reported distributing 2.5 million meals on Wednesday, totalling over 16 million thus far. The UN has refused to coordinate aid through the GHF, criticising its use of private contractors and Israeli military escorts.


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Hamas 'kills five Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid workers' and 'may have taken others hostage', US-Israeli-backed organisation claims
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of killing Palestinians at aid distribution centres in Gaza. Israel this morning declared that Hamas was 'weaponising suffering' in the embattled Strip after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed aid organisation, claimed the group attacked a bus transporting Palestinian aid workers. At least five Palestinians working with GHF were killed in the ambush on the bus headed to an aid facility in southern Gaza, the group said. A statement read: 'At the time of the attack, our team was en route to one of our distribution centres in the area west of Khan Younis. 'We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage.' The attack came days after the GHF warned Hamas had threatened members of the organisation as well as Palestinians who risked the journey to the distribution points for sorely needed aid. Meanwhile, Gaza hospitals retorted that at least 39 Palestinians were killed yesterday at two separate GHF aid distribution points, claiming that Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowds. Some 25 starving Palestinians were reportedly killed close to a GHF facility in the Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli military zone. Another 14 Gazans are said to have died near a GHF site close to the city of Rafah. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims that more than 220 people have now been killed while attending GHF aid distribution sites in the past two weeks, primarily as a result of Israeli soldiers and security guards opening fire. There have also been reports of armed Palestinians gunning down countrymen at the aid checkpoints after Israel admitted it was working with the Popular Forces, a Gazan militia led by Hamas opponent Yasser Abu Shabab, and other local groups to counter Hamas' influence. The Israeli military, which guards GHF sites from a distance, has refuted claims it shot starving Gazans, admitting only that its soldiers fired only warning shots at individuals they believed were acting suspiciously. Israel's Foreign Ministry seized the opportunity to criticise Hamas in the wake of the reported attack on the GHF bus, writing on X: 'After threats, lies and disruption, they turned to cold-blooded murder. 'Hamas is weaponising suffering in Gaza - denying food, targeting lifesavers and forsaking its own people.' An officially private effort with opaque funding, the GHF began operating on May 26 after Israel initiated a blockade that totally cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine. During its first week of operations, the GHF said it distributed more than seven million meals' worth of food, but its operations were widely criticised even before the deadly shootings near its sites. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to work with the GHF. UN officials say the GHF system is unable to meet mounting needs, and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to the aid sites if they hope to get enough to eat. Most of the sites are spread around the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in what is now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. But Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing UN-run system, which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza. UN officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. Gaza medics have said hospitals are being inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food from GHF checkpoints. Because the aid distribution centres are located in Israeli military zones, starving Palestinians must brave heavily armed checkpoints and fenced-off enclosures if they hope to get their hands on any aid. This system has led to crushes as hungry Gazans are forced into cordoned off areas. Gunshots trigger stampedes that have seen hundreds injured and killed. At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, the emergency department recently said it had received dozens of people who had been killed or wounded while waiting for aid, including 200 in a single day. 'Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks,' said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa's emergency department. But with few medical supplies and no operating theatres, 'many patients died while waiting for their turn', he said. There is also speculation over the extent to which Israel's military is delegating the task of securing the GHF to Palestinian militias, including Abu Shabab's Popular Forces. Abu Shabab's militia says it is has been guarding several of the food distribution points set up by the GHF in southern Gaza. But the aid organisation has denied any links to the Popular Forces.


The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
At least 60 killed as Israeli forces continue to fire on Palestinians seeking aid
At least 60 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across Gaza on Wednesday, with several of the victims struck near aid distribution points run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to local Palestinian health authorities. Staff at Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals reported that 25 people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire before dawn while approaching a food distribution centre near the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in central Gaza. The Israeli army claimed that its troops fired warning shots at people 'posing a threat' in the area. 'This is despite warnings the area is an active combat zone,' it said, adding that reports of injuries were under review. Later in the day, medics at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least 14 more Palestinians had been killed heading towards another GHF site in Rafah. The GHF, which began operating in May, said it distributed around 2.5 million meals on Wednesday alone, bringing the total to more than 16 million thus far. The group, backed by Israel and the US, emphasised the need for civilians to follow passage instructions coordinated with Israeli forces. The GHF also said five of its Palestinian staff were killed in a separate incident which it attributed to an attack by Hamas on a bus west of Khan Younis. 'We will continue our mission to provide critical aid to the people of Gaza,' it said, while expressing fear that some workers might have been taken hostage. According to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, Israel's war on the besieged territory has so far killed more than 55,000 people, mostly women and children. That assault started after nearly 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during a Hamas raid on southern Israel in October 2023. The Israeli air and ground assault has also left over 127,000 Palestinians injured and likely trapped more under the rubble of destroyed buildings. The UN has refused to coordinate aid through the GHF, criticising its use of private contractors and Israeli military escorts as incompatible with humanitarian principles. It warned that mass displacement and hunger were worsening in Gaza, with the entire population of over two million people at risk of famine. Israel claims that the new aid system prevents Hamas from diverting supplies, but leading aid groups reject that justification saying there is no evidence of large-scale diversion and that the arrangement breaches neutrality. Amid the escalating crisis, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the army and Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency, had retrieved the bodies of two more hostages from Khan Younis. One was identified as 59-year-old Yair Yaakov, who was killed during the October assault. His partner and two children were among the hostages later released under a temporary ceasefire. Israel says 53 hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive. The latest recoveries bring the total number of hostage bodies retrieved this month to five. Defence minister Israel Katz described the retrieval as a 'complex' operation without providing details. Hamas is demanding full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire in exchange for the remaining hostages. It has also offered to transfer power in Gaza to an independent Palestinian committee but has refused to disarm. Mr Netanyahu, however, insists that Israel will pursue the war until Hamas is defeated or exiled. He demands any future ceasefire to be only temporary and facilitate the return of hostages. He has also spoken of facilitating 'voluntary emigration' of Gaza's population, a plan condemned by Palestinians and the international community as ethnic cleansing.