Dozens of Palestinians killed by airstrikes or shootings while waiting for aid
Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights office says it has recorded 613 killings within the span of a month in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and as Palestinians try to reach aid at distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said 'it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points' operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were 'GHF-related,' meaning at or near its distribution sites.
'Information keeps coming in,' she added. 'This is ongoing and it is unacceptable.'
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military.
The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders Friday in northeast Khan Yunis and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area. The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast.
More deaths reported near aid distribution sites occurred overnight Friday, according to officials in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
At least three Palestinians were killed near aid sites in Rafah, which is close to two operated by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. An additional 17 were killed waiting for trucks to pass by in eastern Khan Yunis in the Tahliya area.
Of the 15 Palestinians killed in Friday's strikes, eight were women and one was a child, the hospital said. The strikes hit the Muwasi area, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering in tents.
Israel's military said it was looking into Friday's reported strikes. The military, whose forces are deployed on the roads leading to the aid distribution sites, has previously said it fires warning shots to control crowds or at Palestinians who approach its troops.
Shamdasani originally told a U.N. briefing the recent spate of killings were recorded both at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites and near humanitarian convoys. She later clarified that the killings in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution points were 'at or near their distribution sites.'
The count from the rights office, which used a strict methodology to verify such figures, was based in part on information from hospitals that receive dead bodies, she said.
Also Friday, Israel's military said a soldier was killed in combat in the north of Gaza and it was investigating. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza.
The recent killings took place as efforts to halt the 21-month war appeared to be moving forward.
'We'll see what happens. We're going to know over the next 24 hours,' President Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when asked if Hamas had agreed to the latest framework for a ceasefire.
Hamas said Friday that it was holding discussions with leaders of other Palestinian factions to discuss a ceasefire proposal presented to it by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Hamas said it will give its final response to mediators after the discussions have concluded.
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
Shurafa and Kullab write for the Associated Press. Kullab reported from Jerusalem. Jamey Keaten reported from Geneva. Julia Frankel contributed to this report.
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Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UN says 613 Gaza killings recorded at aid sites, near humanitarian convoys
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The warnings for parts in the city's east and centre include the area where the Nasser Hospital is located.A mother, whose son was killed while trying to get food, told Al Jazeera that she 'lost everything' after his death. 'My son was a provider, I depended totally on him,' she said, adding: 'He was the pillar and foundation of our life.' The woman called the GHF's aid distribution centres 'death traps'. 'We are forced to go there out of desperation for food; we go there out of hunger,' she said. 'Instead of coming back carrying a bag of flour, people themselves are being carried back as bodies,' she added. The World Health Organization said on Friday that Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is operating as 'one massive trauma ward' due to an influx of patients injured around GHF sites. Referring to medical staff at the hospital, Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, told reporters in Geneva: 'They've seen already for weeks, daily injuries … (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites.' Peeperkorn said health workers at Nasser Hospital and testimonies from family members and friends of those wounded confirmed that the victims had been trying to access aid at sites run by the GHF. He recounted the harrowing cases of a 13-year-old boy shot in the head, as well as a 21-year-old with a bullet lodged in his neck, which rendered him a paraplegic. According to the UN, only 16 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially operational, their collective capacity merely above 1,800 beds – entirely insufficient for the overwhelming medical needs. The Israeli army has targeted the health institutions and medical workers in the besieged enclave since the beginning of its war on Gaza in October 2023. 'The health sector is being systematically dismantled,' Peeperkorn said on Thursday in a separate statement, citing shortages of medical supplies, equipment and UN, humanitarian organisations and other NGOs have repeatedly slammed the GHF for its handling of aid distribution and the attacks around its distribution sites. More than 130 humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, on Tuesday demanded the immediate closure of the GHF, accusing it of facilitating attacks on starving Palestinians. The NGOs said Israeli forces and armed groups 'routinely' open fire on civilians attempting to access food. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which was carrying out aid distribution for decades before the GHF, has called for investigations into the killings and wounding of Palestinians trying to access food through the GHF. 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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Israeli airstrikes kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza and another 10 die seeking food
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Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the crowded Muwasi area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Three people were killed in three strikes in Khan Younis. Israel's army did not immediately comment. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far the Palestinians were from the sites. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. The organization has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors and can be accessed only by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of meters (yards) away. 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The GHF said the two American aid workers were injured on Saturday morning when assailants threw grenades at a distribution site in Khan Younis. The foundation said the injuries were not life-threatening. Israel's military said it evacuated the workers for medical treatment. The GHF — a U.S.- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the U.N. — distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops. Three sites are in Gaza's far south. The U.N. and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is not effective. Israel says Hamas has siphoned off aid delivered by the U.N., a claim the U.N. denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF. GHF, registered in Delaware, began distributing food in May to Palestinians, who say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses. The U.N. human rights office says it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid, most of them while trying to reach GHF sites. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is led by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but the U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Israeli airstrikes kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza and another 10 die seeking food
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