Israeli bombardment of Gaza kills at least 89, as five more die of starvation
Israel has since said it will launch a new offensive and seize control of Gaza City, which it captured shortly after the war's outbreak in October 2023 before pulling out. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, expected to be launched in October, has increased a global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger afflicting Gaza's 2.2 million people.
It has also stirred criticism in Israel, with the military chief of staff warning it could endanger surviving hostages and prove a death trap for Israeli soldiers. It has also raised fears of further displacement and hardship among the estimated one million Palestinians in the Gaza City region.
Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation
Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Ireland, said yesterday the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached 'unimaginable levels' and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid into the enclave.
'Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation,' the foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
'We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO (non-governmental organisations) aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.
'All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment.'
The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Israel denies responsibility for hunger in Gaza, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including pausing fighting in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediated ceasefire talks said Hamas was prepared to return to the negotiating table, and the leaders who were visiting Cairo yesterday would reaffirm that stance.
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'Hamas believes negotiation is the only way to end the war and is open to discuss any ideas that would secure an end to the war,' the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News television said the Hamas delegates have arrived in Egypt 'for consultations on ceasefire talks'.
However, the gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues, including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm.
A Hamas official told Reuters yesterday the Islamist movement was ready to relinquish Gaza governance on behalf of a non-partisan committee, but it would not relinquish its arms before a Palestinian state is established.
Mr Netanyahu, whose far-right ultranationalist coalition allies want an outright Israeli takeover of all of Gaza, has vowed the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated.
Yeterday, Gaza's health ministry said that 89 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours.
Witnesses and medics said Israeli bombardments overnight killed seven people in two houses in Gaza City's Zeitoun suburb and another four in an apartment building in the city centre.
In the south of Gaza, five people, including a couple and their child, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Khan Younis and four others by a strike on a tent encampment in nearby coastal Mawasi, medics said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of the latest bombardments and that its forces take precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Separately, it said its forces had killed dozens of militants in north Gaza over the past month and destroyed more tunnels used by militants in the area.
Five more people, including two children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said.
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Anas al-Sharif was a born storyteller with an innate sense of the dramatic. I'll never forget watching him live on air from Gaza just after a ceasefire, which wasn't to last, was announced in January 2024 after more than a year of relentless horror. A crowd had gathered as he stood in front of the camera, preparing to talk to tens of millions of Al Jazeera viewers across the Arab world, ready to convey the mixture of happiness, relief, and very cautious optimism people were feeling now that the bombs would stop raining down on Gaza. Another journalist stood weeping to his right. 'There is great joy among these residents, finally, after these hard days,' he said. And then, without missing a beat as he continued speaking to camera, he slowly removed his helmet and flak jacket, people cheering him on. They hoisted him on their shoulders and held their phones up to capture the moment. It was a moment to be recorded because, if Anas felt briefly safe, they all did. That was one of the things that made him a special journalist. People saw themselves reflected in him. He wasn't afraid to show his fellow Palestinians that he was suffering with them, that the terror Israel was unleashing on Gaza affected him too, that he sometimes struggled. That's not to say he didn't convey strength. His backbone was apparent every time he appeared on air, and it was apparent when he refused to bow to threats. On another occasion, just weeks ago, Anas broke down during a broadcast and began to cry after a day of watching Palestinians being brought to hospital, some wounded, some weakened by starvation. As he wept, shouts from the crowd began to ring out. 'Keep going, Anas. Keep going. You are our voice,' they called. And they knew he would keep going. Because he always did. This week, though, a decision was made to silence that voice in the most ruthless manner possible when the Israeli military targeted and killed not only Anas but the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City. It was an act of censorship so extreme, so brutal — and so blatant — that it shocked people all over the world and plunged Palestinians into despair. Mourners sit around the grave of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif following his burial at the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City on August 11. Picture: AFP via Getty Images But the killing of Anas, alongside his colleagues Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal, shouldn't have been a shock at all. The UN says that at least 242 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since the war on Gaza began. The UN and the Committee to Protect Journalists say that, in many of these cases, journalists were likely deliberately targeted. Israel itself has often admitted to killing journalists, usually accusing them of being Hamas members with either no proof at all or only the flimsiest veneer of it. Such was the case with Anas. He was a member of Hamas, Israel said. Not only a member but a leader of a cell responsible for 'advancing rocket attacks'. Again, as is now standard, no real evidence was offered to back up the accusations. No claims were made against the rest of the Al Jazeera crew. Perhaps Israel felt it only had to justify the killing of such a famous face. Lesser-known Palestinians can be snuffed out with no excuse needed, as they have been daily for 22 months. Where Anas, who seemed to spend every waking moment standing in front of a camera, would have found the time to organise rocket attacks on the side is unclear. Here's the thing: If Anas really was a target because of Hamas activity, the Israeli military could have killed him any time it wanted. They wouldn't have needed any sophisticated intelligence to locate him. All they had to do was switch on the TV. Members of the NUJ and fellow journalists take part in a protest organised by the NUJ at The Spire in O'Connell St, Dublin, to condemn the killing of journalists due to Israeli attacks. Picture: Niall Carson/PA So why now? Many observers believe the answer is clear. Israel's cabinet last week approved prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for a full military occupation of Gaza City. And just two days later, Anas and the Al Jazeera crew — the most prominent witnesses left in the city, the only people with the ability to broadcast to the entire world what is about to happen — were executed. That theory, though, was smothered by the endless repetition of Israel's version of events in the coverage of almost every prominent Western news organisation. Headlines began with the words, 'Israel says'. TV bulletins were scripted similarly. Israel's accusations were rarely followed up with the context that no real proof had been provided. Anchors asked question after question about the alleged Hamas affiliation. This credulous reporting of Israel's accusations persists despite it being proven to have lied repeatedly throughout the conflict. There is no other source as unreliable as the Israeli government given such a free pass by the world's media. Imagine if Russia killed a Ukrainian journalist, accusing him of being a member of an armed group. Would its claims be treated seriously? Would they lead the headlines? Of course not. None of this is lost on Palestinian journalists, who have felt let down by the way Israel's relentless targeting of their comrades and friends has been reported and by a lack of solidarity from some of the most prominent journalists in the West, many of whom have stayed conspicuously silent as the bodies of brave reporters in Gaza pile up. 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Mask-drop moment There was a mask-drop moment on BBC this week when an anchor seemed confused that Al Jazeera used what she called 'local people' to report from Gaza. 'Are they able to operate truly independently?' she asked her guest. There's an implication there. It's an implication that these 'local people' cannot be trusted, that Palestinians are too close to the story to report it accurately. It's not an implication we ever hear about, say, British journalists reporting on Britain. The fact that Palestinian journalists are reporting on a genocide while also living through it has made their reporting stronger. How can knowledge of every street corner, a wide network of sources, deep subject expertise, and the familiarity that comes with living in a place be a problem? The answer is it's not. Unless the reporters are from Gaza. I worked at Al Jazeera for almost a decade and none of this was unusual to us. The network doesn't employ Palestinian journalists because it is forced to. They work for Al Jazeera and always have because they are excellent at their jobs. They are the most qualified journalists available to cover the story. It's as simple as that. The fact that a prominent and experienced BBC anchor and many other top Western journalists can't get that through their heads is a problem and says more about their own bias than it does about anyone else's. International journalists are now pushing for Israel to give them access to Gaza, having been barred for the duration of the conflict so far. They should be given that access. But the Western press corps, decked out in khaki chic, shouldn't go to Gaza thinking it is their job to verify the devastation. It's already been verified by the best and bravest journalists we have. The foreign correspondents must acknowledge they are standing on those shoulders, and that Palestinians will always be the authors of their own story. A vigil outside the Fox News and NBC News headquarters in Washington, DC, honouring journalists killed in Gaza. Picture: AFP via Getty Images The evening of that ceasefire announcement, after Anas removed his flak jacket and helmet, he paid tribute to colleagues who had already been killed by Israel: Ismail Al-Ghoul, Rami Al-Rifi, Samir Abu Daqqa, and Hamza Dahdouh. Al-Ghoul, he said, would have been standing in his place reporting this historic moment had he lived. Anas didn't want his friend, or his reporting, to be forgotten. As he stood in Ismail's place, someone will soon stand in his, because Palestinian journalists refuse to be broken and giants like Anas, through their bravery and dedication, provide the blueprint for those who come behind them. That new generation of journalists will remember Anas, Ismail, the Al Jazeera Gaza City crew, and the more than 200 other Palestinian journalists killed by Israel. Without them, we would have been blind. 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