Israel kills Palestinians queueing for aid again, UN calls for probe
NewsFeed Israel kills Palestinians queueing for aid again, UN calls for probe
'The bread was dipped in blood.' A Palestinian child mourns his mother who was killed when Israeli forces opened fire at an aid distribution point in Rafah, Gaza. More than 100 people have been killed in days of attacks at aid hubs run by the US-Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Live: US blocks UN Gaza ceasefire resolution, Israel pounds southern Strip
Israel has continued to pound the Gaza Strip this morning, killing at least three people in Gaza City's Zeitoun and six in al-Mawasi, in south US vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the only country to do Gaza Humanitarian Foundation extends its closure for a second day, after hundreds of Palestinians were killed and wounded seeking aid at its distribution war on Gaza has killed at least 54,607 Palestinians and wounded 125,341, according to the Health estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive. Update: Date: 1m ago (06:05 GMT) Title: At least 12 killed in Gaza by Israel this morning Content: We are getting reports from our colleagues of an Israeli air strike on a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, south of Gaza City. A medical source at Ahli Hospital said at least three people were killed in the attack. In addition, at least six people were killed in south Gaza's al-Mawasi, when an Israeli drone attacked tents housing displaced people. We will continue to update you on all Israeli attacks on the Strip as the day moves forward. Update: Date: 3m ago (06:03 GMT) Title: A recap of recent developments Content: Update: Date: 6m ago (06:00 GMT) Title: Welcome to our live coverage Content: Thank you for joining our live coverage of Israel's war on Gaza, as well as its attacks on the occupied West Bank and the wider region. Follow this page for continuous updates and analyses of the latest developments. You can read about key events from Wednesday, June 4, here.
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US-backed GHF group extends closure of Gaza aid sites for second day
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a shadowy organisation backed by the United States and Israel – will not immediately resume distributing aid in the war-torn territory after a full-day closure on Wednesday, saying that operations will restart when maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites is complete. In a statement posted on Facebook, the GHF said its 'distribution sites will not open as early as' Thursday morning and that it would 'share information on opening times as soon as work is complete'. The GHF also strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to 'follow the routes' set by the Israeli military to 'ensure safe passage'. The Israeli military warned Palestinians on Wednesday not to approach GHF aid distribution sites while 'reorganisation work' was under way, saying that access roads to those locations would be 'considered combat zones'. Israel's military has not apparently issued any new directive regarding the safety of the GHF distribution sites as they remain closed for a second day. The suspension of GHF's distribution of food supplies in Gaza comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid for a fourth time near a GHF distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, early on Tuesday. The Israeli attack killed at least 27 people and injured about 90 more, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. On Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of aid seekers near the same site in Rafah, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 150, according to Gaza's Civil Defence agency. One person was also shot dead at another aid distribution site, south of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, on the same day. Then, on Monday, three more people were killed and about 30 injured when Israeli forces again opened fire near the GHF's Rafah distribution site. The Israeli military had denied reports its troops shot at civilians near or within the GHF aid distribution site on Sunday, saying its forces only fired warning shots at people who were not using 'designated access routes'. Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin then claimed that soldiers only fired towards people who 'were approaching in a way that endangered' the troops. The GHF, which began chaotic aid distribution operations on May 26, has also labelled reports of aid seekers being killed in large numbers 'outright fabrications', claiming it has yet to see evidence of an attack at or near its facilities. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that it received a 'mass casualty influx of 179 cases' after Sunday's attack, including 21 patients who were 'declared dead upon arrival'. Women and children were among the casualties, the group said, with the majority suffering 'gunshot or shrapnel wounds'. The ICRC has also warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing an 'unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents'. Reports of aid seekers being killed by Israeli forces over recent days have led to international outrage, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths and for 'perpetrators to be held accountable'. The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an 'immediate and independent investigation' into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were 'deeply disturbing', and called Israel's new aid delivery measures 'inhumane'. Israel continues to push ahead with its wider assault on Gaza, with at least 48 people killed in attacks across the Strip on Wednesday, according to Gaza's Civil Defence. Among the casualties were at least 18 people killed in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Khan Younis. At least 54,418 Palestinians have been killed and 124,190 wounded since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, according to statistics from the enclave's Health Ministry. On Wednesday, the United States once again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding unhindered humanitarian aid access across Gaza and an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire'.
Al Jazeera
11 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US vetoes UNSC ceasefire resolution as death, starvation consume Gaza
The United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that called for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as Israeli strikes across the enclave have killed nearly 100 Palestinians in the past 24 hours amid a crippling aid blockade. The US was the only country to vote against the measure on Wednesday while the 14 other members of the council voted in favour. The resolution also called for the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza, but Washington said it was a 'non-starter' because the ceasefire demand is not directly linked to the release of captives. In remarks before the start of the voting, Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea made her country's opposition to the resolution, put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council, painfully clear, which she said 'should come as no surprise'. 'The United States has taken the very clear position since this conflict began that Israel has the right to defend itself, which includes defeating Hamas and ensuring they are never again in a position to threaten Israel,' she told the council. China's Ambassador Fu Cong said Israel's actions have 'crossed every red line' of international humanitarian law and seriously violated U.N. resolutions. 'Yet, due to the shielding by one country, these violations have not been stopped or held accountable.' Al Jazeera's senior political analyst Marwan Bishara noted that the US veto makes it 'so isolated'. 'Clearly there is a gathering storm … with so many countries' that are standing against the US at the UNSC. 'It's only the US that is trying to block this converging and rising current against Israel and what it's doing in Gaza … Israel is not defending itself in Gaza, Israel is defending its occupation and siege in Gaza,' Bishara added. Despite global demands for a truce, Israel has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, insisting Hamas cannot stay in power, nor in Gaza. It has expanded its military assault in Gaza, killing and wounding thousands more Palestinians and maintaining a brutal blockade on the enclave, only allowing a trickle of tightly-controlled aid in where a famine looms. At least 95 Palestinians have been killed on Wednesday and more than 440 injured, according to health officials in Gaza. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said, 'There has been a clear surge of attacks.' He said there were relentless Israeli strikes there in central Gaza and throughout the territory. Meanwhile, Israel's military warned starving Palestinians against approaching roads to the US-backed aid distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying the areas will be 'considered combat zones' while it halted aid for a whole day. That move came after Israeli forces opened fire at aid seekers several times, killing more than 100 Palestinians and injuring hundreds more since the GHF started operating on May 27. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire on crowds that massed before dawn to seek food on Tuesday. Images of starving Palestinians scrambling for paltry aid packages, herded in cage-like lines and then coming under fire have caused global outrage. The Israeli military admitted it shot at aid seekers on Tuesday, but claimed that they opened fire when 'suspects' deviated from a stipulated route. At a hospital in southern Gaza, the family of Reem al-Akhras, who was killed in Israel's mass shooting on Tuesday, mourned her death. 'She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her,' her son Zain Zidan said through tears. Her husband, Mohamed Zidan, said 'every day unarmed people' are being killed. 'This is not humanitarian aid – it's a trap.' The new aid distribution process – currently from just three sites – has been widely criticised by rights groups and the UN, who say it does not adhere to humanitarian principles. They also say the aid model, which uses private US security and logistics workers, militarises aid. Ahead of the UNSC vote, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher again appealed for the UN and aid groups to be allowed to assist people in Gaza, stressing that they have a plan, supplies and experience. 'Open the crossings – all of them. Let in lifesaving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in. Ensure our convoys aren't held up by delays and denials,' Fletcher said in a statement. The UN has long blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for hindering the delivery of aid and its distribution in Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the group vehemently denies, and the World Food Programme says there is no evidence to support that allegation. UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesman James Elder, currently in Gaza, described the 'horrors' he witnessed within just 24 hours. Speaking from al-Mawasi, Elder told Al Jazeera that Gaza's hospitals and streets are filled with malnourished children. 'I'm seeing teenage boys in tears, showing me their ribs,' he said, noting that children were pleading for food. The UNSC has voted on 14 Gaza-related resolutions and approved four since the war began in October 2023. Wednesday's vote was the first since November 2024. Hamas is still holding 58 captives, a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in previous short-lived ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
