Gaza rescuers say Israel army kills more than 50 people near aid site
The Gaza Strip has been ravaged by more than 20 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, with the situation continuing to deteriorate on the ground amid shortages of food, fuel and clean water.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at least 53 people were killed and some 200 wounded as thousands of Palestinians gathered to receive flour at a World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid centre in the morning.
"Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded," he said.
The Israeli army said it was "aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from (Israeli military) fire following the crowd's approach" in Khan Yunis, and that the details of the incident were "under review".
It said that "a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Yunis, and in proximity to (Israeli) troops operating in the area."
Bassal said that four additional people were killed by Israeli fire Tuesday near the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Chaotic scenes
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and other difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported that as a result of the incident, "51 martyrs and more than 200 injuries have arrived at Nasser Medical Complex, including 20 in critical condition".
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on the Gaza Strip amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths.
The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said Monday that during recent aid distributions several children have been "temporarily separated from their families due to mass movements around militarised distribution points."
Workers raced to restore Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, one of the last remaining functioning health facilities in Gaza's north, an area particularly hard-hit by the war.
They cleared piles of rubble out of the courtyard to make space for ambulances, breaking large chunks of concrete from a collapsed storey with sledgehammers.
Amer Abu Safiya, a patient at the hospital who suffered from a wound on his hand, told AFP there was little doctors could do to help him.
'There's no medication'
"Every day we are being bombed from the north to the south. Al-Ahli Hospital has been destroyed. Medical services are halted. As you can see, there's nothing to wrap around my hand, and there's no medication", he said, holding up his swollen hand while laying down on a makeshift bed in the hospital's backyard.
"We are reactivating the emergency department as well as the physiotherapy. This is important", Alessandro Maracchi, head of the UN Development Program's Gaza's office, told AFP.
OCHA further reported that its humanitarian partners in Gaza "continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity".
The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to official Israeli figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on the territory on March 18 following a truce.
The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
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France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Gaza rescuers say Israel army kills more than 50 people near aid site
The Gaza Strip has been ravaged by more than 20 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, with the situation continuing to deteriorate on the ground amid shortages of food, fuel and clean water. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at least 53 people were killed and some 200 wounded as thousands of Palestinians gathered to receive flour at a World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid centre in the morning. "Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded," he said. The Israeli army said it was "aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from (Israeli military) fire following the crowd's approach" in Khan Yunis, and that the details of the incident were "under review". It said that "a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Yunis, and in proximity to (Israeli) troops operating in the area." Bassal said that four additional people were killed by Israeli fire Tuesday near the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Chaotic scenes Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and other difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported that as a result of the incident, "51 martyrs and more than 200 injuries have arrived at Nasser Medical Complex, including 20 in critical condition". In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on the Gaza Strip amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May. The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths. The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said Monday that during recent aid distributions several children have been "temporarily separated from their families due to mass movements around militarised distribution points." Workers raced to restore Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, one of the last remaining functioning health facilities in Gaza's north, an area particularly hard-hit by the war. They cleared piles of rubble out of the courtyard to make space for ambulances, breaking large chunks of concrete from a collapsed storey with sledgehammers. Amer Abu Safiya, a patient at the hospital who suffered from a wound on his hand, told AFP there was little doctors could do to help him. 'There's no medication' "Every day we are being bombed from the north to the south. Al-Ahli Hospital has been destroyed. Medical services are halted. As you can see, there's nothing to wrap around my hand, and there's no medication", he said, holding up his swollen hand while laying down on a makeshift bed in the hospital's backyard. "We are reactivating the emergency department as well as the physiotherapy. This is important", Alessandro Maracchi, head of the UN Development Program's Gaza's office, told AFP. OCHA further reported that its humanitarian partners in Gaza "continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity". The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to official Israeli figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on the territory on March 18 following a truce. The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
France 24
9 hours ago
- France 24
At least 50 Palestinians killed by Israeli army while waiting for Gaza aid trucks, rescuers say
At least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded in the Gaza Strip while waiting for UN and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and a local hospital. Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an air strike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It did not appear to be related to a new Israeli- and US-supported aid delivery network that rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence. Yousef Nofal, an eyewitness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces opened fire. 'It was a massacre,' he said, adding that the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled from the area. Aren't we human beings? Mohammed Abu Qeshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. 'I survived by a miracle,' he said. The dead and wounded were taken to the city's Nasser Hospital, which confirmed the toll. Samaher Meqdad was at the hospital looking for her two brothers and a nephew who had been in the crowd. 'We don't want flour. We don't want food. We don't want anything,' she said. 'Why did they fire at the young people? Why? Aren't we human beings?' Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate US and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded. In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots at people it said had approached its forces in a suspicious manner. 'New system' Israel says the new system operated by a private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid to fund its militant activities. UN agencies and major aid groups deny there is any major diversion of aid and have rejected the new system, saying it can't meet the mounting needs in Gaza and that it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who has access to aid. Experts have warned of famine in the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians. The UN-run network has delivered aid across Gaza throughout the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, but has faced major obstacles since Israel loosened a total blockade it had imposed from early March until mid-May. UN officials say Israeli military restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it difficult to deliver the aid that Israel has allowed in. Israel's military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
France 24
15 hours ago
- France 24
UK MPs eye decriminalising abortion for women in all cases
Currently, a woman can face criminal charges for choosing to end a pregnancy after 24 weeks or without the approval of two doctors, under laws which technically still carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The issue has gained attention in the UK due to recent court cases. In one a woman was cleared by a jury at trial, while another was released from prison on appeal. A proposal put forward by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi seeks to change the law to ensure that no woman would be committing an offence by terminating her own pregnancy at any time. "Women are currently being arrested from hospital bed to police cell and facing criminal investigations on suspicion of ending their own pregnancy," Antoniazzi told AFP. "My amendment would put a stop to this," she said, adding it was "the right amendment at the right time". Abortion in England and Wales is a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act, passed in 1861 during the Victorian age and which carries carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The Abortion Act 1967 made terminations legal in certain circumstances, including by permitting it up to 23 weeks and six days of gestation if done by an authorised provider. Abortions are allowed in limited circumstances after this time, such as if the mother's life is in danger or there is a "substantial risk" the child could be born with a serious disability. An update to the law introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic allows women to take abortion pills at home up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. In May, Nicola Packer was acquitted after taking prescribed abortion medicine when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, beyond the legal limit of 10 weeks for taking such medication at home. The 45-year-old told jurors during her trial, which came after a four-year police investigation, that she did not realise she had been pregnant for so long. "It was horrendous giving evidence, absolutely awful," she told The Guardian newspaper last month. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has however called the proposed amendment "the greatest threat to unborn babies in decades". 'Optimistic' Antoniazzi's amendment would not change any of the laws regarding the provision of abortion services, including the time limits. And anyone assisting a woman in getting an abortion outside the remits of the law, such as medical practitioners, would still be liable for prosecution. Some 50 organisations, including abortion providers, medical colleges, and women's rights groups, have backed the amendment. They say six women have appeared in court in England charged with ending or attempting to end their own pregnancy outside abortion law in the last three years. Carla Foster was jailed in 2023 for illegally obtaining abortion tablets to end her pregnancy when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant. The Court of Appeal eventually suspended her sentence. Some 140 MPs in the 650-seat parliament have publicly backed the change. It "has widespread support from MPs across the political spectrum and I am optimistic the Commons will support it," said Antoniazzi. Lawmakers will have a free vote, meaning they can decide based on their views, not what their party tells them.
