'We know we might get killed, yet we still go there to get flour'
According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food aid over the past two months.It says at least 766 of them have been killed in the vicinity of one of the GHF's four distribution centres, which are operated by US private security contractors and are located inside Israeli military zones. Another 288 people have been reported killed near UN and other aid convoys.Israel has accused Hamas of instigating the chaos near the aid sites. It says its troops have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot civilians.The GHF says the UN is using "false" figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
British paramedic Sam Sears said the UK-Med hospital in the coastal al-Mawasi was seeing approximately 2,000 patients a month in its emergency department, many of them injured while seeking aid."We have patients that have sustained gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds, have leg amputations, have gunshot wounds to the chest, which have caused punctured lungs, and so on," he added, as he walked through the inpatient ward.Dr Aseel Horabi, a Palestinian medic who has been working at the hospital for almost a year, has herself had to go to the deadly aid sites, calling it a "path to death"."My husband went once [or] twice and then got shot and that was it! If we are to die from hunger, let it be," she said."I see the injured people who come to the hospital in big numbers. We sometimes receive up to 50 injured a day. During the day, we don't have any time to close our eyes and have some rest, or even drink a cup of tea."
Dr Horabi, who lives in a nearby tent with her family because her home in Rafah was destroyed, said she had not eaten for a day."I bought a kilogram of potatoes and [it] cost me 120 [shekels] ($36; £27). Prices are not normal. It's hard to secure stuff. You could spend a $100 a day for just one meal!""Here at the hospital, currently they don't offer any meals. If they have meals, they give in small amounts to the patients," she added. "We have to deal with hungry patients and we, too, are hungry."She said she was dealing with patients who were drained both physically and psychologically."We have come to a disastrous situation. It's not that we are close to famine, we are living it," she warned. "The world is listening and watching but silent."She added: "We don't have time to think about sadness because we are thinking about what to eat, bread, what to cook tomorrow, and how to get to the hospital."
On Wednesday, over 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups accused Israel of imposing a "siege" on Gaza, causing mass starvation through restricting goods entering Gaza.When asked to comment, the World Health Organization's executive director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Mass starvation means starvation of a large proportion of a population, and a large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving.""It's man-made. And that's very clear. This is because of the blockade."He added: "[More than 1,000] people have died while trying to feed themselves. If they're not starving, imagine [why they're] risking their lives."Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the armed group to release its remaining Israeli hostages.Although the blockade was partially eased after almost two months, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, the shortages of food, medicine and fuel have worsened.The WHO says a quarter of the 2.1 million population is facing famine-like conditions, and that almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says at least 45 people have died as a result of malnutrition since Sunday, including two who died over the last 24 hours.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, reject the accusation that it is imposing a siege and is responsible for any malnutrition cases."In Gaza today, there is no famine caused by Israel. There is, however, a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas," government spokesman David Mencer told a briefing on Wednesday."Now, too often the full story is not being told. This suffering exists because Hamas has created it."Mencer said more than 4,400 lorry loads of aid had entered Gaza over the past two months, but that about 700 lorry loads were waiting for collection at two crossing points for collection by the UN and its humanitarian partners."This is a bottleneck which has been caused by the United Nations, and it's the main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza," he added.However, UN agencies have said that it is nearly impossible to co-ordinate safe passage for their convoys with Israeli troops, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of a rapidly expanding starvation that is reaching every family in Gaza.
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BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Swansea doctor's 'helpless' wait to hear from family in Gaza
A doctor says he feels "helpless" as he waits to hear from his elderly father and sister in war-torn Gaza. Dr Ahmed Sabra, who lives in Swansea, has not spoken to his family for close to two weeks, and said they were struggling to find medicine for his niece, who has type 1 diabetes. The UN believes there is mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation in Gaza, and blames the crisis on Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory. In response Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar admitted the situation in Gaza was "tough" but it was a "lie" that Israel was deliberately starving the population. He added Hamas was responsible for what he called "this tough reality".The UN reported at least 63 malnutrition-related deaths in July. Cardiologist Dr Sabra, who was born in the territory but now lives in Sketty, Swansea, with his wife and children, said he was "very emotional" when he last spoke to his 75-year-old father."It was the first time when he told me it's very difficult and there isn't enough food," he said. "He lost 30kg (4st 10lbs) since the start of all this, and he is now almost skin and bone, which is difficult for me as a doctor. I cannot help my own family." He said he mostly speaks to his relatives over WhatsApp, but hearing from them was a "waiting game" because of unreliable connections. "The internet network cover is very bad, sometimes you can't even call. "One of the most difficult times is when there's a total blackout, which did happen a few times. Then you don't know anything."He said he found it "unfair" that his father was living in the war-torn territory."He's somebody who worked really hard all his life and was helping the needy and the poor. And now he is in this situation where he's struggling to find clean water." Dr Sabra's sister has 12-year old twins, and one of the girls has type 1 diabetes. He said in one of the last messages he received from his sister, she told him the only insulin she managed to find was expired."Last week, she sent another message, telling me her daughter's blood sugar was very low and she was just running in the street, shouting for anyone who has any sugar. "A neighbour gave her a small container of sugar, which she managed to give to her daughter. So even basic things, it doesn't exist anymore." He added: "My sister told me that starving is a hundred times worse than being bombed and killed at once, because she is seeing her children starving and she can't provide for them. "A kilo of flour is 200 times more expensive than what it was a year ago."BBC Wales spoke to Dr Sabra after he fled Gaza in 2023, shortly after the current war was visiting his family when Hamas led an attack at a music festival and several villages in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. More than 1,100 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel launched a military campaign in response shortly this week Hamas released the footage of hostage Evyatar David, 24, looking emaciated and weak, drawing strong condemnation from Israel and Western leaders. He is among 49 hostages who Israel says are still being held in Gaza. This includes 27 hostages who are believed to be Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said more than 60,000 people have been killed in the territory since October 2023. When the conflict broke out Dr Sabra was stranded in Gaza for six weeks. He said the five-storey home his family were renting was bombed and and his family travelled to the Rafah crossing, close to the border with Egypt to wife and children were able to cross, but he was turned away because his name was left off a list of British nationals. Four days later his name was added, and he was able to get out. He said hearing of family and friends dying was frustrating and difficult to deal with as he was unable to treat them. "Working in a hospital in the NHS, I deal with death and dying people. But the difficult thing with what's going on in Gaza is just the unknown and you don't have closure," he said."Every day when I hold the phone and open it my fear is I will lose another member of my family."I feel guilty when we eat something, when I know that my family and two million other people are starving."He said "hundreds" of members of his extended family had been killed in Gaza."My wife's nephew, who was killed in February 2024, when he went to get a bag of flour for his family, he was shot in the pelvis and even paramedics were not allowed to come and rescue him. He bled to death."Your loved ones sometimes will be killed, and you don't even know if they've been killed or not. They will just vanish."Referencing the recent casualties at aid centres set up by the Israeli Defence Force in northern Gaza, Dr Sabra said: "Many people are killed at so called aid humanitarian centres, which in Gaza is called, the death trap." BBC Wales has approached the Israeli Embassy in London for a response. Israeli government spokespeople have previously insisted there were no restrictions on aid deliveries and maintained there was "no starvation" and has repeatedly accused Hamas of stealing aid. They have also denied targeting aid distribution centres during attacks.
Leader Live
8 hours ago
- Leader Live
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some two million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he was not aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel'. At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced towards them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the two hospitals. The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is 'an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law'. The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF called their statement 'disgraceful', and urged the UN and other aid groups to work with it 'to maximise the amount of aid being securely delivered to the Palestinian people in Gaza'. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windscreens of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
South Wales Guardian
10 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some two million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he was not aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel'. At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced towards them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the two hospitals. The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is 'an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law'. The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windscreens of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
