Scores more killed by bombs and starvation in Gaza as Trump vows food aid

Irish Independent

4 days ago

Donald Trump acknowledged 'real starvation' in Gaza as local health officials confirmed at least 14 more Palestinians, including two children, had died from hunger and malnutrition in the besieged territory.
The US president, speaking in Scotland on Monday, vowed the US would set up food centres 'with no fences' to feed the starving Palestinians.
He dismissed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that there was no starvation in Gaza.
Mr Trump added that the US and other nations were already sending aid but urged Netanyahu to ensure it reached those in need. 'I want him to make sure they get the food,' he said.
He also called for an end to the war: 'You have to end it.'
The latest deaths brought the toll from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza to 147, including 88 children, the Gaza health ministry said.
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem labelled the war on Gaza, which has killed over 59,000 people so far, as 'genocide'.
Under mounting pressure over the spiralling hunger crisis in Gaza, Israel said over the weekend that the military would pause operations in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi for 10 hours a day and designate secure routes for aid delivery. International airdrops of aid have also resumed.
Aid agencies say the new measures are not enough to counter worsening starvation in the territory.
Martin Penner, a spokesperson for the U.N. food agency, told The Associated Press that all 55 of its aid trucks that entered on Sunday were unloaded by crowds before reaching their destination. Another U.N. official said nothing on the ground has changed and no alternative routes were allowed.
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Israel said it would continue military operations alongside the new humanitarian measures.
A baby girl died hours after being delivered in a complex emergency cesarean. She had been placed in an incubator and was breathing with assistance from a ventilator, AP footage showed.
Her mother, Soad al-Shaer, who had been seven months pregnant with her, was among 12 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house and neighboring tents in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
Another strike hit a two-story house in Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the hospital. At least five others were killed in strikes elsewhere in Gaza, according to other hospitals.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on most of the strikes. It said it was not aware of one strike in Gaza City during the pause that health officials said killed one person.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. The daily airstrikes across the territory frequently kill women and children.
Images of emaciated children have sparked outrage around the world, including from Israel's close allies. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza 'terrible.'
Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages.
Israel partially lifted those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead on a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. Traditional aid providers have encountered a breakdown in law and order surrounding their deliveries.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid shipments, said U.N. agencies collected 120 trucks for distribution on Sunday and that another 180 trucks had been allowed into Gaza.
The United Nations and aid groups say the territory needs 500-600 trucks a day to meet its needs. Israel's blockade and military operations have destroyed nearly all food production in the territory of roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Also on Monday, two air force planes from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped 17 tons of humanitarian aid in Gaza — an amount that would fill less than a single aid truck.
Aid groups say airdrops are often ineffective and dangerous, with falling parcels landing on people or in combat zones or other dangerous areas.
'At the moment, 2 million people are trapped in a tiny piece of land, which makes up just 12% of the whole strip — if anything lands in this area, people will inevitably be injured,' said Jean Guy Vataux, emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders.
'If the airdrops land in areas where Israel has issued displacement orders, people will be forced to enter militarized zones — once again risking their lives for food,' he added.
The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops are 'expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,' and would not address the crisis.
At least 25 people were killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid from a truck convoy passing through the southern Gaza Strip, according to health officials and witnesses. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Four children were among those killed, according to records at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The shooting occurred in a military corridor Israel has carved out between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. It was not immediately clear who had supplied the convoy.
Survivors at the hospital said Israeli forces had fired toward the crowds. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, according to the U.N. human rights office, witnesses and local health officials.
The Israeli military has said it only fires warning shots at people who approach its forces.
The Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of seven Palestinians who it said were killed by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor. The hospital said 20 others were wounded close to the site. GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fares Awad, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service, said at least five Palestinians were killed and about 30 others were wounded by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid trucks from the Zikim Crossing near Gaza City.
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50, and Israel believes that more than half the remaining hostages are dead. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.