Israeli missile kills six children collecting water in Gaza
The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp on Sunday, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.
The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall 'dozens of metres from the target'.
'The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians,' it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.
Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centres where they can fill up their plastic containers.
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Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told the Associated Press that about 20 children and 14 adults had been lined up to get water. He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometres to fetch water from the area.
In Nuseirat, a small boy leaned over a body bag to say goodbye to a friend.
'There is no safe place,' resident Raafat Fanouna said as some people went over the rubble with sticks and bare hands
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West Australian
16 minutes ago
- West Australian
At least 36 shot dead near Gaza food site: hospital
At least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip at dawn, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time. Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began. "We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark. "The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident. GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies. On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points. Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned". At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members. The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group. "An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv. "My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
Perth Now
16 minutes ago
- Perth Now
At least 36 shot dead near Gaza food site: hospital
At least 36 people have been killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip at dawn, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time. Gaza Strip resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began. "We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark. "The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident. GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a United Nations-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies. On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in the Gaza Strip - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points. Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned". At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip and 11 of his family members. The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the strip has since killed about 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, although there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are believed to still be alive. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group. "An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv. "My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time".
West Australian
8 hours ago
- West Australian
WA Police establish dedicated hate crime unit to target rise in anti-Semitism and racial hatred
WA Police have established a dedicated hate crime unit to combat rising racial hatred and anti-Semitism across the State. Senior members of Perth's Jewish community say incidents of anti-Semitism have risen 300 per cent since renewed Middle East conflicts — sparked by the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens — in October 2023. The unit is only the second such specialised team to be established by police in Australia. The first was in NSW, which was given a $525,000 boost by the Minns Government this year. WA Police Commander Darren Seivwright on Saturday said there was no place for hate crimes in the State. 'The hate crime team was established in response to growing community concern about hate-related offences,' he said. 'The establishment of this team aligns with national efforts to improve the reporting and response of these crimes. 'Criminal offences that are motivated by an ignorance or prejudice towards people that are different from the offenders have no place in WA. 'WA Police Force are well placed to respond to hate-related offending, and no tolerance will be afforded to the small section of our community who engage in this type of insidious behaviour.' The team provides police with the capability to respond to, and investigate, hate motivated incidents, also working with online operatives from the State Security Investigation Group. The unit uses a myriad of sophisticated tools at their disposal to identify and find people involved, including using automatic number plate recognition where applicable and scouring CCTV and dashcam footage. Since the unit was established in April, five arrests have been made in relation to hate-based crimes, including over an anti-Israel graffiti attack on the WA Parliament in May and a Perth man performing a Nazi salute during a live stream in June this year. Across Australia, there has been a disturbing rise of hate crimes and anti-Semitism. Jewish Community Council of WA president Geoff Midalia said while few reports were made, incidents targeting his community were rife. 'Every week there is a drive-by at a school where somebody winds down the window and takes photos, or somebody drives by a synagogue screaming 'F… the Jews or someone doing a Heil Hitler sign out the window,' he said. 'This is ongoing. It's regular. 'Since October 7, 2023, the increase in anti-Semitism in our community has been around 300 per cent.' Establishment of the hate crime team comes off the back of several measures already taken by the WA Government to address similar incidents. Legislation enacted in March prohibits the public display of Nazi symbols and the Nazi salute. A maximum penalty of five years imprisonment applies. The Cook Government is also introducing a 'post and boast' offence to punish the glorification of illegal and dangerous acts on social media. The new laws will impose penalties of up to three years' jail for circulating such material, including online. The laws will target material on social media that may humiliate, intimidate or victimise a person, increase the reputation or notoriety of the offender, glorify the conduct, or encourage copycat behaviour. Those who don't remove offending material face a year's jail and a $12,000 fine. Offences covered by the legislation will include assaults, stealing and robbery; property damage; dangerous or reckless driving, racial harassment and inciting racial hatred and Nazi symbols and salutes. Premier Roger Cook said on Saturday his government would do all it could to keep the Jewish community safe. 'My government has a strong relationship with Western Australia's Jewish community, and we will continue to work together to keep WA safe,' he said. ''We condemn recent attacks like those on an East Melbourne synagogue that strike fear into the heart of all Western Australians. 'Racism and antisemitism will not be tolerated in WA, and WA Police will use every tactic and measure at its disposal to protect the community and catch the perpetrators. 'Hate crimes have no place in WA and we will do everything to crack down on the cowardly thugs who commit these vile attacks.'
