Israeli strikes killed Gaza aid protectors, say Hamas
Many trucks have been held up at the Kerem Shalom crossing. (AP pic)
CAIRO : Israeli airstrikes killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters, Hamas officials said on Friday, underlining the problems hindering supplies from reaching hungry people in Gaza following Israel's 11-week-long blockade.
The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday. But, getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful.
So far, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said, 119 aid trucks have entered Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday in the face of an international outcry. But, distribution has been hampered by looting by groups of men, some of them armed, near the city of Khan Younis, the network said.
'They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger,' the network said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli airstrikes on security teams protecting the trucks.
A Hamas official said six members of a security team tasked with guarding the shipments were killed. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The aid groups network also said the amount of aid coming into Gaza was still inadequate and only included a narrow range of supplies. It said Israel's agreement to allow trucks to enter the war-shattered enclave was a 'deceptive manoeuvre' to avoid international pressure calling for the lifting of the blockade.
'Desperation'
The UN world food programme said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted.
'Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity,' WFP said in a statement, calling on Israel to get far greater volumes of food into Gaza faster, more consistently and safely.
'As WFP has said previously, two million people are facing extreme hunger and famine without immediate action,' it added.
So far, Israel says it has allowed around 300 trucks to enter Gaza, a fraction of the number that aid groups say would be needed to relieve hunger among the population. But, many of the trucks have been held up at the Kerem Shalom crossing and not yet reached people in need, and there has been mounting international pressure to get supplies in more quickly.
A German government spokesperson said the aid was 'far too little, too late and too slow,' adding that delivery of supplies had to be increased significantly.
The Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. Palestinian medical services said at least 25 people had been killed in the strikes.
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid intended for civilians, shortly before breaking a two-month-old ceasefire after the two sides deadlocked on terms for extending it.
Hamas has rejected the accusation and says many of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from looters.
Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants' cross-border attack on Oct 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people by Israeli tallies and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.
The Israeli campaign has since killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Still starving in Gaza
FOR Abdelhalim Awad, who runs a bakery in the central Gaza Strip, the hope of food arriving for hungry Palestinians was like the endless reports of an approaching ceasefire: constantly rumoured to be just around the corner yet always out of reach. Weeks after Israel announced that it would ease its blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, little of the desperately needed food, fuel, and medicine has reached hungry Palestinians. Dozens of trucks ferrying supplies have crossed into Gaza at the Israeli-controlled border crossing of Kerem Shalom, according to Israel. But they were only be a dent in the daily hunger that has become widespread in Gaza under the Israeli blockade. 'Even if we get some flour today, it seems we won't have anything close to what's needed to feed people,' Awad said. In the meantime, Palestinians reeling from Israel's almost three-month ban on food, fuel, and other supplies have been left waiting. 'Today we will mostly eat lentils or pasta,' Riyadh al-Housari, a 25-year-old in Gaza City, said in a phone interview. 'We eat one meal in the late afternoon. It is one meal, and there is no other.' Israel's blockade has rendered the situation so dire that Palestinians in Gaza are at 'critical risk of famine', a panel of United Nations-backed experts said in May. They projected that tens of thousands of children could suffer from acute malnutrition if the restrictions continue. Israel argued the report was based on faulty data and assumptions. The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has ignited growing international opprobrium against the Israeli campaign against Hamas. Even Israel's allies – which offered vigorous support after the Hamas-led Oct 7, 2023, attacks started the war – have voiced frustration and even anger over the conflict and its cost to ordinary Palestinians. Last month, Britain, France, and Canada denounced the Israeli blockade and planned ground offensive in unusually stark and harsh terms, labelling them 'disproportionate' and 'egregious'. The British government said it was suspending negotiations on expanding the countries' free-trade agreement in protest. The newly anointed pope, Leo XIV, has also joined the chorus calling for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip. He described the situation as 'increasingly worrying and painful' and urged 'the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the international criticism and reiterated his threat of a huge escalation of the war in Gaza. He described the coming ground offensive as the final and decisive blow against Hamas, adding that by the end of it, 'all of Gaza's territory will be under Israeli security control'. The Israeli ban on humanitarian aid began in early March, as the initial phase of a two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended. Both sides were supposed to be negotiating the next steps in the truce. Israeli officials argued the restrictions aimed to pressure Hamas to compromise. The impact on ordinary people in Gaza is immense: Aid organisations suspended their operations as food stockpiles dwindled, and the price of food skyrocketed. In late March, Israel ended the truce with a massive bombardment and resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. By May, relief officials were warning that widespread hunger had become a daily reality. But for weeks, Israel refused to allow aid agencies to resume operations unless they agreed to new Israeli conditions, purportedly to prevent supplies from falling into Hamas' hands. Israeli leaders publicly insisted that Gaza still had plentiful stockpiles of food. But behind closed doors, some military officials privately concluded that Palesti-nians there could face starvation within weeks. Even the United States – one of Israel's most stalwart supporters throughout the conflict – began suggesting that the humanitarian crisis was spiralling out of control. Even US President Donald Trump said that 'a lot of people are starving' in the Gaza Strip and that the United States was working to alleviate the situation. After those comments by Trump, Israeli authorities relented, announcing that they would begin allowing in small amounts of food. On June 4, however, US vetoed a United Nations security council resolution calling for an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire' in Gaza while the 14 remaining countries on the council voted in favour. Meanwhile, the US backed Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has paused food distribution after soldiers opened fire on Palestinians trying to get some of the aid. With new aid slow to arrive, many in Gaza are trying to make whatever provisions they have last as long as possible. 'We don't plan meals anymore,' said Sabah Abu al-Roos, 63, in the central city of Deir al-Balah. 'We just work with whatever we can find.' Produce like eggplants and tomatoes is often hawked at eye-watering prices, according to several Palestinians. Iman Jundiyeh, a mother of four in Gaza City, said she could only dream of the regular meals she used to enjoy before the war: fragrant sliced lamb; chicken, potatoes and rice; and maftoul, a kind of Palestinian couscous. She now relies almost exclusively on soup kitchens run by charities that still manage to stew pots of lentils and other staples for crowds of displaced Palestinians. Everything else is either unavailable or too expensive, she said. 'Just yesterday, my son begged me for watermelon,' Jundiyeh said. 'I started to cry with him.' – 2025 The New York Times Company This article was first published on The New York Times.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand 'deeply saddened' by death of Gaza hostage, says foreign ministry
Image from The Nation Thailand/ANN BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday it was "deeply saddened" by the death of a Thai hostage in Gaza whose body was retrieved by Israeli forces. Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said in a video statement the ministry "is deeply saddened to announce that today, the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv was informed by a representative of the Israeli government that Mr Nattapong Pinta, the last Thai hostage, has been confirmed dead." An Israeli military statement, which gave his name as Natthapong Pinta, said on Saturday its forces retrieved his body from the Rafah area of southern Gaza. It said he was taken alive as a hostage during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and "was murdered while in captivity". The Israeli military statement blamed the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. Nikorndej said Nattapong was one of three Thais held hostage in Gaza. The other two were confirmed dead in 2024 but Nikorndej said Israel has "not yet been able to retrieve their corpses". He said the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv has contacted Nattapong's family to inform them and would work with the Israeli side to return his body to Thailand as soon as possible. Nikorndej said the ministry "expresses its deepest condolences to Nattapong's family". - AFP
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Hamas armed wing says Israeli army besieged location of hostage Matan Zangauker
CAIRO: The spokesperson of Hamas's armed wing said on Saturday that the Israeli army besieged the location where Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker was held in Gaza. The Israeli army would not be able to retrieve him alive, he said.
