Israeli forces fire on people waiting for aid in Gaza, killing 25, witnesses say
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on the Salah al-Din Road south of Wadi Gaza.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing eastward to be close to the approaching trucks.
'It was a massacre,' said Ahmed Halawa. He said tanks and drones fired at people, 'even as we were fleeing. Many people were either martyred or wounded'.
Hossam Abu Shahada, another eyewitness, said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds first, then there was gunfire from tanks and drones as people were moving eastward.
He described a 'chaotic and bloody' scene as people were attempting to escape.
He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many others wounded as he fled the site.
The Awda hospital said another 146 Palestinians were wounded. Among them were 62 in critical condition, who were transferred to other hospitals in central Gaza, it said.
In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident.
Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The deaths were the latest in Israel-Hamas war in Gaza which killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to the strip's health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than a half of the dead were women and children.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas's October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages.
Most of the hostages were released by ceasefire agreements.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Flags raised by patriotism campaigners removed by London council
A second council has vowed to remove English or British flags that have been attached to lampposts by patriotism campaigners. Tower Hamlets in east London said it would take down the St George's flags 'as soon as possible' after they were put up in recent days as part of the 'Operation Raise the Colours' patriotism campaign that has been gathering momentum online. It come days after Birmingham council ordered the removal of hundreds of Union and St George's flags flying from street lampposts in the city, which were raised in the past fortnight in a 'patriotic outpouring'. The Labour-run authority claimed the flags put the lives of pedestrians and motorists 'at risk' despite being up to 25ft off the ground. But Lee Anderson, the Reform UK MP, was furious, telling The Telegraph: 'This is nothing short of a disgrace and shows utter contempt for the British people.' British or English flags have been raised on streets across England including in Swindon, Bradford, Newcastle and Norwich. Now Tower Hamlets council, which is run by the pro-Gaza Aspire Party, has confirmed it will remove any St George flags from council property including lampposts 'as soon as possible'. A spokesman told The Telegraph: 'We are aware members of the public have been putting up St George's flags on various structures. 'While we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure. 'Where flags are attached to council-owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance.' Lutfur Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, ordered the removal of Palestine flags from council buildings and lampposts in March 2024 after Jewish families said the 'oppressive and intimidating' symbols made them feel unwelcome in the borough for the first time. Critics accused the council of 'two-tier bias' because the Palestine flags were not taken down for months after popping up in the aftermath of the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, accused Tower Hamlets council of 'absurd national loathing'. He told The Telegraph: 'Tower Hamlets council have allowed Palestinian flags to be publicly displayed on lampposts but not the flag of our country. 'This absurd national self-loathing must end. This is yet more two-tier bias against the British people. We must be one country united under the Union flag.' Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, asked: 'Why would we leave [Palestinian flags] up and take down flags that represent one of the countries of the UK?' Critics pointed out that Palestinian flags have flown elsewhere on the streets of the city, where 29.9 per cent of residents are Muslim, since the war in Gaza began in 2023. Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, said our national flags 'are a great source of pride and patriotism', adding that 'they should be flown from as many places as possible as often as possible'. Government guidance first published in 2021 states: 'Flags are a very British way of expressing joy and pride.' It goes on to say that: 'The Government wants to see more flags flown, particularly the Union flag.' The guidance warns however that flags must not 'obscure, or hinder the interpretation of official road, rail, waterway or aircraft signs, or otherwise make hazardous the use of these types of transport'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Israel's military chief says expansion of Gaza offensive imminent
Israel is moving closer to intensifying its war against Hamas in Gaza City, military chief Eyal Zamir said during a visit to troops in the Gaza Strip. The plan for an expanded offensive, which was approved Israel's Security Cabinet earlier this month, foresees the capture of Gaza City and central refugee camps in order to dismantle remaining Hamas strongholds in the war-shattered Palestinian territory. The aim is to possibly take control of the entire Gaza Strip, and could require relocating roughly 1 million Palestinians currently in Gaza City to other parts of the territory. "Soon we will move on to the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots, in which we will continue to enhance the strikes against Hamas in Gaza City until its decisive defeat," the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, using Israel's codename for a ground offensive launched in early May. "The IDF will deploy all its capabilities, on land, in the air, and at sea, in order to strike Hamas decisively," Zamir said in an IDF post on Telegram. Zamir, who the IDF said made the comments during a field tour on Sunday in Gaza, said the military had already achieved many of its objectives in earlier operations: "Hamas no longer possesses the same capabilities it had before the operation; we dealt a severe blow." He added that the military now "bears the moral duty to bring the hostages home, both alive and fallen." During the Islamist Hamas-led massacres on October 7, 2023, militants seized some 250 hostages. Of the roughly 50 hostages still in Gaza, about 20 are believed to be alive. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
State Department Halts Medical Visas For Palestinians
Eight Palestinian children from Gaza named, Rahaf, Ibrahim, Jana, Mustafa, Nasser, Mohammed, Kenan, and Ahmed, arrive at O'Hare International Airport, sponsored by Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), for medical treatment in Chicago, Illinois, USA on December 2, 2024. Credit - Jacek Boczarski—Anadolu via Getty Images The State Department said it would stop issuing visas to Palestinians from Gaza, including to those coming to the United States for humanitarian and medical treatment, following a campaign by far-right political activist Laura Loomer. 'All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,' the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Saturday. The decision will impact several programs that have evacuated dozens of critically injured children from Gaza over the last 21 months, including amputees and severe burn victims. The announcement came just hours after a series of social media posts from Loomer criticizing the medical evacuations of Palestinian children to the U.S. In one post, she shared a video of a child amputee arriving in a wheelchair at Seattle airport for medical treatment, adding: 'The Trump administration needs to shut this abomination down ASAP.' Loomer, who once described herself as a 'proud Islamaphobe' and said 9/11 was an 'inside job,' made false claims in her posts and said she had sent her 'evidence' to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Hours later, the pause was announced. Read more: I Can No Longer Feed Kids in Gaza Rubio told "Face the Nation" on CBS on Sunday that the action came after "outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it." But Loomer quickly took credit for the pause, posting: 'It's amazing how fast we can get results from the Trump administration.' The Palestinian Children Relief Fund (PCRF), a charity that organizes medical evacuations of children to the U.S., said the move will prevent them from providing 'lifesaving medical treatment' for 'critically ill children' from Gaza. 'Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza,' the PCRF said in a statement. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza's health system has been in collapse, and there has been a 'relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza.' The United Nations children's charity, UNICEF, said in July that more than 17,000 children have been killed and 33,000 injured in Gaza in the last 21 months. HEAL Palestine, another charity that organizes evacuations and which was specifically targeted by Loomer in her posts, said this month it has evacuated 63 injured children and 148 total evacuees to the U.S. to receive treatment. Earlier this month, it carried out the largest known evacuation of wounded children from Gaza to the U.S., which included 11 children and their families, most of them for treatment of amputations. HEAL Palestine made it clear on social media that the visas it uses to bring people to the U.S. for treatment were not for resettlement, but for lifesaving care, contrary to Loomer's claims. 'After their treatment is complete, the children and any accompanying family members return to the Middle East. This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' HEAL Palestine said Saturday. The charity added that U.S. tax dollars do not fund the treatment provided to these children. Loomer, a conspiracy theorist with a history of using hate speech to gain attention, has acquired an outsized influence over the White House in President Donald Trump's second term. She has successfully lobbied to remove people from top government roles whom she considers disloyal to the president, including six from the National Security Council, a senior Customs and Border Protection official, and a Food and Drug Administration vaccine official. TIME has contacted the State Department for comment. Contact us at letters@ Solve the daily Crossword
