59 Palestinians in Gaza are killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
Sumaya al-Sha'er's 17-year-old son, Nasir, was killed, hospital officials said.
'He said to me, 'Mom, you don't have flour and today I'll go and bring you flour, even if I die, I'll go and get it,'' she said. 'But he never came back home.'
Until then, she said, she had prevented the teenager from going to GHF sites because she thought it was too dangerous.
Witnesses, health officials and U.N. officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward GHF distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The GHF denies there has been violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations the foundation denied.
In a separate effort, the U.N. and aid groups say they struggle to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.
The first fuel — 150,000 liters — entered Gaza this week after 130 days, a joint statement by U.N. aid bodies said, calling it a small amount for the 'the backbone of survival in Gaza.' Fuel runs hospitals, water systems, transport and more, the statement said.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war and abducted 251. Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
A Palestinian-American killed in the West Bank
Friends and relatives paid their respects a day after Palestinian-American Seifeddin Musalat and local friend Mohammed al-Shalabi were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Musalat was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on his family's land, his cousin Diana Halum told reporters. The settlers then blocked paramedics from reaching him, she said.
Musalat, born in Florida, was visiting his family home. His family wants the U.S. State Department to investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it was aware of the reports of his death but had no comment out of respect for the family.
A witness, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid Israeli retaliation, said the settlers descended on Palestinian lands and 'started shooting at us, beating by sticks and throwing rocks.'
Israel's military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area earlier on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation.
Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence, which has spiked — along with Palestinian attacks and Israeli military raids — since the war in Gaza began.
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