Latest news with #AbdulAzizAbed
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 39 near two aid centres
Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday (July 19, 2025) that Israeli fire killed 39 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres, in the latest deaths of Palestinians seeking food. Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire. But the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in southern Gaza, attributing the fatalities to 'Israeli gunfire'. One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting. 'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.' Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire. 'Warning shots' In response, the Israeli military said it 'identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops'. Soldiers called for them to turn back and 'after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots', it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties. 'The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre (more than half a mile) away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active,' it said in a statement. GHF said reports of deaths near its sites were 'false'. 'We have repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours,' it wrote on X. Elsewhere, the civil defence agency reported that an Israeli strike on a house near Nuseirat, in central Gaza, killed 12 people, the latest in a series of deadly bombardments. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting, and doctors and aid agencies say they were seeing the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of war, including more acute malnutrition. The World Food Programme said nearly one in three people in Gaza were not eating for days at a stretch and 'thousands' were 'on the verge of catastrophic hunger'. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Saturday said it had enough food for all of Gaza for more than three months but it was stockpiled in warehouses and blocked from being delivered. The free flow of aid into Gaza is a key demand of Hamas in indirect negotiations with Israel for a 60-day ceasefire in the war, alongside a full Israeli military withdrawal. 'Agitators' After a more than two-month Israeli aid blockade, GHF took over the running of aid distribution in late May, despite criticism from the United Nations which previously coordinated handouts, that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. GHF acknowledged for the first time that 20 people died at its Khan Yunis site on Wednesday but blamed 'agitators in the crowd... armed and affiliated with Hamas' for creating 'a chaotic and dangerous surge' and firing at aid-seekers. The previous day, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 'in the vicinity of GHF sites', since it began operating. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory military action has killed 58,765 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Israel kills 32 near two aid centres in Gaza
The deaths are the latest at food distribution points across Gaza. Photo AFP Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israeli fire killed 32 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres, in the latest deaths of Palestinians seeking food. Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire. But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in southern Gaza, attributing the fatalities to "Israeli gunfire". One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when "Israeli soldiers" started shooting. "My relatives and I were unable to get anything," Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. "Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food." Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire. In response, the Israeli military said it "identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops". Soldiers called for them to turn back and "after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots", it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties. "The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre (more than half a mile) away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active," it said in a statement. GHF said reports of deaths near its sites were "false". "We have repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours," it wrote on X. Elsewhere, the civil defence agency reported that an Israeli strike on a house near Nuseirat, in central Gaza, killed 12 people. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting, and doctors and aid agencies say they were seeing the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of war, including more acute malnutrition.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- NZ Herald
Gaza aid crisis: Israeli fire kills 39 near Gaza aid centres, over 100 wounded
'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.' Three other witnesses also accused troops of opening fire. 'Warning shots' In response, the Israeli military said it 'identified suspects who approached them during operational activity in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops'. Soldiers called for them to turn back and 'after they did not comply, the troops fired warning shots', it said, adding that it was aware of the reports about casualties. 'The incident is under review. The shots were fired approximately one kilometre away from the aid distribution site at nighttime when it's not active,' it said in a statement. The GHF said reports of deaths near its sites were 'false'. 'We have repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours,' it wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Elsewhere, the civil defence agency reported that an Israeli strike on a house near Nuseirat, in central Gaza, killed 12 people, the latest in a series of deadly bombardments. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Most people have been displaced at least once by the fighting and doctors and aid agencies say they were seeing the physical and mental health effects of 21 months of war, including more acute malnutrition. The World Food Programme said nearly one in three people in Gaza were not eating for days at a stretch and 'thousands' were 'on the verge of catastrophic hunger'. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, said it had enough food for all of Gaza for more than three months but it was stockpiled in warehouses and blocked from being delivered. The free flow of aid into Gaza is a key demand of Hamas in indirect negotiations with Israel for a 60-day ceasefire in the war, alongside a full Israeli military withdrawal. 'Agitators' After a more than two-month Israeli aid blockade, the GHF took over the running of aid distribution in late May, despite criticism from the United Nations which previously co-ordinated the handouts that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. The GHF acknowledged for the first time that 20 people had died at its Khan Yunis site on Wednesday (local time) but blamed 'agitators in the crowd ... armed and affiliated with Hamas' for creating 'a chaotic and dangerous surge' and firing at aid-seekers. The previous day, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 'in the vicinity of GHF sites', since it began operating. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory military action has killed 58,765 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. – Agence France-Presse
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Gaza civil defence reports 39 killed near aid centres in Israeli fire
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defence agency reported on Saturday that Israeli fire killed 39 people and wounded over 100 near two aid centres in southern Gaza. The deaths occurred near Khan Yunis and Rafah, with witnesses describing chaotic scenes as civilians sought food amid gunfire. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal attributed the fatalities to 'Israeli gunfire.' One witness, Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP he and his relatives went to Al-Tina in Khan Yunis before dawn but only encountered bullets instead of food. Three other witnesses also accused Israeli troops of opening fire. The Israeli military responded by stating it had identified 'suspects' approaching troops in Rafah, posing a threat. Soldiers fired warning shots after calls to turn back were ignored, the military said, adding the incident was under review. The GHF, now the main aid distributor in Gaza, denied reports of deaths near its sites, urging people not to gather overnight. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a house near Nuseirat in central Gaza killed 12, according to the civil defence. The war, triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, has left Gaza in dire humanitarian conditions, with severe malnutrition and aid blockades worsening the crisis. The UNRWA said it had enough food stockpiled for three months but faced delivery restrictions. Hamas demands unrestricted aid flow and an Israeli withdrawal in ceasefire talks. - AFP
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- NZ Herald
Israel-Hamas war: Gaza civil defence says Israeli attacks kill 26 near two aid centres
People carry the bodies of victims who were killed by Israeli bombardment outside Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on July 16, 2025. Photo / AFP Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. People carry the bodies of victims who were killed by Israeli bombardment outside Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on July 16, 2025. Photo / AFP Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres in the south of the Palestinian territory. Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and four near another centre northwest of Rafah, blaming 'Israeli gunfire' for both. One witness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting. 'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.' The Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the claims when contacted by AFP.
