Latest news with #BeitLahia
BBC News
26-05-2025
- BBC News
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 24, medics and officials say
At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli air strikes overnight, including a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in central Gaza, according to medics and civil defence strike targeted Fahmi Al-Jargawi School in Gaza City, which had been housing hundreds of displaced people who fled the northern town of Beit Lahia, currently under intense Israeli military assault.A spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said 20 bodies, including children, were recovered from the school - many of them severely burned - after fires engulfed two classrooms turned into living Israeli military has been contacted for comment. "Flames were everywhere. I saw charred bodies lying on the ground," said Rami Rafiq, a resident living across from the school, in a phone call with BBC. "My son fainted when he saw the horrific scene."Video footage shared online showed large fires consuming parts of the school, with graphic images of severely burned victims, including children, and survivors suffering critical reports said among the dead was Mohammad Al-Kasih, the head of investigations for the Hamas police in northern Gaza, along with his wife and before the school strike, another Israeli air strike hit a home in central Gaza City, killing four more people, the Hamas-run health ministry twin attacks are part of a broader Israeli offensive that has escalated in the northern part of the enclave over the past week. On Friday, an Israeli strike on the home of a Palestinian doctor in Gaza killed nine of her 10 children. Dr Alaa al-Najjar's 11-year-old son was injured, along with her husband, Hamdi al-Najjar, who is in critical nine children - Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra - were aged between just a few months old and 12. The Israeli military has said the incident is under review. Meanwhile, the Red Cross said two of its staff were killed in a strike on their home in Khan Younis on killing of Ibrahim Eid, a weapon contamination officer, and Ahmad Abu Hilal, a security guard at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah "points to the intolerable civilian death toll in Gaza", the ICRC said, repeating its call for a ceasefire. On Sunday, the head of a controversial US and Israeli-approved organisation that sought to use private firms to deliver aid to Gaza resigned. In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, executive director Jake Wood said it had become apparent that plans to set up distribution hubs would not meet the "humanitarian principles" of independence and imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March that lasted 11 weeks before it allowed limited aid to enter the territory in the face of warnings of famine and mounting international military body Cogat said on Saturday morning that 388 trucks carrying aid had entered Gaza since Monday. The UN says much more aid - between 500 to 600 trucks a day - is 20 countries and organisations met in Madrid on Sunday to discuss ending the war in Gaza. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called for an arms embargo on Israel if it did not stop its launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 53,939 people, including at least 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
No One Spared: How Gazans Struggle to Find Food
As the clock strikes noon, Waheed Abu Sabeeh calls out to his seven-year-old daughter, Bisan, handing her a small pot and urging her to hurry. Just a few dozen meters from their tent, a charitable kitchen offers a lifeline: a single serving of cooked food in Gaza's al-Shati (Beach) refugee camp. Abu Sabeeh, 47, was displaced from his home in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. He now lives with his wife and five children in a makeshift tent no larger than four square meters, pitched near an UNRWA school-turned-shelter in western Gaza City. Like thousands of others driven from their homes by war and poverty, Abu Sabeeh has little to feed his family. 'We survive on what the charity kitchen gives us,' he says, his voice weary. 'If it weren't for them, my children would sleep hungry.' Each day, Bisan, who should be in a classroom, joins a long queue of women, children, and men, clutching empty containers. The charity serves up modest portions of lentils, beans, peas, or rice, around 400 grams per person, with no extras. For nearly 90 minutes each day, sometimes even longer, seven-year-old Bisan waits in line under the sun, clutching a small pot outside a charity tent in Gaza's al-Shati refugee camp. On other days, she heads out early, hoping to beat the crowds. 'I go get the food to help my family eat because we have nothing at home,' she says in a soft, innocent voice. The food she brings back rarely stretches beyond one modest meal. On days when the kitchen runs out, the family makes do with bits of zaatar or hummus, sometimes without even bread. Her father used to run a small children's goods shop in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. But Israeli airstrikes destroyed his store and home nearly a year ago, leaving him and his family with nothing but a tent and the daily uncertainty of survival. 'Bisan waits for hours to bring back just a few spoonfuls,' the father told Asharq Al-Awsat. 'Sometimes she comes back empty-handed. Sometimes she gets caught in fights with other children, all pushing for food.' According to Bisan's dad, her behavior has changed. 'She's louder now, more aggressive,' he said. 'She pushes to the front. She shouts. She's learned that if she doesn't fight for it, she might not eat.' In Gaza, Mothers Wait Hours for a Ladle of Lentils Every day, 51-year-old Faten al-Masri clutches a cooking pot and joins a long line of people hoping to receive a small portion of lentils or rice from a charity kitchen in Gaza's devastated al-Rimal neighborhood. Originally from Beit Hanoun in the north, al-Masri and her 13-member family have been living in a tent for months, displaced by war. With no flour available, they eat whatever the kitchen provides, often without bread or any other accompaniment. 'Some days, I wait more than three hours just to get a little food,' she told Asharq Al-Awsat, her voice heavy with exhaustion. 'There's no flour, no extras. Just whatever they're offering. That's all we have.' Despite her chronic diabetes and the pain of standing for long periods, al-Masri says she has no choice but to endure the wait. 'My children are busy - one fetching water, another looking for something else,' she said. 'I go because I must. I'm sick, but I can't let my family go hungry. We have nothing.' Her words echo the desperation felt across the Gaza Strip, where hunger, displacement, and the collapse of basic services have forced even the elderly and infirm to queue for survival. Charity kitchens across Gaza - once a critical lifeline for displaced families - are now buckling under mounting pressure, with some scaling back portions and others halting operations entirely, Asharq Al-Awsat has observed. Once able to feed hundreds daily, several kitchens have begun rationing the limited supplies they receive. Others have shuttered altogether, unable to keep up with the soaring demand and dwindling resources. These kitchens are operated by a mix of international organizations, UN agencies, Arab charities, and local youth-led initiatives. But aid workers warn the situation is spiraling into what they describe as 'more than catastrophic,' as war, displacement, and a deepening blockade leave thousands at risk of starvation. Ali Matar, who helps run a charity kitchen in western Gaza, an area now crammed with displaced families from the north, says the food crisis is reaching a breaking point. 'There's a clear shortage of canned goods, rice, lentils, and other staples,' Matar told Asharq Al-Awsat. 'Suppliers are running out, and that's severely affecting our ability to cook and distribute meals. Hunger is tightening its grip on Gaza.' The soaring cost of what little food remains, such as beans, peas, and rice, is making it increasingly difficult for donors to sustain operations. Matar said the strain is pushing some humanitarian groups to shut down their kitchens entirely, as their storage shelves lie empty. 'Some of the Arab-funded and charitable organizations are now pooling resources just to keep cooking,' he said. 'But if this crisis isn't addressed soon, the consequences will be catastrophic. We could see dozens dying of hunger every week.' Under mounting international pressure to halt its military campaign in Gaza and allow aid in, Israel recently said it would permit the entry of 'essential' humanitarian supplies. Aid groups, however, say the announcement comes too late with assistance blocked since March 2 and needs growing exponentially.
LBCI
22-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Israeli army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia. The army said in an Arabic-language statement that it was "operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations in the mentioned regions". A similar warning for northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire. AFP
Arab News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia. The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was 'operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations' there. A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire. It said that one 'projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted' by the air force. It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory. Israel has ramped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas. The territory's civil defense agency said Israeli attacks had killed at least 19 people on Thursday.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Gaza health system 'stretched beyond breaking point', WHO warns
Intensified Israeli ground operations and new evacuation orders are stretching Gaza's health system beyond breaking point, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Indonesian, Kamal Adwan and al-Awda hospitals in the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia were inside an evacuation zone announced on Tuesday. Another two hospitals are within 1km (0.6 miles) of Adwan was out of service due to hostilities nearby and the Indonesian hospital was inaccessible because of the presence of Israeli forces around it, he hospital is still functioning, but its director told the BBC on Wednesday that it was "totally under siege". "Nobody can move out and we can't receive any cases from outside the hospital," Dr Mohammed Salha added that there was a quadcopter drone "shooting in the surroundings of the hospital and the outdoor area of the hospital"."We also hear shooting from the tanks... maybe 400 or 500 metres [away]."Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it was "operating in the area against terror targets", but that it was "not aware of any siege on the hospital itself".Dr Tedros said: "Even if health facilities are not attacked or forced to evacuate, hostilities and military presence obstruct patients and staff from accessing care, and WHO from resupplying hospitals, which can quickly make them non-functional.""We've seen this too many times - it must not be allowed to happen again." Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also said that at least 20 medical facilities across Gaza had been damaged, or forced partially or completely out of service, in the past week by Israeli ground operations, air strikes and evacuation charity demanded that Israeli authorities stop what it called the "deliberate asphyxiation of Gaza and the annihilation of its healthcare system".Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release its remaining 58 hostages, up to 23 of whom are believed to be several days of intense bombardment, the IDF launched an expanded offensive on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would see ground forces "take control of all areas" of Gaza. The plan reportedly includes completely clearing the north of civilians and forcibly displacing them to the than 600 people have been killed and 2,000 injured across Gaza over the past week, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The UN says tens of thousands of people have been newly also said Israel would allow a "basic" amount of food into Gaza to prevent a famine. But the UN has so far been unable to collect the dozens of lorry loads of supplies allowed in since said the volume of aid allowed in so far was not nearly enough, describing it as "a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over". On Tuesday, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories said he had recently returned from Gaza and witnessed how the health system was facing attacks and acute shortages of supplies."Every time you get into Gaza you always think it cannot get worse. But it gets worse," Dr Rik Peeperkorn told reporters in described how al-Awda hospital was "overwhelmed with injuries" and running low on supplies. Hostilities had damaged the facility, disrupted access and deterred people from seeking healthcare, he said the Indonesian hospital was barely functioning, almost inaccessible, and that most patients had left last week after a staff member was killed, one patient was injured and the facility was damaged during intensified 15 people, including patients and staff, were still inside the hospital as of Tuesday, urgently in need of food and water, he hospital's generator was also struck by an Israeli quadcopter on Monday night, causing a large fire and a blackout, according to MER-C Indonesia, the NGO that built the Wednesday, a woman inside the hospital told the BBC by telephone that two of the patients were in a "serious condition".In the background of the call, crashes could be heard."Five minutes ago, there was intense shooting in the surroundings of the hospital," she said, adding that she could see woman also said that they still had supplies of food inside the hospital, but were "facing a water crisis".The IDF told the BBC it was operating in the area around the hospital and targeting "terrorist infrastructure sites", but that it was not targeting the hospital itself. In another incident on Tuesday, a paramedic said his ambulance was shot at by an Israeli drone while he was transporting staff and food between al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Sadeh said he was with another ambulance when bullets hit both vehicles' windshields. Nobody was Salha shared photos of the ambulances and confirmed that Mr Sadeh was unable to return to al-Awda because of the threat of Israeli BBC supplied details of the allegations and photos to the IDF, but it said it "could not confirm" the and medical personnel are specially protected under international humanitarian only lose that protection in certain circumstances. They include being used as a base from which to launch an attack, as a weapons depot, or to hide healthy IDF has insisted that its forces operate in accordance with international law. In most instances where it has attacked hospitals, it has said they were being used improperly by Hamas - an allegation the group has denied. In the southern city of Khan Younis, the European hospital - the only facility providing neurosurgery, cardiac care and cancer treatment in Gaza - has been out of service since 13 day, the hospital's courtyard and surrounding area was hit by a series of Israeli air strikes that Israel's defence minister said targeted an underground bunker where the head of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Sinwar, was hiding. Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said the attack killed at least 28 people, but it is not clear yet whether Sinwar facility has also been inside an Israeli-designated evacuation zone covering almost the entire eastern half of Khan Younis since Tedros said Nasser, al-Amal and al-Aqsa hospitals, as well as one field hospital, were within 1km of the zone. Dr Victoria Rose, a British surgeon working at Nasser hospital, said in a video posted on social media on Wednesday that she was very worried about the facility being evacuated or cut off by an Israeli troops advance from al-Aqsa, which in the central town of Deir al-Balah."If we get cut off from the Middle Area, there really are no other hospitals around us that could cope with the evacuation of Nasser," she explained."We have some amazing field hospitals... but none of them are capable of doing the type of surgery that we're doing here. And none of them have ICU capacity or generated oxygen. So, even all of them together couldn't cope with the amount of patients that we have."She warned: "If Nasser is evacuated, we really are looking at the imminent death of hundreds of patients because we won't be able to take them anywhere." Nasser was also hit by an Israeli strike on 13 May, killing two people including a Palestinian journalist who was being treated for injuries he sustained in a previous strike on a tented camp at the complex. The attack also destroyed 18 beds in a burns unit, according to the IDF accused the journalist of being a Hamas operative and alleged that the hospital was being used by the group to "carry out terrorist plots".Another strike on Monday severely damaged Nasser's medical warehouse and destroyed critical WHO supplies, according to the hospital's Shaath, a pharmacist from Khan Younis who has been told by the IDF to evacuate and head to camps in the coastal al-Mawasi area, told the BBC in a voice note: "I have not left my house until now because I haven't found any place to set up my tent.""The humanitarian situation is very serious - no water, no food, no fuel. The shelling is hitting everywhere," she launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 53,655 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,509 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the territory's health ministry.
