Latest news with #IsraeliArmy
France 24
2 hours ago
- General
- France 24
Gunfire during aid distribution in Gaza: 'I never want to go back there'
Early in the morning of July 20, Ahmed Abou Askar, a 25-year-old resident of Gaza City, walked five kilometres to the northwestern neighbourhood of Zikim. Ahmed, as well as hundreds of other civilians who did the same, were praying to get a bag of flour from the food distribution centre there. 'I nearly died' But Ahmed told our team that once he got to the food distribution site, he encountered a 'scene out of a film'. 'I found out from my cousin that aid trucks might be coming to Zikim, so we walked the five kilometres to get there. At first, I was reluctant to go get food aid in this way, which I found humiliating, but we had no food left at home. You have to walk for kilometres, carrying a 25-kilo bag of flour, which you got in the middle of a packed crowd gathered in front of a row of tanks. There is nothing more humiliating than that. As soon as the trucks filled with flour arrived, the Israeli army just started shooting hysterically. Even the tanks fired. A person next to me was killed, and I almost died.' 'I have absolutely nothing to feed seven people' Ahmed says that hundreds of people go to Zikim every day, even when there's been no news of an aid truck arriving, just hoping to get a bag of flour. For months, Gazans have been living under a near-total blockade. The markets are practically empty, and what is left is prohibitively expensive. Before the war, Ahmed had just obtained a degree in civil engineering. Alongside his studies, he also ran a little business refurbishing broken electronic devices and then reselling them. He is no longer working. He says he lives with his parents, his sister-in-law, and his brother's four children in a house that regularly has no running water or electricity. He also says his sister, her husband, and their two daughters were killed early in the war in November 2023. 'Sometimes I go to the market, but a kilo of flour costs more than 30 dollars [Editor's note: around € 26]. Sometimes we have nothing at all. We try to get by with just one meal a day, but that can cost up to 200 dollars with seven people in my family [Editor's note: more than € 180.] At the market, you can sometimes find aubergines or tomatoes, but they cost more than 50 shekels the kilo [Editor's note: around € 13]. Rice is 95 shekels the kilo [Editor's note: around € 25]. And often, there is just nothing for sale at all. Most of the time, the markets are empty. And when there is nothing, we eat nothing. Right now, there is nothing left to eat. I have absolutely nothing to feed seven people. It's been four days since we last ate.' Ahmed Abou Askar, a young man from Gaza An attack confirmed by the World Food Programme In a statement posted on July 20 on the official X account of the World Food Programme (WFP), the aid programme confirmed that one of its convoys was targeted shortly after passing the final checkpoint beyond the Zikim crossing point. 'As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,' the statement reads. 'We are deeply concerned and saddened by this tragic incident resulting in the loss of countless lives,' the WFP says. 'These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation.' 'Today's violent incident comes despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve; including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes,' the WFP added. The statement calls for an immediate halt to shootings near convoys and food distributions, reiterating that 'any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable'. At least 99 deaths according to local authorities At least 99 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the incident, according to a count by Gaza's health ministry published on July 21. Photos taken by Gazan photographer Ali Jadallah, who works for the Turkish press agency Anadolu, show wounded people being transported to hospitals, carried by civilians or overwhelmed emergency workers. Response from the Israeli army Our team contacted the Israeli army to ask about the shots fired at unarmed civilians in Zikim. The Israeli army said that they had fired "warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat' during a 'gathering of thousands of Gazans in the northern Gaza Strip'. The army said that it was still examining the details of the incident, but did not give any more information. It claimed that it 'certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks'. The Israeli army also told FRANCE 24 that its forces are "operating in a complex environment against the Hamas terrorist organisation, which seeks to create friction, endangering both the civilians of Gaza and IDF troops, and disrupts the delivery of humanitarian aid". 'I never want to go back to the aid trucks' Ahmed Abou Askar says that after his experience in Zikim, he has lost all faith in international aid. 'I never want to go back to the aid trucks. Even if my cousin or someone else calls me to say that they are here, I won't go." A hundred humanitarian organisations came together on Wednesday, July 23, to say that "mass starvation" was spreading across Gaza. In their statement, the NGOs, including Médecins Sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, Amnesty International and Oxfam said: "Massacres at food distribution sites in Gaza are occurring near-daily. As of July 13, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points.'
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Israel will allow foreign countries to drop aid into Gaza from Friday, army radio says
Israeli army radio citing a military official reported that Israel would allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza starting on Friday. An Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately reply to a Reuters request seeking confirmation.
Al Arabiya
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel will allow countries to drop aid into Gaza: Israeli army radio
Israeli army radio citing a military official reported that Israel would allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza starting on Friday. An Israeli military spokesperson did not immediately reply to a Reuters request seeking confirmation. Developing
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
‘Pains me to say genocide is happening In Gaza' Israeli panel debates Gaza & Peace
Israelis were united in their shock, grief and anger following the October 7 attacks. There was a collective demand for a tough response. But – 21 months on – is that unity fracturing? Opinion polls show domestic support for the war wanning... Israel's allies are losing patience, and the end goal seems more opaque than ever. On this special – all-Israeli panel we ask – is the war in Gaza dividing Israel? In the coming weeks, we'll bring you a dedicated Palestinian perspective. But on this special all-Israeli panel, we want focus on how Israel is grappling with the criticism and division. We'll ask: - Is a split forming in Israel - between those who do and don't support the war? - How do Israelis feel about mounting international criticism of the war, including accusations of genocide? - And how they think this war will end? Guests: - Asher Fredman, Executive Director of The Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy. - Itamar Greenberg, a 19-year-old activist who served almost 200 days in an Israeli military prison for refusing to serve in the Israeli Army. - Gershon Baskin, the co-director of Alliance for Two States and a former Israeli hostage negotiator.
France 24
a day ago
- Health
- France 24
Gaza today: under debris and in darkness
The Israeli army has relentlessly pounded the densely populated territory of 365 square kilometres (141 square miles) in retaliation for Hamas's 2023 attack, which sparked the war and resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. 53 million tonnes of debris The Israeli military's campaign in Gaza has killed 59,219 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The material damage has also been devastating: as of April 4, 2025, the Israeli campaign had destroyed 174,500 buildings, according to UNOSAT, the UN's satellite analysis service. The debris from this destruction is estimated by UNOSAT at 53.5 million tonnes, approximately 10 times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. On average, this amounts to nearly 146 kilograms of rubble for each square metre of land, according to the UN agency. Prior to the start of the war, there were buildings destroyed by Israel in Gaza. But since October 2023, the destruction represents a mass 18 times greater than all the debris from buildings hit by Israel over the previous 15 years. Asbestos risks According to a publication by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in early July, this mass of debris contains toxic materials likely to expose the Gaza population to health risks. The agency estimates 3.7 tonnes of asbestos from the debris of old buildings and 2.6 tonnes of toxic waste in the debris of former industrial structures. Several refugee camps, such as those in Jabalia, Nuseirat, Maghazi, Khan Yunis and Rafah are located in close proximity to "debris potentially contaminated with asbestos", according to UNEP. Half hospitals 'partially' operational Medical facilities have also suffered extensive damage during bombardments by Israel, which accuses Hamas fighters of using hospitals as shelters or bases to launch attacks. As of June 30, only 18 of the territory's 36 hospitals were "partially" operational, according to the UN. Of 163 healthcare facilities, just 63 (less than 40 percent) were suitable for providing care. Nearly 90 percent of schools damaged School buildings, which have been turned into shelters for the displaced, have also faced heavy damage, with the army accusing Hamas of using them to hide fighters. As of April 1, UNICEF had recorded damage to 501 of the 564 schools it documented, equivalent to nearly 9 out of 10. Of these, 95 were damaged, potentially severely, and 406 were directly hit. Seven times less light Before the conflict, the Gaza Strip was supplied with mains electricity for an average of 12 hours per day, according to figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). But in 2024, the power grid was unavailable throughout the day. The territory's only power plant stopped functioning in the early days of the conflict for want of fuel, and the power lines coming from Israel were cut. Together, these two sources had met 43 percent of Gaza's electricity needs before the conflict, leaving the remaining demand unfulfilled. At night, the territory is plunged into darkness. AFP analysed data from NASA's BlackMarble project, which measures radiance (the power of light emission) at the Earth's surface. On average, from January to May 2025, the night-time radiance in the Gaza Strip was reduced by a factor of 7 compared to the five months prior to the start of the conflict (May to September 2023). For Gaza City, it was 16 times lower. Only one area maintained a brightness level comparable to that of the pre-war period: the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt which is entirely controlled by the Israeli military.
