Latest news with #Israeliattacks
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Scores killed in Gaza as Trump says Hamas surrender is ‘fastest way to end humanitarian crisis' – Israel-Gaza war live
Update: Date: 2025-07-31T15:47:14.000Z Title: At least 111 Palestinians, including 91 aid seekers, have been killed and 820 injured in Israeli attacks across', 'Gaza', 'in the past 24 hours Content: Majority of those killed in past 24 hours were seeking aid, says health ministry Jane Clinton (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier) Thu 31 Jul 2025 17.47 CEST First published on Thu 31 Jul 2025 08.42 CEST From 1.44pm CEST 13:44 At least 111 Palestinians, including 91 aid seekers, have been killed and 820 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says. Israel's war on Gaza has killed 60,249 Palestinians and injured 147,089 since 7 October, 2023, the ministry said on Telegram. The total number of aid seekers killed since 27 May, when Israel introduced a new aid distribution mechanism, has reached 1,330, with more than 8,818 injured, the statement said. 5.47pm CEST 17:47 Aid packages, dropped from an airplane, descend over Gaza today, as seen from the central Gaza Strip. 5.00pm CEST 17:00 Portugal's centre-right government will consult the main political parties and conservative president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa about the potential recognition of a Palestinian state, prime minister Luis Montenegro said on Thursday. Unlike neighbouring Spain, whose leftist government recognised Palestinian statehood in May 2024 alongside Ireland and Norway and called on other EU countries to do the same, Portugal has taken a more cautious approach, saying it wanted to work out a common position with other EU countries first. French president Emmanuel Macron announced last week his country, a heavyweight in the EU, plans to recognise a Palestinian state, becoming the first major Western state to do so. His move came amid a rising global outcry over starvation and devastation in Gaza as Israel wages war against Hamas militants there. Britain and Canada have since said they could also recognise a Palestinian state. 'The government decided to promote consultations with the president and the political parties represented in parliament with a view to consider the recognition of the Palestinian state in a process that could be concluded ... at the UN General Assembly in September,' Montenegro said in a statement. 4.20pm CEST 16:20 More than seventy women, ranging in age from 13 to over 70, from the village of Umm al-Kheir in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, have gone on hunger strike, demanding the return of the body of Awdah al-Hathaleen, a resident of the village who was murdered by an Israeli settler on Monday. Al-Hathaleen, who was an activist and a journalist, helped make the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. His body is being held by Israel, and the police are imposing conditions for its release, such as limiting the number of participants in the funeral to just 15, and requiring his burial in one of the nearby cities rather than in the village itself. The women said they will continue the hunger strike until his body is returned. They added that the hunger strike is also a protest against the ongoing detention of the six residents of the village who remain in jail - Awdah's brothers and cousins. The women also expressed anger at the nightly raids into their homes since the killing. In a statement they said: They broke into the home of the martyr's wife, even though it's well known that she is in 'iddah, the four-month mourning period prescribed by Islam, during which no man may see her except her brother, father, or other close male relatives who are permitted to. The army entered her room while she was in her 'iddah. The children began to scream. When the soldiers came in, they tried to break the gate with a vehicle, to damage it by force, to ram the door in order to enter. The men of the village have announced that they, too, will join the hunger strike if Al-Hathaleen body is not returned within 24 hours. 4.01pm CEST 16:01 William Christou At least 69 people have been killed and dozens more wounded while waiting for aid in Gaza over the last 24 hours, as the US envoy, Steve Witkoff, visits Israel for ceasefire discussions. On Wednesday night, crowds of hungry people had gathered at the Zikim crossing with Israel, waiting for trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to enter the besieged strip when they were shot. Al-Saraya field hospital said it had received more than 100 dead and wounded after the shooting, while the death toll was expected to rise, the Associated Press reported. Later on Thursday morning, 19 people seeking aid were killed by Israeli soldiers while outside aid distribution points in the central Gaza Strip and in Rafah in south Gaza. Gaza is in the throes of famine, according to the international authority on food insecurity. Seven children died of hunger on Wednesday, bringing the total number of malnutrition deaths to 154, the Gaza health authority said. As Gaza's famine has deepened, social order has broken down. It is common for crowds of hundreds of desperate people to wait for the rare aid truck to enter Gaza and to loot the vehicle once it comes arrives. You can read the full report here: 3.24pm CEST 15:24 The Palestinian Authority said Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in a West Bank village on Thursday, killing one man, in the latest attack in the occupied territory, AFP reports. 'Forty-year-old Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad was martyred due to smoke inhalation caused by fires set by settlers in citizens' homes and vehicles in the village of Silwad at dawn,' the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement. Witnesses provided corresponding accounts of the attack on Silwad, a village in the central West Bank near several Israeli settlements. Raafat Hussein Hamed, a resident of Silwad whose house was torched in Thursday's attack, said that 'a car dropped them (the settlers) off somewhere, they burned whatever they could and then ran away'. Hamed said the assailants 'come from an outpost', referring to wildcat settlements that are illegal under Israeli law, as opposed to formally recognised settlements. 3.19pm CEST 15:19 The United States said on Thursday it would deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials, accusing the body which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank of seeking to 'internationalize' the situation, AFP reports. The organisation is 'taking actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel such as through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ),' the State Department said, also accusing the Palestinian Authority of 'continuing to support terrorism.' The statement did not specify who was being targeted, only saying it would 'deny visas' to 'members' of the Palestine Liberation Organization and 'officials' from the Palestinian Authority (PA). The measures against the PA, whose leader Mahmoud Abbas has been widely recognised for years as a key partner in efforts to resolve the conflict, come as growing numbers of countries consider recognising a Palestinian state. Canada and France are among the latest nations to announce they will grant recognition during the UN General Assembly meeting, which takes place in September in New York. The US visa denials could possibly complicate attendance to the meeting by Palestinian leaders. 3.10pm CEST 15:10 Portugal is considering recognising the Palestinian state in September, the country's prime minister Luís Montenegro said, AFP reports. Updated at 3.10pm CEST 2.54pm CEST 14:54 British prime minister Keir Starmer has said that he 'particularly' listens to hostages who were held captive by Hamas after a British-Israeli woman held hostage by Hamas criticised his pledge to recognise a Palestinian state. Asked about criticism over the decision and a warning from peers that it could breach international law, Starmer said that 'we do need to do everything we can to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza'. Speaking to ITV West Country while on a visit to Swindon, the prime minister said: I particularly listen to the hostages, Emily Damari, who I have spoken to, - I've met her mother a number of times, and they've been through the most awful, awful experience for Emily and for her mother. And that's why I've been absolutely clear and steadfast that we must have the remaining hostages released. That's been our position throughout and I absolutely understand the unimaginable horror that Emily went through. Alongside that, we do need to do everything we can to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where we are seeing the children and babies starving for want of aid which could be delivered. That is why I've said unless things materially change on the ground, we'll have to assess this in September, we will recognise Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly in September. 2.48pm CEST 14:48 Aid packages, dropped from an airplane, descend over Gaza earlier today, as seen from the central Gaza Strip. 2.39pm CEST 14:39 France's foreign minister on Thursday said a US and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a 'bloodbath' and had to cease activity. 'I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop,' Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia. 2.18pm CEST 14:18 The UK government will not get into a 'to and fro' with Hamas over its plans to recognise a Palestinian state, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said, adding: 'We don't negotiate with terrorists.' Speaking to reporters in Swindon, he said: 'Look, our requests that all hostages must be released and that Hamas can play no future role in the governance of Gaza or a Palestinian state are long-standing. 'We don't negotiate with terrorists, Hamas are terrorists, and that's why we don't get into a to and fro with them as to what we want them to do. That's absolute in terms of our request. 'What we are seeking to do is use the moment of recognition of a Palestinian state in a way that allows us to genuinely try and move this conflict forward, end it - not just in the short-term, but for the long term as well. 'Of course, get aid into Gaza, which is absolutely key, but use this moment to try and genuinely say what we have witnessed is so appalling, so horrific, there's suffering on both sides, but we have to try surely and move this on for good, and that requires a two-state solution. 'That is why recognition of the Palestinian state is so important.' 2.02pm CEST 14:02 Here is a recap of events so far today. US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Israel in a bid to salvage ceasefire talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in Gaza where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine was unfolding. Israeli media reported that Witkoff will visit US-Israeli-backed GHF aid sites in Gaza during his trip to Israel. Donald Trump has said in a post on his Truth Social that the 'fastest way to end humanitarian crises in Gaza' is for 'Hamas to surrender and release hostages'. Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson urged the European Union to suspend the trade component of the bloc's association agreement with Israel. In a post on social media, he said: 'The situation in Gaza is utterly deplorable, and Israel is not fulfilling its most basic obligations and agreed-upon commitments regarding humanitarian aid.' Germany's foreign minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that talks on a two-state solution 'must begin now', warning Berlin would respond to 'unilateral steps', Reuters reports. In a statement before heading to Israel AFP reports he said that the recent UN conference on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - boycotted by the US and Israel - showed that 'Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority'. At least 111 Palestinians, including 91 aid seekers, have been killed and 820 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry says. The BBC has shown footage of humanitarian aid being airdropped into Gaza. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanese political parties need to seize the opportunity and hand over their weapons sooner rather than later. He said his country was determined to disarm Hezbollah, a day after the group's chief said those demanding its disarmament were serving Israeli goals. Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his country wants Russia 'by our side' and called for 'mutual respect' between the two nations following the overthrow of Syria's previous Moscow-backed government last year, AFP reports. Iran on Thursday described as 'malicious' fresh US sanctions targeting a shipping empire controlled by the son of a top political advisor to Iran's supreme leader, AFP reports. 1.49pm CEST 13:49 Here is an image coming to us over the wires of humanitarian aid being airdropped on Gaza by the Egyptian Air Force. 1.45pm CEST 13:45 The BBC has been showing footage of airdrops from Jordan and UAE taking place in Gaza. 1.44pm CEST 13:44 At least 111 Palestinians, including 91 aid seekers, have been killed and 820 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says. Israel's war on Gaza has killed 60,249 Palestinians and injured 147,089 since 7 October, 2023, the ministry said on Telegram. The total number of aid seekers killed since 27 May, when Israel introduced a new aid distribution mechanism, has reached 1,330, with more than 8,818 injured, the statement said. 1.30pm CEST 13:30 Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social on the Gaza humanitarian crisis: The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!! Updated at 1.32pm CEST 1.12pm CEST 13:12 Here are some images coming to us over the wires. 12.47pm CEST 12:47 Germany's foreign minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday talks on a two-state solution 'must begin now', warning Berlin would respond to 'unilateral steps', Reuters reports. 'A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity,' he said in a statement issued shortly before his trip on Thursday to Israel and the Palestinian territories. 'For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now.' AFP reports that Wadephul said that the recent UN conference on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - boycotted by the US and Israel - showed that 'Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority'. 12.16pm CEST 12:16 Reuters has reported on the desperate situation in Gaza. In a makeshift tent on a Gazan beach, three-month-old Muntaha's grandmother grinds up chickpeas into the tiniest granules she can to form a paste to feed the infant, knowing it will cause her to cry in pain, in a desperate race to keep the baby from starving. 'If the baby could speak, she would scream at us, asking what we are putting into her stomach,' her aunt, Abir Hamouda said. Muntaha grimaced and squirmed as her grandmother fed her the paste with a syringe. Muntaha's family is one of many in Gaza facing dire choices to try to feed babies, especially those below the age of six months who cannot process solid food. Infant formula is scarce after a plummet in aid access to Gaza. Many women cannot breastfeed due to malnourishment, while other babies are separated from their mothers due to displacement, injury or, in Muntaha's case, death. Her family says the baby's mother was hit by a bullet while pregnant, gave birth prematurely while unconscious in intensive care, and died a few weeks later. The director of the Shifa Hospital described such a case in a Facebook post on April 27, four days after Muntaha was born. 'I am terrified about the fate of the baby,' said her grandmother, Nemah Hamouda. 'We named her after her she can survive and live long, but we are so afraid, we hear children and adults die every day of hunger.' Muntaha now weighs about 3.5 kilograms, her family said, barely more than half of what a full-term baby her age would normally weigh. She suffers stomach problems like vomiting and diarrhoea after feeding. Health officials, aid workers and Gazan families told Reuters many families are feeding infants herbs and tea boiled in water, or grinding up bread or sesame. Humanitarian agencies also reported cases of parents boiling leaves in water, eating animal feed and grinding sand into flour.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Israel kills 72 in Gaza, including hungry Palestinians waiting for food
Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of Palestinians, including people seeking food at aid distribution hubs, as the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave deteriorates by the day. Medical sources told Al Jazeera on Sunday that at least 72 people were killed since dawn in Israeli strikes targeting multiple locations across Gaza, including at least 47 in Gaza City and the north of the territory. Al Jazeera's Moath al-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza City, described 'catastrophic' scenes at the al-Ahli Hospital in the northern city as dozens of wounded civilians sought help following Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, as well as al-Zawiya market. 'There are too many wounded civilians here, including children. Many are lying on the ground because there are not enough beds or medical supplies to treat them. This facility is struggling to cope due to severe shortages,' he said. 'The Israeli military has dropped leaflets in eastern Gaza City, ordering civilians to move south. These leaflets are often followed by intense and repeated attacks, resulting in the large number of casualties we are witnessing now.' The victims on Sunday also included at least five Palestinian aid seekers killed near food distribution centres run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) north of Rafah, according to medics. Since the United States- and Israel-backed GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a punishing Israeli blockade, Israeli soldiers have regularly shot at Palestinians near distribution centres, killing more than 580 people, and wounding more than 4,000, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. A recent report by Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they had received orders to fire at crowds of unarmed aid seekers to disperse them. Geoffrey Nice, a human rights lawyer, told Al Jazeera that the killings going on around the GHF are 'inexplicable'. 'What is absolutely astonishing to outsiders is that it is in the business of apparently providing aid where it is desperately needed, and those providing aid with you end up shooting dead hundreds of people,' said Nice, who also took part in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former the humanitarian crisis in the Strip is worsening, with babies and toddlers dying due to a lack of nutrients. Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering in Gaza City, said the hospital she's based in is short of medical supplies, including formula for pregnant women who require nasogastric feeding. That leaves many without the nutrients needed to lactate – as well as baby formula, she said. 'Our most vulnerable are dying,' Black told Al Jazeera. 'We've seen a couple of babies die over the last couple of days in Gaza City. It's really desperate here.' Malnourishment also makes it difficult to heal from wounds, she said, adding that there is a significant uptick in respiratory illnesses due to the number of bombs being dropped on Gaza. 'We're seeing children going through the rubbish trying to find something to eat … Children who might be nine or 10 years old that look like two-year-olds,' she Israeli bombardment of the besieged enclave relentless, there are indications of a fresh impetus to end the war in the wake of the US and Israeli bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities and the ensuing ceasefire between Israel and Iran. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump seemed determined to seal a truce. 'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!' he said in a Social Truth post. His comments came after he said he believed a ceasefire could be reached within a week. 'I think it's close. I just spoke to some of the people involved,' Trump said on Saturday. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the push for a truce, he said in the past week that behind-the-scenes talks have been taking place to try and secure a 60-day pause in fighting. Negotiations revolve around a proposal put forward by the US back in March to extend phase one of a ceasefire that Israel violated by resuming its bombing of Gaza. Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said, 'Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure as Trump has been quite outspoken for some time that he wants to see a ceasefire in Gaza'. 'And prior to Israel's attacks on Iran, just about two weeks ago, there was a lot of pressure from European allies because of the Israeli military's conduct in the Gaza Strip,' she said. In the meantime, the Jerusalem District Court cancelled this week's hearings in Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial, accepting a request that the Israeli leader made, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. It was unclear whether a social media post by Trump – one suggesting the trial could interfere with Netanyahu's ability to join negotiations with Hamas and Iran – influenced the court's decision. The ruling, seen by Reuters, said that new reasons provided by Netanyahu, the head of Israel's spy agency Mossad and the military intelligence chief justified cancelling the hearings. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. He has cast the trial against him as an orchestrated left-wing witch-hunt meant to topple a democratically elected right-wing leader. On Friday, the court rejected a request by Netanyahu to delay his testimony for the next two weeks because of diplomatic and security matters following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, which ended last Tuesday. He was due to take the stand on Monday for cross-examination. 'It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. He said Washington, having given billions of dollars worth of aid to Israel, was not going to 'stand for this'. A spokesperson for the Israeli prosecution declined to comment on Trump's post. Netanyahu reposted Trump's comments on X and added: 'Thank you again, @realDonaldTrump. Together, we will make the Middle East Great Again!' Trump said Netanyahu was 'right now' negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and though officials from both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.
Al Jazeera
29-06-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israeli air strikes kill dozens in Gaza amid worsening humanitarian crisis
Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of Palestinians, including people seeking food at aid distribution hubs, as the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave deteriorates by the day. Medical sources told Al Jazeera on Sunday that at least 45 people were killed in Israeli strikes targeting multiple locations across Gaza, including 29 in Gaza City and the north of the territory. Among them were at least five Palestinian aid seekers killed near food distribution centres run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) north of Rafah, according to local emergency workers quoted by an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground. Since the United States- and Israel-backed GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a punishing Israeli blockade, Israeli soldiers have regularly shot at Palestinians near distribution centres, killing more than 580 people, and wounding more than 4,000, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. A recent report by Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they had received orders to fire at crowds of unarmed aid seekers to disperse them. 'Heavy bombardment continues across the Gaza Strip, as we continue to get reports of a series of deadly incidents since dawn today,' said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Azzoum said casualties included two children killed in an Israeli strike on a residential house in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood. And multiple rockets also struck southern Khan Younis, where Israeli forces hit a makeshift tent in the coastal area of al-Mawasi, killing five people, he said. 'Witnesses report that booby-trapped explosives have been used to blow up entire residential neighbourhoods, as the Israeli military says it is concentrating operations in Khan Younis to defeat Hamas battalions there,' Azzoum added. 'Most vulnerable are dying' Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is worsening, with babies and toddlers dying due to a lack of nutrients. Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering in Gaza City for four weeks now, says the hospital she's based in is short of medical supplies, including formula for pregnant women who require nasogastric feeding. That leaves many without the nutrients needed to lactate – as well as baby formula, she said. 'Our most vulnerable are dying,' Black told Al Jazeera. 'We've seen a couple of babies die over the last couple of days in Gaza City. It's really desperate here.' Malnourishment also makes it difficult to heal from wounds, she said, adding that there is a significant uptick in respiratory illnesses due to the number of bombs being dropped on Gaza. 'We're seeing children going through the rubbish trying to find something to eat … Children who might be nine or 10 years old that look like two-year-olds,' she added. Ceasefire talks With Israeli bombardment of the besieged enclave relentless, there are indications of a fresh impetus to end the war in the wake of the US and Israeli bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities and the ensuing ceasefire between Israel and Iran. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump seemed determined to seal a truce. 'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!' he said in a Social Truth post. His comments came after he said he believed a ceasefire could be reached within a week. 'I think it's close. I just spoke to some of the people involved,' Trump said on Saturday. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the push for a truce, he said in the past week that behind-the-scenes talks have been taking place to try and secure a 60-day pause in fighting. Negotiations revolve around a proposal put forward by the US back in March to extend phase one of a ceasefire that Israel violated by resuming its bombing of Gaza. Netanyahu is scheduled to meet on Sunday evening with security officials to discuss Israel's war on Gaza and map out the next moves. The army has said it is closer to achieving its military objectives in Gaza. Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said, 'Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure as Trump has been quite outspoken for some time that he wants to see a ceasefire in Gaza.' And prior to Israel's attacks on Iran, just about two weeks ago, there was a lot of pressure from European allies because of the Israeli military's conduct in the Gaza Strip,' she said. In the meantime, the Jerusalem District Court cancelled this week's hearings in Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial, accepting a request that the Israeli leader made, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. It was unclear whether a social media post by Trump – one suggesting the trial could interfere with Netanyahu's ability to join negotiations with Hamas and Iran – influenced the court's decision. The ruling, seen by Reuters, said that new reasons provided by Netanyahu, the head of Israel's spy agency Mossad and the military intelligence chief justified cancelling the hearings. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. He has cast the trial against him as an orchestrated left-wing witch-hunt meant to topple a democratically elected right-wing leader. On Friday, the court rejected a request by Netanyahu to delay his testimony for the next two weeks because of diplomatic and security matters following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, which ended last Tuesday. He was due to take the stand on Monday for cross-examination. 'It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. He said Washington, having given billions of dollars worth of aid to Israel, was not going to 'stand for this'. A spokesperson for the Israeli prosecution declined to comment on Trump's post. Netanyahu reposted Trump's comments on X and added: 'Thank you again, @realDonaldTrump. Together, we will make the Middle East Great Again!' Trump said Netanyahu was 'right now' negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and though officials from both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.
Al Jazeera
26-06-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israeli attacks kill more than 30 people in Gaza, including 3 near aid site
More than 30 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as Israel's national security minister called for a 'complete halt' of humanitarian aid supplies to the Palestinian territory. Local health authorities said on Thursday that Israeli air attacks killed at least 15 people in two separate attacks in Gaza City, including nine people who were killed at a school housing displaced families in the city's Sheikh Radwan suburb. A separate strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. Hospital sources told Al Jazeera that nine people were killed and wounded in a drone attack on Deir el-Balah's market street, sending Wednesday's death toll from Israeli attacks above 30. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that three people were killed and others injured by Israeli army fire while waiting for humanitarian aid near a distribution point at the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, the latest in a series of killings at aid distribution points set up by the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to Gaza's Government Media Office, at least 549 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to get food from the sites since the GHF began operations on May 27. It said the attacks on those seeking aid have also caused 4,066 injuries, and that 39 civilians remained missing following the attacks. According to British charity Save the Children, more than half of the casualties in the attacks near distribution hubs were children. Of the 19 deadly incidents reported, the organisation found that children were among the casualties in 10 of them. 'No-one wants to get aid from these distribution points and who can blame them – it's a death sentence. People are terrified of being killed,' said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. The GHF has been criticised by the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations, which say it is inadequate to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza's population. The GHF took over aid operations in May, following mounting criticism against Israel's months-long total blockade on aid getting into the Strip. That had pushed most of the population to the brink of starvation. Since then, a trickle of aid has been allowed in, but the disastrous humanitarian situation has barely improved. On Thursday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the Israeli government to reimpose its total blockade. 'The humanitarian aid currently entering Gaza is an absolute disgrace,' he said, adding that 'what is needed in Gaza is not a temporary halt to 'humanitarian' aid, but a complete stop.' Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned that families across Gaza are at risk of dying of thirst amid the collapse of water supply systems. UNRWA noted that only 40 percent of drinking water production facilities are still operating, and that 'Gaza is on the edge of a man-made drought. 'Extracting water from wells stopped due to fuel shortages, others located in dangerous areas that are difficult to access, pipelines are broken and leaking, and water tankers that often do not arrive,' the agency said. Diplomacy, one more time? As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all captives, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end the war. Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the captives if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws all its troops from Gaza. While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament.
Al Jazeera
23-06-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israel kills at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, including aid seekers
At least 30 people have been killed in various Israeli attacks as the military relentlessly pounds the besieged enclave, medical sources say, with the overall Palestinian death toll in the war nearing a staggering 56,000. Those killed on Monday include at least 13 aid seekers who lost their lives while desperately trying to access food for their families at distribution centres run by the controversial United States- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the United Nations has condemned for its 'weaponisation' of aid. The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage, targeting hungry Palestinians who continue to make the perilous journey to the food distribution points. Critics have slammed the sites as 'human slaughterhouses' amid a worsening hunger and looming famine crisis. Israeli attacks on Palestinians near aid centres have killed more than 400 people and wounded about 1,000 since the GHF began distributions on May 27. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israel is engaged in its conflict with Iran while it also continues 'the killing of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip with deadly air strikes on tents or residential homes'. 'Hungry crowds gather at food distribution centres in Rafah or the Netzarim Corridor. So far, 13 aid seekers have been shot dead today. They are among 30 people killed by Israel's military since the early hours,' Mahmoud said. Meanwhile, the Wafa news agency reported that at least four people were killed and several others wounded by an Israeli air attack on a residential building in northern Gaza's Jabalia. Three others, all brothers, were killed by Israeli forces while they were inspecting their damaged home in the al-Salateen area of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. In central Gaza, al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp announced it had received the bodies of two Palestinians and treated 35 others injured in Israeli strikes on crowds gathered along Salah al-Din Street. Sixteen of the wounded were in critical condition and transferred to other hospitals in the central governorate, Wafa said. Israeli artillery also shelled the Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City. The latest casualty figures bring the number of people killed in the territory since the start of Israel's 20-month war to 55,998, with at least 131,559 wounded. Energy crisis The attacks come as the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned that the lack of reliable energy sources is a key threat to survival in Gaza. The 'deliberate denial of energy access', like electricity and fuel, 'undermines fundamental human needs' in the enclave, the NRC said in a new report. Israel has maintained a crippling aid blockade on Gaza, sealing vital border crossings, and preventing the entry of aid spanning from food, to medical supplies and much-needed fuel. 'In Gaza, energy is not about convenience – it's about survival,' Benedicte Giaever, executive director of NORCAP, which is part of NRC, said. 'When families can't cook, when hospitals go dark and when water pumps stop running, the consequences are immediate and devastating. The international community must prioritise energy in all humanitarian efforts,' she added. NRC's report noted that without power, healthcare facilities in Gaza have been adversely affected, with emergency surgeries having to be delayed, and ventilators, incubators and dialysis machines unable to function.
