Latest news with #Israelimilitary
BreakingNews.ie
20-07-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
More than 80 killed trying to reach aid in Gaza, health ministry says
At least 85 people have been killed while trying to reach aid at locations across Gaza, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory has said. The development represents the deadliest day yet for people seeking aid in more than 21 months of war. Advertisement And there was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for areas of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located. One aid group said several groups' offices were told to evacuate immediately. Palestinians carried sacks of humanitarian aid unloaded from trucks headed to Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) The largest toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the health ministry and local hospitals. The UN World Food Programme said 25 trucks with aid had entered for 'starving communities' when it encountered massive crowds that came under gunfire. Advertisement A UN official said Israeli forces opened fire towards the crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the UN and shared with the Associated Press showed Palestinian men running as the sound of automatic gunfire could be heard. 'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,' Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour, said. 'I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it's better.' Palestinians reacted after carrying the bodies of those killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel on Sunday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people 'randomly' and he saw his cousin and others shot dead. Advertisement Israel's military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. The military said it was attempting to facilitate the entry of aid, and accused Hamas militants of creating chaos and endangering civilians. More than 150 people were wounded overall, with some in critical condition, hospitals said. Separately, seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis in the south, including a five-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital, which received the casualties. Advertisement The killings in northern Gaza did not take place near aid distribution points associated with the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israel-backed group. Naem Ahmed's family hugged the last bag of WFP wheat flour they received - a small celebration amid desperate conditions. Everyone in #Gaza is hungry. It's time to flood the Strip with food and reach ALL families, everywhere - safely and without interruption. — World Food Programme (@WFP) July 19, 2025 Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's aid distribution sites. The new evacuation orders cut access between the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow territory. The military also reiterated evacuation orders for northern Gaza. The United Nations has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether UN facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah are included in the evacuation order, according to a UN official. Advertisement The official said that in previous instances, UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The latest order covers an area stretching from a previously evacuated area all the way to the Mediterranean coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza. The Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) group said in a statement that several humanitarian organisations' offices and guesthouses had been 'ordered to evacuate immediately' and nine clinics, including the MAP one, had been forced to shut down. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee called for people to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern coast that Israel's military has designated a humanitarian zone. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza would pressure Hamas in negotiations (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) The announcement came as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations. Earlier this month, Israel's military said it controlled more than 65% of Gaza. Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times. Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive has killed more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not say how many militants have been killed but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Globe and Mail
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Israel orders central Gaza evacuations as ceasefire talks stall
The Israeli military published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas where the military has rarely operated with ground troops. The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave. The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, but negotiations have been stalled for months. Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it controlled more than 65 per cent of the Gaza Strip. Also on Sunday, 65 Palestinians were killed, many while attempting to seek aid, according to local hospitals. Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah told the Associated Press that the hospital since Sunday morning had received 48 people who were killed and 150 who were wounded while seeking aid from trucks expected to enter Gaza from the Zikim Crossing, on the northern border between Gaza and Israel. He confirmed that at least 40 people of those killed were fatally shot. It is unclear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs or both. However, that death toll is likely to increase, said Abu Selmiyah. In southern Gaza, Nasser hospital said 17 Palestinians were killed and 69 wounded around aid distribution sites in the southern city of Rafah. The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located. The United Nations has been in contact with the Israeli authorities to clarify whether UN facilities in southwestern Deir al-Balah are included in Sunday's evacuation order, according to a UN official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The official said in previous instances UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The evacuation announcement reaches from a previously evacuated area all the way to the coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone. Pope Leo also called for an end to the 'barbarity of war' on Sunday as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza after three people died and several were injured on Thursday. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population,' he said. Israeli strike on Gaza church kills at least three, wounds priest who was close to Pope Francis Catholic and Greek Orthodox leaders enter Gaza, express solidarity after Israeli strike on church Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan. 'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv to the branch of the U.S. Embassy, demonstrating for an end to the war. On Sunday morning, ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously in an urgent appeal to shed light on the hunger crisis in the territory. The health ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding paper signs about malnourished children and lack of medication. Zaher al-Wahidi, one of the spokespeople at the health ministry, said that at least nine children under 5 years old have died of malnutrition as of Sunday since the Israel's imposed aid entry blockade in March. He explained that tracking the number of people dying of starvation is hard because some could be suffering from other medical conditions that could be worsened when compounded with severe hunger. In northern Gaza, Shifa Hospital director Abu Selmiyah said that the hospital recorded 79 people who died of malnutrition in the past month. Israeli bombardments continued to pound the Gaza Strip overnight. Large explosions in northern Gaza were visible from Israel as plumes of fire shot into the sky. With a report from Reuters
