Latest news with #KhanYunis
Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Times
‘More than 30 killed' in shootings near Gaza aid centres
More than 30 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on crowds of Palestinians seeking food from two aid distribution centres in Gaza, according to health officials. One witness claimed that soldiers started shooting 'indiscriminately' on a gathering in the al-Tina area of Khan Yunis, about two miles from a site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on Saturday morning. A second incident of gunfire was reported in the Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, a few hundred yards from another GHF hub. Israel's military said it was 'looking into' the claims. The GHF, which was formed to deliver aid to civilians with support from the Israeli army, has not yet commented on the latest reports but has previously disputed figures issued by the Hamas-led government and the UN. Gaza's civil defence agency told the AFP news agency that 22 were killed in Khan Yunis and four in Rafah. Separate figures given by hospital officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis put the total number of deaths at 32, including 25 in Khan Yunis and seven in Rafah, the Associated Press reported. 'It was a massacre. The occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' Mahmoud Mokeimar told the Associated Press after the incident in Khan Younis. Sanaa al-Jaberi, a 55-year-old woman, said: 'We shouted 'food, food', but they didn't talk to us. They just opened fire.' Another witness, Abdul Aziz Abed, told AFP that he set off to the aid centre at dawn with five of his relatives to get food but was thwarted by the gunfire. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food,' he said. Dr Mohamed Saker, the head of the Nasser hospital's nursing department, told the AP news agency that most of the dead and wounded were shot in their heads and chest. He described the situation at the hospital as 'difficult and tragic' due to the lack of medical supplies. The UN said earlier this week that nearly 900 people had been killed trying to access aid in the six-week period since the GHF took charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, including 674 at or around GHF sites. That figure is disputed by the GHF, who have denied reports of innocent civilians being shot. On Wednesday the organisation admitted that 20 people were killed in a crowd surge at one aid site but blamed agitators affiliated with Hamas for causing the disaster. The GHF said in a statement on Friday that it had successfully distributed 79 million meals since its foundation last May. It claimed its work had been 'made more difficult by a coordinated disinformation campaign led by Hamas' and blamed 'the amplification of those lies from the mainstream media and the United Nations'. Restrictions placed on media access make it difficult to independently verify details and death tolls provided by officials. The Israeli military has acknowledged in the past that its troops had fired warning shots on 'suspicious' people and has blamed militants for provoking the violence. The Israeli government has also rejected allegations reported by the Haaretz newspaper that soldiers had been ordered to shoot at crowds if they arrived at the aid sites too early, too late, or in the wrong place. More than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Hamas started the war in October 2023 by attacking Israel, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping more than 200.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
IDF finishes new 15 km. Magen Oz Corridor splitting critical Hamas-controlled city of Khan Yunis
The announcement of the corridor came as Israel and Hamas continue to dispute the issue of military withdrawal during a ceasefire. The IDF on Wednesday announced that it had completed the new Magen Oz Corridor, splitting the critical Hamas middle-southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. Stretching 15 kilometers north from the Morag Corridor, which currently splits off Rafah from Khan Yunis, the new corridor announcement comes as Hamas and Israel say they have solved 90% of their disputes regarding a new ceasefire, other than the extent of the withdrawal of IDF forces during and after the deal. Hamas has demanded that the IDF withdraw to the lines it held in early March, when the last ceasefire was still in place, leaving the IDF only a 700-1,100 meter security perimeter around Gaza, as well as the Philadelphi Corridor bordering with Egypt. IDF General Staff and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir have been willing to accept these terms for over a week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected these terms, insisting on keeping some aspect of the IDF presence at the Morag Corridor. The timing of the announcement seemed certain to put further pressure on Hamas about additional facts on the ground, which Israel might be able to inject into the situation if a deal is not cut soon. The corridor was established by 36th Division and the Golani Brigade The 36th Division and the Golani Brigade carried out most of the work to establish the corridor, including destroying extensive Hamas positions and terror tunnels in the area. In addition, the IDF said it had killed dozens of Hamas terrorists in the process of clearing the area. Prior to the war, Khan Yunis was Hamas's second most crucial city, after Gaza City in northern Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas's Health Ministry said on Wednesday that IDF attacks killed 93 Palestinians and wounded 278 on Tuesday. Hamas does not distinguish between civilians and its own fighters. Likewise, the IDF has only been reporting vague numbers for how many Hamas terrorists it kills on a given day or week, without detailing the number of civilians killed. Earlier in the war, some IDF estimates suggested that 40% of those killed were Hamas terrorists, and 60% of those killed were civilians, a percentage which is better than some other urban warfare conflicts. But even IDF sources have acknowledged that in recent months, the percentage may be worse, with some accusing IDF Southern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, who took charge in March, of running a looser operation in that regard and taking probing mistaken killing of civilians less seriously. Asor rejected those allegations but has also offered few details to contradict critics to date. Solve the daily Crossword
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 32 near two aid centres
By AFP team in Gaza and Phil Hazlewood , AFP An elderly woman holds out an empty pot at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on 19 July, 2025. Photo: AFP / EYAD BABA Gaza's civil defence agency says that Israeli gunfire 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, have 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 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 7 October, 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. 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 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. - AFP
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 32 near two aid centres
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. - '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. 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. bur-az-phz/jsa Solve the daily Crossword
News.com.au
5 days ago
- News.com.au
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 32 near two aid centres
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. - '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. 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.
