Latest news with #MahmoudBassal
BBC News
16 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Gaza civil defence says many killed while waiting for aid in Rafah
Update: Date: 06:46 BST Title: Fatalities after crowd fired upon near Gaza aid hub - reports Content: Barbara Plett UsherCorrespondent In the past few minutes, reports have started to emerge of another fatal incident near a distribution centre in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Civil Defense Agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal says Israeli troops killed 19 people, including a woman, about 1km (0.6 miles) away from the site located in the southern part of the enclave. He says the Israelis opened fire with tanks and drones on thousands of Palestinians who had gathered near the al-Alam roundabout waiting to be granted access to the aid hub. It's roughly the same location as the shootings that occurred on Sunday, when the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 31 people were killed and nearly 200 injured by Israeli fire. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) denied shooting Palestinians in that incident, but a military official acknowledged soldiers had fired warning shots at what he called suspects who were approaching them. The IDF has not commented on today's reported incident, but the BBC has requested a response.
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
At least 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire at aid point, Gaza officials say
At least 15 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for aid distribution in Gaza, local officials and some media reported on Tuesday. 'At least 15 people were killed and dozens wounded … when Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones on thousands of civilians who had gathered since dawn near the Al-Alam roundabout in the Al-Mawasi area, northwest of Rafah,' civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP. Gaza's health ministry put the death toll higher, saying 24 people were killed early on Tuesday. Hamas-affiliated media also carried the reports. In a statement, the Israeli military said troops fired shots near an aid distribution complex after noticing 'a number of suspects moving towards them.' 'The forces fired evasive shots, and after they did not move away, additional shots were fired near the individual suspects who were advancing towards the forces.' The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident was under investigation, adding: 'IDF forces are not preventing Gaza residents from reaching the aid distribution sites. The shooting was carried out about half a kilometre from the distribution site.' The reported shooting comes after similar incidents earlier in the week of Palestinians being killed and injured by Israeli fire as they sought to receive aid at newly established distribution points. On Monday, at least three people were killed and dozens more injured at a shooting at an aid point, health officials and a witness said. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at 'suspects' who approached its forces. More than 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they went to receive food at an aid distribution point set up by an Israeli-backed foundation in Gaza, according to witnesses, and a hospital run by the Red Cross. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
The Journal
2 days ago
- Health
- The Journal
Israeli army says it did not open fire on crowd at US-backed aid hub in Gaza
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago THE ISRAELI ARMY said Sunday that it 'did not fire at civilians' within or around a US-backed aid centre in southern Gaza, hours after rescuers blamed Israeli fire for dozens of deaths and injuries near the site. 'In recent hours, false reports have been spread, including serious allegations against the IDF (military) regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip,' the army said in a statement. 'Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false.' The IDF's statement comes after reports that its forces opened fire on people near a US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza, killing at least 31 and wounding more than 170, according to the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency. Witnesses said that drones and tanks began firing on the crowd as people waited for food at a hub run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Witnesses also said some people we also killed and injured by Israeli gunfire. Civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said that '31 people were killed and more than 176 injured… after Israeli gunfire targeted thousands of civilians near the American aid centre in Rafah', in southern Gaza. A GHF spokesperson has dismissed the reports as 'untrue and fabricated', a statement contradicted by medical personnel at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where many of the injured were taken. 'There's been a shooting at the GHF aid distribution complex in Rafah,' said British doctor Victoria Rose. 'The ambulances haven't stopped coming,' she said. British surgeon Dr Victoria Rose speaks from Nasser Hospital where she says "the ambulances haven't stopped coming" after reports of an Israeli attack near an aid distribution site in Gaza. — Sky News (@SkyNews) June 1, 2025 Sameh Hamuda, 33, told news organisation AFP he had walked from Gaza City and spent the night with relatives in a tent near Rafah before heading to the aid centre at around 5 am to wait among a crowd of people. 'They began distributing aid, but suddenly quadcopter drones opened fire on the people, and tanks started shooting heavily. Several people were killed right in front of me,' he said. 'I ran and survived. Death follows you as long as you're in Gaza.' Abdullah Barbakh, 58, described 'chaos, screaming, and overcrowding' at the scene. 'The army opened fire from drones and tanks. Chaos broke out, and the area was filled with martyrs and wounded. I don't understand why they call people to the aid centres and then open fire on them,' he said. 'What are we supposed to do?' Palestinians carry the body of a person who was killed as they were heading to a Gaza aid hub Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Asked for comment, the Israeli military said it was 'unaware of injuries caused by IDF (army) fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site. The matter is still under review.' A GHF spokesperson said the reports were 'untrue and fabricated'. 'All aid was distributed today without incident,' the spokesperson said, adding that 'these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas'. Tom Potoka, a consultant plastic surgeon at Nasser Hospital told Al Jazeera about the scenes following there today. 'The five operating theatres upstairs were fully occupied with patients who came in from this,' Potoka said. The patients he had seen had a range of injuries including gunshot wounds, head injuries, and trauma to major blood vessels and abdominal organs. Advertisement #Gaza : aid distribution has become a death trap. Mass casualties including scores of injured & killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning. This is according to reports from international medics on ground. A distribution point by the Israeli- American plan was… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) June 1, 2025 Today's attack is the latest in a series of fatal incidents at aid centres in Gaza, where the UN says the entire population is at risk of famine. On Tuesday, one person was killed and another 48 were injured , mostly by Israeli gunfire, at another aid distribution hub run by the GHF, a private organisation backed by the US government. On Thursday, four people were killed when a crowd of desperate people stormed a UN World Food Programme warehouse. In the Gaza Strip, aid is only trickling in after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade, and the United Nations has reported looting of its trucks and warehouses. 'Death traps, not aid points' Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The UN's World Food Programme has called on Israel 'to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster', saying desperation was 'contributing to rising insecurity'. The GHF, which is administered by contracted US security with support from Israeli troops, began distributing food in the Gaza Strip on 26 May. The United Nations and other major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the organisation, saying it violated basic humanitarian principles, and appeared crafted to cater to Israeli military objectives. The head of UNRWA, the UN's main aid agency in Palestine, aid distribution in Gaza has become 'a death trap'. 'With competing narratives and disinformation campaigns in full gear, international media must be allowed into Gaza to independently report on the ongoing atrocities including this morning's heinous crime,' said Philippe Lazzarini. Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli strike in Gaza City Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo An Oxfam worker based in Gaza told The Journal this week that the GHF model is 'humiliating and insulting to the people of Gaza'. 'Why do we have to create a new humanitarian distribution system when we've been on the ground for decades?' Officially a private effort, GHF said it had distributed 2.1 million meals as of Friday. In a statement today, Hamas accused Israeli forces operating in Rafah of committing 'a new massacre against hungry civilians who had gathered at the so-called 'humanitarian aid' distribution sites', calling them 'mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points'. Truce talks The Palestinian militant group said yesterday that it had responded positively to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but Washington's main negotiator criticised Hamas's reply as 'totally unacceptable'. Hamas said it had emphasised the need for a permanent ceasefire – long a sticking point for Israel. And a source within the Palestinian group's political bureau added that it had also pushed for a 'full Israeli withdrawal' from the Gaza Strip. On Friday, Israel had warned Hamas to either accept the deal and free the hostages held in Gaza 'or be annihilated'. US envoy Steve Witkoff called Hamas's response to its truce offer on Saturday 'totally unacceptable', and urged it to 'accept the framework proposal we put forward'. 'That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have… substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire,' he added in a post on X. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. With reporting from AFP Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Al Arabiya
19-05-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 22 across Gaza
Rescuers in Gaza said Israeli air strikes killed at least 22 people across the Palestinian territory on Monday as the military pressed an expanded offensive. There were heavy strikes in and around the main southern city of Khan Younis, where civil defense agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said 11 people were killed and several others wounded, along with one more killed in nearby Abasan. Five people were killed in an air strike near a market west of the northern town of Jabaliya, he said. In Nuseirat, in the center of Gaza, three members of the same family were killed in an air strike on their tent, while two people were killed by another strike on a tent in Gaza City, in the north. Bassal said there were also reports of deaths at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, but the bodies could not be retrieved due to ongoing shelling. The ministry of health in Gaza has accused the Israeli army of laying siege to the facility, 'effectively forcing the hospital out of service.' The Israeli army said Monday that it was keeping up its newly intensified campaign, adding it was 'operating throughout the Gaza Strip.'
Roya News
12-05-2025
- Roya News
Gaza civil defence says at least 10 dead in 'Israeli' strike
Gaza's civil defence agency said Monday "at least 10" people were killed, including children and women, in an overnight 'Israeli' airstrike on a school housing displaced people. "At least 10 (dead), including several women and children, as well as dozens of wounded, were transported following an Israeli airstrike on the Fatima Bint Asad school, which is home to more than 2,000 displaced people in the city of Jabalia," Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.
