Latest news with #NorthernGaza
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
At least 37 killed, 270 injured while seeking aid in Northern Gaza: Hospital
At least 37 people were killed and 270 were injured while seeking aid in Northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to the director of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. MORE: A famine hasn't been declared in Gaza, but that may not matter, experts say This comes as gut-wrenching images emerge of malnourished children suffering amid the lack of food and other aid in Gaza. An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have been reported. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, seven people died of hunger over a 24-hour period on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths from famine to 154 since Oct. 7, 2023, including 89 children. MORE: Trump suggests US will help with Gaza aid as Europeans join effort This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
RNZ News
20-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
More than 60 Palestinians killed waiting for aid in Gaza
More than 60 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza - according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The National News Jerusalem correspondent Thomas Helm spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Gaza health ministry says Israeli fire has killed 67 Palestinians waiting for aid trucks as Pope Leo brands war 'barbaric' and calls for its end
Israeli fire has killed 67 Palestinians waiting for aid trucks, Gaza 's Hamas-run health ministry has claimed. The ministry said dozens of people were also wounded in the incident in northern Gaza, in one of the highest reported tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed, including 36 on Saturday. Six other people were killed near another aid site in the south, it claimed. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands in northern Gaza on Sunday to remove what it said was 'an immediate threat'. It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated, and it 'certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks'. The latest tragedy comes as Pope Leo XIV slammed the 'barbarity' of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the 'indiscriminate use of force'. His intervention comes just days after a deadly strike by Israel's military on a Catholic church. 'I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' Leo said at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence near Rome. The pope, who spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the morning after Thursday's strike, spoke of his 'deep sorrow' for the attack on the Holy Family Church. The church was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children, including dozens of people with special needs. Israel expressed 'deep sorrow' over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating the strike. 'This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,' Leo said on Sunday. '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, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' he added. The latest humanitarian disaster comes as Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced Gazans, some of whom began to leave. The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month. The pope also expressed his 'sympathy' for the plight of 'beloved Middle Eastern Christians' and their 'sense of being able to do little in the face of this dramatic situation'. In total, health authorities in Gaza said 88 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across Gaza on Sunday. After Israel's military dropped leaflets urging people to evacuate from neighbourhoods in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, residents said Israeli planes struck three houses in the area. Dozens of families began leaving their homes, carrying some of their belongings. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans have been sheltering in the Deir al-Balah area. Israel's military said it had not entered the districts subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing 'to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area'. Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to still be alive. Hostage families demanded an explanation from the army. 'Can anyone (promise) to us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?' the families said in a statement. Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of war and there are fears of accelerating starvation. Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food and a collapse in aid deliveries. 'We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger,' the health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said. The United Nations also said on Sunday that civilians were starving and needed an urgent influx of aid. Residents said it was becoming impossible to find essential food such as flour. The Gaza health ministry said at least 71 children had died of malnutrition during the war, and 60,000 others were suffering from symptoms of malnutrition. Later on Sunday, it said 18 people have died of hunger in the past 24 hours. Food prices have increased well beyond what most of the population of more than two million can afford. Several people who spoke to the Reuters news agency via chat apps said they either had one meal or no meal in the past 24 hours. 'As a father, I wake up in the early morning to look for food, for even a loaf of bread for my five children, but all in vain,' said Ziad, a nurse. 'People who didn't die of bombs will die of hunger. We want an end to this war now, a truce, even for two months,' he told Reuters. Others said they felt dizzy walking in the streets and that many fainted as they walked. Fathers leave tents to avoid questions by their children about what to eat. UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, demanded Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza, saying it had enough food for the entire population for over three months which was not allowed in. Israel's military said that it 'views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community'. Some Palestinians suggested the move on Deir al-Balah might be an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make more concessions in long-running ceasefire negotiations. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 58,000 Palestinians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
IDF builds secret northern Gaza outpost that will stop future Hamas invasions
The Jerusalem Post visited a new, secluded IDF outpost dubbed "Israela," built to prevent any future potential invasion from the Gaza Strip. Returning to the Gaza Strip for the sixth time, in addition to countless other trips to the South in general, and for the first time since the IDF shifted gears in May to taking control over 75% of it, brought into contrast a number of paradoxical issues. The Jerusalem Post was visiting a new secret IDF position in Northern Gaza, dubbed 'Israela,' which is designed both to project power and serve as an additional forward defense line to prevent any potential invasion from getting anywhere near residential Israel. The position, along with two other nearby positions, gives a unique strategic high-ground view of Beit Hanun, Beit Lahiya, Jabalya, and Gaza City in the distance. At a professional military level, Lt.-Col. (res.) T., commander of Battalion 969, said he was proud of the hard work that his unit had invested in building the new position. He is focused on taking the fight to Hamas terrorists in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza. Battalion 969 is part of the Northern Gaza Brigade and Division 99, led by Brig.-Gen. Barak Hiram. T said it took his forces a few weeks to build; this was a few months after they had defeated Hamas forces in the area. He also declined any terminology of defining the position as part of an anticipated Israeli perimeter, following an IDF withdrawal from deeper parts of Gaza. He said he hoped the political echelon would support his battalion holding the position for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, many soldiers at the new position said they understood Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas could announce a new ceasefire any day, including unpredictable IDF withdrawals. Such questions were out of their hands, they said. Furthermore, they understood that their job in the meantime was to maintain the military pressure on Hamas to advance efforts to defeat any nearby Hamas forces, as well as to enhance the chances of the terrorist group returning more Israeli hostages. 'Their cemeteries are full of people [Hamas commanders] who thought they were irreplaceable' The IDF was asked about Hamas's recent large-scale ambush of IDF soldiers in Beit Hanun and whether this was part of a broader trend. Capt. A., deputy commander of a company, said: 'Like us, Hamas understands that there are movements toward a ceasefire… There is some additional daring from their side to create a picture of success, which is not good for our forces. The opposite is also true. Our forces also understand this and will not give them this picture and will present a different picture, our victorious picture.' 'We are reducing their [leadership] to being a less experienced group,' he said. 'Their cemeteries are full of [Hamas commanders] who thought they were irreplaceable.' At a personal level, I questioned how and why I could once again be driving toward large plumes of smoke erupting from Gaza, 21 months after I first did so, visiting Be'eri on October 11, 2023. Wasn't Hamas's last battalion defeated in Rafah in the June-August 2024 period, and wasn't Hamas's last northern Gaza battalion defeated by January 2024? And yet, during my visit in Gaza, I saw about a dozen explosions or smoke from explosions from a mix of fighting Hamas's reconstituted forces in Beit Hanun and from blowing up more of Hamas's endless maze of tunnels. In March 2024, the IDF announced that it had destroyed 85% of Hamas's strategic tunnels in Khan Yunis after three months of fighting there – meaning about 20 km. out of a total of 140 km. of tunnels. Since then, the IDF has destroyed far more tunnels, but those numbers illustrate the challenge. IDF sources said it seemed that all or nearly all of the strategic Hamas tunnels – containing weapons factories, senior officials, and intelligence and communications centers – had been destroyed, and that most tunnels being found and destroyed in Beit Hanun or Beit Lahiya these days are much smaller tactical maneuvering tunnels. 'We are destroying many tunnels in Beit Hanun, but the destruction takes time,' A. said. 'You need to locate them, then take them over, then blow them up… we are doing it every night.' The IDF recently said it has been trying to surround and corner a group of about a dozen Hamas fighters in the Beit Hanun area who are hiding underground, occasionally popping out to fire a rocket-propelled grenade or to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) to ambush Israeli soldiers. 'We are in conflict with dozens of terrorists in the area, an area of combat,' T. said. 'But we are pushing them southward and backward into their [small remaining] territory [that is under their control] every day. Every action, every bomb, every sign of smoke that you see… exposes and definitively pushes the enemy backward.' 'We are not standing on the goal line to defend; rather, our defense is forward on the other side [inside previous Hamas territory] of the field,' he added. 'Looking from our side, we can see all of Beit Hanun and see all that is left there.' Not far away from Beit Hanun and easily within visual range are Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Sderot, and other Israeli villages, T. said, and 'any soldiers stationed here know and see exactly what they are protecting, and they know who they are up against.' 'You see many bombs and explosions,' he said. 'We are working hard on Beit Hanun' against Hamas. During his briefing on the Gaza areas that can be observed from the position, T. pointed out a water facility in the Beit Hanun area. He said the new position was crucial strategically for thwarting any attempts by Hamas to approach the Israeli border. The Post had traveled through the Beit Hanun area at earlier points in the war, when large portions of it were destroyed, but significant portions, possibly as much as 30%-50%, were still standing. During the visit on Thursday, only about 5% of Beit Hanun appeared to be still standing, showing how much additional fighting between Israel and Hamas in recent months has brought down what was left of Beit Hanun into additional piles of rubble. 'When the enemy has nowhere [no place] to return to, there is no way to return,' T. said. Destroying structures also makes it much harder for Hamas to make any unexposed movements above ground, he added. Right now, any Palestinian civilians in the area – possibly as many as one million in the Gaza City area – are about two km. away, so anyone who comes close to this position is presumed to be a fighter who can be targeted. As with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon, if large quantities of Palestinian civilians do not return to places too close to the Israeli border, it will be harder for Hamas to return. In contrast, since Gaza is much smaller and narrower than Lebanon, if more Gazans returned all the way up to the border, it would make it harder to prevent Hamas from returning, concealed within the civilian population. All the reservists the Post spoke to had a mixed message regarding the status of reservists showing up for duty, with most of them on their fourth round of reserve duty since the October 7 massacre. Most of their service has been in the Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya areas of northern Gaza, with one round in the West Bank. On the one hand, those at the IDF position said they were highly motivated to serve as long as necessary to defeat Hamas. On the other hand, they acknowledged that they have had to show an increasing level of understanding for those reservists who have stopped showing up for duty due to job issues, family issues, university education, or general or ideological exhaustion. In the meantime, officers T., A., and others said they would continue to try to corner and batter Hamas as long as the order stands.• Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
5 Israeli soldiers killed overnight in northern Gaza, military says
Five Israeli soldiers were killed overnight in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday. The military said two other soldiers were seriously wounded. Israeli media said the infantry soldiers were on patrol when explosive devices were detonated against them. Media said militants also opened fire on the reinforcements sent to evacuate the dead and wounded. The deaths came roughly two weeks after Israel reported once of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed when a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armored vehicle.
