Latest news with #Wafa
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Health
- Arab News
Palestinian appeals for blood donations unanswered in Gaza due to widespread hunger, malnutrition
LONDON: Palestinian medics are facing challenging conditions while treating patients and the injured in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli attacks in the coastal enclave. Health and medical staff have reported to the Wafa news agency that their appeals for community blood donations have gone largely unanswered due to widespread hunger and malnutrition, while life-saving resources are rapidly depleting in many hospitals. Nearly 2 million Palestinians face an imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid since it resumed its military actions in March. Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment, hindering doctors from carrying out emergency procedures necessary to save lives, Wafa added. Operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency departments are struggling under the pressure of a growing number of critically injured patients, and fuel is running out to generate power. On Monday, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza revealed that 41 percent of kidney failure patients have died since October 2023 amid ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid. Israeli forces destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza over the weekend, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis to 160 patients.
New Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Israel attacks starving Palestinians at aid site in Rafah, kills 27, including 3 children; strikes across Gaza kill 8
Israel on Tuesday attacked starving Palestinians waiting for humanitarian assistance at the newly established US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) aid site in southern Gaza's Rafah, killing at least 27, including three children and two women. Dozens of others were also injured in the attack. Israeli strikes across Gaza on Tuesday killed more people bringing the death toll to 35, which includes children. In Khan Younis, six Palestinians, including two children, were killed in three different strikes targeting homes and tents for displaced people, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Two more people were killed and others injured in an Israeli strike on a group of civilians in Jabalia town, northern Gaza, according to Wafa. Israel has continuously attacked desperate Palestinians who were lined up, waiting for the much-needed humanitarian assistance at aid points set up by the Israeli military since May 27, when the GHF started its operations. The US-backed aid distribution system was established following Israel's announcement that it would allow "limited" entry of humanitarian assistance into the war-ravaged territory after its three-month-long aid blockade that pushed the entire Gaza population into a famine-like situation, killing at least 57, mostly children, including infants. The UN and several aid groups have called the aid system operated by GHF a "death trap" for Palestinians and accused it of helping Israel in its genocidal war against Gaza. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into Israel's repeated attacks against Palestinain aid seekers. Palestinian Medical Relief Society called the attack a war crime and said it is an inhumane activity.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
Palestinians killed after Israeli military open fire at aid distribution point, Gaza's civil defence agency says – Israel-Gaza war live
Update: Date: Title: Palestinians killed after Israeli military open fire at aid distribution point Content: Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that at least 15 people were killed in the south of the Gaza Strip – with Palestinian news agency Wafa putting the number higher at 24 – when Israeli troops again opened fire near an aid distribution point. A correspondent for Wafa reported that 'Israeli artillery and aircraft fired shells and gunfire at displaced people as they waited for aid' in the vicinity of the Al-Alam roundabout, which is to the west of Rafah. It reported that 200 people were injured. The IDF said in a statement Tuesday that it shot 'a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops', claiming that people had not followed designated routes. It said 'The IDF is aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident are being looked into', adding that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation operates 'to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents – and not to Hamas.' Jake Wood, the ex-Marine who previously headed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resigned several days ago, saying the operation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to 'humanitarian principles'. Update: Date: 2025-06-03T06:16:31.000Z Title: Welcome and opening summary … Content: Hello and welcome to the Guardian's rolling coverage of the conflict in Gaza and the wider Middle East. Here are the headlines … Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that Israeli troops killed at least 15 people in the south of the Gaza Strip. '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 news agency AFP. The Palestinian news agency wafa put the number of people killed at 24 The IDF said in a statement Tuesday that it shot 'a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops' during the movement of Palestinians along the designated routes toward aid distribution sites in the southern Gaza Strip. It said the people deviated from the designated routes Israel's military said three soldiers were killed during combat in northern Gaza on Monday, without providing details. Israeli media reported that they were killed in an explosion in the Jabaliya area. About 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the 7 October attack, including more than 400 during the fighting inside Gaza
Arab News
a day ago
- Health
- Arab News
Nearly 41% of kidney patients died in Gaza as Israel destroys major dialysis center
LONDON: Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip revealed on Sunday that nearly half of the kidney failure patients in the coastal enclave have died since October 2023 amid ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid. Israeli attacks on hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza barred 41 percent of kidney patients from accessing life-saving dialysis treatment, resulting in their deaths, according to the Wafa news agency. On Saturday, Israeli forces destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis to 160 patients. Video footage appears to show Israeli military excavators completely demolishing the facility that was partly damaged amid the war and remained standing among the heavily ruined area of Beit Lahiya. 'The destruction of this center is a catastrophic blow to the health system,' a Palestinian medical source told Wafa, warning of dire consequences for the remaining kidney patients in Gaza. 'This is a disaster with consequences we cannot yet fully comprehend,' they added.
The National
2 days ago
- General
- The National
Three more Palestinians killed by Israeli army gunfire near aid centre in southern Gaza
Three more Palestinians were killed early on Monday by Israeli army gunfire near an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, medical sources told The National, a day after dozens were shot dead in the same area. Another 35 were wounded as Israeli troops opened fire on civilians near the US-backed aid distribution point west of Rafah, the sources said. Official Palestinian news agency Wafa also reported the deaths, saying Israeli troops 'fired directly at civilians'. The violence comes a day after Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses reported that dozens were killed by Israeli fire at an aid site in the same area run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group backed by the US and Israel that started operating after Israel recently relaxed a blockade on the enclave. The UN and other international aid organisations have refused to work with the foundation, saying its operations are an affront to international humanitarian principles. The Israeli army has offered competing explanations of Sunday's violence. It first said it was unaware of casualties, then said it did not fire at civilians 'near or within' the food bank and that 'reports to this effect are false'. But an Israeli military official separately said troops had fired warning shots to 'prevent several suspects from approaching' the site. The GHF said aid had been distributed 'without incident' on Sunday and reports of fatalities were false. Israel has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN has warned the entire population faces famine. Gaza's farmland has been destroyed, with barely any land remaining arable. Israel imposed an aid blockade on the besieged strip in March and only relaxed it in recent days. Aid is now trickling in but the UN has reported looting of its lorries and warehouses. Israel says the new system of food distribution by the GHF is a way of bypassing Hamas, which it accuses of pilfering aid. But other aid groups say it forces civilians to navigate dangerous areas to obtain food at the centres. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, said aid distribution 'has become a death trap'. He described the new distribution centres as a 'humiliating system' forcing hungry Gazans to walk for miles to areas ravaged by Israeli bombardment.
