Israeli attacks kill 44 Palestinians in Gaza, UN warns of water shortage, World News
CAIRO/GENEVA - Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday (June 20), many who were seeking food aid, local officials said, while the United Nations' children's agency said the scarcity of drinking water was at a crisis point.
At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli action south of Netzarim in central Gaza, the Hamas-run local health authority said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs a month-old US-backed food distribution system, operates an aid site there, and aid trucks from other organisations including the UN also move through the area.
Commenting on the incident, the Israeli military said troops fired warning shots at suspected militants who advanced in a crowd towards them. Israeli aircraft then fired a missile and "eliminated the suspects," it said in a statement.
The military said it was aware that people other than the suspected militants were hurt and it was conducting a review. GHF said the incident did not occur at or near its distribution location.
Separately, Gaza medics said at least 19 other people were killed in Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Friday, including 12 people in a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile the UN's children's agency Unicef warned in Geneva that a shortage of fuel to operate wells and desalination plants in Gaza meant the enclave "is facing what would amount to a man-made drought."
"Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities remain functional," Unicef spokesperson James Elder told reporters. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water."
Unicef so reported a 50 per cent increase in children aged six months to five years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. Food aid
In a statement, Hamas, which says Israel uses hunger as a weapon against Gaza's civiians, accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinians seeking food. Israel denies this and contends Hamas steals aid, which the group denies.
[[nid:719296]]
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinians gathered at aid distribution points, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries. Humanitarian groups say the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation system forces people to risk their lives by entering combat zones to access food.
Israel has said its actions were necessary to control crowds that posed a threat to its troops or to prevent breaches of restricted zones. But witnesses and human rights groups say many of the shootings appeared unprovoked and occurred without warning.
Unicef said GHF was "making a desperate situation worse". GHF said in a statement on Thursday it had so far distributed nearly three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident.
The Red Cross said the "vast majority" of patients that arrived at its Gaza field hospital during mass casualty incidents since the GHF aid system launched on May 27 had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid at or around distribution points.
The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis. Words561 oEmbed
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AsiaOne
a day ago
- AsiaOne
Israeli attacks kill 44 Palestinians in Gaza, UN warns of water shortage, World News
CAIRO/GENEVA - Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday (June 20), many who were seeking food aid, local officials said, while the United Nations' children's agency said the scarcity of drinking water was at a crisis point. At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli action south of Netzarim in central Gaza, the Hamas-run local health authority said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs a month-old US-backed food distribution system, operates an aid site there, and aid trucks from other organisations including the UN also move through the area. Commenting on the incident, the Israeli military said troops fired warning shots at suspected militants who advanced in a crowd towards them. Israeli aircraft then fired a missile and "eliminated the suspects," it said in a statement. The military said it was aware that people other than the suspected militants were hurt and it was conducting a review. GHF said the incident did not occur at or near its distribution location. Separately, Gaza medics said at least 19 other people were killed in Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Friday, including 12 people in a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile the UN's children's agency Unicef warned in Geneva that a shortage of fuel to operate wells and desalination plants in Gaza meant the enclave "is facing what would amount to a man-made drought." "Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities remain functional," Unicef spokesperson James Elder told reporters. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water." Unicef so reported a 50 per cent increase in children aged six months to five years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. Food aid In a statement, Hamas, which says Israel uses hunger as a weapon against Gaza's civiians, accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinians seeking food. Israel denies this and contends Hamas steals aid, which the group denies. [[nid:719296]] In recent weeks, Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinians gathered at aid distribution points, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries. Humanitarian groups say the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation system forces people to risk their lives by entering combat zones to access food. Israel has said its actions were necessary to control crowds that posed a threat to its troops or to prevent breaches of restricted zones. But witnesses and human rights groups say many of the shootings appeared unprovoked and occurred without warning. Unicef said GHF was "making a desperate situation worse". GHF said in a statement on Thursday it had so far distributed nearly three million meals across three of its aid sites without incident. The Red Cross said the "vast majority" of patients that arrived at its Gaza field hospital during mass casualty incidents since the GHF aid system launched on May 27 had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid at or around distribution points. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis. Words561 oEmbed
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- AsiaOne
As death toll rises, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food, World News
GAZA/CAIRO — Like thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza, Hind Al-Nawajha takes a dangerous, miles-long journey every day to try to get some food for her family, hoping she makes it back alive. Accompanied by her sister, Mazouza, the mother-of-four had to duck down and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the road as gunshots echoed nearby. "You either come back carrying (food) for your children and they will be happy, or you come back in a shroud, or you go back upset (without food) and your children will cry," said Nawajha, 38, a resident of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. "This is life, we are being slaughtered, we can't do it anymore." In the past two days, dozens of Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli fire as they tried to get food from aid trucks brought into the enclave by the United Nations and international relief agencies, Gaza medics said. On Thursday (June 19), medics said at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central Gaza Strip, the latest in near-daily reports of killings of people seeking food. The Israeli military said there were several attempts by "suspects" to approach forces in the area of Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip, in a manner that endangered them. It said forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them, and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident. In an email, GHF criticised Gazan health officials, accusing them of regularly releasing inaccurate information. GHF said that Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. It did not address questions about whether GHF was aware that such an incident had occurred. Thirty-nine people were killed, meanwhile, in separate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. One of those strikes killed at least 19 people, including women and children, in a tent in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they added. Another strike killed at least 14 people and damaged several houses in Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on those attacks. In recent days, the Israeli military said its forces had opened fire and fired warning shots to disperse people who approached areas where troops were operating, posing a threat. It said it was reviewing reports of casualties among civilians. Sleeping by the road Israel has been channelling much of the aid it is now allowing into Gaza through a new US and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. The Gaza health ministry said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites since late May. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent Hamas fighters from diverting aid, which Hamas denies. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed 3 million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and causing a hunger crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Thursday that more than 1 million people were without adequate shelter, saying equipment such as tents and tarpaulins had been blocked by Israel from entering since March 1. Nawajha returned empty-handed on Wednesday from her journey to find food, flopping down exhausted on the dusty ground outside the tent in Gaza City, where she has been displaced and sheltering with her family. She and her sister have been camping by the road for the past 20 days. They say they try to force their way into the distribution site where trucks carrying aid arrive, but are often outmuscled by men, who sometimes fight over sacks of flour coming off UN trucks. "(When) there is no food, as you can see, children start crying and getting angry," said Nawajha. "When we are for three, four kilometres or more on our legs... Oh my... our feet are bruised and our shoes are torn off." [[nid:719244]]
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- AsiaOne
Israeli hospital had taken patients underground hours before missile hit, World News
BEERSHEBA, Israel — Shattered glass and piles of rubble littered the floors of Soroka Medical Centre on Thursday (June 19), after an Iranian missile ripped through the hospital in Israel's south, injuring dozens. The major public hospital, which serves around one million people living in southern Israel, sustained extensive damage in the strike. Several wards were completely destroyed, with debris scattered across the parking lot and surrounding walkways. "We knew from the noise that it wasn't like anything we were used to, that it wasn't like anything we had seen before," said Nissim Huri, who was working in the kitchen and took refuge in a concrete shelter during the strike. "It was terrifying," Huri said, describing the scenes as she emerged from the shelter as "complete destruction". Israel launched an aerial war against Iran on Friday, calling it a preemptive strike designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran has denied plans to develop such weapons and retaliated by launching counterstrikes on Israel. Hospital staff said the blast was so powerful it threw them backward. On Thursday afternoon, they sat in the hospital courtyard rewatching videos of towering plumes of smoke. Israel's Health Ministry said 71 people were wounded in the attack, most of them suffering light injuries or panic attacks as they rushed for shelter. Hospital staff evacuated patients and cordoned off damaged areas. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital. An Israeli military official denied there were military targets nearby. The hospital began moving patients out of some buildings in recent days as part of emergency precautions in response to the Iranian strikes. It has since limited admissions to life-threatening cases only. Patients in the damaged building were taken to an underground facility just hours before the strike, a statement from the Israeli Health ministry said. Medical transporter Yogev Vizman, called to the scene just after the blast, said he witnessed "total destruction" when he arrived. "That whole building was on fire... everything collapsed, Vizman said. "I'm sad, this is like my home, they simply destroyed our home... I never thought there would be a direct hit on a hospital." Soldiers from the Israeli military's search and rescue unit searched the battered buildings to ensure nobody was trapped inside. An Israeli soldier told Reuters all he saw at first was "thick black smoke" and that they inspected every floor to look for casualties. "It's God's will that this place was evacuated from civilians last night," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. [[nid:719283]]
