Ceasefire shatters as Israel pounds Gaza with wave of deadly strikes
GAZA — At least 330 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
'A number of victims are still under the rubble, and efforts are underway to recover them,' it said.
The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" strikes after talks to extend the ceasefire failed — it's the biggest wave of strikes since 19 January, when the ceasefire began.
More than 440 people have been wounded, some very seriously, as rescue workers search for victims believed to be under the rubble, the ministry said earlier.
Israel's more than two-week-long blockade of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza has exacerbated suffering in the strip, Low said, adding that the new Israeli bombardment threatened to further restrict residents' access to vital fuel and water.
'We know that fuel is in short supply,' Low said. 'And so, it's possible that in the coming days we will lose telecommunications, that hospitals will collapse, there will be no clean drinking water available, and food distributions will come to a halt.'Gaza's hospitals are 'completely full' and struggling to treat wounded Palestinians flooding in following renewed Israeli strikes, the head of the enclave's biggest hospital said.'Our hospitals are unable to accommodate the increasing number of injured, as operating rooms are completely full, and the wounded are dying without finding a bed for treatment,' Muhammad Abu Salmiya, of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said in a post on X.He said the attack had dealt a blow to 'an exhausted healthcare system suffering from a shortage of medications and a severe lack of medical equipment.'A doctor at another hospital previously told CNN she had personally pronounced between 15 to 20 people dead in scenes that were 'nothing close to anything I've experienced before' and that the majority of patients she had seen were children.China is 'highly concerned' about the resumption of widespread and deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, and called for a return to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.'China is highly concerned about the current Israel-Palestine situation,' Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.She said Beijing 'hopes that all parties will earnestly promote the continued and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement, avoid taking any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster.'Israel's return to war in Gaza will inevitably worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, a leading humanitarian organization warned on Tuesday.Shaina Low, a communications adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said her colleagues in Gaza were woken up by 'intensive bombing' from Israeli attacks that continued until dawn.'People, including our staff, are, of course, in shock. They are very stressed out. They are very worried about what is to come,' Low told CNN's Rosemary Church from Jordan's capital Amman.About half of the NRC's Palestinian staff had returned to northern Gaza to see their families and check on their homes since the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect two months ago, Low said.A statement from Israeli hostages' families accused the Israeli government of choosing to "give up" hostages in Gaza by launching new strikes."The greatest fear of the families, the kidnapped, and the citizens of Israel has come true," says a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum."The Israeli government chose to give up the hostages."The statement expresses shock and anger at what it calls the "deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones".The group has issued an "emergency call", saying they are heading to Jerusalem to protest, as they say the "hostages are in grave danger".It says Israel and Hamas "must return to the ceasefire" and calls on US President Donald Trump, who has pledged to end the war, to "continue to act as he has declared and acted so far".Israel has said 59 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with up to 24 believed to be alive. — Agencies
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Gaza's starvation crisis fuels deadly race for survival
KHAN YOUNIS: Each day, Palestinians in Gaza run a deadly gauntlet in hopes of getting food. Israeli troops open barrages of gunfire toward crowds crossing military zones to get to the aid, they say, and knife-wielding thieves wait to ambush those who succeed. Palestinians say lawlessness is growing as they are forced into a competition to feed their families. A lucky few manage to secure some packets of lentils, a jar of Nutella, or a bag of flour. Many return empty-handed and must attempt the ordeal again the next day. 'This is not aid. It's humiliation. It's death,' said Jamil Atili, his face shining with sweat as he made his way back last week from a food center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor. He had suffered a knife cut across his cheek amid the scramble for food and said a contractor guard pepper-sprayed him in the face. Still, he emerged with nothing for his 13 family members. I have nothing to feed my children. My heart is broken. Jamil Atili, Gaza resident 'I have nothing to feed my children,' he said, nearly crying. 'My heart is broken.' Israel began allowing food into Gaza this past month after cutting it off completely for 10 weeks, though UN officials say it is not enough to stave off starvation. Most of the supplies go to GHF, which operates four food distribution points inside Israeli military zones. A trickle of aid goes to the UN and humanitarian groups. Both systems are mired in chaos. Daily gunfire by Israeli troops toward crowds on the roads heading to the GHF centers has killed several hundred people and wounded hundreds more in the past weeks, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. At the same time, in past weeks, hungry crowds have overwhelmed most of the UN's truck convoys and stripped away the supplies. Israeli troops have opened fire to disperse crowds waiting for trucks near military zones, witnesses say — and on Tuesday, more than 50 people were killed, according to the ministry. 'I don't see how it can get any worse, because it is already apocalyptic. But somehow it does get worse,' said Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian affairs office. Thousands of people must walk miles to reach the GHF centers, three of which are in the far south outside the city of Rafah. Palestinians said the danger begins when the crowds enter the Israeli military zone encompassing Rafah. Mohammed Saqer, a father of three who risked the trip multiple times, said that when he went last week, tanks were firing over the heads of the crowds as drone announcements told everyone to move back. It's like it was "Squid Game,' Saqer said, referring to the dystopian thriller TV series in which contestants risk their lives to win a prize. Just raising your head might mean death, he said. He and others crawled forward, then left the main road. A shot rang out nearby, and they ducked, he said. They found a young man on the ground, shot in the back. The others assumed he was dead, but Saqer felt his chest — it was still warm, and he found a pulse. They carried him to a point where a car could pick him up. Saqer said he stood for a moment, traumatized by the scene. Then people shouted that the site had opened. The mad dash Everyone broke into a crazed run, he said. He saw several people wounded on the ground. One man, bleeding from his abdomen, reached out his hand, pleading for help. No one stopped. 'Everyone is just running to get to the aid, to get there first,' Saqer said. Omar Al-Hobi described the same scene four times when he went last week. Twice, he returned empty-handed; once, he managed to grab a pack of lentils. On the fourth day, he was determined to secure flour for his three children and pregnant wife. He said he and others inched their way forward under tank fire. He saw several people shot in the legs. One man fell bleeding to the ground, apparently dead, he said. Horrified, Al-Hobi froze, unable to move, 'but I remembered I have to feed my children.' He took cover in a greenhouse, then heard the announcement that the center was open and began to run. Avoiding thieves At the center, food boxes are stacked on the ground in an area surrounded by fences and earthen berms. Thousands rush in to grab what they can in a frantic melee. You have to move fast, Saqer said. Once supplies run out, some of those who came too late rob those leaving. He swiftly tore open a box and loaded the contents into a sack — juice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, beans, flour and cooking oil. Then he took off running. There's only one route in and out of the center. But, knowing thieves waited outside, Saqer clambered over a berm, running the risk of being fired on by Israeli troops. 'It all depends on the soldiers' mood. If they are in a bad mood … they will shoot at me. If not, they will let me be,' he said. Heba Jouda said she saw a group of men beat up a boy of 12 or 13 years old and take his food as she left one of the Rafah centers. Another time, she said, thieves attacked an older man, who hugged his sack, weeping that his children had no food. They sliced his arm with a knife and ran off with the sack. Al-Hobi said he was trampled in the scramble for boxes. He managed to grab a bag of rice, a packet of macaroni. He snagged flour — but much of it was ruined in the chaos. At his family tent outside Khan Younis, his wife, Anwaar Saleh, said she will ration it all to make it last a week or so. 'We hope he doesn't have to go back. His life is the most important thing,' she said. Al-Hobi remains shaken — both by his brushes with death and the callousness that the race for food has instilled in everyone. 'No one will show you mercy these days. Everybody fends for themselves.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Strikes Kill 44 Palestinians in Gaza, UN Warns of Man-Made Drought
Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, many of whom had been trying to get food, local officials said, while the United Nations' children's agency warned of a looming man-made drought in the enclave as its water systems collapse. At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run local health authority said. Asked by Reuters about the incident, the Israel Defense Force said its troops had fired warning shots at suspected gunmen who advanced in a crowd towards them. An Israeli aircraft then "struck and eliminated the suspects", it said in a statement, adding that it was aware of others being hurt in the incident and was conducting a review. Separately, Gazan medics said at least 19 others were killed in other Israeli military strikes across the enclave, including 12 people in a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, taking Friday's total death toll to at least 44. In a statement on Friday, the Hamas group, which says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the population of Gaza, accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinians seeking food aid across the enclave. Israel denies this and accuses Hamas of stealing food aid, which the group denies. Meanwhile UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, warned in Geneva of drought conditions developing in Gaza. "Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% 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 also reported a 50% increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. FOOD AID Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. A lack of public clarity on when the sites - some of which are in combat zones - are open is causing mass casualty events, he added. The route near Netzarim has become dangerous since the start of a new US-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), witnesses told Reuters, with desperate Gazans heading to a designated area late at night to try and get something from aid supplies due to be handed out after dawn. The route has also been used by aid trucks sent by the United Nations and aid groups, and people have also been heading there in the hope of grabbing bags off trucks. UNICEF said GHF was "making a desperate situation worse". On Thursday, at least 70 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. In an email to Reuters, GHF accused Gazan health officials of regularly releasing inaccurate information. It said Palestinians do not access the nearby GHF site via the Netzarim corridor. The statement did not address a question about whether GHF was aware of Thursday's incident. The 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 told Reuters that the "vast majority" of patients that arrived at its Field Hospital during mass casualty incidents had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid, at or around aid distribution points. Between May 27 and Thursday, the aid group received 1,874 patients wounded by weapons, according to Red Cross figures. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 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 2 million and causing a hunger crisis.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UNICEF: Gaza Faces Man-made Drought as Water Systems Collapse
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. "Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza," he added, according to Reuters. UNICEF also reported a 50% increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. It said the US-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was "making a desperate situation worse." On Friday at least 25 people awaiting aid trucks or seeking aid were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. On Thursday at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. He said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was causing mass casualty events. "There have been instances where information (was) shared that a site is open, but then it's communicated on social media that they're closed, but that information was shared when Gaza's internet was down and people had no access to it," he said. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. On Friday at least 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house belonging to the Ayyash family in Deir Al-Balah, taking the day's death toll to 37.
