Israeli attacks kill at least 92 people including aid seekers in Gaza
At least 92 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip as desperate Palestinians continue to seek food amid an ongoing hunger crisis.
Among those killed since dawn on Thursday, 64 were in Gaza City and the north and 16 others were waiting for aid assistance near the Netzarim Corridor, which splits north and south Gaza.
Starving Palestinians have gathered in the area daily to receive packages from the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the United Nations has condemned for its 'weaponisation' of aid.
Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the Israeli attack at the aid site, told the AFP news agency that people had gathered overnight in the hope of receiving food.
'Around 1am [22:00 GMT Wednesday], they started shooting at us. The gunfire intensified from tanks, aircraft and quadcopter bombs,' he told AFP by phone.
'We couldn't help them or even escape ourselves,' he said, adding that the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to flee Israeli fire near the Shuhada Junction.
In recent weeks, Israeli attacks on Palestinians attempting to receive food aid have increased, killing dozens of people.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said the attacks on people at aid sites are becoming a 'daily routine'.
'More than three months of full [Israeli] blockade on border crossings has turned Gaza into a hunger point where people have run out of all kinds of humanitarian supplies and now found themselves to be forced to move to these designated centres to get bags of flour, bottles of water and alongside food boxes that, according to nutritional experts, contain low nutritional value,' Azzoum explained.
'These attacks are still unfolding, turning all humanitarian corridors into killing grounds,' he said.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that there were attempts by 'suspects' to approach forces in the area of Netzarim in a way that had endangered them.
The army added that forces fired warning shots to prevent suspects from approaching them, and it was currently unaware of injuries in the incident.
Separately, an Israeli drone attack on a makeshift tent where Palestinians were charging their electrical devices in Al Shati Refugee Camp, killed 13 people, while an Israeli aircraft also launched intensive air strikes and bombarded several homes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said Israel's attack on the charging point at the Al Shati camp came after 'more than a-year-and-a-half' without electricity in the enclave.
At the same time, the attacks on aid distribution centres are a testament to the 'deteriorating' situation in Gaza that has forced Palestinians to put 'their lives at risk for food', Khoudary added.
'Only a limited, very limited number of trucks coming in [to Gaza] every single day and people are very desperate; they're being killed as they try to take whatever is on the trucks,' she added.
Over the past 24 hours, 69 bodies, including two that were recovered after an attack, and 221 wounded people were admitted to hospitals in the besieged enclave, medical sources said.
Since the war began in October 2023, at least 55,706 people have been killed and 130,101 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Pro-Palestine activists spray red paint on military plane at UK airbase
NewsFeed Pro-Palestine activists spray red paint on military plane at UK airbase Pro-Palestine activists breached security at a UK airbase and vandalised a military plane, spraying red paint into its engine. The group Palestine Action says the UK is complicit in Israel's war on Gaza.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Pro-Palestinian activists break into UK military base
Pro-Palestinian activists have broken into a Royal Air Force base in central England and claimed to have damaged two military aircraft to protest against the UK government's support for Israel's war on Gaza. The campaign group Palestine Action said two members entered the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire, spraying paint into the engines of the Voyager aircraft and attacking them with crowbars. 'Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel U.S./Israeli fighter jets,' the group said in a statement on Friday, posting a video of the incident on X. 'Britain isn't just complicit, it's an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.' The video showed footage of two people whizzing on electric scooters through the Brize Norton base. One of them then used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine group said the red paint 'symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene'. It said the activists were able to exit the military facility undetected and avoid arrest. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the 'vandalism' as 'disgraceful' in a post on X. The Ministry of Defence and the police were investigating the incident. 'Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain. They put their lives on the line for us, and their display of duty, dedication and selfless personal sacrifice are an inspiration to us all,' a ministry statement said. 'It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.' Earlier this month, pro-Palestine campaigners gathered outside the British Parliament in London to demand a full arms embargo and hard-hitting sanctions on the Israeli government. The UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) found the UK increased its licences to Israel for military equipment after the government announced a temporary arms suspension in September 2024. The government also refused to suspend the shipment of components of F-35 fighters, arguing it would cause a 'profound impact on international peace and security'.
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel again included in UN blacklist for grave violations against children
The United Nations has kept Israel on its 'blacklist' of countries committing abuses against children in armed conflict for a second straight year, as its war on Gaza continues for nearly 20 months. The listing on Thursday came as the UN said in a new report that violence against children in conflict zones reached 'unprecedented levels' in 2024, with the highest number of violations committed in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank by the Israeli army. The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed 'a staggering' 25 percent surge globally in grave violations against children below the age of 18 last year from 2023. It said it had verified 41,370 grave violations against children, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Among them were 8,554 grave violations against 2,959 children – 2,944 Palestinian, 15 Israeli – in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. The figure includes confirmation of 1,259 Palestinian children killed and 941 wounded in Gaza, which has come under relentless Israeli bombardment following an attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported much higher figures, and the UN said it is currently verifying information on an additional 4,470 children killed in 2024 in the besieged territory. The UN said it has also verified the killing of 97 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where a total of 3,688 violations were recorded. The report also called out Israel's military operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured last year. UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was 'appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel', citing the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Guterres also reiterated his calls on Israel to abide by international law requiring special protections for children, protection for schools and hospitals, and compliance with the requirement that attacks distinguish between fighters and civilians and avoid excessive harm to innocent people. There was no immediate comment by Israel's UN mission. The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, and the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, were also included in the blacklist for a second time. Following the Palestinian territory, the countries where the UN registered the most violence against children in 2024 were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (more than 4,000 grave violations); Somalia (more than 2,500); Nigeria (nearly 2,500); and Haiti (more than 2,200). The sharpest percentage increase in the number of violations was recorded in Lebanon (545 percent), followed by Mozambique (525 percent), Haiti (490 percent), Ethiopia (235 percent), and Ukraine (105 percent), it added.
