Latest news with #DeirElBalah
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
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.
Arab News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Charity accuses Israel of deadly strike on Gaza office building
PARIS: Medical charity Medecins du Monde Wednesday accused Israel of violating international law with drone strikes on a building housing one of its offices in war-torn Gaza that killed eight people, none of them France-based aid group said in a statement the attack on Tuesday 'constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law, which protects both civilian populations and humanitarian organizations operating in conflict zones.'The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.'Yesterday morning, at around 11:00 am local time, a building in Deir el-Balah housing a Medecins du Monde office was attacked by drones,' the aid group staff had not been present as they had been off as part of the Eid Al-Adha holiday, it added.'At least eight people were killed in the bombardment. All were on the last floor of the building,' it said, without providing more details on those killed.'Medecins du Monde had informed the Israeli military of the presence of its office, which had officially been declared 'deconflicted', or shielded from Israeli military attacks under humanitarian coordination agreements,' it said.'However, as during previous Israeli attacks, the team received no forward warning that would have allowed it to evacuate the building or take measures to protect anyone inside,' it other non-governmental organizations as well as Palestinians displaced by the war are based in the same area, it is facing mounting pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, whose entire population the United Nations has warned is at risk of du Monde last month, after more than two months of a total blockade on Gaza, accused Israel of using hunger as 'a weapon of war' in the Palestinian recently allowed some deliveries to resume through the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza's civil defense agency. It said Israeli forces killed 31 people waiting for aid early on militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023 attacked Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 54,981 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers these figures to be of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
Al Arabiya
11-06-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Medical charity accuses Israel of deadly strike on Gaza office building
Medical charity Medecins du Monde Wednesday accused Israel of violating international law with drone strikes on a building housing one of its offices in war-torn Gaza that killed eight people, none of them staff. The France-based aid group said in a statement the attack on Tuesday 'constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law, which protects both civilian populations and humanitarian organizations operating in conflict zones.' The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'Yesterday morning, at around 11:00 am local time, a building in Deir el-Balah housing a Medecins du Monde office was attacked by drones,' the aid group said. Its staff had not been present as they had been off as part of the Eid al-Adha holiday, it added. 'At least eight people were killed in the bombardment. All were on the last floor of the building,' it said, without providing more details on those killed. 'Medecins du Monde had informed the Israeli military of the presence of its office, which had officially been declared 'deconflicted,' or shielded from Israeli military attacks under humanitarian coordination agreements,' it said. 'However, as during previous Israeli attacks, the team received no forward warning that would have allowed it to evacuate the building or take measures to protect anyone inside,' it added. Several other non-governmental organizations as well as Palestinians displaced by the war are based in the same area, it said. Risk of famine: UN Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, whose entire population the United Nations has warned is at risk of famine. Medecins du Monde last month, after more than two months of a total blockade on Gaza, accused Israel of using hunger as 'a weapon of war' in the Palestinian territory. Israel recently allowed some deliveries to resume through the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality. Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza's civil defense agency. It said Israeli forces killed 31 people waiting for aid early on Wednesday. Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023 attacked Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 54,981 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable. Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
Al Jazeera
07-06-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
US-backed GHF says Gaza aid sites remain shut as Israeli attacks kill 42
At least 42 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Eid-al-Adha, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as the US-backed group distributing aid in the Palestinian territory said all its centres were closed until further notice. The dead bodies of 16 people arrived at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis on Friday, local health authorities said, while another 16 were brought to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, five to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, and five more to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah. 'This is how Eid looks here in Gaza,' said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu-Azoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah on the first day of the Muslim holy festival usually marked by joy. This year the day 'is a very grim reminder of what they have lost and how they are forced to cope with unimaginable circumstances' amid bombardment, displacement and loss, he added. Meanwhile, a journalist who was wounded in an Israeli strike on Ahli Hospital on Thursday succumbed to their injures, raising the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war to 226, Gaza's Government Media Office said on Friday. The office called on 'all journalistic bodies in all countries of the world to condemn these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists and media professionals in the Gaza Strip'. 'We also call on them to exert serious and effective pressure to stop the crime of genocide, protect journalists and media professionals in the Gaza Strip, and halt their killing,' it added. Separately in Gaza on Friday, four Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in Khan Younis when a booby-trapped building they were in exploded, according to a preliminary Israeli army probe cited by local media. This brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the beginning of the week in Gaza to eight, reported Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut from Amman. Friday's deaths come as the US-backed group tasked with distributing aid in Gaza said its hubs would remain closed until further notice, despite a growing hunger crisis in the territory. Aid agencies have warned that all residents in Gaza face the threat of famine after Israel imposed a severe blockade on the territory in March, blocking the entry of food, medicine and fuel. Amid international pressure, Israel allowed some aid to enter Gaza last month, but aid groups have warned the amounts are inadequate. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a previously unknown group that is overseeing the aid distribution effort, advised people to stay away from the aid distribution hubs 'for their safety'. GHF, which began distributing aid last week, said in a Facebook post on Friday that details about reopening would be announced later. Operations at the group's aid distribution hubs were halted earlier this week following several incidents of deadly violence near the sites, in which Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian aid seekers. Only two sites distributed aid on Thursday. On Sunday, thousands of people headed towards the distribution site hours before dawn. As they approached, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and come back later. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, 1km (0.6 mile) away, at about 3am, Israeli forces opened fire, witnesses said. 'There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,' said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd. Goher Rahbour, a surgeon working in Gaza's Khan Younis, told Al Jazeera that the bullets extracted from victims of the shooting near the aid distribution centre on Sunday were from M16 assault guns, consistent with those used by the Israeli military. 'I operated on two patients and we removed M16 bullets from abdominal injuries,' Rahbour told Al Jazeera. 'When I spoke to these patients, they were very clear to say they came from Israeli forces.' The surgeon also said hospitals were operating with little or no resources. 'There is a lack of everything – antibiotics, swabs, surgical instruments,' he said. The GHF's approach has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations. The GHF says private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on crowds. Israel's military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 54,677 Palestinians and wounded 125,530, Gaza's Health Ministry said on Thursday. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive. On Thursday, mediators Qatar and Egypt announced renewed efforts to secure a ceasefire deal based on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce and the entry of humanitarian aid. Previous ceasefire efforts have, however, repeatedly broken down over Israel's rejection of key terms. In past rounds of negotiations, Israel has walked back commitments related to a permanent halt to the war and a full withdrawal of its troops from Gaza.
Al Jazeera
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israeli strike damages graves and destroys mosque in Deir el-Balah, Gaza
NewsFeed Israeli strike damages graves and destroys mosque in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Palestinians say even the dead are no longer safe in Gaza after a mosque and cemetery were hit by an Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah.
