Latest news with #GHF
Al Jazeera
39 minutes ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
At least 35 killed in new Israeli attack on Gaza aid seekers
At least 35 Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded by Israeli fire while waiting for humanitarian aid near the Netzarim Corridor, in the central Gaza Strip, sources at al-Awda Hospital told Al Jazeera. Israeli jets also bombed a house west of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing at least eight people and injuring more. Hospitals in Gaza said at least 50 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army on Friday. Israeli attacks on hungry Palestinians near aid centres have killed hundreds of people since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started distributions on May 27. The shadowy Israeli- and United States-backed group tasked with distributing aid supplies has been criticised by the United Nations for its 'failure' to ensure the safe delivery of supplies in Gaza, where aid agencies have warned that the entire population is facing the threat of famine after Israel imposed a total blockade from early March to late May. Ismail al-Thawabta, the director-general of Gaza's Government Media Office, said on Thursday that the total number of aid seekers killed stood at 409, and 3,203 more had been injured. UNICEF warned the Gaza Strip was also facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapsed. 'Children will begin to die of thirst,' spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva on Friday. 'Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional.' The UN agency warned that the GHF distribution system was 'making a desperate situation worse'. 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.
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Health
- 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.
Saudi Gazette
an hour ago
- Health
- Saudi Gazette
Israeli military kills 23 Palestinians near aid site in Gaza, witnesses and medics say
GAZA — Israeli forces have killed 23 Palestinians after opening fire on crowds gathered near an aid distribution site, witnesses and medics say. Tanks and drones fired at thousands of people near a distribution centre in central Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the witnesses and medics said. A spokesperson for al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat confirmed they received 23 bodies and more than 100 wounded. Images from the hospital showed bodies on the floor. The Israeli military is yet to comment. The GHF denied a shooting occurred near their sites. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in similar incidents since late May. That is when the GHF took over most aid distribution in Gaza in an attempt by Israel to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid. The move followed a complete three-month Israeli blockade during which no food entered the territory, putting the entire population at critical risk of famine according to a UN-backed assessment. In almost all incidents, witnesses have said that Israeli troops opened fire, although there have also been reports of local armed gunmen shooting at people. The UN children's agency Unicef said the Israel- and US-backed food distribution system run by GHF was "making a desperate humanitarian situation worse". Unicef spokesperson James Elder said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was leading to 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 told reporters in Geneva. He said many women and children had been wounded while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died. On Thursday, at least 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid, according to rescuers and medics. The GHF denied there were any incidents near its site. The Israeli military told Reuters that "suspects" had attempted to approach forces in the area of Netzarim, and that soldiers had fired warning shots. On Tuesday witnesses said more than 50 people were killed when Israeli forces opened fire and shelled an area near a junction to the east of Khan Younis, where thousands of Palestinians had been gathering in the hope of getting flour from a World Food Programme (WFP) site, which also includes a community kitchen nearby. The Israeli military said "a gathering" had been identified "in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area" and the incident was under review. Unicef also warned that Gaza was facing a man-made drought as its water systems were collapsing. Just 40% of rinking water production facilities were still functioning, Mr Elder said. "Children will begin to die of thirst," he said, adding: "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza." In a separate Israeli attack on Friday, a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent told the BBC that 11 Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a home in the al-Ma'sar area west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Eyewitnesses said Israeli warplanes struck a two-storey house belonging to the Ayash family. Hamas-run civil defence officials say Israel has carried out a wave of deadly air strikes on Gaza in recent days, following a brief lull in air operations that coincided with the escalation between Israel and Iran. They reported on Thursday that at least 77 Palestinians had been killed in such strikes, which heavily targeted the Shati area in western Gaza City. Local sources speculated that the renewed strikes may be linked to the targeting of Hamas security elements who have recently re-emerged across parts of Gaza, attempting to reassert control amid a breakdown in law and order. These movements appear to have been timed with the temporary easing of Israeli aerial surveillance due to the simultaneous military focus on Iran. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 55,706 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including more than 15,000 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. — BBC
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Health
- Business Recorder
As death toll rises, Gazans make life-risking journeys to seek food
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. Israeli fire kills 140 in Gaza in 24 hours, medics say, as attention shifts to Iran On Thursday, 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 U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 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 criticized 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. Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say 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 U.S.- 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. 40 killed in Gaza, many trying to reach food, as UN denounces Israeli-backed aid system 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. 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. Gaza aid system under pressure as thousands seek food 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 U.N. 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.'
TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse, says Unicef
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the UN's children agency said on Friday. 'Children will begin to die of thirst. Only 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.' Unicef also reported a 50% 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. 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.
