Latest news with #NidalAlMughrabi
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Israeli attacks kill 140 in Gaza in 24 hours, medics say, as focus shifts to Iran
A boy carries a box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in late May. Photo: Eyad Baba / AFP By Nidal al-Mughrabi, of Reuters Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 140 people across Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, as some Palestinians in the Strip said their plight was being forgotten as attention shifted to the air war between Israel and Iran. At least 40 of those killed over the past day died as a result of Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry said. The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory. Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp, the Zeitoun neighbourhood and Gaza City killed at least 21 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on an encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Fourteen more people were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said. Asked about the Salahuddin road incident, the Israel Defence Forces said despite repeated warnings that the area was an active combat zone, individuals approached troops operating in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip in a manner that posed a threat to forces. Troops fired warning shots, it said, adding that it was unaware of injuries. Regarding other strikes, the IDF said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" while taking "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". On Tuesday, Gaza's health ministry said 397 Palestinians among those trying to get food aid had been killed and more than 3000 were wounded since aid deliveries restarted in late May. Some in Gaza expressed concern that the latest escalations in the war between Israel and Hamas that began in October 2023 would be overlooked due to the new Israel-Iran conflict. "People are being slaughtered in Gaza, day and night, but attention has shifted to the Iran-Israel war. There is little news about Gaza these days," said Adel, a resident of Gaza City. "Whoever doesn't die from Israeli bombs dies from hunger. People risk their lives every day to get food, and they also get killed and their blood smears the sacks of flour they thought they had won," he told Reuters via a chat app. Israel is now channelling much of the aid into Gaza through a new US and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private US security and logistics firms and operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. Israel has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring it doesn't get to Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called the current system for distributing aid "a disgrace and a stain on our collective consciousness", in a post on X on Wednesday. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis. The World Food Programme called on Wednesday for a big increase in food distribution in Gaza, saying that the 9000 metric tonnes it had dispatched over the last four weeks inside Gaza represented a "tiny fraction" of what was needed. "The fear of starvation and desperate need for food is causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit," the WFP said in a statement. "Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable," it added. Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel's air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas. "We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people," said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father-of-five from northern Gaza. "We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten." Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer and Olivia Le Poidevin - Reuters
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Hatem Khaled , Reuters Israeli tanks fired into a crowd trying to get aid from trucks in Gaza, killing at least 59 people, according to medics, in one of the bloodiest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents struggle for food. Video shared on social media showed around a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military, at war with Hamas-led Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged firing in the area and said it was looking into the incident. Witnesses interviewed by Reuters said Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from aid trucks that use the route. "All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, an eyewitness, interviewed by Reuters at Nasser Hospital, where wounded victims lay sprawled on the floor and in corridors due to the lack of space. "No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children. Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children." Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition. Casualties were being rushed into the hospital in civilian cars, rickshaws and donkey carts. It was the worst death toll in a single day since aid resumed in Gaza in May. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said: "Earlier today, a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area. "The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd's approach. The details of the incident are under review. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops." Medics said at least 14 other people were also killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes elsewhere in the densely populated enclave, taking Tuesday's overall death toll to at least 73. The health ministry said 397 Palestinians, among those trying to get food aid, had been killed and more than 3,000 were wounded since late May. The incident was the latest in nearly daily large-scale killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory it had imposed for nearly three months. 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 incident in question did not occur at a GHF site, but rather near a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) location," the foundation said of the incident on Tuesday (local time). 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. Gaza authorities say hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach GHF sites. The GHF said in a press release late on Monday that it had distributed more than three million meals at its four distribution sites without incident. The Gaza war was triggered in October 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli allies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and causing a hunger crisis. Since last week, Gaza Palestinians have kept an eye on the new air war between Israel and Iran, which has long been a major supporter of Hamas. Gaza residents have circulated images of buildings in Israel wrecked by Iranian missiles, some saying they are happy to see Israelis experiencing a measure of the fear of airstrikes that they have endured for 20 months. - Reuters
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, health officials say
By Nidal al-Mughrabi , Reuters Smoke billows over buildings in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, during Israeli bombardment on January 10, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Photo: AFP Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a US -backed humanitarian group in central Gaza, local health authorities said. Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north. The Israeli military said they are looking into the incident. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the US -backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday's incident. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence. "I went there at 2am hoping to get some food, on my way there, I saw people returning empty-handed, they said aid packages have run out in five minutes, this is insane and isn't enough," said Mohammad Abu Amr, 40, a father of two. "Dozens of thousands arrive from the central areas and from the northern areas too, some of them walked for over 20 km (12 miles), only to come back home with disappointment," he told Reuters via a chat app. He said he heard the firing but did not see what happened. Later on Tuesday, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 25. The Israeli military said separately, it intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza towards Israeli territories, which signalled Hamas and other militant group remained able to fire the weapons despite Israeli devastation of their arsenal. Israel allowed limited U.N.-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The U.N. has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean." Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for U.N. warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. - Reuters
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, health officials say
By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli gunfire killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens of others as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza on Tuesday, local health authorities said. Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north. The Israeli military said they are looking into the incident. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to GHF sites between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday's incident. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. However, many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence. "I went there at 2 a.m. hoping to get some food, on my way there, I saw people returning empty-handed, they said aid packages have run out in five minutes, this is insane and isn't enough," said Mohammad Abu Amr, 40, a father of two. "Dozens of thousands arrive from the central areas and from the northern areas too, some of them walked for over 20 km (12 miles), only to come back home with disappointment," he told Reuters via a chat app. He said he heard the firing but didn't see what happened. Israel allowed limited U.N.-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The U.N. has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean." Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for U.N. warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. (Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as criticism of Israel grows
By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Israeli air strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, local health authorities said, as Israel continues its bombardment despite mounting international pressure to stop military operations and allow aid into Gaza unimpeded. The attacks were carried out on two homes, where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families, among other areas, according to Gaza medics. Israel's military, which on Monday warned those in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to evacuate to the coast as it prepared for an "unprecedented attack", had no immediate comment. Tuesday's strikes were carried out on Khan Younis and areas to the north, including Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat, Jabalia, and Gaza City, the medics said. Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days as the military campaign has intensified, they say. Israel's military said on Monday it allowed five aid trucks into Gaza after a more than two-month blockade of food and other supplies. The U.N. has long said Gaza, with a population of about 2.3 million, needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. Throughout the war, trucks with aid have waited weeks and months at Gaza's border to enter. The war, now in its 20th month, has strained Israel's relations with much of the international community and those with its closest ally, the United States, now appear to be wavering. The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned on Monday they could take "concrete actions" against Israel if it did not stop military operations in Gaza and lift its restrictions on aid. In a separate statement alongside the European Union and 20 other nations, the three countries warned that Gaza's population was facing starvation and that the U.N. and aid groups must be allowed to carry out their work independently. Responding to the leaders' criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was engaged in a "war of civilization over barbarism" and vowed it would "continue to defend itself by just means until total victory." Under a heavily-criticized U.S. and Israeli-backed plan to deliver aid, a newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May. Israel's ground and air war has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities near Gaza's border on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's leadership has insisted that it can free the hostages and dismantle Hamas through force. Netanyahu has said Israel aims to control the whole of Gaza. Hamas has said it would release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails. A new round of indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar between Israel and Hamas has produced no breakthrough.
