Latest news with #TareqAbuAzzoum
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Israeli strikes kill 72 Palestinians, 29 waiting for aid trucks
Another Israeli air strike on a home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City killed eight people, leaving multiple other people wounded, according to medical sources. Eight more people were killed, and others injured, including a woman and two children, in Israeli strikes on tents of displaced people in al-Mawasi camp in Gaza's south, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. READ MORE: Group of 'neo-Nazis' thrown out from council meeting about 'far-right racist' banners Meanwhile, a further 10 people, including a husband, wife and children from a single family, were killed in another Israeli air strike on the Maghazi camp in central Gaza, local reports have said. The Israeli military told the Reuters news agency that it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food aid. The bodies of 20 people shot dead in northern Gaza by Israeli forces while waiting for aid trucks were left on the street for five days before Civil Defence paramedics from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were given approval by Israeli officials to recover them. Ahmed Ghaben told Al Jazeera about the death of a relative saying that his nephew wasn't a resistance fighter and that he simply went to get a bag of flour. He said: 'My nephew went to bring his children a bag of flour, but he was brought back a lifeless body, as you can see, a martyr. 'He left 14 family members. He went [to get aid] due to hunger. He wasn't a resistance fighter. He went to get a bag of flour.' Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said, 'It's very clear that Israeli forces are targeting civilians who only went to get bags of flour or boxes of food. 'Eyewitnesses say the soldiers used a variety of weapons, including drones and tanks. Snipers who have been deployed in nearby hills have also been gunning down the civilians. 'The Israeli military claims these hungry crowds are a security threat, but these claims have not been substantiated with clear evidence.' Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing war on Gaza and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to some two million Palestinians, at risk of famine. The UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, condemned Israel's conduct around the aid centres this week.
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Israeli strikes kill 72 Palestinians in Gaza
Another Israeli air strike on a home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City killed eight people, leaving multiple other people wounded, according to medical sources. Eight more people were killed, and others injured, including a woman and two children, in Israeli strikes on tents of displaced people in al-Mawasi camp in Gaza's south, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. READ MORE: Group of 'neo-Nazis' thrown out from council meeting about 'far-right racist' banners Meanwhile, a further 10 people, including a husband, wife and children from a single family, were killed in another Israeli air strike on the Maghazi camp in central Gaza, local reports have said. The Israeli military told the Reuters news agency that it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food aid. The bodies of 20 people shot dead in northern Gaza by Israeli forces while waiting for aid trucks were left on the street for five days before Civil Defence paramedics from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were given approval by Israeli officials to recover them. Ahmed Ghaben told Al Jazeera about the death of a relative saying that his nephew wasn't a resistance fighter and that he simply went to get a bag of flour. He said: 'My nephew went to bring his children a bag of flour, but he was brought back a lifeless body, as you can see, a martyr. 'He left 14 family members. He went [to get aid] due to hunger. He wasn't a resistance fighter. He went to get a bag of flour.' Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said, 'It's very clear that Israeli forces are targeting civilians who only went to get bags of flour or boxes of food. 'Eyewitnesses say the soldiers used a variety of weapons, including drones and tanks. Snipers who have been deployed in nearby hills have also been gunning down the civilians. 'The Israeli military claims these hungry crowds are a security threat, but these claims have not been substantiated with clear evidence.' Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing war on Gaza and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to some two million Palestinians, at risk of famine. The UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, condemned Israel's conduct around the aid centres this week.
Qatar Tribune
15-06-2025
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
Israel kills 37 Palestinians in Gaza, many while trying to get food
Agencies Gaza Israeli forces have killed 37 Palestinians across Gaza, at least 13 of whom were trying to get food at aid sites operated by the controversial United States and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to local health officials, the latest deaths in areas that critics have slammed as 'human slaughterhouses'. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza on Sunday told Al Jazeera that at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the so-called Netzarim Corridor, desperately seeking meagre food parcels for their hungry families. At least another 10 other aid seekers were reported killed and more than 50 injured in southern Gaza. Many of the dead and wounded were taken to the Red Cross Hospital in Rafah, according to medics. 'People have told us that the Israeli military did not warn the hungry crowds before opening fire on them, leading to devastating civilian casualties,' reported Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Ahmed al-Masri, who left one of the aid points empty-handed, described the shootings as 'a trap'. Multiple Israeli air raids also hammered southern Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 12 Palestinians there. Seven others were killed when an Israeli strike targeted a group of people in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said. Alarming levels of hunger, and the spectre of famine, have driven people to the few food distribution points in Gaza despite the severe peril involved. But Israeli forces have responded with sniper fire and bombings. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings, with the GHF accused of weaponising aid. On Saturday, at least 79 Palestinians were killed, many of them while seeking aid. Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in central Gaza said at least 15 people were killed as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near Netzarim Corridor. There has been no comment from the Israeli military regarding Sunday's attacks. The GHF began distributing aid in Gaza at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a three-month total blockade of food, medicines and other essential items. Abu Azzoum said Palestinians are starting to see GHF distribution hubs as 'execution sites', considering the repeated attacks there. The GHF said its aid sites were closed on Saturday. But witnesses said thousands of people had gathered near the sites anyway, desperate for food as Israel's punishing blockade and military campaign have driven the territory to the brink of famine. Earlier this month, operations at the group's aid distribution hubs were also temporarily halted following several incidents of deadly violence, in which Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian aid seekers. The Gaza Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday that at least 274 people have so far been killed, and more than 2,000 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in Gaza. The Israeli military has admitted to shooting at aid seekers, but claimed it opened fire only when 'suspects' deviated from a stipulated route to the GHF distribution site. Hamas has accused Israel of 'employing hunger as a weapon of war and turning aid distribution sites into traps of mass deaths of innocent civilians'. Israel has also admitted to backing armed gangs in Gaza, known for criminal activities, to undermine Hamas. These groups have been blamed for looting aid.
Qatar Tribune
14-06-2025
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
Israeli attacks kill at least 58 people in Gaza
Agencies Gaza Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 58 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, many of them near an aid distribution site operated by the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to local health authorities, the latest deaths of people desperately seeking food for their hungry families. Medics at Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals in central Gaza, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed on Saturday as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the so-called Netzarim Corridor. The rest were killed in separate attacks across the besieged and bombarded enclave, they added. Since the GHF started operations last month, at least 274 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded near aid distribution sites, according to a statement by the Gaza Ministry of Health. The GHF said they were closed on Saturday. But witnesses said thousands of people had gathered near the sites anyway, desperate for food as Israel's punishing 15-week blockade and military campaign have driven the territory to the brink of famine. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Palestinians are starting to see GHF distribution hubs as 'execution sites,' considering the repeated attacks there. But people in Gaza 'have run out of options, and they are forced to travel to these dangerous humanitarian spaces to get aid'. Israel imposed a full humanitarian blockade on Gaza on March 2 for 11 weeks, cutting off food, medical supplies and other aid. It began allowing small amounts of aid into the enclave in late May following international pressure, but humanitarian organisations say it is only a tiny fraction of the aid that is needed. Israel has also admitted to backing armed gangs in Gaza, known for criminal activities, to undermine Hamas. These groups have been blamed for looting aid. Later on Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and the nearby towns of Abasan and Bani Suheila in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head west towards the so-called humanitarian zone area, saying it would forcefully work against 'terror organizations' in the area. More than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip is now within the Israeli-militarised zone, under forced displacement orders, or where these overlap, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
UN demands probe as Israeli forces kill more people near aid site in Gaza
Israeli forces have opened fire again on Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid from a distribution site in Gaza, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30, as the United Nations demands an independent investigation into the repeated mass shootings of aid seekers in the strip. The shooting erupted at sunrise on Monday at the same Israeli-backed aid point in southern Gaza where soldiers had opened fire just a day earlier, according to health officials and witnesses. 'The Israeli military opened fire on civilians trying to get their hands on any kind of food aid without any kind of warning,' Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. 'This is a pattern that's been widely condemned by international aid organisations because it enhances the breakdown of civil order without ensuring humanitarian relief can be received by those desperately in need.' Witnesses said Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones routinely monitor aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the United States. A Red Cross field hospital received about 50 people wounded in the latest shooting, including two who were dead on arrival, said Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Most had been hit by bullets or shrapnel. A third body was taken to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. Moataz al-Feirani, 21, said he was shot in the leg while walking with thousands of others towards the food site. 'We had nothing, and they [the Israeli military] were watching us,' he told The Associated Press news agency, adding that surveillance drones circled overhead. The shooting began about 5:30am (02:30 GMT) near the Flag Roundabout, he said. The pattern of deadly violence around the GHF aid distribution site has triggered mounting international outrage, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday demanded an independent inquiry into the mass shooting of Palestinians. 'It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,' he said. 'I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.' The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians, claiming its soldiers fired 'warning shots' at individuals who 'posed a threat'. The GHF has also denied the shootings occurred although doubts about its neutrality have intensified since its founding executive director, former US marine Jake Wood, resigned before operations even began after he questioned the group's 'impartiality' and 'independence'. Critics said the group functions as a cover for Israel's broader campaign to depopulate northern Gaza as it concentrates aid in the south while bypassing established international agencies. Aid is still barely trickling into Gaza after Israel partially lifted a total siege that for more than two months cut off food, water, fuel and medicine to more than two million people. Thousands of children are at risk of dying from hunger-related causes, the UN has previously warned. Elsewhere in the territory, Israeli air attacks continued to hammer residential areas. In Jabalia in northern Gaza, Israeli forces killed 14 people, including seven children, in an attack on a home, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence agency. At least 20 people remained trapped under the rubble. Two more Palestinians were killed and several wounded in another attack in Deir el-Balah, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, while a drone attack in Khan Younis claimed yet another life. Gaza's Ministry of Health reported that at least 51 Palestinians have been killed and 503 injured in Israeli attacks across the territory in the latest 24-hour reporting period alone. Despite growing international condemnation, Israel's military on Monday ordered the displacement of even more civilians from parts of Khan Younis, warning it would 'operate with great force'. Roughly 80 percent of the strip is now either under Israeli military control or designated for forced evacuation, according to new data from the Financial Times, as Gaza's 2.3 million residents are crammed into an ever-shrinking patch of land in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border. Israel has made little secret of its aim to permanently displace Gaza's population as officials openly promote 'voluntary migration' plans. The Financial Times reported that the areas Palestinians are being pushed into resemble a 'desert wasteland with no running water, electricity or even hospitals'. Satellite images showed Israeli forces clearing land and setting up military infrastructure in evacuated areas. Analysts who reviewed dozens of recent forced evacuation orders said the trend has accelerated since the collapse of a truce in March. 'The Israeli government has been very clear with regards to what their plan is about in Gaza,' political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera. 'It is about ethnic cleansing.'
