By Samy Magdy and WAFAA Shurufa
Gaza Strip’s DEIR AL-BALAH (AP) According to health officials, at least 46 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire in the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, the majority of them were in crowds looking for food.
According to an international authority on hunger crises, Israel has persisted in its daily strikes, causing the worst-case scenario of famine in the area of about 2 million Palestinians as a result of its military offensive and blockade.
With no end in sight to the nearly 22-month conflict that was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, ceasefire negotiations seemed to have halted once more last week. According to a person familiar with Steve Witkoff’s intentions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they have not yet been made public, the Trump administration’s Mideast envoy is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday.
Hospitals that received the remains and cared for dozens of injured persons said at than 30 people were killed while trying to get humanitarian help. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that seven more Palestinians, including a child, perished from malnutrition-related causes.
The Israeli military refrained from commenting on any of the strikes right away. It claims that because Hamas operates in heavily populated areas, it exclusively targets militants and holds the group accountable for civilian casualties. The European Union, Canada, and the United States have all classified Hamas as a terrorist group.
Twelve people were killed Tuesday night as Israeli forces opened fire on crowds waiting for aid vehicles arriving from the Zikim border in northern Gaza, according to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
According to the hospital, strikes in the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, as well as the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, claimed the lives of thirteen more people.
Near the recently constructed Morag corridor, which the Israeli force dug out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah, Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis reported receiving the bodies of 16 persons who were reportedly killed Tuesday evening while waiting for assistance trucks.
According to the hospital, another body was delivered for a man who was murdered in an attack on a tent in Khan Younis.
Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire Wednesday near an aid delivery facility operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, in the Netzarim corridor area, south of Wadi Gaza, according to the Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel took a number of steps over the weekend to allow more foreign aid to enter Gaza in response to intense international criticism, but relief workers say much more is required.
The foremost global authority on hunger crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, warned of widespread death unless immediate action is taken, but refrained from officially declaring famine in Gaza on Tuesday.
More than 220 vehicles entered Gaza on Tuesday, according to COGAT, the Israeli military agency that handles humanitarian entry. That is far less than the 500–600 trucks per day that were allowed during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year, according to U.N. agencies.
The majority of vehicles are unloaded by crowds in Israeli military-controlled areas, making it difficult for the U.N. to deliver the relief that does enter. Violence has also plagued the alternative aid system operated by the GHF, which is backed by Israel.
Since May, witnesses, local health officials, and the U.N. human rights office have reported that over 1,000 Palestinians had been slain while attempting to access supplies, the majority of whom were near GHF-run sites. GHF claims its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to avert dangerous crowds, while the Israeli military claims it has only fired warning shots at anyone who approaches its personnel.
Aid has already resumed via international airdrops, but many of the packages have fallen in locations where Palestinians have been ordered to leave, and some have sunk into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve soaked flour bags.
Since the start of the conflict in Gaza, 89 children have perished from starvation. According to the ministry, since it began keeping track of adult deaths in late June, 65 Palestinian adults have also perished in Gaza from reasons related to hunger.
Israel claims that the emphasis on hunger jeopardizes ceasefire attempts and denies that there is any starving in Gaza, denying reports to the contrary from humanitarian organizations, U.N. agencies, and witnesses.
Hamas initiated the conflict on October 7, 2023, when terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 more. About 20 of the 50 hostages they still have are thought to be alive. In ceasefires or other agreements, the majority of the remaining hostages were freed.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 60,000 Palestinians. Its count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The Hamas government is in charge of the ministry. It is regarded as the most trustworthy source of casualty data by the United Nations and other international organizations.
From Cairo, Samy Magdy reported. Washington-based journalist Matthew Lee of the Associated Press also contributed.
