94 Palestinians Dead Amid Gaza Strikes, Aid Crisis/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Israeli strikes killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 45 waiting for humanitarian aid, amid a worsening crisis. Amnesty International accused Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation of using starvation as a weapon, claims Israel denies. Talks for a ceasefire continue while Gaza’s death toll surpasses 57,000 since the war began.
Quick Look
- Israeli strikes kill 94 Palestinians overnight in Gaza.
- 45 victims were seeking humanitarian aid.
- Amnesty accuses Israel, GHF of using starvation tactics.
- Israel denies Amnesty’s claims, calls them propaganda.
- Gaza’s death toll surpasses 57,000 since 2023 war start.
- Ceasefire talks continue amid ongoing violence.
- Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsens, leaving millions displaced.
- War began with Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023.
94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including Dozens Waiting for Aid, Officials Report
Deep Look
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed 94 Palestinians across Gaza overnight, including 45 people who were trying to access urgently needed humanitarian aid, Gaza’s Health Ministry and local hospitals said Thursday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the latest strikes.
Among the dead were five people outside facilities linked to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-backed aid group operating under Israeli approval, while 40 others were killed while waiting for aid at different locations in Gaza.
The U.K.-based human rights group Amnesty International released a report Thursday accusing both Israel and GHF of using food aid as a tool of warfare. Amnesty alleged that Israel and GHF were employing starvation tactics against Palestinians, describing the situation as amounting to genocide.
The report charged that Israel has “turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians” by creating militarized aid hubs through GHF, resulting in “a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point.”
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected Amnesty’s findings, accusing the organization of siding with Hamas and spreading “propaganda lies.”
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 500 Palestinians have died in or near GHF distribution centers in the past month alone. Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, five people were killed outside a GHF site in Khan Younis.
The GHF aid centers are protected by private security contractors and are often located near Israeli military positions. Palestinian witnesses and officials have alleged Israeli forces have fired on crowds gathering around these sites.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen. Airstrikes late Wednesday and early Thursday killed dozens more, including 15 people struck in tents in the crowded Muwasi area, where many displaced people have sought shelter. Another airstrike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced families killed 15 more.
The Health Ministry said the total number of Palestinians killed since the war began on October 7, 2023, has surpassed 57,000. That figure includes 223 individuals previously listed as missing who have now been declared dead. More than half of the casualties are women and children, though the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The surge in violence comes as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a potential ceasefire. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel had accepted terms for a proposed 60-day ceasefire and urged Hamas to agree to the deal before conditions deteriorate further. However, Hamas insists any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, raising doubts about whether a truce is imminent.
Israel continues to blame Hamas for civilian deaths, saying militants use densely populated areas for operations. The military said its latest strikes targeted Hamas fighters and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that fired rockets at Israel on Wednesday.
The conflict began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel in October 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Since then, Gaza has been devastated by nearly two years of warfare. Much of the territory’s urban landscape has been reduced to rubble, and over 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced multiple times. Food shortages and disease now threaten hundreds of thousands.
