More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly five months ago, health officials the territory said. The surge in numbers came after witnesses said Israeli troops on Thursday fired at a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City, killing scores and wounded hundred. At least 104 people were killed as Palestinians lined up for humanitarian assistance, said Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. Another 760 people were wounded, he said. The war has driven 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes, and U.N. officials say a quarter of the population is starving. Gaza’s Health Ministry, which said Thursday the Palestinian death toll from the war in the territory has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded, does not distinguish in its count between fighters and noncombatants. Israel says it has killed 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Quick Read
- Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began nearly five months ago, with recent Israeli troops firing at a crowd in Gaza City, resulting in at least 104 deaths.
- The surge in casualties came as Palestinians gathered for aid in Gaza City, with health officials and witnesses reporting scores killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli forces.
- The ongoing conflict has displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, with a quarter facing starvation, amidst widespread devastation and isolation of Gaza City.
- Egypt condemned the recent killings in Gaza City as a “heinous crime” and a violation of international law, emphasizing the disregard for human lives.
- The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warns of operational scale-down by the end of March due to funding shortfalls, affecting services in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
- WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean decried the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, urging world leaders to advocate for a permanent ceasefire and peace.
- Palestinian and Israeli diplomats clashed at the U.N. in Geneva over the situation in Gaza, with the Palestinian ambassador denouncing the recent killings and the Israeli ambassador criticizing the U.N. rights chief’s comments.
- Austria’s foreign minister, on a Mideast tour, appealed for de-escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border and hoped for a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of Ramadan.
- Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are marching from southern Israel to Jerusalem, demanding their release, as negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange continue in Qatar.
The Associated Press has the story:
Gaza’s death toll surges over 30,000. Another 70,457 wounded
Newslooks- RAFAH, Gaza Strip —(AP)
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly five months ago, health officials the territory said. The surge in numbers came after witnesses said Israeli troops on Thursday fired at a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City, killing scores and wounded hundreds.
At least 104 people were killed as Palestinians lined up for humanitarian assistance, said Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. Another 760 people were wounded, he said. The war has driven 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes, and U.N. officials say a quarter of the population is starving.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which said Thursday the Palestinian death toll from the war in the territory has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded, does not distinguish in its count between fighters and noncombatants. Israel says it has killed 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has caused widespread devastation in Gaza City, largely isolating it from the rest of the territory for months, with little aid entering.
The war has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and sparked global concern over the situation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town along the border with Egypt, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought safety from Israel’s daily bombardments.
The war began after Hamas-led militants stormed across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage.
Here’s the latest:
EGYPT SAYS THURSDAY’S KILLINGS IN GAZA CITY ARE A ‘HEINOUS CRIME’
Egypt has condemned the killings on Thursday in Gaza City, when the territory’s health officials say Israeli forces fired at a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid, killing at least 104 people.
Also, around 760 were wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The ministry described it as a “massacre.”
“It is a heinous crime to target peaceful civilians who are rushing to get their share of humanitarian aid,” read a statement released by Egypt’s foreign ministry.
“It is a flagrant violation of the international law and the international humanitarian law, and also shows disregard to the sanctity of human lives,” the Egyptian statement added.‘
MASSACRE’ AND MAYHEM AS ISRAELI FORCES OPEN FIRE, KILLING 104 PEOPLE WAITING FOR AID IN GAZA
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. At least 104 people were killed and 760 were wounded, Gaza health officials said.
Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food.
“We’ve been eating animal feed for two months,” he said.
He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd, causing it to scatter, with some people hiding under nearby cars. After the shooting stopped, they went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said.
Medics arriving at the scene on Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.
Gaza’s Health Ministry described it as a “massacre.”
THE U.N. AGENCY FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES SAYS ITS FUNDS WILL START TO DRY UP AFTER MARCH
JERUSALEM — The embattled U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees may have to scale down operations at the end of March if it doesn’t secure a new influx of funds, the agency’s head told reporters Thursday.
Some $450 million in funding for UNRWA has been frozen by donor states after Israel alleged that 12 members of the agency took part in the deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel by Hamas militants that sparked the war in Gaza. UNRWA has thousands of staff members.
“We have no (funding) visibility past March,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the agency. He said the agency is in talks with the European Commission to secure a donation of 82 million euros ($89 million) that could temporarily alleviate its financial shortfalls.
The funding cuts would impact UNRWA operations in all areas where it has a presence — Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The shortfalls would result in a “slow-onset implosion” of the agency, he said.
Israeli officials have alleged that UNRWA has not done enough to push back against purported attempts by Hamas to infiltrate the agency, a claim vehemently denied by Lazzarini.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he intends to force the closure of UNRWA after the Gaza war, now in its fifth month. Israeli officials have called for the eviction of the agency from its headquarters in Jerusalem and have frozen its bank account, according to Lazzarini.
WHO OFFICIAL DECRIES GAZA DEATH TOLL, SAYS THESE ARE HUMAN LIVES, NOT “MERE STATISTICS”
CAIRO — A regional director of the World Health Organization decried on Thursday the latest surge in the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip and urged world leaders to join her in a push for a permanent cease-fire.
Hanan Balkhy, who is WHO’s head for the Eastern Mediterranean, said “concrete steps” toward peace are desperately needed.
“The 30 thousand are not mere statistics, they are human lives,” Balkhy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “As a doctor and humanitarian, I will keep advocating for the right of all people to life and health. I call on all leaders to join.”
The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously described Gaza as “a death zone” and called repeatedly for a cessation of hostilities.
Last week, WHO warned at a regional news conference in Cairo that poor sanitation, the lack of access to clean water, and the over-crowdedness of settlements where displaced Gazans have relocated, could lead to further infectious disease outbreaks and ultimately more deaths in the battered territory.
PALESTINIAN DIPLOMAT AT THE U.N. IN GENEVA DENOUNCES LATEST STRIKE IN GAZA
GENEVA — The Palestinian ambassador at the United Nations in Geneva denounced Thursday’s apparent Israeli strike that killed at least 104 people waiting for aid in Gaza City.
“Are these human shields? Are these Hamas combatants,” asked Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, addressing his Israeli counterpart Meirav Eilon Shahar.
Khraishi spoke as the U.N. human rights chief was presenting a report from his office about the Gaza situation to the Human Rights Council. ,
“Hundreds of Palestinian citizens, civilians … who were waiting for trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, and they were bombed by the occupying power,” said Khraishi. “I would say to you: Let us put an end to the massacre.”
Khraishi represents the Palestinian Authority that runs pockets of the occupied West Bank but not the Gaza Strip, which is under the control of Hamas. He reiterated that the authority had condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned of the risk of famine in north Gaza, where aid groups have largely been denied access in recent weeks, and railed against the “carnage” in Gaza and the attacks in Israel that preceded them.
Eilon Shahar, who spoke right before Khrashi and after the U.N. rights chief, stressed that more than 1,200 people were “butchered” in the Oct. 7 attack while others were subjected to “unspeakable acts of violence” by Hamas,
She also criticized Türk’s comments.
“The minimal reference to these horrific acts in your statement today is an affront to the victims and supports those who seek to remove these crimes from the narrative altogether,” she said.
Dozens of diplomats were taking part in Thursday’s council debate, which was focusing on recent developments in Palestinian areas.
AUSTRIA’S TOP DIPLOMAT ON MIDEAST TOUR APPEALS FOR A PAUSE IN FIGHTING AHEAD OF RAMADAN
BEIRUT — Austria’s foreign minister on Thursday urged Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group against escalating the conflict along the volatile Israel-Lebanon border and expressed hope for a pause in the fighting in Gaza in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March.
The Middle East has witnessed enough devastation and cruelty, said Alexander Schallenberg, speaking after meeting his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut. He came to Lebanon after visiting Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the Israeli occupied West Bank.
Overnight, Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese villages along the southern border killed two people and wounded 14 others in the village of Kafra, state-run National News Agency reported.
Since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, after Palestinian militants stormed parts of southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts, drawing return fire from Israel in daily exchanges.
More than 210 Hezbollah fighters and nearly 40 civilians have been killed since then on the Lebanese side. In Israel, nine soldiers and nine civilians have been killed in Hezbollah attacks since Oct. 7.
European and American officials have tried to ease the tensions in visits to Beirut, to avoid a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, which has said it won’t discuss any deals before the war in Gaza ends.
“Everybody is asked not to escalate and it always takes two sides,” Schallenberg said.
RELATIVES OF HOSTAGES MARCH TO DEMAND FREEDOM FOR LOVED ONES
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli families of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and their supporters are launching a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to demand their loved ones be set free.
The march comes as negotiations are underway in Qatar to bring about a deal between Hamas and Israel that would lead to a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages. President Joe Biden has said such a deal was at hand but officials from Israel and Hamas have expressed skepticism about it.
Negotiators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been working on a framework deal under which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in fighting.
During the temporary pause, negotiations would continue over the release of the remaining hostages.
Hostages freed in a late-November deal, some of whom still have relatives held in Gaza, joined the march on Wednesday. It will end near the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this week.
In its Oct. 7 attack, Hamas abducted roughly 250 people, according to Israeli authorities, including men, women, children and older adults. Roughly 100 were freed about 50 days into their captivity. Some 130 hostages remain and Israel says about a quarter of them are dead.
The plight of the hostages has deeply shaken Israelis, who see in them an enduring symbol of the state’s failure to protect its citizens from Hamas’ assault.
Currently:
— Food aid reaches north Gaza for first time in weeks, and Israeli hostages’ families push for release.
— What would a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas look like?
— U.S. sanctions Iranian deputy commander, Houthi member and ships that transport Iranian oil.
— Qatar’s emir to discuss Gaza and hostages with Macron during a state visit to France.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
