Israel’s military struck a United Nations food distribution center in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a staff member and at least four other people, according to the U.N. and Gaza health officials. Over five months of war in Gaza, Israel has hit more than 150 facilities belonging to the main U.N. aid provider for Palestinians, UNRWA, according to the agency. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, the United Nations has warned.
Here’s the latest:
Quick Read
- Israel’s military struck a UN food distribution center in Gaza, killing a staff member and four others, amid ongoing conflict with Hamas.
- The strike adds to over 150 UNRWA facilities hit in Gaza, with a quarter of the population facing starvation.
- In the West Bank, confrontations with Israeli forces resulted in two Palestinian deaths, raising the 24-hour toll to six.
- Violence has escalated in the West Bank during the Gaza war, with at least 427 Palestinians killed.
- Over 31,270 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with women and children comprising two-thirds of the casualties.
- The conflict began with a Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in around 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and about 250 abductions, with Hamas still holding approximately 100 hostages.
- The UN calls for an independent inquiry into attacks on its facilities, emphasizing the disregard for international humanitarian law.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israeli forces strike UN food center in Gaza, killing 5 people, injuring 22
Newslooks- JERUSALEM —(AP)
Israel’s military struck a United Nations food distribution center in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a staff member and at least four other people, according to the U.N. and Gaza health officials. Over five months of war in Gaza, Israel has hit more than 150 facilities belonging to the main U.N. aid provider for Palestinians, UNRWA, according to the agency. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, the United Nations has warned.
In the West Bank, two Palestinians were killed overnight during confrontations with Israeli forces, bringing the overall death toll to six people in the past 24 hours. Israeli police also say a Palestinian stabbed and wounded two people at a checkpoint near Jerusalem before being shot Wednesday.
Violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank amid the war in Gaza with at least 427 Palestinians killed, mostly during confrontations with Israeli forces, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.
More than 31,270 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and most of its 2.3 million people forced from their homes, Gaza’s Health Ministry says. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed during the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the war. Around 250 people were abducted. Hamas is believed to still be holding about 100 hostages.
U.N. FOOD DISTRIBUTION SITE STRUCK BY ISRAELI FORCES, KILLING A STAFF MEMBER AND FOUR OTHER PEOPLE
JERUSALEM — The United Nations said Israeli forces on Wednesday hit a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by the U.N. agency that works with Palestinian refugees, killing one staff member from the agency and wounding 22 others.
The death brings to 165 the number of workers for the agency, known as UNRWA, killed during the past five months of conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to UNRWA.
Gaza’s health authorities said a total of five people were killed in the strike on the yard of an UNRWA warehouse.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the agency shares the coordinates of its Gaza facilities with Israel every day, and called for an independent inquiry into attacks on its facilities.
“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,’’ Lazzarini said.
“Since this war began, attacks against U.N. facilities, convoys and personnel have become commonplace in blatant disregard to international humanitarian law,” he said.
Israel has accused 12 of UNRWA’s thousands of employees of participating in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks,. Last week, it escalated the accusations, alleging 450 UNRWA employees were members of militant groups in Gaza, though it has provided no evidence.
Currently:
— Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers.
— An aid ship is sailing to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands face starvation five months into war.
— Israeli drone strike in Lebanon kills a member of Hamas’ military wing.
— Former player on Palestinian national soccer team killed by Israeli strike in Gaza.
— A United Nations envoy says the finding that some hostages were victims of sexual violence doesn’t justify Israeli attacks.
— A Gaza family uprooted by war and grieving their losses shares a somber Ramadan meal in a tent.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
