KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinian rescuers reported 120 people killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a US-backed organization said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month.
Aid to Gaza has been cut off since March 2, a tactic Israel has said is intended to force concessions from Hamas, but the group insisted on Thursday that the restoration of humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory was “the minimum requirement” for talks.
Palestinians carry the bodies of the two children, Moath and Moataz Al-Bayouk, who were killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday. (Reuters)
Gaza’s civil defense agency said the death toll from Israeli bombardment since dawn on Thursday had risen to 120.
Israel’s aid blockade preceded a resumption of military operations on March 18, ending a ceasefire that had largely halted hostilities since mid-January.
For weeks, UN agencies have warned that supplies of everything from food and clean water to fuel and medicines are reaching new lows.
The World Health Organization said the last hospital in Gaza providing cancer and cardiac care had stopped functioning after an Israeli attack on Tuesday left it “severely damaged and inaccessible.”
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, accused Israel of “killing what’s left of Humanity.”
AFPTV footage from the aftermath of a strike on Deir Al-Balah in the center of the territory showed flattened buildings and piles of concrete rubble.
“We pray for this war to end, and we appeal to all international institutions to end the war because enough is enough,” said Gaza resident Maher Ghanem, his arm in a sling.
A Palestinian nurse reacts as her wounded relatives arrive at Nasser hospital following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday. (Reuters)
Following the latest deaths, Hamas called on the international community to hold Israel to account for what it described as a “barbaric escalation.”
Israel says its aid stoppage and military pressure are meant to force Hamas to free the remaining hostages seized during the October 2023 attack that triggered the war.
But senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the entry of aid into Gaza was “the minimum requirement for a conducive and constructive negotiation environment.”
“Access to food, water, and medicine is a fundamental human right — not a subject for negotiation,” he added.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-supported NGO, said it would begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials.
But the United Nations on Thursday ruled out involvement with the initiative.
“As we’ve stated repeatedly, this particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the criticism of the plan and said Washington was “open to an alternative if someone has a better one.”
The United Nations estimates that 70 percent of Gaza is now either an Israeli-declared no-go zone or under evacuation order.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 2,876 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,010.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
