DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza in a 24-hour period, Gaza's health ministry said Friday, as Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive and let in minimal aid to the strip.
The dead included 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza amid a humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.
Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.
The strikes that lasted into Friday morning came a day after Israeli tanks and drones attacked a hospital in northern Gaza, igniting fires and causing extensive damage, Palestinian hospital officials said on Thursday. Videos taken by a health official at Al-Awda Hospital show walls blown away and thick black smoke billowing from wreckage.
Israel said it will continue to strike until Hamas releases all of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages and disarms. Fewer than half of the hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Suspect charged with murder over deaths of Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington
The strikes come a day after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot while leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum, in Washington, DC. The suspect told police he “did it for Palestine,” according to court documents filed Thursday as he was charged with murder. He didn’t enter a plea.
On Thursday night, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the killings in Washington horrific and blasted France, the UK and Canada for proposing to establish a Palestinian state.
“Because by issuing their demand, replete with a threat of sanctions against Israel — against Israel, not Hamas — these three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power,” he said.
Earlier this week the three leaders issued one of the most significant criticisms by close allies of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the West Bank, threatening to take “concrete actions” if the government did not cease its renewed military offensive and significantly lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Aid starts entering, but agencies say nothing like enough
Amid pressure, Israel started letting in aid. Israeli officials said Friday they let in more than 100 trucks of aid, including flour, food, medical equipment and drugs. The trucks came in through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared with around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs. U.N. agencies say Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza make it difficult to retrieve and distribute the aid. As a result, little of it has so far reached those in need.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that Israel had so far authorized what "amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required," with no supplies at all reaching northern Gaza.
On Friday dozens of people crowded a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, holding empty pots and plastic containers in the air in hopes of receiving a share of lentil soup.
Halima Abu Amra, a displaced woman from Rafah, said she had been struggling to feed a daughter injured in the fighting. She said she had been collecting discarded bread from the streets, washing and soaking it so her daughter can eat, while her younger children get by on soup.
“We want this war to end in any way," she said. “My family is dying slowly.”
The World Food Program said that 15 of its trucks were looted Thursday night in southern Gaza while going to WFP-supported bakeries.
It said that hunger and desperation about whether food was coming in is contributing to rising insecurity, and called on Israel to allow greater volumes of food to enter, faster and more efficiently.
Israel says the aid now is to bridge the gap until a U.S. backed initiative starts soon. A new group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will take over aid distribution in Gaza, and armed private contractors will guard the distribution. Israel says the system is needed because Hamas siphons off significant amounts of aid.
The U.N. denies that claim and has rejected the foundation's proposal for delivering aid, saying it fails to respect international law and humanitarian principles. Guterres said Friday that the UN already has a structure in place capable of delivering enough aid to fill 9,000 trucks.
A Geneva-based advocacy group said Friday it was taking legal action to urge Swiss authorities to monitor the privately run GHF, which is registered in Switzerland.
A foundation spokesman said that it adheres to humanitarian principles and that its operations are free from Israeli control. It said the foundation was not a military operation and its decision to integrate armed security contractors allows it the ability to access and operate in Gaza.
No movement on ceasefire negotiations in Doha
Earlier this week, Netanyahu said he was recalling his high-level negotiating team from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said a “fundamental gap” remained between the two parties and that none of the proposals was able to bridge their differences.
Hamas said no real ceasefire talks have taken place since last week in Doha. The group accused Netanyahu of “falsely portraying participation” and attempting to “mislead global public opinion” by keeping Israel’s delegation there without engaging in serious negotiations.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Settler violence in the occupied West Bank
Palestinians in the village of Bruqin, in the northern West Bank, said Israeli settlers attacked them Thursday afternoon, burning cars and damaging houses. The U.N.'s humanitarian agency said eight residents were injured, with most sustaining burns while trying to extinguish fires.
“We’ve been suffering since Wednesday from settler attacks and assaults — verbal abuse, stone throwing, and constant harassment at all times,” said Mustafa Khater, whose house was attacked. He said he had previously evacuated his wife and four children for fear of attacks, but had stayed behind to protect the house. The attack follows last week's killing of a pregnant Israeli woman near Bruqin.
The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
___
Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
