Khan Younis

July 26 (UPI) — Israel Defense Forces are taking new steps to improve the delivery of aid to Gazans, who the IDF says are not subject to famine despite contrary reports.

Aerial aid drops will resume and include seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food, while pauses in fighting will enable the safe movement of U.N. convoys that contain food and medical supplies, the IDF announced Saturday in a post on X.

Israel also reconnected a power line from Israel to a desalination plant in Gaza that will increase daily water output to nearly 22,000 cubic yards.

“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in Gaza,” the IDF post says. “This is a false campaign promoted by Hamas.”

The U.N. and international aid organizations are responsible for food distribution in Gaza and for ensuring Hamas does not receive any, which the IDF says commonly steals humanitarian aid for personal use and profit.

Hamas accused of attacking aid distribution sites

Hamas has targeted GHF aid distribution sites with deadly violence, including a July 16 incident that killed 19 Gazans at a Khan Younis site and a July 5 grenade attack that injured two U.S. aid workers, according to the non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Such attacks occurred as Hamas struggles to raise funds and is incapable of rebuilding its collapsed tunnels or paying its fighters, former Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer Oded Ailam told The Washington Post on Monday.

Hamas did not prepare for more than a year of war when it attacked Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, and is struggling to provide basic services for Gazans, Gazan analyst Ibrahim Madhoun said.

Hamas previously depended on revenues from taxing commercial shipments and seizing humanitarian goods for funding by deploying plainclothes Hamas personnel to take inventory at crossings into Gaza and warehouses and markets, The Washington Post reported.

U.N. and European Commission officials and others from international organizations say there is no evidence of Hamas stealing aid.

Officials with the U.S. Agency for International Development said they found no evidence of Hamas stealing aid for Gazans, ABC News reported on Saturday.

USAID investigated 150 reported incidents of stolen aid from October 2024 until May and said the perpetrators could not be identified in most cases in which aid was seized.

An unnamed Gazan contractor, though, told The Washington Post that over the past two years he witnessed Hamas charge local merchants about $6,000 each to receive aid or lose their trucks and threatened to kill or condemn those who did not cooperate.

The contractor claims he knew at least two aid truck drivers who Hamas killed for refusing to pay the designated foreign terrorist organization to deliver aid intended for Gazans.

U.N. aid trucks halted inside Gaza

While claims of Hamas intercepting aid deliveries to raise funds are disputed, the United Nations says it has thousands of tons of aid sitting idle.

The United Nations recently halted 950 trucks inside Gaza that holding a combined total of 2,500 tons of food near the Kerem Shalom crossing, Johnnie More, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation executive chairman, opined in The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

“Since we began our operations in May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has repeatedly called for the U.N. and its affiliate agencies to combine efforts with us to feed the people of Gaza,” Moore said.

“As of Friday morning, hundreds of trucks loaded with food from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations were sitting idle inside Gaza,” he wrote.

“The food is there, the people are starving, and yet it isn’t moving to them fast enough to meet the need.”

Moore said video footage shows many of the trucks have been looted or abandoned, and their drivers are walking away.

Officials with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency blame the GHF for what UNRWA calls a “constructed and deliberate mass starvation.”

The GHF is incapable of addressing the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and called air drops the “most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid” to Gazans, according to UNRWA.

The agency says it has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of food and medical supplies “Stuck” in Egypt and Jordan.

July 21 (UPI) — At least three people were killed Monday as Israel launched a fresh air and ground offensive in Gaza, attacking the central area of the enclave for the first time, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been sheltering.

The casualties came after Israeli forces shelled Deir al-Balah and the Bureij refugee camp. They were among 17 people killed across the strip, including in the Al Mawasi area west of Khan Younis and Jabalia in the north.

With aircraft and artillery providing covering fire, tanks, armored vehicles and infantry advanced into Deir al-Balah from the Kisufim checkpoint on the Gaza-Israel boundary early Monday.

Giving warning of the offensive on an area it said it had not previously targeted, the Israel Defense Forces earlier ordered Palestinians to “immediately evacuate south toward Al Mawasi “for your safety.”

“To all those present in the southwestern area of Deir al-Balah, in blocks 130, 132-134, 136-139, 2351, including those inside the tents located in the area, The Defense Army continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area, as it expands its activities in this region to operate in an area it has not operated in before,” IDF spokesman Adraee Avichay wrote in a post on X.

While most of Gaza is in complete ruins, Deir al-Balah has seen a massive influx of displaced people, drawn by the relative safety and still functioning infrastructure and services, which in turn has made it a hub of operations for the U.N. and other agencies.

The IDF, for its part, has until now avoided attacks of any significance for fear of harming hostages who are believed to be held by Hamas in the area.

The United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office condemned the order for at least 50,000 Palestinians to move again, warning it would have a devastating impact on efforts to stop people from dying.

“OCHA warns that today’s mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military has dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip. Today’s order covers more than two square miles of Deir al Balah, spanning four neighbourhoods,” it said in a news release.

“Initial estimates indicate that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites. At least 1,000 families have fled the area in recent hours.”

The U.N. added that the order split Deir al-Balah in two, saying it would further fragment and hamper the ability of the U.N. and other NGOs to move safely and effectively within Gaza, cutting off humanitarian access at a time when it was badly needed.

The agency vowed that its staff would remain in place across multiple U.N. sites in Deir al-Balah and, having shared their coordinates with relevant bodies, called for the locations to be protected along with the civilian sites.

Monday’s offensive came a day after the Hamas-run health ministry said at least 67 people were killed as they were waiting for aid from the United Nations in northern Gaza.

The U.N. World Food Program said its 25-truck convoy “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians, which came under gunfire” after the trucks had cleared checkpoints.

They were among 94 people killed on Sunday, according to the Gaza civil defense agency.

The Gaza Health Ministry said another 19 died of starvation.

July 19 (UPI) — The Israeli military killed an estimated 32 Gazans near two aid distribution sites on Saturday morning, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Israeli soldiers fired on Gazans near aid distribution sites that are located near Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the BBC reported.

Israel Defense Forces told the BBC its troops fired warning shots to deter “suspects” from approaching them hours before the opening of the aid sites, which are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The IDF in a statement said it positioned its troops about 1,000 yards from an aid distribution site before it opened in Rafah, The New York Times reported.

The IDF troops fired warning shots after people approached them and did not stop when told to do so, the statement said.

Officials with the GHF said there were “no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today,” the Times reported. GHF officials said Israeli military activity occurred several miles away from its aid distribution sites and “hours before our sites opened.”

The United States and Israel created the GHF and use private contractors to protect its operations to stop Hamas from stealing the aid and depriving Gazans from accessing it, according to Israeli and U.S. officials, the BBC reported.

The GHF told the BBC the Gaza Health Ministry commonly reports “false and misleading” casualty numbers.

According to the Times, the IDF has shot at crowds of Gazans at or near aid sites during recent months, however the GHF said that Hamas has attacked civilians seeking aid and encourages civil unrest to disrupt aid distribution.

The reported killings occurred as cease-fire talks continue between Hamas and Israel.

July 5 (UPI) — The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said two of its American aid workers were injured in an attack while distributing desperately needed food to Palestinians.

The foundation, which formed in May, posted on X that two militants threw grenades in Khan Younis. The workers were in stable condition, GHF said.

The incident “occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” GHF said. “No local aid workers or civilians were injured.”

The foundation blamed Hamas, which has been fighting Israel on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

“GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers and the civilians who rely on our sites for food. Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings,” the foundation said.

GHF said the attack won’t deter its efforts, which began on May 27 in Rafah.

“Despite this violence, GHF remains fully committed to its mission: feeding the people of Gaza safely, directly, and at scale,” the foundation said. “Attempts to disrupt this life-saving work will only deepen the crisis. We will continue to stand with the people of Gaza and do everything in our power to deliver the aid they so urgently need.”

In June, more than 100 human rights groups and international aid charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, called for the end of aid by the foundation because the locations are in combat zones.

“Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” the group said. “The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favor of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs.

Since the GHF was launched, Israeli forces have killed more than 400 Palestinians trying to collect food aid, the U.N. and local doctors say, according to a BBC report. But Israel said the new distribution system stops aid going to Hamas.

In May, GHF announced Israel will allow the resumption of aid, including 300 million meals for the initial 90 days.

Since the cease-fire between Israel and militant-run Hamas ended on March 1, Israel had frozen all supplies of food, water and medicine to the region of an estimated 2.5 million people. The United Nations said Gazans are at a “critical risk of famine” with 1 in 5, or 500,000, facing starvation as the war rages since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The foundation’s executive director, Jake Wood, is a decorated Marine Corps veteran, social entrepreneur and expert in crisis leadership. In 2010, he co-founded and is CEO of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit of 180,000 veteran volunteers in humanitarian roles, including disaster response.

June 28 (UPI) — Dozens of Palestinians died in several rounds of Israeli airstrikes from Friday night until Saturday morning, officials said.

At least 44 people died in the Gaza Strip since dawn, hospital sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. The Guardian reported at least 62 people died in overnight strikes.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by the Iran-funded militant group Hamas, said 81 people have died and 422 were wounded over 24 hours.

Al Jazeera reported an airstrike in a residential building in Gaza City killed at least 20 Palestinians, including nine children.

“We were sitting peacefully when we received a call from a private number telling us to evacuate the entire block immediately — a residential area belonging to the al-Nakhalah family. As you can see, the whole block is nearly wiped out,” Mahmoud al-Nakhala told Al Jazeera.

“We still don’t know why two, three-story homes were targeted … It’s heartbreaking that people watch what’s happening in Gaza — the suffering, the massacres — and stay silent. At this point, we can’t even comprehend what’s happening here anymore,” he added.

Rescuers were working to remove victims from under rubble. Those hurt were taken to al-Ahli Hospital, which is lacking medical resources.

There were also drone strikes elsewhere on Gaza Strip, including in the city of Khan Younis and the Bureij refugee camp.

The Guardian reported that a dozen people were killed near a displacement camp near Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, after which a nearby airstrike nearby killed at least 11 people and a family sleeping in a tent was reported to have died in a strike in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.

At least 56,412 Palestinians have been killed 133,054 wounded since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Hamas’ attack on Israel that day killed approximately 1,200 people and 251 hostages were taken.

President Donald Trump on Friday said there could be a cease-fire agreement “within the next week” despite no signs of negotiations underway.

Humanitarian conditions in Gaza have worsened since Israel resumed airstrikes on March 18 after a cease-fire that ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Unicef said last week that 60% of water production facilities in Gaza weren’t working and acute child malnutrition increased 51% from April to May.

In a separate strike in southern Lebanon on Friday, Israel Defense Forces killed Hezbollah terrorist Hassan Muhammad Hammoudi, the military told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday night.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of continually violating the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal.

May 18 (UPI) — Israel reported Sunday it found the body of Hamas‘ de facto leader, Muhammad Sinwar, in a tunnel in Khan Younis after he was killed in a series of airstrikes last week.

At least 100 people have been killed in the latest series of airstrikes, and Sinwar’s body was found as Hamas has offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day military stand down in an effort to slow down the fighting in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader in Gaza. Another brother, Zakaria Sinwar, was killed in an airstroke Saturday night, other reports claimed. It’s the third Sinwar brother to be killed in the ongoing battle.

Israeli forces overtook a hospital in northern Gaza Saturday as an offensive to seize territory on the Gaza Strip continues, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Forces seized the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, preventing patients, staff and medical supplies from arriving, the ministry said on Sunday, according to the BBC, leaving the medical facility inoperable.

Hamas made its hostage release offer on Saturday following a new round of peace negotiations in Qatar. Officials said there could also be a larger deal in the works to end the fighting that would include a Hamas withdrawal.