Palestine

UNICEF says “famine is absolutely ravaging Gaza City,” as aid workers at a nutrition centre warn parents have run out of options to feed their children. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud visited the centre, where “the signs of famine are everywhere.”

Newborns are being forced to share an incubator at Gaza City’s al-Helou International Hospital as rising cases of acute malnutrition overwhelm the wards. Doctors say hospitals are running out of space amid Israel’s man-made famine.

Palestinians in Gaza City are facing new threats to their lives after Israel announced the suspension of ‘humanitarian pauses’ in its assaults. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al-Khalili has been to Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where displaced people are preparing to leave under fire.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Israeli military says city in northern Gaza is now a ‘combat zone’, suspends daily pauses in fighting there that allowed delivery of humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military says it has begun the “initial stages” of its offensive on Gaza City, as it declared the largest urban centre in the besieged territory a “combat zone” and announced the suspension of daily pauses in fighting there that allowed the entry of humanitarian aid.

“We are not waiting. We have begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of the attack on Gaza City,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in a post on X on Friday.

“We are currently operating with great force on the outskirts of the city,” he said.

The announcement came as the Israeli military confirmed it suspended so-called “tactical pauses” in its attacks on the city in northern Gaza that had previously allowed limited humanitarian operations there.

“Starting today at 10:00am (07:00 GMT), the tactical-local ceasefire of military activity will not apply to the Gaza City area, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone,” the military said on X.

Israeli forces have launched a sustained bombardment on Gaza City since early August, as the military prepares for a larger assault to seize Gaza’s largest urban centre – in an operation that could forcibly displace a million Palestinians to concentration zones in southern Gaza.

The relentless bombardment from the air and land has forced residents to flee to the western parts of the city, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has told Al Jazeera.

Gaza’s Civil Defence estimates that more than 1,000 residential buildings in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City have been flattened since August 6.

Residents described relentless bombardment and attacks from helicopters. “They launched a firebelt attack only 150 metres (500ft) away from us. They scorched the entire area,” said Nihad Madoukh from Sheikh Radwan in northwestern Gaza City, speaking to Al Jazeera. “It was very scary bombardment.”

Displaced resident Ahmed Moqat said he had been moving constantly to escape Israeli attacks. “Here’s the debris that fell last night next to my head,” he said. “Now I will go out in the street, only God knows where I will go.”

Dozens killed across Gaza

At least 41 Palestinians, including six aid seekers, were killed in attacks across Gaza on Friday, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Palestinian health workers told Al Jazeera that three of the aid seekers were shot dead by Israeli forces near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza on Friday.

Medical sources said Israeli air strikes hit the so-called “safe zone” of al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, killing at least five people and wounding dozens as they slept in tents.

“We were sleeping when the bombing happened,” said a man caring for his grandchildren, whose father was killed two months ago. “The strike hit our area … We took the wounded ourselves to Nasser Hospital before the ambulances arrived. Stop this war against us. Have mercy on the children.”

More than 62,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by Israel in its nearly two-year war on Gaza, and at least 157,600 have been wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced the “endless catalogue of horrors” unfolding in Gaza after nearly two years of conflict, as Gaza’s civil defence reported dozens of new casualties from Israeli strikes.

As Israel’s military prepares to take control of Gaza City, the nation faces increasing domestic and international pressure to halt its offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the UN has officially declared a famine.

About two million Palestinians—the vast majority of the population—have been displaced at least once during the conflict, with humanitarian organisations warning against any expansion of military operations.

“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres told journalists on Thursday, emphasising the need for accountability.

On Thursday, massive plumes of smoke were rising above Gaza City following Israeli bombardments of the city’s outskirts, as captured in video footage.

Aya Daher, displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, told the AFP news agency she had no shelter and was “just waiting for God’s mercy” outside a local hospital.

“There were explosions all night. I was injured, my husband was injured by shrapnel, and my son was also wounded in the head. Thank God we survived, but there were martyrs,” she said.

Cindy McCain, head of the UN’s World Food Programme, warned that Gaza had reached “breaking point” and called for the urgent restoration of its network of 200 food distribution points.

Following a visit to the territory, McCain reported witnessing firsthand that “desperation is soaring”.

The UN formally declared a famine in the Gaza governorate last week, attributing it to “systematic obstruction” of humanitarian aid deliveries by Israel.

The al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza where Israel has told displaced people to go is among places targeted this morning.

Hamas condemns far-right Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s remarks as ‘an official call to exterminate’ Palestinians.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to disarm, the latest push by an Israeli official to forcibly displace Palestinians and take complete control of the coastal enclave.

During a news conference on Thursday, Smotrich said if Hamas does not agree to surrender, disarm and release Israeli captives, Israel should annex a section of Gaza each week for four weeks.

He said Palestinians would first be told to move south in Gaza, followed by Israel imposing a siege on the territory’s north and centre regions, and ending with annexation.

“This can be achieved in three to four months,” said Smotrich, describing the measures as part of a plan to “win in Gaza by the end of the year”.

The far-right minister’s annexation push comes as the Israeli army has advanced deeper into Gaza City in an effort to seize the city and forcibly displace about one million Palestinians living there.

Israel’s intensified attacks on Gaza City have been widely condemned, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning last week that the campaign would cause “massive death and destruction”.

Meanwhile, Gaza City and the surrounding areas continue to experience famine as Israel continues to block food, water and other humanitarian aid from entering the Strip.

“Famine is no longer a looming possibility; it’s a present-day catastrophe,” Guterres said on Thursday.

“People are dying of hunger. Families are being torn apart by displacement and despair. Pregnant women are facing unimaginable risks, and the systems that sustain life – food, water, healthcare – have been systematically dismantled.”

Israel and its Western allies have long been pushing for Hamas to lay down its weapons, insisting that the Palestinian group cannot be involved in any future governance of Gaza.

Hamas rejected Smotrich’s remarks on Thursday, saying they represent “an official call to exterminate our people” as well as “an official admission of the use of starvation and siege against innocent civilians as a weapon”.

“Smotrich’s statement is not an isolated extremist opinion, but rather a declared government policy that has been implemented for nearly 23 months” of Israel’s war on Palestinians in the enclave, Hamas said in a statement.

“These statements expose the reality of the occupation to the world and confirm that what is happening in Gaza is not a ‘military battle’ but rather a project of genocide and mass displacement,” the group added, urging the international community to hold Israeli leaders accountable.

During his news conference, Smotrich called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt his annexation plan “in full immediately”.

Netanyahu did not comment publicly on Smotrich’s remarks. But the Israeli leader has alluded to a plan for Israel to “take control of all Gaza” and send troops to reoccupy the entire enclave.

Israel’s military has for weeks been issuing forcible evacuation notices to Palestinians in so-called “combat zones” to relocate to southern Gaza.

Smotrich, a major backer of Israel’s settler movement who himself lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, has expressed support for re-establishing illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip that were dismantled in 2005.

He and other far-right members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition also have voiced staunch opposition to efforts to reach a deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza, threatening to topple the government if an agreement is reached.

An independent commission of inquiry investigating violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory has warned it cannot continue its work.

Severe funding shortages are derailing the body established by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in 2021.

The United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year. Still, it continues to owe about $1.5bn in outstanding fees to the UN.

What, then, is the impact on this commission in the face of rapidly increasing Israeli settler violence and the illegal expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank?

Presenter:

James Bays

Guests:

Andrew Gilmour – Former UN assistant secretary-general for human rights

Sari Bashi – Human rights lawyer and founder of Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation

William Schabas – Professor of international law at Middlesex University and a former chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict

Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian American, has been held in Israeli prison without contact with his family since being illegally detained in February. His relatives and rights groups are calling for his release, citing his worsening health and lack of due process.

US senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley condemned violence against Palestinians as they visited the historic church of St George in the occupied West Bank, which was attacked by Israeli settlers in July.

Famine has been declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas, with more than half a million Palestinians facing “catastrophic conditions”, according to a UN-backed monitor. As Israel advances its plan to seize Gaza City, what scars will famine leave on Palestinians for generations to come?

Rights groups and legal experts are calling for Israel to be investigated over the ‘double-tap’ attack on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital which Israel called a ‘mishap’, after killing 21 Palestinians including journalists, medics and rescue workers.

Background / Context
The Gaza war, now in its eleventh month, has left tens of thousands dead and displaced much of the enclave’s population. Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, leaving Palestinian reporters to provide most on-the-ground coverage. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has served as a major hub for treatment of the wounded and as a base for journalists reporting on the conflict.

What Happened
Israeli airstrikes hit Nasser hospital in southern Gaza on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists, according to Palestinian health officials.

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed near a Reuters live broadcast position on the hospital’s upper floors during the first strike.

Israel then struck the site a second time, killing other journalists, medical staff, and rescue workers who had rushed to help.

The journalists killed included Mariam Abu Dagga (freelancer for AP), Mohammed Salama (Al Jazeera), Moaz Abu Taha (freelancer, occasional Reuters contributor), and Ahmed Abu Aziz.

Photographer Hatem Khaled, another Reuters contractor, was wounded.

In a separate incident the same day, doctors at Nasser hospital said Israeli gunfire killed local journalist Hassan Dohan in a nearby tent encampment.

Why It Matters
The strike marks one of the deadliest single incidents for journalists since the Gaza war began. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, nearly 200 reporters and media workers—most of them Palestinian—have been killed since October 2023, making this conflict the deadliest for the press in recent history. The deaths underscore both the risks faced by journalists reporting from Gaza and the intensifying calls for accountability over attacks on medical and media sites.

Stakeholder Reactions

Israeli government: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the incident a “tragic mishap,” insisting Israel does not target journalists and that the war is against Hamas. The IDF said it regrets harm to “uninvolved individuals” and has ordered an inquiry.

Reuters: “We are devastated to learn that cameraman Hussam al-Masri … was killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital … We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for [wounded photographer] Hatem,” a spokesperson said.

Associated Press: Said it was “shocked and saddened” at the loss of Mariam Abu Dagga and other journalists, noting Abu Dagga had recently been reporting on child malnutrition from the hospital.

Palestinian presidency: Urged the U.N. Security Council and international community to provide protection for journalists and hold Israel accountable.

Palestinian Journalists Syndicate: Condemned the strike as “an open war against free media.”

Committee to Protect Journalists: Called on the international community “to hold Israel accountable for its continued unlawful attacks on the press.”

U.S. President Donald Trump: Expressed displeasure, saying, “I didn’t know that. Well, I’m not happy about it … At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare.”

What’s Next
Israel’s military says it will investigate the incident, with Brigadier General Effie Defrin promising findings will be presented “as transparently as possible.” International pressure is likely to mount for independent inquiries into Israel’s conduct during the war, particularly its treatment of journalists and medical facilities. Meanwhile, media organizations are urging urgent protection for reporters still working in Gaza, where foreign journalists remain barred and local correspondents continue to bear the brunt of the risk.

With information from Reuters.

AT LEAST 20 people were reportedly killed yesterday in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza hospital.

Five of the dead were reportedly working as journalists for international news agencies.

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They included Mariam Dagga, 33, who was a freelancer working for Associated Press.

Reuters said cameraman Hussam al-Masri was also killed alongside Moaz Abu Taha, who had worked “occasionally” for the news agency.

Witnesses said they were killed in two separate strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: “I would like to be clear from the start – the IDF does not intentionally target civilians.

“The Chief of the General Staff has instructed that an inquiry be conducted immediately to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened.

“We regret any harm to uninvolved individuals and are committed to continue fighting Hamas, while taking all the necessary precautions.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected.

“We need an immediate ceasefire.”

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply regrets” the “tragic mishap” that took place at Nasser hospital and that the military were conducting a thorough investigation into what happened.

The Israeli PM said: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza.

“Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation.

“Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home.”

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Israel has struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21 people, including five journalists, as well as medics and rescue workers, in the latest deliberate attack on civilians and the besieged enclave’s decimated health system.

Monday’s attack, which killed journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, the Reuters and Associated Press (AP) news agencies, and others, was among the deadliest of a multitude of Israeli strikes that have targeted both hospitals and media workers over the course of the nearly two-year genocidal assault.

It comes as Israel widens its offensive to heavily populated areas and urban centres, including Gaza City, increasing the already heightened peril for the population.

The first strike of the “double-tap” attack, where one strike is followed by a second soon after, hit the top floor of a building at Nasser Hospital. Minutes later, as journalists and rescuers in orange vests rushed up an external staircase, a second projectile hit, said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, the head of the paediatrics department.

Among the journalists killed were Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Salama, Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, Mariam Abu Daqqa, a freelance journalist working for AP at the time, as well as Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the attack has “sent the entire area into an absolute sense of chaos and panic”.

“Not only for passers-by or people living in the vicinity of the hospital, but for the patients themselves, who are receiving treatment in one of the areas that must be protected under … international humanitarian law,” Abu Azzoum said.

The attack was met with widespread global condemnation, including from press freedom groups and rights advocates, who expressed outrage over Israel’s repeated targeted killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

Al Jazeera condemned the attack as “a clear intent to bury the truth”.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, also decried the attack.

“Rescuers killed in line of duty. Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented,” Albanese said.

“I beg states: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage? Break the blockade. Impose an Arms Embargo. Impose Sanctions.”

Israel’s allies, such as France Germany and the United Kingdom, have called for an investigation.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also condemned Israel for the strikes, saying it represented “an open war against free media, with the aim of terrorising journalists and preventing them from fulfilling their professional duty of exposing its crimes to the world”.

The attack raises the death toll of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 to at least 273, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called for “the international community to hold Israel accountable for its continued unlawful attacks on the press”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strike was a “tragic mishap”, and that the military was investigating it. Israel has often issued similar statements after incidents that drew international outrage and calls for UN investigations, but actual accountability for the perpetrators is unheard of.

Israeli forces also killed Palestinian correspondent Hassan Douhan, who worked for the Al-Hayat al-Jadida publication, in a separate incident in Khan Younis later on Monday, bringing the death toll of journalists killed that day to six.

Two weeks ago, Israel killed prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and four other journalists in a strike. In that attack, Israel acknowledged targeting Sharif and falsely alleged he worked for Hamas, without providing any evidence, after having openly maligned and condemned him for months before murdering him.

Nasser Hospital has withstood raids and bombardment during the war, with officials repeatedly noting critical shortages of supplies and staff amid a crippling aid blockade. Other hospitals have also come under attack, including al-Shifa Medical Complex, the enclave’s main hospital, where Israel has killed hundreds.

Death, desperation and famine stalk enclave

Israeli attacks across the famine-struck territory have killed at least 61 people since dawn on Monday, including seven people desperately seeking aid.

Tanks have been advancing in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have been intensifying attacks in a bid to force nearly 1 million Palestinians there southwards into concentration zones.

Gaza’s Civil Defence said that Israel had destroyed 1,000 buildings in Gaza City since August 6, trapping hundreds under the rubble, while ongoing shelling and blocked access routes prevented many rescue and aid operations.

The al-Awda Hospital said Israeli gunfire also killed six aid seekers trying to reach a distribution point in central Gaza and wounded another 15.

Israeli forces have been routinely opening fire on hungry Palestinians as they attempt to secure meagre aid parcels at the controversial Israeli and United States-backed GHF sites.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 13,500 wounded while seeking aid at distribution points or along convoy routes used by the UN and other aid groups.

Al-Awda said that two Israeli strikes in central Gaza killed six Palestinians, including a child, while al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said three Palestinians, including a child, were killed in a strike there.

The relentless attacks continue as the UN warns that malnutrition among children in Gaza is deepening.

The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) renewed calls for the unrestricted flow of aid into and within Gaza.

“With famine conditions now confirmed in Gaza governorate, hunger and malnutrition among children are deepening,” OCHA said.

“Partners working on nutrition note that in any food crisis, children with underlying health conditions are affected first – and without proper nutrition, water and care, their condition worsens more quickly.”

Chris McIntosh, Oxfam’s humanitarian response adviser in Gaza, has described the situation as unprecedented in scale and severity.

“It’s difficult not to overuse superlatives in this context, but truly, this is a singular humanitarian disaster and the worst crisis that I’ve ever been part of… by far,” he said.

In the meantime, US President Donald Trump has predicted that the war on Gaza could see a “conclusive end” within two to three weeks. Similar claims have quickly fallen by the wayside as Washington’s full military and diplomatic backing of Israel’s genocidal war shows no signs of abating.

“It’s got to get over with because between the hunger and all of the other problems – worse than hunger, death, pure death – people [are] being killed,” Trump said.