DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 25 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunshots overnight, according to health officials and the ambulance service on Saturday, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Palestinians in Gaza face famine.
The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.
Israel’s army didn’t respond to request for comments about the latest shootings.
Those killed in strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said.
The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas. His comments came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic.
Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.
For desperate Palestinians a ceasefire can’t come soon enough.
The United Nations and experts say that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition. While Israel’s army says it’s allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting.
The Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 79 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. Israel’s military said at the time its soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat, and that it was aware of some casualties.
Israel is facing increased international pressure to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out.
The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food
For the first time in months Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in a newspaper article on Saturday that the UK was “working urgently” with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza.
Aid group the World Central Kitchen said on Friday that it was resuming limited cooking operations in Deir Al-Balah after being forced to halt due to a lack of food supplies.
It said it’s trying to serve 60,000 meals daily through its field kitchen and partner community kitchens, less than half of what it’s cooked over the previous month.
