Steve Witkoff to visit Gaza
At least 159 people have now died from hunger in Gaza in what’s being described as Israel’s campaign of using starvation as a weapon of war.
Dozens of Palestinians were also killed on Thursday at food distribution sites run by the notorious US and Israeli-backed GHF in Gaza ahead of a planned visit to the famished Palestinian territory by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff is expected to visit GHF aid distribution sites that have been described as “killing zones” for starving Palestinians.
Israeli killings of aid seekers in Gaza amount to war crimes: HRW
Human Rights Watch says that Israeli troops at the sites of the US and Israeli-backed GHF have killed Palestinian aid seekers in acts that amount to war crimes.
“The dire humanitarian situation is a direct result of Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war – a war crime – as well as Israel’s continued intentional deprivation of aid and basic services, ongoing actions that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination, and acts of genocide,” read the report released today.
Mass-casualty incidents have taken place on a near-daily basis at or near GHF sites in Gaza. According to the UN, more than 850 Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food there since late May, most by the Israeli army.
“Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW.
“US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”
Death toll near Khan Younis aid site rises to seven
At least seven aid seekers have now been confirmed killed near a distribution point south of Khan Younis, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, citing Nasser Hospital.
Israeli forces kill five, injure 20 in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting mass casualties from an attack in Gaza City’s northern Shujayea neighbourhood.
Israeli gunfire in the area killed at least five people and injured 20, they report, citing Gaza’s Civil Defence.
The casualties add to at least 24 people killed by Israeli attacks in the enclave today, they report.
