At least 60 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian reports said on Saturday.
The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health also said that 284 people were injured during the same period. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The information could not be independently verified.
According to the ministry, the current figures do not include the victims registered in hospitals in the north of the war-torn coastal strip, where access remains restricted due to the ongoing fighting.
The Israeli military has not commented on the most recent attack reports from Gaza.
According to Palestinian figures, more than 54,300 people have been killed and more than 124,000 have been injured since the beginning of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the unprecedented Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Two weeks ago, the Israeli military launched a new major offensive in Gaza. Dozens of deaths have been reported every day in the past few days.
Israel’s declared aim is to destroy the Palestinian Islamist militia Hamas and free the hostages still being held by them in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s actions have been criticized internationally.
Witkoff rejects Hamas reply to ceasefire plan
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has rejected Hamas’ reply to a ceasefire plan.
“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.
The US proposal provides for the release of 10 hostages from the Gaza Strip and the remains of 18 other victims of Hamas to Israel during a 60-day ceasefire. In return, Palestinian prisoners in Israel are to be released.
Hamas has agreed to this core element of the proposal, as it announced on its Telegram channel. At the same time, however, the Islamists are setting further conditions.
According to information obtained by dpa from Hamas circles, the Islamists are demanding a longer time frame for the release of the hostages than is provided for in the US mediator’s document. They also want Israel’s military to withdraw from the Gaza Strip on a more comprehensive scale after the ceasefire comes into effect.
According to the Witkoff plan, the two sides are to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war during the 60-day ceasefire.
Israel also immediately rejected Hamas’ response. Israel would continue its efforts to bring back the hostages and defeat Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Israel believes that 20 to 23 hostages are still alive and that at least 35 bodies of abductees are in Hamas custody.
UN agency: Trucks with aid goods stormed in Gaza
A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have stopped, stormed and looted 77 trucks carrying aid goods from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on their way to distribution centres, the Rome-based agency posted on X on Saturday.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving – and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the statement said.
“To restore hope, ease fear and prevent further chaos, we must flood the communities with food – now. Only consistent large-scale aid can rebuild trust,” the WFP wrote.
The WFP stated that it is capable of doing so: “WFP has enough food to feed all 2.2 [million] people for 2 months,” the post on X further stated.
However, this requires safe transport routes in the Gaza Strip, faster approval procedures on the Israeli side and ultimately a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, which has been ongoing for almost 20 months.
After a blockade of aid deliveries lasting several months, Israel has been allowing a small amount of goods into the sealed-off coastal strip for a few days.
The blockade was intended to increase pressure on Hamas movement to release the remaining hostages. Additionally, the government accused Hamas of stealing aid goods to make money, which Hamas denies.
Primarily, Israel is now keen to ensure that aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip are no longer handled by UN organizations and other independent actors, but through a controversial foundation supported by the US.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation set up a few distribution centres in the south of the area at the beginning of the week, through which it claims to have distributed 3.8 million meals.
UN organizations doubt that the new foundation is capable of adequately supplying the population of the Gaza Strip.
