Gaza has seen an escalation in violence as efforts continue to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas on Friday said it had responded positively to a US-brokered deal and was prepared to enter talks. US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
KILLINGS NEAR AID DISTRIBUTION SITES
Gazan authorities reported at least 70 people have been killed in the territory by the Israeli military in the last 24 hours, including 23 near aid distribution sites. The ministry did not specify where or how exactly they had been killed.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reports.
In a statement on Friday, the military said that in the past week, troops had killed 100 militants in Gaza and claimed that it had “operational control” over 65 percent of Gaza after an offensive against Hamas fighters in the north.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza on Thursday had warned residents of the coastal enclave not to assist the GHF, saying deadly incidents near its food distribution sites endangered hungry Gazans.
The GHF bypasses traditional aid channels, including the United Nations, which says the US-based organisation is neither impartial nor neutral.
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, the UN says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid handouts. A senior UN official said last week that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the GHF.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes. Israel denies the accusations.
