At least 60 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza as Israel lets
minimal aid in
[May 24, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 60 people were killed by
Israeli strikes across Gaza in a 24-hour period, Gaza's health ministry
said Friday, as Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive and let
in minimal aid to the strip.
The dead included 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in
the central town of Deir al-Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp
in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals
where the bodies were brought.
Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and
pressure to let aid into Gaza amid a humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been
under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning
that many of its 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.
Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the
hunger crisis.
The strikes that lasted into Friday morning came a day after Israeli
tanks and drones attacked a hospital in northern Gaza, igniting fires
and causing extensive damage, Palestinian hospital officials said on
Thursday. Videos taken by a health official at Al-Awda Hospital show
walls blown away and thick black smoke billowing from wreckage.
Israel said it will continue to strike until Hamas releases all of the
58 remaining Israeli hostages and disarms. Fewer than half of the
hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive, after most of the rest
were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Suspect charged with murder over deaths of Israeli Embassy staffers
in Washington
The strikes come a day after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot
while leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish
Museum, in Washington, DC. The suspect told police he “did it for
Palestine,” according to court documents filed Thursday as he was
charged with murder. He didn’t enter a plea.
On Thursday night, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the
killings in Washington horrific and blasted France, the UK and Canada
for proposing to establish a Palestinian state.
“Because by issuing their demand, replete with a threat of sanctions
against Israel — against Israel, not Hamas — these three leaders
effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power,” he said.
Earlier this week the three leaders issued one of the most significant
criticisms by close allies of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and
its actions in the West Bank, threatening to take “concrete actions” if
the government did not cease its renewed military offensive and
significantly lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Aid starts entering, but agencies say nothing like enough
Amid pressure, Israel started letting in aid. Israeli officials said
Friday they let in more than 100 trucks of aid, including flour, food,
medical equipment and drugs. The trucks came in through the Kerem Shalom
crossing.
But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared with
around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that
are necessary to meet basic needs. U.N. agencies say Israeli military
restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza make it
difficult to retrieve and distribute the aid. As a result, little of it
has so far reached those in need.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that Israel had so
far authorized what "amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of
assistance is required," with no supplies at all reaching northern Gaza.
On Friday dozens of people crowded a charity kitchen in Khan Younis,
holding empty pots and plastic containers in the air in hopes of
receiving a share of lentil soup.
Halima Abu Amra, a displaced woman from Rafah, said she had been
struggling to feed a daughter injured in the fighting. She said she had
been collecting discarded bread from the streets, washing and soaking it
so her daughter can eat, while her younger children get by on soup.
“We want this war to end in any way," she said. “My family is dying
slowly.”
The World Food Program said that 15 of its trucks were looted Thursday
night in southern Gaza while going to WFP-supported bakeries.
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Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a
community kitchen in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza
Strip, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
It said that hunger and desperation about whether food was coming in
is contributing to rising insecurity, and called on Israel to allow
greater volumes of food to enter, faster and more efficiently.
Israel says the aid now is to bridge the gap until a U.S. backed
initiative starts soon. A new group known as the Gaza Humanitarian
Foundation says it will take over aid distribution in Gaza, and
armed private contractors will guard the distribution. Israel says
the system is needed because Hamas siphons off significant amounts
of aid.
The U.N. denies that claim and has rejected the foundation's
proposal for delivering aid, saying it fails to respect
international law and humanitarian principles. Guterres said Friday
that the UN already has a structure in place capable of delivering
enough aid to fill 9,000 trucks.
A Geneva-based advocacy group said Friday it was taking legal action
to urge Swiss authorities to monitor the privately run GHF, which is
registered in Switzerland.
A foundation spokesman said that it adheres to humanitarian
principles and that its operations are free from Israeli control. It
said the foundation was not a military operation and its decision to
integrate armed security contractors allows it the ability to access
and operate in Gaza.
No movement on ceasefire negotiations in Doha
Earlier this week, Netanyahu said he was recalling his high-level
negotiating team from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of
ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman
Al Thani said a “fundamental gap” remained between the two parties
and that none of the proposals was able to bridge their differences.
Hamas said no real ceasefire talks have taken place since last week
in Doha. The group accused Netanyahu of “falsely portraying
participation” and attempting to “mislead global public opinion” by
keeping Israel’s delegation there without engaging in serious
negotiations.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern
Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting
251 others.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of
Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and
children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t
differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Settler violence in the occupied West Bank
Palestinians in the village of Bruqin, in the northern West Bank,
said Israeli settlers attacked them Thursday afternoon, burning cars
and damaging houses. The U.N.'s humanitarian agency said eight
residents were injured, with most sustaining burns while trying to
extinguish fires.
“We’ve been suffering since Wednesday from settler attacks and
assaults — verbal abuse, stone throwing, and constant harassment at
all times,” said Mustafa Khater, whose house was attacked. He said
he had previously evacuated his wife and four children for fear of
attacks, but had stayed behind to protect the house. The attack
follows last week's killing of a pregnant Israeli woman near Bruqin.
The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank,
with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations
targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and
displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in
settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
___
Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith Lederer
at the United Nations contributed.
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