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Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 22 near aid site as truce talks falter

Gaza rescuers said Israeli gunfire killed at least 22 Palestinians near a US-backed aid distribution site on Sunday, shortly after Washington rejected Hamas’s response to a ceasefire proposal as “totally unacceptable”.International critics, including some allies, have condemned Israel over the humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces famine after a more than two-month blockade on aid.Israel recently introduced a revamped aid delivery mechanism in cooperation with a newly formed US-backed organisation, bypassing the longstanding UN-led system.The organisation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, says it has distributed hundreds of thousands of meals since operations began last week, but the rollout has been marked by chaotic scenes at the limited number of distribution centres, as well as reports of casualties from Israeli fire nearby.Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli fire near one of the centres in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday morning had killed “at least 22, with more than 120 wounded, including children”.AFP images from the scene showed some civilians transporting bodies on donkey carts, as others carried away boxes and bags of aid under the low, early-morning sun.The casualties were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Bassal said.- ‘Chaos broke out’ -Displaced Beit Lahia resident Sameh Hamuda, 33, told AFP he had walked from Gaza City and spent the night with relatives in a tent near Rafah before heading to the aid centre around 5:00 am to wait among a crowd of people.”They began distributing aid, but suddenly quadcopter drones opened fire on the people, and tanks started shooting heavily. Several people were killed right in front of me,” he said.”I ran and survived. Death follows you as long as you’re in Gaza.”Abdullah Barbakh, 58, described “chaos, screaming, and overcrowding” at the scene.”The army opened fire from drones and tanks. Chaos broke out, and the area was filled with martyrs and wounded. I don’t understand why they call people to the aid centres and then open fire on them,” he said. “What are we supposed to do?”Asked for comment, the Israeli military said it was “unaware of injuries caused by IDF (army) fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site. The matter is still under review.”Separately, Bassal said one person was killed and many others wounded by Israeli gunfire near another aid point in central Gaza.Only limited amounts of aid have entered Gaza since Israel recently eased a more than two-month total blockade, with a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency recently calling the territory “the hungriest place on earth”.The United Nations also reported looting of its trucks and warehouses last month.GHF, which employs contracted US security, said it had distributed 2.1 million meals as of Friday.The United Nations and other major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the organisation, saying it contravened basic humanitarian principles and appeared designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported deaths.- Truce talks -Nearly 20 months into the war, negotiations for a ceasefire and a deal to free the hostages held by militants have failed to produce a breakthrough since the last brief truce collapsed in March.Israel has since intensified its operations to destroy Hamas.The Palestinian militant group said Saturday that it had responded positively to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but had emphasised the need for a permanent ceasefire — long a sticking point for Israel.Washington’s main negotiator on Gaza, envoy Steve Witkoff, immediately criticised Hamas’s reply as “totally unacceptable”, an assessment echoed by Israel, which on Friday had warned Hamas to either accept the deal “or be annihilated”.Witkoff urged the group to “accept the framework proposal we put forward”.”That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have… substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire,” he added in a post on X.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 4,117 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,381, mostly civilians.Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.burs-az-smw/dv

Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 10 near aid site as ceasefire push stalls

Gaza rescuers said Israeli gunfire killed at least 10 Palestinians near a US-backed aid distribution site on Sunday, shortly after Washington rejected a Hamas ceasefire proposal as “totally unacceptable”.”At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others… were wounded due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens” approaching the US aid site west of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.The casualties were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, he said.Israel has faced mounting international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces famine.Nearly 20 months into the war, negotiations remain deadlocked. A brief truce collapsed in March, and Israel has since intensified operations to destroy Hamas.In the Gaza Strip, aid is only trickling in after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade, and the United Nations reported looting of its trucks and warehouses last month.- ‘Death traps, not aid points’ -The UN’s World Food Programme has called on Israel “to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster”, saying desperation was “contributing to rising insecurity”.The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is administered by contracted US security with support from Israeli troops, began distributing food in the Gaza Strip on May 26.The United Nations and other major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the organisation, saying it violated basic humanitarian principles, and appeared crafted to cater to Israeli military objectives.  Officially a private effort, GHF said it had distributed 2.1 million meals as of Friday.In a statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli forces operating in Rafah of committing “a new massacre against hungry civilians who had gathered at the so-called ‘humanitarian aid’ distribution sites”, calling them “mass death traps, not humanitarian relief points”.- Truce talks -The Palestinian militant group said Saturday that it had responded positively to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but Washington’s main negotiator criticised Hamas’s reply as “totally unacceptable”.Hamas said it had emphasised the need for a permanent ceasefire — long a sticking point for Israel.And a source within the Palestinian group’s political bureau added that it had also pushed for a “full Israeli withdrawal” from the Gaza Strip.On Friday, Israel had warned Hamas to either accept the deal and free the hostages held in Gaza “or be annihilated”.US envoy Steve Witkoff called Hamas’s response to its truce offer on Saturday “totally unacceptable”, and urged it to “accept the framework proposal we put forward”.”That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have… substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire,” he added in a post on X.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 4,117 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,381, mostly civilians.Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.burs-sco/dv