Israeli airstrikes on Thursday have killed at least 28 people in Gaza, including seven children and a woman, Palestinian health officials reported, as the region is gripped by food shortages and fears of famine.
The attacks were launched hours after the UN general assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
According to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken, a house was flattened in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, while two separate strikes targeted local committees assigned to secure aid convoys, resulting in the deaths of 15 individuals.
A video shared by Gaza’s local media showed the aftermath of the attacks, with bodies of aid convoy security personnel allegedly targeted near Khan Younis.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on its latest reported attack on security guards protecting the aid shipment, whose work, according to local media, was integral in facilitating the delivery of essential supplies to displaced Palestinians in Gaza, where food shortages and the looming threat of famine persist.
On Wednesday, the UN general assembly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said the challenges faced by humanitarian operations, deemed them “unnecessarily impossible”. This was due to a combination of factors including “the ongoing siege, hurdles from Israeli authorities, political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid, lack of safety on aid routes and targeting of local police” securing aid convoys.
Lazzarini urged Israel to guarantee the unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza and emphasised that the nation “must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers”.
On Thursday, US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said he believed a deal on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release may be close as Israel had signalled it was ready and there were signs of movement from Hamas.
After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Sullivan said: “It might not happen but I believe it can happen with political will on both sides.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
