At least 43 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Saturday, according to local hospitals, as the Israeli offensive on Gaza City intensifies.
Most of the casualties were reported in Gaza City. Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, said 29 bodies had been brought to its morgue, including 10 people killed while seeking aid and others struck across the city.
Al-Awda Hospital said on Sunday morning that 11 more people were killed in strikes and gunfire, seven of whom were civilians trying to get aid. Witnesses said Israeli troops shot at crowds in the Netzarim Corridor, which is an Israeli military zone cutting Gaza in half.
Ragheb Abu Lebda, from Nuseirat, said the area is a “death trap” after he saw at least three people bleeding from gunshot wounds.
The Netzarim Corridor has become increasingly dangerous, with civilians seeking aid being killed while approaching United Nations (UN) convoys, which have been overwhelmed by desperate crowds and looters.
Others have been shot en route to aid sites run by the controversial Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Neither the foundation nor the Israeli military responded to questions about the seven reported casualties among people seeking aid on Sunday.
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Number of dead in Gaza reaches 63,000, health ministry says – as Israel declares city a combat zone
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday that the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, Abu Obeida, was killed in Gaza over the weekend after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said his forces had attacked the spokesman without confirming whether he had died.
Hamas has not commented on the claim that Mr Obeida has been killed.
It comes after Israel announced the initial stages of its Gaza City offensive on Friday, following weeks of operations on the outskirts of the city and the Jabaliya refugee camp.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have since intensified its air attacks in the coastal areas of the city.
The military has urged hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still in Gaza City to flee, but only tens of thousands have followed through, as many say they are not convinced it is safer elsewhere, or they are too exhausted after repeated displacements.
About 65,000 Palestinians have fled their home this month alone, including 23,199 in the past week, according to the UN.
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Many are living in temporary shelters after they were displaced multiple times.
The UN says more than 90% of the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced at least once since the start of the war on 7 October 2023.
Palestinians have accused Israel of forcing displacements after it signalled that aid to Gaza City would be cut.
Malnutrition in Gaza is rife, with part of the Strip suffering from famine, according to a global hunger monitor.
Seven adults died of causes related to malnutrition and starvation over the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll from malnutrition-related causes in adults to 215 since late June, the Gaza health ministry said.
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The ministry said 63,371 Palestinians have died since the start of the war in October 2023, including 124 children who have died of malnutrition-related causes.
This comes as Greta Thunberg and other activists have embarked on a second aid flotilla to Gaza on Sunday, despite having been detained by Israeli forces and deported when they approached on a British-flagged yacht in June.
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Thunberg, who is among hundreds of people from 44 countries on the flotilla, hopes their mission will bring symbolic aid and help open up a humanitarian corridor to deliver more aid.
She said the activists’ goal is to send “hope and solidarity to the people of Gaza, showing a clear signal that the world has not forgotten about you”.
