At least 63 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, medical sources have told newsmen as Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza City. The Israeli military’s ground invasion of the area is part of an effort to seize the city and forcibly displace about one million people.
Footage obtained by a news agency shows Israeli tanks advancing into the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, signalling an expansion of the military’s ground invasion of the area.
The attacks have resulted in significant civilian casualties, with medical sources reporting that 16 people, including six children, were killed in Israeli artillery fire on tents sheltering displaced families in the Asdaa area northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
At least 22 Palestinians were killed while seeking humanitarian aid throughout the day, including a Palestinian who was shot dead by Israeli forces near a distribution point close to the so-called “Morag axis”, southeast of Khan Younis. Another civilian seeking aid was shot dead near the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor.
In addition to the violence, Palestinian health authorities have reported that eight more Palestinians, including two children, have died from malnutrition over the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 281 since Israel’s war on Gaza began nearly two years ago.
Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said, “The famine is silently ravaging the bodies of civilians, depriving children of their right to life, and turning tents and hospitals into daily scenes of tragedy.”
The United Nations has officially declared a famine in Gaza, with experts warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” hunger.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a global hunger monitor, said 514,000 people – close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the famine as a “man-made disaster” and accused Israel of “systematic obstruction” of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Hind Khoudary, who reported from Deir el-Balah, said many Palestinians in Gaza were at risk from malnutrition, adding, “The UN famine report has been very late, according to Palestinians.
They have been witnessing weeks and months of this ongoing starvation.” The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has also criticised the declaration of famine, saying it was late and that the “engineering of starvation is one aspect of the chapters of genocide”