Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Thursday killed at least 23 people, including a family of 10, local health officials said, while the United Nations raised alarm over the mounting impact of Israel’s seven-week-old blockade preventing all food and other supplies from entering the territory.
Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month and renewed its bombardment, killing hundreds of people and seizing large parts of the territory to pressure the militants to accept changes to the agreement.
A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed five children, four women and a man from the same family, all of whom suffered severe burns, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed two other couples with nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital.Â
A later strike hit a school sheltering displaced people in the northern district of Jabalia, killing three people and a child. The blast left walls in rubble and classrooms strewn with debris, charred mattresses and scattered cans of food.
The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.Â
The latest strikes come as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza “is facing total collapse,” the heads of 12 independent aid organizations warned in a joint statement. They said many groups have shut down operations because Israel’s resumed bombardment the past month has made it too dangerous.
An Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis overnight Thursday killed five children, four women and a man from the same family. All suffered severe burns, according to officials with Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strikes.
The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said that almost all of Gaza’s more than two million people now rely for food on the only one million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens supported by aid groups.
Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the UNÂ and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens.
The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets. But most cannot afford to buy there because of soaring prices and widespread shortages, meaning humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80 per cent of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April on Gaza’s markets.
“The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023,” OCHA said.
A survey of 47 aid groups found that 95 per cent of them have reduced or entirely halted their operations, mainly because it was too dangerous, according to the joint statement by the heads of humanitarian organizations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE and Medical Aid for Palestinians.Â
Since resuming the war, Israel has largely stopped co-ordinating with humanitarian groups over their movements in Gaza. That means aid workers have no assurance the military won’t strike them. COGAT, the military agency in charge of aid co-ordination in Gaza, acknowledged stopping the system, which had been in place before the ceasefire.
“We have supplies ready. We have trained medical staff. We have the expertise. What we don’t have is the access — or the guarantee by Israeli authorities that our teams can safely do their jobs,” the statement said.
“Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at a breaking point.”
Since mid-March, Israeli fire has hit the staff or facilities of at least 14 organizations, and about 60 aid workers have been killed, according to the statement.
“When our staff and partners, our convoys, our offices, our warehouses are shelled, the message is loud and clear: even life-saving aid is no longer protected,” the statement said. “This is unacceptable.”Â
Water growing scarceÂ
Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “It’s far lower than what is needed,” she said.
Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill containers from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven litres per day, well below the amount the UNÂ estimates is needed to meet basic needs.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the “central pressure tactics” used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule.
Hind, an amputee, and her sister Heba Al-Hourani were among hundreds of wounded patients forced to evacuate Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital overnight on Sunday after Israel warned it would strike the building. Israel alleged it held a Hamas command and control centre, without providing evidence. Hamas denies the allegation.
Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward, Israel will continue to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.Â
Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.
Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks.
“But food is loosely defined. We have pasta and rice but nothing much beyond that. No fresh produce. There is no chicken or beef. The only thing we have is canned meat,” he said. He said 15 to 20 per cent of the people who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90 per cent of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
