Deir Al-Balah, July 28: Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 Palestinians in multiple locations across Gaza, a day after Israel eased aid restrictions in response to a worsening humanitarian crisis. The dead included a newborn who was delivered in a complex surgery after his mother, who was seven months pregnant, was killed in a strike.
Israel announced that the military would pause operations in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Muwasi for 10 hours a day until further notice to allow for the improved flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where concern over hunger has grown. Aid agencies have welcomed the new aid measures, which also included allowing airdrops into Gaza, but said they were not enough to counter rising hunger in the Palestinian territory.
Images of emaciated children in Gaza have sparked outrage around the world, including from Israel’s close allies.
Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war, partially lifting those restrictions in May but pushing ahead on a new US-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. Most of Gaza’s population now relies on aid, and accessing food has become a challenge that some Palestinians have risked their lives for.
The Awda hospital in central Gaza reported the bodies of seven Palestinians killed by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The pregnant woman and her child were killed along with 11 others after their house was struck in the Muwasi area, west of the southern city of Khan Younis. Another strike hit a two-story house in the western Japanese neighborhood of Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children.
Trump urges Netanyahu to deliver food to Gaza
President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to ensure food reaches Gaza, citing alarming images of starving children. Speaking in Scotland, Trump announced plans for U.S.-backed food centers in Gaza but gave no details.
His stance marked a shift amid rising global outcry. While supporting Israel, Trump acknowledged its responsibility in the crisis. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation “desperate.” The UN held talks on a two-state solution, which both the U.S. and Israel chose to boycott. (AP)