By Harun Nasrullah
London, (The Muslim News): Israeli forces killed at least 49 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Saturday, including 24 people who were waiting for humanitarian aid, according to health and local sources.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 98 bodies were recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from Israel’s nearly ten-month military campaign to at least 60,430. The number of injured now exceeds 148,722, with many still buried under rubble or unreachable in open areas because of ongoing hostilities, the ministry added.
The attacks on Saturday targeted residential areas, displaced persons’ shelters, and aid distribution points across the enclave.
In Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in a residential building. In northern Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians awaiting food aid, killing eight and injuring others. Medical staff at Al-Shifa Hospital said they received 12 bodies from that site alone, near the Netzarim Corridor.
Further south, three Palestinians were shot dead near aid distribution points on Al-Tina Street, Khan Younis.
In the town of Al-Zawaida, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a family home, killing five relatives, including three children. Another civilian was killed, and several were injured in a separate strike on a gathering in the same area.
A drone strike on tents sheltering displaced families near the Industrial Junction in northern Khan Younis claimed three lives from a single family. Elsewhere in Khan Younis, two women were killed in a strike on a tent. Another individual succumbed to wounds sustained earlier in the Al-Mawasi area.
Israeli drones also struck the Al-Tawam neighbourhood, north of Gaza City, killing three people and wounding dozens more. In Zeitoun, southeast Gaza City, eight bodies were recovered following a previous Israeli attack, medical sources confirmed.
Witnesses reported widespread demolitions overnight in eastern Khan Younis, where homes and civil infrastructure were levelled.
In Rafah, Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting at a distribution site run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). One person was killed and 25 were injured, according to local sources.
Later in the day, six Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near Wadi Gaza and the Netzarim Corridor. These individuals had gathered seeking food, bringing the toll of those killed while waiting for aid on Saturday alone to 18, local media outlet WAFA reported.
The strikes come as famine deepens across the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, the Health Ministry confirmed seven more deaths from starvation, including a child, raising the total number of hunger-related deaths to 169, among them 93 children, since October 7, 2023.
The ministry also noted that 1,422 Palestinians have been killed and 10,067 injured while seeking aid since May 27, when the GHF took over coordination of humanitarian distribution in parts of Gaza.
UN ACCUSES ISRAEL OF DELIBERATELY ENGINEERING FAMINE
In a scathing statement, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), accused Israel of deliberately inducing famine and obstructing humanitarian relief.
“The manmade famine in Gaza has been largely shaped by the deliberate attempts to replace the UN-coordinated humanitarian system through the politically motivated ‘GHF.’ It is a so-called ‘aid system’ responsible for the killing of nearly 1,400 starving people,” Lazzarini said on X (formerly Twitter). He added that Israel has blocked UNRWA aid operations since March 2, weakening the backbone of Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure.
“Sidelining and weakening UNRWA has nothing to do with claims of aid diversion to armed groups. It is a deliberate measure to collectively pressure and punish Palestinians for living in Gaza,” Lazzarini warned, urging immediate international action to open crossings and resume full-scale aid delivery. “UNRWA has the expertise, staff, and resources to contribute full scale and reverse the famine,” he said.
US ENVOY VISITS GAZA
Amid mounting global criticism, US envoy Steve Witkoff made a brief visit to Gaza on Friday. He said the visit aimed to give President Donald Trump “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”
Despite repeated international calls for a ceasefire, Israel’s military campaign continues. More than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since October. Gaza’s infrastructure is decimated, and starvation is spreading across the strip.
VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN THE OCCUPIED WEST BANK
In the occupied West Bank, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, Muin Asfar, was shot dead by Israeli settlers in the town of Aqraba, near Nablus, on Saturday evening, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Eight others were wounded in the settler assault, including an elderly man and two youths who were shot in the legs.
Voice of Palestine Radio reported that the illegal settlers opened fire on residents in the Mafhuriya plains near Aqraba and Jurish. The attack reportedly followed settlers’ intrusion into Palestinian farmland.
According to the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal settlers have launched 2,153 attacks in the West Bank in the first half of 2025, killing four Palestinians. The number of Palestinians killed by settlers this year has now risen to nine, and 31 since the war on Gaza began last October.
Since October 2023, at least 1,012 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, according to the Health Ministry.
Last month, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem—a ruling Israel has rejected.
[Photo: Relatives of Palestinians, who were killed by the Israeli attacks on tents housing displaced people in the Asdaa area, mourn as the bodies are brought to Nasser Hospital for funeral process in Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 2, 2025. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
