Israel kills more than 300 in Gaza in 48 hours as possible truce in balance

More than 300 Palestinians person been killed by Israeli forces successful the past 48 hours, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, which says Israel has “committed 26 bloody massacres” successful that period.

At slightest 73 radical person been killed by Israel since dawn connected Thursday, including 33 hopeless assistance seekers astatine the arguable Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) assistance sites.

Thirteen radical were killed erstwhile Israeli forces attacked a structure successful al-Mawasi successful the south, portion 16 were killed and galore wounded successful an onslaught connected Mustafa Hafez School, sheltering displaced radical westbound of Gaza City, aesculapian sources told Al Jazeera.

Ahmed Mansour, a displaced Palestinian taking structure successful the schoolhouse gathering said, “We woke up to fierce [Israeli] airstrikes. It felt similar an earthquake. People accidental it was a drone attack, but the dependable was horrifying, relentless shelling. Missiles were truthful destructive that they acceptable everything connected fire. Victims were near burning for hours without help. There is nary 1 present to prevention us.”

The Government Media Office connection connected Thursday said the attacks implicit the past 48 hours had targeted civilians successful shelters and displacement centres overcrowded with tens of thousands of displaced people, nationalist remainder areas, Palestinian families wrong their homes, fashionable markets and captious civilian facilities, and starving civilians searching for food.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah connected the latest killings of Palestinians adjacent GHF assistance centres, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said, “People described scenes of fearfulness arsenic they hold for hours conscionable hoping to get their hands connected basal nutrient supplies, lone to beryllium met with abrupt and unprovoked gunfire … I’ve been speaking to a fig of survivors this morning, and they told maine specified heartbreaking testimonies and they shared the horrific scenes that unfolded adjacent the GHF-run assistance centres.

“They told maine that determination was nary anterior warning, nary anterior denotation – conscionable gunfire ripping done the crowd, hopeless Palestinians scattered for screen arsenic bullets flew. They told maine that exigency services and aesculapian teams were not capable to entree the country owed to the strength of the gunfire … This perfectly reflects the illness of the humanitarian scenery present successful Gaza,” helium added.

GHF’s US contractors reportedly utilizing unrecorded fire

US contractors ostensibly guarding assistance organisation sites successful Gaza person been utilizing unrecorded ammunition and stun grenades arsenic bare Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press quality agency.

Two US contractors, speaking to the AP connected information of anonymity, said they were speaking retired due to the fact that they were disturbed by what they considered unsafe practices. They said the information unit hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavy equipped and seemed to person an unfastened licence to bash immoderate they wished.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, said an Israeli connection connected a caller Haaretz report that elaborate Israeli troops shooting Palestinians astatine assistance sites stated “that the Israeli service does not deliberately people civilians and that media reports are exaggerated astir the fig of casualties. Of course, this is simply a template, if you will, of Israeli absorption that we spot each clip thing is uncovered astir the behaviour of the Israeli army. This peculiar study talks astir the [US] contractors arsenic well.”

GHF, she added, is “not conscionable to regenerate the humanitarian mechanics tally by planetary organisations for decades successful Gaza, but it’s besides to use maximum unit connected the civilian population”. Odeh besides noted that Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said this week that excessively overmuch assistance is going to Gaza and that nary should participate to guarantee an Israeli victory.

Dr Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian exigency medicine doc and prof who has provided healthcare successful Gaza for much than 30 years, told Al Jazeera the GHF cognition “is portion of the Israeli concern forces’ and the Israeli authorities program to ethnically cleanse and to fulfil their extremity of genocide successful Gaza”.

“This has thing to bash with alleviating starvation successful Gaza,” Gilbert said.

Describing the assistance from GHF arsenic a “drop successful the ocean” and a “sham operation”, Gilbert added: “The organisation organisation is aimed astatine utilizing nutrient arsenic bait to pull starving people, to terrorise them and to termination them. The shooting of radical successful nutrient lines is simply a warfare crime.”

The UN bureau for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has called for investigations into the killings and wounding of Palestinians trying to entree nutrient done GHF. UNRWA notes that portion it operated astir 400 sites crossed the besieged enclave, GFH has acceptable up lone 4 “mega-sites”, 3 successful the southbound and 1 successful cardinal Gaza – nary successful the north, wherever conditions are astir severe. In a station connected X, UNRWA called for the UN to “do the work” successful distributing aid.

More than 130 humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International connected Tuesday demanded the contiguous closure of the GHF, accusing it of facilitating attacks connected starving Palestinians.

The NGOs said Israeli forces and equipped groups “routinely” unfastened occurrence connected civilians attempting to entree food.

Since the GHF began operations successful precocious May, much than 600 Palestinians person been killed portion seeking assistance and astir 4,000 person been wounded.

Possible ceasefire successful the balance

Meanwhile, Hamas has said it is studying a caller connection for a 60-day ceasefire successful Gaza, but insisted it is seeking an statement that would bring an extremity to Israel’s devastating war.

Hamas said successful a connection connected Wednesday that it had received proposals from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to instrumentality to the negotiating array and effort to scope a ceasefire agreement.

The Palestinian radical said it was aiming for an statement that would extremity the Gaza warfare and guarantee the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.

The announcement came a time aft US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to the ceasefire connection and urged Hamas to judge the woody earlier conditions worsen. Trump has been expanding unit connected the Israeli authorities and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and an statement for the radical to merchandise the Israeli captives held successful Gaza.