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Aid Workers Killed in Strike on Gaza

Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has left wide swathes of the territory in ruins. AFP
Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has left wide swathes of the territory in ruins. AFP
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Aid Workers Killed in Strike on Gaza

Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has left wide swathes of the territory in ruins. AFP
Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has left wide swathes of the territory in ruins. AFP

A food aid organization said an Israeli strike killed several of its workers in the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting that four of them were foreigners.
"Today, World Central Kitchen lost several of its sisters and brothers in an Israeli army strike in Gaza," said the NGO's founder, chef Jose Andres.
World Central Kitchen, a US-headquartered organization, called the incident a "tragedy" and reiterated that "humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be a target", AFP said.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, the bodies of four foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were brought to a hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah after an Israeli strike targeted their vehicle.
Hamas said the aid workers included "British, Australian and Polish nationalities, with the fourth nationality not known".
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed one of his country's citizens, volunteer Zomi Frankcom, was among those killed.
World Central Kitchen is one of two international NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid to Gaza by boat from Cyprus.
It is also involved in the construction of a temporary jetty in the coastal territory.
At the Al-Aqsa Hospital, an AFP correspondent saw five bodies with three foreign passports lying nearby.
"We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that... killed @WCKitchen aid workers in Gaza," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson posted on social media platform X.
"Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened."
The Israeli military said it was "conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident".
Israel has come under immense pressure to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the strip after six months of war and stark warnings from the United Nations about the dire levels of hunger stalking all 2.4 million Gazans.
A UN-backed report warned on March 19 that half of Gazans were feeling "catastrophic" hunger and projected imminent famine in the territory's north.
Near-total blockade
Since Hamas's October 7 attacks triggered the war, Gaza has been under a near-complete blockade, with the United Nations accusing Israel of preventing deliveries of humanitarian aid.
The world's top court has ordered Israel to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" in Gaza without delay, saying "famine is setting in".
Foreign powers have ramped up deliveries by air and sea, although UN agencies and charities warn this falls far short of what is desperately needed, with trucks still the most efficient way of delivering aid.
The airdrops have also proved deadly in some cases, leading to chaotic stampedes for food.
After the UN-backed report last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was the first time an entire population had been classified at severe levels of "acute" food insecurity.
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war erupted with Hamas's unprecedented October attack, which resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign, aimed at destroying Hamas, has killed at least 32,845 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the ministry said 70 people had been killed across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
Al-Shifa hospital in ruins
On Monday, the Israeli army pulled out of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an intensive, two-week military operation against Hamas transformed the territory's largest medical complex into charred ruins.
"There are more terrorists in the hospital than patients or medical staff," Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said, adding that 900 people had been apprehended at the sprawling complex, with over 500 of them "definitely" militants.
A spokesman for Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces had killed about 300 people in and around the hospital during the two-week operation.
"People trapped in Al-Shifa hospital died of hunger. Some drank water from bathroom drains," Palestinian Anwar el Jondi said.
Medics carting patients and bodies from the destroyed site had to maneuver stretchers between mounds of rubble.
Several doctors and civilians at the damaged complex told AFP that at least 20 bodies had been found, some of which appeared to have been driven over by military vehicles.
An AFP correspondent saw one badly decomposed body bearing tyre marks, although it was not known when it was driven over.
'Dangerous lie'
The Israeli military said Monday that 600 soldiers had been killed since the start of the war.
During their attack on Israel, Hamas also seized around 250 hostages. Israel believes about 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under rising pressure from the families of hostages as well as anti-government protesters, whose nightly rallies have drawn thousands onto the streets.
The war in Gaza has raised fears of a wider regional conflagration, with repeated violence linked to the conflict in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
Those fears intensified on Monday with strikes in Damascus on the consular annex of Israel's arch-foe Iran, according to Damascus and Tehran.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in Britain, said 11 people were killed.
Israel did not comment, but Iran's foreign minister blamed the United States for the attack.
"The Americans must take responsibility," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, according to state news agency IRNA.
The UN Security Council will on Tuesday hold a public meeting, requested by Russia, on the strike, according to Russian representative Dmitry Polyansky.

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Arab World

Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operative

An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operative

An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon said an Israeli attack on Friday wounded six people as Israel said it targeted a "Syrian terrorist" who planned anti-Israel attacks under Iranian instructions.

"The Israeli attack near the town of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in the Hermel district led to six wounded, including five Syrian nationals, two of them women, and one Lebanese," Lebanon's health ministry said.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that "an enemy military drone targeted a car" in the town, located close to the Syrian border, an area largely been spared such attacks since an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was agreed in June.

Israel's military said that it "struck a Syrian terrorist", identified as Yusuf Ali al-Hassoun, who it said "operated under the direction of the Iranian regime and advanced terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers operating in southern Syria".

It did not say whether the suspect was operating as part of a particular militant group.

Hassoun allegedly "planned and advanced attacks" against soldiers "that were thwarted, including the launching of explosive drones and rockets toward Israeli soldiers in southern Syria".

The Israeli military "will continue to operate to eliminate immediate threats on all fronts", it said.

Since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.

It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory, sometimes seizing residents, and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.

On Monday, the Israeli military said it had killed an assailant at an army outpost in the area it occupies in southern Syria.

Syria's former ruler Assad was an ally of Iran and Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war this year by attacking Israel.

Arab World

Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacement

A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
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Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacement

A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is worsening as the Houthi escalation spreads, leaving more than 5,000 people dead or wounded since August, displacing about 200,000 and fueling a rise in suspected cholera and measles cases.

The United Nations is warning of gaps in care and the risk of outbreaks as health services struggle to reach the wounded and deliver emergency treatment, especially in conflict zones and displacement camps.

UN Health Cluster data show 5,166 casualties since Aug. 6, including 959 deaths. In six days alone, 685 new casualties were recorded, a daily average of 114, up from about 101 in the preceding period, signaling a continued rise in the conflict’s human toll.

Children pose for a photo in a makeshift camp for people displaced by clashes near Aden, Yemen October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Taiz governorate in southwestern Yemen has become one of the deadliest fronts, with average daily casualties jumping from eight to 109 in a week as fighting moved into Taiz city. Preliminary reports also indicated casualties in Hadramout and Al-Jawf, while violence and casualties remain high in Lahj and Marib.

Displacement is adding to the strain on host communities, while shortages of trauma stabilization points and medical supplies hamper efforts to reach the wounded and meet mounting health needs.

For medical teams near the front lines, reaching the injured quickly is a critical challenge. Too few trauma stabilization points near the fighting mean precious time is lost during the “golden hour,” when urgent medical intervention can improve a wounded person’s chances of survival.

Difficulties in providing medical services on the front lines with the Houthis (local media)

First-level trauma stabilization points remain a major gap in the health response. Six of the 20 planned points still lack partner support, limiting the health system’s ability to stabilize patients and get them to operating rooms within an hour of injury.

Communications outages and security risks are also hampering efforts to track humanitarian conditions. Aid workers believe the available figures understate the actual toll, while continued fighting makes reports of attacks on health facilities difficult to verify.

Displacement camps in Yemen lack basic necessities (local media)

Displacement and outbreaks

The fallout from the Houthi escalation extends beyond the dead and wounded. About 200,000 people have been displaced, including 29,519 families across 10 governorates, with displacement rising 8% in just five days.

Lahj accounted for about two-thirds of the latest increase, underscoring the pressure on residents and host communities as fighting drives up demand for shelter, basic services and health care.

Displacement has spread further into eastern governorates, including Hadramout, Al-Mahra and Shabwa. The consolidated report lists 454 displaced families in those governorates, up from 201 on Sept. 23.

In Hadramout, the Mukalla center reported another 429 families in Al-Abr, in Wadi Hadramout, who have yet to be included in the consolidated report, suggesting the actual displacement figures are higher.

Civilians pay the price for Houthi escalation in several governorates (local media)

More than 3,600 people have also crossed into Djibouti, according to the data, extending the conflict’s humanitarian repercussions beyond Yemen.

Growing displacement and deteriorating living and health conditions are heightening fears of outbreaks as cholera and measles cases rise, immunization gaps widen and displaced children show alarming levels of acute malnutrition.

Surveillance data show suspected cholera cases nearly tripled in three weeks, reaching 647 in week 39, up from 217 in week 36.

Measles is spreading alongside cholera as displacement and overcrowding in areas hosting affected families widen immunity gaps, increasing health risks for children, especially those suffering from malnutrition.

People fleeing Houthi escalation in Taiz governorate (local media)

Malnutrition

Screenings by International Medical Corps mobile medical teams have found high levels of acute malnutrition among displaced children, offering another measure of deteriorating health and living conditions.

Of 54 displaced children under five screened, nine had severe acute malnutrition and 29 had moderate acute malnutrition, highlighting urgent nutritional and treatment needs among the most vulnerable.

At least five health facilities have run out of ready-to-use therapeutic food, and three have exhausted their stocks of supplementary food, threatening their ability to treat children most at risk of complications.

Arab World

Yemen's Houthis Mobilize Blood Banks as Casualties Mount

Houthis mobilize blood donations for hospitals packed with their wounded fighters (X)
Houthis mobilize blood donations for hospitals packed with their wounded fighters (X)
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Yemen's Houthis Mobilize Blood Banks as Casualties Mount

Houthis mobilize blood donations for hospitals packed with their wounded fighters (X)
Houthis mobilize blood donations for hospitals packed with their wounded fighters (X)

The Houthi group has sent blood donation vehicles into streets, neighborhoods and squares across Sanaa and four Yemeni provinces over the past two days, urgently appealing for donors amid signs of rising numbers of wounded fighters following recent military developments.

Vehicles and trucks belonging to the so-called “National Blood Transfusion and Research Center” were deployed across the seized Yemeni capital and the provinces of Dhamar, Ibb, Al-Mahwit and Hodeidah in an intensive drive to mobilize residents to donate blood.

The vehicles toured densely populated areas, broadcasting appeals through loudspeakers.

Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group had ordered medical workers, neighborhood officials and community leaders in the targeted provinces to mobilize residents and direct them to donation centers as fighting spread across several fronts.

The sources said Houthi-controlled health facilities were on high alert, with demand rising for various blood types. Hospitals were receiving growing numbers of wounded Houthi fighters, according to local accounts.

The Houthi-controlled National Blood Transfusion and Research Center in Sanaa (Facebook)

Residents in Sanaa and elsewhere described the heavy deployment of donation vehicles over the past two days as striking, citing repeated loudspeaker appeals urging people to visit donation points.

They linked the campaigns to recent battlefield developments and questioned the scale of injuries behind the group’s decision to expand the drive to more areas.

High alert, mounting losses

“Houthi appeals this time are more urgent than in previous campaigns,” said Qassem, a Sanaa resident.

“No one refuses to donate blood to save a human life, but the question is: Why do they keep sending people to the front lines, then ask residents to provide blood to treat the consequences of those battles?”

In Ibb, 193 kilometers south of Sanaa, resident Majdi said the intensified appeals “do not come out of nowhere.” The group was using various methods to mobilize residents, he said, without disclosing the scale of losses driving the surge in demand for blood.

“People are struggling with poverty, rising prices and deteriorating services, and now they are also being asked to bear the consequences of war and provide blood for the wounded,” he said.

In Dhamar, 100 kilometers south of Sanaa, sources and residents reported that blood donation vehicles from the center’s local branch were operating in several city neighborhoods, alongside urgent appeals for donors.

They said growing numbers of wounded Houthi fighters continued to arrive at hospitals, particularly Dhamar General Hospital, putting further pressure on health facilities.

In Al-Mahwit and Hodeidah in the west, local sources said turnout was initially very low. The group then expanded the campaigns to government institutions and private establishments, urging employees and workers to donate.

Houthi vehicles used loudspeakers to urge residents to donate blood (Facebook)

The sources described the campaigns as part of a wider state of high alert. Their timing, alongside military developments, reinforced residents’ belief that large numbers of wounded fighters urgently needed blood.

Residents in Houthi-controlled areas, meanwhile, face deteriorating health services and shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

They are calling for treatment services that meet civilians’ needs, rather than further burdens on facilities already stretched by limited resources.