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Israeli Strikes Kill 15 People in Gaza over Past Day, Palestinian Medics Say

Palestinians walk among the rubble of their destroyed homes during the month of Ramadan, in the city of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk among the rubble of their destroyed homes during the month of Ramadan, in the city of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 15 People in Gaza over Past Day, Palestinian Medics Say

Palestinians walk among the rubble of their destroyed homes during the month of Ramadan, in the city of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk among the rubble of their destroyed homes during the month of Ramadan, in the city of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, 09 March 2025. (EPA)

Israeli military strikes have killed at least 15 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry said on Sunday, as Arab and US mediators work to shore up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinian officials say dozens of people have been killed by Israeli fire despite the January 19 truce that halted large-scale fighting in Gaza.

Israel's military has said its forces have intervened to thwart threats by "terrorists" approaching its troops or planting bombs since the ceasefire took effect.

Gaza's health ministry said most of the latest deaths were on Saturday when an Israeli airstrike killed nine Palestinians including four journalists in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said six men that it had identified as members of the armed wings of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad armed group had been killed in the strike. It said some of the fighters had operated "under the cover of journalists".

Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said the military's statement about the incident included the names of people who were not present.

It was based on inaccurate social media reports "without even bothering to verify the facts", Marouf said.

At least four more Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli strikes on Saturday, the Gaza health officials said.

An Israeli drone had fired a missile at a group of Palestinians in the town of Juhr Eldeek in central Gaza on Sunday, killing a 62-year-old man and wounding several others, the medics said. Several others were hurt when an Israeli drone fired a missile towards a group of people in Rafah, they added.

The Israeli military said it was not familiar with the reported drone strikes.

Later on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian near the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, medics said. The Israeli military said in a statement it struck a "terrorist" attempting to plant a bomb on the ground.

CEASEFIRE TALKS

Persistent bloodshed in Gaza underscores the fragility of the three-stage ceasefire agreement mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, which have stepped in to hammer out a deal between Israel and Hamas over how to proceed.

Israel wants to extend the ceasefire's first phase, a proposal backed by US envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas says it will resume freeing hostages only under the second phase that was due to begin on March 2.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Saturday negotiators had been instructed to be ready to continue talks based on the mediators' response to a US proposal for the release of 11 living hostages and half of the dead captives.

Hamas on Friday said it had agreed to release American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and four bodies of the hostages if Israel agreed to begin talks immediately on implementing the second phase of the agreement. Israel accused Hamas of waging "psychological warfare" on the families of hostages.

An Israeli delegation was in Egypt discussing a possible deal with senior Egyptian officials that would release more hostages, Netanyahu's office said on Sunday.

The war began when Hamas led a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, displaced most of the population and reduced much of the territory to rubble.

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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.