Israel massacred a Gazan family of 10 on Thursday as overnight strikes killed at least 23 people across the Palestinian territory.
The latest atrocities come amid a U.N. warning of the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s six-week blockade that has cut off all food and essential supplies to the enclave.
Israel ended its cease-fire with Hamas last month and renewed its bombardment, killing hundreds of people and seizing large parts of the territory to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement.
A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed five children, four women and a man from the same family, all of whom suffered severe burns, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed 13 people, including nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital.
The Israeli military claims it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said that almost all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people now rely for food on the only 1 million prepared meals produced daily by charity kitchens supported by aid groups.
Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the U.N. and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens.
The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets. But most cannot afford to buy there because of spiraling prices and widespread shortages, meaning humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April on Gaza’s markets.
"The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023," OCHA said.
Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. "It’s far lower than what is needed,” she said.
Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to 6 or 7 liters per day, well below the amount the U.N. estimates is needed to meet basic needs.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the "central pressure tactics” used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule.
Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new cease-fire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward Israel will continue to occupy large "security zones” inside Gaza.
Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct cease-fire agreement reached earlier this year.
Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks.
"But food is loosely defined. We have pasta and rice but nothing much beyond that. No fresh produce. There is no chicken or beef. The only thing we have is canned meat," he said. He said 15-20% of the people who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.
The war began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas incursion of southern Israel which caused around 1,200 deaths and took around 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have since been released in cease-fire agreements or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's genocidal war, in comparison, has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
