Israeli attacks have killed at least 83 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip amid a deepening Israel-induced hunger crisis, medical sources have told Al Jazeera, as hospitals in the besieged territory have recorded eight more deaths from starvation and malnutrition.
Among those killed on Tuesday were 58 aid seekers who were shot by Israeli forces as they approached aid distribution sites operated by the US- and Israeli-backed GHF.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the “same exact scenario plays out in Gaza every single day” since GHF distribution sites began operating in May.
“Palestinians are approaching these distribution sites, waiting for food, but the Israeli forces are opening fire,” Khoudary said.
She quoted sources at al-Shifa Hospital as saying the number of injured people who have been transferred from the distribution point near northern Gaza’s Zikim crossing “is very large”.
“Injuries are coming with bullets in parts of their bodies that are very hard to treat, including their heads, necks and also their chests,” Khoudary said. “The cycle of violence is the same in all three distribution locations.”
The GHF has been heavily criticised by the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations for failing to provide enough aid and for the dire security situation at and around its aid distribution sites.
So far, more than 1,560 Palestinians seeking aid have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to receive food amid the Israeli-induced starvation crisis.
The attacks come as aid agencies and health officials warn of a sharp rise in starvation, particularly among children and the elderly.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, eight more people have died of starvation or malnutrition in the latest 24-hour reporting period, including a child. This brings the total number of Palestinians who have died from hunger or malnutrition since Israel’s war began to 188, including 94 children.
On Monday, Israel allowed 95 aid trucks into the Strip, far below the 600 trucks per day needed to meet minimum survival needs, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The daily average now stands at 85 trucks.
Gaza’s Government Media Office has once again warned of an intensifying humanitarian catastrophe and in a statement said most of the limited aid has been looted due to “security chaos being sowed by the Israeli occupation as part of a systematic policy of engineering chaos and starvation”.
Full Israeli takeover?
Despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and the appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave, efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas have collapsed.
Instead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks poised to announce plans to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media reports.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that he had held a “limited security discussion” lasting about three hours, during which military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir “presented the options for continuing the campaign in Gaza”.
An Israeli official told the Reuters news agency that Defence Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, an aide of Netanyahu, would attend a meeting later this week to decide on a strategy to take to the cabinet. Israeli media reported that the cabinet is to convene on Thursday.
Israel’s Channel 12, quoting an official from Netanyahu’s office, said the prime minister was leaning towards taking control of the entire territory, which the Israeli army has mostly reduced to rubble.
The United Nations on Tuesday called reports about a possible decision to expand Israel’s military operations throughout the Gaza Strip “deeply alarming” if true.
“International law is clear in the regard, Gaza is and must remain an integral part of the future Palestinian state”, UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told a UN Security Council meeting.
On Tuesday, Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza, but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive.
Palestinians living in the last quarter of territory where Israel has not yet taken military control via ground incursions or forced evacuations said any new push would be catastrophic.
“If the tanks pushed through, where would we go? Into the sea? This will be like a death sentence to the entire population,” said Abu Jehad, a Gaza wood merchant.
More than 61,020 Palestinians, including at least 18,430 children, have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.
Forty-nine captives, including 27 who are believed to be dead, are still being held by Hamas, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s deadly assault has also forced nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor last week called an unfolding famine.