63 killed in Gaza as Israeli forces advance further into Gaza City
Health officials report eight more Palestinian deaths from starvation, including two children, after famine declared in Gaza
At least 63 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, as Israeli troops advanced further into Gaza City in their campaign to seize the area and forcibly displace nearly one million residents.
On Saturday, An Arabic Tv channel obtained footage showing Israeli tanks rolling into the Sabra neighborhood, marking a new phase in the ground invasion. Sabra lies close to the besieged Zeitoun district, which has faced heavy bombardment from Israeli forces in recent days.
A source at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City confirmed that a child was among those killed in the latest strikes on Sabra.
Earlier in the day, Israeli artillery shelled tents sheltering displaced families in the Asdaa area, northwest of Khan Younis, killing 16 people, including six children, medical officials reported.
Throughout Saturday, at least 22 Palestinians were killed while seeking humanitarian aid. Among them was a man shot dead near a food distribution point along the “Morag axis” southeast of Khan Younis, and another civilian killed near the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor.
Starvation deaths and famine declaration
Palestinian health authorities reported that eight more people, including two children, died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from hunger to 281 since the war began nearly two years ago.
Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said 114 of those victims were children. “The famine is silently ravaging civilians, depriving children of their right to life, and turning tents and hospitals into daily scenes of tragedy,” he wrote on social media.
The United Nations on Friday declared a famine in Gaza the first such designation in the Middle East warning that half a million people face “catastrophic” levels of hunger. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the famine as a “man-made disaster,” accusing Israel of systematically obstructing aid deliveries.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitor, 514,000 Palestinians nearly one-quarter of Gaza’s population are experiencing famine, with that number projected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
‘Engineering of starvation’
Gaza’s Health Ministry welcomed the UN’s famine declaration but said it came too late.
“We emphasise that the engineering of starvation is part of the broader genocide, which also includes the systematic destruction of the health sector, mass killings, and the extermination of generations,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
Since May 27, Israel has enforced a unilateral aid distribution mechanism through the so called Gaza Humanitarian Framework (GHF), backed by the US and Israel. The system has been rejected by the UN and relief agencies as illegitimate, saying it violates humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 2,076 Palestinians have been killed and 15,300 wounded while attempting to collect aid since the GHF scheme was launched.
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