Sola Adeniji|M10news|World News|1 September 2025
At least 43 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday as Israel intensifies its offensive on Gaza City, according to local hospitals.
The majority of the casualties occurred inside Gaza City. Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest medical facility, reported that 29 bodies had been delivered to its morgue.
Among them were 10 people killed while seeking humanitarian aid. Others were struck during airstrikes and gunfire across different neighborhoods.
Al-Awda Hospital confirmed that another 11 people died overnight, including seven civilians who were shot while trying to access aid. Witnesses described scenes of chaos in the Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli-controlled military zone that cuts Gaza in half, saying troops opened fire on groups waiting for relief convoys.
Ragheb Abu Lebda, a resident of Nuseirat, said the area has become a “death trap,” recalling how he saw at least three civilians bleeding from gunshot wounds as they attempted to reach supplies.
The Netzarim Corridor has become increasingly perilous in recent weeks. Civilians seeking food or medical aid have been caught between desperate crowds, looters, and Israeli fire. Even UN aid convoys, already overwhelmed by demand, have struggled to safely distribute supplies.
Some casualties were also reported at aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed group operating in the Strip. Neither the foundation nor the Israeli military provided comment regarding the reports of seven aid-seekers killed on Sunday.
Israel Claims Hamas Spokesman Killed
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced that Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, had been killed in Gaza over the weekend. The claim came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said Israeli forces had struck Obeida but did not confirm his death at the time.
Hamas has yet to respond to the reports.
The announcement followed Israel’s declaration on Friday that it had entered the initial phase of its long-anticipated Gaza City offensive, after weeks of fighting on the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Since then, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have escalated both airstrikes and ground incursions in coastal districts.
Mass Displacement and Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
The military has ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate Gaza City, though only a fraction have fled. Many civilians say they see no safer options after repeated displacements throughout the war.
According to the UN, 65,000 Palestinians have been newly displaced in August alone, with more than 23,000 forced to leave their homes in the past week.
The humanitarian toll continues to rise sharply. Famine conditions are spreading in parts of the Strip, according to a global hunger monitor. Seven adults reportedly died in the past 24 hours from malnutrition and related causes, raising the adult starvation death toll to 215 since late June. Gaza’s health ministry also reported that at least 124 children have died of hunger since October.
Greta Thunberg Joins Gaza Aid Flotilla
Meanwhile, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and hundreds of international activists launched a second aid flotilla bound for Gaza on Sunday.
The flotilla, involving participants from 44 countries, aims to deliver symbolic aid and push for the creation of a permanent humanitarian corridor. Thunberg said their mission is meant to send “hope and solidarity to the people of Gaza, showing a clear signal that the world has not forgotten about you.”
The action comes two months after Thunberg and other activists were detained and deported by Israeli forces for attempting to approach Gaza aboard a British-flagged yacht.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October 2023.
