At least 123 Palestinians, including 21 people seeking aid, have been killed and 437 others were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hour reporting period, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged territory.
In the same period, at least eight people, including three children, died from Israeli-imposed starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths since the war began in October, 2023 to 235, among them 106 children, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), described the deaths as “the latest in the war on children and childhood in Gaza”.
“This is in addition to: over 40,000 children reported killed or injured due to bombardment and airstrikes, at least 17,000 unaccompanied and separated children, and one million deeply traumatised children and out of education,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Children are children. No one should stay silent when children die, or are brutally deprived of a future, wherever these children are, including in Gaza.”
Ceasefire talks to restart
As the death toll continues to rise in Gaza, a delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas was scheduled to begin discussions in Egypt over a potential ceasefire on Wednesday.
The previous round of indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July, after Israel and the United States withdrew their delegations hours after Hamas submitted its response to a truce proposal.
The talks in Cairo will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and “end the suffering of our people in Gaza”, Hamas official Taher al-Nono said.
A Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the news agency Reuters that “Hamas believes negotiation is the only way to end the war and is open to discuss any ideas that would secure an end to the war”.
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A Hamas representative also told Reuters the group was willing to hand over governance of Gaza to a non-partisan committee, but would not give up its weapons before a Palestinian state is established.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to continue the war until Hamas is “destroyed”.
Israeli military plan to seize Gaza City
Israel’s security cabinet last week approved plans to take control of Gaza City, despite international condemnation from the United Nations and dissent from within Israel’s own military.
However, earlier Wednesday, the military said its chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, had signed off on the “main framework” for the operational plan during a meeting with top commanders, Shin Bet representatives and senior officers.
According to the statement, Zamir “emphasised the importance of increasing troop readiness and preparedness for reserve recruitment, while conducting proficiency training and providing breathing space ahead of the upcoming missions”.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israeli forces appeared to be in the preparatory stage of the expanded invasion, hitting multiple neighbourhoods overnight.
“Explosions [were] clearly heard from the eastern part of Gaza City, particularly near the Zeitoun neighbourhood and surrounding areas as far as the Sabra neighbourhood,” Mahmoud reported. “Seven people were reported killed overnight from a mixture of heavy artillery and air strikes targeting major residential clusters.”
In the city’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, three more people were reportedly killed as they fled the area.
Mahmoud said the Zikim crossing, the main entry point for aid in northern Gaza, had become “deadly for Palestinians”, with limited aid trucks allowed through despite crowds of desperate people.
“More people are dying there, either from deliberate Israeli military fire or from the stampede,” he said.
Aid restrictions criticised
Foreign ministers from 24 countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said on Tuesday the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached “unimaginable levels” and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid into the enclave.
The entreaty follows months, from March until May, of Israel blockading the enclave, until eventually allowing limited aid deliveries via the controversial US-backed GHF.
Amid growing international criticism over the hunger crisis, restrictions on aid supplies were further eased slightly in late July, with dozens of aid trucks entering Gaza on some days. But UNRWA says 500–600 trucks of aid are needed daily, but that aid getting into the Strip remains a fraction of that figure – while many Palestinians are killed on their way to collect aid.
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Mahmoud added that there was growing international condemnation of Israel “for creating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, but no change on the ground.
“They gave permission for some aid trucks to enter Gaza, to create a media buzz that there is food coming in,” he said. “But that has nothing to do with what’s going on … more people are still dying on a daily basis of enforced starvation.