At least 17 killed in Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 17 people in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.
First responders with Gaza’s Civil Defense department circulated footage of rescuers pulling dead and wounded people from the rubble of a house, including a child with blood on his face who was not moving. The nearby European Hospital said it received 17 bodies overnight.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it was carrying out targeted raids on militant infrastructure in Khan Younis while trying to evacuate civilians from the area.
The latest fatalities brought the overall Pales- tinian toll from the nearly five-month war to 30,631, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not differ- entiate between civilians and combatants in its fig- ures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casu- alties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.
South Africa gets Israel’s Gaza report
South Africa has received a copy of a report by Israel on what it is doing to abide by the orders of the United Nations’ top court to min- imize deaths and destruc- tion in Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the territory.
South African Foreign Min- ister Naledi Pandor said her country was scrutinizing the report and would formu- late a response as part of its ongoing case at the U.N.’s International Court of Jus- tice accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip. Pan- dor said the report would not be made public.
The world court issued a series of provisional orders against Israel on Jan. 26 while South Afri- ca’s main genocide allega- tions against it are still to be weighed. One of the orders was that Israel must report back within a month on what it is doing to prevent genocide, civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza. It also ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to allow aid to reach Palestinians.
South Africa has previ- ously accused Israel of ignor- ing the orders and Pandor said Tuesday that the cur- rent airdrops of aid were not enough. Instead, she said nations with “power- ful armed forces” should have their soldiers escort aid trucks into Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Pan- dor appeared to be primar- ily referring to the United States.
U.S., Jordan carry out 2nd food drop
The United States and Jor- dan have carried out another humanitarian airdrop over the northern Gaza Strip, which has been largely iso- lated by Israeli forces for months.
U.S. Central Command says Air Force C-130 aircraft dropped 36,800 meals over northern Gaza on Tuesday, the second U.S. airdrop since Saturday.
Aid groups say they can no longer distribute food aid in northern Gaza because of the breakdown of law and order there.
Over 100 Palestinians were killed last week when thousands converged on an aid convoy organized by the Israeli military, which opened fire. Palestinian offi- cials said most of the vic- tims were shot, while Israel said most were trampled to death in the chaos.
Aid groups say airdrops are a costly, last-ditch measure that cannot substitute for land deliveries. They have called for a humanitarian cease-fire and for Israel to open up crossings into northern Gaza.
Up to 300,000 Palestinians are believed to have stayed in northern Gaza, the first target of Israel’s offensive after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, despite repeated Israeli evacuation orders. Many are now surviving by eating animal fodder and foraging for food in demolished buildings. The U.N. says a quarter of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people are starving.
The Israeli military says it places no limits on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza. But aid groups say distribution is severely hampered by ongoing hostilities, the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military and the breakdown of security after Israeli airstrikes drove the Hamas-run police force from the streets.