US group distributing aid in Gaza reopens sites after deadly shootings

A U.S.- and Israeli-backed organisation distributing aid in Gaza reopened two sites on Thursday, a day after halting work in response to a series of deadly shootings close to its operations.

The U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said 26 truckloads of desperately needed food were handed out at two sites in southern Gaza's Rafah area.

The GHF, which has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week and had been running three sites earlier this week.

GHF's interim director John Acree said in a statement that the group was looking to open more sites, including in north Gaza, and "ensure safe and more efficient delivery of lifesaving aid".

The U.N. has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.

"The failure to provide urgent therapeutic feeding and health services for children places thousands of lives at immediate risk, and could result in unnecessary and continued loss of life," U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council in a note, seen by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Israel announced it had recovered the bodies of two dual-nationality Israeli-American hostages from Gaza. Gadi Hagi and his wife Judy Weinstein-Hagi were killed and taken to Gaza after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. Fifty-six hostages remain in captivity, with fewer than half still believed to be alive.

The Israeli military has intensified operations in Gaza since breaking a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March, taking more territory with the government pushing to wipe out the Islamist militant group.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Thursday, including four journalists in a hospital in the enclave’s north, local health authorities said. The military said that it had targeted an Islamic Jihad militant who was operating a command-and-control centre.

The Hamas-run government media office says that 225 journalists in Gaza have been killed since the war began.

The renewed military campaign has further isolated Israel amid mounting international pressure. On Wednesday, a U.S. veto blocked a U.N. Security Council draft resolution, backed by the 14 other members, demanding an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" and full, unrestricted aid access to Gaza.

Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited U.N.-led aid deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later, the relatively unknown GHF started a new aid distribution system that bypasses traditional relief agencies.

Reuters