Key Points
- Israel’s war on Gaza began nearly 21 months ago
- Over two million Gazans are facing dire humanitarian conditions
- Gaza death toll passes 57,300
- UNRWA warns of fuel shortage
GAZA: Israel has killed at least 56 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including nine people who were seeking aid, according to the territory’s health ministry on Saturday.
Israel has recently intensified its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory’s population of more than two million.
Nine aid seekers were also among those killed today, including three children.
Erdogan asks Trump to intervene to stop Gaza bloodshed
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he asked US President Donald Trump to intervene to stop Israeli shootings at Gaza aid centres, which the UN says have killed more than 500 people.
Erdogan said when he met Trump at a NATO summit in late June, he asked him to step in and halt the bloodshed.
“I asked him to intervene in the Gaza process, telling him, ‘You are the one who will best manage this process with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’. There are people who are being killed in food queues in particular.
Hamas ready to start Gaza ceasefire talks
Hamas has said it is ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the terms of the US-backed truce proposal, the militant group said in a statement.
The announcement came after it held consultations with other Palestinian factions and before a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war, now in its 21st month.
Trump says Hamas’ response to proposed ceasefire is ‘good’
President Donald Trump said it was good that Hamas said it had responded in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week, but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations.
Gaza death toll passes 57,300
At least 57,338 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, the Health Ministry said.
A ministry statement said that 70 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, with 332 people injured, taking the number of injuries to 135,957 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
UNRWA warns of fuel shortage
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that fuel shortages in Gaza are putting essential services at risk. Fuel is critical for operating hospital generators, ambulances, bakeries, and water pumps across the territory.
Without immediate fuel deliveries, UNRWA says a complete shutdown of basic services is imminent, which would lead to further suffering for the population. The agency described the situation as a form of collective punishment.
UNRWA is calling for the urgent entry of fuel into Gaza, at scale, through the United Nations, including its own operations, to ensure the continuation of lifesaving services.
