Israel kills over 70 in Gaza as 549 killed seeking aid in past month

Hospital sources in Gaza tell Al Jazeera that at least 72 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the territory over the past 24 hours.
Gaza’s Government Media Office says at least 549 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while trying to access humanitarian supplies in the past four weeks, and a further 4,066 were injured at or near US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution sites.Gaza’s Government Media Office slams Israel’s ‘lies’ about Hamas aid theft
Gaza’s Government Media Office has slammed the Israeli government for “promoting lies” about the control of aid in northern Gaza, amid Israeli claims Hamas was stealing aid from civilians in the territory.

“We categorically deny the false claims,” the office said, referring to a joint statement by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday, which claimed that Hamas was taking control of humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians.

Netanyahu and Katz issued the statement shortly after former Israeli leader Naftali Bennett had posted a video on X of armed men he claimed belonged to Hamas, riding on trucks laden with humanitarian aid. In their response, Netanyahu and Katz said they had given Israel’s military 48 hours to come up with a plan to stop Hamas from stealing aid.

But Gaza’s Government Media Office said the claims of Hamas stealing the aid were false, and that the aid convoys had been “secured” by Palestinian families and clans “without any interference from the Palestinian government or factions”.

“This was a popular stance on their part, aimed at providing crumbs of food to hundreds of thousands of starving civilians,” the statement said.

It slammed the Israeli government for pushing “cheap lies” that it said were intended to “legitimise the continued blockade”.Israeli court rejects Netanyahu’s call to postpone corruption trial hearings
An Israeli court has rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial.

Netanyahu’s lawyer on Thursday asked the court to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needed to concentrate on “security issues” after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

The Jerusalem district court said in a judgement published online that “in its current form [his request] does not provide a basis or detailed justification for the cancellation of the hearings.”

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, and his supporters have described the long-running trial as politically motivated.

In a first case, he and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described the case against Netanyahu as a “witch-hunt”, saying the trial “should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero”.MSF slams US-backed Gaza relief effort as ‘slaughter masquerading’ as aid
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity calls for a controversial Israel- and US-backed aid scheme to be halted, saying it is “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid”.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), launched last month, “is degrading Palestinians by design, forcing them to choose between starvation or risking their lives for minimal supplies”, MSF said in a statement, demanding that the scheme be “immediately dismantled”.

At present, humanitarian aid in Gaza is being delivered by the GHF, which is accused of causing the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians waiting for food aid.

Well-known aid groups and the UN have refused to work with the new organisation, saying it violates basic humanitarian principles by coordinating delivery with Israeli troops, backed by privately hired and armed US security personnel.

Lebanon’s president calls on international community to end Israel’s attacks
Joseph Aoun has joined the country’s PM, Nawaf Salam, in condemning Israel’s attacks on south Lebanon earlier today.

As we reported, the attacks killed at least one woman and wounded 20 other people.

“Israel continues to disregard regional and international resolutions and calls to stop violence and escalation in the region, which necessitates effective action from the international community to put an end to these attacks that do not serve the efforts made to establish stability in Lebanon and the region’s countries,” Aoun wrote on X.Hospitals confirm 36 Palestinians killed in Gaza since dawn
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire across Gaza today has risen to 36, sources in hospitals in the territory have confirmed to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

In what has become a routine occurrence, a number of those killed were seeking aid at one of the distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Six people were killed by Israeli fire near a GHF aid point north of Rafah, sources at the Kuwait Field Hospital said.

In a separate attack, 10 people were killed, including a journalist, in an Israeli drone strike on a group of people in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.