At least 14 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday, hospital officials reported, even as Hamas began reviewing a new US-backed ceasefire proposal that Israel has accepted.
President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week about brokering an agreement that could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive.
The strike occurred amid desperate shortages caused by an almost three-month blockade, which United Nations agencies warn has pushed Gaza’s 2.3 million people to the brink of famine.
Families in Deir al-Balah describe rationing meals to once a day after hours-long waits for scant rice distributions. “It’s heartbreaking that people are being starved because of politics,” said resident Mohammed Abed.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead.
Mohammed Abed said he and his family suffer greatly trying to find food and eat only one meal a day because of shortages. He said he waits for three hours daily to get a small amount of rice.
“It’s heartbreaking that people are being starved because of politics. Food and water should not be used for political purposes,” Abed told The Associated Press in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Fuad Muheisen from Deir a-Balah said if charity kitchens shut down “all of Gaza will die. No one will stay alive.”
Mnawar al-Rai said she has been displaced five times with her family and now is settled in Deir al-Balah where they tried to collect aid in recent days but came under fire.
She said they have to walk to three or four locations every day to collect a plate of food to feed the children, adding that almost nothing is available in markets because “merchants are exploiting people.”
Palestinians hope a ceasefire ends what they describe as a meaningless nightmare
Mohammed Abed said people in central Gaza grow optimistic when they hear that a ceasefire is near, only to be disappointed when a deal is not reached.
“This war has no meaning. This is the war of starvation, death, siege and long lines for food and toilets,” Abed said. “This war is the 2025 nightmare, 2024 nightmare and 2023 nightmare.”
Another Gaza resident Mohammed Mreil said about the possibility of a truce that, “We want to live and we want them Israelis to live. God did not create us to die.”
US and Israeli-backed foundation says it distributed over 2 million meals
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said Friday it distributed more than 2 million of what it described as meals within four days of starting operations.
It said that on Friday it distributed six truckloads of food at one distribution point. Palestinian aid-seekers have described getting basic items like bags of pasta, rice and cans of beans.
Hunger and malnutrition have mounted among Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians since Israel barred entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies nearly three months ago, allowing a trickle of aid in only the past two weeks.
The GHF has faced criticism by aid groups and Palestinians for a chaotic rollout since it began operations this week. More than a dozen Palestinians described chaos at all three aid hubs on Thursday, with multiple witnesses reporting a free-for-all of people grabbing aid, and they said Israeli troops opened fire to control crowds.
The group said that it was committed to safely and effectively supplying food to a “large, hungry population.” It said it planned to scale and build additional sites including in the north of Gaza in the coming weeks and that it was testing and adapting its distribution model to safely deliver as much aid as possible to the greatest number of people.
Families of hostages held in Gaza are pleading with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that any agreement to end the war must include the freedom of all the hostages.
There are 58 hostages left in Gaza, of whom Israel believes approximately a third are still alive.
Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano, whose body is being held in Gaza, was among the family members who met with Netanyahu on Thursday. She said the news that only 10 hostages and several bodies would be released had once again plunged the families into indescribable uncertainty.
“It’s again a selection, you know, all the families, we are right now standing and thinking, is it going to be my son? Isn’t it? What will be after part of them will come, what will be with the rest?”
Israel has accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday, while Hamas has had a cooler response.
“If they Hamas want guarantees, we will give them guarantees that after the last hostages will back to Israel, we will stop the war,” Samerano said. “I’m telling you, Netanyahu, say yes. All our countries say yes, the families say yes. All the families, when we are saying, stop the world and give us the hostages back.”
Hospital officials and paramedics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 people and wounded others.
Officials at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza said the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two people as well as nine others who were wounded were taken to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. It said one of the wounded is a doctor who works at the same hospital.
Hamas said Friday it was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal.
The White House said Thursday that Israel accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas officials, however, gave the draft a cool response, saying that it seeks to perpetuate Israel’s policies of killing and starving people in Gaza. Still, the group said it was going to thoroughly review it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday morning in Jerusalem, his office said.
The office did not provide further information about whether Netanyahu was moderately sedated or under general anesthesia for the procedure.
Netanyahu, 75, underwent successful surgery in December to have his prostate removed.
Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader, as he manages multiple crises including the war in Gaza and his trial for alleged corruption, despite a series of recent health setbacks.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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