Israel-Hamas war enters sixth month with death toll in Gaza reaching over 30,800

AFP | Jerusalem

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Hopes dimmed yesterday for a truce before Ramadan in the Israel-Hamas war that entered its sixth month with dozens more killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

The ministry said 83 more people had been killed over the previous day, adding to a toll it says has reached 30,800, mostly women and children, in a war that China called “a disgrace to civilisation”.

President Joe Biden was set to announce he had ordered the US military to set up a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered territory by sea, senior US officials said, cautioning it would take “a number of weeks”.

In the wasteland of Jabalia, northern Gaza, Palestinians gathered to receive meals at a distribution point. “There is no gas to cook our food on. There is no flour or rice,” said Bassam al-Hou, standing beside large, blackened cooking pots among the rubble.

He said children “are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger”.

In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, around 14 bodies lay in front of a hospital, the bare feet of some protruding from under coloured cloths. Biden had urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, as early as Sunday depending on the lunar calendar.

The proposed deal would pause fighting for “at least six weeks”, see the “release of sick, wounded, elderly and women hostages” and allow for “a surge of humanitarian assistance”, the White House said.