Israel bombarded Gaza intensely on Thursday and local health officials said more than 60 people had been killed over the past day, as hungry Palestinians scrambled for food handouts under a new Israeli-backed aid operation that the United Nations says is insufficient to meet basic needs for survival.
In a reflection of the chaotic atmosphere surrounding aid distribution and the desperation of much of the population, a large crowd of hungry people broke into a warehouse run by the U.N.’s World Food Program on Wednesday in search of food.
The W.F.P. said in a statement that initial reports indicated that two people had been killed and several were injured. Images from the scene showed large crowds of Palestinians converging on the warehouse and removing sacks of looted flour.
Against the backdrop of the humanitarian crisis and mounting international pressure to end the devastating 19-month war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas were considering on Thursday a new version of a cease-fire proposal formulated by President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Both Israel and Hamas have said they are willing to accept initial terms including the release of 10 living hostages held by Hamas and the remains of others who died in captivity in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
But it was unclear whether the new proposal could address the main sticking point between the sides: Israel’s insistence on having the option to resume fighting if Hamas does not surrender and disarm, and Hamas’s insistence on firm guarantees that a temporary cease-fire would lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The war began in October 2023 with a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 others taken hostage, according to the Israeli government. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
At least 20 living hostages are still being held in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.
Israel ended a previous cease-fire in March and has since embarked on a new phase of fighting, advancing slowly and expanding its control over larger swathes of the territory.
On Thursday, Gaza’s health ministry said that hospitals in the enclave had received more than 60 bodies over the past 24 hours.
Khalil Degran, a spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, said his facility had received 20 bodies on Thursday morning following a reported Israeli airstrike in Al-Bureij, a few miles to the north.
The majority of the victims were civilians, including nine children, Mr. Degran said. The hospital had also received wounded people suffering extensive burns, and multiple cases of limb amputations, according to Mr. Degran.
“The situation is catastrophic and dire. We simply don’t have the capacity to provide adequate medical care,” he said, noting that his hospital is the only major health facility currently operating in central Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reports of a strike in Al-Bureij but said in a midday statement on Thursday that its airstrikes over the past day had hit dozens of Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
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