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At least 40 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli gunfire and airstrikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, including 10 seeking aid, and another five have died of starvation or malnutrition, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The recent deaths raise the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began, with international humanitarian agencies warning the situation could be an unfolding famine.
10 of those who died were seeking aid at two separate sites belonging to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central and southern Gaza, local medics said.
The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.
“Everyone who goes there, comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe,” said 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Thari.
He was among mourners at Gaza City’s al Shifa hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of their loved ones.
Israel’s next steps in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government’s war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the hostages.
During a visit to the country last week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
But Israeli officials have also floated ideas, including expanding the military offensive in Gaza and annexing parts of the shattered enclave.
The failed ceasefire talks in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
Israel’s Channel 12 on Monday cited an official from his office as saying that Netanyahu was inclining towards expanding the offensive and seizing the entire Palestinian enclave.
There was no immediate official confirmation, but the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry denounced what it called a “leaked” plan and urged the international community to intervene to quash any new military occupation.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack in 2023, in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 60,430 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
