Israeli attacks leave 22 dead in Gaza

GAZA, Aug 02 (AFP): Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire and air strikes killed at least 22 people on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid in the war-battered Palestinian territory.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed in a strike in the southern Gaza Strip, and four more when a vehicle was hit in the central area of Deir el-Balah.
Bassal said Israeli forces killed five Palestinians who were trying to return to the Gaza City area, in the territory's north, after word had spread that troops had withdrawn from there.
There was no comment from the Israeli military, which told AFP it could not confirm any of the incidents without specific coordinates for each of them. The civil defence agency reported deadly fire at Palestinians who were seeking humanitarian aid, in a territory where UN-backed experts have reported that "famine is now unfolding".
Bassal said six people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting near northern Gaza's Zikim crossing, through which aid trucks have entered from Israel in recent weeks.
Israeli fire on a crowd near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza killed two people and wounded 70 others, the civil defence said.
The site is run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of deadly incidents.
The Israeli military did not comment on the latest reports, while the GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points.
Very insufficient aid
entering Gaza,
says Germany
The amount of aid entering Gaza remains "very insufficient" despite a limited improvement, the German government said on Saturday after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel.
The criticism came after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the region on Thursday and Friday and the German military staged its first food airdrops into Gaza, where aid agencies say that more than two million Palestinians are facing starvation.
Germany "notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement. "Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid," Kornelius added. Facing mounting international criticism over its military operations in Gaza, Israel has allowed more trucks to cross the border and some foreign nations to carry out airdrops of food and medicines.
US promises Gaza food
plan after envoy visit
President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months.
The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).