The funeral draws police presence, while over 100 were killed in Gaza while seeking aid
The Collapse of Aid Delivery to Gaza in the First Month of Operational Israeli-Oct.7 War, as Observed by the Al-Awda Hospital
Aid groups say Israel is blocking aid and that the shipments have slowed because of the obstacles Israel has presented.
The World Food Program said earlier this month that it was pausing deliveries to the north because of the growing chaos, after desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy while it was en route.
Many Palestinians fled to the north of the enclave, but a few hundred thousand are believed to be still there. Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid delivery there in a month, officials said.
More than half of Gaza’s population have taken refuge in the southern city of Rafah, which the UN warned of further mass casualties if Israel followed through on its vow to attack. They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate what remains of aid operations.
Violence has also surged across the West Bank since Oct. 7. An attacker shot and killed two Israelis at a gas station in the settlement of Eli on Thursday, according to the Israeli military. The attacker was killed, the military said.
Since Israel launched its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, it has already surpassed the tolls of any previous Arab conflict with Israel. Many experts say the official toll is likely to be undercounted, given the difficulties of accurately documenting deaths with constant fighting and communications disruptions.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts match those of the U.N., independent experts and even Israel’s own tally.
The acting director of the Al-Awda Hospital said his facility received 161 patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot. He said the hospital can perform only the most essential surgeries because it is running out of fuel to power emergency generators.
The collapse of aid delivery to Gaza was illustrated on Thursday by the deaths of what Gaza health authorities say were at least 100 people trying to get to a convoy of trucks delivering food near Gaza City. The Israeli military said that many Palestinians died in the crush to reach the trucks, and said its own troops opened fire on crowds moving toward them “in a manner that endangered the force.”
Hamas demands an immediate cease-fire and a humanitarian response to a Palestinian soldier’s death at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City
Ahmad, who only gave his first name, said he waited two hours for someone with a horse-drawn cart to bring him to the hospital after he was wounded in the arm and leg.
Medics arriving at the scene of the bloodshed Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He said there wasn’t enough ambulances to transport the dead and wounded and that they were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.
Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands.
Israel was accused of targeting civilians by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. In separate statements, they called for increased safe passages for humanitarian aid. They also urged the international community to take decisive action to pressure Israel to abide by international law and to reach an agreement for an immediate cease-fire.
A man who had been hit by a bullet in his leg was being treated at a hospital in Gaza City. “I fell to the ground and there was another shot fired that hit my hand.”
Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. He said that they had been eating animal feed for two months.
The death toll in the Gaza conflict is still to be seen, according to Hamas’s Palestinian leader Tedros Adhanom gyreyesus
The violence was quickly condemned by Arab countries, and US President Joe Biden worried it would make it more difficult to negotiate a cease fire in the conflict.
In a social media post, Tedros Adhanom gyreyesus stated that the majority of the 30,000 deaths in Gaza were women and children.
She said that one Save the Children staffer reported that doctors were sending premature infants home to die because they didn’t have incubators. At least six children have died so far from malnutrition or from eating animal feed, the only food available, according to aid groups.
On Wednesday, Hamas’s political leader said in a televised speech that while the group was open to making a deal with Israel, it was also ready to continue fighting. He called on Palestinians to march to the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem in March, raising the prospect of fresh clashes with Israeli security forces around a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.
Since the conflict began, wrenching images and videos of the suffering in Gaza have made the conflict real to many around the world, spurring some advocacy and political action. The fighting is going on. Whether these numbers push political actors towards a lasting ceasefire “remains to be seen,” says Asi.
The death toll in Gaza passed a somber milestone on Thursday as the local health ministry reported that more than 30,000 people had been killed in the war since Oct. 7.
Adele Navalny’s funeral draws police presence; over 100 in Gaza killed while seeking aid: A supercommunicator’s tale
A funeral is planned for today near Navalny’s Moscow home. Navalny died two weeks ago under mysterious circumstances in an Arctic prison colony. His widow says he was murdered on the order of the Russian president. The Kremlin denied the accusation and insisted it has no interest in Navalny’s funeral proceedings.
Scientists have started cloning genetically modified pigs with organs designed to be transplanted into people. Experiments by Revivicor show promise for decreasing the chronic shortage of organs for transplantation. There are ethical and safety concerns with the research.
Have you ever had a conversation that just felt easy? Did you feel more interesting and understood? You may have been speaking to a supercommunicator — a person who is consistently able to create authentic connections with others just by listening and talking. Anyone can become a supercommunicator, according to journalist Charles Duhigg. If you want to bond with other people in more profound ways, you should read his new book.
Why shouldn’t we see all five films of Oscar-nominated films? What can you expect to learn from NPR and cable TV? Or what should you do?
Movies: All five films nominated for an Oscar for Best International Feature are worthy of your time. But if you can’t see them before the ceremony on March 10th, NPR’s guide will tell you enough to keep up at your Oscars party.
NBC’s Shgun from the 1980s is still going strong. The latest adaptation from cable network is a lot more violent and thought- provoking than the original. You can’t go wrong with watching both.
According to the book critic, the book is “ameditation on loss and grief that combines her verbal alacrity and mordant wit with moving descriptions that capture the ache of sleepless nights.”
The second part of the Final Fantasy remake series is released today and hits some incredible highs. Andy Bickerton writes that when the game works, it’s amazing. When it drags, it really drags.
Quiz: Reader, I still have not gotten 100% on one of NPR’s weekly news quizzes. Some photos are related to the answer, but not all of them.
Source: Navalny’s funeral draws police presence; over 100 in Gaza killed while seeking aid
Israel’s Ambassador to the Gaza Strip during the First Five Days of War: How Many Airdrops Are Needed by a Gazan Nation?
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When she visited the border a month ago, fewer than 140 trucks were able to come in every day, compared to 500 a day before the war started.
Israel’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Security Council said his government was committed to improving access at the Rafah border crossing and reactivating another land crossing at Kerem Shalom in Israel.
The United Nations, which has been unable to deliver aid into northern Gaza for more than a week due to the ongoing war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas against the backdrop of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, made clear it was not involved.
The U.N.’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, told the U.N. Security Council this week that one-quarter of Gaza’s population, more than 576,000 people, were “one step away from famine,” with 1 in 6 children under the age of 2 suffering from acute malnutrition.
Jordan this week dropped other, waterproof boxes of rations into the sea off the Gaza coast where people waded into the water or set off on small boats to retrieve them.
On the airfield on Thursday, photographers were prevented from photographing the flag of another Arab country on one of the pallets; saying it was one of two Arab nations participating in the airdrops that day that did not want their participation publicized. On the tarmac was a Qatari cargo plane that had intended to participate in an airdrop before it developed mechanical problems.
Since October the kingdom has done more than 21 aid airdrops, which includes a field hospital in Gaza. It says that France, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have done several air drops from Jordanian air bases.
There were military personnel on the tarmac at the King Abdullah II air base waiting to load up cargo planes. The meals, similar to military meals-ready-to-eat for a population with little fuel for cooking, featured Arab dishes including mansaf, Jordan’s national dish made of lamb, dried yogurt and rice.
It was impossible to see where the parachute-equipped pallets of food landed over northern Gaza. The Israeli approval of the meticulously planned airdrops was still subject to unpredictability. Jordan’s military said while most of the pallets dropped Thursday landed in northern Gaza, the wind had blown one of them across the border into Israel.
Israel has barred foreign journalists from Gaza since the start of the war, except for rare instances when it has escorted them. It’s difficult to confirm what’s happening on the ground because of disrupting phone and internet service. At the same time, Israeli strikes have killed at least 122 local journalists and media workers in Gaza since October, according to U.N. reports.
The U.K. foreign secretary, David Cameron, said in a statement Friday that in February only half the number of trucks crossed into Gaza as did in January, terming it “unacceptable.”
“It’s incredibly difficult to get supplies to people where they need it and to do that safely and securely,” Soeripto said, adding that northern Gaza was particularly hard hit by lack of food and a crumbling medical system.
Source: Aboard Jordan’s aid airdrop over Gaza, a last resort for relief to Palestinians there
The death of Salem, an Israeli journalist in Gaza, caused by the Israeli air attack on the september 24 Gazan enclave
The Israeli military says it must search every vehicle for weapons that could possibly come into contact with Hamas. In response to the attack, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
This situation is a direct result of the string of unconscionable decisions taken by Israeli authorities during the war, including a continuous bombing and shelling campaign and a complete siege on the enclave, the bureaucratic hurdles and lack of security mechanisms to ensure safe food distribution.
The Palestinian journalist posted on X that thousands of Palestinians were waiting for food at the spot where civilians were killed on Thursday.
Like many in Gaza, Salem spends much of his day walking miles trying to find food for his three children, his wife and his mother. Even for those with money, there is no food available to buy.
With most of Gaza’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, there are few ambulances and even fewer hospitals, all trying to operate without electricity or basic medical supplies. Salem was taken to the hospital by horse-drawn cart.
Israel acknowledges it opened fire but says most of the dead were crushed or run over by the trucks as a result of the shooting.
A cargo door is open while the air force personnel unhook the chains in the air.
Extreme deaths in Gaza for next 6 months projected in first-of-its-kind effort: “There’s no place like home”
Spagat said that he has less trust in the Ministry of Health releasing what they are releasing now because it is worse quality. He thinks that there are more deaths going uncounted than there were at the beginning of the war. He says the numbers are reasonable to use. Honestly there’s no other alternative.”
If a ceasefire isn’t reached and fighting continues apace over the same timeframe, the researchers project between 58,260 and 66,720 excess deaths — fatalities caused directly by Israel’s military or indirectly by factors like disease and restricted access to medical care or sanitation.
“We had to be very careful in defining these scenarios,” says Igusa. Existing casualty data was used to base the scenarios. But the current death toll, largely documented by the Gaza Ministry of Health, is likely an underestimate, as not all deaths are reported.
They took the average casualties over the course of six months and spun them forward into the next six months, which was comparable to the early stages. For escalation, they assumed fighting from now through August would be as intense as October 11 through November 10, the worst month of the conflict so far that claimed more than 11,000 lives.
He saysEscalation might involve a whole lot of indiscriminate bombing in densely populated areas or Israeli forces could decide to flood the tunnels with water. “We don’t actually know what any of those scenarios will mean in terms of the armed groups’ actions.”
Non-violent deaths increase in the status quo and escalation scenarios too, as there’s greater chance for interrupted medical care and epidemics. But given the authors’ assumptions, ongoing violence would account for the bulk of those excess deaths, which could reach 66,720 under the status quo scenario and 85,750 under escalation.
Estimates of trauma deaths in World War II, which took place in the form of Allied bombs killing 25,000 in Dresden and Nazis killing 40,000 in London, are what can be seen from these projections.
Source: ‘Excess deaths’ in Gaza for next 6 months projected in first-of-its-kind effort
‘Excess deaths’ in Gaza for next 6 months projected in first-of-its-kind effort: Jonathan Spiegel, Igusa and colleagues
This initial report is very much a first draft. Spiegel, Igusa and colleagues plan to release updated projections over the next several months, refining their assumptions based on experience and incorporating new data, including measures of mental health.
“I hope we’ve made clear that there’s still going to be a lot of death if there’s a ceasefire,” says Spiegel, underlining the importance of getting adequate food, water and medical attention to where it’s needed as soon as possible. blockades, assaults and damaged roads are preventing aid from reaching those in need.
“If politicians and humanitarian agencies are forced to recognize the human cost of continued fighting, it will be well worth it,” says Asi. “But that’s just the first step. They have to be coupled with advocacy and political action.”
Jonathan works as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and focuses on science, health and policy. He’s been a staff writer at Grid and Science News and has contributed to NPR, Nature News, Quanta Magazine and the Dallas Morning News. He earned a masters degree in evolutionary biology from Cornell University. Follow him on X @evolambert or on bluesky @jonlambert.bsky.social.
Source: ‘Excess deaths’ in Gaza for next 6 months projected in first-of-its-kind effort
How long will the Israel-Gaza war be going? The human-rights data analysis team estimates the impact of outbreaks and noncommunicable diseases
To estimate the possible toll of an outbreak, the team combined existing data on baseline health status, malnutrition, sanitation and vaccination rates with models of infectious disease spread. Children who are not adequately fed are more at risk of getting infections and would be particularly hard hit by such an outbreak. The United Nations says more than half a million people are in need of assistance.
Conflict zones have the tendency to have an infectious disease outbreak as overcrowding in shelters can stoke the spread of pathogens. It’s hard to estimate when an outbreak might occur, and the team included projections with and without epidemics.
There are three scenarios that researchers decided to look at for how the Israel-Gaza war might unfold over the next six months. They projected the number of people who would die from trauma and related causes, as well as infectious disease and non-communicable diseases.
Given those assumptions, the researchers project that an additional 3,250 people will die from traumatic injuries after fighting stops. The rest of the 6,550 to 11,580 deaths post-ceasefire come from nonviolent causes.
It is important to think about how the health-care system is changing in the future. The situation right now is dire, according to many of the trauma doctors the researchers consulted for the study. “If hospitals are functioning, a person with a head or chest wound might survive. It’s likely that he or she won’t.
Constructing those two extreme scenarios — ceasefire and escalation — as well as a status quo middle ground, required making a lot of assumptions. To inform these assumptions, the researchers gathered up all the data they could from the conflict so far, filling in the gaps with information from past conflicts, as well as consultation with trauma doctors in Gaza.
Tak Igusa, a civil engineer at the University, says they wanted to define realistic scenarios and then project what might happen.
Ball says he has spent his career looking back and trying to calculate the cost of war. I can see a whole new field coming from this analysis, but I don’t think I can forecast tomorrow’s deaths. From here onward, we are going to be doing this.
Other experts agree. “It’s a rigorous way of talking about the human cost of human decisions,” says Patrick Ball, director of research for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, a nonprofit organization. While he stresses that the projections are speculative, that kind of speculation can be “immensely useful” in clarifying the potential costs of military action, which could both hold actors to account and help guide humanitarian action, he said.
“It shows that even if the bombing stops tomorrow, people will continue to die, not simply from the destruction of the health-care system but [loss of] access to food, water, vaccinations and shelter,” she says. If the numbers are not perfect, putting this all together causes us to confront the toll of what this means for the population there. We cannot say that we did not anticipate this.”
“There’s no perfect, pre-established methodology for this kind of projecting,” says Yara Asi, a public health expert who studies the health impacts of war at the University of Central Florida and wasn’t involved in the analysis. She thinks it’s innovative and valuable.
Researchers wait until the war is over to scrutinize the data and make sense of how many lives were lost and who was killed in it.
