UN body says Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, as hunger worsens

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed 25 people across Gaza, according to local health officials.

Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries.

Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid — without providing evidence of widespread diversion — and blames U.N. agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. The military says it has only fired warning shots near aid sites. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor, rejected what it said were “false and exaggerated statistics” from the United Nations.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, said Tuesday that 80 children have died from starvation since the beginning of the war, while 21 adults have since Sunday. The ministry only recently began tracking deaths from malnutrition in adults.

The deaths could not be independently verified, but U.N. officials and major international aid groups say the conditions for starvation exist in Gaza. During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight.

Israel eased a 2½-month blockade in May, allowing a trickle of aid in through the longstanding U.N.-run system and the newly created GHF. Aid groups say it's not nearly enough.

Dozens of Palestinians lined up Tuesday outside a charity kitchen in Gaza City, hoping for a bowl of watery tomato soup. The lucky ones got small chunks of eggplant. As supplies ran out, people holding pots pushed and shoved to get to the front.

Nadia Mdoukh, a pregnant woman who was displaced from her home and lives in a tent with her husband and three children, said she worries about being shoved or trampled on, and about heat stroke as daytime temperatures hover above 90 F (32 C).

“I do it for my children," she said. “This is famine — there is no bread or flour.”

The U.N. World Food Program says Gaza’s hunger crisis has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation.” Ross Smith, the agency’s director for emergencies, told reporters Monday that nearly 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and a third of Gaza’s population is going without food for multiple days in a row.

MedGlobal, a charity working in Gaza, said five children as young as 3 months had died from starvation in the past three days.

“This is a deliberate and human-made disaster," said Joseph Belliveau, its executive director. "Those children died because there is not enough food in Gaza and not enough medicines, including IV fluids and therapeutic formula, to revive them.”

The charity said food is in such short supply that its own staff members suffer dizziness and headaches.

Of the 1,054 people killed while trying to get food since late May, 766 were killed while heading to sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to the U.N. human rights office. The others were killed when gunfire erupted around U.N. convoys or aid sites.

Thameen al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the U.N. rights office, says its figures come from “multiple reliable sources on the ground,” including medics, humanitarian and human rights organizations. He said the numbers were still being verified according to the office's strict methodology.

Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces regularly fire toward crowds of thousands of people heading to the GHF sites. The military says it has only fired warning shots, and GHF says its armed contractors have only fired into the air on a few occasions to try to prevent stampedes.

A joint statement from 28 Western-aligned countries on Monday condemned the “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians.”

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” read the statement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, France and other countries friendly to Israel. “The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”

Israel and the United States rejected the statement, blaming Hamas for prolonging the war by not accepting Israeli terms for a ceasefire and the release of hostages abducted in the militant-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the fighting.

Hamas has said it will release the remaining hostages only in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel says it will keep fighting until Hamas has been defeated or disarmed.

Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people Tuesday across Gaza, according to local health officials.

One strike hit tents sheltering displaced people in the built-up seaside Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. The Israeli military said that it wasn't aware of such a strike by its forces.

The dead included three women and three children, the hospital director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, told The Associated Press. Thirty-eight other Palestinians were wounded, he said.

An overnight strike that hit crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in Gaza City killed eight, hospitals said. At least 118 were wounded, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

“A bag of flour covered in blood and death," said Mohammed Issam, who was in the crowd and said some people were run over by trucks in the chaos. "How long will this humiliation continue?”

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that strike. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on Hamas, because the militants operate in densely populated areas.

Israel renewed its offensive in March with a surprise bombardment after ending an earlier ceasefire. Talks on another truce have dragged on for weeks despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack, and killed around 1,200 people. Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.

More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

This story was first published on July 22, 2025. It was updated on July 23, 2025, to correct that all 101 deaths from starvation reported by the Gaza Health Ministry were not in recent days. They include 80 children who have died since the beginning of the war, and 21 adults who have died since Sunday.

Magdy reported from Cairo, and Goldenberg from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Displaced Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Injured Palestinians are transferred to an ambulance after being wounded while waiting for aid arriving from the northern Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed from an Israeli army bombardment of Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians hold onto an aid truck returning to Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians hold onto an aid truck returning to Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, left, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III greet each other before attending a press conference following their visit to the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian man carries the body of a child killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in an Israeli army bombardment of Gaza at the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

An Israeli military APC maneuvers at a gathering point near the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Relatives of Palestinian child Salem Hussein, 12, killed in an Israeli army bombardment of Gaza, mourn beside his body at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed from an Israeli army bombardment of Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong officials on Wednesday proposed expanding oversight of building maintenance projects and stronger fire safety steps after a blaze in November killed at least 161 people and displaced thousands.

The blaze that spread across seven towers in an apartment complex raised questions about corruption, negligence and government oversight in the city's building maintenance projects, piling pressure on Hong Kong leader John Lee’s administration and Beijing’s “patriots-only” governance system for the city.

In the newly elected legislature's first meeting, Lee said the fire exposed the need for reform and pledged that the investigation by law enforcement agencies and a judge-led independent committee would be thorough.

“We will fairly pursue accountability and take disciplinary action based on facts against anyone who should bear responsibility, regardless of whether they are from within or outside the government, or whether they are junior or senior staff,” Lee said.

To combat bid-rigging, Lee's administration proposed that the Urban Renewal Authority play a greater role in helping homeowners choose contractors for building maintenance projects.

Officials planned to set up a preselected list of consultants and contractors based on official background checks and past reviews from homeowners. The authority would facilitate homeowners in tendering and bid evaluation more.

The government also suggested requiring big renovation projects to hire a third-party professional to supervise the work, necessitating fire department's approval before shutting down major fire safety installations, and banning smoking on any construction site.

Proposals for law changes linked to the smoking ban were expected to be submitted for the legislature's review within the next few weeks, while officials were still discussing some of the other suggestions with the Urban Renewal Authority.

Authorities have pointed to substandard netting and foam boards installed during renovations at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex as factors that contributed to the fire in November. They also said some fire alarms did not work in tests.

Political analysts and observers worried the tragedy could be the “tip of an iceberg" in Hong Kong, a city whose skyline is built on high-rise buildings. Suspicions of bid-rigging and use of hazardous construction materials in renovation projects across other housing estates have left many fearing the disaster could be repeated.

A man walks past the burnt buildings after a deadly fire that started Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Friday, Nov. 28 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

FILE - Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)