On Monday, Israeli military attacks across the Gaza Strip killed at least 95 Palestinians, including dozens at a seaside café in Gaza City and scores more as they desperately sought food aid.
The latest bloodshed, reported in detail by the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, underscores the relentless and systematic violence directed at a besieged civilian population, even as the United Nations and humanitarian agencies warn of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
In one of the deadliest incidents, the Israeli navy struck a popular seaside café near Gaza City’s port, killing more than 30 people, many of them women, children and journalists. The café, known as Al-Baqa, was a rare refuge for students, journalists and remote workers seeking internet access and a brief escape from the misery of displacement camps.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from the scene:
The attack—which hit without warning—turned the café, a vital hub for internet access and leisure, into a scene of horror: bloodstained tables, scattered shoes, and body parts wrapped in tablecloths. Survivors condemned the strike as part of a systematic “war on life” in Gaza.
Footage verified by CNN showed dense smoke billowing from the ruins, with bodies carried away on stretchers. Dr. Mohammad Abu Silmiya, head of Al-Shifa Hospital, confirmed at least 31 killed and 70 wounded, many of them students and children.
Emphasizing the critical shortage of ICU beds and anesthetics, Dr. Silmiya stated:
We are providing care for the injured on the hospital floor due to a lack of available rooms and beds.
Among the dead was freelance journalist Ismail Abu Hatab, raising the total number of journalists killed by Israeli forces in Gaza to 228 since October 2023.
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud further described the chaos and carnage:
This location serves as a sanctuary for numerous traumatized and displaced persons, providing some respite from the unbearable heat of makeshift shelters. The café had no military ties—only civilians torn apart by what witnesses called an “unpredictable foreign bomb.” With flesh still clinging to shattered furniture, the attack epitomized Gaza’s daily reality under siege.
Simultaneously, Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians attempting to secure urgently needed food assistance in southern Gaza. According to the Associated Press, at least 22 people were killed and 20 were wounded as they returned from an aid distribution point operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which run by Israel and the United States.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the remains of 11 individuals shot while returning from the aid point. Another 10 people were killed at a UN aid facility in northern Gaza. These incidents are part of the ongoing massacres at the GHF distribution sites, with 500 Palestinians having been killed over the past month.
Eyewitness Yousef Mahmoud Mokheimar described the killings:
They fired at us indiscriminately. I was struck in the leg, and another man was shot while trying to help me.
Mokheimar also saw troops apprehend six people, including three children, saying, “We don’t know whether they are still alive.”
The attack occurred as civilians walked one of the few available routes back from the GHF center. Many had traveled long distances, risking their lives for basic sustenance.
On Monday, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) acknowledged reports of “harm to civilians” at the aid sites. A statement from an IDF representative said:
Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
This empty statement was the military’s response to the report by Haaretz on Friday that featured interviews with Israeli troops, who said they were ordered to open fire on unarmed crowds of aid seekers in an operation whose name apparently references the homicidal “red light, green light” game in the fictional Squid Games television series.
The Israeli military has repeatedly justified the killings by claiming it fires “warning shots” to disperse crowds it deems “suspected terrorists” or threats. It has now added assertions that it is working to improve “operational response” by adding fencing and signage at aid zones.
Johnnie Moore, head of the GHF—who is also a commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and co-founder and president of Congress of Christian Leaders—has defended the organization’s operations and accused the UN and other agencies of spreading unsubstantiated information. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed reports of deliberate targeting of civilians as “malicious falsehoods,” while the IDF has denied instructing troops to shoot at unarmed aid seekers.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The search for food must not be a death sentence” and labeled the current aid operation as “inherently unsafe” and calling for an immediate ceasefire. Others have characterized the operation as deliberately created death traps set up to mow down unarmed Palestinian civilians.
The United Nations issued a statement late Monday condemning the ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food, as well as strikes on homes, schools and hospitals sheltering displaced families. The UN Security Council heard urgent appeals for a ceasefire and for Israel to allow unrestricted humanitarian access.
UNICEF reported that more than 5,000 children under five were admitted for acute malnutrition in May alone, underscoring the catastrophic humanitarian crisis. A UNICEF statement said:
The suffering in Gaza is appalling and cannot continue. We need a ceasefire now. Israel must let the UN save lives, open all access routes, and allow fuel into Gaza.
Monday’s Israeli strikes also targeted the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where thousands had sought refuge. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that the military gave no warning before the “massive explosion” that tore through tents housing displaced families.
“This is not the first instance of the hospital’s courtyard being struck. Israeli forces have targeted this facility at least 10 times,” he said, noting the repeated assaults on barely functioning medical centers.
As the daily killings continue, Prime Minister Netanyahu is planning to visit Washington D.C. next week to meet with President Donald Trump. The White House has been promoting the visit as part of “ceasefire talks,” but the meeting is widely recognized as a planning session for the next stage of Israel’s ethnic cleansing operation in Gaza.
Proof of this fact was demonstrated in the announcement on Sunday that Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate from parts of northern Gaza ahead of increased military action. People in neighborhoods across Gaza City and Jabalia have been told to move south towards the coastal area of al-Mawasi, as Israeli military operations “intensify and expand westward.”
Fill out this form and we’ll contact you soon.
Nearly 100 Palestinians killed across Gaza, as Netanyahu prepares to meet Trump in Washington D.C. – World Socialist Web Site
