Palestine

The findings of an investigation into the Monday killings marked an embarrassing admission by Israel, which faces growing accusations from key allies, of not doing enough to protect Gaza's civilians.

Kharif crops, or monsoon crops, including rice, maize, sugarcane and cotton are sown in April and require a wet and warm climate with high levels of rainfall.

Monday's toll update was released hours after the Israeli military withdrew from Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a two-week operation that saw heavy fighting.

The WHO says about 9,000 patients in Gaza urgently need to be evacuated abroad for life-saving treatment.

Netanyahu cancelled the trip this week after the UN vote to demand a cease-fire in Hamas-run Gaza; the US abstained from the vote but did not veto it.

The resolution, which demands an immediate ceasefire for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan that leads to a lasting truce, went through, with all other 14 Security Council members voting yes.

All the six terrorists who attacked the check post in Mir Ali area were shot dead.

The aid is a tiny fraction of what is required, but the shipment was intended to pave the way for other larger shipments, officials working on the route have said.

Rafah has swelled in size in the last months as Palestinians in Gaza have fled fighting in nearly every other corner of the territory. The town is covered in tents.

But there was little to celebrate after five months of war that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

Humanitarian workers and UN officials have said easing overland access of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip would be more effective than maritime shipments or airdrops to alleviate the dire crisis in the besieged territory.

“This will be the black Ramadan,” Abu Mousam Haddad said in front of his coffee stand near Damascus Gate, one of the Old City’s main entrances.

A witness told AFP he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting 'a bag of flour', all of a sudden, the parachute didn't open and fell down like a rocket, hitting a house.

Releasing its initial findings on Friday, the military said in a statement that the "command review" found that "troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy."

It can either try to annihilate Hamas, which would mean almost certain death for the estimated 100 hostages still held in Gaza, or it can cut a deal that would allow the militants to claim a historic victory.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that 15 children have starved to death at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and another six were at risk of dying from malnutrition and dehydration.

Israel has "more or less accepted" the proposal, including a six-week ceasefire in Gaza and the release of vulnerable hostages by Hamas, according to a US govt official.

“This massacre was perpetrated on starving people who had collected food from aid trucks, which had entered the area.

Thursday's incident added to a Palestinian death toll which the Gaza health ministry said had topped 30,000, mainly women and children.

The U.N. says a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation; around 80% have fled their homes.