Israel strikes Hamas voice as Gaza City counts its dead

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday, 31 August, that Abu Obeida, the longtime spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, was killed in Gaza over the weekend. Obeida, the voice of the Qassam Brigades for years, last appeared publicly on Friday as Israel launched the opening phase of its new offensive in Gaza City, declaring it a combat zone. Hamas has not confirmed Israel’s claim.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that Israel had targeted Obeida but could not initially verify whether he had been killed. “I do notice there is no one addressing this question on the Hamas side,” Netanyahu remarked during his weekly cabinet meeting.

Obeida’s death would mark another major blow to Hamas’ leadership as Israel seeks to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure and prevent a repeat of the 7 October 2023 attacks, when militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted 251. Israel has already eliminated several of Hamas’ top military and political figures during the conflict.

Civilian deaths and aid struggles

While Israel claimed a significant military success, the toll on Gaza’s civilians deepened. At least 43 Palestinians were killed since Saturday, according to local hospitals. Shifa Hospital reported 29 bodies, including 10 people struck while trying to collect aid. Al-Awda Hospital confirmed seven more deaths, most of them civilians seeking food.

Witnesses described deadly chaos in the Netzarim Corridor — a military zone controlled by Israel that cuts through central Gaza. “We were trying to get food, but we were met with the occupation’s bullets. It’s a death trap,” said Ragheb Abu Lebda, a resident of Nuseirat.

The corridor has become increasingly dangerous, with civilians killed while approaching UN aid convoys or attempting to reach distribution points managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-funded group backed by Israel. Neither Israeli officials nor the foundation commented on Sunday’s casualties.

Displacement and malnutrition

Israel’s military has been operating on the edges of Gaza City and Jabaliya refugee camp for weeks, gradually escalating airstrikes, particularly in the coastal Rimal neighborhood. Its Arabic-language spokesperson has urged civilians to move south, though many say repeated displacements and exhaustion leave them unwilling or unable to flee.

According to the UN, roughly 65,000 Palestinians have been newly displaced since 1 August, with 23,199 in the last week alone. More than 90 per cent of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been uprooted at least once since the war began, many multiple times.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry reported seven adult deaths from malnutrition in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of starvation-related deaths to 215 since late June. Another 124 children have died of hunger-related causes since the conflict erupted last October.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals, says at least 63,371 Palestinians have been killed during the war — about half of them women and children. The UN and independent experts regard its figures as the most credible, though Israel disputes the numbers and does not provide its own count.

With AP/PTI inputs