The Albany Gazette - Israel says killed Hamas's presumed leader in Gaza

"We drove the terrorists out of our territory, entered the Gaza Strip with force, eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, eliminated... Mohammed Sinwar," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament.

Israeli media outlets reported Sinwar was targeted in Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza earlier this month. His brother was killed in October 2024.

Wednesday's announcement came as the United Nations condemned a US- and Israeli-backed aid system in Gaza after dozens of people were hurt in chaotic scenes at a food distribution site.

Israel's military denied allegations that its forces had fired on the crowds.

The aid issue has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

The United Nations said 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of desperate Palestinians rushed into a GHF aid distribution site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most had been hurt by Israeli gunfire.

The military rejected this, with spokesman Colonel Olivier Rafowicz saying Israeli soldiers "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the Rafah distribution centre, and "in no case towards the people".

GHF also denied crowds were shot while waiting for aid.

It said its operations were continuing, and it had opened a new distribution site "without incident" and plans more across Gaza in the coming weeks.

The organisation said with two of its four existing sites "fully operational", its staff had distributed eight trucks of aid and more than 840,000 meals on Wednesday.

UN envoy for the Middle East Sigrid Kaag told the Security Council Wednesday Palestinians living in Gaza "deserve more than survival".

"Since the resumption of hostilities in Gaza, the already horrific existence of civilians has only sunk further into the abyss," she said.

"This is manmade ... Death is their companion. It's not life, it's not hope. The people of Gaza deserve more than survival. They deserve a future."

As the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel entered its 600th day, Netanyahu hailed the milestone.

"In 600 days of the 'War of Revival', we have indeed changed the face of the Middle East," he told parliament.

"We drove the terrorists out of our territory, entered the Gaza Strip with force, eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, eliminated... Mohammed Sinwar."

Gazans said there was no reason to hope for a better future.

"Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop," said Bassam Daloul, 40.

"Even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare."

In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack longed for their loved ones' return, with hundreds gathering in Tel Aviv.

"I want you to know that when Israel blows up deals, it does so on the heads of the hostages," Arbel Yehud, who was freed from Gaza captivity in January, told reporters in Tel Aviv.

"Their conditions immediately worsen, food diminishes, pressure increases, and bombings and military actions do not save them, they endanger their lives."

- 'Waste of resources' -

The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, which faces accusations of failing to fulfil the principles of humanitarian work.

"I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 16 people since dawn on Wednesday.

Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food.

"Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children," she said.

Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for more than two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.

- Hostage families' anguish -

Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a still elusive ceasefire.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire.

Protesters lined roads and on the main highway running through the coastal city at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.

Most Israeli media headlines read "600 days", and focused on the hostage families' struggle to get their loved ones home.

Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.

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(B.Ramirez--TAG)