It was Israel’s second strike on Syria in as many days, fulfilling a promise to protect the Druze minority group involved in recent sectarian violence against Sunni gunmen. Israel attacked a target near the presidential palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Friday, reiterating his vow to protect members of the Druze community. It marks the second time Israel has struck Syria in as many days, following through on a promise to defend the minority group, which was involved in sectarian violence against Sunni gunmen earlier this week. The Druze adhere to a faith that is an offshoot of Islam and have followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The strikes reflect Israel’s deep mistrust of the Sunni Islamists who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, posing a further challenge to interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to establish control over the fractured nation. “Israel struck last night near the presidential palace in Damascus,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz. “This is a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community.” The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck “adjacent to the area of the Palace of Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus,” without specifying the target. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities. Since Assad was ousted in December, Israel has seized ground in the southwest, vowed to protect the Druze, lobbied Washington to keep the neighboring state weak, and has blown up much of the Syrian army’s heavy weapons in the days after he was toppled. Sharaa, who was an Al Qaeda commander before renouncing ties to the group in 2016, has repeatedly vowed to govern Syria in an inclusive way. But incidents of sectarian violence, including the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now dominant Islamists. This week’s sectarian violence began on Tuesday with clashes between Druze and Sunni gunmen in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, set off by a voice recording cursing the Prophet Mohammad and which the Sunni militants suspected was made by a Druze. More than a dozen people were reported killed on Tuesday, before the violence spread to the mainly Druze town of Sahnaya on the outskirts of Damascus on Wednesday.

Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the aid group running the mission, blamed Israel for the attack but did not provide evidence for its claims. Israel has yet to respond. A ship carrying aid and volunteers heading for Gaza was attacked by drones in international waters off Malta early Friday, the group organizing the mission said. Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the aid group running the mission, blamed Israel for the attack but did not provide evidence for that allegation. NBC News' reached out to the Israel Defense Forces and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but did not immediately receive any response. The attack came exactly two months after Israel, on March 2, imposed a full blockade on the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza including food, medicine, and other critical supplies. Freedom Flotilla Coalition posted video footage on X early Friday showing a fire on the Conscience — the name of the vessel hit by the alleged drone attack — with volunteers from more than 21 countries having boarded in Malta for the mission to Gaza. “On the morning of their scheduled departure, the vessel was attacked,” the organizers said in a statement Friday, adding that the ship issued an SOS distress signal shortly after armed drones caused a fire and a substantial breach in the hull. “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters,” the group added. The Maltese government said everyone involved in the aid mission was “confirmed safe” after it carried out a rescue operation. “The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported,” it said in a statement Friday. Images released by the Maltese government showed a tug vessel putting out a fire on the vessel following the alleged drone attack. The Conscience was “17 kilometers [around 10.5 miles] from the shore of Malta, [when it] was attacked by two drones,” Yasemin Acar, one of the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told NBC News from Malta shortly before the group posted the video online and a rescue operation was carried out on the vessel. Acar said the struck vessel had initially been sailing with a flag registered to the Pacific island nation of Palau, but that the country’s government had removed permission for its flag’s use. Before the rescue of those on board was successfully executed, Acar said “there is panic... Of course, everyone is in shock. Everyone is scared.” Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a post on X on Friday that she “received a distressed call from the people of the Freedom Flotilla that is carrying essential food and medicine to the starving Gaza population.” “I call on concerned state authorities, including maritime authorities, to support the ship and its crew as needed,” she added. Senior Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti accused the Israeli government of “behaving like a pirate” and “violating all international law with impunity” in a post on X on Friday. While Freedom Flotilla Coalition did not cite evidence for its allegations against Israel and the country's government did not respond to the accusations, there have been previous instances of Israeli forces preventing activists and humanitarian groups from shipping aid to Gaza. In 2010, a flotilla on a similar mission was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops near the coast of Gaza. Israeli forces' use of force resulted in the deaths of nine people on board and multiple others were wounded, a panel established by the U.N. secretary general said. Since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks, more than 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose numbers are described as reliable by the World Health Organization. Some 1,200 people were killed during the militant group's attacks in southern Israel, with around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. International aid groups and nongovernmental organizations have said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached its worst level in 18 months and that aid systems are on the verge of collapse. While Israel is obligated to meet the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza under its control under international humanitarian law, the U.N.-run World Food Programme last week said it had run out of food in its warehouses in Gaza and warned of mass starvation in the besieged enclave that is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. In video footage by NBC News’ crew on the ground in the Mawasi neighborhood in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, children stood in a narrow alley holding empty pots at the Rafah Charitable Kitchen — the only soup kitchen serving the displaced in the area. “We sleep hungry and wake up hungry. We eat nothing, only water to fill our stomachs,” 10-year-old Asmaa Al-Kurd told NBC News. “I spend all my time waiting in line just to bring food for my family,” she added.

Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in December as a rising threat at its border and has sent troops to protect the Druze minority. Israel said it carried out a warning strike against an extremist group that was preparing to attack a Druze community in Syria, following through on its pledge to protect the minority group as violence spread Wednesday in Druze areas near Damascus. It was the latest Israeli strike in Syria, where Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in December as a rising threat at its border and has sent troops into the southwest, vowing to protect the Druze minority. In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike had hit the “extremist group” as it prepared to continue an attack on Druze in the Syrian town of Sahnaya, just south of Damascus. “At the same time, a message was passed on to the Syrian regime — Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze,” they said. A spokesman for Syria’s interior ministry, speaking to Reuters from Sahnaya, said he had no indication that an attack had taken place. Sectarian violence erupted in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, near Damascus, on Tuesday between Druze and Sunni Muslim gunmen. More than a dozen people were reported killed. The violence spread to Sahnaya, another predominantly Druze area near the capital, on Wednesday. The Syrian health ministry said that 11 people were killed and others wounded there after “outlaw groups” targeted civilians and members of the state’s General Security Service in Sahnaya. The violence was sparked by a voice recording cursing the Prophet Mohammad and which Sunni militants believed was made by a member of the Arab Druze minority. The Syrian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday it was investigating the origin of the recording and called for calm. The Druze adhere to a faith that is an offshoot of Islam and have followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Residents of Sahnaya reported intense street fighting throughout Wednesday. “We’re in extreme panic and fear because of the indiscriminate shelling, which is forcing most of us to stay totally shuttered inside our homes,” said Elias Hanna, who lives on the edge of Sahnaya. “We’re worried that the massacres of the coast will repeat themselves near Sahnaya against the Druze,” he said. Syria’s interior ministry, quoted by the state news agency, said it would strike anyone seeking to destabilize Syria “with an iron fist”. The new Islamist-led leadership in Damascus has called for all arms to fall under their authority, but Druze fighters have resisted, saying Damascus has failed to guarantee their protection from hostile militants. The Israeli government reiterated its pledge to defend Syrian Druze in March after the killing of hundreds of minority Alawites in western Syria — sectarian bloodshed that was sparked by deadly attacks on government security forces and blamed by the Islamist authorities on forces loyal to ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. The violence has hardened fears among Syrian minorities about the governing Islamists, despite interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s repeated promises of inclusive governance. Israel has a small Druze community and there are also some 24,000 Druze living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981, a move that has not been recognized by most countries or the United Nations. The spiritual leader of Druze in Israel, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, said in a statement late on Tuesday that he was “closely monitoring” developments in Syria and had discussed them with Israel’s defense minister. Israel has lobbied the United States for months to keep Syria weak and decentralized. Israel struck Syria regularly when it was governed by Assad, seeking to curb the role of his ally Iran.

Since March 2, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out. U.N. and Palestinian representatives at the International Court of Justice accused Israel of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into Gaza, on the first day of hearings about Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid deliveries. Since March 2, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out. At the opening of the hearings at the U.N.’s top court, the U.N.’s legal counsel said Israel had a clear obligation as an occupying force to allow and facilitate humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza. “In the specific context of the current situation in the occupied Palestinian Territories, these obligations entail allowing all relevant U.N. entities to carry out activities for the benefit of the local population,” Elinor Hammarskjold said. Palestinian representative Ammar Hijazi said Israel was using humanitarian aid as “a weapon of war”, while people in Gaza were facing starvation. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel had submitted its position in writing to the hearings, which he described as a “circus”. Speaking in Jerusalem on Monday, Saar said the court was being politicized, while the U.N. was failing to root out employees of its Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA who are members of Gaza militant groups. “They are abusing the court once again to try and force Israel to cooperate with an organization that is infested with Hamas terrorists,” Saar said. “The goal is to deprive Israel of its most basic right to defend itself.” The U.N. said in August that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 assault and had been fired. Another Hamas commander, confirmed by UNRWA as one of its employees, was killed in Gaza in October, according to Israel. The ICJ, also known as the World Court, was tasked in December to form an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the United Nations. Israel has repeatedly said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Hamas releases all remaining hostages. It has accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid, which the militant group denies. “This case is about Israel destroying the fundamentals of life in Palestine, while it blocks the U.N. and other providers of humanitarian aid from providing life-saving aid to the population,” Hijazi, the head of the Palestinian mission to the Netherlands, told the hearing. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into Gaza. Germany, France and Britain last week called to allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory. Advisory opinions of the ICJ carry legal and political weight, although they are not binding and the court has no enforcement powers. After the hearings, the World Court will likely take several months to form its opinion.

Israel says it is pressuring Hamas to release hostages by not allowing entry of goods and supplies into Gaza, despite calls by Western allies to allow their passage. Israel will face accusations of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into the Gaza Strip when dozens of nations present arguments at the International Court of Justice during a week of hearings starting in The Hague on Monday. Since March 2, Israel completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out. In December, the U.N.’s top court was tasked to form an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the United Nations. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas releases all remaining hostages. Germany, France and Britain last week called on Israel to adhere to international law by allowing the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, after Israel reiterated that no aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, in order to pressure Hamas. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the besieged Palestinian territory. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid that was allowed into Gaza. Hamas has denied the allegations and has blamed Israel for shortages. The resolution adopted in December by 137 of the 193 nations in the U.N.’s General Assembly called on Israel to comply with its obligations towards the Palestinian population, as it expressed “grave concern” about the dire humanitarian situation. Israel, the United States and 10 other countries voted against the resolution, while 22 countries abstained. Representatives for the Palestinian territories will be among the first to address the court in The Hague on Monday. Israel is not among the roughly 40 nations that will speak during the five days of hearings scheduled through Friday. The United States will state its opinion on Wednesday. Advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, carry legal and political weight, although they are not binding and the court has no enforcement powers. The U.N. views Gaza and the West Bank as Israeli-occupied territory. International humanitarian law requires an occupying power to facilitate relief programs for people in need and ensure food, medical care, hygiene and public-health standards. After the hearings, the World Court will likely take several months to form its opinion.

Even before the news of the alleged strike broke, U.S. Central Command defended its the strikes, saying it was "very deliberate in our operational approach." Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday alleged a U.S. airstrike hit a prison holding African migrants, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others. While the U.S. military had no immediate comment, the strike in Yemen’s Saada governorate, a stronghold for the Houthis, would renew questions from activists about the American campaign, known as “Operation Rough Rider,” which has been targeting the rebels as the Trump administration negotiates with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The U.S. military’s Central Command, in a statement early Monday before news of the alleged strike broke, sought to defend its policy of offering no specific details of its extensive airstrike campaign. The strikes have drawn controversy in America over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the unclassified Signal messaging app to post sensitive details about the attacks. “To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” Central Command said. “We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do.” It did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the alleged strike in Saada. Graphic footage aired by the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel showed what appeared to be dead bodies and others wounded at the site. The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said some 115 migrants had been detained at the site. The rebels’ Civil Defense organization said at least 68 people had been killed and 47 others wounded in the attack. Footage from the site analyzed by the AP suggested some kind of explosion took place there, with its cement walls seemingly peppered by debris fragments and the wounds suffered by those there. A woman’s voice, soft in the footage, can be heard repeating the start of a prayer in Arabic: “In the name of God.” An occasional gunshot rang out as medics sought to help those wounded. Ethiopians and other African migrants for years have landed in Yemen, braving the war-torn nation to try and reach Saudi Arabia for work. The Houthi rebels allegedly make tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling migrants over the border. Migrants from Ethiopia have found themselves detained, abused and even killed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the war. An Oct. 3, 2022, letter to the kingdom from the U.N. said its investigators “received concerning allegations of cross-border artillery shelling and small arms fire allegedly by Saudi security forces, causing the deaths of up to 430 and injuring 650 migrants.” Saudi Arabia has denied killing migrants. Monday’s alleged strike recalled a similar strike by a Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis back in 2022 on the same compound, which caused a collapse killing 66 detainees and wounding 113 others, a United Nations report later said. The Houthis shot dead 16 detainees who fled after the strike and wounded another 50, the U.N. said. The Saudi-led coalition sought to justify the strike by saying the Houthis built and launched drones there, but the U.N. said it was known to be a detention facility. “The coalition should have avoided any attack on that facility,” the U.N. report added. That 2022 attack was one of the deadliest single attacks in the yearslong war between the coalition and the Houthi rebels and came after the Houthis struck inside the UAE twice with missiles and drones, killing three in a strike near Abu Dhabi’s international airport. Meanwhile, U.S. airstrikes overnight targeting Yemen’s capital killed at least eight people, the Houthis said. The American military acknowledged carrying out over 800 individual strikes in their monthlong campaign. The overnight statement from Central Command also said “Operation Rough Rider” had “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” including those associated with its missile and drone program. It did not identify any of those officials. “Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis,” the statement said. “The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime.” “We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” it added. The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are also the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel. The U.S. is conducting strikes on Yemen from its two aircraft carriers in the region — the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea and the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea. On April 18, an American strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest-known attack of the American campaign. Central Command on Monday offered an explanation for why it hit the port. “U.S. strikes destroyed the ability of Ras Isa Port to accept fuel, which will begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities,” it said. Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly sought to control the flow of information from the territory they hold to the outside world. It issued a notice Sunday that all those holding Starlink satellite internet receivers should “quickly hand over” the devices to authorities. “A field campaign will be implemented in coordination with the security authorities to arrest anyone who sells, trades, uses, operates, installs or possesses these prohibited terminals,” the Houthis warned. Starlink terminals have been crucial for Ukraine in fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion and receivers also have been smuggled into Iran amid unrest there.

There are 16 surviving members of the Al-Zurai family, enduring a life the grandmother says has come to feel like death. “We die 100 times daily from fear and horror,” she said. It's morning in Khan Younis, and the Al-Zurai family wakes up in a tent pitched on the rubble of the cement house they once shared. The tiles that used to be the floor of their home are loosely laid across the sandy ground, marking the space of what is now a makeshift outdoor kitchen. “Today, God sends us cans, so we’re cooking them for the children,” Suad Al-Zurai, 57, said of the canned beans that she stirs in a simmering pot. It's the 558th day of the war, and the children, along with the adults, are hungry, covered in dust, haunted by death and facing another day of scraping together a life from the ruins of the Gaza Strip. Suad's exhaustion is palpable as she stirs the pot under a blazing sun. For her, enduring survival has begun to feel like death. “We all die 100 times, every day,” she said, “we die 100 times daily from fear and horror.” Her slain loved ones are among more than 51,000 people who have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the local health ministry, since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. Some 1,200 people were killed during the attacks in southern Israel and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. Throughout the course of the day, worries over food, water and other necessities dominate the family's discussions, and finding those supplies takes up much of the rest of their time as humanitarian groups warn that aid is running out. At one point, Hamed Al-Zurai's 3-year-old daughter, Anwar, throws herself to the floor, crying out for rice, but there isn’t any more to give her. “My children are constantly crying,” he said. “They want to eat. And I answer them, ‘How? There are no open crossings, so how can I get you food, my love?’” Before the war, most of the children spent their mornings at school. Now, they dedicate hours each day to trying to find food and water. Pushing their fears for their missing father aside, Khaled Al-Zurai's children, Mohammed, 13, and Suad, 12, dutifully pick up their pots and pans and head to the soup kitchen with their cousin, Shadi, 7, taking NBC News' crew with them on the roughly 30-minute walk. At the soup kitchen, there's already a crowd of other children, along with some women and men, waiting for food under the hot sun. The younger Suad stands with her empty pot in her hands, gazing into the distance, bored and exhausted, as she waits, later joining her brother and sister and sitting in a ditch in the shade before they try again. On offer is rice — and after waiting for an hour, they fill their pots, carrying it back to their tent. While they're getting food, Hamed and young Anwar are out to get water for the family. Anwar walks swiftly as she carries two water jugs, each nearly half the size of her small body. Before the war, Hamed Al-Zurai had a cart and a donkey that he would use to rent out transportation services, but after the donkey died in the war and he lost his cart, he no longer has a way to make money. Unable to buy food or water, the family is left dependent on swiftly dwindling aid.“The situation is dire,” he said. But even at a time of incredible darkness, there are moments of light for the Al-Zurais: smiles as they gather together in their tent, finally sharing their hard-won lunch. After eating, Mohammed gives his younger siblings and cousins old rubber tires to play with. Anwar grins as she wheels one across the sandy ground. As the sun goes down, the children huddle in a circle outside, laughing as they play hand-clapping games. And for a moment, they look just like any other children anywhere else in the world.Then, they return to their makeshift tent to eat a meager dinner of more rice and beans, before eventually settling down for bed, huddling together on the ground, wrapped in blankets. “We hate the nighttime,” Suad Al-Zurai said. And, she added, “the daytime.”

Israel’s complete blockade has passed seven weeks, and “people are running out of ways to cope,” the U.N. agency said. “The fragile gains made during the short ceasefire have unravelled.” The World Food Programme has run out of food, the United Nations agency said Friday, 54 days after Israel imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip. “Today, WFP delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip. These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days,” it said in a statement on Friday. Since Israel imposed its blockade on March 2, stopping the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into the enclave, WFP has been the only steady source and the largest provider of hot meals in Gaza. Only a few smaller agencies are still providing food in Gaza, including World Central Kitchen, which said in a post on Facebook Saturday that it was “working nonstop to stretch flour supplies and bake as much bread as possible” inside its bakery, the last one still operating in Gaza. With all border crossings closed, no humanitarian or commercial supplies, including more than 116,000 tons of food from the WFP waiting at aid corridors, have entered Gaza in more than seven weeks, the aid agency said. “This is the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever faced, exacerbating already fragile markets and food systems,” it said, adding: “People are running out of ways to cope, and the fragile gains made during the short ceasefire have unravelled.” The news comes after the WFP in late March said that all of its 25 bakeries in the Gaza Strip had shut down because of a lack of fuel and flour in the territory. Israel says its blockade is crucial to its goal of weakening Hamas’ control over the population, while Israeli officials have repeatedly stated there is “no shortage” of aid in Gaza and accused the militant group of withholding supplies. After a meeting at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate with senior Republican Party officials, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X Wednesday, “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to return our hostages home safely.” The Israeli government has been accused of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which the U.N. said could amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law. With essential food commodities including safe water and cooking fuel in short supply, more than 2 million people in Gaza now face an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death, WFP warned. The extreme food insecurity has also raised serious nutrition concerns for vulnerable populations, including children under the age of 5, pregnant women and the elderly. The Global Nutrition Cluster, a coalition of humanitarian groups, warned that in March alone, 3,708 children were identified for acute malnutrition, out of 84,000 children screened — a marked increase from February, when 2,053 children were admitted from a total of 92,000 screened, the U.N.’s humanitarian office for Palestinians said in a report on Thursday. Video footage posted by the WFP showed depleted food stocks in a warehouse in Gaza, and children lining up at food stands to receive hot meals and bread. The agency said that despite providing a “critical lifeline” to those in need, it had reached just half the population in Gaza. With food prices inside the strip also skyrocketing to 1,400% of prices during the ceasefire, people are now being forced to scavenge for items to burn for cooking, the WFP said. More than 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the local health ministry, since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. Some 1,200 people were killed during the attacks in southern Israel and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. The situation has raised widespread concerns among international NGOs and U.N. agencies working in Gaza, with the CEOs of 12 major aid organizations in mid-April warning of aid systems collapsing as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reached the worst levels in 18 months. “Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza,” the CEOs said in a statement posted by Oxfam, adding: “Let us do our jobs.” On Thursday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom also urged Israel to restart the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. “Palestinian civilians — including one million children — face an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death. This must end,” they said in a statement. They added, “We urge Israel to immediately re-start a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to meet the needs of all civilians.”

Israeli authorities say the renewed offensive and tightened blockade are aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the remains of 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours, the local Health Ministry said Sunday, bringing the Palestinian death toll from the 18-month-old Israel-Hamas war to 52,243. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise bombardment on March 18, and has been carrying out daily waves of strikes since then. Ground forces have expanded a buffer zone and encircled the southern city of Rafah, and now control around 50% of the territory. Israel has also sealed off the territory’s 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, for nearly 60 days. Aid groups say supplies will soon run out and that thousands of children are malnourished. The overall death toll includes nearly 700 bodies for which the documentation process was recently completed, the ministry said in its latest update. The daily toll includes bodies retrieved from the rubble after earlier strikes. Israeli strikes killed another 12 people after the ministry’s update. Eight of them, including three children and two women, were killed in a strike on a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. A strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed four people, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Israeli authorities say the renewed offensive and tightened blockade are aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and all the hostages are returned. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire reached in January. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and took 251 people hostage. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Gaza’s Health Ministry says women and children make up most of the Palestinian deaths, but does not say how many were militants or civilians. It says another 117,600 people have been wounded in the war. The overall tally includes 2,151 dead and 5,598 wounded since Israel resumed the war last month. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and it blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas. Israel’s offensive has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in squalid tent camps or bombed-out buildings.

Francis, who died Monday at 88, made near-nightly calls to the Holy Family Church in Gaza throughout the war as he called for an end to Israel's offensive in the enclave. To the world, he was Pope Francis, leader of 1.4 billion Catholics. To parishioners at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, the late pontiff was a "shield" who fought to provide succor to their tiny community in the besieged Palestinian enclave. “He was a real father to us,” George Antone, a parishioner in the enclave's only Catholic church, told NBC News' crew in Gaza. “Pope Francis was like a shield for the Christians in the enclave. He was the fighter, he was fighting for our rights and for our protection.” Throughout the war, parishioners and leaders of the church said, Francis had been a significant source of strength, making near-nightly calls for the past year and a half, even as he faced his own health struggles in his final months. Antone was among dozens who gathered in the church in Gaza City to pay their respects to Francis in an evening Mass. Around 1,300 Christians live in Gaza, according to a 2022 U.S. State Department report. Heads bowed and hands lifted to their hearts in prayer, worshippers, from children to older people, offered their farewells to the pontiff. A row of altar boys dressed in scarlet and white helped lead the service. One worshipper lifted his hands, grief etched on his face, as he faced a portrait of Francis adorned with a black ribbon that sat on the altar. The church has withstood some 18 months of war, including an attack that killed two of its parishioners as they stood within the compound's walls. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Catholic regional body whose territory covers the Palestinian territories, accused Israeli forces of shooting Nahida Anton and her daughter, Samar Anton, "in cold blood," and injuring others as they tried to flee to safety inside the church compound, which was heavily damaged in the attack. Israeli officials denied responsibility in the incident. During Francis' nearly nightly calls, he often asked what parishioners had managed to get to eat and how they were holding up amid the fighting. The pope continued that tradition even in the final weeks of his life as he faced a string of health issues, including bronchitis and double pneumonia. “He was very close to us,” the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli of the Holy Family Church said Easter Monday, hours after the Vatican announced Francis’ death. “All the time, he called us during all this war, this horrid war,” he said. "For more than one year and a half, daily, he called us.” In his final call Saturday, Romanelli said, Francis had shared his blessings with the church and thanked them for all that they were doing. The pope became more outspoken in his criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in recent months. Earlier this year, he condemned the humanitarian crisis, labeling it "very serious and shameful" as he called for an end to Israel's bombing campaign. Israel resumed its offensive last month after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. Francis had also lambasted the alleged targeting of the Holy Family Church in December 2023. He said that in Gaza, "unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire," including at the church where, he stated, there were "no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, sisters." More than 51,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave. Israel launched its offensive following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. After Francis' death, Palestinians across Gaza will be hoping to see his successor take up his call for an end to the war in the enclave. "We are united in prayers for him and for the next pope," said parishioner Suhail Abu Dawood, 19, adding: "We are united in prayers for peace — in Gaza and in all the world."