August 2, 2025 | 02:51 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - At least 106 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Friday, a day described by an Al Jazeera correspondent as “Bloody Friday.”
The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that 12 civilians lost their lives and 90 others were wounded after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for aid trucks in the southwest of Gaza City.
In a separate incident, two children and one adult reportedly died from "famine and malnutrition," bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths in Gaza to 162 since October 2023. Among the victims were 92 children.
The attacks resumed early Saturday, August 2, 2025, once again targeting people gathered for humanitarian aid in the same southwestern area of Gaza City. The renewed strike resulted in 12 more deaths and 90 injuries.
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir visited troops deployed in Gaza and commented that they would know "in the coming days" whether a ceasefire would take place or if the hostilities would persist.
Although Israel has approved limited airdrops of humanitarian supplies from three European countries, the United Nations and other aid organizations have warned that these deliveries fall far short of meeting the enormous humanitarian need.
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), raised serious concerns over the reliance on airdrops, cautioning that they are "dangerous to civilians."
In an interview, Touma insisted that the UN must be allowed to perform its role and argued that the "much easier" solution would be for Israel to open its border crossings and allow aid trucks to enter Gaza.
Her concerns were echoed by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who emphasized the inefficiency and cost of the current system.
He said air deliveries are "at least 100 times more costly than trucks" and added, "Trucks carry twice as much aid as planes."
According to Lazzarini, UNRWA has 6,000 aid trucks ready for entry into Gaza.
"If there is political will to allow airdrops – which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings," Lazzarini posted on social media.
"As the people of #Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance," he added.
In the meantime, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited an aid site in Gaza run by the GHF, a group widely criticized by Palestinians for allegedly enabling forced displacement and for turning aid distribution into a “death trap.” Al Jazeera described the visit as “staged.”
During a press briefing, US President Donald Trump confirmed that Witkoff had conducted "important meetings" in Gaza focused on food assistance.
"I spoke to Steve Witkoff. He had a great meeting with a lot of people. And the primary meeting was on food, and he also had some other conversations and I'll tell you about later, but he had a meeting on getting the people fed," Trump said before heading to his Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey for the weekend, as reported by Anadolu.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that, "to the best of his knowledge," neither Witkoff nor Huckabee met with any UN officials during their visit.
Trump previously acknowledged the dire situation in Gaza, saying on Thursday, "It's terrible what's occurring there. Yeah, it's a terrible thing. People are very hungry."
The visit took place amid growing criticism of U.S.-Israel cooperation in Gaza, particularly surrounding the role of the GHF.
Many Palestinians allege that the organization serves as a tool for displacement under the guise of humanitarian aid. Since May, more than 1,300 people have reportedly been killed while waiting in line for food assistance.
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