By Ikram Kouachi
An Israeli airstrike targeted the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis, Gaza early Sunday, killing a staff member and injuring three others, the organization said in a statement.
The strike hit the first floor of the building, setting it on fire and causing significant damage, according to the statement.
The attack comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza to inspect efforts to get food into the devastated Palestinian territory, where deaths by hunger and starvation have climbed in recent days.
“Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine. People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods,” according to Qu Dongyu, head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.