GAZA: Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people across Gaza , the territory’s civil defence agency and hospitals said, including an employee of the French charity Doctors Without Borders.
The civil defence agency, a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, said the deaths were caused “by continuous Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since dawn,” specifying that 10 people, including at least one child, were killed in Gaza City. Several hospitals confirmed that they had received 10 bodies in Gaza City, 14 in central Gaza, and 28 in the territory’s south.
They reported that some were killed in air strikes, others by drone fire and shootings. Asked for comment, the Israeli army said it was looking into the matter.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis reported nearly 30 deaths, including 14 killed by “Israeli gunfire” targeting Palestinians waiting for food distribution in the Al-Tina and Morag areas. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah said it had received nine bodies after several strikes on nearby areas.
Among the dead was 42-year-old Omar al-Hayek, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member. He was killed in a strike on a group of civilians in central Deir al-Balah, according to the hospital and his family.
“The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir el-Balah, Gaza,” the charity said.
“All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers,” it said, adding that four others were also wounded, one of whom was in a serious condition. “The consequences will be tragic for their families and for our team. Enough killings — whether targeted or not, this is unacceptable,” Karin Huster, head of the MSF medical team in Gaza, told.
Colombia expels Israeli diplomats over Gaza flotilla intercept
PARIS, Oct 03 (INP): Colombian President Gustavo Petro expelled all remaining Israeli diplomats in the country over Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and reported detention of two Colombian activists.
Petro said two Colombian women, “who were engaged in human solidarity activities with Palestine,” were detained by Israeli forces in international waters.
In a statement, his office said Manuela Bedoya and Luna Barreto were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla and called for their immediate release. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that “several vessels” in the flotilla had been “safely stopped” and that the passengers were being brought to an Israeli port.
The leftist Petro severed relations with Israel last year but four diplomats remained posted in the country, a source at the Israeli consulate in Bogota told.
Writing on X, Petro announced the expulsion of “the entire diplomatic delegation of Israel” over what he called “a new international crime” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also terminated a free-trade deal in force with Israel since 2020.
Colombia’s leader is one of Netanyahu’s most vocal critics, calling him “genocidal,” while also slamming US President Donald Trump as an “accomplice” to “genocide.” Last week, Petro attended a pro-Palestinian protest in New York, where he called on the US military to “disobey” Trump.
