UN spokesperson says ‘food supplies in Gaza are dangerously low'
NEW YORK: UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Wednesday night that the UN humanitarian aid operations in Gaza can only be conducted in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, and independence, Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
He was responding to a question about reports that Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz had stated at a meeting of the Security Cabinet on Tuesday (April 22) that aid in Gaza would be distributed by the military or American companies.
He added, "UN humanitarian operations in Gaza or anywhere else in the world can only be conducted in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, and independence."
He noted that food supplies are "dangerously low" throughout Gaza, and that cases of malnutrition are rapidly increasing.
Dujarric emphasised that living conditions throughout Gaza are "appalling."
He said that 75% of the population is exposed to open sewage and waste, causing extremely serious health problems.
Dujarric called on influential member states to take the necessary measures to ensure that humanitarian aid can once again reach Gaza and be distributed to those in need. - Bernama
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
Israel army announces 4 soldiers killed in Gaza, thousands more troops needed
JERUSALEM: Israel's military announced Friday the deaths of four soldiers in Gaza, saying it needed thousands more troops to press its offensive, just as the premier's coalition faces the prospect of collapse over ultra-Orthodox conscription. News of the soldiers' deaths came as Gaza's civil defence agency reported 38 killed Friday in Israeli attacks across the territory, where Palestinians observed the Eid al-Adha holiday under the shadow of war for a second consecutive year. Military spokesman Effie Defrin said the four soldiers were killed as they 'were operating in the Khan Yunis area, in a compound belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation'. 'Around six in the morning, an explosive device detonated, causing part of the structure to collapse,' he said, adding that five other soldiers were wounded, one of them severely. 'The losses suffered today by the occupation in Khan Younis... illustrate what the occupation forces will face wherever they are present,' said a statement attributed to Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, while urging the Israeli public to 'force its leaders to end the war of extermination or prepare to receive more of its sons in coffins'. The deaths bring to 429 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the start of the ground offensive in late October 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences to the soldiers' families, saying they 'sacrificed their lives for the safety of all of us'. Israel recently stepped up its Gaza campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack sparked the war. - Conscription row - Asked by a reporter about the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription, which has emerged as a thorn in the side of Netanyahu's government, Defrin said 'this is the need of the moment, an operational necessity'. The army was short around 10,000 soldiers, he added, including about 6,000 in combat roles, adding that 'tens of thousands more notices will be issued in the upcoming draft cycle'. The conscription issue has threatened to sink Netanyahu's government, with ultra-Orthodox religious parties warning they will pull out of his coalition if Netanyahu fails to make good on a promise to codify the military exemption for their community in law. At the same time, much of the public has turned against the exemption amid the increasing strain put on reservists' families by repeated call-up orders during the war. In April, a military representative told a parliamentary committee that of 18,000 draft notices sent to ultra-Orthodox individuals, only 232 received a positive response. Netanyahu's office announced shortly after 1:00 am on Friday that he had met with a lawmaker from his Likud party who has recently pushed for a bill aimed at increasing the ultra-Orthodox enlistment and toughening sanctions on those who refuse. The premier's office said 'significant progress was made', with 'unresolved issues' to be ironed out later. Netanyahu also faced scrutiny after he admitted to supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas. Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was 'giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons'. The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes the group a 'criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks'. - 'He wears a white shroud' - The humanitarian situation in Gaza, meanwhile, has reached dire lows, with residents enduring severe shortages of food and other essentials, even after a more than two-month Israeli blockade on aid was recently eased. The shortages have made it all but impossible for many Gazans to celebrate Eid al-Adha, which fell on Friday and is traditionally marked with huge family meals and gifts of new clothes. Suad al-Qarra told AFP from Nasser Hospital on Friday that her son never got a chance to wear his new clothes. 'He went to get dressed and there was an explosion,' she said, her soft voice breaking. 'I took him to the hospital and (they) found him dead.' 'They took the children from us,' she continued. 'I bought him Eid clothes yesterday and he didn't wear them, instead he wears a white shroud.' In the Muslim faith, Eid commemorates the sacrifice Ibrahim -- known to Christians and Jews as Abraham -- was about to make by killing his son, before the angel Gabriel intervened and offered him a sheep to sacrifice instead. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's strikes. Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18 after a brief truce, taking the war's overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.
The Sun
17 minutes ago
- The Sun
Israel army announces 4 soldiers killed in Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel's military announced Friday the deaths of four soldiers in Gaza, saying it needed thousands more troops to press its offensive, just as the premier's coalition faces the prospect of collapse over ultra-Orthodox conscription. News of the soldiers' deaths came as Gaza's civil defence agency reported 38 killed Friday in Israeli attacks across the territory, where Palestinians observed the Eid al-Adha holiday under the shadow of war for a second consecutive year. Military spokesman Effie Defrin said the four soldiers were killed as they 'were operating in the Khan Yunis area, in a compound belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation'. 'Around six in the morning, an explosive device detonated, causing part of the structure to collapse,' he said, adding that five other soldiers were wounded, one of them severely. 'The losses suffered today by the occupation in Khan Younis... illustrate what the occupation forces will face wherever they are present,' said a statement attributed to Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, while urging the Israeli public to 'force its leaders to end the war of extermination or prepare to receive more of its sons in coffins'. The deaths bring to 429 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the start of the ground offensive in late October 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences to the soldiers' families, saying they 'sacrificed their lives for the safety of all of us'. Israel recently stepped up its Gaza campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack sparked the war. - Conscription row - Asked by a reporter about the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription, which has emerged as a thorn in the side of Netanyahu's government, Defrin said 'this is the need of the moment, an operational necessity'. The army was short around 10,000 soldiers, he added, including about 6,000 in combat roles, adding that 'tens of thousands more notices will be issued in the upcoming draft cycle'. The conscription issue has threatened to sink Netanyahu's government, with ultra-Orthodox religious parties warning they will pull out of his coalition if Netanyahu fails to make good on a promise to codify the military exemption for their community in law. At the same time, much of the public has turned against the exemption amid the increasing strain put on reservists' families by repeated call-up orders during the war. In April, a military representative told a parliamentary committee that of 18,000 draft notices sent to ultra-Orthodox individuals, only 232 received a positive response. Netanyahu's office announced shortly after 1:00 am on Friday that he had met with a lawmaker from his Likud party who has recently pushed for a bill aimed at increasing the ultra-Orthodox enlistment and toughening sanctions on those who refuse. The premier's office said 'significant progress was made', with 'unresolved issues' to be ironed out later. Netanyahu also faced scrutiny after he admitted to supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas. Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was 'giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons'. The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes the group a 'criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks'. - 'He wears a white shroud' - The humanitarian situation in Gaza, meanwhile, has reached dire lows, with residents enduring severe shortages of food and other essentials, even after a more than two-month Israeli blockade on aid was recently eased. The shortages have made it all but impossible for many Gazans to celebrate Eid al-Adha, which fell on Friday and is traditionally marked with huge family meals and gifts of new clothes. Suad al-Qarra told AFP from Nasser Hospital on Friday that her son never got a chance to wear his new clothes. 'He went to get dressed and there was an explosion,' she said, her soft voice breaking. 'I took him to the hospital and (they) found him dead.' 'They took the children from us,' she continued. 'I bought him Eid clothes yesterday and he didn't wear them, instead he wears a white shroud.' In the Muslim faith, Eid commemorates the sacrifice Ibrahim -- known to Christians and Jews as Abraham -- was about to make by killing his son, before the angel Gabriel intervened and offered him a sheep to sacrifice instead. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's strikes. Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18 after a brief truce, taking the war's overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
Wrongly deported Salvadoran migrant arrested on return to US
WASHINGTON: The Salvadoran migrant at the heart of a row over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies was returned to the United States on Friday and arrested on human smuggling charges, officials said. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador and immediately arrested on charges of trafficking undocumented migrants into the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. 'Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,' Bondi said at a press conference. The US Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration to 'facilitate' the return of Abrego Garcia after he was mistakenly deported in March to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador. But Bondi insisted to reporters that his return to the United States resulted from an arrest warrant presented to the Salvadoran authorities. 'We're grateful to (Salvadoran) President (Nayib) Bukele for agreeing to return him to our country to face these very serious charges,' she said. In a post on X, Bukele said 'we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn't refuse.' White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said Abrego Garcia's return 'has nothing to do with his original deportation.' 'There was no mistake,' Jackson said on X. 'He's returning because a new investigation has revealed crimes SO HEINOUS, committed in the US, that only the American Justice System could hold him fully accountable.' Abrego Garcia, 29, was living in the eastern state of Maryland until he became one of more than 200 people sent to a prison in El Salvador as part of Trump's crackdown on undocumented migrants. Most of the migrants who were summarily deported were alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has declared a foreign terrorist organization. - 'Administrative error' - Justice Department lawyers later admitted that Abrego Garcia -- who is married to a US citizen -- was wrongly deported due to an 'administrative error.' Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country. Bondi alleged that Abrego Garcia had 'played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring' and was a smuggler of 'children and women' as well as members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13. 'This defendant trafficked firearms and narcotics throughout our country on multiple occasions,' she said. Bondi said that Abrego Garcia, who was indicted by a grand jury in Tennessee, would be returned to El Salvador upon completion of any prison sentence. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen visited Abrego Garcia in April at the prison where he was being held in El Salvador and welcomed his return to the United States. 'For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution,' the senator from Maryland said in a statement. 'Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States,' he said. 'The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.' According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia was involved in smuggling undocumented migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries into the United States between 2016 and earlier this year.
