Israeli gunfire kills 17 people near Gaza aid site, health officials say
Israeli gunfire
killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as thousands of displaced people approached an aid distribution site of a U.S.-backed humanitarian group in central Gaza on Tuesday, local health authorities said.
Medics said the casualties were rushed at two hospitals, the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the Al-Quds in Gaza City, in the north.
The Israeli military said they are looking into the incident. Last week it warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the U.S.-backed
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
(GHF) between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones.
There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday's incident.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the
United Nations
says is neither impartial nor neutral.
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Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food.
While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder, and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence.
"I went there at 2 a.m. hoping to get some food, on my way there, I saw people returning empty-handed, they said aid packages have run out in five minutes, this is insane and isn't enough," said Mohammad Abu Amr, 40, a father of two.
"Dozens of thousands arrive from the central areas and from the northern areas too, some of them walked for over 20 km (12 miles), only to come back home with disappointment," he told Reuters via a chat app. He said he heard the firing but did not see what happened.
Later on Tuesday, local health authorities said an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip killed eight people, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least 25.
The Israeli military said separately, it intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza towards Israeli territories, which signalled Hamas and other militant group remained able to fire the weapons despite Israeli devastation of their arsenal.
Israel allowed limited U.N.-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The U.N. has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean."
Witnesses said at least 40 trucks carrying flour for U.N. warehouses were looted by desperate displaced Palestinians as well as thieves near Nabulsi roundabout along the coastal road in Gaza City.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day.
Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.
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First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Indian women are having fewer children. Is this good news or bad?
India's total fertility rate (TFR) has declined to 1.9 births per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1, as per a recent United Nations demographic report. This means women are having fewer children than required to maintain a stable population. But is it a cause of concern yet? read more Newborn babies are pictured inside a ward of a government hospital for women and children on the occasion of World Population Day, in Chennai on July 11, 2023. File Photo/AFP India's total fertility rate (TFR) has dipped below the replacement rate, according to a new United Nations demographic report. It also estimates that the South Asian country's population will touch 1.46 billion (146 crore) in 2025. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)'s 2025 State of World Population (SOWP) Report, titled 'The Real Fertility Crisis', calls for a shift from panic over declining fertility to addressing unfulfilled reproductive goals. It states that millions of people are unable to meet their real fertility goals, which is an actual crisis than under- or overpopulation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Is falling fertility a cause of major concern for India? Let's take a closer look. What UN report reveals India's total fertility rate has plunged to 1.9 births per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1, according to the UN's SOWP report. A replacement level is the average number of new births needed to maintain a stable population. The report predicts that India's population could reach 1.7 billion (170 crore) in the next 40 years, before it starts declining. While India's birth rate has slowed, its youth population remains significant, with 24 per cent in the 0-14 age bracket, 17 per cent in 10-19 group, and 26 per cent in the 10-24 age group. Why India's fertility rate has dropped The UN demographic report adds to previous reports that confirmed India's fertility rate was plummeting. A Lancet study last year found that the country's total fertility rate is declining irreversibly to 1.29, far below the replacement level. According to the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors Study (GBD)-2021, India's fertility rate of 6.18 in the 1950s dropped to 4.60 in 1980 and further to 1.91 in 2021. The study also forecast that the TFR could fall further to 1.04 — just one child per woman — by 2100. There are various reasons behind India's falling fertility, which has sparked concerns, especially in southern states that fear the loss of parliamentary seats post the delimitation exercise. India has one of the oldest family planning programmes that encourages people to have a maximum of two children through incentives and disincentives. 'During that time, the system required a lot of effort to change the mindset of the Indian population. Slowly, that behaviour change started showing up. Infant mortality declined substantially (because of various maternal and child health-related programmes and successful immunisation) meaning child survival was guaranteed. Small families became the norm,' Prof Anjali Radkar, head of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy and dean of academic affairs, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, told Indian Express last year. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Men sit next to a board displaying information about the different family planning methods available, during a sterilisation camp set up at a primary health care centre in Belwa village, Kishanganj district, Bihar, March 20, 2023. File Photo/Reuters The increase in female literacy and women's participation in the workforce are other big factors behind a steady fall in fertility rates. Amid little help from their husbands in raising the child, women are no longer ready to sacrifice their careers for motherhood. They are also increasingly exercising their agency in choosing whether to even have a child or not, instead often picking career and financial independence. As more and more young Indians move to foreign countries for higher studies and jobs and settle there, migration could be another factor for a fall in fertility levels. 'India has made significant progress in lowering fertility rates, from nearly five children per woman in 1970 to about two today, thanks to improved education and access to reproductive healthcare,' Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative, said, as per PTI. 'This has led to major reductions in maternal mortality, meaning million more mothers are alive today, raising children and building communities. Yet, deep inequalities persist across states, castes, and income groups,' she added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together,' Wojnar stated. Is India's falling fertility a cause for worry? A decline in fertility rates results in demographic transition, such as an ageing population and a reduction in the young workforce. 'By 2050, the share of senior citizens in India will be more than 20 per cent, that is one in five people. This is what China is already showing signs of as a consequence of the one-child family policy,' Dr Radkar told Indian Express last year. Many southern states in India that have effectively managed their population are already facing the consequences of slowing birth rates. As per The Hindu, fertility has dropped below the replacement level in 31 states and Union Territories. However, it continues to be high in Uttar Pradesh (2.7), Bihar (3.0) and Meghalaya (2.9). Last year, the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu urged people to have more children . Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat also expressed concerns about India's falling fertility rate and advocated for at least three children. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, demographers say there is no need for alarm yet. 'As a demographer, I don't think states should be overly concerned about these issues. They can be resolved through constructive negotiations between federal and state governments,' Srinivas Goli, a professor of demography at the International Institute for Population Sciences, told BBC last year. Instead, demographers say India's rapidly ageing population is concerning, as states have limited resources to support the elderly. As fewer children are born, it would increase the gap between the elderly and young people required to care for them. Demographers warn that India's healthcare, community centres and old-age homes are not equipped to deal with the demographic shift. 'Robust investments in prevention, palliative care, and social infrastructure are urgently needed to look after the ageing,' Goli said to BBC. Experts also say that worry about labour shortages due to declining fertility is misplaced. This challenge can be overcome by promoting migration and focusing on extending the healthy years of the elderly. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The other challenge is to create decent full or part-time work for people in the age group of 60 to 75 years. Presently, their work participation is higher than most developing countries and the world because household survival strategies force them to enter the labour market. The imperative, instead, should be to relieve them from the drudgery of work while also providing decent employment. The country's healthcare system needs to improve and building old age homes for the elderly single and couple is long overdue,' Amitabh Kundu, Professor Emeritus at L J University, Ahmedabad, wrote for Indian Express last year. He argued that the demographic changes could push more women into the workforce and 'take their place in the labour market'. 'For women to be able to manage careers with motherhood, it would be crucial for men to take greater responsibility for household and care work. Economic policies that stimulate growth and job creation, alongside social security and pension reforms, will also be essential in adapting to and mitigating the impacts of declining fertility rates,' Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India, told the newspaper. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
The Print
4 hours ago
- The Print
Goa health minister's outburst at doctor adds to CM Sawant's troubles amid power tussles in state BJP
Two weeks earlier, Goa Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude raised corruption charges against the Sawant-led tribal welfare department, triggering a political storm and later backtracking by saying that he was commenting on the department officials, not the CM. Since assuming office for a second term, the CM Sawant-led government has been facing the heat from power tussles within the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vishwajit Rane, who has had a history of rows with the CM, is the latest BJP leader to have created a troubling situation for Sawant. New Delhi: After Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was caught on camera publicly reprimanding a senior doctor last week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has attempted to stop a state-wide doctors' strike by overruling a suspension order Rane had called for against the senior doctor. The latest controversy arose when Rane visited the Goa Medical College, where he chided the chief medical officer, Dr Rudresh Kuttikar, for what the minister perceived as misbehaviour with a patient and ordered his immediate suspension. A viral video shows Rane shouting: 'Kick him out … you will not be here with your bloody ego and learn to control your tongue. You are a doctor. Put your hand out of your pocket when you are standing before me. I usually do not lose my cool, but you have to behave. Remove the mask [that doctors wear] when I am talking. Give your explanation when an investigation starts. Then, I will consider them, or you will be suspended for two years.' Rane then asked the medical superintendent to issue a suspension order against the CMO. Soon after, the video went viral, and in the absence of the doctor's version of what had happened, it created a political storm. Goa Indian Medical Association (IMA) condemned Rane and threatened to start a strike, and CM Sawant had to step in to limit the damage. Overruling the suspension order, CM Sawant Sunday said, 'I reviewed the issue at Goa Medical College and held discussions with the health minister. I want to assure the people of Goa that Dr Rudresh Kuttikar does not face a suspension.' IMA has demanded a public apology from Rane. However, after Rane apologised, IMA termed it as a 'studio apology', calling for the minister to publicly apologise in the hospital casualty department—the same place where he had rebuked the CMO. Amid the doctors protesting against Rane, CM Sawant held a meeting with the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) Monday night, when he agreed to accept nine demands of GARD and the Goa Medical College Doctors' Union. Speaking to ThePrint, BJP state president Damodar Naik told ThePrint, 'The minister has made an apology, and the chief minister has made efforts to listen to the doctors' demands, resolve the crisis, and accept most of their demands. Doctors should be respected; there is no doubt about that.' In his latest move, CM Sawant visited the Goa Medical College Tuesday to make peace with the agitating doctors. His assurances made them call off their planned strike, but they are still expecting the health minister to communicate a formal apology for his behaviour. Also Read: Goa's Pramod Sawant govt faces heat from within—files 'handled in secret', tribal bhavan in limbo Vishwajit Rane vs CM Sawant It is not the first time that Vishwajit Rane has caused an embarrassing moment for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Rane, the son of former chief minister Pratap Singh Rane and five-time MLA, has been a chief ministerial aspirant since joining the BJP. During COVID-19, when thousands of people died in Goa due to oxygen shortage, CM Sawant took a dig at Rane, saying the crisis was due to the mismanagement of the Goa Medical College. Rane hit back at the chief minister, saying he was misguided and demanded a high court probe into the crisis. Rane also clashed with the CM in a cabinet meeting in May 2021 after Pramod Sawant pointed out oxygen mismanagement. Rane left the meeting midway and did not attend meetings on oxygen supply for several weeks. The Goa High Court reprimanded CM Sawant and Rane during hearings on public interest litigations regarding the pandemic, saying, 'This is not the time for politics.' Again, after the 2022 assembly poll results, Rane's wife, Deviya Rane, also an MLA from Poriem, told the media, 'Her husband, Vishwajit, is ready to take over as CM as he has 15 years of experience.' Rane, who holds a crucial portfolio, visited Delhi and met party leaders to promote his candidature, as well. The BJP high command, however, did not favour him, and Pramod Sawant became CM for the second time. Rane defected from Congress in 2017 when he also engineered defections of two Congress MLAs to the BJP, to cushion the party in the 40-member Goa assembly. After CM Manohar Parrikar died, Rane hoped to get the top post. However, while the BJP leadership considered his name, it selected Pramod Sawant, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, who had grown within the BJP cadre, for the top post. One BJP MLA told ThePrint: 'The problem of the BJP in Goa is that only a handful of MLAs come from an original RSS ideological background—unlike in other states. Most are from Congress and other parties. They see themselves as chief minister claimants and do not have what is required to follow BJP-like discipline. They also no longer have a figure, such as Parrikar, who commanded widespread respect in Goa BJP. That is why they undermine Pramod Sawant, who keeps a relatively low profile.' BJP vs BJP in Goa Vishwajit and Gaude, however, are not the only ministers to have troubled CM Sawant. His government has been facing opposition from within the party and reeling under intra-party rivalries since before his second tenure started. Earlier, at an event, Gaude said: 'A huge amount of taxpayers' money is allotted to the tribal welfare department. When it fails to organise any programmes efficiently, it shows a lack of government control over the administration.' CM Sawant threatened action against Gaude to dissuade him from further making such statements. Former minister and senior leader Pandurang Madkaikar, this year, told the media, 'All ministers are minting money in Goa. I had to pay between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh to a minister for a small task. It is not corruption but loot.' Launching an attack on him, his party colleague, Goa Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho, claimed that Madkaikar was making up the corruption charges. In January this year, former MLA Farrel Furtado brought allegations of a 'cash-for-job scam' in the state, and the Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating the same. Former PWD minister and MLA Nilesh Cabral, in the same month, criticised CM Sawant for stalled projects in Curchorem constituency, where Cabral is the MLA. In March this year, when party general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh visited Goa, some MLAs, including Gaude, complained to him about BJP ministers allegedly indulging in corruption. A month before the 2022 assembly elections, Satya Pal Malik, former Goa Governor from November 2019 to August 2020, said his removal from Goa before the party sent him to Meghalaya had come because of his corruption charges against the CM Sawant-led government. (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: Goa didn't choose to become a casino city—now it's a state-sponsored moral gamble
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Business Standard
7 hours ago
- Business Standard
At least 36 Palestinians killed trying to obtain aid in Gaza, say officials
Palestinians desperately trying to access aid in Gaza came under fire again on Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding 207, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Experts and humanitarian aid workers say Israel's blockade and 20-month military campaign have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. At least 163 people have been killed and 1,495 wounded in a number of shootings near aid sites run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are in military zones that are off-limits to independent media. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions at people who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner. The foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points themselves. But it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and it paused delivery last week while it held talks with the military on improving safety. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there is "meaningful progress" on a possible ceasefire deal that would also return some of the 55 hostages still being held in Gaza, but said it was "too early to hope." Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also mentioned on Tuesday that there was progress in ceasefire negotiations. Netanyahu was meeting with the Israeli negotiating team and the defence minister on Tuesday evening to discuss next steps. People are killed just trying to get food In southern Gaza, at least eight people were killed while trying to obtain aid around Rafah, according to Nasser Hospital. In northern Gaza, two men and a child were killed and at least 130 were wounded on on Tuesday, according to Nader Garghoun, a spokesperson for the al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. He said most were being treated for gunshot wounds. Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire at around 2 am, several hundred metres from the aid site in central Gaza. Crowds of Palestinians seeking desperately needed food often head to the sites hours before dawn, hoping to beat the crowds. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people it referred to as suspects. It said they had advanced toward its troops hundreds of metres from the aid site prior to its opening hours. Mohammed Abu Hussein, a resident of the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp, said Israeli drones and tanks opened fire, and that he saw five people wounded by gunshots. Abed Haniyah, another witness, said Israeli forces opened fire "indiscriminately" as thousands of people were attempting to reach the food site. "What happens every day is humiliation," he said. "Every day, people are killed just trying to get food for their children." Additionally, three Palestinian medics were killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday in Gaza City, according to the health ministry. The medics from the health ministry's emergency service were responding to an Israeli attack on a house in Jaffa street in Gaza City when a second strike hit the building, the ministry said. The Israeli military did not comment on the strike, but said over the past day the air force has hit dozens of targets belonging to Hamas' military infrastructure, including rocket launchers. The UN has rejected the new aid system Israel and the United States say they set up the new food distribution system to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid and using it to finance militant activities. The United Nations, which runs a long-standing system capable of delivering aid to all parts of Gaza, says there is no evidence of any systematic diversion. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to decide who receives aid and by forcing Palestinians to relocate to just three currently operational sites. The other two distribution sites are in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, which Israel has transformed into a military zone. Israeli forces maintain an outer perimeter around all three hubs, and Palestinians must pass close to them to reach the distribution points. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of creating a "sterile zone" in Rafah free of Hamas and of moving the territory's entire population there. He has also said Israel will facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians to other countries plans rejected by much of the international community, including the Palestinians, who view it as forcible expulsion. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. They still hold 55 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population, often multiple times.
