Shots fired in southern Gaza after crowds charge food distribution site
Crowds rushed a food distribution site in southern Gaza before scattering when shots were fired in what the UN called a 'heartbreaking' scene. Humanitarian groups say the new Israel-backed effort to get aid into Gaza falls far short of what's needed.
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Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Humanitarian vessel carrying Greta Thunberg rescues four migrants at sea
A ship carrying activists, including Greta Thunberg, to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid rescued four migrants on Thursday after they had jumped into the sea from another vessel to avoid being picked up by Libyan authorities. The vessel Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was alerted by the European Union's Frontex border control agency and arrived at the location in the Mediterranean where it found 30-40 people on a 'boat that was rapidly deflating.' As the Madleen launched its own inflatable rescue boat, a Libyan coast guard vessel approached at high speed, the coalition said. 'To avoid being taken by the Libyan authorities, four people jumped into the sea, and began desperately swimming toward the Madleen,' which rescued them. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition protested the return of the other migrants to Libya, where human-rights campaigners have said they face abuse and even torture. It also has called on Italy, Greece and Malta to pick up those now on board the Madleen and bring them to safety in Europe. Climate campaigner Thunberg is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen which departed Sicily on Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. The voyage was to last seven days. Our life in Gaza is hungry and sleep-deprived under Israel's blockade Among the others on board are Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent. She has been barred from entering Israel due to her active opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza. After a three month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian works have warned of famine unless the blockade ends. Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.3 million is acutely malnourished and one in five Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, the World Food Program has warned. An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Eid al-Adha celebrated globally with less spending, high prices and fewer animal sacrifices
Less spending, higher prices and fewer animal sacrifices subdued the usual festive mood as the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha was celebrated in many parts of the world. Eid al-Adha, known as the 'Feast of Sacrifice,' coincides with the final rites of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. It's a joyous occasion, for which food is a hallmark, with devout Muslims buying and slaughtering animals and sharing two-thirds of the meat with the poor. Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of the three-day feast with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday. For the second year since the war with Israel broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, no Muslims in Gaza were able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air, and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together. 'This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,' said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. 'There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses ... The conditions are very, very harsh.' The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said Thursday that Gaza's people are projected to fall into acute food insecurity by September, with nearly 500,000 people experiencing extreme food deprivation, leading to malnutrition and starvation. 'This means the risk of famine is really touching the whole of the Gaza Strip,' said Rein Paulson, director of the FAO office of emergencies and resilience. Our life in Gaza is hungry and sleep-deprived under Israel's blockade The war in Gaza and the struggle to celebrate were at the forefront of the minds of Muslims in Kenya, Imam Abdulrahman Mursal said as he led Eid prayers in the capital, Nairobi. 'We ask Allah to hear their (Palestinian) cries. We feel their pain, as much as we are far from them,' Mursal said. 'But what unites us is our Muslim brotherhood, so we ask Allah to give them victory and to give victory to all the other Muslims wherever they are, if they are facing any kind of oppression.' Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac. South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh will celebrate Eid al-Adha on Saturday. Ahead of the festival, many Muslims in the region were turning to livestock markets to buy and sell millions of animals for sacrifice. In New Delhi, sellers were busy tending to their animals and negotiating with potential buyers. Mohammad Ali Qureshi, one of the sellers, said this year his goats were fetching higher prices than last year: 'Earlier, the sale of goats was slow, but now the market is good. Prices are on the higher side.' Festival preparations also were peaking in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where many Muslims dye sheep and goats in henna before they are sacrificed. 'We are following the tradition of Prophet Ibrahim,' said Riyaz Wani, a resident in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, as his family applied henna on a sheep they plan to sacrifice. In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, Muslim worshippers were shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets and the Istiqlal Grand Mosque was filled for morning prayers Friday. Outside Jakarta, the Jonggol Cattle Market bustled with hundreds of traders hoping to sell to buyers looking for sacrificial animals. While sales increased ahead of Eid, sellers said their businesses have lost customers in recent years due to economic hardship following the COVID-19 pandemic. A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2022 and 2023 significantly dampened the typically booming holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep, though Indonesia's government has worked to overcome that outbreak. Rahmat Debleng, one of the sellers in the market, said before the pandemic and the FMD outbreak, he could sell more than 100 cows two weeks ahead of Eid al-Adha. But on the eve of the celebration this year, only 43 of his livestock were sold and six cows are still left in his stall. Though the threat of a foot-and-mouth outbreak looms large, declining sales are mostly because of economic hardship, Debleng said. Jakarta city administration data recorded the number of sacrificial animals available this year at 35,133, a decline of 57% compared to the previous year. The Indonesian government will make Monday an additional holiday after Friday's festival to allow people more time with their families. Eid momentum is expected to support economic growth in Indonesia, where household consumption helps drive GDP. It contributed over 50% to the economy last year, though analysts expect more subdued consumer spending in 2025.
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
At least 16 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, health officials say
Sixteen Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military in Gaza on Friday, according to local health authorities, as a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group said it had handed out aid in the enclave after earlier saying that its distribution sites were closed. The military had no immediate comment on the reports of deaths in war-shattered Gaza. Health authorities said strikes had killed people in Gaza's Jabalia, Tuffah and Khan Younis areas. Witnesses and medics told Reuters that Israeli planes and tanks had intensified strikes on Jabalia and nearby Beit Hanoun since the early hours. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders to residents of certain blocks in northern Gaza on Friday, spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X. The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) told Reuters by e-mail it had delivered aid on Friday, despite earlier announcing on its official Facebook page that its distribution sites were closed until further notice and that people should stay away from the sites 'for their safety' after a series of deadly shootings. The GHF opened two sites in southern Gaza on Thursday after closing all of its centres the previous day in the wake of shootings in the vicinity of its operations. It has so far operated four distribution centres. The organization bypasses traditional relief agencies and has been criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for alleged lack of neutrality, which it denies. Palestinians collecting aid from GHF sites told Reuters that there was no clear distribution system, describing the process as disorganized and chaotic. Footage released this week by the organization has shown similar scenes at one of its sites. GHF halted distributions on Wednesday and said it was pressing Israeli forces to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its operations after dozens of Palestinians were shot dead near the Rafah site over three consecutive days. The Israeli military said on Sunday and Monday that its soldiers had fired warning shots. On Tuesday, it said, forces also fired warning shots before firing towards Palestinians that it said were advancing towards troops. GHF has said that aid was safely handed out from its sites without any incident. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X on Friday that Palestinians would have 'free movement' to aid distribution sites between 06:00 and 18:00, but warned that outside those hours the area would be a 'closed military zone' and movement would pose a significant risk to life. Israel has re-intensified an offensive against Gaza's dominant Hamas militant group since breaking a two-month-old ceasefire in March in a war triggered by Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
