The Irish Times view on starvation in Gaza: the world cannot look away
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to fire on Palestinian civilians who are desperately seeking food, killing hundreds. A fresh incursion by the Israel Defense Forces into central Gaza has wrought yet more destruction and death.
Any prospect of an end to the violence remains elusive. Early hopes of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks, sparked by an initially positive Israeli response to the latest proposals from Hamas, were extinguished within hours when the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar, saying Hamas was not acting in good faith.
With reports of rising starvation in Gaza growing ever more urgent, a far-right minister in the Israeli government made a deeply disturbing statement on Thursday. Amichay Eliyahu declared that Israel had no duty to alleviate hunger in the territory and was actively seeking to expel its population. His chilling comparison that 'there is no nation that feeds its enemies' – adding that 'the British didn't feed the Nazis, nor did the Americans feed the Japanese' – displays a disregard for Palestinian lives as well as being a gross misrepresentation of the nature of the current conflict.
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As an occupying power with total control over Gaza's entry points and overwhelming military dominance over its civilian population, Israel bears clear responsibility for what is happening there. Although Israeli military officials denied that Eliyahu's statements reflected their strategy in Gaza, Binyamin Netanyahu's government declined to rebut them. The contempt for human rights expressed by the minister lends credence to accusations that Israel is engaged in systematic war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a notable development on Friday, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The decision was predictably condemned by the American and Israeli governments. But, coming from a major power, it marks a significant shift. Taoiseach Micheál Martin was correct, however, when he said last month that the inability of EU member states to come to a unified position on the issue was a 'stain' on the union.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza demands immediate action. The silence of some world leaders is dangerously close to complicity. It is no longer sustainable.
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Irish Independent
3 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
14 more dead of starvation in Gaza as Trump vows food aid
As the death toll from two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fuelling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions. Describing starvation in Gaza as real, Mr Trump's assessment put him at odds with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Sunday 'there is no starvation in Gaza' and vowed to fight on against the Palestinian militant group Hamas – a statement he reposted on X yesterday. Mr Trump, speaking during a visit to Scotland, said Israel has a lot of responsibility for aid flows, and that a lot of people could be saved. 'You have a lot of starving people. We're going to set up food centres,' with no fences or boundaries, to ease access, Mr Trump said. The US would work with other countries to provide more humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, including food and sanitation, he said. A White House spokesperson said additional details on the food centres would be 'forthcoming'. Yesterday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 88 children, most in just the last few weeks. Israel announced several measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses to fighting in three areas of Gaza, new safe corridors for aid convoys, and airdrops. The decision followed the collapse of ceasefire talks on Friday. Two Israeli defence officials said the international pressure prompted the new Israeli measures, as did the worsening conditions on the ground. UN agencies said a long-term and steady supply of aid was needed. The World Food Programme said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched. Almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments, it said. 'Our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza,' WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, said. Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the situation is catastrophic. 'At this time, children are dying every single day from starvation, from preventable disease. So time has run out.' Mr Netanyahu has denied any policy of starvation towards Gaza, saying aid supplies would be kept up whether Israel was negotiating a ceasefire or fighting. A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that Israel had not placed a time limit on the humanitarian pauses in its military operation, a day after UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said that Israel had decided 'to support a one-week scale-up of aid'. 'We hope this pause will last much longer than a week, ultimately turning into a permanent ceasefire,' Mr Fletcher's spokesperson, Eri Kaneko, said. Mr Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Compared to last week, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said, there had only been a 'small uptick' in the amount of aid being transported into Gaza since Israel started the humanitarian pauses. Wessal Nabil, from Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, described the struggle of trying to feed her three children. 'When you go to bed hungry, you wake up hungry. We distract them with anything... to make them calm down,' she told Reuters. 'I call on the world, on those with merciful hearts, the compassionate, to look at us with compassion, to be kind to us, to stand with us until aid comes in and ensure it reaches us.' In his statement on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would continue to fight until it achieved the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas and the destruction of its military and governing capabilities. Mr Trump said Hamas had become difficult to deal with in recent days, but he was talking with Mr Netanyahu about 'various plans' to free hostages still held in the enclave. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked communities across the border in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The Gaza health ministry said that 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Some of the trucks that made it into Gaza were seized by desperate Palestinians, and some by armed looters, witnesses said.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Merz announces German plan for humanitarian airlift for Gaza via Jordan
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced plans for a humanitarian airlift for Gaza via Jordan and demanded Israel do more in the region. After meeting King Abdullah II of Jordan in Berlin on Monday, Mr Merz said France and the UK had signed up to the German plan to rush food and medical aid to the region – but offered few other details. 'Israel has to end the humanitarian situation immediately, comprehensively and sustainably,' said Mr Merz in a statement. 'Israel has to end the suffering of the civilian population quickly and adequately and allow in humanitarian and medical help.' He described Israel's decision on Sunday to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza as an 'important first step, after which others must follow quickly'. READ MORE Mr Merz added that 'no further expulsions from Gaza' must be permitted, no further annexation in the West Bank and that 'all channels' must be used to secure a ceasefire agreement from Hamas. Mr Merz's move follows increasingly critical weekend coverage in the German media of the situation in Gaza. On Monday evening, Mr Merz was set to speak by telephone with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Despite the critical tone, the German leader insisted there was no doubt in Berlin that it was 'the barbarous and inhumane terror of Hamas on October 7th, 2023, that triggered the battles in Gaza'. Amid plans by France to recognise Palestinian statehood, the chancellor said 'no decision is looming' on German recognition. He described this as the 'last, concluding step' in any two-state solution agreement.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
EU Commission discusses curbs on Israel research funding amid Gaza pressure
European Commissioners on Monday discussed a proposal to partially suspend Israel 's access to the EU's Horizon research funding programme following calls from EU governments to increase pressure on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza . Multiple EU countries said last week that Israel was not living up to its commitments under an agreement with the European Union on increasing aid supplies to Gaza and asked the Commission to put concrete options on the table. The proposal was mentioned in a published agenda of Monday's meeting of the College of Commissioners, the top decision-making body of the European Union's executive. But the Commission has not explained it in detail. Israel has been participating in the EU's research programmes since 1996, taking part in thousands of joint research projects over the past decades. Earlier this month, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Israel had agreed to expand humanitarian access to Gaza, including increasing the number of aid trucks, crossing points and routes to distribution hubs. But in a tense meeting of European ambassadors in Brussels last week, countries including France, the Netherlands and Spain said not enough was being done, according to diplomats. Earlier this month, EU officials presented a list of options that the bloc could pursue to put pressure on Israel but the bloc has so far refrained from pursuing any of them. Israel on Sunday announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors, while Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have airdropped supplies into the enclave. But officials and aid groups remain concerned and say much more needs to be done to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. – Reuters
