Some Gaza bakeries resume production after aid delivery
Israel on Sunday announced that it would allow humanitarian supplies to enter the strip after a blockade was imposed on March 2 to pressure the Islamic group Hamas.
The UN said 93 trucks carrying aid arrived in Gaza on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the WFP said a handful of bakeries are now operational in parts of south and central Gaza.
Video released by the WFP showed bags of wheat on a truck being delivered to a bread production facility.
Reports have stated that the food shortage since March has caused deaths from malnutrition and miscarriages among pregnant women.
A WFP official called the delivery "a start," and expressed hope that the organization will be able to bring more humanitarian aid to the 2.2 million Gazans, who depend on it.
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The Mainichi
06-08-2025
- The Mainichi
Editorial: Japan must lead global push for nuclear abolition on 80th anniv. of A-bombings
At a time when the world is once again shrouded in nuclear fear, it is more important than ever to reaffirm a simple truth: Weapons capable of destroying humanity must never be used again. Eighty years have passed since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final days of World War II. On Aug. 6 in Hiroshima and Aug. 9 in Nagasaki, prayers for the victims will be offered once more. At ground zero in both cities, intense heat incinerated people and the blast flattened buildings. By the end of 1945, about 210,000 lives had been lost to the attacks. Radiation continued to ravage survivors' bodies. The death toll has since surpassed 500,000 as more victims succumbed over the years. Even today, some who fell ill are still not officially recognized as atomic bomb survivors. The suffering is far from a thing of the past. Rising risk of nuclear use "Everyone's lives were taken like insects. It was worse than hell," said Michiko Hattori, now 96. Hattori was a 16-year-old nurse apprentice in Hiroshima when she witnessed the horror of the A-bomb firsthand. She worked at a military medical unit near the blast center, tending to the wounded. She recalls people with swollen faces from severe burns, others with skin hanging from their hands. Medical supplies were scarce, and many died in agony. Determined to pass on her experience, Hattori has spent nearly half a century as a storyteller. "I hope for true peace where there is no need to talk about the atomic bomb experience," she says. Hattori feels more people are listening intently now. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has set new attendance records for two consecutive years, with many foreign visitors. Interest is clearly growing. Russia's nuclear threats since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine have been a turning point. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the risk of nuclear war has become real again, and people driven by anxiety are perhaps seeking to learn about the realities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since the Ukraine war began, nuclear-armed states have repeatedly engaged in provocative military actions. Tensions are escalating. Russia has deployed nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus and signaled its willingness to use them. The United States has strongly condemned this and warned of possible retaliation. An Israeli Cabinet minister has threatened a nuclear attack against Hamas. India fired a missile near Pakistan's nuclear command center. North Korea, developing new nuclear weapons, has declared a policy of "preemptive nuclear use." The U.S. bombed Iran, which possesses weapons-grade enriched uranium. A growing concern is that worsening security environments are fueling a "nuclear for nuclear" approach. In Europe, discussion has begun on establishing a new "nuclear sharing" system for joint management and operation of nuclear weapons led by France. In the Middle East, there are warnings that Arab states hostile to Iran may pursue nuclear development. In East Asia, more South Koreans are supporting nuclear armament. Even Japan, which holds to its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, is not immune. After Russia's invasion, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised the idea of nuclear sharing with the U.S., sparking controversy. In the upper house election this past July, some candidates openly advocated for nuclear armament. If more countries come to rely on nuclear weapons, the current nonproliferation regime will collapse. International order will become even more chaotic, and it is inevitable that the world will be a far more dangerous place. Passing on memories, building peace The lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not to preserve nuclear weapons by relying on their mighty power, but to imagine the devastation they cause and work for their abolition. The number of nuclear warheads has fallen from some 70,000 at the height of the Cold War to about 12,000 today. Fear of nuclear war drove disarmament. How can we break the cycle of unchecked arms races driven by nuclear deterrence and change the course of history once again? Nuclear weapons have become morally unusable. This is the "nuclear taboo" advanced by American political scientist Nina Tannenwald. She argues that leaders' fear of catastrophic humanitarian consequences has led them to refrain from using nuclear weapons, and that this restraint has helped avert nuclear war. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, reportedly receives requests from around the world to send atomic bomb storytellers. We must continue to pass on the memory of the tragedy and uphold the "nuclear taboo." Next year will be a milestone for nuclear disarmament. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the U.S. and Russia will expire, and meetings on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons are scheduled. How can humanity chart a path to a world without nuclear weapons? Japan must take the lead in global discussions to pull the world back from the brink of nuclear war.
Japan Times
05-08-2025
- Japan Times
Hunger mounts and cemeteries grow in Sudan's besieged al-Fashir
Hundreds of thousands of people under siege in the Sudanese army's last holdout in the western Darfur region are running out of food and coming under constant artillery and drone barrages, while those who flee risk cholera and violent attacks. Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, is the biggest remaining frontline in the region between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year. "The RSF's artillery and drones are shelling al-Fashir morning and night," one resident said. Electricity was completely shut down, bakeries were closed and medical supplies scarce, he added. "The number of people dying has increased every day and the cemeteries are expanding," he said. The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023 when the former allies clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir. The city's fall would give the RSF control over nearly all of Darfur — a vast region bordering Libya, Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan — and pave the way for what analysts say could be Sudan's de facto division. Besieged along with the army and its allies are hundreds of thousands of al-Fashir's residents and people displaced by previous attacks, many living in camps that monitors say are already in famine. One doctor, who asked not to be named for her safety, said hunger was an even bigger problem than the shelling. "The children are malnourished, the adults are malnourished. Even I today haven't had any breakfast because I can't find anything," she said. The RSF has blocked food supplies and aid convoys trying to reach the city have been attacked, locals said. Prices for the goods traders are able to smuggle in cost more than five times the national average. Many people have resorted to eating hay or ambaz, a type of animal feed made out of peanut shells, residents said. One advocacy group said even ambaz was running out. The RSF, which has its roots in the Janjaweed militias accused of atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Enaam Abdallah Mohammed, 19, a displaced Sudanese woman and mother of four, who fled with her family, looks on inside a camp shelter amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, on July 30. | REUTERS Many residents fleeing the city have sought shelter in Tawila, about 60 kilometers west. Some of those who made it said they were attacked by groups of RSF fighters along the way. "We fled to Shagra (village) first before getting to Tawila and they attacked us again," 19-year-old Enaam Abdallah said. "If they find your phone, they take it. Money, they take it. A donkey or anything, they'll take it. They killed people in front of us and kidnapped girls in front of us," she said. On Monday, Emergency Lawyers, a human rights group, said at least 14 people fleeing al-Fashir were killed and dozens injured when they were attacked in a village along the route. Tawila is hosting more than half a million displaced people, most of whom have arrived since April, when the RSF stepped up its assault on al-Fashir and attacked the massive Zamzam displacement camp to the city's south. But Tawila offers little aid or shelter, as humanitarian organizations are stretched by foreign aid cuts. People who arrived there said they receive small amounts of grain, including sorghum and rice, but amounts were varying and insufficient. Sudan is in the throes of the rainy season, which in combination with poor living conditions and inadequate sanitation has led to an outbreak of cholera. Since mid-June, aid group Doctors Without Borders has treated 2,500 cases of cholera, a spokesperson said. Some 52 people have died from the disease, according to the Coordinating Committee for Displaced People, a Sudanese advocacy group that operates across Darfur. Vaccines needed to stem the outbreak, if provided, will take time to arrive given the rains. An assessment by the Norwegian Refugee Council found that only 10% of people in Tawila had reliable access to water, and even fewer had access to latrines. Most families report eating one meal a day or less, the organization said. "We don't have houses to protect us from the rain and we don't have tarps. We have to wait for the rain to stop for the children to sleep," mother-of-four Huda Ali said as she sat among roofless shelters made of straw. She said she tried to make sure her children washed their hands and only ate food that had been properly heated. The United Nations called for a humanitarian pause to fighting in al-Fashir last month as the rainy season began, but the RSF rejected the call. Fighting has also raged across Sudan's Kordofan region, which borders Darfur, as the two sides fight to demarcate clear zones of control amid stalled mediation efforts.
Yomiuri Shimbun
05-08-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Dozens Killed as Palestinians in Gaza Scramble for Aid from Air and Land
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Palestinians were killed or wounded on Monday as desperate crowds headed toward food distribution points and airdropped parcels in the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses and local health officials. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory's slide toward famine nearly 22 months into the war with Hamas. Aid groups say Israel's week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas. Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites and aid convoys, according to witnesses, local health officials and the United Nations human rights office. The military says it has only fired warning shots and disputes the toll. As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks. AP video shows scramble for airdropped aid Many food parcels dropped by air have splashed into the Mediterranean Sea or landed in so-called red zones from which Israel's military has ordered people to evacuate. In either case, Palestinians risk their lives to get flour and other basic goods. On Monday, Palestinians cheered as pallets of aid were parachuted over Zuweida in central Gaza. Associated Press footage showed a desperate scramble when the parcels hit the ground, with hundreds of people racing toward them. Fistfights broke out and some men wielded batons. 'I wish they would deliver it through the (land) crossings,' Rabah Rabah said earlier as he waited for the airdrop. 'This is inhuman.' At least one parcel fell on a tent where displaced people had been sheltering, injuring a man who was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known. Dozens killed seeking aid At least 16 people were killed late Sunday near the Israeli-controlled Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for aid to northern Gaza, according to records at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which showed that more than 130 people were wounded. The circumstances were not immediately clear, but the crossing has seen several shootings in recent days that witnesses and health officials blamed on Israeli forces. There was no immediate comment from the military. At least 10 people were killed as thousands waited for aid trucks in the Morag Corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. Mohammed al-Masri, who was among the crowds, said Israeli forces opened fire when a group of young men tried to make their way to the front. 'The occupation forces shot many people in the head and in the back,' he said, adding that he saw four wounded people, one motionless on the ground. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 10 bodies from Morag and another five who were killed near an aid site in southern Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor. GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. It said a new U.N. route runs near two of its sites in the south and has drawn large crowds of people who unload the convoys. GHF says its contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots on a few occasions to prevent deadly crowding since it opened four sites in May. 'It's a death trap' Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of eight people killed near a GHF site in the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor, and that another 50 people were wounded. Witnesses and health officials said Israeli forces had fired toward the crowds. An Associated Press photo showed a man carrying a body away from the site, as others hauled bags of food. 'It's like yesterday, and the day before,' said Ayman Ruqab, a young Palestinian who said he had tried unsuccessfully to reach the site for the past three days. 'It's a death trap.' The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people who approached 'in a manner that posed a threat to the troops,' without elaborating. It said it was not aware of any casualties. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They still hold 50 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says around half the dead have been women and children, is staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable casualty count. Israel has disputed the figures but hasn't provided its own.
