Funeral for Gaza church attack after international condemnation
Palestinians gathered to mourn those killed in the Israeli attack on Gaza's only Catholic church, which was condemned by international leaders as 'unacceptable'.
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel to fund tour for MAGA and pro-Trump influencers: Report
The Israeli foreign ministry will fund a tour of the country by right-wing social media influencers from the United States, says a report. Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Sunday reported that the planned tour will feature 16 influencers, all under the age of 30, who support US President Donald Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) and America First campaigns. The influencers each have hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. They will be flown in to counter what the Israeli government sees as declining support for Israel among young Americans, the report said, without citing any date. 'With the rise of the America First movement and MAGA in American politics, it's essential for Israel that the movement adopt a pro-Israel position,' Yacov Livne, senior deputy director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Department of Public Diplomacy, was quoted as saying in the report. The Israeli foreign ministry aims to bring 550 influencer delegations to Israel by the end of the year through such tours, it said. '[While] older Republicans and American conservatives still hold pro-Israel views, positive perspectives towards Israel are falling across all younger age groups,' it said, according to the report. The influencers will be pushed to share messaging that aligns with Israeli policy regarding the Palestinians. 'We are working with influencers, sometimes with delegations of influencers,' an unnamed source from the ministry told Haaretz. 'Their networks have huge followings and their messages are more effective than if they came directly from the ministry.' The tour will be carried out through an organisation called Israel365, which is in a 'unique position to convey a pro-Israel stance that aligns entirely with the MAGA and America First agenda', Haaretz quoted the foreign ministry as saying. Israel365 promotes support for Israel, specifically among Christians, based on biblical principles. Its website says the group 'stands unapologetically for the Jewish people's God-given right to the entire Land of Israel'. The organisation also rejects a two‑state solution as a 'delusion' and describes its mission as defending 'Western civilization against threats from both Progressive Left extremism and global jihad'. The ministry said it has struck a 290,000-shekel ($86,000) deal to carry out the tour, Haaretz reported. Since the war on Gaza began in October 2023, Israel365 'deepened ties with MAGA and America First movements, appearing at their major events and helping recruit prominent conservative figures to visit Israel', the report added.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Appeals and negotiations won't make Israel stop starving Gaza
On July 17, the Israeli army bombed the sole Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and injuring at least 10. The parish priest, Gabriele Romanelli, who used to have almost daily calls with the late Pope Francis, was among the wounded. After the attack, there were statements of condemnation. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called it 'unacceptable'. Pope Leo said he was 'deeply saddened' by it – a statement many saw as 'vague' and 'cowardly'. The Israeli government was quick to declare it 'regretted' the attack. Amid the global outrage, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was able to negotiate for church officials to visit the Christian community, deliver limited food and medicine to both Christian and Muslim families, and evacuate some of the injured for treatment outside Gaza. These humanitarian actions, while welcomed by those in dire need in Gaza, are yet another sign of international failure. Why must the delivery of food, water and medicine be 'earned' through negotiation? Why are basic rights enshrined in international law subject to political bargaining? Palestinians deeply appreciate the church leaders' efforts. Their actions reflect compassion and moral clarity. But such steps should not be necessary. Under international humanitarian law, occupying powers have binding obligations to the people under their control. Securing access to food, water, medicine and critical services cannot be charitable favours – they are legal duties. The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention and the 1907 Hague Regulations clearly state that civilians in occupied territory must be protected and provided with essential services, especially when the occupying power controls access to borders, infrastructure and life-sustaining resources. Blocking or delaying aid isn't just inhumane – it amounts to a war crime. International law also forbids the occupying power from forcibly transferring the local population or settling its own citizens on occupied land – practices that Israel continues in Gaza and the West Bank with impunity. The occupier must ensure uninterrupted humanitarian access free from delay, political conditions or coercive trade-offs. Israel has failed to comply on all these counts. But instead of facing consequences for its use of collective punishment, starvation tactics and attacks on civilian infrastructure – churches, hospitals, bakeries, schools – Israel receives concessions in exchange for promising to comply with basic legal norms. These 'deals' are then spun as diplomatic 'successes' by the powers that engage in them. During a recent lecture in Amman, the European Union's ambassador to Jordan, Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, revealed as much. According to him, EU 'discussions' about taking action on Israel's failure to comply with human rights provisions of the EU-Israel partnership agreement led to 'effective political pressure'. As a result, Israel 'agreed' to allow increased food and aid deliveries, fuel for electricity and desalination, infrastructure repairs, the reopening of humanitarian corridors through Egypt and Jordan, and access for UN aid workers and observers. This agreement led to the shelving of 10 proposed sanctions by the EU. Amnesty International described the move as a 'cruel and unlawful betrayal' of its stated principles. The problem with this 'deal' is that Israel is failing to implement it, just like with all others before it. According to EU sources quoted in the media, Israel allows just 80 trucks per day to go in, when Gaza needs more than 500. Whether 80 trucks indeed enter and how much of this aid actually reaches its intended recipients is unclear. Gangs regularly attack aid convoys, and the Israeli army shoots at anyone trying to protect these trucks from looters. Various agencies and organisations are ringing alarm bells about the epidemic of malnutrition killing children on a daily basis. Famine is real even if the UN, under pressure, is not yet willing to declare it. Meanwhile, Israeli forces and foreign mercenaries continue to kill people seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was set up to take away the functions of United Nations agencies, most notably UNRWA, its aid agency for Palestinian refugees. Nearly 900 people have been killed at these sites since GHF's operations began in late May. If the EU as a whole will not act, individual member states still bear legal responsibility. At a minimum, European countries should suspend arms transfers, ban trade with illegal settlements and end cooperation with institutions complicit in the occupation and apartheid. These are not optional political stances. They are legal obligations. And this applies to the rest of the world. The danger of appealing to Israel to allow in aid instead of forcing it to do so through sanctions is clear: When war crimes are overlooked in exchange for temporary relief, impunity becomes normalised. Starvation becomes an acceptable weapon of war. Civilian lives turn into bargaining chips. The international community – including the EU, church institutions and world leaders – must continue to extend compassion and aid. But this must not replace justice. Mercy should be paired with resolve: Israel must be held to its legal and moral obligations. Palestinians – Christian and Muslim – must not be treated as pawns but as human beings entitled to dignity, safety and peace. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel issues forced displacement order in central Gaza in new campaign
The Israeli military has issued a new forced evacuation warning for the Palestinians in central Gaza, ordering them to move south to al-Mawasi, an area Israel has regularly attacked despite declaring it a 'safe zone'. Thousands of leaflets were dropped over Deir el-Balah on Sunday, telling displaced families living in tents in several densely populated parts of the city to leave immediately. The Israeli military warned of imminent action against Hamas fighters in the area as it continued its deadly attacks on unarmed and starving civilians desperately looking for food, killing dozens of Palestinians on Sunday, at least 73 of them aid seekers in northern Gaza. In a post on X, the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area should leave immediately. Israel was 'expanding its activities' around Deir el-Balah, including 'in an area where it has not operated before', Adraee said, telling Palestinians to 'move south towards the al-Mawasi area' on the Mediterranean coast 'for your safety'. A video verified by Al Jazeera showed the Israeli army dropping vast amounts of leaflets over residential areas in Deir el-Balah, notifying Palestinians of the order. 'Nowhere else to go' Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the area targeted by Israel is densely populated and it would be 'impossible' for the affected residents to leave on short notice. 'Palestinians here are refusing to leave and say they are going to stay in their houses because even the areas designated as safe by the Israeli army have been targeted,' she said. 'Palestinians say they have nowhere else to go, and there is no space because most western areas or even al-Mawasi are full of people and tents with no more extra space for expansion. They are left with zero options.' The Israeli military issued the warning as Israel and Hamas held indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators said there have been no breakthroughs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, but negotiations have been stalled for months. This month, the Israeli military said it controlled more than 65 percent of the Gaza Strip. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month. Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave or face attacks in large parts of the coastal enclave. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in January that more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip was under unrevoked Israeli evacuation threats and many of their residents were living with starvation. A 35-day-old baby in Gaza City and a four-month-old child in Deir el-Balah died of malnutrition at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital this weekend. On Saturday, at least 116 Palestinians were killed, many of them aid seekers trying to get food from distribution sites run by the Israeli- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). At least 900 Palestinians desperate to find food have been killed at the sites since the GHF began operating them in late May as an Israeli blockade has prevented food and other necessities from the UN and other aid groups from coming into Gaza. The genocide has prompted Pope Leo XIV to denounce the 'barbarity' of the war as he urged against the 'indiscriminate use of force'. 'I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' Leo said during a prayer meeting near Rome on Sunday.
