Trump envoy to visit Gaza as pressure mounts on Israel
Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader's office said. On Friday he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who previously visited Gaza in January, would "inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground".
Gaza's civil defence agency reported at least 58 Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy -- the latest in a spate of near-daily shootings of desperate aid seekers.
The Israeli military said troops had fired "warning shots" as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks.
An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital.
Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after "people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some".
Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.
Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
- International pressure -
Trump criticised Canada's decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
"The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!" declared Trump, one of Israel's staunchest international supporters.
Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu's insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces "real starvation".
UN-backed experts have reported "famine is now unfolding" in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage.
Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters.
Germany's top diplomat Johann Wadephul, who met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, warned before setting off that: "Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority".
Wadephul noted that Germany's European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood, which Israel opposes.
After the meeting, Saar's office said he had told his German guest that countries queueing to recognise Palestinian statehood were merely rewarding Hamas.
And he insisted "a Palestinian state will not be established for the simple reason that Israel will not be able to forfeit its own security."
The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank -- the core of any future Palestinian state.
- 'This is what death looks like' -
The Hamas attack that triggered that war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 people seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.
The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry.
This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.
The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.
"Enough!" cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.
"We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?"
Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that "this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives".
"If the crossings were opened... food could reach us. But this is nonsense," Zaqot said of the airdrops.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.
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The Advertiser
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US envoy visits Gaza aid operation the UN calls unsafe
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. 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The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock. Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release. Witkoff visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens of people have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. On Friday, the Israeli military said 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The UN says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance. Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers fired warning shots at what it described as a "gathering of suspects" approaching its troops, hundreds of metres from the aid site. The UN says more than 1000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock. Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release. Witkoff visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens of people have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. On Friday, the Israeli military said 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The UN says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance. Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers fired warning shots at what it described as a "gathering of suspects" approaching its troops, hundreds of metres from the aid site. The UN says more than 1000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock. Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release. Witkoff visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens of people have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. On Friday, the Israeli military said 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The UN says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance. Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers fired warning shots at what it described as a "gathering of suspects" approaching its troops, hundreds of metres from the aid site. The UN says more than 1000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock. Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release. Witkoff visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens of people have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. On Friday, the Israeli military said 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The UN says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance. Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
SBS Australia
an hour ago
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Dozens of countries hit in Trump tariff blitz
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This will be followed by a joint statement by the Malaysia and US side, including the Malaysia Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the US Trade Representatives (USTR) either on Saturday or Sunday." South Africa is also bracing for the fallout. Dynamic Fluid Control, a major valve manufacturer, fears the 30 per cent levy on steel could force it out of the U-S market. C-E-O Tumi Tsehlo was blunt. "You know the longer the tariffs stay in place, the longer the situation will continue to disable us." South Africans voiced concern over the potential impact of a 30 per cent tariff imposed by President Trump, warning of job losses and economic uncertainty as the measure takes effect. Kalomo Musokotwane is a marketing and events manager. "Thirty per cent is drastic. So a lot of people are going to lose jobs. And already the government is struggling to create more jobs as it is, and I don't see them creating any more jobs again. 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Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
US envoy visits Gaza aid operation the UN calls unsafe
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers fired warning shots at what it described as a "gathering of suspects" approaching its troops, hundreds of metres from the aid site. The UN says more than 1000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock. Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release. Witkoff visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens of people have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. On Friday, the Israeli military said 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The UN says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance. Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
