UN chief says US-backed Gaza aid operation is unsafe, killing people
FILE PHOTO: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a press briefing during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) at the Centre des Expositions conference centre in Nice, France, June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo
UNITED NATIONS - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that a U.S.-backed aid operation in Gaza is 'inherently unsafe,' giving a blunt assessment: 'It is killing people.'
Israel and the United States want the U.N. to work through the controversial new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the U.N. has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement.
Guterres said U.N.-led humanitarian efforts are being 'strangled,' aid workers themselves are starving and Israel – as the occupying power - is required to agree to and facilitate aid deliveries into and throughout the Palestinian enclave.
"People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Guterres told reporters.
"It is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza."
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid from both the U.N. and GHF operations. A senior U.N. official said on Sunday that the majority of those people were trying to reach GHF sites.
GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guterres' remarks on Friday. Earlier this week it said: "Bottom-line, our aid is getting securely delivered. Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome the U.N. and other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza."
GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics firms to operate. It began operations in Gaza on May 26 and said on Friday so far it has given out more than 48 million meals. The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it had approved $30 million in funding for the GHF and called on other countries to also support the group.
Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the U.N.-led operations, which the militants deny. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
40 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Democrat Wyden presses Bessent to commit to US sanctions on Russia
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the 2025 budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo WASHINGTON - The top Senate Finance Committee Democrat pressed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to commit to enforcing Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia and to clarify comments about Russia rejoining an international bank payments network. In a letter to Bessent, Senator Ron Wyden also sought answers on how the U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals deal and investment agreement would help improve Ukraine's post-war security and not benefit any entity or country that aided Russia's war effort. Wyden cited Bessent's comments during his confirmation hearing that he was prepared to strengthen Russian sanctions, including on oil majors, if Trump requested this to help end the Ukraine war, which Bessent called "one of the greatest tragedies of my adult life." "I ask that you reaffirm your commitment to stringently enforce these sanctions and answer questions about how you envision other measures pursued by this administration, including agreements with Ukraine, potentially working in conjunction with these sanctions," Wyden wrote. The Oregon Democrat, who has opposed most of Trump's trade and tax agenda advanced by Bessent, asked the Treasury chief to explain comments he made to Fox News Channel in which he did not rule out bringing Russia back into the SWIFT international banking network. Russia was expelled from the payments messaging system after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Would Treasury allow Russian banks to rejoin SWIFT absent a comprehensive peace agreement with Ukraine that fully addresses Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine?" Wyden asked in a series of questions for Bessent to answer. Wyden also asked whether Bessent would continue the U.S. Treasury's implementation of commitments by G7 leaders to curtail Russia's use of the international financial system to support its war against Ukraine. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wyden's letter. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump calls being president a ‘very dangerous profession'
US President Donald Trump speaking to the media at the White House on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on June 27 reflected on threats to his life as he celebrated a court ruling that handed his administration sweeping power to pursue his policy agenda. Asked by a reporter about such threats, the Republican suggested that he is occasionally reminded of when he was grazed in the ear by a bullet at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on July 13, 2024. 'I get that throbbing feeling every once in a while,' he said. 'But you know what? That's okay. This is a dangerous business.' He made the comments during a wide-ranging, impromptu White House press conference scheduled to celebrate the US Supreme Court decision that handed him a major victory by curbing federal judges' power to impose nationwide rulings that block his policies. On June 27, the businessman-turned-politician described the presidency as riskier than some of the most perilous professions. 'You have race car drivers as an example, 1/10 of 1 per cent die. Bull riders, 1/10 of 1 per cent. That's not a lot, but it's - people die. When you're president, it's about 5 per cent. If somebody would have told me that, maybe I wouldn't have run. Okay? This is, this is a very dangerous profession.' Four of the 45 US presidents have been assassinated. Several more presidents and candidates for the office have been shot. There have been several threats on Mr Trump's life. Law enforcement officials said he also survived a Sept 15, 2024, assassination attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect in that incident faces five federal charges and has pleaded not guilty. The July shooting suspect was shot to death by Secret Service agents. One person at the Pennsylvania rally was killed; two others were wounded. The United States has also separately said Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at one point attempted to assassinate Mr Trump. Iran, whose nuclear facilities were bombed by US forces last weekend, has denied the allegation. Mr Trump, serving his second term in office, has pushed an expansive vision of presidential power, sharply attacked his political foes and vowed retribution against them. The United States is experiencing its most sustained period of political violence since the 1970s. Reuters has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts since Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Biden joins thousands paying final respects to slain Minnesota lawmaker and husband
Former U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with mourners as senior Democratic state assembly woman Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark lie in State at the Minnesota Capitol after they were killed in a shooting, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Tim Evans Former U.S. President Joe Biden pays his respects to senior Democratic state assembly woman Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark lie in State at the Minnesota Capitol after they were killed in a shooting, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Tim Evans ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Thousands of mourners, including former U.S. President Joe Biden, filed through Minnesota's state Capitol Rotunda on Friday to pay final respects to slain lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were gunned down by an assassin earlier this month. The couple lay in state in St. Paul on the eve of a private funeral set for Saturday morning, two weeks after a man impersonating a police officer shot them to death at their home in what authorities are treating as a politically motivated murder. For several hours, members of the public lined up in a column of mourners stretching across the front plaza of the state Capitol building and along an adjacent boulevard. After entering the building, people walked single-file past the Hortmans' flower-bedecked caskets. A portrait of each stood next to their respective coffins. Perched between them was an urn bearing the remains of their golden retriever, Gilbert, along with a photograph of the pet. The dog, too, was shot in the attack and later euthanized. Biden arrived at the statehouse late in the afternoon. After the public was cleared from the rotunda for security purposes, the Democratic former president was ushered in alone. He paused for a moment in front of the caskets, then exited the building. Following his departure, the rotunda was reopened to the public, and the procession of mourners resumed. Still more people joined the line outside, hoping for a chance to pay their respects. The viewing was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. local time. Representative Hortman, the top-ranking Democrat in the Minnesota House, became the first woman to lie in state in the St. Paul Capitol Rotunda, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Her husband was believed to be the first person other than a military figure or public official to be so honored. The suspect in their June 14 killings, Vance Boelter, 57, is also accused of shooting and wounding a second Democratic legislator, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, in their home a few miles away.' The accused gunman was arrested on the night of June 16 following a massive two-day manhunt that was the largest in state history. Boelter faces state and federal murder charges. According to prosecutors, investigators recovered notebooks from his car and residence that included the names of dozens of Democratic legislators, along with abortion-rights advocates. The shootings unfolded against a backdrop of increasing political violence in the U.S. in an era of extreme social and partisan polarization. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
