Israel criticized after it bars Gaza aid to pressure Hamas to accept a new ceasefire proposal
Israel was accused of blocking aid throughout the war
Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in the war's opening days and only eased it under U.S. pressure. U.N. agencies and aid groups accused Israel of not facilitating enough aid during 15 months of war.
The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used 'starvation as a method of warfare' when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year. The allegation is also central to South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denied the accusations. It says it has allowed in enough aid and blamed shortages on what it called the U.N.'s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid — an allegation that Netanyahu repeated Sunday.
Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said Israel as an occupying power has an 'absolute duty' to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions, and called Israel's decision 'a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy' that led to the ICC warrant.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel's offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children. It does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
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Reuters
43 minutes ago
- Reuters
Israel has begun first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City, says Israeli military spokesman
CAIRO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Israel has entered the first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City after a clash with Hamas and already has a hold on the outskirts of the city, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters on Wednesday.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Israel to call up around 60,000 reservists before planned offensive on Gaza City, says Israeli military official – Middle East crisis live
Update: Date: 2025-08-20T16:12:11.000Z Title: Israel', 'will call up around 60,000 reservists before a planned offensive to take Gaza City but most forces that would operate in the Gaza Strip's largest urban centre would be active duty soldiers, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday. Content: Call-up notices sent as Israeli plans to increase its offensive; Israel studies Hamas' response to proposal for 60-day ceasefire Tom Ambrose (now) and Charlie Moloney (earlier) Wed 20 Aug 2025 18.12 CEST First published on Wed 20 Aug 2025 13.22 CEST From 1.22pm CEST 13:22 Good afternoon, Israel will call up around 60,000 reservists before a planned offensive to take Gaza City but most forces that would operate in the Gaza Strip's largest urban centre would be active duty soldiers, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday. The call-up notices could be sent in the coming days, with reservists to report for duty in September, the military official said. 'Most of the troops that will be mobilised in this new stage will be active duty and not reservists,' said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. It comes as Israel is studying Hamas' response to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, two Israeli officials said on Tuesday, although one source reiterated that all Israeli captives must be freed for the war to end. Elsewhere: Prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he treats leaders of other countries with respect after his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu attacked him over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state. 'I don't take these things personally, I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,' Albanese said during a media briefing. A 58% majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognise Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, as Israel and Hamas considered a possible truce in the nearly two-year-long war. 33% of respondents did not agree that UN members should recognise a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer. German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join militant organisation Islamic State, they said on Wednesday. Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed. Updated at 1.50pm CEST 6.12pm CEST 18:12 Israel will call up around 60,000 reservists before a planned offensive to take Gaza City but most forces that would operate in the Gaza Strip's largest urban centre would be active duty soldiers, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday. The call-up notices could be sent in the coming days, with reservists to report for duty in September, the military official said. The mayor of the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, confirmed that Israel has approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. Israel's approval of a key settlement project in the West Bank undermines the chances of a two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has said in a statement. The approval of the project in the area known as E1 'fragments… geographic and demographic unity, entrenching the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons that are disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons,' the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement. International aid groups say they have not yet been able to deliver shelter materials to Gaza despite Israeli authorities saying they have lifted restrictions on such supplies, and warn that further delays could cause more Palestinian deaths. Some 154 pallets of humanitarian aid have been airdropped in the Gaza Strip today, according to the IDF. Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Singapore and Indonesia dropped the pallets, containing several hundred kilograms of food, according to The Times of Israel. Israel is 'killing all prospects' for peace in the Middle East, Jordan's foreign minister has said amid escalating international outrage over Israel's plans for a new large-scale offensive in Gaza City and plans to massively expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Ayman Safadi made his remarks during a visit to Moscow on the same day that the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders. Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department, Reuters reported. A fire broke out near Iran's Tabriz airport on Wednesday, with heavy smoke hanging in the city's sky, Iran's Fars news agency reported, adding operations to control the fire are ongoing. Syria's foreign minister met Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security arrangements in southern Syria, two Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said. Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting US-mediated talks on de-escalating conflict in southern Syria. French president Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Israel's 'military offensive' to conquer Gaza City 'can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples,' after Israel's defence minister authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists. Israel's plan 'will drag the region into a permanent war,' the French president posted on social media, reiterating his call for an 'international stabilisation mission'. Iran 'cannot completely cut cooperation' with the UN nuclear watchdog but the return of its inspectors is up to the country's security chiefs, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday. The remarks come nearly two months after Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency following its 12-day war with Israel in June. Prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he treats leaders of other countries with respect after his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu attacked him over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state. 'I don't take these things personally, I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,' Albanese said during a media briefing. A 58% majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognise Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, as Israel and Hamas considered a possible truce in the nearly two-year-long war. 33% of respondents did not agree that UN members should recognise a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer. German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join militant organisation Islamic State, they said on Wednesday. Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed. 6.03pm CEST 18:03 Some 154 pallets of humanitarian aid have been airdropped in the Gaza Strip today, according to the IDF. Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Singapore and Indonesia dropped the pallets, containing several hundred kilograms of food, according to The Times of Israel. 5.43pm CEST 17:43 President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders. Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department, Reuters reported. ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Guillou is an ICC judge who presided over a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the court's two deputy prosecutors. The move comes less than three months after the administration took the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions on four separate ICC judges, saying they have engaged in ICC's 'illegitimate and baseless actions' targeting the US and close ally Israel. ICC, which had slammed the move in June, describing it as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judicial institution, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 5.22pm CEST 17:22 Syria's foreign minister met Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security arrangements in southern Syria, two Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said. Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting US-mediated talks on de-escalating conflict in southern Syria. A previous round of these talks was held in Paris in late July but ended without a final accord. Syrian state news agency Sana said foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani met with an Israeli delegation on Tuesday, but did not mention Dermer. The agency said the discussions focused on de-escalation, non-interference in Syrian domestic affairs and reactivating a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights. There was no public comment by the Israeli government on the meeting, Reuters reported. 5.02pm CEST 17:02 Israel's approval of a key settlement project in the West Bank undermines the chances of a two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has said in a statement. The approval of the project in the area known as E1 'fragments… geographic and demographic unity, entrenching the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons that are disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons,' the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement. The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by sraeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and received final go-ahead from a defence ministry planning commission earlier today Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the E1 announcement. Updated at 5.07pm CEST 4.42pm CEST 16:42 An Israeli tank manoeuvres on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, Israel, today. 4.12pm CEST 16:12 Peter Beaumont Israel is 'killing all prospects' for peace in the Middle East, Jordan's foreign minister has said amid escalating international outrage over Israel's plans for a new large-scale offensive in Gaza City and plans to massively expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Ayman Safadi made his remarks during a visit to Moscow on the same day that the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory. Echoing the sentiment, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that the proposed new Gaza offensive would lead to 'true disaster' and drag the region into 'permanent war'. Katz's announcement, which will lead to the mobilisation of an extra 60,000 Israeli troops, was also condemned by Germany, historically one of Israel's closest allies in Europe, which said it 'rejects the escalation' of Israel's campaign in Gaza. 3.54pm CEST 15:54 French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Israel's 'military offensive' to conquer Gaza City 'can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples,' after Israel's defence minister authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists. Israel's plan 'will drag the region into a permanent war,' the French president posted on social media, reiterating his call for an 'international stabilisation mission'. 3.36pm CEST 15:36 International aid groups say they have not yet been able to deliver shelter materials to Gaza despite Israeli authorities saying they have lifted restrictions on such supplies, and warn that further delays could cause more Palestinian deaths. Aid organisations say Israel had in effect been blocking the delivery of materials for shelters for nearly six months, with tent poles previously listed among items Israeli authorities considered could have a military as well as civilian use. With international concern over the plight of Palestinians mounting as the war in Gaza continues, Israel announced measures last month to let more aid into Gaza and said on Saturday that it would start allowing shelter materials in from the next day. But officials from five aid groups, including UN agencies, told Reuters that shelter materials needed by large numbers of displaced Palestinians were still not reaching Gaza and blamed Israeli bureaucratic hurdles. 'The United Nations and our partners been able to bring in shelter materials following the Israeli announcement,' the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), spokesperson Jens Laerke said. 3.02pm CEST 15:02 On the ground in Gaza City on Wednesday, Mustafa Qazzaat, head of the emergency committee in the Gaza municipality, described the situation as 'catastrophic' as Israel's defence minister approved a plan on Wednesday for the conquest of Gaza City. He told AFP that 'large numbers' of people were fleeing their neighbourhoods, with the majority of those displaced 'on the roads and streets without shelter.' Aida Abu Madi, a 48-year-old resident of Zeitoun, said she fled on Wednesday with her husband, children and three grandchildren to the home of relatives in western Gaza City. 'I didn't hear about Israel's decision, but I saw my neighbours fleeing, so I fled too,' she told AFP by telephone. Anis Daloul, 64, said he fled Zeitoun with his family on Sunday for a neighbourhood northwest of Gaza City. 2.34pm CEST 14:34 Jordan's foreign minister said Wednesday that Israel's assault on Gaza had caused 'massacres and starvation' and that its wider actions were 'killing all prospects' for peace in the Middle East. His comments came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory. Most of the territory's population has been displaced since the war began, many repeatedly, according to the United Nations. Addressing Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Moscow, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said he hoped to discuss 'efforts to end the aggression on Gaza, and the massacres and starvation that it is creating.' 2.12pm CEST 14:12 A fire broke out near Iran's Tabriz airport on Wednesday, with heavy smoke hanging in the city's sky, Iran's Fars news agency reported, adding operations to control the fire are ongoing. 1.52pm CEST 13:52 Iran 'cannot completely cut cooperation' with the UN nuclear watchdog but the return of its inspectors is up to the country's security chiefs, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday. The remarks come nearly two months after Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency following its 12-day war with Israel in June. Iran has cited the IAEA's failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities as the reason for its decision, which saw the watchdog's inspectors leave the country following the passing of new legislation by parliament. 'We cannot completely cut cooperation with the agency,' Araghchi said, noting that new fuel rods need to be installed at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in the coming weeks which will require the presence of IAEA inspectors. 'Under the law passed by parliament, the return of inspectors will be possible through a decision of the Supreme National Security Council,' he told the official IRNA news agency in an interview published Wednesday, referring to Iran's top security body. 1.33pm CEST 13:33 The mayor of the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, confirmed that Israel has approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. 'I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood,' Yifrach, said in a statement. 1.24pm CEST 13:24 Israel gave final approval on Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state. Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to western countries that announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks. 'The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,' he said on Wednesday. 'Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.' Updated at 1.27pm CEST 1.22pm CEST 13:22 Good afternoon, Israel will call up around 60,000 reservists before a planned offensive to take Gaza City but most forces that would operate in the Gaza Strip's largest urban centre would be active duty soldiers, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday. The call-up notices could be sent in the coming days, with reservists to report for duty in September, the military official said. 'Most of the troops that will be mobilised in this new stage will be active duty and not reservists,' said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. It comes as Israel is studying Hamas' response to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, two Israeli officials said on Tuesday, although one source reiterated that all Israeli captives must be freed for the war to end. Elsewhere: Prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he treats leaders of other countries with respect after his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu attacked him over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state. 'I don't take these things personally, I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,' Albanese said during a media briefing. A 58% majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognise Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, as Israel and Hamas considered a possible truce in the nearly two-year-long war. 33% of respondents did not agree that UN members should recognise a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer. German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join militant organisation Islamic State, they said on Wednesday. Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed. Updated at 1.50pm CEST
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Minister unveils UK crackdown on Kyrgyz finance to ‘keep pressure on' Putin
Stephen Doughty unveiled sanctions against eight organisations and individuals on Wednesday, and said the move would help 'keep up the pressure on' Russian president Vladimir Putin, who he alleged was exploiting 'dodgy crypto networks'. Kyrgyzstan's Capital Bank, formally known as the OJSC Capital Bank of Central Asia, was among the sanctioned organisations, along with its director Kantemir Chalbayev. Leonid Shumakov, who is understood to be the director of the rouble-linked A7A5 cryptocurrency token, also features on the list of sanctions targets, along with Grinex LLC, CJSC Tengricoin, Old Vector LLC, Zhanyshbek Uulu Nazarbek and Altair Holding SA. According to the Government, A7A5 has moved 9.3 billion US dollars (£6.9 billion) on a dedicated cryptocurrency exchange in just four months. 'If the Kremlin thinks they can hide their desperate attempts to soften the blow of our sanctions by laundering transactions through dodgy crypto networks – they are sorely mistaken,' Mr Doughty said. 'These sanctions keep up the pressure on Putin at a critical time and crack down on the illicit networks being used to funnel money into his war chest. 'Alongside our allies, we will continue to support the US-led drive to end this illegal war and secure a just and lasting peace.' The Kremlin has, in turn, sanctioned 21 individuals, including former Labour MP Denis MacShane, several journalists, and the Government-appointed independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that its move was 'in response to London's ongoing confrontational course, which includes efforts to demonise' Russia, tackling 'individuals who spread disinformation and unfounded accusations'. London and Moscow traded sanctions after a pair of summits on Friday and Monday, when US President Donald Trump said 'everyone is happy about the possibility of peace' in eastern Europe. Mr Trump, who hosted Mr Putin in Anchorage and then his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, claimed he had begun planning for trilateral talks between the three leaders. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who was in the White House with Mr Zelensky and several other European leaders, welcomed early-stage plans for three-way talks as a 'sensible next step'. Mr Trump also claimed the Putin administration would 'accept' multinational efforts to guarantee Ukraine's security, to ward off future Russian attacks. A YouGov poll of more than 6,300 adults found that 57% of Britons would support deploying British soldiers as peacekeepers in Ukraine, if a peace deal to end the war is reached, with 25% opposed.
