4 Palestinians killed as starving crowds storm UN warehouse in Gaza
Hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, as a dire humanitarian crisis escalated across the territory. Desperate for basic necessities, the crowd pushed and shoved their way into the facility, leading to the deaths of four people—two fatally crushed in the chaos and two reportedly shot, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.The surge of desperation came just a day after violence broke out at a newly established aid distribution hub near Rafah. The site, backed by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), had seen massive crowds breach security fences. advertisementGaza's Health Ministry reported one person killed and 48 injured, many suffering from gunshot wounds. While the Israeli military claimed only warning shots were fired, eyewitnesses and a Red Cross hospital said the injuries pointed to live ammunition.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the GHF system, accusing Israel of using food as leverage and warning that forcing Palestinians to relocate to access aid may amount to forced displacement. The aid distribution centers—described as militarized zones with chain-link fencing and guarded by private contractors—have been criticized for lacking safety and dignity.At the stormed UN World Food Program warehouse, scenes of desperation unfolded as people clawed through crowds with heavy flour sacks. A UN envoy likened the limited food access to a "lifeboat after the ship has sunk," while the Palestinian ambassador to the UN emotionally described the unbearable toll on children and families.advertisementMeanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the death of senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, killed in a recent airstrike. Netanyahu reaffirmed plans to relocate Gaza's population to a "sterile zone" in the south and promote 'voluntary emigration,' a policy widely seen as forced expulsion.Separately, Israel struck the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, destroying the last plane used by Houthi rebels, who had recently launched missiles at Israel.The war began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 in an October 7 attack. In response, Israel's campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, with most of the dead reported to be women and children.Must Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
31 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Rush Hour: GDP growth slows, 3 get life term for 2022 Uttarakhand murder and more
We're building a brand-new studio to bring you bold ground reports, sharp interviews, hard-hitting podcasts, explainers and more. Support Scroll's studio fund today. India's real gross domestic product for the financial year 2024-'25 grew by 6.5%, showed a provisional estimate released by the Union government. This was the slowest growth since the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2020-'21 and significantly lower than the rate of 9.2% in 2023-'24. The real GDP grew by 7.4% between January and March, lower than the 8.4% expansion during the same period in the previous financial year. Read on. An Uttarakhand court has sentenced a former Bharatiya Janata Party leader's son and his two associates to life imprisonment in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case. A fine of Rs 50,000 each was also imposed on Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his associates Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh owned by Pulkit Arya, went missing in September 2022. Pulkit Arya, along with Bhaskar and Gupta, initially filed a missing person report but later confessed to killing Bhandari by pushing her into a canal after an altercation. Messages sent by Bhandari to a friend, which were uncovered during the investigation, suggested that the men had allegedly tried to force her into prostitution. Read on. The Supreme Court ordered journalist and YouTuber Ajay Shukla to remove a video in which he made 'scandalous allegations' about a retired judge. The court initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Shukla, the editor-in-chief of Varprad Media, and issued a notice to him. While the court did not name the judge about whom the allegations were made, Shukla had on May 18 uploaded a video on his YouTube channel about the retirement of Justice Bela M Trivedi. While Trivedi is officially slated to retire on June 9, her last working day was May 13. The bench said that 'such scandalous allegations' were likely to bring disrepute to the court, adding that the freedom of expression was subject to 'reasonable restrictions'. Read on. Israel has agreed to a new temporary ceasefire with Palestinian militant group Hamas proposed by the United States, the White House announced. Hamas said that the proposal was 'still under discussion', but claimed that in its current form, it would only result in 'the continuation of killing and famine' in Gaza. The details of the proposal have not been made public, but Israeli media reported that it would entail Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages and bodies of 18 others during a 60-day ceasefire. In return, Israel would release 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 persons detained since October 7, 2023, and hand over the bodies of 180 Palestinians. The Israeli military will also withdraw from certain areas of Gaza, according to the proposal.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
41 minutes ago
- Business Standard
'100% Gazans at risk of famine', warns UN as aid delays deepen Gaza crisis
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised alarm over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, citing that Israel is permitting only a fraction of needed aid to enter the territory. An OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke described Gaza as 'the hungriest place on earth', highlighting the critical shortage of ready-to-eat food, news agency Reuters reported. Laerke explained that although Israel had authorised 600 of 900 aid trucks to reach its border with Gaza, 'a mixture of bureaucratic and security obstacles' has rendered it nearly impossible to ensure safe passage of humanitarian aid into the region. 'What we have been able to bring in is flour,' he said on Friday. 'That's not ready to eat, right? It needs to be cooked,' he added, emphasising that '100 per cent of the population of Gaza is at risk of famine'. Medical facilities struggling Israel approves US-backed Gaza truce proposal Israel has agreed to a new temporary ceasefire proposal for Gaza, according to the White House. The plan, brokered with US involvement, aims to bring an end to the ongoing conflict with Hamas and secure the release of hostages captured during the initial attack that escalated the war. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Thursday that Israel had endorsed the proposal. Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, had earlier expressed hope that the plan could help end the fighting and facilitate the return of more hostages. Hamas decries proposal, seeks clarity Hamas officials, however, responded cautiously to the proposal, indicating they needed additional time to review its details before making a formal response. He added, 'It does not respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.' Netanyahu sticks to demilitarisation goals Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel will not end the war until all hostages are freed and Hamas is either dismantled or disarmed and exiled. He also declared that Israel plans to maintain indefinite control over Gaza and promote what he calls the voluntary emigration of much of the Palestinian population. Hamas is currently holding 58 hostages, with around one-third believed to be alive. (With agency inputs)
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
Pakistan warns India against ‘weaponising water' by suspending Indus Waters Treaty
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday rejected the 'weaponisation of water' and warned that Pakistan would not allow India to cross the red line by holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and endangering millions of lives for narrow political gains. Sharif was addressing a three-day International Conference on Glaciers' Preservation in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe when he raked up the issue of India-Pakistan bilateral Indus Water Treaty (IWT). 'India's unilateral and illegal decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the sharing of the Indus Basin's water, is deeply regrettable,' Dawn reported quoting Sharif. 'Millions of lives must not be held hostage to narrow political gains, and Pakistan will not allow this. We will never allow the red line to be crossed,' the prime minister told the conference attended by over 2,500 delegates from 80 UN member states and 70 international organisations. The event is being hosted by the Tajikistan government in collaboration with the United Nations, UNESCO, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Asian Development Bank, and other key partners as a historic moment for climate ambition, glacier preservation, and international cooperation. Sharif's remarks came after India, soon after the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, announced abeyance of the IWT among other punitive measures. The IWT was signed in 1960 by the two countries to address the water dispute between them and to share the waters of the six main rivers of the Indus basin.
