'I lost limbs but stayed to help others in Ukraine'
Mr Scott, originally from Shaftesbury, said he was "doing really well" since his ordeal.Speaking on BBC Radio Solent's Dorset Breakfast show, he said: "I haven't had a lot of the problems other people have suffered with, particularly mentally."I was offered an evacuation for treatment and I told the team, as long as I'm not taking a bed up from a Ukrainian, I'll stay in Ukraine."It's turned into an incredible decision. I'm very happy to be able to continue to help my adopted country in a very positive way."
Superhumans offers free, state-of-the-art prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation and psychological support for adults and children affected by the war.It has supplied 1,600 prosthetics in the last two years but said there were at least 80,000 more people in need of artificial limbs.Mr Scott, 28, said he had been "incredibly lucky".He said: "Through Superhumans, I've received a top-notch prosthetic leg, which I'm incredibly grateful to get and I've been slowly learning to use."There is a very comprehensive state system - both medical and rehab - so people are being looked after but it's really places like Superhumans that have the time and the funds to go the extra mile, getting us back to being as whole human beings as possible."
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The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Using airdrops to deliver aid is ‘futile initiative that smacks of cynicism', says MSF – Middle East crisis live
Update: Date: 2025-07-29T07:36:10.000Z Title: Using airdrops to deliver aid is 'futile initiative that smacks of cynicism', MSF says Content: We are continuing our live coverage of Israel's war on Gaza as international pressure on Israel to allow more aid into the territory continues to grow amid reports of widespread starvation and malnutrition. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has condemned the use of airdrops to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza, calling the approach 'futile' and 'cynical'. Jean Guy Vataux, MSF's emergency coordinator in Gaza, called for Israel to allow for the full access of humanitarian aid that he says is ready to be delivered across the border by road. He warned that airdrops are 'notoriously ineffective and dangerous' as they can't carry much aid and can injure (or even kill) people when they are dropped. In a post on X, Vataux wrote: Using airdrops for the delivery of humanitarian aid is a futile initiative that smacks of cynicism. The roads are there, the trucks are there, the food and medicine are there, everything is ready to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza just a few kilometres away. All that is needed is for Israeli authorities to decide to facilitate its arrival - expedite the clearance procedures, allow the entry of goods at scale, and coordinate to permit safe collection and delivery. Only then can we begin to resolve the starvation we are seeing … At the moment, two million people are trapped in a tiny piece of land, which makes up just 12 per cent of the whole Strip - if anything lands in this area, people will inevitably be injured. On the other hand, if the airdrops land in areas where Israel has issued displacement orders, people will be forced to enter militarised zones – once again risking their lives for food. Israel says more than 200 aid trucks were collected and distributed yesterday by aid agencies, and that an additional 260 trucks entered Gaza and are awaiting collection. This is in addition to airdrops carried out by Jordan, the UAE and Israel, which parachuted aid packages into the territory for the first time in months over the weekend. Charities say this aid is totally inadequate for the needs of Gaza's population. Stick with us as we give you the latest updates and analysis throughout the day.
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Gangs and merchants sell food aid in Gaza, where Israel's offensive has shattered security
Since Israel's offensive led to a security breakdown in Gaza that has made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving Palestinians, much of the limited aid entering is being hoarded by gangs and merchants and sold at exorbitant prices. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour has run as high as $60 in recent days, a kilogram of lentils up to $35. That is beyond the means of most residents in the territory, which experts say is at risk of famine and where people are largely reliant on savings 21 months into the Israel- Hamas war. Israel 's decision this weekend to facilitate more aid deliveries — under international pressure — has lowered prices somewhat but has yet to be fully felt on the ground. Bags of flour in markets often bear U.N. logos, while other packaging has markings indicating it came from the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — all originally handed out for free. It's impossible to know how much is being diverted, but neither group is able to track who receives its aid. In the melees surrounding aid distributions in recent weeks, residents say the strong were best positioned to come away with food. Mohammed Abu Taha, who lives in a tent with his wife and child near the city of Rafah, said organized gangs of young men are always at the front of crowds when he visits GHF sites. 'It's a huge business,' he said. Every avenue for aid is beset by chaos The U.N. says up to 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, aid groups and media outlets say their own staffers are going hungry, and Gaza's Health Ministry says dozens of Palestinians have died from hunger-related causes in the last three weeks. When the U.N. gets Israeli permission to distribute aid, its convoys are nearly always attacked by armed gangs or overwhelmed by hungry crowds in the buffer zone controlled by the military. The U.N.'s World Food Program said last week it will only be able to safely deliver aid to the most vulnerable once internal security is restored — likely only under a ceasefire. 'In the meantime, given the urgent need for families to access food, WFP will accept hungry populations taking food from its trucks, as long as there is no violence,' spokesperson Abeer Etifa said. In the alternative delivery system operated by GHF, an American contractor, Palestinians often run a deadly gantlet. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops while seeking food since May, mainly near the GHF sites, according to the U.N. human rights office, witnesses and local health officials. The military says it has only fired warning shots when people approach its forces, while GHF says its security contractors have only used pepper spray or fired in the air on some occasions to prevent stampedes. 'You have to be strong and fast' A man in his 30s, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he had visited GHF sites about 40 times since they opened and nearly always came back with food. He sold most of it to merchants or other people in order to buy other necessities for his family. Heba Jouda, who has visited the sites many times, said armed men steal aid as people return with it and merchants also offer to buy it. 'To get food from the American organization, you have to be strong and fast," she said. Footage shot by Palestinians at GHF sites and shared broadly shows chaotic scenes, with crowds of men racing down fenced-in corridors and scrambling to grab boxes off the ground. GHF says it has installed separate lanes for women and children and is ramping up programs to deliver aid directly to communities. The U.N.'s deliveries also often devolve into deadly violence and chaos, with crowds of thousands rapidly overwhelming trucks in close proximity to Israeli troops. The U.N. does not accept protection from Israel, saying it prefers to rely on community support. The Israeli military did not respond to emails seeking comment about the reselling of aid. Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls and accuses Hamas of prolonging the war by not surrendering. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. The situation changed dramatically in March For much of the war, U.N. agencies were able to safely deliver aid, despite Israeli restrictions and occasional attacks and theft. Hamas-led police guarded convoys and went after suspected looters and merchants who resold aid. During a ceasefire earlier this year, Israel allowed up to 600 aid trucks to enter daily. There were no major disruptions in deliveries, and food prices were far lower. The U.N. said it had mechanisms in place to prevent any organized diversion of aid. But Israel says Hamas was siphoning it off, though it has provided no evidence of widespread theft. That all changed in March, when Israel ended the ceasefire and halted all imports, including food. Israel seized large parts of Gaza in what it said was a tactic to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. As the Hamas-run police vanished from areas under Israeli control, local tribes and gangs — some of which Israel says it supports — took over, residents say. Israel began allowing a trickle of aid to enter in May. GHF was set up that month with the stated goal of preventing Hamas from diverting aid. Since then, Israel has allowed an average of about 70 trucks a day, compared to the 500-600 the U.N. says are needed. The military said Saturday it would allow more trucks in — 180 entered Sunday — and international airdrops have resumed, which aid organizations say are largely ineffective. Meanwhile, food distribution continues to be plagued by chaos and violence, as seen near GHF sites or around U.N. trucks. Even if Israel pauses its military operations during the day, it's unclear how much the security situation will improve. With both the U.N. and GHF, it's possible Hamas members are among the crowds. In response to questions from The Associated Press, GHF acknowledged that but said its system prevents the organized diversion of aid. 'The real concern we are addressing is not whether individual actors manage to receive food, but whether Hamas is able to systematically control aid flows. At GHF sites, they cannot,' it said. Hamas has denied stealing aid. It's unclear if it's involved in the trade in aid, but its fighters would be taking a major risk by operating in a coordinated way in Israeli military zones that U.N. trucks pass through and where GHF sites are located. The UN says the only solution is a ceasefire U.N. officials have called on Israel to fully lift the blockade and flood Gaza with food. That would reduce the incentive for looting by ensuring enough for everyone and driving down prices. Another ceasefire would include a major increase in aid and the release of Israeli hostages, but talks have stalled. Hamas started the war when its fighters stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. Fifty captives are still being held in Gaza. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and is run by medical professionals. Israel has disputed its figures without providing its own. ___ ___
Sky News
17 hours ago
- Sky News
Mile after mile of grey rubble - the view from a plane dropping aid to Gaza
Why you can trust Sky News We are on our way to Gaza with the Jordanian military. The aircraft is hot and noisy and as we get closer, the atmosphere gets more tense. Aircrew gesture with their hands to tell us how many minutes there are to go. Fifteen. Six. One. The Jordanian military C-130 flies out over the sea before banking and heading inland for Gaza. The parachutes, attached to the top of each of the eight pallets, are prepared for the drop. As land approaches, I look down. The ground is modern and built up - we're still over southern Israel. Then a few short minutes later, it's clear we've crossed Gaza's border. The ground turns grey, the shapes of buildings disappear, there are no cars, no people. You can see the outline of communities and villages that are now flattened. Mile after mile of grey rubble. This mission by the Royal Jordanian Air Force is one of the first aid drop flights since Israel announced they could resume. It is carrying eight tonnes of food and baby formula. Foreign nations know this is a deeply flawed way of delivering aid - road convoys are far more effective and can carry far more - but the Jordanian flight crew say the need in Gaza is so urgent, it's simply an attempt to do something. When the aircraft ramp opens, the aid is pushed out and it's gone in seconds. The parachutes seem peaceful as they open and their fall slows. But dropping food from the sky is a dangerous and undignified way to feed people. On the ground it's chaos. Our colleagues in Gaza say the fighting for food has become lethal - gangs are now punching and stabbing people to reach it first. Most critically, it's not getting to the weakest. To those who really need it. One man becomes emotional as he describes racing to find food and leaving with nothing. "I came only for my son," he says. "I wouldn't come here if it was just for me. When you have a child, they need bread." He's an engineer in normal times and seems in disbelief that his life has come to this. "The aid comes from the sky and we have to run after it. I've never had to do this in my life." It is hoped Israel's humanitarian pauses in fighting will rapidly increase food distribution by road but it's very unclear how that is going. Hospitals in Gaza have reported another 14 deaths from starvation in the last 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. Airstrikes killed another at least 78 Palestinians across Gaza on Monday, local health officials said. We cannot verify these numbers because Israel has not allowed international journalists access to Gaza. And Monday's flight came with strict media conditions. We were told the Israeli side had warned that any shots of Gaza filmed from the air could result in these aid flights being cancelled. But Israel's tight grip has not stopped the images from Gaza getting out, horrifying people around the world. The question now is what more the international community will do about it.
