Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Residents Cannot Be Saved with Exclusion of U.N.
Can the residents of the Palestinian territory of Gaza be saved if a U.N. organization, which is well-versed in the special circumstances of the Palestinian territory and has continued to provide support, is excluded? The true intentions of the United States and Israel must be called into question.
In late May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), led by Israel and the United States, began distributing food and other supplies in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
For many years, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has distributed supplies to residents in Gaza and provided them with medical care and other services. But in January, Israel banned the UNRWA from operating in the country.
In addition, Israel did not allow other U.N. agencies and other organizations to deliver relief supplies to Gaza for 2½ months until mid-May. During this period, severe hunger spread in the area.
Although the GHF has begun distributing supplies, it has not led to an improvement in the situation.
There are only four distribution sites, mainly in southern Gaza. It is totally impossible to distribute supplies to the more than 2 million Gaza residents. In Rafah, hundreds of people were shot to death or injured for days in a row as they rushed to get supplies. The Israeli military was deployed near the sites.
While Israel pretends to have started support activities, in reality, it is probably using the distribution of supplies as a way to try to contain the residents of Gaza to a certain area and occupy the remaining areas.
Israel excluded the UNRWA from aid activities because it considers the agency to be one with the Islamist group Hamas, which is hostile toward Israel. However, the UNRWA has already expelled officials suspected of having ties to Hamas.
It is wrong for the United States to go along with Israel and hinder the activities of the United Nations. It would be reasonable for Washington to join U.N. organizations to promote humanitarian assistance and strengthen monitoring activities so that these activities are not used by Hamas.
International criticism has been intensified toward Israel, as it provides support while continuing its indiscriminate attacks.
Germany has traditionally defended Israel out of remorse for the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, but Chancellor Friedrich Merz has taken the unusual step of criticizing the Gaza attacks and said the attacks 'can no longer be justified.'
The international community must increase pressure on Israel to realize the halt of the attacks and the provision of relief to residents.
A draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was rejected at a U.N. Security Council meeting. This is because, even though 14 out of the 15 countries voted in favor of the draft, the United States vetoed it.
With the adoption of the resolution at a U.N. General Assembly meeting, the pressure for a ceasefire should be strengthened as a consensus of the international community. Japan also needs to do its utmost to achieve this.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 13, 2025)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
5 hours ago
- The Mainichi
How serious is Israel's attack for Iran's nuclear program?
(AP) -- Israel's sweeping attack across Iran struck at the heart of Tehran's nuclear program, delivering a blow to the country's ability to enrich uranium and potentially setting its nuclear ambitions back by months or years. As well as killing key military figures and nuclear scientists, the Israeli strikes destroyed part of a plant that was enriching uranium to levels far beyond the requirements for nuclear-fueled power stations. The attacks also destroyed backup power for the underground section of the plant, potentially damaging more sensitive equipment. Iran's nuclear program has progressed rapidly since 2018, when the U.S. withdrew from a deal to limit Tehran's capacity to enrich uranium, which is necessary to build a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its program is peaceful, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. Nuclear regulators said the assault was unlikely to lead to increased levels of radiation, even at the site where part of the fuel-enrichment plant was destroyed. Here's a closer look at the attack and its likely effects on Iran's nuclear efforts. What impact will the attacks have on Iran's nuclear program? There is "no question" Israel's attacks did substantial damage, said Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iran's nuclear program at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. David Albright, a nuclear weapons expert, speculated that the initial wave of attacks could set back any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon by about a year. A key question, Hinz said, is whether Israel also targeted suppliers of specialist components such as centrifuges and subcontractors. Israel's strategy appears to be to "destroy the brains" behind the program and "as much equipment as possible," said Albright, who agreed that Israel has potentially done a "tremendous amount of damage" to the program. Israel is widely believed to be behind a series of attacks in recent years that targeted Iranian nuclear scientists and sabotaged nuclear facilities. What damage was done to Iran's nuclear facilities? Hinz suggested a key Israeli goal was to undermine Iran's ability to make centrifuges, which are critical for enriching uranium. Uranium enrichment is a key component of building a nuclear weapon, but Iran would still need to develop a detonator. Delivering it using a missile would require solving further technical challenges. Iran has two uranium-enrichment sites, and the country said Wednesday that it has built and will activate a third enrichment facility. On Thursday, Israel struck Iran's main and oldest facility in Natanz, 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, which was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The IAEA's chief, Rafael Grossi, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the above-ground part of the plant where uranium was enriched up to 60% was destroyed, along with electrical infrastructure, including a substation, the main electric power supply building, the emergency power supply and backup generators. Grossi said there were no changes to radiation levels following the attack or any indication of damage to the underground section of the plant. That part of the facility is buried to protect it from airstrikes and contains the bulk of Natanz's enrichment facilities, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, Albright said. However, Grossi said, the loss of power may have damaged centrifuges. There is a good chance the strikes still caused "massive damage," Hinz said because many of the centrifuges were probably operating at the time of the strike. Centrifuges, Albright said, "don't like vibration," and the shock waves or loss of power could break delicate parts when they are rotating at high speed. What about the Fordo nuclear site? Most of Iran's centrifuges are in Natanz, the experts said, because a lot of them are required to enrich uranium to 5% -- which is the maximum level normally used for nuclear-fueled power stations. But, buried under a huge mountain at Fordo, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is another nuclear facility where Iran is also enriching uranium to 60%, which is only a short step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. According to the IAEA, Tehran has the largest number of its most powerful centrifuges at Fordo. An Iranian news outlet close to the government reported Friday that two explosions were heard near the Fordo site. But, while Israel could potentially hit the entrance to Fordo and temporarily block access, it is not believed to have the type of earth-penetrating bombs required to blow up the mountain and crack open the nuclear facility inside, Hinz said. That capacity lies with the U.S., which has developed a massive bomb that can be dropped only from large aircraft that Israel does not have in service, he said. The potential for more strikes loomed large. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the attacks will continue "for as many days at it takes to remove this threat." Hinz said the attacks showed Israeli intelligence had "absolutely exceptional" knowledge of Iran's nuclear program and the ability to strike at key targets "with precision." That could mean Israel could sabotage the plant, rather than trying to blast the mountain open. Albright suggested Israel could try to cut off electricity to Fordo, which could lead to centrifuges breaking. Is there risk from radiation? Although Grossi said part of the enrichment facility at Natanz was destroyed, he noted that radiation levels had not spiked. Even if radiation did leak, experts said, the amount would be unlikely to pose a risk to people in the region or even those near the facilities that got hit. "Very little uranium will be released in these kind of attacks," Albright said. Uranium itself is not especially toxic, he said, and is common in parts of the environment. A person standing near an enrichment facility with a leak would probably be exposed to no more radiation than someone who took several transatlantic flights, which receive slightly higher radiation because radiation doses are larger at high altitudes, he said. In order to become sick, someone would have to ingest large quantities of uranium, Albright said, pointing out that the element can be found naturally in seawater and the earth's crust. Rather than radiation, the greater risk might be from fluorine, which is used to enrich uranium and could have been deadly to those nearby if released during an attack. Fluorine is mixed with the uranium during enrichment to turn it into a gas called uranium hexafluoride. It is extremely volatile, will quickly corrode and can burn the skin. It is especially deadly if inhaled.
Yomiuri Shimbun
6 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless' after Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending
Reuters People look at damaged buildings at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Ramat Gan, Israel, June 14, 2025. CAIRO, June 14 (Reuters) – Iran said the dialog with the U.S. over Tehran's nuclear program is 'meaningless' after Israel's biggest-ever military strikeagainst its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday. 'The other side (the U.S.) acted in a way that makes dialog meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran's territory,' state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying. 'It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,' Baghaei was quoted as saying. He said Israel 'succeeded in influencing' the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington's permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack. Iran earlier accused the U.S. of being complicit in Israel's attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be 'wise' to negotiate over its nuclear program. The sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes. Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons. U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
Yomiuri Shimbun
8 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Iran Retaliates against Israel with Barrage of Ballistic Missiles
Heidi Levine/For The Washington Post First responders at the scene of a residential building in Ramat Gan, Israel, that was heavily damaged by Iran's barrage of ballistic missiles Friday. Iran unleashed a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel late Friday as it retaliated for the waves of Israeli strikes that killed top military leaders and nuclear scientists, and damaged a key uranium enrichment site. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced the start of the retaliatory attack in a recorded message carried by state television. 'We will not allow them to get away with this great crime they committed,' he said. 'The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will deal heavy blows to this enemy.' Most of the missiles were intercepted or fell short, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday, but at least one appeared to have slammed into central Tel Aviv in an area where a major military base is located. 'Iran has crossed red lines by daring to fire missiles at civilian population centers in Israel,' Defense Minister Israel Katz said. 'We will continue to defend the citizens of Israel and will ensure that the Ayatollah regime pays a very heavy price for its criminal actions.' Israeli leaders have portrayed the campaign as a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear program. For years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that only military force would denuclearize Iran. But after a year of crippling military and strategic setbacks, including the loss of key allies in Lebanon and Syria, Iran has a limited arsenal with which to fight back. And it's unclear how Tehran plans to match Israel's escalation, which could last days or weeks, according to Israeli officials. Iran and Israel, longtime rivals, began openly trading blows last year as part of the regional spillover from the war in Gaza. But the attacks – including an Israeli strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria – were more narrowly calibrated to avoid spiraling into a wider conflict. Now, Tehran is much more isolated, with its partner, Hezbollah, decimated in Lebanon and the regime it propped up in Syria gone. In October, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel after a covert Israeli operation killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. But on Friday, the IDF said fewer than 100 missiles were launched from Iran, although around 40 people were injured in the strike, according to medics and emergency services in Israel. In Iran, the Israeli strikes 'crossed all red lines,' Ali Larijani, a prominent Iranian politician and adviser to the supreme leader, said in an interview with state television. Larijani spoke by phone, pledging: 'There are no limits left to respond to this crime, and the hand of divine vengeance will grip the brutal terrorist regime and its supporters.' Previous Israeli strikes targeted Iranian military sites and hardware, many of them far from major cities, but Friday's raids included attacks on military leaders at their homes in residential areas. 'This was in the center of Tehran, entire apartment buildings collapsed. So this was not the kind of restrained engagement we saw last year,' said Nicole Grajewski, an Iran researcher and nuclear policy fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rescue teams in Tehran dug through the rubble for hours Friday at strike sites where senior military officials and nuclear scientists were targeted. At least 78 people were killed in the Israeli strikes across Iran on Friday, according to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations. It was not clear if that toll included both civilians and military forces. Among the senior officers killed were Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC Aerospace Forces; Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the army chief of staff who reported directly to the supreme leader; and Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who was responsible for coordinating operations among Iran's military forces, according to Iranian broadcasters. Grajewski said the conflict could expand if Iran determines there was U.S. involvement in the attacks. 'It would give Iran more targets,' she said. In anticipation of the Israeli strikes, the Trump administration drew down the number of personnel it had in the region, scaling back diplomatic operations in Iraq, as the Pentagon authorized military families to withdraw from other places in the Middle East. Patriot and THAAD missile defense batteries, operated by U.S. military personnel and originally deployed under the Biden administration, participated in Israeli air defense Friday evening, according to U.S. defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. That represented a more limited participation in Israel's defense than last year, when American air and sea assets helped shoot down incoming Iranian missiles during two retaliatory Iranian attacks. Among Israel's targets Friday were enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, as well as a nuclear facility in Isfahan, according to Israeli officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The agency's director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, told the U.N. Security Council that damage to Natanz had caused 'radioactive and chemical contamination at the site.' The potential impact on other facilities was unclear. There were reports of military activity around Fordow, but there was no confirmation it was hit. Iran had been in talks with the Trump administration to negotiate a new nuclear deal, after the U.S. president withdrew in his first term from a comprehensive agreement Tehran struck with world powers, including the United States under President Barack Obama. Iran's foreign minister and President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, were supposed to meet Sunday in Oman for another round of negotiations. 'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.' Inside Iran, many residents were taking stock of the damage and preparing for the possibility of a drawn-out confrontation. The sheer scale of destruction from hours of relentless strikes that simultaneously hit multiple parts of the country appeared to initially frustrate the official Iranian response. In Tehran, state television broadcast back-to-back coverage of the strikes' aftermath, with correspondents reporting from rubble-strewn streets. Outside a residential building in central Tehran, a television reporter said that a number of civilians had been pulled from the rubble, including children. 'The rescue teams are now lifting debris from one unit that hasn't been cleared yet,' he said, gesturing to a partially collapsed building facade. 'A few minutes ago, the bodies of two martyrs, a woman and a young kid, were taken out,' he said. A small crowd gathered behind him to watch the rescue teams work. In the Saadat Abad neighborhood in northwestern Tehran, another strike targeted an apartment block that neighbors said housed some nuclear scientists. 'As you can see, the complex behind me has been badly hit. Three floors have collapsed,' a reporter said, adding that the force of the explosion triggered a fire and sent debris flying. Other Iranians described terrifying scenes that stretched into early dawn Friday. 'It was scary at some points at night, of course. We live very close to one of the targets in Nobonyad. I think it was a military target,' said 32-year-old Saba, a housewife who lives in a neighborhood on Tehran's northern edge. Neda, a swimming instructor from Tabriz, said the waves of attacks in her area seemed to grow louder as the day went on. Like Saba, Neda spoke on the condition that she be identified by only her first name because of fear of retribution. Now, Neda said, her neighbors are scrambling to prepare for what's expected to be another night of heavy strikes. 'I heard from friends that there is already a kilometers-long petrol line,' she said.
