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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
‘Worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed food security initiative says
The Middle East The UN Israel-Hamas warFacebookTweetLink Follow The 'worst-case scenario of famine' is currently taking place in the Gaza Strip, according to an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed initiative. 'Conflict and displacement have intensified, and access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels,' the IPC said, adding that 'mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.' The IPC said that the alert is intended to 'draw urgent attention to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation' but doesn't constitute a formal classification of famine. 'Given the most recent information and data made available, a new IPC analysis is to be conducted without delay,' it added. More than 20,000 children were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, the IPC said, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished. 'Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,' the alert said, calling for 'immediate action' to end the hostilities and allow for 'unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response.' In May, the IPC reported that the enclave's entire population is experiencing 'high levels of acute food security' and the territory is at 'high risk' of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis. Israel has come under mounting pressure by the international community to break its blockade, allow aid into Gaza and end the war. In some of his strongest remarks on the crisis, US President Donald Trump on Monday said there is 'real starvation' in Gaza, contradicting earlier statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists there is no starvation. President Donald Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment on starvation in Gaza and announced a plan for new "food centers" in the enclave. CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Jerusalem. 'That's real starvation stuff,' Trump told reporters in Turnberry, Scotland. 'I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved.' Trump added that the United States will set up 'food centers' in Gaza to address the crisis. Vice President JD Vance also lamented images coming out of the besieged territory. 'I don't know if you've all seen these images. You have got some really, really heartbreaking cases. You've got little kids who are clearly starving to death,' Vance told reporters Monday during a visit to Canton, Ohio. 'Israel's got to do more to let that aid in,' he said, adding that 'we've also got to wage war on Hamas so that those folks stop preventing food from coming into this territory.' Over the weekend, Israel announced a daily 'tactical pause in military activity' in three areas of Gaza to enable more aid to reach people. The military said the move would 'refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.' Israel has also allowed foreign countries to airdrop aid into the territory, but the practice has in the past been deemed by the UN and other aid groups as costly, dangerous and insufficient. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Israel's war on Hamas began nearly two years ago. The ministry reported that 113 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 60,034. The announcement comes as hopes dim for a ceasefire anytime soon, after talks broke up last week without an agreement. The war began after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and saw another roughly 250 people taken hostage. Authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters when reporting casualty figures, but the health ministry and the UN say the majority of deaths are women and children. And the true toll could be much higher, with many thousands still believed to be buried under rubble. Israel does not dispute that a significant number of Palestinian civilians have been killed in its war in Gaza. But it has long argued that figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry are exaggerated, and that Hamas embeds itself between civilians, using them as 'human shields.' On Monday, a pair of leading Israeli human rights groups accused Israel of 'committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,' becoming the first such organizations to make the claim. B'Tselem said it came to that 'unequivocal conclusion' after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack.' A second Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), announced it was joining B'Tselem in calling Israel's actions in Gaza genocide. It published a separate legal and medical analysis documenting what it called 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.' Israeli government spokesman David Mencer dismissed the report. 'We have free speech in this country but we strongly reject this claim,' he told reporters, adding that Israel has allowed aid into Gaza. CNN's Eyad Kourdi, DJ Judd and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
‘Worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed food security initiative says
The 'worst-case scenario of famine' is currently taking place in the Gaza Strip, according to an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed initiative. 'Conflict and displacement have intensified, and access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels,' the IPC said, adding that 'mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.' The IPC said that the alert is intended to 'draw urgent attention to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation' but doesn't constitute a formal classification of famine. 'Given the most recent information and data made available, a new IPC analysis is to be conducted without delay,' it added. More than 20,000 children were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, the IPC said, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished. 'Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,' the alert said, calling for 'immediate action' to end the hostilities and allow for 'unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response.' In May, the IPC reported that the enclave's entire population is experiencing 'high levels of acute food security' and the territory is at 'high risk' of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis. Israel has come under mounting pressure by the international community to break its blockade, allow aid into Gaza and end the war. In some of his strongest remarks on the crisis, US President Donald Trump on Monday said there is 'real starvation' in Gaza, contradicting earlier statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists there is no starvation. President Donald Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment on starvation in Gaza and announced a plan for new "food centers" in the enclave. CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Jerusalem. 'That's real starvation stuff,' Trump told reporters in Turnberry, Scotland. 'I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved.' Trump added that the United States will set up 'food centers' in Gaza to address the crisis. Vice President JD Vance also lamented images coming out of the besieged territory. 'I don't know if you've all seen these images. You have got some really, really heartbreaking cases. You've got little kids who are clearly starving to death,' Vance told reporters Monday during a visit to Canton, Ohio. 'Israel's got to do more to let that aid in,' he said, adding that 'we've also got to wage war on Hamas so that those folks stop preventing food from coming into this territory.' Over the weekend, Israel announced a daily 'tactical pause in military activity' in three areas of Gaza to enable more aid to reach people. The military said the move would 'refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.' Israel has also allowed foreign countries to airdrop aid into the territory, but the practice has in the past been deemed by the UN and other aid groups as costly, dangerous and insufficient. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Israel's war on Hamas began nearly two years ago. The ministry reported that 113 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 60,034. The announcement comes as hopes dim for a ceasefire anytime soon, after talks broke up last week without an agreement. The war began after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and saw another roughly 250 people taken hostage. Authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters when reporting casualty figures, but the health ministry and the UN say the majority of deaths are women and children. And the true toll could be much higher, with many thousands still believed to be buried under rubble. Israel does not dispute that a significant number of Palestinian civilians have been killed in its war in Gaza. But it has long argued that figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry are exaggerated, and that Hamas embeds itself between civilians, using them as 'human shields.' On Monday, a pair of leading Israeli human rights groups accused Israel of 'committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,' becoming the first such organizations to make the claim. B'Tselem said it came to that 'unequivocal conclusion' after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack.' A second Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), announced it was joining B'Tselem in calling Israel's actions in Gaza genocide. It published a separate legal and medical analysis documenting what it called 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.' Israeli government spokesman David Mencer dismissed the report. 'We have free speech in this country but we strongly reject this claim,' he told reporters, adding that Israel has allowed aid into Gaza. CNN's Eyad Kourdi, DJ Judd and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
In the works: A presidential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell?
As any constitutional scholar will tell you, the Constitution devotes as much time defining the limits of presidential power as it does defining its broad reach. But there is one exception to this: the presidential pardon power. That broad power is clearly spelled out in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1: 'The President…shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.' The Supreme Court has, in effect, subsequently interpreted that provision as allowing a president to pardon anyone, anytime, for any offense (except impeachment). In his masterful book, 'The Pardon,' CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin argues that use of the pardon is the one time where a president is, for all practical purposes, a 'king.' Such an awesome power was bound to be abused, and several presidents, Republican and Democrat, have done so. Among other abuses, Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon to spare him from prison. Bill Clinton and Joe Biden pardoned members of their own families near the end of their terms. President Trump pardoned supporters who stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. But no previous abuse of the pardon can compare with what dominated the Sunday morning news shows last weekend, and which Trump has so far not ruled out: A possible presidential pardon for Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Let's remember who she is and what she is serving time for. Maxwell had more than a romantic relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. For years, she was Epstein's enabler and procurer. Several young women testified that it was Maxwell herself who had sought them out, introduced them to Epstein, persuaded them to have sex with Epstein and other prominent men, trained them in sexual techniques, and herself participated in some of their sexual encounters. In 2020, federal prosecutors charged that between 1994 and 1997, Maxwell personally ' assisted, facilitated, and contributed ' to the abuse of minor girls despite knowing that one of three unnamed victims was 14 years old.' She was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for what Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has accurately described as 'terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people.' And that should be the end of the story, but it's not. Suddenly, having failed in every other attempt to change the narrative on Epstein, the Trump administration is now counting on Maxwell to be its lifeline. Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, now deputy attorney general, rushed to Tallahassee last week and spent nine hours over two days interviewing Maxwell. Why? We know why Maxwell agreed to talk: She wants to get out of prison. She has already asked the Supreme Court to overturn her criminal conviction. And now she is clearly angling for a presidential pardon from a man who admits he was once one of Epstein's best friends. But by spending so much time with her, Blanche triggered a wave of speculation about a Maxwell pardon. This is especially bizarre, given that Maxwell has nothing to do with all the questions swirling around the White House about the Epstein matter. What Trump's MAGA base wants to know is why he and other administration officials spent six years spreading the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered while his client list was being covered up to protect powerful 'elites' only, once in office, to turn around and report that Epstein committed suicide and there is no client list. Why won't they simply release all the Epstein files? Granted, the idea that anyone convicted of sex trafficking in underage girls would merit a presidential pardon is unthinkable. Even Johnson, in a rare break with Trump, admitted ' I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would.' But what's even more unthinkable is that Trump didn't immediately shoot it down. Instead, when asked by reporters whether he would consider a pardon for Maxwell, Trump would only offer a weak: 'It's something I haven't thought about. I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.' Really? Whether or not to pardon a sexual predator is not something Trump should have to think about. His answer should have been an immediate, emphatic: 'No way, no how. Period.' It's insane even just to toy with the idea. Clearly, this is one point on which Republicans and Democrats can agree: Sexual predators don't get a mulligan. Ghislaine Maxwell does not deserve a presidential pardon. Trump should stop even teasing the possibility of giving her one.
