Hamas says ready for 'serious' Gaza truce talks, as rescuers say 37 killed
GAZA CITY - Hamas's lead negotiator said the group was ready to enter a new round of talks aimed at sealing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 37 people on Thursday.
Negotiator Khalil al-Hayya made the declaration in a speech marking the start of Eid al-Adha festivities, typically a joyous date on the Muslim calendar, but one many Gazans say they will not be able to celebrate this year amid crushing shortages.
"We reaffirm that we are ready for a new, serious round of negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement," Hayya said, adding the group was in contact with mediators.
Talks aimed at brokering a new ceasefire have failed to yield a breakthrough since the last brief truce fell apart in March with the resumption of Israeli operations in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas appeared close to an agreement late last month, but a deal proved elusive, with each side accusing the other of scuppering a US-backed proposal.
STEPPED-UP GAZA CAMPAIGN
The Israeli military has recently stepped up its campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war.
Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that "37 people have been martyred in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip" as of Thursday afternoon, reporting attacks up and down the length of the territory.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
International calls for a negotiated ceasefire have grown in recent weeks, particularly as the humanitarian situation in the devastated Palestinian territory has worsened.
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that Gaza's "health system is collapsing", pointing to the risks faced by the Nasser and Al-Amal medical facilities - the "last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Yunis", where many displaced Gazans are sheltering.
"What is happening in Gaza is not a war. It's a genocide being carried out by a highly prepared army against women and children," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has previously used the legal term to describe the conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declined to use the term himself, vowed at a joint appearance with Lula to "ramp up pressure in coordination with the Americans to obtain a ceasefire".
France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday warned Israel of "further concrete actions" over its Gaza offensive and restrictions on aid.
'REJOICE OVER FLOUR'
Israel has faced mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, after it imposed a more than two-month blockade that led to widespread shortages of food and other essentials.
On a normal Eid al-Adha, Gazans would be preparing for large family gatherings, traditionally centred around the sacrifice and eating of a sheep.
But this year, "one kilo of meat has become a dream", said Mohammed Othman, 36.
"We just hope to find bread to feed our children on the day of Eid, and they will rejoice over flour as if it were meat."
Israel recently eased its aid blockade and has worked with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to implement a new distribution mechanism via a handful of centres in south and central Gaza.
But since its inception, GHF has been a magnet for criticism from the UN and other members of the aid world - which only intensified following a recent string of deadly incidents near its facilities.
The United Nations and other aid groups have declined to work with GHF, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals.
GHF shut down its distribution centres on Wednesday for what it called "reorganisation" to improve its work but said it had reopened two of them on Thursday.
The group said it had distributed more than 8.4 million meals' worth of food since opening a little over a week ago.
Gaza rescuers and eyewitnesses implicated Israeli troops in instances of deadly gunfire near a GHF centre in Rafah.
Israel's military has maintained it does not prevent Gazans from collecting aid, but army spokesperson Effie Defrin said after one such incident on Tuesday that soldiers had fired towards suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops.
He added that the incident was under investigation.
HOSTAGE BODIES RECOVERED
During their October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of two Israeli-Americans killed on 7 October - Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai - had been recovered in "a special operation" in Gaza and returned to Israel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said their return was "a stark reminder of the enduring cruelty" faced by the families of hostages still in Gaza.
Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.
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The Herald
12 hours ago
- The Herald
US group distributing aid in Gaza reopens sites after deadly shootings
A US- and Israeli-backed organisation distributing aid in Gaza reopened two sites on Thursday, a day after halting work in response to deadly shootings close to its operations. The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said 26 truckloads of desperately needed food were handed out at two sites in southern Gaza's Rafah area. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the UN, for alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week and had been running three sites earlier this week. GHF's interim director John Acree said the group was looking to open more sites, including in north Gaza, and 'ensure safe and more efficient delivery of lifesaving aid'. The UN has warned most of Gaza's 2.3-million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. 'The failure to provide urgent therapeutic feeding and health services for children places thousands of lives at immediate risk, and could result in unnecessary and continued loss of life,' UN aid chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council in a note, seen by Reuters. Meanwhile, Israel announced it had recovered the bodies of two dual-nationality Israeli-American hostages from Gaza. Gadi Hagi and his wife Judy Weinstein-Hagi were killed and taken to Gaza after Hamas' October 7 2023 attack that triggered the war. T total of 56 hostages remain in captivity, with fewer than half believed to be alive. The Israeli military has intensified operations in Gaza since breaking a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March, taking more territory with the government pushing to wipe out the Islamist militant group. At least 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Thursday, including four journalists in a hospital in the enclave's north, local health authorities said. The military said it had targeted an Islamic Jihad militant who was operating a command-and-control centre. The Hamas-run government media office said 225 journalists in Gaza have been killed since the war began. The renewed military campaign has further isolated Israel amid mounting international pressure. On Wednesday, a US veto blocked a UN Security Council draft resolution, backed by the 14 other members, demanding an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire' and full, unrestricted aid access to Gaza. Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led aid deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later, the relatively unknown GHF started a new aid distribution system that bypasses traditional relief agencies.
Eyewitness News
15 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Hamas says ready for 'serious' Gaza truce talks, as rescuers say 37 killed
GAZA CITY - Hamas's lead negotiator said the group was ready to enter a new round of talks aimed at sealing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 37 people on Thursday. Negotiator Khalil al-Hayya made the declaration in a speech marking the start of Eid al-Adha festivities, typically a joyous date on the Muslim calendar, but one many Gazans say they will not be able to celebrate this year amid crushing shortages. "We reaffirm that we are ready for a new, serious round of negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement," Hayya said, adding the group was in contact with mediators. Talks aimed at brokering a new ceasefire have failed to yield a breakthrough since the last brief truce fell apart in March with the resumption of Israeli operations in Gaza. Israel and Hamas appeared close to an agreement late last month, but a deal proved elusive, with each side accusing the other of scuppering a US-backed proposal. STEPPED-UP GAZA CAMPAIGN The Israeli military has recently stepped up its campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that "37 people have been martyred in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip" as of Thursday afternoon, reporting attacks up and down the length of the territory. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. International calls for a negotiated ceasefire have grown in recent weeks, particularly as the humanitarian situation in the devastated Palestinian territory has worsened. The World Health Organization warned Thursday that Gaza's "health system is collapsing", pointing to the risks faced by the Nasser and Al-Amal medical facilities - the "last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Yunis", where many displaced Gazans are sheltering. "What is happening in Gaza is not a war. It's a genocide being carried out by a highly prepared army against women and children," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has previously used the legal term to describe the conflict. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declined to use the term himself, vowed at a joint appearance with Lula to "ramp up pressure in coordination with the Americans to obtain a ceasefire". France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday warned Israel of "further concrete actions" over its Gaza offensive and restrictions on aid. 'REJOICE OVER FLOUR' Israel has faced mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, after it imposed a more than two-month blockade that led to widespread shortages of food and other essentials. On a normal Eid al-Adha, Gazans would be preparing for large family gatherings, traditionally centred around the sacrifice and eating of a sheep. But this year, "one kilo of meat has become a dream", said Mohammed Othman, 36. "We just hope to find bread to feed our children on the day of Eid, and they will rejoice over flour as if it were meat." Israel recently eased its aid blockade and has worked with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to implement a new distribution mechanism via a handful of centres in south and central Gaza. But since its inception, GHF has been a magnet for criticism from the UN and other members of the aid world - which only intensified following a recent string of deadly incidents near its facilities. The United Nations and other aid groups have declined to work with GHF, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals. GHF shut down its distribution centres on Wednesday for what it called "reorganisation" to improve its work but said it had reopened two of them on Thursday. The group said it had distributed more than 8.4 million meals' worth of food since opening a little over a week ago. Gaza rescuers and eyewitnesses implicated Israeli troops in instances of deadly gunfire near a GHF centre in Rafah. Israel's military has maintained it does not prevent Gazans from collecting aid, but army spokesperson Effie Defrin said after one such incident on Tuesday that soldiers had fired towards suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops. He added that the incident was under investigation. HOSTAGE BODIES RECOVERED During their October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of two Israeli-Americans killed on 7 October - Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai - had been recovered in "a special operation" in Gaza and returned to Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said their return was "a stark reminder of the enduring cruelty" faced by the families of hostages still in Gaza. Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.
TimesLIVE
18 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
It's the ‘Donald disease' that's making us sick
As stakeholders duke it out, those with most to lose from HIV funding cuts tell Bhekisisa they have been left to fend for themselves — bad news for all of us By 'Hello, sis. How are you? I hope you're fine. I mean, I'm not.' A lot has been going on out there, he told Bhekisisa in the voicemail, one of the many we recently received. 'You know, I'm a gay guy. I have sex with other men, without wearing condoms now, because when I try to fetch them from my local clinic, I'm told I get judged and told I want too many. You know what's happening in our industry,' he said. We will call him Nkosi. Because he has sex with men and because his industry is sex work and because no-one in the small community where he lives knows that he is gay or what he does for work. He even has a 'girlfriend' so people will think he's straight. Sex work has always been a dangerous profession. But ever since the Trump administration stopped most of its HIV funding in February, it's become even more risky. The World Health Organization says gay and bisexual men like Nkosi's chance of contracting HIV through sex is 26 times higher than that of the general population. Male sex workers are even more likely to get infected with the virus. That is what makes sex workers, as well as gay and bisexual men, what researchers call a ' key population ' in the HIV world. Other key populations are transgender people, people who inject drugs, and, in Africa, also young women between the ages of 15 and 24. Because so many new HIV infections happen in these groups, the US government's Aids fund, Pepfar, has, for the past decades, invested most of its funds in programmes working with these groups. But the 12 specialised clinics for key populations, supported by Pepfar, have now been shut down. Gone, too, are their health workers specially trained in how to work without discrimination. Gone is their tailor-made HIV treatment and testing services; their specialised mental health support; and the condoms and lubricants they handed out for protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Gone are the two-monthly anti-HIV jabs that some of these clinics handed out as part of studies — and the daily anti-HIV pills, which they distributed without judgement. Though government clinics also stock the daily anti-HIV pill, which, if used correctly, can reduce someone's chance of getting HIV through sex to close to 0, people like Nkosi, research shows, are often treated badly by health workers at state clinics, making them wary to return. Preventive medicines like the daily pill are called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, because they stop infection by preventing a germ such as HIV from penetrating someone's cells. 'So sometimes I don't have PrEP,' says Nkosi. 'A partner can tell me he is on PrEP, but I don't trust that. Because where is he getting PrEP? Where am I going to get it? The black market? I don't know if it is even the real thing. Is it a counterfeit? Lube? That's another thing — you use everything, anything, as long as it's got jelly in it. The last time I did that I had an itchy penis for a week.' Nkosi calls the domino effect of the Trump administration's decision to pull funding 'the Donald disease, because it is being caused by this guy, one man. It's like crossing the freeway every day the way we're living now. One day, I know I'm gonna die.' What's with key populations? But why is there so much focus on these communities? UNAids says more than half of all new infections in 2022, around the world, came from key populations — and infections don't stay within those groups. 'Even the most self-interested people should be heavily invested in treatment and prevention of these populations,' says Francois Venter, who heads up the health research organisation, Ezintsha, at Wits University. 'There's no clean, magical division between key populations and general populations. It's a Venn diagram of married men sleeping with sex workers, of drug-using populations interacting with your ostensibly innocent kids, gay men with your straight-presenting son, all needing HIV prevention and treatment programmes.' Though we have medicines like PrEP to prevent people from getting infected with HIV and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for HIV-infected people, which, if taken correctly, reduce their chance of transmitting the virus to others to 0, having the medications available is just a small part of the solution. What's more difficult is to get medication to people and to convince people to use it, and to use it correctly. Researchers estimate that of South Africa's 8-million people with HIV, 1.1-million are not on treatment. Some of the 1.1-million choose not to start treatment, but an even larger proportion, who do go on treatment, cycle in and out of it Studies, for example, show that getting people to use the anti-HIV pill, also called oral PrEP, each day, has been a struggle — and those who do use it, often don't use it each day. The less often it's used, the less well it works. Moreover, UN targets that South Africa needs to reach by the end of 2025, show that we struggle to convince people who know they're infected with HIV, to take treatment — and stay on it. Researchers estimate that of South Africa's 8-million people with HIV, 1.1-million are not on treatment. Some of the 1.1-million choose not to start treatment, but an even larger proportion, who do go on treatment, cycle in and out of it. Pepfar programmes funded thousands of 'foot soldiers', such as community health workers, adherence counsellors, data collectors and youth workers, who went into communities with mobile clinics to find people who stopped their treatment, or to make ARVs easier to get by making it possible for people to collect their medicine from community halls, shops or private pharmacies close to where they live. That's why having lost at least half of those workers — we're likely to lose the other half at the end of the US financial year in September — is such a tragedy. And why, if we do nothing to replace them, modelling studies show, there's a high chance that we see up to almost 300,000 extra HIV infections over the next four years and a 38% increase in Aids deaths. The difficulty with state clinics and key populations Government clinics are mostly not geared towards key populations, because they serve everyone. And because many health workers' own prejudices so often interfere with the way they treat patients such as sex workers, gay and bisexual men, or teens who ask for condoms or PrEP, such groups frequently feel uncomfortable to use state health services. Stigma and discrimination in public clinics — doled out by security guards, cleaners, health workers and patients in waiting rooms — keep people away from HIV treatment and prevention. Researchers who surveyed more than 9,000 people in key populations found that less than half, and in some cases not even a quarter, said they were treated well; about one in five said they were blocked from getting services. Motsoaledi says he's trying to fix that by now training 1,012 clinicians and 2,377 non-clinician workers at government facilities in non-discriminatory healthcare. But despite similar trainings having been conducted for years already, discrimination remains rife. Because funding cuts mean already understaffed government health clinics now have even fewer staff, many people with HIV, or those wanting PrEP, have to travel further for treatment, or wait in long queues. As politicians, activists and researchers duke it out from labs and clinics and press conferences, many of those most at risk, like Nkosi, have been left to fend for themselves. Here are some of their stories — we collected the stories via voice notes with the help of health workers who worked for Pepfar programmes that have now been defunded. Female sex worker: 'My child is going to be infected' 'Yoh, life is very hard. Since all this happened, life has been very, very hard. 'I have tried to go to the public clinic for my medication. But as sex workers, we are not being helped. We are scared to go to the government clinic to treat sexually transmitted infections because we are seen as dirty people who go and sleep around. We even struggle to get condoms. We are now forced to do business without protection because it is our only source of income and it's the way that we put food on the table. My worry now is that I am pregnant and my child is going to be infected because I'm not taking my ARVs, and I have defaulted for two months now.' Transgender woman: 'The future is dark' 'I'm a transgender woman. My pronouns are she. 'When the clinic closed, I was about to run out of medication so I went to the government clinic in my area. I introduced myself to the receptionist and the lady asked me what kind of treatment I was taking. I told her ARVs and that I'm virally suppressed [when people use their treatment correctly the virus can't replicate, leaving so little virus in their bodies that they can't infect others], so I can't transmit HIV to others. 'The lady told me that they can't help me and I need to bring the transfer letter. I told her that the clinic is closed so I don't have the transfer letter. I asked to speak to the manager and the manager also refused to help me. The manager! How can she let someone who is HIV-positive go home without medication? 'I had to call one of my friends and she gave me one container. If you're not taking your medication consistently, you're going to get sick, you're gonna die. And the future? The future is dark.' Migrant farm worker: 'Lose my job? Or risk my health?' 'When we were told that the clinic was closed, I was actually in another town trying to get a seasonal job on the farms. But when I went to the nearest clinic, I was told that I needed to get a transfer letter. So I ended up sharing medication with friends. But then their medication also ran out. 'Then I got a job on the farm. Before the mobile clinics came to the farms and we had our clinical sessions there. The nurse was there, the social worker was there. Now we went to the clinic and spent the whole day there because we had to follow the queues. And because our jobs were not permanent jobs, you know, you just get a job if you apply by the gate. So if you are not there by the gate on that day, then the boss will automatically think that you are no longer interested in the job, so they employ someone else. 'I went to the government clinic and asked to get at least three months' supply. But the clinic said no because it was my first initiation so I had to come back. So I went back to the farm to see if I could still have my job. I found that I was no longer employed because they had to take up someone else. 'What am I going to do? If I go to the clinic, I stand a chance of losing my job. If I stay at my job I am at risk of getting sick.' Trans woman: 'I'll just stay home and die' 'Accessing treatment is difficult because of the long queues. Even that security guard keeps on telling me to go away when I ask for lubricants and he tells me every time there's no lubricants. 'We need the trans clinic back. I need to speak to somebody, a psychologist. On Tuesdays we had our psychologist come in, and the doctor. But now I don't have the funds to go and see even a psychologist. 'It is bad. It is super bad. I don't know when I last took my meds. Another friend of mine just decided, oh, OK, since the clinic is closed and I no longer have medication, I'll just stay home and die.'
