Israel says missile launched by Yemen's Houthis was intercepted
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones the Houthis have launched at Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have been firing at Israel and attacking shipping lanes. Traffic through the Red Sea, a critical waterway for the world's oil and commodities, has dropped since the militia began targeting ships in November 2023 in what the group said was solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the 21-month war that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.
Earlier on Friday, Hamas said that while the group favours reaching an interim truce, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of obstructing progress towards a deal.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
‘Mass starvation' spreading in Gaza, aid agencies warn
'Mass starvation' is spreading in Gaza, more than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday. Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas's Oct 7 attack on Israel. The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US – and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operations in late May – effectively side-lining the existing UN-led system. A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that 'our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away'. The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms. The warning came as it was reported that questions over who would distribute food aid in Gaza in the event of a truce had become the main sticking point in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Hamas is insisting that the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent control all aid entering Gaza, the Wall Street Journal said. The GHF said in a statement that it was therefore Hamas holding up ceasefire talks. 'They're demanding GHF be removed and the UN put back in charge,' the US organisation wrote on X. 'Why? Because control of aid means control of Gaza. With the UN in charge, Hamas steals, taxes, resells, and stays in power.' 'Palestinians are trapped' Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. The statement from the aid agencies also came a day after the US said its envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on Gaza and may then visit the Middle East. Witkoff comes with 'a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to,' State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods. 'Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions,' the signatories said. 'It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage,' they added. 'The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the 'horror' facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said Tuesday 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the past three days. Israel and Hamas have been engaging in drawn-out negotiations in Doha since July 6 as mediators scramble to end nearly two years of war. But after more than two weeks of back and forth, efforts by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States are at a standstill. More than two dozen Western countries recently urged an immediate end to the war, saying suffering in Gaza had 'reached new depths'. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
More than 100 aid and rights groups call for action as hunger spreads in Gaza
More than 100 largely aid and rights groups on Wednesday called for governments to take action as hunger spreads in Gaza, including by demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid. In a statement signed by 111 organisations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Refugees International, the groups warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave even as tons of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organisations are blocked from accessing or delivering them. Advertisement "As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes," the organisations said. "The Government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death." The organisations called for governments to demand that all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions be lifted, all land crossings be opened, access to everyone across Gaza to be ensured and for the rejection of military-controlled distribution and a restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response." "States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition." Advertisement Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies it is responsible for shortages of food. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres. The foundation, backed by the United States, has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks were completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and the organisation accused Israel of paralysing its work.
Sky News
5 hours ago
- Sky News
Why is MAGA splitting over Israel?
👉Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app👈 On this week's episode, Yalda and Richard talk about the growing international condemnation of Israel's war in Gaza, including from a usually staunch ally - the evangelical right wing of America. But what has made them voice a rare criticism? The two also talk about the shaky ceasefire that is currently in place in the southern Syrian city Sweida. This is the first real test for the new Syrian leader, but can he contain the violence? And, Yalda gives an update on the situation in Afghanistan where women and girls have been arrested by the Taliban for violating their strict dress code.
