Why New Zealand's travel ban on Israeli ministers matters
More than 600 days of war and an 11-week blockade of all aid have pushed those living in Gaza into a deeper crisis.
Israel imposed a full humanitarian blockade of Gaza in March, cutting off food, medical supplies, and other aid to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
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Boston Globe
17 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says five workers killed in attack
As many as eight may have been killed in the attack, according to a person familiar with operations at the distribution sites inside Gaza, who called the workers 'heroes.' A number were left wounded, and others were apparently kidnapped by the attackers, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about the fast-unfolding events. Palestinians working at the sites — local Arabic speakers who help organize the surge of Gazans picking up aid and physically hand over the boxes of food — are paid volunteers, many of whom have been living at the distribution sites for security reasons. Some opt to return to their families between shifts or after working a number of days at a time. The four sites are staffed 24 hours a day by US private security contractors, who also secure the roads used by truck convoys carrying daily consignments of aid into Gaza from the Israeli border. Advertisement Many humanitarian organizations have refused to participate in the GHF operations, which they charge violate their principles of neutrality and further Israeli war aims by limiting the places where food is available to Gazans and exposing them to increased danger. Advertisement Health authorities inside Gaza have said that dozens of civilians approaching the distribution sites have been shot and killed by Israeli troops at positions near the sites. The Israel Defense Forces has said it is investigating some of those shootings. Israel, which partially lifted an 11-week blockade on aid entering the enclave to enable the GHF operation, has also allowed the UN World Food Program and other nonprofit agencies to resume a relatively small number of their own aid deliveries outside the bounds of the guarded compounds. But many of those trucks have been attacked and looted by armed gangs and desperate, hungry people. Drivers, fearing the lack of security, have often refused to ferry the goods into Gaza. The deliveries also have been limited by what the United Nations has said is Israel's refusal to approve transit routes through an expanding war zone as it steps up a renewed campaign against Hamas. Hamas has not attacked the GHF distribution points or the US contractors directly, but it has issued public threats against them, anyone working for them, and Gazans receiving the aid. 'Tonight, the world must see this for what it is: an attack on humanity,' the foundation statement said. 'We call on the international community to immediately condemn Hamas for this unprovoked attack and continued threat against our people simply trying to feed the Palestinian people.' Advertisement
Borneo Post
30 minutes ago
- Borneo Post
Commemorating World Refugee Day
Palestinians collect aid food at Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on November 6, 2024. – AFP photo IT has been a natural phenomenon for millennia that people move from place to place: throughout history migration has been encouraged or forced due to political, economic, social, and increasingly, environmental reasons. Today we see violent protests in the USA taking place between factions with different views of migration—ostensibly anyway, since many theorise that violence is being deliberately fomented to justify further authoritarian rule while creating distractions from other events in US domestic politics. Meanwhile in Palestine, forced displacement amid violence occurs every day, and foreign aid is extremely regulated. The Madleen flotilla which was intercepted by Israeli forces itself encountered and saved several Sudanese war refugees who had fled violence and persecution in their home country, only to be met with further detention and torture in another country. This chain of suffering reminds us that displacement is often a prolonged, recurring trauma. But how should we in Malaysia commemorate World Refugee Day? We are not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and consistency is not our strong point. At worst, refugees and migrants have been invoked by Malaysian politicians as soundbites to garner domestic political support, without changing any policies whatsoever. Unfortunately, such statements can increase xenophobia by giving the false impression that the government is favouring certain communities. Thus, in recent years we have seen TikTok videos of Rohingya men being assaulted even in mosques. On occasion, where you have sustained pressure from humanitarians or a sympathetic minister, we have authorities turning a blind eye in applying repressive measures, so families can survive and breadwinners can work in the grey economy. One well known example of a more concrete effort was how UNHCR worked with the Malaysian government to give shelter for the Vietnamese boat people of the 1970s and 80s (some of whom I have met and still express gratitude to Malaysia for saving their lives). At best, policies actually are pursued and resources committed, as for the victims of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s which resulted in a generation of Bosnian policymakers, professionals and entrepreneurs educated in Malaysia, who continue to contribute to the bilateral relationship economically, academically and even gastronomically. But increased recognition will hopefully permanently improve policymaking. The resilience of Malaysian civil society ensures that refugee issues will always be on the agenda, with social media becoming an important platform to sustain visibility. Significantly, the establishment of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugee Policy means that there is an interface between advocates, academics, practitioners and policymakers. The resulting cross-party cooperation based on data as well as shared humanitarian concerns is most encouraging. This in turn endows confidence to others working with the community. Several schools now openly operate with refugee children in attendance. IDEAS International School is one, and I was pleased to accompany 'The Greatest Love of All' on piano with the choir at our graduation ceremony recently. The fact that Malaysian parents want to send their kids to our school—to sit in the same classrooms as refugees—marks a significant change in attitudes too. Apart from education, dignity also means healthcare and the right to work. These three pillars were identified in the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs' (IDEAS) Covid report on refugees as critical for preventing long term trauma and social exclusion. In 2019, we estimated the economic benefits of providing employment rights to refugees: providing all refugees with access to formal employment was estimated to deliver an additional RM3 billion to GDP and an extra RM50 million in tax revenue annually. Additionally, providing refugee students with equal access to education was estimated as generating over RM6.5 billion in GDP and RM250 million in taxes annually by 2040. IDEAS is working towards updating these estimates, but there are of course human and social benefits of equal or greater value that are much harder to quantify. In the meantime, IDEAS is also joining hands with the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar, which has taken the lead in hosting roundtables to explore themes such as federalism, women's rights and elections. These boost knowledge and enable collaboration between stakeholders in addressing the multi-faceted crisis. Indeed it's vital to assemble a range of voices, from frontline health providers, refugee rights advocates and digital content regulators, for each plays an important role in this ecosystem of dignity. In this way we can cohesively explore the intersections of healthcare, refugee rights, policy, and digital content moderation. Supporting refugee entrepreneurs such as the Thimble Collective, Mang Tha and the Rohingya Women Development Network is another way to empower the community. They are not mere passive recipients of aid, but creators in their own right. Ideas palestine refugees war World Refugee Day
Straits Times
33 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US slams UN conference on Israel-Palestinian issue, warns of consequences
A Palestinian child watching smoke billowing in the distance during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, on June 11. PHOTO: AFP PARIS/WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump's administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending a United Nations conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a US cable seen by Reuters. The diplomatic demarche, sent on June 10, says countries which take 'anti-Israel actions' following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington. The demarche, which was not previously reported, runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies France and Saudi Arabia, who are co-hosting the gathering next week in New York that aims to lay out the parameters for a road map to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. 'We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,' read the cable. President Emmanuel Macron has suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories. French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the US, Israel's staunchest major ally. 'The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,' the cable read. The United States for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel. Mr Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a long-time pillar of US Middle East policy. The Republican President has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term. But on June 10, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal. Gaza war 'Unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state would effectively render Oct 7 Palestinian Independence Day,' the cable read, referring to when Palestinian Hamas militants carried out a cross-border attack from Gaza on Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Hamas' attack triggered Israel's air and ground war in Gaza in which almost 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of the 2.3 million population displaced and the enclave widely reduced to rubble. If Mr Macron went ahead, France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities, would become the first Western heavyweight to recognise a Palestinian state. This could lend greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations generally more critical of Israel. Mr Macron's stance has shifted amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and there is a growing sense of urgency in Paris to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever. The US cable said Washington had worked tirelessly with Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, free the hostages and end the conflict. 'This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted.' This week Britain and Canada, also Group of Seven allies of the United States, were joined by other countries in placing sanctions on two Israeli far-right government ministers to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the Gaza war to an end. 'The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,' the cable read. Israel has repeatedly criticised the conference, saying it rewards Hamas for the attack on Israel, and it has lobbied France against recognising a Palestinian state. 'Nothing surprises me any more, but I don't see how many countries could step back on their participation,' said a European diplomat, who asked for anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. 'This is bullying, and of a stupid type.' The US State Department and the French Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
