Aid distribution in Gaza suspended after fatal shootings – DW – 06/04/2025
Lara Babalola
06/04/2025
June 4, 2025
Over the last few days, dozens of people were shot while seeking aid at the new food distribution hubs set up in Gaza by Israel. In response, the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" has paused food distribution for a day. For Palestinians in desperate search of food, feeding their families is becoming ever more difficult.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Pope Francis' Popemobile Prevented From Entering Gaza to Deliver Aid Despite Palestinians Facing 'Risk of Famine'
A modified Popemobile carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza was blocked from entering the war-torn enclave, even as the United Nations warns the entire population faces the threat of famine. As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, international aid groups and religious leaders have ramped up efforts to deliver food and medical supplies. Before his death, Pope Francis, who repeatedly called for peace and aid access in Gaza, authorized the donation of a Popemobile-turned-ambulance to transport relief through the border. The Popemobile ambulance, bearing Vatican insignia and loaded with essential supplies, was recently denied entry at the Rafah border crossing, the Catholic News Agency reported. Israeli authorities reportedly blocked the vehicle despite widespread reports of starvation and critical shortages in Gaza. The aid group traveling with the Popemobile emphasized the mission was intended purely for humanitarian purposes and expressed frustration over the roadblock. The denial comes amid mounting international criticism over restricted aid flows into Gaza. UN officials have warned that every one of Gaza's 2.2 million residents is now facing acute food insecurity, with children particularly at risk of dying from malnutrition. The initiative aimed to offer symbolic and material support to Palestinians trapped in a region increasingly described as the "hungriest place on Earth," according to The Guardian . Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the area was "a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred percent of the population at risk of famine." Harout Bedrossian, press officer for Caritas Jerusalem, told CNA that they remain "working in coordination with government agencies to ensure the popemobile enters Gaza." However, Bedrossin believes that "it will not be possible in the near future" due to intense permit requirements implemented by the Israeli government. Getting sufficient aid distribution in Gaza has been an issue the area has faced since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Over the past week, more than 600 people have been injured or killed while trying to receive aid at U.S.-backed distribution sites. Originally published on Latin Times
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Germany vows continued support of Israel as FM visits Berlin – DW – 06/05/2025
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, but reiterated that Germany will continue to deliver weapons to Israel during a visit to Berlin by counterpart Gideon Saar. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, in Berlin on Thursday. The meeting took place a day after Wadephul promised that Germany would send more arms to Israel despite growing international calls for a weapons embargo. Speaking at a press conference with his counterpart, Saar, Wadephul criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. The German minister said he had renewed his "urgent request to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza" without restrictions as required by international law. Wadephul also decried the Israeli government's announcement that it would allow 22 more settlements in the West Bank. He said that the German government "rejects" the creation of new Israeli settlements there as illegal under international law. Meanwhile, Saar appealed to Germany to give a chance to an alternative foundation to distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is controversial because it is supported by Israel and the United States. It circumvents United Nations aid agencies and other initiatives, and it has been accused of endangering civilians in the process. "This effort has the potential to free the Palestinian population from Hamas's stranglehold and end this war," Saar said, adding that this type of distribution could prevent Hamas from appropriating the aid. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states. Wadephul reiterates Germany's support for Israel However, Wadephul stressed that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas and other enemies, and that "therefore Germany will of course continue to support Israel with arms deliveries, that was never in doubt." Wadephul also said that recognizing a Palestinian state now would send "the wrong signal," adding that negotiations between Israel and Palestine must conclude before a Palestinian state is recognized. He added that the European Union should maintain its pact governing political and economic ties with Israel, which was placed under review last month due to the situation in Gaza. Thursday's meeting was the second official meeting between the two ministers. The first took place on May 11 in Israel. Several human rights groups and non-governmental organizations held a rally in front of the Foreign Ministry to protest Israel's war in the Gaza Strip Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance During Saar's visit to Berlin, dozens of demonstrators protested Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. The protests began in front of the German Foreign Ministry in the morning under the slogan "Red Line of International Law." Participants waved Palestinian flags and carried banners with slogans such as "No support for war crimes in Gaza," "Stop the arms deliveries," and "Stop the deliberate starvation of the people of Gaza." Ministers commemorate the victims of the Holocaust Earlier in the day, the two top diplomats laid a wreath at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, which commemorates the 6 million Jews killed in Europe under Germany's Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. "The fight against antisemitism, standing up for Jewish life in Germany and the commitment to the security and peaceful future of the state of Israel is and will remain our obligation," Wadephul said as he laid a wreath at the memorial in central Berlin with Saar. The memorial "reminds us Germans to remember the victims, to honour the survivors and to learn the lessons from the crimes against humanity of the Shoah," he added. Wadephul said the Holocaust memorial reminds Germans to remember the victims, honor the survivors, and learn from the crimes against humanity of the Shoah Image: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo/picture alliance For his part, Saar said that 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, "the lessons seem to have been forgotten." "In Germany, there's an antisemitic incident once every hour," the Israeli minister said, referring to a report published by a monitor on Wednesday. Wadephul said he was "deeply ashamed" that anti-Semitic offenses in Germany have reached a new high. Wadephul's apparent reversal on arms deliveries for Israel Wadephul's promise of more arms deliveries to Israel on Wednesday came as an apparent reversal of comments made to the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung last week. There, he suggested that further arms shipments to Israel were dependent on a government review of whether Israeli actions in Gaza complied with international humanitarian law. Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to raids led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and some 250 hostages were taken. The country is now coming under increasing international pressure to stop its military operation in view of the desolate humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory. Gazan health authorities estimate 54,000 people have been killed, Germany debates whether to keep supplying weapons to Israel To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Wesley Rahn
Local Germany
2 days ago
- Local Germany
German Foreign Minister says recognising Palestinian state would send 'wrong signal'
Speaking at a Berlin press conference with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, he said that "negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must be concluded" first, before the recognition of a Palestinian state. Spain, Ireland and Norway last year recognised a Palestinian state, and French President Emmanuel Macron has recently stepped up his support for the idea, leading Israel to accuse him of a "crusade against the Jewish state". Last week Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory. Wadephul said Thursday that he was "concerned about the extremely tense situation in the West Bank" and that the German government "rejects" the creation of new Israel settlements there as illegal under international law. He also said, on the Gaza war, that "too little" aid was reaching civilians in the war-torn territory, where the United Nations warned last month that the entire population was at risk of famine. Advertisement Wadephul said he had renewed his "urgent request to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza" without restrictions as required by international law. He also stressed that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas and other enemies, and that "therefore Germany will of course continue to support Israel with arms deliveries, that was never in doubt". READ ALSO: Germany and Israel mark 60 years of ties as Gaza war casts shadow During his remarks on the topic at the Bundestag in Berlin on Wednesday, Wadephul was interrupted by an activist who yelled "Free Palestine" and "blood on your hands", in protest of Germany's continued support of Israel.
