Why is Israel escalating its strikes against Syria?
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israel kills 56 aid seekers as 22,000 aid trucks stuck outside Gaza
The Israeli military killed at least 92 Palestinians, including 56 aid seekers, in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Gaza's Government Media office said that more than 22,000 humanitarian aid trucks are waiting outside the Gaza Strip, as just 36 trucks entered the enclave on Saturday.
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Hamas says open to ICRC delivering food to Israeli captives in Gaza
Hamas has said it is open to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivering aid to Israeli captives in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he requested the Geneva-based international organisation to step in. The statements from Hamas and Netanyahu came after Palestinian groups last week released videos showing two emaciated Israeli captives held in Gaza, where some 2 million Palestinians are struggling to survive the Israeli-induced starvation crisis. Netanyahu said on Sunday he had spoken to Julian Larson, the head of the ICRC delegation to Israel, requesting the group's 'immediate involvement' in providing food and medical treatment to captives still held in Gaza. In a post on X, Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew that he told Larson that Hamas was propagating a 'lie of starvation' in the enclave, but the reality was that 'systematic starvation is being carried out against our hostages'. Later on Sunday, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said in a statement that Israeli captives held in Gaza 'eat what our fighters and all our people eat'. 'They will not receive any special privilege amid the crime of starvation and siege,' the spokesman, known as Abu Obeida, said. But, he added, the group is 'ready to act positively and respond to any request from the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to enemy prisoners'. In order for requests to aid captives to be accepted, 'humanitarian corridors must be opened in a normal and permanent manner for the passage of food and medicine to all our people in all areas of the Gaza Strip', Abu Obeida said. Israeli attacks 'of all forms must cease during the receipt of packages for the prisoners', he added. The ICRC said in a statement on Sunday that it was 'appalled by the harrowing videos' of the captives held in Gaza and reiterated its call to be 'granted access to the hostages.' 'These videos are stark evidence of the life-threatening conditions in which the hostages are being held,' the ICRC said in the statement shared on X. 'We know families watching these videos are horrified and heartbroken by the conditions they see their loved ones held in,' the ICRC added. On its website, the ICRC says that 'securing access requires the cooperation of all parties involved'. The ICRC also says on its website that it 'has not been able to visit any Palestinian detainees held in Israeli places of detention since 7 October 2023.' In a separate statement on Sunday, the ICRC said it was also 'appalled' that a Palestine Red Crescent Society staff member had been killed in a 'clearly marked Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) building' in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The PRCS had earlier said the attack was perpetrated by Israeli forces, but the ICRC statement did not refer to who was responsible. One million women and girls starving Meanwhile, the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza said on Sunday that Netanyahu's continued insistence that a 'military resolution' was the only solution was 'a direct danger to the lives of our sons, who live in the hell of tunnels and are threatened by starvation and immediate death'. 'For 22 months, the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure will bring back the hostages, and today, even before reaching a comprehensive draft agreement, it is said that an agreement is futile,' the families said in a statement. There are about 50 captives still in Gaza. Fewer than half are believed to be still alive. The latest developments come as the Government Media Office in Gaza said that Israeli authorities allowed just 36 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip on Saturday, while 22,000 aid trucks continue to sit outside the Strip waiting to bring much-needed food to Palestinians there. The United Nations office in Geneva on Sunday also warned that 1 million women and girls in Gaza are now starving. In a post on X, the UN said: 'One million. That's how many women and girls are starving in Gaza. This horrific situation is unacceptable and must end. We continue to demand the delivery of lifesaving aid for all women and girls, an immediate ceasefire, and the release of all hostages.' At least 175 people, including 93 children, have now been confirmed dead from forced starvation, according to the territory's Ministry of Health, including 17-year-old Atef Abu Khater, whose weight had dropped to just 25kg (55lbs) before he died on Saturday.
Qatar Tribune
8 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Tensions high as fresh fighting flares up in Syria's Sweida
dpa Damascus Fighting has erupted in the Druze-majority Sweida province of southern Syria, violating a ceasefire deal reached last month after sectarian violence left hundreds dead, activists and state media reported on Sunday. At least one person was killed and seven injured in renewed fighting between militias of the Druze minority and government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said on Sunday. The state SANA news agency reported that 'lawless groups' with links to the Druze community violated the ceasefire by attacking a village with heavy weapons and mortar shells. Fighting broke out last month in Sweida between Sunni Bedouin groups and members of the Druze community, a religious minority that emerged from Shiite Islam and live mainly in Syria, but also in Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. The Damascus government said it sent troops to calm the situation but its forces were accused of brutal acts of violence against the Druze. Neighbouring Israel subsequently bombed targets in Syria with the stated aim of protecting the Druze. The London-based SOHR, which has monitored the conflict in Syria for many years, counted around 1,400 fatalities. Its figures, collected by a network of activists, are generally considered reliable. The violence also resulted in a dire humanitarian situation and a mass exodus of civilians from the province, with UN figures suggesting that around 190,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. More than half a year after the fall of long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad, the new government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has not succeeded in establishing stability in Syria. There have been several major battles, terrorist attacks and violence, including against the Alawite minority on Syria's Mediterranean coast. There have also been isolated clashes in northern Syria in recent days. The Defence Ministry in Damascus announced that its troops have prevented Kurdish militias from advancing near Manbij. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish militias, reportedly attacked a village with rockets and injured several people. The government troops responded with 'precise attacks,' the ministry said. The SDF, on the other hand, accused the government troops of having 'attacked residential areas for no reason,' while their own forces defended themselves.
