In Gaza, studying lets you 'not think about death all the time'
Narmin al-Zeitonia earned her bachelor's degree in agricultural science in early May, graduating at the top of her class at Gaza's Al-Azhar University. Yet the university, just like the other 11 higher education institutions in the Gaza Strip, had been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombings in the fall of 2023.
After having been damaged three times by previous Israeli offensives, the agriculture department in which Narmin had attended her classes – which had recently been rebuilt, thanks to a donation from the king of Morocco – was completely destroyed this time. Despite this, the 23-year-old student managed to continue her studies, thanks to an online teaching program launched by the three main universities in the Palestinian enclave – Al-Azhar, Al-Aqsa, and the Islamic University of Gaza – in the summer of 2024
In the first six months of the war in Gaza, after it was triggered by the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, the entire education sector was paralyzed by chaos. Three university heads, hundreds of professors and thousands of students were killed, while the rest – just like all of Gaza's population – were displaced, following evacuation orders by the Israeli army. All of a sudden, nearly 90,000 students saw their academic careers interrupted.
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France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Devastation of war leaves Gazans unable to celebrate Eid
"Dad would buy us a sheep, but now we are alone," the 11-year-old said. Before the war, he said, "I loved Eid so much, I was excited for it each year, to be able to celebrate and wear new clothes," he said of the Eid tradition, looking weary in his patched-up shoes. Every day, the boy returns to the ashes and charred tarp, which are all that's left of the tent in which he once sheltered with his family. Dib said he wanted to remember his parents, who were killed in an Israeli air strike. This year, rather than celebrating, he is preoccupied simply with the thought of how he and his four sisters will find anything at all to eat. Not one order According to Muslim tradition, Eid al-Adha commemorates the sacrifice Ibrahim (known to Christians and Jews as Abraham) was about to make by killing his son, before the angel Gabriel intervened and offered him a sheep to sacrifice instead. In a normal year, Gazans would now be preparing for big family get-togethers, traditionally centred around the sacrifice and eating of a sheep. Markets would be busy with people shopping for sweets and pastries, while toy shops and those selling children's clothes would stay open late into the night for last-minute gifts. Even poverty and the years-long Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory could not get in the way of the festivities. Yet 20 months of war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the militant group's October 2023 attack, have brought an end to all that. With entire neighbourhoods levelled, almost all of the population displaced, often multiple times, and severe shortages brought on by a two-month blockade on aid, there is little possibility of celebration. "This time of year, I might receive up to 300 orders, including for calves and sheep, but this year I haven't had a single one," said Ahmed al-Zayigh, a butcher in Gaza City. Mohammed Othman, a 36-year-old displaced with his family to Deir el-Balah, said "One kilo of meat has become a dream... 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". Many Gazans said they longed for a time when it was possible, as prescribed in the Koran, to share part of their meat with the less fortunate. 'It tastes of blood' "Tomorrow we will go to the Eid prayer," said Hamza Sobeh, 37, living in the Al-Mawasi displacement camp in southern Gaza. Sobeh was observing the fast ritual, which is believed to erase sins on the eve of the festival, and reciting takbirs -- prayers glorifying God -- with his children. "I want them to feel the joy of Eid, at least in a religious sense, so that they don't lose hope," he said, adding that he was considering buying them some date-filled pastries. However, the majority of people interviewed by AFP journalists said they would not be able to recreate even a sliver of the usual celebrations, and not just because it was unaffordable. "These are the hardest years we've lived in Gaza," he said.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
As the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation names a new chief, suspicions swirl over who funds it
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Tuesday announced the appointment of a new director after its previous leader quit, just days before the NGO began operating as the only provider of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. American evangelical Christian leader Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore was on Tuesday named the GHF's new chairperson after the resignation in late May of Jake Wood, who cited concerns that the operation did not adhere to 'humanitarian principles'. Moore has previously voiced support for US President Donald Trump 's idea that the US should take over the Palestinian enclave. 'The USA will take full responsibility for future of Gaza, giving everyone hope & a future,' he wrote on X, where he also criticised the UN food distribution program, which normally runs 408 centres in Gaza, for enabling Hamas to control supplies. Moore's appointment comes amid daily reports of deadly attacks on Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in and near GHF aid distribution centres since they opened last week. "Civilians are risking – and in several instances losing – their lives just trying to get food," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The GHF aid distribution model was "a recipe for disaster – which is exactly what is going on', he added. $100 million donation The UN and aid groups have refused to work with the GHF – backed by the US and Israel – because they say it is not a neutral operation. But little is known about how the newly formed NGO is run or who funds it. In October 2024, the GHF hired US consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group to design and run its business operations. The consultancy firm on Friday terminated its contract with GHF and placed one of the senior partners leading the project on leave pending an internal review, the Washington Post reported. Anonymous sources speaking to the Post said it would be difficult for the foundation to continue to function without the consultancy group 'actually making the wheels turn' on the ground. While the GHF has almost no digital footprint, a memo released in May to potential donors details key board members and the involvement of two US private security firms, UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions. The memo says the NGO has since February 2025 been registered in Switzerland, where investigators are now leading an enquiry into whether its operations are illegal. But a New York Times report, which claims the GHF is an Israeli brainchild conceived during the first few weeks of the war, found a group named the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was also registered in Delaware. The organisation does not reveal where its funding comes from, except for saying in a statement released in May that it had received a donation of over $100 million from an unnamed Western country. Shell companies In Israel, rumours swirled that the anonymous benefactor was actually the Israeli state, covertly using taxpayer money to fund the project. 'Is the State of Israel behind two shell companies established in Switzerland and the United States, GHF and SRS, to organise and finance humanitarian aid in Gaza?' Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid asked in parliament on May 26. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's spokesperson denied the accusation. But former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli media outlet Haaretz he was convinced that Israel's defence ministry and its intelligence arm, Mossad, were funding the NGO. 'As someone who knows these systems well, it's clear to me when I see such a construction,' he said. 'You have a foundation that appeared out of nowhere, and a company operating without a background or experience." "We're talking about costs in the hundreds of millions to maintain hundreds of armed Americans with combat experience and to provide food,' he added. More recently, the Israeli military seems to have claimed some ownership of the GHF. In a video released on June 1, IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin says soldiers were responsible for opening the centres. 'Fear and deep suspicion' The GHF says that it has given out more than seven million meals from three 'secure' distribution sites since it started operations in the enclave a week ago. But its centres were closed on Wednesday as the group pressed the Israeli military to improve security. This left Gaza's population of 1.2 million, which the UN says now faces the risk of famine, with no access to essential food or medical supplies. 'Basically, the Israeli-backed aid distribution plan, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has taken a day off,' FRANCE 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky said while reporting from Jerusalem. Meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesperson on Wednesday warned civilians in Gaza against moving on roads leading to GHF sites, deeming them "combat zones". Since opening its centres in Gaza there have been near-daily reports of Israeli attacks killing dozens of Palestinians in proximity to the distribution sites and widespread chaos inside. Palestinians who collected food GHF boxes on Tuesday described scenes of pandemonium, with no one overseeing the handover of supplies or checking IDs as crowds jostled for aid. Conditions at the centres and the difficulty for Palestinians to access them has raised 'fear and deep suspicion' among critics that they are part of a wider Israeli plan to force Palestinian displacement, Arwa Damon, founder of non-profit aid organisation INARA, told FRANCE 24. 'It is exactly how you do not organise aid distribution,' Damon said. 'You do not force people to walk through danger zones, where they are at risk of getting shot, and only provide them with four locations where they can pick up this much-needed assistance. You don't force the population to walk six or seven hours to pick up a food parcel.'
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
'We don't want a Palestinian state,' Israeli economy minister says
Israel 's Economy Minister Nir Barkat was categorical about his country's position. "We don't want a Palestinian state," he told FRANCE 24, proposing instead an "emirate model" for Palestinians in the West Bank, arguing that "successful Arab countries are tribal based". Barkat also dismissed the Oslo Accords as a failure, noting that 99 out of 120 Israeli lawmakers had voted against a Palestinian state. This week has seen a string of deadly incidents near aid distribution sites in Gaza operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Barkat insisted that Israel was working with the Americans to ensure aid reaches civilians directly, bypassing Hamas. "We want to separate, make sure that the aid goes directly to the people and Hamas wants to fight that. They want to control the people through the aid that is passed to Gaza," he claimed. Despite Western pressure, 'nobody's going to stop us' Since Israel launched its expanded Gaza offensive known as "Operation Gideon's Chariots" in May, Western capitals including the UK, France and Canada have issued strongly-worded joint statements threatening "concrete" actions against Israel. 09:35 "Nobody's going to stop us because it's our neck on the line", Barkat said in reaction to this criticism. "I expect the world to understand who the real enemy of the free world [is]: the jihadists, the terrorists ... Don't support them." The minister also issued a warning to France, one of the countries that could soon recognise a Palestinian state. "Don't take the wrong route," he said, urging Paris to instead "support the only democracy in the Middle East" and "help us finish the war quickly".
