‘ Every airstrike could cost him his life': Families of Israeli hostages plead for end to war
The Israeli prime minister declared Israel 'has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas', as he addressed foreign media in Jerusalem at the weekend.
Defending a planned military offensive, Mr Netanyahu asserted that 'our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza'.
Speaking during a demonstration in Tel Aviv (9 August), Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran said: 'Every invasion, every bullet, every airstrike could cost him his life.'
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Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
Gaza suffering has reached 'unimaginable' levels, say 24 foreign ministers
LONDON/BRUSSELS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached "unimaginable levels", Britain, Canada, Australia and several of their European allies said on Tuesday, calling on Israel to allow unrestricted aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave. "Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation," the foreign ministers of 24 countries said in a joint statement. "We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO (non-governmental organisations) aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating," the statement said. "All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment." Israel has denied responsibility for hunger spreading in Gaza, accusing Hamas militants of stealing aid shipments, which Hamas denies. However, in response to a rising international uproar, Israel late last month announced steps to let more aid into the enclave, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. Western capitals, however, say much more aid is needed. The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain. The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and two other members of the European Commission also signed the statement. Some EU member countries, including Germany and Hungary, did not sign it.
BBC News
40 minutes ago
- BBC News
Israel bombards Gaza City as UK and allies urge action against 'famine unfolding'
Gaza City has come under intense air attack, the territory's Hamas-run civil defence agency has said, as Israeli forces prepare to occupy the Bassal, a spokesman, said the residential areas of Zeitoun and Sabra had for three days been hit by bombs and drone strikes that "cause massive destruction to civilian homes", with residents unable to recover the dead and the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan issued a statement saying "famine is unfolding in front of our eyes" and urged action to "reverse starvation".They demanded "immediate, permanent and concrete steps" to facilitate the entry of aid to Gaza. Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza. It has accused UN agencies of not picking up aid at the borders and delivering joint statement also demanded an end to the use of lethal force near aid distribution sites and lorry convoys, where the UN says more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly by the Israeli the World Health Organisation on Tuesday appealed to Israel to let it stock medical supplies to deal with a "catastrophic" health situation before it seizes control of Gaza City."We all hear about 'more humanitarian supplies are allowed in' - well it's not happening yet, or it's happening at a way too low a pace," said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency's representative in the Palestinian territories."We want to as quickly stock up hospitals," he added. "We currently cannot do that. We need to be able to get all essential medicines and medical supplies in."Israel's war cabinet voted on Monday to occupy Gaza City, a move condemned at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later that day. On Tuesday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was "at the beginning of a new state of combat".The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's forces had been instructed to dismantle the "two remaining Hamas strongholds" in Gaza City and a central area around also outlined a three-step plan to increase aid in Gaza, including designating safe corridors for aid distribution, as well as more air drops by Israeli forces and other the ground, however, residents of Gaza City said they had come under unrelenting attack from the air. Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun in Gaza City, told AFP that the attacks had been "extremely intense for two days". "With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn't stopped," he Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that 100 dead had been brought to hospitals across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 31 people who were killed at aid sites. Five more people had also died of malnutrition, it has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with UN-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in the besieged Tuesday members of an international group of former leaders known as "The Elders" for the first time called the war in Gaza an "unfolding genocide" and blamed Israel for causing famine among its population. Following a visit to the Gaza border, Helen Clark and Mary Robinson, a former prime minister of New Zealand and a former president of Ireland, said in a joint statement: "What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide." The statement mirrors those of leading Israeli rights groups, including B'Tselem, which said it had reached an "unequivocal conclusion" that Israel was attempting to "destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip".Israel strongly rejects the accusations, saying its forces target terrorists and never civilians, and that Hamas was responsible for the suffering in Sunday, the IDF killed five Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted attack on a media tent in Gaza City, sparking widespread international condemnation. It said it had killed well known reporter Anas al-Sharif, whom it alleged "served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas", and made no mention of the others. Media freedom groups said it had provided little evidence for its claims. Al Jazeera's managing editor said Israel wanted to "silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza".Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel's response in Gaza has killed at least 61,599 Palestinians, according to the health ministry, whose toll the UN considers reliable.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Anas al-Sharif: Who was the Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israel?
The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif by Israeli forces in a 'targeted strike' in Gaza last week sparked outrage from media organisations, humanitarian groups and foreign governments. For nearly two years, he reported on the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in the Strip since Israel began its war in October 2023. The journalist, 28, was described as the 'only voice left in Gaza City'. After Israel barred foreign journalists from entering the enclave, al-Sharif became the most prominent reporter covering the war, which has killed over 61,400 people so far and reduced Gaza to a heap of rubble. On Sunday night, al-Sharif had warned of a "relentless bombardment" of Gaza City. Shortly after, an Israeli missile hit a tent outside the city's largest hospital complex, killing him and five other journalists. The IDF claimed that al-Sharif was the head of a Hamas militant cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel, an allegation that has been denied both by Al Jazeera and al-Sharif himself. Below, The Independent looks at the career of al-Sharif and how he became the most famous reporter in Gaza. 'The only voice left in Gaza City' Since joining the Qatari broadcaster in December 2023, the father of two reported almost daily on the suffering of Palestinians in northern Gaza. Al-Sharif drew widespread attention last January when, during a live broadcast, he removed his body armour after a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Hamas. "I am taking off the helmet that tired me, and this armour that has become an extension of my body,' he said. In a July broadcast, al-Sharif cried on air as a woman behind him collapsed from hunger. "I am talking about the slow death of those people," he said at the time. He was hired by Al Jazeera after his social media footage of Israeli attacks in his hometown of Jabalia went viral. 'I had never even appeared on a local channel, let alone an international one,' he was quoted as saying by the media outlet Sotour. 'The person who was happiest was my late father. We journalists slept in hospitals, in streets, in vehicles, in ambulances, in displacement shelters, in warehouses, with displaced people. I slept in 30 to 40 different places.' UN says killings 'part of a strategy to suppress truth' In January 2024, al-Sharif's father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Jabalia refugee camp, where al-Sharif was born. Israel has accused al-Sharif of having links to Hamas, a claim he has rejected. In October 2024, Israel published documents which it claimed showed 'unequivocal proof' of the reporter's ties to the militant group. Responding to the allegations, al-Sharif said: 'I, Anas Al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground – as it is, without bias.' He added: 'At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat." UN special rapporteur Irene Khan on 31 July warned that killings of journalists were a 'part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth'. Raed Fakih, input manager at Al Jazeera, told the BBC that al-Sharif was "courageous, dedicated, and honest – that is what made him successful as a journalist with hundreds of thousands of social media followers from all over the world". "His dedication took him to areas where no other reporter ventured to go, especially those that witnessed the worst massacres. His integrity kept him true to his message as a journalist,' Mr Fakih said. "In our last conversations, he told me about the famine and starvation he was enduring, about how hard it is to survive with so little food.' Hundreds gather to mourn journalists killed by Israel In a pre-written final message, which was posted to al-Sharif's X account shortly after his death, he said: "If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice." Al-Sharif said he had "lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification". 'Do not forget Gaza,' he appealed. 'And do not forget me in your righteous prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.' Hundreds of people, including many journalists, gathered on Monday to mourn al-Sharif and his slain colleagues, whose bodies lay wrapped in white sheets at the al-Shifa Hospital complex. Al Jazeera denounced the 'targeted assassination' of its crew as "yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom". The strike also killed four Al Jazeera journalists and a freelance reporter: Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammad al-Khaldi. The killing of al-Sharif and his colleagues brought the total number of Al Jazeera staff killed by Israeli forces during the war to 11, a total which does not include eight freelancers. Ismail al-Ghoul, 27, and camerman Rami al-Rifi were killed last summer, while freelancer Hossam Shabat was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March. The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday that at least 192 journalists had been killed since Israel launched the war in Gaza.
