Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim - short of 600 needed
According to the Gazan government's media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen - "as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates".
Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: "The needs of the population are worsening."
1:56
A statement released late last night called for "the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities" - and "condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation".
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this - and accused Hamas of "stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel".
He said: "The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.
"The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid."
0:36
It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.
Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.
Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group's repeated statements that it would not do so.
In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
After Mr Witkoff's meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.
The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.
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Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
What is Hezbollah, the Lebanese group hit by exploding pagers?
BEIRUT, Aug 4(Reuters) - The Lebanese government is expected to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament on Tuesday, facing pressure from the United States to make progress as Israel presses attacks on the Iran-backed group. While President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam aim to establish a state monopoly on arms, seeing this as vital to stabilising Lebanon, Hezbollah has rejected demands for its disarmament, saying such calls serve Israel. Iran's Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982 during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, part of Tehran's effort to export its 1979 Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon in 1982. While other groups disarmed after Lebanon's civil war, Hezbollah kept its weapons to fight Israeli forces occupying the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim south. It kept its weapons after Israel withdrew in 2000. In 2006, during a five-week war, it fired thousands of rockets into Israel. The war erupted after Hezbollah crossed into Israel, kidnapping two soldiers and killing others. Hezbollah's arsenal grew after 2006. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook said it was estimated to have as many as 150,000 rockets and missiles in 2020 and in 2022 was estimated to have 45,000 fighters. Hezbollah's veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in 2024, said the group had 100,000 fighters. After the 2006 war, Hezbollah became involved in conflicts outside Lebanon. It sent fighters to Syria to help Bashar al-Assad fight rebels, aided Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq, and supported the Houthis of Yemen, sending fighters to assist them in their war with a Saudi-led coalition, according to Riyadh, though Hezbollah has never confirmed this. It also deepened ties with Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hezbollah became the spearhead of the Iran-backed "Axis of Resistance". After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah opened fire on Israeli positions in the frontier region, declaring solidarity with the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel traded fire for almost a year until September 2024, when Israel detonated thousands of booby-trapped pagers used by Hezbollah members, and stepped up airstrikes, killing Nasrallah and other commanders. Israel also sent troops into Lebanon's south. In addition to killing much of Hezbollah's command, Israel killed thousands of fighters and destroyed much of its arsenal. The toppling of Assad in Syria in December 2024, choked Hezbollah's main supply route from Iran and tilted the regional power balance against it. A U.S.-backed ceasefire agreed in November 2024 required Hezbollah's disarmament beginning in areas south of the Litani River, the area adjacent to Israel. Hezbollah says the deal only applies to that region and that it has handed over weapons to Lebanese troops in that area. Israeli forces continue to occupy five hilltops in the south and to carry out airstrikes on Hezbollah fighters and arms depots. Hezbollah long had a decisive say over state affairs but was unable to get its way over the formation of the 2025 post-war government, which adopted a policy of establishing a monopoly on arms. Lebanese have been at odds over Hezbollah's arms for decades - opponents accuse it of dragging Lebanon into wars, supporters see its weapons as key to defending the country. In 2008, Hezbollah fighters took over parts of Beirut in an armed conflict sparked by the government's vow to take action against the group's military communications network. A U.N.-backed court convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, a Sunni Muslim politician killed in 2005 by a truck bomb in Beirut, along with 21 other people. Hezbollah has denied any role. Hezbollah has solid backing among Shi'ites. The group has been represented in governments, either by Hezbollah politicians serving as ministers or through its approval of candidates for cabinet portfolios reserved for Shi'ites. It runs its own social services. Together with its ally, Amal, it dominated local elections in May in Shi'ite areas. The groups hold all seats reserved for Shi'ites in parliament. The United States holds Hezbollah responsible for suicide bombings in 1983 that destroyed the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 service personnel, and a French barracks, killing 58 French paratroopers. It also blames Hezbollah for a suicide attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983. Lebanese officials and Western intelligence agencies have said groups linked to Hezbollah kidnapped Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Referring to those attacks and hostage-taking, Nasrallah said in a 2022 interview they were carried out by small groups not linked to Hezbollah. Western governments, including the United States, and Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, deem Hezbollah a terrorist group. Some, notably the European Union, have designated its military wing a terrorist group, drawing what critics say is an artificial distinction with its political wing. Argentina blames Hezbollah and Iran for the bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people died in 1994 and for an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 that killed 29 people. Hezbollah and Iran deny any responsibility.
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Netanyahu is 'planning to expand the conflict in Gaza to bring home hostages', diplomatic source says after Hamas shares images of emaciated hostages amid 'starvation' row
Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly planning to expand the conflict in Gaza to bring home hostages after Hamas released chilling images of emaciated captives. A diplomatic source quoted in Hebrew media on Sunday revealed the Israeli Prime Minister is 'pushing for the release of the hostages through decisive military victory, combined with the entry of humanitarian aid to areas outside the combat zone, and, as much as possible, outside of Hamas control'. The comments came as distraught families of the captives unleashed a furious backlash over reports the government is considering expanding its military offensive in the Gaza Strip - a move critics say could endanger those still in Hamas captivity. Netanyahu himself appeared visibly shaken in a video statement after harrowing footage emerged of two hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, both looking skeletal and pale in what appeared to be an underground tunnel. David, digging what he believed to be his own grave was heard begging for his life. But the Israeli leader said the shocking videos only hardened his resolve. 'I understand exactly what Hamas wants, it doesn't want a deal. It wants to break us - with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda it spreads across the world,' he said in a clip released by his office. The comments come as Washington, according to US envoy Steve Witkoff, is shifting its focus from temporary hostage-for-ceasefire deals to a broader goal of ending the war altogether. This leaves Israel with the stark choice of intensifying the fighting or allowing more time for negotiations. Amid the chaos, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum - representing the families of the 50 hostages still believed to be alive - accused Netanyahu of 'leading Israel and the hostages to the abyss'. The Forum said the prime minister 'is preparing the greatest scam,' and that any talk about releasing the hostages through decisive victory is 'a fraud'. 'For 22 months now the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back,' said the group. 'Even before the draft for a comprehensive deal was written, we're being told there is no feasibility for a deal.' The group stressed that expanding the way endanger the lives of hostages who are at risk of imminent death. 'We saw the chilling images of the hostages in the tunnels, they won't survive more long days of horror,' it said, adding that expanding the Gaza war 'is a guarantee of the failure of the century.' 'There is no victory nor any revival in it,' the Forum concluded. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage in Gaza, said that 'the political leadership has decided to carry out the 'final solution' on my son Matan and 49 other hostages.' 'For 667 days, the hostages have been enduring a Holocaust in the tunnels, and instead of reaching a full agreement to end the war... Netanyahu is preparing an operation to turn the living hostages into corpses and to erase the fallen,' she added. Israeli security officials have privately acknowledged that they have long known the captives were being starved - reportedly by deliberate order of their captors. Sources familiar with the issue were cited by the Ynet news site as saying: 'The visual was still devastating, but it's not something we didn't know.' Braslavski and David are among just 20 hostages still believed to be alive. At last 28 others are confirmed dead, their bodies still held by terror groups, while the fate of two more remains uncertain. Cabinet ministers are deeply split by the decision to expand the bloody war. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs are reportedly in favour of expanding the war. But IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Mossad chief David Barnea and other top security officials are warning against the move, citing the hostages' dire conditions. Netanyahu, however, has shown no signs of backing down, declaring: 'We will not break. I am filled with even greater determination to free our captive sons, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.' It comes after Hamas said Sunday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, following the release of the emaciated hostage video. Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting airstrikes during the distribution of aid. The video of David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis. France, Germany, the UK and the US were among countries to express outrage and Israel's foreign ministry announced that the UN Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday morning on the issue of the situation of the hostages in Gaza. Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages during a conversation with the head of the Swiss-based ICRC's local delegation. The premier's office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and 'requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and... immediate medical treatment'. The ICRC said in a statement it was 'appalled by the harrowing videos' and reiterated its 'call to be granted access to the hostages'. In response, Hamas's armed wing said it would allow the agency access to the hostages but only if 'humanitarian corridors' for food and aid were opened 'across all areas of the Gaza Strip'. The Al-Qassam Brigades said it did 'not intentionally starve' the hostages, but they would not receive any special food privileges 'amid the crime of starvation and siege' in Gaza. The Hostages Families Forum over the weekend said Hamas' comments about the hostages cannot hide that it 'has been holding innocent people in impossible conditions for over 660 days,' and demanded their immediate release. 'Until their release,' said the statement, 'Hamas has the obligation to provide them with everything they need. Hamas kidnapped them and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas's hands.' Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said. Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said later in the day that four tankers of UN fuel had entered to help in operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services. There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt. Fuel shipments have been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas militants to free the remaining hostages they took in their October 2023 attack on Israel. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. UN agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble. COGAT said that during the past week over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations. Meanwhile, Belgium's air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Hamas, India-US trade and Taiwan semiconductors
Follow on Apple or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. Hamas says it's prepared to coordinate to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza after a videos showingcaptives drew sharp criticism. A top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine – what went wrong with trade negotiations? Plus, Taiwan cultivates young overseas talent to meet a shortage in the semiconductor industry. Find today's recommended read here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit to opt out of targeted advertising. Further Reading Over 3,000 Boeing fighter jet workers go on strike after rejecting contract offer Texas Democrats seek to block redistricting vote by leaving state Ukrainian drone attack sparks fire at railway station in Volgograd region, Russia says Japan's Ishiba signals talks with Trump for early cut to US auto tariff China's independent oil firms elbow into Iraq's majors-dominated market
