At least 20 reportedly killed beneath food lorries in Gaza as search for food proves deadly
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Israel's security cabinet approves plans to take over Gaza City
Israel's security cabinet has approved plans to take over Gaza City in the north of the enclave. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the plans after senior security cabinet officials convened for hours late on Thursday and into the early hours of Friday to debate the controversial issue. The decision marks another significant escalation in Israel's 22-month long military offensive on the Strip, which has already killed at least 61,258 Palestinians, accoridng to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The gruelling war has also internally displaced Gaza's 2 million population, many several times, reduced the territory to rubble, with the UN estimating that more than 60% of buildings and critical infrastructure having been destroyed, and pushed most Gazans towards famine. Earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu denied Israel had any intentions of permanently controlling Gaza. "We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter," he told Fox News before the security cabinet session. "We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body." He said that Israel intended to hand over the Strip to a coalition of Arab forces that would govern it. Netanyahu insisted that the full takeover of Gaza is necessary to eliminate Hamas. In a statement, Hamas slammed Netanyahu's remarks about full military control of Gaza, calling it "a coup" as faltering ceasefire negotiations continue. Israel's Channel 12 had previously reported that US President Donald Trump did not oppose Netanyahu's plans to seize all of the Gaza Strip, but the outlet said on Thursday that a senior US official had confirmed that the Trump administration does not support Israel annexing the territory. Opposition from the military Crucially the idea of full military control of Gaza exposed a rift between the IDF and the government, with Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warning earlier on Thursday that the plan would endanger the lives of the hostages and further stretch the military. Zamir has repeatedly clashed with the security cabinet in recent days, notably over the Gaza proposal. That prompted Netanyahu to say in a post on X that if he objected to the plans, he could resign. "We are not dealing with theory; we are dealing with matters of life and death, with the defence of the state, and we do so while looking directly into the eyes of our soldiers and the citizens of the country," Zamir said, who claimed the IDF is "now approaching the final stages" of the war against Hamas. "We intend to defeat and collapse Hamas. We will continue to act with our hostages in mind, and we will do everything to bring them home," Zamir said. Concerns that an expanded offensive could put the lives of the remaining hostages at risk have also been expressed by their families in Israel. On Thursday morning, almost two dozen relatives of hostages set sail from southern Israel towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers on boats to their relatives in the Strip, denouncing Netanyahu's plan to expand military operations. And Israelis staged protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, fearing any military escalation in Gaza would doom their loved ones. Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza, said from the boat that Netanyahu is prolonging the war to satisfy extremists in his government and to prevent it from collapsing. "Netanyahu is working only for himself," he said, pleading with the international community to put pressure on Netanyahu to stop the war and save his son. Aid organisations denounce Israeli policies Meanwhile, two major international aid organisations published reports on Thursday denouncing Israeli policies in Gaza. Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on governments worldwide to suspend their arms transfers to Israel in the wake of deadly airstrikes on two Palestinian schools last year. HRW said an investigation did not find any evidence of a military target at either school. At least 49 people were killed in the airstrikes that hit the Khadija girls' school in Deir al-Balah on 27 July 2024 and the al-Zeitoun C school in Gaza City on 21 September 2024. Doctors without Borders (MSF) accused the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's food distribution sites of causing "orchestrated killing" rather than handing out aid. According to the United Nations, more than 850 people have died near GHF sites in the past two months. MSF runs two medical clinics close to the GHF sites and said it had treated nearly 1,400 people wounded nearby between 7 June and 20 July, including 28 people who were dead upon arrival. GHF did not immediately answer a request for comment but has previously said its security contractors have not shot anyone at its sites.
The Hill
9 hours ago
- The Hill
Netanyahu says Israel intends to take over Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israeli military intends to take over the war-torn Gaza Strip, arguing it was necessary to do so for his country's security. The Israeli leader, in an interview with Fox News, said the takeover of Gaza is intended to 'assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.' Netanyahu insisted any Israeli takeover would not be permanent, saying it could be handed over to 'Arab forces' at some point. 'We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life,' Netanyahu told host Bill Hemmer. 'That's not possible with Hamas.' Netanyahu's remarks came ahead of the Thursday Israel security cabinet meeting, where the expanded military operation is planned to be discussed. The Israeli leader has received pushback earlier this week from the Israeli military head over the plan to take over the enclave that has been leveled. The United Nations and other international groups, including those distributing aid, have warned of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged more aid to be delivered. The most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas began with the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were kidnapped. The attack has triggered the Israeli military operation that so far has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The tally does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Both Israel and Hamas, through mediators, have discussed terms for reaching a temporary ceasefire last month, but the plan went sideways with Israel and U.S. officials pinning the blame on Hamas, accusing the group of negotiating in bad faith. Israel controls around three-quarters of the Gaza Strip. In late July, President Trump said that the U.S. would assist Palestinians in Gaza with setting up 'food centers.' 'It's going to be working with the United States. We'll be helping with the food … and we're going to bring it over there, and we're also going to make sure they don't have barriers stopping people,' Trump said at the time.
The Hindu
11 hours ago
- The Hindu
U.K. pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action
Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group. But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the UK government's list of proscribed organisations. "It's a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist," said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a "proud grandmother" of seven. She "was never politically interested," the former banking consultant from the southern town of Chichester told AFP. "I just worked hard, raised my family, lived an ordinary life." In early July, the UK government banned Palestine Action under the UK's Terrorism Act, after activists broke into an air force base in England and damaged two aircraft. Since then, the campaign group Defend Our Juries has organised protests around the country to challenge the ban, described as "disproportionate" by the United Nations rights chief. More than 200 people have been arrested, according to Tim Crosland, a member of Defend Our Juries. They risk prison sentences of up to 14 years. British police on Thursday said they had charged two men and a woman over the July 5 protest, adding that they were sending files on the 26 other people arrested that day to prosecutors. A new demonstration in support of the group, which was founded in 2020, is planned on Saturday in London. Organisers expect at least 500 people to turn up, and police have warned all demonstrators could face arrest. People "don't know what the nature of this group is," interior minister Yvette Cooper has said, claiming that "this is not a non-violent group". But Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the ban and a hearing is set for November. Some 52 scholars, including well-known authors Tariq Ali and Naomi Klein, backed the bid in an open letter published in Thursday's Guardian, calling the ban an attack on "fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly and protest." 'Not terrorists' Mansfield has long supported the Palestinian people, but the start of the current war, sparked by Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, galvanised her into action. "When it started happening again ... it was the most horrible feeling, that children's homes were being blown up, that their schools were being destroyed," she said. Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's subsequent campaign to eradicate the Palestinian militant group in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the United Nations. For Mansfield, the Palestine Action ban was the final straw, fuelling her feelings that the government was silencing her political views. The night before attending the July demonstration, Mansfield said she was "terrified". But she did not change her mind. Images on British media showed her being moved by several police officers after she refused to get up from the pavement. An 83-year-old woman was by her side. Mansfield spent 12 hours in custody, and is now banned from parts of London, meaning she cannot visit some museums with her grandchildren as she would like to do. "It was just ordinary people," said Mansfield. "We came from all backgrounds ... we're not terrorists." 'Civil liberties' Alice Clark, a 49-year-old doctor, also does not regret attending the protest where she was arrested in London on July 19. "Nobody wants to be arrested. I just feel that there's a responsibility," said Clark, who also accused the government of undermining "our civil liberties". Cooper said the ban on Palestine Action was "based on detailed security assessments and security advice". The ban says the group's "methods have become more aggressive" by encouraging members to carry out attacks which have already caused millions of pounds in damage. But Clark, a former volunteer for medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said she felt "growing disgust and horror" at the images of starving children in Gaza. The 12 hours in custody after her arrest were a shock. If convicted, she risks losing her licence to practice medicine. "There were points where I was close to tears. But I think just remembering why I was doing it kind of helped me keep calm," said Clark. History student Zahra Ali, 18, was also arrested on July 19, before being released under supervision. None of the three women has been charged. She is also appalled by the scenes from Gaza. "The starvation in Gaza, it's disgusting. And our government isn't doing anything about that," she told AFP. Imagining herself in prison at 18 is "a big thing," but "if people who are in their 80s can do it, then I can do it," Ali said. She also does not describe herself as an activist, but as "a normal person ... who decided that what our government is doing is wrong".
