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Israel will not renew visa of top UN humanitarian official, World News

Israel will not renew visa of top UN humanitarian official, World News

AsiaOne19-07-2025
WASHINGTON - Israel has declined to renew the visa for Jonathan Whittall, the senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, a UN spokesperson said on Friday (July 18), adding there were intensifying threats of reduced access to suffering civilians.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said visas for UN staff were recently renewed for shorter periods than usual and access requests to Gaza were denied for multiple agencies. Kaneko said permits for Palestinian staff to enter East Jerusalem were also withheld. Why it's important
Gaza is in the midst of a devastating Israeli military assault following a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants. Israel has come under mounting criticism from the UN during its war in the Palestinian enclave, which has internally displaced Gaza's entire population and caused a hunger crisis. Key quotes
"Last week, it was indicated to us that our current Head of Office, Jonathan Whittall, won't have his visa extended by Israeli authorities beyond August. This came immediately after remarks he made at a press briefing about starving people being killed while trying to reach food," Kaneko said.
Israel's mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has previously dismissed UN criticism as being biased. Context
[[nid:720336]]
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.
Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians. It has also prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.
The UN rights office says it recorded nearly 900 killings within the past six weeks near aid distribution sites and aid convoys in Gaza.
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Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres
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time23 minutes ago

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Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres

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Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres
Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres

Straits Times

time36 minutes ago

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Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres

Find out what's new on ST website and app. Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen in Gaza on July 28. CAIRO/GENEVA - US President Donald Trump said on July 28 that many people were starving in Gaza and suggested Israel could do more on humanitarian access, as Palestinians struggled to feed their children a day after Israel declared steps to improve supplies. As the death toll from two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fuelling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions. Describing starvation in Gaza as real, Mr Trump's assessment put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on July 27 that 'there is no starvation in Gaza' and vowed to fight on against the Palestinian militant group Hamas - a statement he reposted on X on July 28. 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Two Israeli defence officials said the international pressure prompted the new Israeli measures, as did the worsening conditions on the ground. Palestinians carrying humanitarian aid they received at the Rafah corridor in the southern Gaza Strip on July 28. PHOTO: AFP UN agencies said a long-term and steady supply of aid was needed. The World Food Programme said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched - but that is short of its target. Almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments, it said. 'Our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza,' WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, told Reuters. Mr Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters the situation is catastrophic. 'At this time, children are dying every single day from starvation, from preventable disease. So time has run out.' Mr Netanyahu has denied any policy of starvation towards Gaza, saying aid supplies would be kept up whether Israel was negotiating a ceasefire or fighting. A spokesperson for Cogat, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said Israel had not placed a time limit on the humanitarian pauses in its military operation, a day after UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said Israel had decided 'to support a one-week scale-up of aid'. 'We hope this pause will last much longer than a week, ultimately turning into a permanent ceasefire,' Mr Fletcher's spokesperson, Eri Kaneko, said on July 28. Mr Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Compared to last week, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said, there had only been a 'small uptick' in the amount of aid being transported into Gaza since Israel started the humanitarian pauses. 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PHOTO: AFP The Hamas-run Gaza government said only 87 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on July 28, with the majority of trucks looted due to what it described as 'direct and systematic Israeli complicity'. 'Currently aid comes for the strong who can race ahead, who can push others and grab a box or a sack of flour. That chaos must be stopped and protection for those trucks must be allowed,' said Emad, 58, who used to own a factory in Gaza City. The WFP said it has 170,000 metric tons of food in the region, outside Gaza, which would be enough to feed the whole population for the next three months if it gets the clearance to bring into the enclave. Cogat said more than 120 truckloads of aid were distributed in Gaza on July 27 by the UN and international organisations. More aid was expected on July 28. Qatar said it had sent 49 trucks that arrived in Egypt en route for Gaza. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies. Israel cut off aid to Gaza from the start of March in what it said was a means to pressure Hamas into giving up dozens of hostages it still holds, and reopened aid with new restrictions in May. Hamas accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon. Israel says it abides by international law but must prevent aid from being diverted by militants, and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's people. REUTERS

Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen
Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen

Straits Times

time4 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen

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