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Gaza humanitarian aid sites close for Eid as Palestinians go hungry

Gaza humanitarian aid sites close for Eid as Palestinians go hungry

The US-backed so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced on Friday that it has closed all its aid distribution centres across the besieged enclave as Palestinians go hungry on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar.
The group suspended operations after a series of fatal shootings by Israeli forces near the sites, forcing an immediate halt to aid deliveries.
The controversial US-backed initiative to distribute aid in Gaza named an evangelical leader and former adviser to US President Donald Trump as its new chief earlier this week.
Johnnie Moore, a former member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, who has dismissed reports of mass killings at the GHF aid sites as 'fictional massacres', was appointed after the initiative's former head, Jake Wood, resigned.
The appointment comes as major partners abandon the project amidst the mass killings of Palestinians seeking aid.
Wood cited concerns over the GHF's ability to adhere to the 'humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence'.
The GHF's first week of operations descended into chaos, with over 75 Palestinian aid seekers killed by Israeli forces at its distribution points in less than six days.
Displaced Palestinians walk along a road to receive humanitarian aid packages from a US-backed foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 5, 2025 (AFP)

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Cambridge students hit out at injunctions 'criminalising' Palestine encampment
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Middle East Eye

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  • Middle East Eye

Cambridge students hit out at injunctions 'criminalising' Palestine encampment

Activists have hit out at a number of University of Cambridge colleges after they obtained court injunctions "criminalising" pro-Palestine encampments on campus. Interim injunctions were obtained by Trinity College and St John's College earlier this week after campaigners re-established encampments in protest at what they said was a failure by the university to divest from Israeli companies. A lawyer for the colleges has asked for the injunctions to be made final and to last 12 months, arguing that the protests have been disruptive to students taking exams and that the colleges are "concerned about the environment of fear and intimidation created by masked protesters". Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) said the move amounts to "criminalising" protests on campus. The group posted footage on their Instagram page appearing to show police earlier this week threatening protesters with imprisonment. Speaking to Middle East Eye on Saturday, a spokesperson for C4P, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the university was aiming to obscure a consensus among the student body that "rejects the university's long-standing partnership in genocide". New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Just months ago, when Cambridge enacted its first anti-protest injunction, over a thousand students, faculty and staff members united to condemn the university's repressive and racist action," they said. "Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence, and we will not allow it to go unchecked as it bankrolls scholasticide and mass murder." 'Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence' - C4P activist MEE contacted the University of Cambridge for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication. C4P says Trinity College holds investments in companies such as Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, L3Harris Technologies, and Barclays despite the university's previous commitment to review its 'responsible investment' policy following a similar months-long encampment last year. The group said the renewed protest last week came after months of student, faculty and community "frustration" over the university's failure to honour those pledges. The group has outlined four core demands, including full disclosure of financial ties to companies implicated in Israeli violations of international law, full divestment from them and reinvestment in Palestinian communities. In March, the university was granted a High Court order barring pro-Palestine actions from three locations on its campus until the end of July 2025 - a reduced version of its original bid to secure a five-year ban, which was rejected in court on 27 February. The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 self-governing colleges that operate autonomously, including in their financial investments. Many of them have faced protests over their investments since the launch of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023. On 20 May, King's College announced it would divest millions from the arms industry and companies complicit in "the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories", becoming the first Oxford or Cambridge college to take such measures. Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, pro-Palestinian students around the world have launched encampments in support of Gaza and in opposition to university links to Israel. The actions have been met with a fierce crackdown by security and police on several campuses.

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