
US envoy blames UN, media and Hamas for Gaza chaos and failed truce
Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel and an evangelical preacher, made the remarks in response to footage showing desperate Palestinians climbing onto an aid truck.
'Is the UN, NY Times, and Hamas all happy now?' he asked in a social media post. 'I'm sure Hamas is. Their lies and propaganda destroyed the ceasefire deal, tried to discredit safe and functioning GHF effort, emboldened Hamas and will result in this complete balagan [chaos]! Most sad for hostage families—grief prolonged.'
His comments come as international experts continue to blame Israel's near-total blockade of food and supplies for the collapse of civil order and widespread hunger in Gaza.

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Gulf Today
29 minutes ago
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France expels Gaza student over anti-Semitic posts
A student from Gaza who had been studying in France on a scholarship left for Qatar on Sunday, ordered out over anti-Semitic comments found on her social media accounts, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot "stressed the unacceptable nature of the comments made by Ms. Nour Attaalah, a Gazan student, before she entered French territory", said the ministry statement. "Given their seriousness, Ms. Attaalah could not remain on French territory. She left France today to go to Qatar to continue her studies there," it added. The student's lawyer, Ossama Dahmane, said Attaalah had chosen to "pursue her studies in another country in a spirit of appeasement and to guarantee her security", even if "she firmly denies the accusations made against her". Freeze on all Gaza student evacuation plans The young woman, who had received a student visa and a government scholarship as part of a programme for Gazan students, had been due to join Sciences Po Lille in the fall. She arrived in France on July 11, according to a French diplomatic source. But social media posts from the past two years calling for the killing of Jews, since deleted, were discovered. That led to a judicial investigation for condoning terrorism, and an inquiry to determine why the posts had not been detected in advance. AFP was unable to confirm the screen shots attributed to her by internet users and media outlets, but Sciences Po Lille said on Wednesday that her social media comments had been confirmed, without elaborating. Dahmane, the lawyer, said the "alleged facts are largely based on shared tweets, taken out of context." Barrot said on Friday that France was freezing all its student evacuation programmes from Gaza pending the outcome of the investigation into how the posts had been missed. The foreign ministry would not say how many students have been affected, citing privacy reasons. France has allowed in several hundred students from Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas movement. Agence France-Presse

Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Hamas says it will allow aid for hostages if Israel halts airstrikes
Hamas said on Sunday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said. Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting airstrikes during the distribution of aid. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organizations from having any kind of access to the hostages and families have little or no details of their conditions. A Palestinian man carries aid that entered Gaza through Israel, as other Palestinians ride on a truck, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Reuters On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David. In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole that, he says in the video, is for his own grave. The arm of the individual holding the camera, which can be seen in the frame, is a regular width. 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. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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. A statement from The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of those being held in Gaza, 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. Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Reuters "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. People mourn during the funeral of Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli fire while trying to receive aid, at Al Shifa Hospital. Reuters There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt. Gaza's health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients. 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 fighters 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 2.2 million 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 U.N. 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. A woman reacts during the funeral of Palestinians killed in an overnight Israeli strike on an UNRWA school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday. Reuters France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid. Looted aid trucks The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive. Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at its headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials. Reuters


The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Netanyahu 'leaning towards occupying Gaza'
Israel 's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaning towards ordering a "full occupation" of Gaza, Israeli media reported on Monday, despite massive pressure to end the war. Mr Netanyahu said he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how to instruct the military to meet his war goals in Gaza. Israel's Channel 12 cited an official from his office as saying that Mr Netanyahu was inclining towards expanding the offensive and seizing the entire enclave. There was no immediate confirmation. "We must continue to stand together and fight together to achieve all our war objectives: the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," Mr Netanyahu told a regular cabinet meeting on Monday. Any expansion of the war would be met with dismay by Palestinians and Middle East countries who have sought to end the 22-month conflict. It is unclear whether a 'full occupation' would improve or worsen the desperate humanitarian situation in the strip. Gaza's health authorities said 180 people have now died of starvation – 93 of them children – under Israel 's blockade of the territory. Israeli troops ended a two-month ceasefire in March and began taking control of large parts of Gaza. Mr Netanyahu said on July 25 that Israel and the US were "considering alternative options" to bring hostages home and end Hamas's rule of Gaza, without explaining what those might be. It came after talks on a proposed 60-day truce collapsed as negotiators were pulled out of Qatar. US envoy Steve Witkoff had said during a visit to the Middle East last week that he was working with Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza. President Donald Trump himself has said ending the conflict is a priority for his administration. However, months of negotiations mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt have failed to reach a deal as Israel's government faces mounting pressure over humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Hamas would be open to negotiating a comprehensive Gaza deal that would end the war in the Palestinian enclave and free all the hostages it holds, sources told The National on Monday. That would be a shift away from talks on a temporary ceasefire.