Latest news with #AidGroups
Globe and Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Israeli strikes kill at least 52 in Gaza, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter, medics say
Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, setting their belongings ablaze, according to local health officials. The military said it targeted militants operating from the school. Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering for 2 1/2 months. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meeting mounting needs. A new aid system supported by Israel and the United States but rejected by UN agencies and aid groups is expected to begin operations as soon as Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently. Israel says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Hamas warned Palestinians on Monday not to co-operate with the new aid system, saying it is aimed at furthering those objectives. Israel's military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90 per cent of its population. Many have fled multiple times. In a separate development, Israeli protesters forcefully entered the Jerusalem compound of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. UNRWA West Bank co-ordinator Roland Friedrich said around a dozen Israeli protesters, including a member of parliament, entered the compound. Yulia Malinovsky, who joined the protesters, was one of the legislators behind an Israeli law that banned UNRWA. Israel has accused the agency, which is the biggest aid provider in Gaza, of being infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the UN There was no immediate comment from police. The strike on the school in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City also wounded dozens of people, said Fahmy Awad, head of the ministry's emergency service. He said a father and his five children were among the dead. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City confirmed the overall toll. Awad said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting fire to their belongings. Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains. The military said it targeted a militant command and control centre inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. A separate strike on a home in Jabalya in northern Gaza killed 16 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. Palestinian militants meanwhile fired three projectiles from Gaza, two of which fell short within the territory and a third that was intercepted, according to the Israeli military. Israel plans to roll out a new aid distribution system run by a group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials, that would set up distribution points guarded by private security firms. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off assistance, without providing evidence. The foundation said in a statement that it would begin delivering aid Monday and would reach a million Palestinians – around half of Gaza's population – by the end of the week. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to co-operate with the planned U.S.-backed system, saying it would force even more displacement, fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. They also say there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by militants. Jake Wood, the American heading the foundation, unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently. It's not clear who is funding the group. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the 2023 attack. More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued, and Israeli forces have recovered the remains of dozens more. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, rendering entire neighbourhoods uninhabitable. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to shelter in schools and squalid tent camps for well over a year. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It says more than half the dead are women and children but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Washington Post
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Israel may change tack to allow aid groups in Gaza to stay in charge of non-food aid
TEL AVIV, Israel — As pressure mounts to get more aid into Gaza , Israel appears to be changing tack and may let aid groups operating in the battered enclave remain in charge of non-food assistance while leaving food distribution to a newly established U.S.-backed group , according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Dozens of trucks of humanitarian aid for Gaza still sitting at border entry
Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into Gaza, but the aid has not yet reached Palestinians in desperate need, according to aid groups. United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday evening that although the aid has entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time. Internal notes circulated among aid groups Wednesday and seen by The Associated Press said that no humanitarian trucks had left Kerem Shalom, the border crossing in southern Gaza that is operated by Israel. The notes said 65 trucks moved from the Israel side of the crossing to the Palestinian side, but hadn't made it into Gaza. The Israeli defence body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza said trucks were entering into Gaza on Wednesday morning, but it was unclear if that aid was able to continue into Gaza for distribution. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said they waited several hours to collect aid from the border crossing in order to begin distribution but were unable to do so on Tuesday. Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appealed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, calling the situation "yet more worrying and saddening." "I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the devastating price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick," the new Pope said during his first weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 45 people, including several women and a week-old infant. The fresh strikes come as Israel's war on Hamas shows no signs of relenting, despite a surge in international anger at Israel's widening offensive. 14 from same family killed Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued to pound the territory. Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 45 people, including several women and a week-old infant. In the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel recently ordered new evacuations pending an expected expanded offensive, 24 people were killed, 14 of them from the same family. A week-old infant was killed in central Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes but has said it is targeting Hamas infrastructure and accused Hamas militants of operating from civilian areas. The fresh strikes come as Israel's war on Hamas shows no signs of relenting, despite a surge in international anger at Israel's widening offensive. On Tuesday, the U.K. suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault, a step that came a day after the country, along with Canada and France promised concrete steps to prompt Israel to halt the war. Separately, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza. WATCH l Conduct of war is 'damaging' relationship: U.K. foreign minister: U.K. suspends free trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive 18 hours ago Duration 8:39 No breakthrough in Qatar-hosted talks Israel says it is prepared to stop the war once all the hostages taken by Hamas return home and Hamas is defeated, or is exiled and disarmed. Hamas says it is prepared to release the hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory and an end to the war. It rejects demands for exile and disarmament. Israel called back its senior negotiating team from ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday, saying it would leave lower-level officials in place instead. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians including several Canadian citizens, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
International pressure mounts on Israel over Gaza
International pressure continues to mount on Israel, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer describing the situation in Gaza as "intolerable". Israel has conducted a blockade of Gaza for the past 11 weeks, but has now agreed to allow what it's termed a "basic amount of food" to enter. Aid groups however say more food is desperately needed.
South China Morning Post
11-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Israeli strikes kill 13 in Gaza as Israel recovers missing remains
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 13 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials. Advertisement Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents. Another five people were killed in strikes elsewhere, according to hospitals. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes. Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages. Aid groups say food supplies are running low and hunger is widespread. Palestinians collect water in jerrycans at a distribution point west of Gaza City, on Sunday. Photo: AP US President Donald Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel's actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour that will not include Israel.
