Latest news with #AjithSunghay
Gulf Today
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Access denied
Israel has refused to renew visas for the directors of three United Nations Agencies operating in Gaza where they provide aid and care for 2.3 million Palestinians. Visas have been denied to Jonathan Whittall who heads Palestine mission of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, and to Ajith Sunghay, the representative in Palestine for the organisation for Human Rights, OHCHR. UNRWA's commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini had already been barred from travelling to Gaza. UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that the UN's mission is to provide aid, report on events witnessed by staff on the ground, and press for adherence to international law. He stated, 'Each time we report on what we see, we face threats of further reduced access to the civilians we are trying to serve. Nowhere today is the tension between our advocacy mandate and delivering aid greater than in Gaza.' He added, 'Visas are not renewed or reduced in duration by Israel, explicitly in response to our work on protection of civilians.' UNRWA has long been an Israeli target. Israel's Knesset adopted two laws last October which prohibited Israeli authorities from having contact with the agency and banned it from operating East Jerusalem. In November Israel began implementing these measures, claiming without providing evidence the agency has Hamas staff members who were involved in the Oct.7, 2023, attack when the movement killed 1,200 and abducted 250. In January, the agency's international staff in East Jerusalem were compelled to relocate to Amman in Jordan while local staff remained in place. If fully applied, the latest measures could violate the mandate of UNRWA, which was created in 1949 and in 1950 began providing shelter, food, medical care, education, and welfare services for most of the 750,000 Palestinians rendered stateless and homeless by the emergence of Israel by war in 1948. UNRWA currently cares for almost six million Palestinian refugees living in Israel, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Israel has called for the dissolution of UNRWA and for Palestinian refugees to settle in host countries, despite their objections. On the permanent settlement issue UNRWA was not only not mandated to care for the refugees but effect the ultimate resolution of the 'Palestinian refugee problem.' This was laid down in the General Assembly's December 1949 resolution 194, paragraph 11, which called for a return of Palestinian refugees to their homes as soon as 'practicable' and compensation for their losses. For Israel, return was never 'practicable' and compensation was refused. Consequently Palestinian refugees remain in limbo and UNRWA has become their quasi-state. The plan for a Jewish state in Palestine was adopted by General Assembly partition resolution 181 of November 1947. The Zionists welcomed the resolution which awarded 55 per cent of Palestine to a Jewish state and 45 per cent to an Arab (Palestinian) state and provided for international administration for Jerusalem. But the Zionists had no intention of abiding by the terms of the resolution. Once the Zionist pre-state army Haganah received a large consignment of weapons in March 1948, it began a coordinated offensive to conquer the whole of Palestine by attacking the areas allocated to the Arab state and Jerusalem. By May 14-15 when the British mandate expired and the Jewish state was proclaimed, the Israelis had already expelled 200,000 of the 750,000 Palestinians ultimately made homeless. The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq only intervened after mid-May and could not contain the Haganah which had seized 78 per cent of Palestine before the truce was signed in March 1950. Jordan assumed control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Egypt of Gaza. Alarmed by the Israeli onslaught, land grab, and flood of refugees, the UN appointed as mediator Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte, who was responsible for rescuing 15,000 people, many of them Jewish, from Nazi concentration camps during World War II. As he was critical of Israel's actions and put forward a peace plan rejected by the Zionists, Bernadotte was assassinated in September 1848 by the Israeli Stern Gang headed by Yitzak Shamir (who was prime minister in 1983-1984 and 1986-1992). The UN retaliated by adopting resolution 194 which Israel had no intention of respecting. From its creation 77 years ago until now, Israel has seen the UN as an organisation intent on frustrating its ambitions and depriving it of conquests although the UN has abided by its 1945 Charter, which bans the acquisition of territory by force. On Oct.29, 1956, Israel invaded and occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Gaza and on November 5th, Britain and France – which had plotted with Israel – attacked Egypt to topple President Gamal Abdel Nasser who had nationalised the Suez Canal. However, an angry US President Dwight Eisenhower ordered an end to the war and Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian territory. He had little choice, because the Suez war coincided with Russia's invasion of Hungary which had rebelled against Soviet rule. The UN responded to the conflict by establishing the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) force to stabilise the Israel-Egypt border. As tensions peaked between Egypt and Israel in May 1967, Cairo ordered UNEF to evacuate. This was partially completed when Israel launched its third war against the Arabs on June 5 during which Israel completed its conquest of Palestine by occupying East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Israel conquered the Golan Heights of Syria and resumed its occupation of Sinai. In November 1967, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 242 which called for Israeli withdrawal from territory occupied that June. Israel ignored the resolution and built settlements. In October 1973, Egypt and Syria mounted the first Arab war against Israel by invading Sinai and the Golan. After Israel reconquered these territories, the Security Council passed resolutions 338, 339, and 340 calling for an end to the war and implementation of 242. Israel only pulled out of Sinai in 1979 after signing a peace treaty with Egypt. Israel evacuated its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 but retained control by air, land and sea. Israel invaded south Lebanon in 1978 to halt attacks from Palestinian forces and in 1982 occupied Lebanon from the southern border to Beirut. The UN called for total Israeli withdrawal. Israel pulled back to a wide border zone which it held until Hezbollah drove Israeli forces from the area in May 2000. If Israel had acted on UN resolutions, 18 years of violence could have been avoided. Photo: AP
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Four people killed after starving Palestinians burst into UN food warehouse in Gaza
Four people have died as thousands of Palestinians burst into a United Nations warehouse in Gaza, tearing away sections of the building's metal walls in a desperate attempt to find food. Two people were fatally crushed and two others died of gunshot wounds after the crowd forced its way into the World Food Programme warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday afternoon, health officials said. It was not immediately clear if Israeli forces, private contractors or others had opened fire. Footage showed throngs of people shouting and pushing into the building while others threw bags of flour and boxes into the crowd. 'Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP's al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,' WFP said in a statement, which warned of 'alarming and deteriorating conditions on the ground'. 'Humanitarian needs have spiralled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade of all food assistance and other aid into Gaza,' the statement said. 'Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance. This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve.' A UN envoy compared the limited aid being allowed into Gaza to 'a lifeboat after the ship has sunk'. Sigrid Kaag, the acting UN special coordinator for the Middle East, told the UN security council that people facing famine in Gaza 'have lost hope'. The 11-week siege and a continuing tight Israel blockade mean most people in Gaza are desperately hungry. Medics and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory have said for months that malnutrition is spreading. Bakeries operated by the UN World Food Programme have closed owing to a lack of cooking gas, and prices are soaring for the limited food available in shops and markets. The chaotic scenes came as Gaza health officials said at least one civilian had been killed and 48 injured in a separate incident at a food distribution point in the south of the territory on the previous day. Israeli troops opened fire at the newly established site as a large crowd gathered there on Tuesday. Witnesses to that incident said Israeli forces started shooting after crowds of Palestinians broke through the fences around the centre managed by a US-backed group, chosen by Israel to ship food into Gaza, which lost control of its distribution site. An Israeli military helicopter was seen firing flares and bursts of gunfire were heard in the distance. In one video, a large crowd of panicked civilians, including women and children, can be seen running away, trampling the fencing. Footage showed hundreds of Palestinians queueing alongside barbed-wire fences shortly before the incident. As the food distribution began, thousands of starving Palestinians rushed into the site, causing at least two of the fences at the entrance queue to collapse quickly. Later footage shows all the entrance row fences collapsed in the panic that followed. Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN human rights office for the Palestinian territories, said most of the injured people were hurt by gunfire. Gaza's health ministry said at least one person was killed. The Israeli military said it fired 'warning shots' near the compound to restore control, but denied firing towards people. In a statement released on Wednesday, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been authorised by Israel to take over food distribution operations to bypass the UN aid mechanisms into the Palestinian territory, said: 'No shots were fired at Palestinian crowds and there were no casualties.' The accounts of the events of Tuesday came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said an airstrike earlier this month had killed Mohammed Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza who took the position after the death of his elder brother Yahya last year. Both were planners of the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. Tuesday also marked the 600th day in captivity for the remaining Israeli hostages seized that day. Satellite imagery of the Gaza food distribution centre, reviewed by the Guardian, suggests the incident took place inside an area marked by the IDF for evacuation as recently as Sunday. Images and videos shared by the Israel Defense Forces in preparation for food distribution showed a large clearing constructed with fortifications around it, amid the bombed-out ruins of southern Gaza. Two routes with fencing were erected for entrance and exit, with the ones for entrance having five narrow fenced rows that crowds squeezed themselves into. Recent imagery shows tables lined up end to end inside the clearing, where several armoured IDF vehicles and at least eight aid trucks were visible. Interior photos of the aid trucks showed stacks of brown boxes shabbily packed, with stickers bearing 'GHF'. Children and women were caught in the crowd, and a large dust cloud from the scrambling was visible. Some Palestinians managed to get their hands on boxes of food and run away, while others grabbed what food items they could and left. Two of the boxes opened appeared to contain oil, pasta, beans, noodles, biscuits, flour, tinned food, sugar and tahini. Some videos appeared to show people lugging away bits of wood on foot and on the back of donkey carts. Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters, which the group denies. Earlier this month, a global hunger monitor said half a million people in the strip faced starvation. The IPC estimated that nearly 71,000 children under the age of five were expected to be 'acutely malnourished', with 14,100 cases expected to be severe in the next 11 months. The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system for food distribution, saying it would not be able to meet the needs of Gaza's 2.3 million people and allowed Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also said there was a risk of friction between Israeli troops and hungry people seeking supplies. The organisations added that the newly formed group had no experience and so would not be able to handle the logistics of feeding more than 2 million people in a devastated combat zone, a prediction the dangerous scenes on Tuesday appeared to confirm. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Wednesday that the new – US-backed – distribution model was a waste of resources and a distraction from 'atrocities'. 'We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose,' Lazzarini said. 'The humanitarian community in Gaza, including Unrwa, is ready. We have the experience and expertise to reach people in need. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards famine, so humanitarian [work] must be allowed to do its life-saving work now.' GHF said on Wednesday there were 'many parties' that wished to see them fail. The US president, Donald Trump, said his administration was working on accelerating food deliveries to Gaza. A group of NGOs, including ActionAid, said this month: 'Aid that is used to mask ongoing violence is not aid, it is in fact humanitarian cover for a military strategy of control and dispossession.'
Daily News Egypt
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily News Egypt
Israeli strikes intensify in Gaza as humanitarian system nears collapse
Israeli offensive in Gaza intensified Saturday, targeting multiple areas across the besieged enclave, further straining a humanitarian system already on the brink of collapse. The escalation comes amid stalled ceasefire negotiations and mounting international concern over deteriorating living conditions. Heavy bombardment was reported in eastern Gaza City and the north of the Strip, with local officials warning of an unprecedented breakdown in critical infrastructure. In the south, Israeli forces struck civilian sites, including the Martyr Jamal Abu Hamad Mosque in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, according to local sources. The municipality of Khaza'a declared the town 'a completely devastated disaster zone,' citing relentless shelling and widespread destruction of civilian life. Gaza City's municipality warned of a total collapse in public services, citing mass displacement and the paralysis of waste management and water systems. 'More than 250,000 tonnes of waste have accumulated in central Gaza, while clean water is becoming nearly unavailable,' the municipality said in a statement. Officials added that key services—including sewage treatment and garbage collection—are nearing total shutdown due to fuel and equipment shortages. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that famine in Gaza can only be averted through urgent political action. 'The current trickle of aid mocks the scale of this collective tragedy,' he said. UN agencies and NGOs have been sounding alarms over severe shortages of food, fuel, water, and medical supplies, as access to Gaza remains heavily restricted. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, sharply criticized the joint U.S.-Israeli aid delivery mechanism, calling it 'humiliating,' 'unsustainable,' and devoid of 'neutrality, fairness, and independence.' In an interview with Anadolu Agency, he warned that the current model hinders rather than helps the humanitarian response. In northern Gaza, Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed it had ambushed an Israeli ground unit in Atatra, near Beit Lahia, reporting close-range combat and casualties among Israeli troops. The al-Quds Brigades, affiliated with Islamic Jihad, said it shelled an Israeli troop and vehicle concentration near the Customs Authority compound east of Khan Younis using 60mm mortars. Gaza's Ministry of Health reported that hospitals are operating under 'limited and depleted technical options' amid growing power outages. Dozens of generators have reportedly been destroyed in Israeli strikes, including three high-capacity units recently hit. Officials warned that the collapse of the healthcare system is imminent without immediate fuel and medical equipment resupply. As the crisis deepens, diplomatic efforts continue with few signs of breakthrough. Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that a ceasefire deal 'is very close,' hinting that an announcement could come 'today or tomorrow.' According to reports, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff presented a proposal that includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 28 Israeli captives—both living and deceased—in exchange for the release of 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and the return of 180 Palestinian bodies. A second phase would involve additional exchanges, a permanent ceasefire, and large-scale humanitarian aid deliveries. Hamas confirmed in a brief statement on Friday that it is studying the proposal and consulting with other Palestinian factions before issuing an official response. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's central role in mediation efforts during a meeting with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Abdelatty emphasized Cairo's continued coordination with the U.S. and Qatar to broker a ceasefire and ensure the safe entry of aid. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tamim Khalaf said Abdelatty condemned Israeli actions as 'flagrant violations of international law and humanitarian principles,' while reiterating Egypt's demand for uninterrupted humanitarian access and protection of civilians.
Eyewitness News
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - The UN on Wednesday condemned a US-backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food distribution, where the Israeli military said it did not open fire at crowds. The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory. According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians desperate for food rushed into a GHF aid distribution site, while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died. Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire, and based on the information he had, "it was shooting from the IDF" - the Israeli military. The Israeli military rejected the accusation, with Colonel Olivier Rafowicz telling AFP that Israeli soldiers "fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside" the centre managed by the GHF, and "in no case towards the people." With the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel entering its 600th day on Wednesday, Palestinians in Gaza felt there was no reason to hope for a better future. In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the 7 October attack longed for the return of their loved ones, with hundreds gathering in their name in Tel Aviv. "Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop," said Bassam Daloul, 40, adding that "even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare." 'WASTE OF RESOURCES' The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, which faces accusations of failing to fulfil the principles of humanitarian work, and Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday reiterated the criticism. "I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose," he said during a visit in Japan. In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes killed 16 people since dawn Wednesday. Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food. "Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children", she told AFP. Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week. A medical source in southern Gaza told AFP that after Tuesday's stampede at the GHF site "more than 40 injured people arrived at Nasser Hospital, the majority of them wounded by Israeli gunfire", adding that at least one had died since. The source added that "a number of other civilians also arrived at the hospital with various bruises". HOSTAGE FAMILIES' ANGUISH On Tuesday, the GHF said around "8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far... totalling 462,000 meals". UN agencies and aid groups have argued that the GHF's designation of so-called secure distribution sites contravenes the principle of humanity because it would force already displaced people to move again in order to stay alive. Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive. In Israel, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire that would allow for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza since their 2023 attack. Protesters gathered along the country's roads and on the main highway running through the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented 7 October attack began. Most Israeli media headlines read "600 days", and focused on the hostage families' struggle to get their relatives home. Other events were planned across Israel to make the 600th day of captivity for the 57 remaining hostages still in Gaza. Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas' 7 October, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.
Daily Tribune
29-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Tribune
Around 47 injured in chaos, shooting at Gaza aid centre
Around 47 people were injured, largely due to gunshots fired by the Israeli military, during chaotic scenes at a new aid distribution centre in Gaza, a senior UN official said yesterday. Thousands of Palestinians rushed into the centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Tuesday, AFP journalists reported, as Israel implemented a new distribution system that bypasses the United Nations. The incident in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip came days after the partial easing of a total aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that Israel imposed on March 2, leading to severe shortages of food and medicine. 'From the information we have, there are about 47 people who have been injured' in Tuesday's incident, Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, told the UN correspondents' association in Geneva. He added that 'most of those injured are due to gunshots' and based on the information he has, 'it was shooting from the IDF' -- the Israel Defence Forces. Sunghay stressed that his office was still assessing and gathering information on the full picture of events. 'The numbers could go up. We are trying to confirm what has happened to them,' in terms of how seriously people were injured, Sunghay added. Sunghay also expressed concern about the possible medical aid injured people would be able to access. 'Getting medical aid has never been easy in Gaza or in the West Bank because hospitals have been attacked, ambulances have been attacked, health workers have been attacked,' he said. The Israeli military said its troops 'fired warning shots in the area outside' the distribution compound on Tuesday, and that it had re-established 'control over the situation'. A senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless 'a success'.
