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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
No proof Hamas routinely stole UN aid: Israeli military officials
JERUSALEM: For nearly two years, Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organisations. The govt has used that claim as its main rationale for restricting food from entering the Gaza Strip. But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter. In fact, the Israeli military officials said, the UN aid delivery system was largely effective in providing food to Gaza's hungry population. Now, with hunger at crisis levels in the territory, Israel is coming under increased international pressure over its conduct of the war in Gaza and the humanitarian suffering it has brought. Israel has largely brushed off the criticism. David Mencer, a govt spokesperson, said this past week that there was "no famine caused by Israel." Instead, he blamed Hamas and poor coordination by the United Nations for any food shortages. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Up to 70% off | Shop Sale Libas Undo Israel moved in May toward replacing the UN-led aid system, opting instead to back a private, American-run operation guarded by armed US contractors in areas controlled by Israeli military forces. Some aid still comes into Gaza through the UN and other organisations. The new system has proved to be much deadlier for Palestinians. According to the Gaza health ministry, almost 1,100 people have been killed by gunfire on their way to get food handouts under the new system, in many cases by Israeli soldiers who opened fire on hungry crowds. In the latest such incident, three people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid in three separate incidents in northern, central and southern Gaza, said the civil defence agency on Saturday. In total, at least 25 people were killed, reports AFP. The military officials who spoke to The New York Times said that the original UN aid operation was relatively reliable and less vulnerable to Hamas interference than the operations of many of the other groups bringing aid into Gaza. Hamas did steal from some of the smaller organisations that donated aid, according to the senior Israeli officials and others involved in the matter. But, they say, there was no evidence that Hamas regularly stole from the UN, which provided the largest chunk of the aid.
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
No proof Hamas routinely stole UN aid, Israeli military officials say
Now, with hunger at crisis levels in the territory, Israel is coming under increased international pressure over its conduct of the war in Gaza and the humanitarian suffering it has brought. Doctors in the territory say that an increasing number of their patients are suffering from -- and dying of -- starvation. More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups warned this past week of 'mass starvation' and implored Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian assistance. The European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies like Britain, France, and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's 'drip-feeding of aid' to Gaza's 2 million Palestinian residents. Advertisement Israel has largely brushed off the criticism. David Mencer, a government spokesperson, said this past week that there was 'no famine caused by Israel.' Instead, he blamed Hamas and poor coordination by the United Nations for any food shortages. Advertisement Israel moved in May toward replacing the UN-led aid system that had been in place for most of the 21-month war in Gaza, opting instead to back a private, American-run operation guarded by armed US contractors in areas controlled by Israeli military forces. Some aid still comes into Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations. The new system has proved to be much deadlier for Palestinians trying to obtain food handouts. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, almost 1,100 people have been killed by gunfire on their way to get food handouts under the new system, in many cases by Israeli soldiers who opened fire on hungry crowds. Israeli officials have said they fired shots in the air in some instances because the crowds came too close or endangered their forces. The military officials who spoke to The New York Times said that the original UN aid operation was relatively reliable and less vulnerable to Hamas interference than the operations of many of the other groups bringing aid into Gaza. That's largely because the United Nations managed its own supply chain and handled distribution directly inside Gaza. Hamas did steal from some of the smaller organizations that donated aid, as those groups were not always on the ground to oversee distribution, according to the senior Israeli officials and others involved in the matter. But, they say, there was no evidence that Hamas regularly stole from the United Nations, which provided the largest chunk of the aid. A Hamas representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An internal US government analysis came to a similar conclusion, Reuters reported Friday. It found no evidence of systematic Hamas theft of US-funded humanitarian supplies, the report said. Advertisement 'For months, we and other organizations were dragged through the mud by accusations that Hamas steals from us,' said Georgios Petropoulos, a former UN official in Gaza who oversaw aid coordination with Israel for nearly 13 months of war. The senior military officials and others interviewed by the Times spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the military or government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement, the military said that it has been 'well documented' that Hamas has routinely 'exploited humanitarian aid to fund terrorist activities.' But the military did not dispute the assessment that there was no evidence that Hamas regularly stole aid from the United Nations. The Israeli government and military have often clashed over how to conduct the war in Gaza. Early last year, top commanders urged a cease-fire with Hamas to secure the release of hostages. Netanyahu's government instead expanded the ground operation in southern Gaza. Israel used the rationale that Hamas steals aid when it cut off all food and other supplies to Gaza between March and May. In March, after a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel collapsed, Netanyahu said: 'Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods entering Gaza,' and he declared that Israel would prevent anything from entering the territory. That blockade, and problems with a new aid system that launched in May, brought hunger and starvation in Gaza to the current crisis levels. For most of the war, the UN was the largest single source of aid entering Gaza, according to data from the Israeli military unit that oversees policy in the territory. Advertisement Now, the new aid system is managed instead by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private American company led by a former CIA agent. It was intended to eventually replace international aid organizations and the UN role. But it has only a few distribution hubs, compared with hundreds under the former UN-run operation. The new system's rollout at the end of May was quickly followed by near-daily episodes of deadly violence near distribution sites. Desperate and hungry Palestinians must go to the few aid distribution sites located in areas controlled by Israeli forces. The hours of operation are limited and supplies run out, so crowds arrive early, with some walking for miles to get there. Since May 19, when Israel allowed emergency supplies to resume entering Gaza after its two-month blockade, half of the aid has been distributed by the United Nations and international organizations, with the other half coming through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli military says. Petropoulos welcomed the notion that some Israeli officials had recognized the UN-led aid system as effective during the war. But he said he wished that endorsement had come much sooner. 'If the UN had been taken at face value months ago, we wouldn't have wasted all this time and Gazans wouldn't be starving and being shot at trying to feed their families,' he said. This article originally appeared in
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Pat Kenny gets curious, then angry, and finally jaundiced
Pat Kenny has never been one to shy away from asking the hard questions of politicians or pundits. But the veteran host goes one further on Tuesday ( The Pat Kenny Show , Newstalk, weekdays), when he puts one of his colleagues on the spot. Casting a gimlet eye over the newly announced National Development Plan with political correspondent Seán Defoe , Kenny is particularly annoyed at reports that the Government may seek planning exemptions for key infrastructure measures, prompting him to vent in exasperation. 'Why do we keep reinventing the wheel?' It's a query that leaves Defoe somewhat flummoxed, at least judging by the silence that ensues. 'That's a good question,' he eventually replies, 'Why do we keep on coming back to this planning thing?' It's a good answer too, with Defoe decoding Kenny's inchoate outburst for the benefit of listeners. (For this one, anyway.) The host's peevish ponderings may occasionally be baffling to others, but there's no doubting the sincerity of his concerns. On the Government's ability to deliver on its plan, Kenny points to a shortage of construction workers as well as the ballooning costs associated with State projects. 'You don't get as much for a billion as you used to get,' he drily remarks. If Kenny's attitude to splashy Government spending plans is jaded, he sounds sickened by the horrors in Gaza , where aid agencies are warning of mass starvation . 'It's very hard to overstate what's going on in Gaza,' he comments on Wednesday. 'It is appalling, it's a humanitarian tragedy and it's one, it would appear, of Israel 's making.' READ MORE This is, if anything, an understatement. Juliette Touma of refugee agency UNRWA paints an apocalyptic picture of spreading famine, exacerbated by the forced displacement of the Palestinian population. She says 'people have been treated like pinballs'. Kenny references the 'sadistic death traps' of aid points organised by the American-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where hundreds have died while seeking food. 'This seems to be the project of the Israelis, to render the destruction so great that there is no liveability available to the Palestinians,' Kenny suggests. As has been his style throughout the Gaza carnage, he avoids hyperbole, instead marshalling the facts to back up his grim assessment of Israel's intentions. (Not a difficult feat, admittedly.) That said, his guest's emotionally direct verdict hits harder: 'We are going to lose our humanity.' Kenny's handling of issues isn't always so deft, particularly if they're of less gravity. Following his item on the French government's cost-saving proposal to abolish two public holidays, the host adopts an arch tone as he meticulously lists off Ireland's bank holidays. 'We're okay, but maybe another one or two, perhaps, would be nice to have,' he concludes, his voice heavy with irony. It's presumably meant as a lark, but hearing a highly-paid broadcaster mockingly imply that the public has too many holidays is unedifying. A questioning approach is one thing, but there's a fine line between being healthily sceptical and dyspeptically jaundiced. There's no such subtlety on Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), where the atmosphere careens from sombre to farcical to explosively argumentative, all within a couple of minutes. Wednesday's programme opens with host Cormac Ó hEadhra speaking to reporter Vincent Kearney about the terrible shooting incident in Co Fermanagh , in understandably subdued fashion. But their conversation is cut short with incongruous abruptness by a burst of big-band music and the excited voice of Radio 1 wildlife presenter Derek Mooney. 'Hello and welcome to the programme,' chirrups Mooney, 'What a cracking show we have in store for you.' It would want to be, crashing in so suddenly. This is, of course, a technical cock-up, an occupational hazard on live radio. (It's a rogue recording of Monday night's Mooney Goes Wild , for anyone wishing to check how cracking the show is.) Sure enough, the broadcast promptly cuts to a commercial break, before Ó hEadhra returns to the air, playing down the spectacular snafu in his best 'nothing to see here' manner: 'Apologies for the disruption before the break.' RTÉ Radio 1 Drivetime host Cormac Ó hEadhra. Photograph: Marc O'Sullivan/RTÉ It's nothing compared to the turbulence that follows, however, when Ó hEadhra clashes with Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary . The flashpoint is the Government's €2 billion allocation to kickstart the MetroLink underground line between Dublin Airport and the city centre. O'Leary is in pugilistic form, even by his own standards, as he dismisses the perma-stalled rail project as an unnecessary extravagance. 'We're useless at this kind of infrastructure in Ireland', he says, suggesting that a small fraction of the multi-billion budget would improve the bus service. Not without a combative streak himself, Ó hEadhra spars with his guest on the need for the MetroLink, but is outpunched by the airline boss, who fires off a barrage of statistics while belittling the host's 'stupid comments'. When Ó hEadhra changes tactics and targets air travel emissions, O'Leary aggressively parries: 'The growth of air travel will not immolate the world.' Meanwhile, the host's pertinent observations, like his suggestion that his guest's constant disparagement of Government is 'muckraking', get lost in the scrum. It's fun for anyone who enjoys on-air slugging matches, but it also shows the limits of Ó hEadhra's brawling instincts: in a shouting contest, there are few who can best the Ryanair supremo. Notably, his approach has been less effective against Radio 1 presenters such as Claire Byrne, whose understated persistence has in the past made O'Leary come across as a boorish loudmouth. Ó hEadhra is sole presenter throughout this scrap, with his usual co-pilot Sarah McInerney 'away on holliers'. But intriguingly, he's accompanied on Tuesday's show by Claire Brock, formerly presenter of The Tonight Show on Virgin Media TV. The presence of Brock, an experienced current affairs host who delivers a poised and confident performance, will surely fuel rumours of a possible shake-up in Radio 1's schedule following Joe Duffy's retirement. But Brock first has to face an examination from her co-host, who directs her attention to a study on shorter working weeks. 'Just to gauge straight away what type of a colleague she is and will be,' Ó hEadhra says, 'I just wonder if you're a four day or a five day working week colleague?' Brock doesn't hesitate: 'Give me the four day working week – isn't that what any employee would say?' Well, maybe not Pat Kenny. Moment of the Week Séan Moncrieff (Newstalk) is in patriotic form when he's joined by fellow presenter Kieran Cuddihy for the daily preview of items on The Hard Shoulder. Noting how he has cheered on England in the Euro 2025 women's football championship, Cuddihy muses: 'Why is it okay, seemingly, to support the Lionesses, but not the English men's team?' Both broadcasters chuckle conspiratorially, before Moncrieff replies: 'It's because British women didn't keep us under the yoke for 800 years.' 'Exactly, it was a male yoke,' Cuddihy agrees. The Elizabethan plantations notwithstanding, they may be on to something.
Scoop
24-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
‘Famine Silently Begins To Unfold' In Gaza, UNRWA Chief Says
24 July 2025 Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said that is what one of its workers told him on Thursday morning. This sobering comment comes amidst increasingly severe malnutrition for children and adults throughout the Gaza Strip. 'When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food and care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,' Mr. Lazzarini said in a tweet. Bombs are not the only thing that kills Gaza has faced relentless bombardment for almost three years, but Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a briefing on Wednesday that it is not just the bombs which are killing Palestinians. Starvation is 'another killer'. Reportedly at least 100 people have died from hunger, and WHO has documented at least 21 cases of children under the age of five dying from malnutrition. Additionally, Mr. Lazzarini said one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, a number increasing every day that unhindered humanitarian aid is denied. He said these children urgently need treatment, but supplies remain low. Between early March and mid-May – 80 consecutive days – no aid was allowed into the Gaza Strip, pushing the population to the brink of famine. While minimal aid has since entered, Tedros emphasised that it is not enough. 'Food deliveries have resumed intermittently, but remain far below what is needed for the survival of the population,' he said. Safe havens are no longer safe Tedros reported that between 27 May and 21 July, over 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed while trying to access food. Many of these have died in or around sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American-run and Israeli-backed aid distribution organization which the UN has repeatedly said violates well-established principles of international humanitarian law. 'Parents tell us their children cry themselves to sleep from hunger. Food distribution sites have become places of violence,' Tedros said. In addition to risking their lives when seeking out desperately needed humanitarian assistance, hospitals – which have been systematically targeted, according to UNFPA – are no longer safe havens. 'Hospitals, which are supposed to be safe havens, have regularly been attacked, and many are no longer functioning,' Tedros said. He recalled that on Monday, a WHO staff residence, a humanitarian site, was attacked, with male personnel being stripped and interrogated, women and children forced to flee on foot in the midst of violence and one WHO staff member detained. 'Despite this, WHO and other UN agencies are staying in Gaza. Our commitment is firm. UN agencies must be protected while operating in conflict zones,' Tedros said. Frontline workers face hunger In addition to the Palestinians in Gaza who are 'emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying', aid workers are also feeling the effects of the sustained lack of supplies. Most UNRWA workers are surviving on a meagre bowl of lentils each day, Mr. Lazzarini said, leading many of them to faint from hunger at work. 'When caretakers cannot find enough to eat, the entire humanitarian system is collapsing,' he said. Some parents are too hungry to care for their children, and even those who do reach clinics for treatment are often too tired to follow the advice provided. Mr. Lazzarini noted that UNRWA alone has 6,000 trucks of desperately needed food and medical supplies in Jordan and Egypt. He called for this and other aid to be immediately let through. 'Families are no longer coping. They are breaking down, unable to survive. Their existence is threatened,' he said. 'Allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza.'
08-06-2025
- Health
Ukraine war veteran runs 5k one week after receiving a prosthetic leg
ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz reports on a new American-run rehabilitation center in Kyiv.
