Latest news with #BasharTaleb
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
UN has clearance for 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza, official says
A girl holds plastic containers as displaced Palestinians collect water at a camp in Gaza City on 20 May 2025. Photo: AFP / Bashar Taleb The United Nations has received permission from Israel for about 100 more emergency aid trucks to enter Gaza, though the first supplies to have entered in weeks remained under Israeli control , a spokesperson said on Tuesday. International humanitarian experts have warned of looming famine in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people and the growing outcry has pushed Israel to lift an 11-week total blockade on aid supplies. "We have requested and received approval for more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) told a Geneva press briefing. Asked to specify how many, he said: "Around 100." After weeks of blockade, Israel cleared nine trucks of goods on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. However, Laerke said just five of those had so far entered Gaza and were still currently "under Israeli control" and subject to the last stage of checks. "The next step is to collect them, and then they will be distributed through the existing system," said Laerke, adding that those trucks contained baby food and nutritional products for children. "We know for a fact that there are babies in urgent life-saving need of these supplements. And if they do not get those, they will be in mortal danger," he said in response to a question about whether babies' lives were at risk. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher previously called the aid deliveries approved so far "a drop in the ocean". Israel says it plans to intensify military operations against Hamas and to control the whole of Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli air and ground war since Hamas' cross-border attack on Israeli communities in October 2023. Israel has said its blockade is aimed in part at preventing Palestinian militants from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied doing so. Malnutrition rates in the densely populated territory have risen during the Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said at the same briefing. "I have data until end of April and it shows malnutrition on the rise," said Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health. "And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control."
The Citizen
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Israel launches expanded Gaza offensive aimed at defeating Hamas
Israel resumed its Gaza offensive on 18 March, ending a two-month truce in the war. Boys inspect the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on 18 April 2025. Picture: Bashar Taleb / AFP Israel's military launched intensified Gaza operations on Saturday aimed at 'the defeat of Hamas', with rescuers in the besieged Palestinian territory reporting at least 10 killed by new Israeli strikes. The stepped-up campaign came amid increasing international concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza which continues to worsen amid an Israeli aid blockade. One of the territory's last functioning hospitals warned it could no longer treat seriously wounded patients because of shortages and damage from a nearby attack. It also came as Hamas said a new round of indirect negotiations with Israel 'without any preconditions' aimed at ending the war had started in Doha. Israel's expansion of the battle in Gaza Israel's military called the new operation part of 'the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war's objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas'. It said it had 'launched extensive strikes and transferred forces to seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip'. Addressing an Arab League summit in Baghdad, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was 'alarmed' at the expansion, adding: 'We need a permanent ceasefire, now.' The summit's final statement urged the international community 'to exert pressure to end the bloodshed and ensure that urgent humanitarian aid can enter without obstacles'. Italy urged Israel to stop its military strikes, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: 'Enough with the attacks.' The German government said it was 'deeply concerned' about the Israeli offensive. Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said 10 bodies were brought to hospitals on Saturday morning a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people. ALSO READ: Israel cabinet approves plan for Gaza 'conquest' In the central city of Deir el-Balah, displaced Gazans sifted through belongings, some bloodstained, for whatever could be salvaged after overnight strikes hit their tents. 'We woke up at half past two in the morning to the sound of a loud explosion that shook the entire area,' said Umm Fadi Quzaat. 'There was blood and body parts everywhere.' Israel resumed its Gaza offensive on 18 March, ending a two-month truce in the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack. UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Friday denounced the renewed attacks and what he described as an apparent push to permanently displace Gaza's inhabitants as being 'tantamount to ethnic cleansing'. Doha talks Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said Saturday new talks on ending the war had begun in Doha 'without any preconditions from either side'. 'Hamas will present its viewpoint on all issues, especially ending the war, (Israel's) withdrawal and prisoner exchange,' he added. Previous negotiations failed to secure a breakthrough, but the talks have been ongoing, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying this week he had told negotiators to head for the Qatari capital. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz credited the intensified campaign with bringing Hamas back to the table – 'in contrast to the recalcitrant position they had taken up until that moment'. READ MORE: Israel accused of starving Gaza 'by design' — South Africa addresses ICJ Both sides have insisted on certain conditions, with Hamas saying disarmament was a red line and Netanyahu unwilling to agree to a deal that would leave the group intact. At the Arab League summit, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on leaders to adopt a Palestinian Authority-led plan to end the war under which 'Hamas would relinquish its control' of Gaza and 'hand over its weapons' to the PA. The plan would also involve a permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages, humanitarian aid entering Gaza and an Israel's withdrawal from the Strip, he said, as well as 'a political process' for implementing a two-state solution. 'Catastrophic' Israel has faced increasing pressure to lift its aid blockade, as UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines. Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, said the situation there Saturday was 'catastrophic after its surroundings were targeted again this morning'. The hospital was 'unable to receive any more critical cases' amid 'a severe shortage' of blood units, medicine and supplies, he said. Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1 218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 3 131 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 53 272. NOW READ: Qatar's chief negotiator says 'frustrated' by pace of Gaza talks
Middle East Eye
25-03-2025
- Health
- Middle East Eye
At least 270 children killed in a week of Israeli attacks on Gaza
Save the Children says over 270 children have been killed in a week since Israel resumed its war on Gaza, marking some of 'the deadliest days for children since the war began'. 'Bombs falling, hospitals destroyed, children killed [and] the world is silent,' Rachael Cummings, Save the Children's humanitarian director in Gaza, said. 'No aid, no safety, no future.' The organisation said in a statement the war's resumption is 'a death sentence for Gaza's children'. Over 50,000 people, including more than 17,900 children, have now been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. A Palestinian man places the body of a child killed in an Israeli strike on top of that of a family member in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on 22 March 2025 (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
Egypt Independent
23-03-2025
- Health
- Egypt Independent
50,000 killed in Gaza since start of Israel-Hamas war, health ministry says
CNN — More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's war with Hamas began, the territory's health ministry said Sunday, a grim milestone for a war with no end in sight as Israel resumes fighting and warns of even tougher days ahead. The ministry reported 41 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 50,021. Authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters when reporting casualty figures, but the health ministry and the United Nations say the majority of deaths are women and children. And the true toll could be much higher, with many thousands believed to still be under the rubble. The death toll surged as Israel resumed its war with Hamas this week, ending a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. Tuesday's renewed airstrikes made it one of the deadliest days for Palestinians since the war began, with more than 400 killed by Israeli fire, according to the health ministry. By Wednesday, Israel had also resumed its ground operation in the enclave. Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following the militant group's surprise attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, according to Israeli authorities. Hamas called the latest offensive a 'new and dangerous breach' of the ceasefire agreement. The militant group says it is committed to the ceasefire agreement it signed with Israel in January, but on Thursday fired its first rockets at Israel since the truce collapsed. Gazans are left with little hope that the killing will slow as Israeli officials warn that what's to come will be significantly worse. A Palestinian woman and a child mourn over the body of a relative killed in an Israeli strike, in the yard of the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on March 22, 2025. Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images Defense Minister Israel Katz this week warned Hamas that Israel will maintain a permanent presence in parts of Gaza unless the hostages in Gaza are released. Katz said Friday that he'd instructed the Israeli military 'to seize additional areas in Gaza, while evacuating the population, and to expand the security zones around Gaza in order to protect Israeli communities and IDF soldiers through permanent maintenance of the territory by Israel.' Soon after the renewed campaign began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: 'I want to assure you: This is just the beginning.' Almost all of Gaza's population of more than 2 million has been displaced from their homes. The enclave's healthcare system has been severely damaged, with hospitals often becoming the center of fighting. A humanitarian crisis and famine in parts of Gaza are unfolding, as Israel blocked aid from entering Gaza earlier this month and as its latest operation impedes distribution. Negotiations to extend the ceasefire have been moribund nearly from the day it went into effect January 19. Hamas has insisted on sticking to the initial framework signed with Israel in January, which would have seen parties move to a second phase on March 1. Under the terms of the second phase, Israel would have had to withdraw entirely from Gaza and commit to a permanent end of the war. In exchange, Hamas would release all living hostages. Smoke rises from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrike at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on January 12, 2025, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants continues. Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images The second phase never happened, and Israel resumed the war, citing Hamas' alleged rejection of 'two concrete mediation proposals presented by the US' and its 'threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities' as justification for its attacks on Gaza. Israel does not dispute that a significant number of Palestinian civilians have been killed in its war in Gaza. It has however long argued that the health ministry's figures are exaggerated, and that Hamas embeds itself between civilians, using them as 'human shields.' The United Nations and United States State Department have repeatedly said they believe the health ministry's figures to be accurate, and independent academic studies have estimated that the true toll is likely to be far higher. CNN cannot independently verify the numbers and the Israeli government does not allow foreign journalists to independently enter Gaza. CNN's Mick Krever, Lauren Izso, Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder, Jo Shelley and Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Egypt Independent
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Israel intensifies southern Gaza offensive as Hamas says senior figure killed in strike
CNN — Israeli operations intensified in southern Gaza with the military ordering evacuations and Hamas reporting the death of a senior figure in an airstrike. The militant group said Salah al-Bardawil, a member of the group's political bureau, was killed along with his wife in an Israeli strike on their tent in southern Gaza's Khan Younis. The Israeli military resumed air and ground operations in Gaza earlier this week, blaming Hamas for refusing to agree revised terms on extending the first phase of the ceasefire. Israel blocked aid going into Gaza ahead of its renewed operations, in an attempt to force Hamas to accept the new terms and release the hostages it is still holding. Early on Sunday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a warning to people to leave the Tel Sultan area of Rafah in southern Gaza immediately as its troops launched an offensive in the area. The IDF said it had 'launched an attack to strike at terrorist organizations… The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone,' the post said, instructing civilians to move north to the Mawasi area immediately. In a later statement, the Israeli military said 'Over the past hours, IDF troops operated and concluded the encirclement of Tel al-Sultan in Rafah.' The military said it had been dismantling 'terrorist infrastructure sites … in order to reinforce control and expand the security zone in southern Gaza.' Gaza's Civil Defense warned Sunday of a 'grave and imminent danger threatening the lives of more than 50,000 civilians' in the Al-Baraksat area, west of Rafah province, after they were 'besieged by Israeli occupation forces.' The IDF said movement in vehicles was not permitted, forcing those evacuating to do so by foot. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said four of its ambulances had been surrounded after responding to an Israeli attack in Rafah. Contact had been lost with a civil defense crew west of Rafah that was trying to rescue an ambulance crew. Also in the south, Hamas-affiliated media reported that three people had been killed when a municipal vehicle in Khan Younis was struck. A woman mourns near the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli strike, in the yard of the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images The IDF is continuing its ground operations in northern Gaza. It said on Saturday that troops had begun operating in the Beit Hanoun area 'to target Hamas' terror infrastructure sites in order to expand the security zone in northern Gaza.' It added that fighter jets struck several Hamas targets. On Sunday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said that 41 more deaths in the past 24 hours as the death toll in Gaza surpassed 50,000, marking a grim milestone for a war with no end in sight. The ministry said that 50,021 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 attacks in its latest update.
