Latest news with #EylonLevy
New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
What to know about Israel's claim that UN has tons of food in Gaza that it won't distribute
Israel is blaming the UN for the lack of vital food deliveries to Gaza — as harrowing video captured hundreds of desperate Palestinians swarming aid trucks over the weekend. Israel officials are hitting back at claims that they have have delayed aid from coming into Gaza — sharing images of tons of aid piled up inside the Gaza Strip, which they said is just waiting to be delivered to hungry Palestinians. Col. Abdullah Halabi, from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), told reporters last week that around 1,000 truckloads of aid remain undelivered 'due to a lack of cooperation from the international community and international organizations.' Advertisement But, a former US aid official called Israel's claims 'disingenuous — knowingly false.' The UN has for months accused Israel of refusing to coordinate with aid workers to get food and medicine to Gazans — making it too dangerous to widely distribute aid. 4 A war of words has broken out between the UN and Israel over aid deliveries to Gaza. Getty Images Former Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy ultimately accused the UN of 'unforgivable negligence' in its actions preventing food from reaching Gaza. Advertisement 'The failure of the UN aid mechanism in Gaza is truly catastrophic. 600 trucks' worth of food the IDF is urging the UN to pick up. I saw mountains of pasta, lentils, hummus, cooking oil, sugar, and flour,' he wrote on X, accompanying a video of him walking among aid supplies. 4 The UN warns all 2 million Gaza residents are at risk of starvation. REUTERS For its part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said trucks traversing Gaza have to contend with traveling though an active war zone, along with hoards of desperate people rushing to get the supplies, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Advertisement Criminal gangs have also previously attempted to ransack the vehicles as they enter the Strip. 'Taken together, these factors have put people and humanitarian staff at grave risk and forced aid agencies on many occasions to pause the collection of cargo from crossings controlled by the Israeli authorities,' OCHA said in a statement last week. Grim video footage from Saturday, shot by a reporter on the ground, captured scores of people clamoring on top of two moving trucks in southern Gaza — just days after images of starving Palestinian children alarmed the world. As the trucks inched along, hundreds of people could be seen shoving each other as they tried to rush toward the vehicles, the clip shows. Advertisement The UN has also accused Israel of repeatedly rejecting requests to allow the trucks to enter Gaza, with Israel claiming it imposes no limits on the aid trucks seeking permission to enter. Since Israel lifted its aid blockade in late May, the US-funded non-profit the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has started to deliver aid — overseen by armed Israel Defense Forces soldiers. 4 The UN has accused Israel of failing to create a safe path for aid. Getty Images The group has come under fire for its handling of food deliveries, with humanitarian aid groups refusing to work with the GHF over the armed distribution points. The UN's human rights office said that 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to reach the GHF food distribution sites in recent weeks. A group of Democratic senators have since called on President Trump to suspend American financial support for the GHF, expressing 'grave' concerns. 'We urge you to immediately cease all U.S. funding for GHF and resume support for the existing UN-led aid coordination mechanisms with enhanced oversight to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in need,' they wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 4 Palestinians walks away with sacks of flour after humanitarian aid was allowed to enter northern Gaza on Sunday. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement The UN has also blamed the IDF for damaging roads in and out of Gaza and failing to guarantee safety for aid workers in the territory. 'It is disingenuous — knowingly false — for any party to assert that it is failure, lack of courage, or deliberate conspiratorial withholding of aid by the UN or international organizations that is responsible for the humanitarian suffering in Gaza,' David Satterfield, a former US humanitarian envoy in Gaza, told the Times of Israel. The UN warned of 'catastrophic hunger' in Gaza as it said all 2 million residents are severely food insecure in a statement on Sunday following Israel's pledge to implement daily pauses in the fighting to allow aid through. 'This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,' Tom Fletcher from the OCHA said in a statement. Advertisement On Monday, Trump said there was 'real starvation' in Gaza. Just under 30 aid packages carrying food were airdropped over Gaza on Sunday, COGAT said in a statement. Israel has continued to blame Hamas for diverting aid from civilians throughout the war. Advertisement However, an internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft of aid supplies by the group, according to the report presented to State Department officials, which the IDF branded 'biased.' The World Food Program said on Sunday it has enough food heading to the region to feed Gaza's entire population 'for almost three months,' but warned that a 'third of the population' is still 'not eating for days.'
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
After months of deadly blockade, Israeli voices demanding that aid enters Gaza grow louder
Israel's decision to implement daily 'humanitarian pauses' in Gaza has triggered a familiar and unsettling cycle in Israeli public discourse. Each time the military allows even a modest respite for the besieged strip, fierce domestic backlash follows. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the decision as a 'spit in the face of our soldiers' and a 'surrender to Hamas's deceitful campaign'. Eylon Levy, a social media personality and former spokesman in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote on X: 'Let's be clear what just happened here. International pressure on Israel encouraged Hamas to reject a ceasefire and get a 'humanitarian pause' instead – without giving up a single hostage.' Regardless, the plan appears to be in place and Israel's military said on Sunday that the pauses will be in effect daily in Al Mawasi, Deir Al Balah, and Gaza city, from 10am (0700 GMT) to 8pm (1700 GMT) until further notice. UN agencies, including UNRWA, are expected to monitor food distribution. In the lead-up to the announcement, many in Israel deflected blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pointing fingers at the UN or Hamas. This persistent refusal to acknowledge the depth of suffering in Gaza has drawn criticism, even from former supporters of Israel abroad. Meanwhile, some critics within the country have begun labelling the siege itself as a military failure. For the first time, however, a mainstream Israeli news channel broke rank. After many months of not showing the suffering of Gazan civilians, Channel 12 this week aired a report that showed crowds of desperate people scrambling for food at aid distribution sites. A Hebrew-speaking contributor spoke about calling Gazans who told him of 'nothing going into their mouths for entire days'. Israeli commentator Shaiel Ben-Ephraim said he could not 'even begin to explain how big' the report was. 'For years, Channel 12 and mainstream Israeli news would cover Palestinian suffering occasionally. Then after October 7, they just stopped. No one wanted to see it. That played a massive role in the dehumanisation of Palestinians and facilitation of genocide,' he wrote in a post on X. In the days since, a growing number of Israelis, many of them staunch defenders and not from its activist left wing, made similar arguments. Commentator Haviv Rettig Gur, who had rejected international warnings of catastrophic hunger in Gaza, acknowledged on a recent podcast: 'We are very close to real, actual, desperate hunger in Gaza … It's hard to convince Israelis of that because literally everything said to them for 22 months on this topic has been a fiction … We need to wake them up.' Fears about Gaza's humanitarian situation entering mainstream Israeli discourse is a major development for a country in which 64.5 per cent of the public has so far been 'not concerned' about it, according to a poll by a major think tank in May. In the same month, another poll found that 82 per cent of respondents supported the expulsion of Palestinians from the strip. It remains to be seen whether this willingness to acknowledge Palestinian civilian suffering will last. Polling shows that Israelis have been against the war for some time, but the vast majority of the opposition is based on concern for hostages in the strip, the safety of soldiers and anger that Mr Netanyahu is continuing the campaign for his political survival. How Israeli society and politics react to the daily 'pauses' ahead will give important signs.
Sky News AU
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Hamas needs to ‘relinquish power' otherwise the ‘clock ticks' towards the next war
Former Israeli Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy says Hamas needs to 'give up power' if a ceasefire is to exist. 'Foreign ministers are looking for a quick fix instead of addressing the real challenging questions,' Mr Levy told Sky News host James Macpherson. 'After the October 7 massacre, Australia called for a ceasefire and said it can only be sustainable if Hamas relinquishes power. 'We know that a ceasefire that leaves Hamas in place just starts the clock ticking towards the next war. 'What we need now is pressure on Hamas to accept a temporary ceasefire, and let some of the hostages go, and then we can have negotiations over a permanent settlement.'
Sky News AU
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Pressure Hamas to take the ceasefire': Hamas accused of ‘hijacking' aid from Palestinians
Former Israeli Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy says Hamas 'views human life as expendable' and is 'hijacking and taxing' aid brought into Gaza to help Palestinians. 'It's important this war ends permanently, and it can only end permanently if Hamas is removed from power or the next war will be a matter of time,' Mr Levy told Sky News host James Macpherson. 'Hamas must be defeated in this war because Hamas can never be left free to launch another war again. 'If you want this war to end, you need to lay the blame … at the feet of the terrorist organisation that started this war.'
Sky News AU
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘This is a disaster': Nations calling for Gaza ceasefire are neglecting Hamas is the obstacle
Former Israeli Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy has discussed the 25 countries who have joined to call for the end of the war in Gaza, calling it a 'disaster'. Mr Levy claims the countries agreeing to sign a letter calling for the immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza are sabotaging 'very sensitive ceasefire talks'. 'Hamas is blocking a ceasefire,' Mr Levy told Sky News host James Macpherson. 'When negotiating a ceasefire, and the pressure needs to be on Hamas, not on Israel, because that's just encouraging Hamas not to agree to a ceasefire, and dig in even deeper.'
