Latest news with #GazaBlockade
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Who's onboard the Madleen Gaza flotilla, and where has it reached so far?
The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), is en route towards Gaza carrying humanitarian aid and human rights activists protesting against Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza. The vessel has set sail in response to Israel's total aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of children due to starvation. More than 90 percent of the enclave's 2.3 million people are facing acute food shortages, according to aid groups. The Madleen, named after Gaza's first and only fisherwoman, departed Catania, Sicily on June 1, just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla aid ship, off the coast of Malta. The 2,000km (1,250-mile) journey is expected to take seven days, provided there are no disruptions. The ship's location is being monitored live by Forensic Architecture through its onboard tracking system. The latest location as of June 3, at 15:00 GMT was some 600km (375 miles) from Sicily. There are 12 activists onboard the Madleen: We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. by - Greta Thunberg The FFC has emphasised that all volunteers and crew aboard Madleen are trained in nonviolence and are sailing unarmed in a peaceful act of civil resistance against Israel's actions in Gaza. Last month, another ship carrying aid to Gaza was hit by drones in international waters off Malta. The ship had been seeking to deliver aid following Israel's genocidal blockade of the besieged enclave. The FFC told Al Jazeera that the attack on the Conscience at 12:23pm local time (10:23 GMT) on May 2 blew a hole in the vessel and set the engine ablaze. Fifteen years ago, Israeli commandos carried out a deadly attack on Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in an aid flotilla carrying Turkish activists. The so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla was carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid and had set out from Istanbul in an attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Nine humanitarian volunteers were killed on May 31, 2010. Gaza has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007. According to a press release from the FFC, the Madleen is carrying supplies urgently needed by people in Gaza, including medical supplies, flour, rice, baby formula, nappies, women's sanitary products, water desalination kits, crutches and children's prosthetics. One in five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is facing starvation because of Israel's three-month-long total blockade of the Strip. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, 1.95 million people – 93 percent of the enclave's population – are facing acute food shortages. The IPC says Israel's continued blockade 'would likely result in further mass displacement within and across governorates', as items essential for people's survival will be an Israeli-led and US-backed aid distribution organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation being set up last month to deliver aid into Gaza, its new distribution hub disintegrated into chaos within hours of opening on May 27 and has been marred with even more controversy following deadly shootings at aid distribution sites. Israel has been accused of luring Palestinians to aid centres and killing more than 100 of them in the past eight days. Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since it launched its devastating offensive on October 7, 2023.
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Climate activist Greta Thunberg to join aid ship effort to break Gaza siege
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham will join the next sailing of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) as it attempts to break Israel's months-long blockade of Gaza. The 'Madleen' is due to disembark from Catania, Sicily, on Sunday with a cargo of humanitarian aid and several high-profile activists on board, including Thunberg, European Member of Parliament Rima Hassan and Palestinian-American lawyer Huwaida Arraf. Cunningham, an Irish actor best known for his role as Davos Seaworth in the hit HBO series, is a longtime advocate for Palestine and similar causes. The sailing marks the second attempt in as many months by the FFC, a coalition of humanitarian groups, to reach Gaza. A mission at the start of May was aborted after another FFC vessel, the 'Conscience', was attacked by two alleged drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta. The FFC alleges that Israel was responsible for the attack, which severely damaged the front section of the ship. MEP Hassan said in a short video on social media that the trip by the 'Madleen' is a protest against Israel as much as an attempt to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza. 'The first [goal] being of course to reject the blockade of humanitarian aid, the ongoing genocide, the impunity enjoyed by the State of Israel and to raise global international awareness,' she said. 'This action is also in response to the attack that took place on May 2 against the previous ship that took place in international waters near Malta.' Israel partially lifted its nearly three-month blockade of Gaza last week, but since then has only allowed a tiny amount of assistance into the Palestinian territory, which the United States has warned is on the brink of famine. This week, thousands of Palestinians rushed to so-called aid distribution stations set up by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, leading to the deaths of at least three people and dozens of injuries in the chaos that ensued as desperate people tried to get food supplies. The UN and other humanitarian organisations are boycotting the US and Israeli-backed initiative, accusing Israel of attempting to consolidate and control aid distribution across Gaza in a further weaponisation of food and starvation. The World Health Organization has warned that Gaza is at risk of famine following months of prolonged food shortages amid Israel's punishing blockade, and that about a quarter of the population is in a 'catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death'.
Asharq Al-Awsat
27-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Palestinians Storm US-Backed Aid Centers Despite Concerns over Checks
Thousands of Palestinians on Tuesday stormed into sites where aid was being distributed by a foundation backed by the US and Israel, with desperation for food overcoming concern about biometric and other checks Israel said it would employ. By late afternoon on Tuesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it had distributed about 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to about 462,000 meals, after an almost three-month Israeli blockade of the war-devastated enclave. In the southern city of Rafah, which is under full Israeli army control, thousands of people including women and children, some on foot or in donkey carts, flocked towards one of the distribution sites to receive food packages. Footage, some of which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed lines of people walking through a wired-off corridor and into a large open field where aid was stacked. Later, images shared on social media showed large parts of the fence torn down as people jostled their way onto the site. Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said, without providing evidence, that Hamas had tried to block civilians from reaching the aid distribution center. Hamas denied the accusation. "The real cause of the delay and collapse in the aid distribution process is the tragic chaos caused by the mismanagement of the same company operating under the Israeli occupation's administration in those buffer zones," Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, told Reuters. "This has led to thousands of starving people, under the pressure of siege and hunger, storming distribution centers and seizing food, during which Israeli forces opened fire," he added. Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X that 8,000 "food packages" were delivered to Palestinians on Tuesday, the first day of what he described as an American initiative. Some of the recipients showed the content of the packages, which included some rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar. SCREENING PROCEDURES Although the aid was available on Monday, Palestinians appeared to have heeded warnings, including from Hamas, about biometric screening procedures employed at the foundation's aid distribution sites. "As much as I want to go because I am hungry and my children are hungry, I am afraid," said Abu Ahmed, 55, a father of seven. "I am so scared because they said the company belongs to Israel and is a mercenary, and also because the resistance (Hamas) said not to go," he said in a message on the chat app WhatsApp. Israel says the Switzerland-based GHF is a US-backed initiative and that its forces will not be involved in the distribution points where food will be handed out. But its endorsement of the plan, which resembles Israeli schemes floated previously, and its closeness with the US has led many to question the neutrality of the foundation, including its own former chief, who resigned unexpectedly on Sunday. The Israeli military said four aid sites have been established in recent weeks across the enclave, and that two of them in the area of Rafah began operations on Tuesday and "are distributing food packages to thousands of families in the Gaza Strip." The GHF said the volume of people seeking aid at one distribution site was so great at one point on Tuesday that its team had to pull back to allow people to "take aid safely and dissipate" and to avoid casualties. It said normal operations had since resumed. Israeli officials said one of the advantages of the new aid system is the opportunity to screen recipients to exclude anyone found to be connected with Hamas. Humanitarian groups briefed on the foundation's plans say anyone accessing aid will have to submit to facial recognition technology that many Palestinians fear will end up in Israeli hands to be used to track and potentially target them. Details of exactly how the system will operate have not been made public. AID GROUPS BOYCOTT GHF The United Nations and other international aid groups have boycotted the foundation, which they say undermines the principle that humanitarian aid should be distributed independently of the parties to a conflict, based on need. "Humanitarian assistance must not be politicized or militarized," said Christian Cardon, chief spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israel, at war with Gaza's dominant Hamas group since October 2023, imposed the blockade in early March accusing Hamas of stealing supplies and using them to entrench its position. Hamas has denied such accusations. Hamas, which has in recent months faced protests by many Palestinians who want the devastating war to end, has also warned residents against accessing GHF sites, saying Israel was using the company to collect intelligence information. The launch of the new system came days after Israel eased its blockade, allowing a trickle of aid trucks from international agencies into Gaza last week, including World Food Program vehicles bringing flour to local bakeries. But the amount of aid that has entered the densely populated coastal enclave has been just a fraction of the 500-600 trucks that UN agencies estimate are needed every day. "Before the war, my fridge used to be full of meat, chicken, dairy, soft drinks, everything, and now I am begging for a loaf of bread," Abu Ahmed told Reuters via a chat app. As a small aid flow has resumed, Israeli forces - now in control of large parts of Gaza - have kept up attacks on various targets around the enclave, killing 3,901 Palestinians since a two-month-old ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to the Gaza health ministry. In all, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war, Gaza health authorities say. It was launched following a cross-border Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Newscast Are Israel's Allies Turning Against Them?
Today, we discuss the Foreign Secretary suspending trade negotiations with Israel over its 'cruel and indefensible' blockade of Gaza. The UK, France and Canada previously said they'd 'take further concrete actions' if Israel doesn't stop its latest offensive and allow aid in, as Palestinians face more strikes and starvation. The BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen joins Adam in the studio. And after 28 years at the BBC, the legendary Jo Coburn is stepping down from presenting Politics Live. She joins on Adam and Chris to reflect on her career. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast'. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Shiler Mahmoudi and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.
Arab News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Netanyahu should be an international pariah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week accused French President Emmanuel Macron of spreading 'blood libels' against Israel and standing 'once again' with Hamas. All this came after Macron described Israel's 10-week-old blockade of Gaza as 'shameful.' Just what are the origins of the Netanyahu-Macron hostilities? By any moral reckoning, Macron describing the horror of the Israeli blockade of Gaza as 'shameful' was rather mild. 'What the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing is unacceptable … there is no water, no medicine, the wounded cannot get out, the doctors cannot get in. What he is doing is shameful,' Macron said. Like British ministers, he has used the word 'unacceptable,' but not 'condemnation.' The 'C' word is not allowed. Macron has yet to penalize Israel for its horrific blockade against 2.3 million Palestinian civilians, with the entire population at risk of famine. Last October, Macron called for an end to the sale of arms to Israel that could be used in Gaza. 'The priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop supplying weapons to lead the fighting in Gaza,' he said. Netanyahu delivered a riposte via video message, exclaiming 'what a disgrace.' Macron argued that 'Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a UN decision.' Back came Netanyahu: 'A reminder to the president of France: It was not the UN resolution that established the state of Israel, but rather the victory achieved in the war of independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors — including from the Vichy regime in France.' Netanyahu has always supported an ideology that claims all the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river as Israeli Chris Doyle Franco-Israeli tempers frayed again in November, when armed Israeli police barged into a French-owned church compound, the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, detaining two French consulate employees. A senior French diplomat had to give up his planned visit to the site. Macron proposed recognizing an independent state of Palestine in April. This was hardly radical — 147 states had already done so. Yet, for Netanyahu, this represented a 'huge prize for terror.' Few counter, as they should, that Hamas, which Netanyahu was clearly referring to, would not see an independent Palestinian state as a victory, but its rivals the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah would. It would reward those who have chosen to negotiate and not use force. The reality is that Netanyahu has always supported a 'Greater Israel' ideology that claims all the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river as Israeli, as stated in the founding Likud charter. Step into the fray, Yair Netanyahu, Bibi's son, and darling of the Likud base. He responded to Macron on social media in a less-than-diplomatic manner. His father said that Yair was entitled to his 'personal opinion,' but the tone was 'unacceptable to me.' But Netanyahu could not resist having a pop at France's colonial record. 'We will not accept moral preaching about establishing a Palestinian state that will endanger Israel's existence from those who are opposed to giving independence to Corsica, New Caledonia, French Guyana and additional territories.' UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been given fair warning of what is in store for him if London dares to join France in any recognition. He likes to have an enemy lined up in his crosshairs. He is the ultimate exponent of the blame game — of blaming everyone but himself Chris Doyle Macron is just the latest world leader to incur Netanyahu's wrath. He is not even the first French president to fall out with him. In 2017, Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard telling US President Barack Obama: 'I can't stand him anymore, he's a liar.' Obama retorted: 'You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day.' Netanyahu also ranted at President Francois Hollande for backing a 'shameful' UNESCO resolution in 2016. Netanyahu has barely had a decent relationship of genuine trust with any world leader, even in the US. He was not trusted by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama or Joe Biden. All this highlights the very low bar for angering Netanyahu. Macron did not even call what Israel is doing a genocide. He has not called for the severing of relations with Israel or for it to be sanctioned. But Netanyahu likes to have an enemy lined up in his crosshairs. He is the ultimate exponent of the blame game — of blaming everyone but himself. He wants Israelis to indulge in this bunker mentality, to fall for the line that everyone and everything is against Israel, Israelis and the Jews, from the UN, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to the papacy, nearly every state on Earth and human rights groups and aid agencies. Yet most Israelis, along with nearly everyone else, knows that it is Netanyahu, his policies and his partners in crime in this extreme right-wing government that are despised. Even President Donald Trump, who most on the right in Israel saw as their hero, is not buying shares in Netanyahu. The real question is why anyone is dealing with Netanyahu. Given his orchestration of the genocide in Gaza, war crimes and crimes against humanity, his use of genocidal language and the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him, he should be a global pariah.
