Latest news with #GenevaConventions
Daily News Egypt
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily News Egypt
New massacre of aid seekers in Gaza amid escalation, worsening starvation crisis
Eighty-four Palestinians, including 73 people waiting for humanitarian aid, were killed and dozens injured on Sunday after Israeli forces targeted civilians northwest of Gaza City. The attack marked the 653rd day of the war on the Strip and came amid growing warnings of famine and hunger-related deaths. Gaza's Ministry of Health reported that the latest massacre raises the total number of Palestinians killed while seeking food since 27 May to 995, with more than 6,000 injured and 45 still missing. The ministry also confirmed that at least 71 children have died of hunger, as the ongoing Israeli blockade has blocked the entry of food and medicine for over four months. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that one million children in Gaza are now facing starvation, accusing Israel of pursuing a deliberate starvation policy against civilians. The agency called for the immediate lifting of the blockade and unhindered humanitarian access. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera broadcast footage of fighters from Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, ambushing Israeli forces east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The escalation comes as the Israeli army issued warnings for civilians to stay away from northern areas including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia, labelling them 'active combat zones.' Despite continued attacks, Palestinian sources said Hamas had received new maps from mediators showing Israeli troop deployments across parts of Gaza, including Beit Hanoun, areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, and Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood. According to a source familiar with talks in Doha, Hamas is reviewing the maps and consulting with other Palestinian factions. Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported 'cautious optimism' for a possible deal within two weeks, although disagreements remain over the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released per Israeli captive. Qatari mediation has reportedly narrowed the gaps, though Israeli officials, quoted by state broadcaster Kan, accused Hamas of stalling and failing to submit an official response. In a joint statement, Palestinian factions—including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, and the Palestinian National Initiative—blamed the Israeli government and the U.S. administration for obstructing the negotiations. They accused Israel of committing genocide and forced displacement against more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, calling it a crime that violates international law and the Geneva Conventions. The factions warned that Israel's starvation tactics and ongoing military assaults suggest an intent to depopulate Gaza rather than agree to a ceasefire. They urged Palestinians everywhere, alongside Arab, Islamic, and international allies, to step up political and popular efforts to break the siege and stop the atrocities. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that 25 aid trucks managed to enter northern Gaza via the Zikim crossing on Sunday but were met by large crowds of desperate civilians. The agency reported that the crowd came under fire, resulting in multiple casualties. WFP stressed that attacks on civilians or humanitarian workers are absolutely unacceptable and called for their immediate protection. In the last 24 hours alone, Gaza's Ministry of Health reported 130 new deaths and 495 injuries, bringing the death toll since 7 October 2023 to 58,895, with 140,980 wounded. Aid-related casualties during the past day accounted for 31 of the dead and more than 107 of the injured.
Yemen Online
a day ago
- Politics
- Yemen Online
5 Killed in Clashes Between Houthis & Tribal Forces in Yemen's Al-Bayda
Five people were killed and several others injured on Sunday during fierce clashes between Houthi militants and local tribal fighters in Al-Bayda Governorate, central Yemen. According to tribal and local sources, heavy fighting erupted in the Al-Hafrah neighborhood of Rada'a city after Houthi militants attempted to abduct a resident. The confrontation began when armed Houthi members tried to seize young Mohammed Al-Sabbahi in front of a restaurant on the main street, escalating quickly into violent clashes. The sources said Houthi forces deployed military reinforcements to the area, imposed a security cordon, and launched raid campaigns, while their snipers took positions atop buildings surrounding the neighborhood. The confrontation reportedly resulted in the death of two Houthi fighters and the injury of others, while three tribal members were killed—including the young man targeted for abduction, Mohammed Al-Sabbahi. Local sources indicated that tensions remain high, fueled by growing public anger over continuous violations against civilians by Houthi forces over the years. In a related development, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms—a non-governmental organization—has documented approximately 8,186 incidents of human and material harm in Al-Bayda from January 2015 to January 2025, attributed to Houthi forces. A recent report by the network detailed 842 civilian deaths, including women and children, and 931 injuries—some of which resulted in permanent disabilities. The report cited a range of methods of violence, including direct sniper fire, random shelling, landmines, home demolitions, and torture. The network also documented 2,780 cases of arbitrary detention and abduction, 366 forced disappearances, and 132 cases of psychological and physical torture. It condemned these violations as flagrant breaches of the Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law, and human rights law—alleging they amount to war crimes. The organization called on the international community and the United Nations to intervene urgently to end these abuses, lift blockades, and guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Israel has refused to renew visas for heads of at least 3 UN agencies in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israel has refused to renew visas for the heads of at least three United Nations agencies in Gaza, which the U.N. humanitarian chief blames on their work trying to protect Palestinian civilians in the war-torn territory. Visas for the local leaders of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA; the human rights agency OHCHR; and the agency supporting Palestinians in Gaza, UNRWA, have not been renewed in recent months, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed. Tom Fletcher, U.N. head of humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council on Wednesday that the U.N.'s humanitarian mandate is not just to provide aid to civilians in need and report what its staff witnesses but to advocate for international humanitarian law. 'Each time we report on what we see, we face threats of further reduced access to the civilians we are trying to serve,' he said. 'Nowhere today is the tension between our advocacy mandate and delivering aid greater than in Gaza.' Fletcher said, 'Visas are not renewed or reduced in duration by Israel, explicitly in response to our work on protection of civilians.' Israel's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment about the visa renewals. Israel has been sharply critical of UNRWA, even before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack in southern Israel — accusing the agency of colluding with Hamas and teaching anti-Israel hatred, which UNRWA vehemently denies. Since then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies have claimed that UNRWA is deeply infiltrated by Hamas and that its staffers participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Israel formally banned UNRWA from operating in its territory, and its commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has been barred from entering Gaza. At Wednesday's Security Council meeting, Fletcher called conditions in Gaza 'beyond vocabulary,' with food running out and Palestinians seeking something to eat being shot. He said Israel, the occupying power in Gaza, is failing in its obligation under the Geneva Conventions to provide for civilian needs. In response, Israel accused OCHA of continuing 'to abandon all semblance of neutrality and impartiality in its statements and actions, despite claiming otherwise.' Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, political coordinator at Israel's U.N. Mission, told the Security Council that some of its 15 members seem to forget that the Oct. 7 attacks killed about 1,200 people and some 250 were taken hostage, triggering the war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation. 'Instead, we're presented with a narrative that forces Israel into a defendant's chair, while Hamas, the very cause of this conflict and the very instigator of suffering of Israelis but also of Palestinians, goes unmentioned, unchallenged and immune to condemnation,' she said. More than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half were women and children. Ravina Shamdasani, chief spokesperson for the Geneva-based U.N. human rights body, confirmed Thursday that the head of its office in the occupied Palestinian territories 'has been denied entry into Gaza.' 'The last time he tried to enter was in February 2025 and since then, he has been denied entry,' she told The Associated Press. 'Unfortunately, this is not unusual. Aid workers, U.N. staff, journalists and others have been denied access to Gaza.' Israel has accused a U.N.-backed commission probing abuses in Gaza, whose three members just resigned, and the Human Rights Council's independent investigator Francesca Albanese of antisemitism. Albanese has accused Israel of 'genocide' in Gaza, which it and its ally the U.S. vehemently deny. The Trump administration recently issued sanctions against Albanese. Fletcher, the U.N. humanitarian chief, told the Security Council that Israel also is not granting 'security clearances' for staff to enter Gaza to continue their work and that U.N. humanitarian partners are increasingly being denied entry as well. He noted that '56% of the entries denied into Gaza in 2025 were for emergency medical teams — frontline responders who save lives.' 'Hundreds of aid workers have been killed; and those who continue to work endure hunger, danger and loss, like everyone else in the Gaza Strip,' Fletcher said. ___ AP writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
The Intercept
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Intercept
"I Said Good Morning to the Dead": Inside the Al-Baqa Cafe Bombing
On the evening of June 30, an Israeli warplane dropped a 500-pound, U.S.-made MK-82 bomb on the seaside Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City. The explosion killed more than 30 people and injured dozens more. The weapon's wide blast radius in the dense neighborhood caused indiscriminate damage, affecting unprotected civilians including men, women, children, and the elderly. Legal experts have said the attack likely violated international law under the Geneva Conventions and may constitute a war crime. As the war grinds on, cafes like Al-Baqa aren't just social spaces; for many, they are the only places to access electricity and the internet, which are often unavailable in people's homes due to the ongoing blockade and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure. The people killed were students, workers, journalists, and displaced civilians, all clinging to a sense of normalcy, waiting for news of a possible ceasefire. Each had a name, a story, a struggle for survival in the face of a war that spares no one. For the dead, the ceasefire will never come. Here are some of their stories. Ola Abed Rabbu and Naseem Sabha. Photo: Courtsey Ola Abed Rabbu Ola Abed Rabbu, a 23-year-old engineer, had recently gotten engaged to Naseem Sabha, 28 — a man who, in her words, 'chose to accompany me through the war, to ease my pain and bring light into my darkness.' That evening, like always on their weekly excursions together, Naseem sat beside her, radiant with joy. 'He was like a child reunited with Eid after a long absence,' Ola recalled. He took photos of them together, his heart brimming with happiness as he whispered to her how beautiful she was — and how beautiful they were. 'He never saw anything in this world more worthy of celebration than us.' They ordered coffee and falafel sandwiches, laughing between sips and bites, she said. The cafe buzzed with activity — people reading, charging phones, attending online classes, catching a flicker of normalcy. Time passed quickly, as it always did during rare peaceful moments in Gaza. But even their long list of postponed conversations would have needed 'two lifetimes' to complete. 'He held my hand tightly on the way, like it was his last homeland,' Ola said. 'And whenever we had to speak of death, he would always tell me calmly: 'Don't be afraid. Don't be sad. As long as we are together, if we go … we go together.'' But there was no warning. No siren. Only a sudden explosion. The cafe turned into rubble and dust. Screams faded into silence — broken only by Naseem's pained whisper: 'Ah … ah …' They collapsed. Ola's leg was torn and bleeding. She wrapped it with a cloth from the table and crawled toward Naseem. 'Please be okay. Don't leave me. Stay alive,' she begged him. Blood poured from his back, but she clung to the hope that he had only lost consciousness. He was rushed to the ambulance first. Ola, despite her injuries, followed in the next. She arrived at the hospital unable to walk, her foot ligaments severed. 'They told me he had a metal rod placed in his leg, then moved him to another ward,' she recounted. As her treatment began, Ola asked her father in desperation, 'Is Naseem okay? Please, tell me he's alright.' His voice trembled: 'I don't know. He's in the ICU. … We're not allowed to see him.' The silence around her grew heavier. Hours passed. Eventually, her cousin arrived and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Has he been martyred?' Ola asked. Tears filled her cousin's eyes as she nodded. 'Yes … we brought him to you … to say goodbye.' She saw his body, peaceful and luminous — 'more beautiful than the full moon,' she whispered. 'His face was calm, as if he hadn't felt any pain, his spirit still hovering near him.' With quiet faith, Ola bid him farewell: 'O Allah, reward me in this great loss, and grant me better than him. I testify that he was worthy of martyrdom. I have never known a heart more tender, a soul more pure, or a love more merciful and kind. I entrust him to You, my Lord … until I meet him again.' Read our complete coverage Raghad Abu Sultan Photo: Courtesy Aseel Balaawi Haya Jouda, 23, speaks of her cousin Mona, 21, as a sister. 'We grew up together — all my memories have her in them,' she said. Mona and her friend Raghad Abu Sultan, 21, had gone to the cafeteria simply to breathe. Mona was known in the family as the youngest and most adored; she had a spirited presence and a generous heart. 'She was the baby of the family. Everyone called her 'Bobo.' Even her older brothers spoiled her,' Haya told The Intercept. Mona studied engineering at Al-Azhar University and was fluent in English. Despite the war, she continued volunteering with organizations that supported orphans, and later, during the siege, worked with the charity group Fares Al-Arab. 'She loved helping people. She hated sitting still,' Haya said. When their home was destroyed in November 2023, the extended family fled together to Deir al-Balah, sharing a single room for six months. Haya eventually managed to evacuate to Egypt, but Mona couldn't — even though she had packed first, full of hope her name would be called. 'She hugged me the day I left and cried,' Haya recalled. 'She said she'd follow me soon. She even packed her bag.' The Rafah crossing closed, and Mona remained in Gaza. Despite everything, she stayed strong for others. 'She was the one comforting me,' said Haya. 'Telling me things would be okay — even though she was the one under bombs.' When the first ceasefire took effect in February 2025, Mona returned with her family to their destroyed apartment in the north. 'She was so happy to be home, even if the house was bombed,' Haya said. 'She told me, 'At least I'm in my house. That's what matters.'' On the day of the cafe strike, Mona had gone out with her friend Raghad — a rare attempt at normalcy. When news broke of the bombing, the family didn't even realize Mona had been there. Her father searched for her frantically. 'He said, 'We're okay — but I can't find Mona.' We thought she had just stepped out or gone to the bathroom.' When Raghad's name appeared on the list of the dead, everything changed. 'We knew,' Haya said. 'They were always together. We just didn't want to believe it.' Later that evening, the final confirmation came. Mona had been killed. 'Her mother saw her body, bid farewell and cried, 'Mona's gone. Her soul is gone.' The phone dropped from her hand.' The news shattered the family, now scattered across different countries. 'None of us were with her. None of us got to say goodbye. She died without us.' Haya still struggles with the reality of her cousin's death. 'She was the funny one. The one who got the joke first. She had this lightness about her,' she said. 'And now she's just … gone. Killed in a war she didn't choose, while trying to live.' 'She wasn't a number,' Haya added. 'The world won't wake up just because Mona is gone — but there are so many like her. So many families were destroyed. And we're still counting.' For Aseel Balaawi, 21, now living in Egypt, the loss struck from a painful distance. Raghad was her classmate since sixth grade — a source of ambition and quiet strength. Both were studying pharmacy, dreaming of leaving a mark on their homeland. 'Most of our conversations were about our major, since we were both in the Faculty of Pharmacy. We always used to talk about how we could leave a mark for Palestine,' Aseel said. Aseel didn't know Raghad and her best friend Mona were there at Al-Baqa Cafe at the time it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. 'When I saw a story from my colleague on Instagram saying 'pray for Raghad,' I thought — it can't be true. But unfortunately it was.' The disbelief morphed into a crushing realization. 'The idea that someone with so much life and passion as Raghad could be gone — it broke my heart,' Aseel said. 'To this day, I can't get over Raghad's killing. I write about her in my journals, so I can keep her memory alive.' Amna Al-Salmi Photo: Courtsey Mariam Salah Mariam Salah, 30, knew Amna Al-Salmi, 36 — a fellow digital artist known to many by her childhood nickname 'Frans' — through her work in Gaza. Mariam remembers Frans as a quiet force of ambition, talent, and discipline. They both lived in Al-Shati refugee camp. 'She wasn't just a good artist,' Mariam recalled. 'She was a dreamer. Always talking about traveling, building a career, and leaving her art supplies to her sisters if she ever got the chance to go.' Frans worked in digital art and had recently been collaborating on a visual storytelling project called ByPal with the journalist Ismail Abu Hatab, 30, who was killed with Frans. The project sought to document personal stories through illustration — a form of collective resistance and memory-making. Mariam believes that work is what brought Frans and Ismail to the cafe on the day of the strike. Mariam and Frans had met just a week or two earlier, when they painted together at a public event that included a mural titled 'Honoring the Donkey,' a satirical piece. 'That might have been her last public work,' Mariam said. 'We took a group photo. I hugged her in it. I remember complimenting her eyelashes — they were so long. It was just a small moment, but now it feels enormous.' When the bombing hit the cafe, Mariam was at home. It was her sister who called, asking urgently if she had been there, knowing that many artists — including Ismail and Frans — had been frequenting the place. 'I opened my phone and the first name I saw was Ismail's. The sight of him broke me,' Mariam said. 'And I immediately thought — if he was there, she was too.' Mariam tried calling Frans. No answer. Someone eventually picked up her number, found in her lost SIM card, and confirmed what she feared: Frans was killed. 'He didn't even know her,' she said. 'Just someone who'd been at the scene.' Though Mariam had lost many people in the war — including her 4-year-old nephew Ahmed, who had been like a son — Frans's death struck a different kind of blow. 'There was something about her,' Mariam said. 'She was calm, beautiful, composed. Even in the worst circumstances, she'd show up dressed well, taking care of herself, holding on to whatever color she could find in this black-and-white world. Her killing reminded me of Mahasen Al-Khateeb, our mutual artist friend who was killed months ago.' Frans had posted only days earlier about how much she missed painting. Her last artworks included children in shrouds — images that now feel eerily like foreshadowing. 'She held on to everything good until the last moment,' Mariam reflected. 'She had so much hope. She didn't like sharing her pain. But she carried a lot — and she never let it take her light.' Mohammed Naeedm Photo: Courtesy Mohaemmed Naeem Survivor Mohammad Naeem, 23, a law graduate from Beit Hanoun, was inside Al-Baqa that day. That afternoon, Mohammad sat at his favorite table along with his friend, poised to capture the Gaza sunset and enjoy the beauty of the sea. His friend broke his concentration by pointing to a naval warship on the horizon and asked, 'Do you think it knows we're just innocent people trying to live?' Before Mohammad could finish his answer, a force that felt like it was ripping his soul out of his body pulled him five meters away. 'In that moment, all sounds vanished — there was nothing left but one steady, fixed sound, like the static hum of a lost TV signal,' he continued. 'I hit the ground, and all emotions disappeared. Even fear — I didn't feel it. I couldn't process what had just happened to react emotionally. All I could see was a single scene, playing out in slow motion.' 'I tried to get up,' he said. 'But I wasn't even aware I was injured. I just saw my friend's leg — barely attached — and I carried him. I had to.' Only later, after he had delivered his friend to an ambulance and collapsed himself, did he realize he was wounded too. Mohammad's physical recovery is ongoing, but the psychological wounds cut deeper. 'After this, I no longer feel safe anywhere,' he said. 'Before, I used to tell myself, 'Don't worry, you avoid risky places.' But now … nowhere feels safe, even the sea.' The aftermath of Israel's attack on the Al-Baqa cafe on June 30, 2025. Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images On the morning of June 30, journalist Bayan Abusultan went to the cafe. 'I went for a moment of fake peace,' she recalled. 'To breathe. To feel normal, even if just for an hour.' She exchanged greetings with the staff and familiar faces, including Frans and Ismail Abu Hatab, who were filming a segment for an upcoming exhibition. The cafe buzzed with life. Three young women sat nearby, exchanging quiet smiles and compliments. Across from Bayan sat two girls in their early twenties with a giant gift-wrapped teddy bear beside them — a peace offering to reconcile after a recent argument. They had just made up. Bayan flipped open her book, a literary critique by Abd el-Rahman Munif, reading about the power of cultural memory, the legacy of writers like Ghassan Kanafani, and the weight of identity under occupation. It was nearly 2:45 p.m. when her friend Mohammed Abu Shammala arrived. They hadn't seen each other for two months, and she closed her book to talk. She pointed toward the sea. 'The warships are really close today,' she said. But they brushed it off. In Gaza, everything can seem routine — until it isn't. When the sudden blast ripped through the cafe, Bayan was thrown to the ground. She crawled under a table for cover, and her friend Mohammed shielded her from the shrapnel. When she lifted her head, she saw a severed leg, a young woman dying beside her, and her friends Frans and Ismail lifeless at the table where they had just been smiling. The familiar cafe had become a war zone. Disoriented and injured, Bayan stumbled through the debris, searching for her phone to call an ambulance. Only when someone pointed out the blood on her head did she realize she had been wounded. She was led toward emergency responders. Each step became heavier, not because of her wounds, but because of what she saw: bodies of people she had said 'good morning' to just hours earlier. She felt the helplessness of someone who couldn't save the ones they love.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
An average of 28 kids die daily in Gaza, UNICEF tells Security Council
An average of 28 children are killed daily in Gaza, and more than 17,000 kids have reportedly been killed in the ongoing war in the besieged Palestinian enclave, UNICEF said Wednesday. Speaking before the UN Security Council, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said each of Gaza's one million children has faced immense suffering. According to Russell, these children will face lifelong impacts. 'Over the past 21 months of war, more than 17,000 children have reportedly been killed and 33,000 injured in Gaza. An average of 28 children have been killed each day, the equivalent of an entire classroom," she said. "Consider that for a moment: a whole classroom of children killed every day for nearly two years. These children are not combatants – they are being killed and maimed as they line up for lifesaving food and medicine.' In Israel's response to recent reports of its strikes in Gaza killing dozens of children, the Israeli military maintained it remained 'committed to the rule of law.' According to the Israel Defence Force, a 10 July attack that killed at least 10 children waiting to receive nutritional supplements at a Project Hope-run medical clinic in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, was caused by a "technical error." The strike targeting an Islamic Jihad "terrorist" caused the munition to fall dozens of metres from the target, it said. The incident is under review, the military added. Increasing deaths come amid food shortages The growing number of deaths of children, women, and civilians in strikes on Gaza. The number comes amid food supplies running out. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council on Wednesday that civilians are being shot while seeking something to eat. "Civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, and stripped of dignity,' Fletcher told the U.N. Security Council, emphasising Israel's obligation under the Geneva Conventions to provide food and medical aid as the occupying power in Gaza. He also challenged the council to consider whether Israel's rules of engagement incorporate all the precautions to avoid and minimise civilian casualties. Meanwhile, at least twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, mostly from a stampede. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest at the food distribution centre, causing the stampede. They were the first deaths reported at one of the food distribution centres run by an Israeli-backed American organisation, though hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.
