Latest news with #GovernmentofIsrael
Middle East Eye
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israel yet to provide evidence for accusations against Unrwa
Unrwa chief Phillipe Lazzarini said Israel is yet to provide evidence to substantiate its claims against the UN agency. 'To date, Unrwa has not received any response, nor has the Government of Israel shared any sufficient evidence to back up these very serious claims,' he said in a post on X. Israel accused Unrwa staff of involvement in the Hamas led attack on southern Israel and banned the agency from operating in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. 'The minimum requirements are sufficient evidence and due process,' Lazzarini said. 'The absence of both more than one year later raises the possibility that the accusations were unfounded.'
Days of Palestine
26-05-2025
- General
- Days of Palestine
In Gaza genocide, hungry children walk miles for food
DaysofPal- Each day, countless children across Gaza walk the rubble-strewn streets, clutching empty bowls and bottles in search of food and clean water. After more than eleven weeks of a total Israeli blockade that has choked off humanitarian aid, the situation has reached catastrophic levels, with families resorting to desperate and dangerous means to keep their children alive. Rachel Cummings, humanitarian director with Save the Children, who is currently on the ground in central Gaza, described the unfolding humanitarian disaster as 'desperate and dire,' saying it is 'unimaginable how it feels to be a child in Gaza' under current conditions. 'I see children every day walking the streets trying to find food with empty bowls, trying to find water with empty bottles in hand,' Cummings said. 'We have mothers telling us how they are trying to keep their children alive, how they're talking to bulk it out with grass or dirty water, knowing that could result in their child becoming sick.' Cummings acknowledged that a trickle of aid has entered Gaza in the past 72 hours, calling it 'welcome but insignificant in terms of the actual number of people it can help.' 'What is needed are the thousands of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies that are held up by Israel outside Gaza, carrying life-saving aid,' she said, underscoring the urgent need for widespread humanitarian access. 'This is a very active and complex war. Bombs are dropping on children every day,' she continued. 'So we need a definitive ceasefire in Gaza, we need to be able to access populations and children who are in the most desperate circumstances, and we need humanitarian supplies to enter.' As famine conditions accelerate, humanitarian agencies are also raising serious concerns over new aid delivery proposals that could undermine neutral humanitarian operations. On Sunday, Save the Children issued a strong statement distancing itself from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and any associated plans for militarized aid delivery. The organization reiterated that it will not participate in any system that compromises humanitarian principles. Gabriella Waaijman, Chief Operating Officer of Save the Children, said: 'Save the Children reiterates its firm position that it will not engage with any system of aid delivery in Gaza that fails to uphold humanitarian principles following reports about engaging with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over a new militarized proposal for aid delivery. We have not agreed to support or collaborate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, nor will we support limiting the number of humanitarian actors in the Gaza response. We stand united with our peers in calling on the Government of Israel and the international community to let us do our jobs.' Waaijman stressed the distinction between principled humanitarian assistance and politicized service delivery. 'Humanitarian principles guide the delivery of the aid people need to the people who need it most, independent of political considerations. Those principles are the difference between real humanitarian action and service delivery, and guide Save the Children's assistance to children and families across the world.' She warned of the consequences of deviating from these standards: 'New proposals for aid delivery that fail to uphold these standards are a distraction with devastating costs. After 11 weeks of total siege on the entry of all supplies into Gaza, thousands of children's lives hang in the balance. But instead of ensuring urgent, principled humanitarian aid delivery at the vast scale needed to save them, the Government of Israel is wasting time on political interference with what must remain a humanitarian-led system.' 'We reiterate our call to the Government of Israel and the international community to uphold humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law to ensure that people urgently receive the relief they need. Anything less is yet another world failure in what is becoming a long list for which the people of Gaza are paying with their lives.' These urgent calls have been echoed by the UN and other international aid organizations, which have warned that the death toll, especially among children, will continue to rise at a horrifying rate unless immediate, widespread access to Gaza and an end to the blockade are granted. Since March 2, Israel has been systematically starving some 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza by closing the crossings to aid that has been piling up at the border, leading to famine and many deaths. Shortlink for this post:
The Age
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Australia blasts Israel in joint statement demanding aid for starving Gazans
Australia has joined a coalition of 23 countries demanding the full resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza and accusing Israel of politicising the delivery of essential food and medicine to Palestinian civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel would allow some aid to enter Gaza after a two-month blockade, but international aid organisations say this will not be nearly enough to meet the needs of the local population and will risk the lives of aid workers. Netanyahu has said that Israel will take full control of the strip as he ordered the Israeli military to intensify ground operations in the ravaged strip, including by instructing civilians to leave the southern city of Khan Yunis. Penny Wong and the foreign ministers from 23 other nations said in a joint statement they cannot support the limited model of aid delivery that the Israeli government has proposed. 'It places beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermines the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners, and links humanitarian aid to political and military objectives,' the foreign ministers said. 'Humanitarian aid should never be politicised, and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.' However, Australia has not gone as far as Canada, France and the United Kingdom, who threatened to impose sanctions against Israel in a separate statement unless it halts the renewed military offensive in Gaza and lifts aid restrictions. Alongside Wong, the foreign ministers who signed the 23-nation joint statement include representatives from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. 'As humanitarian donors, we have two straightforward messages for the Government of Israel: allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity,' the foreign ministers said.
Sydney Morning Herald
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia blasts Israel in joint statement demanding aid for starving Gazans
Australia has joined a coalition of 23 countries demanding the full resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza and accusing Israel of politicising the delivery of essential food and medicine to Palestinian civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel would allow some aid to enter Gaza after a two-month blockade, but international aid organisations say this will not be nearly enough to meet the needs of the local population and will risk the lives of aid workers. Netanyahu has said that Israel will take full control of the strip as he ordered the Israeli military to intensify ground operations in the ravaged strip, including by instructing civilians to leave the southern city of Khan Yunis. Penny Wong and the foreign ministers from 23 other nations said in a joint statement they cannot support the limited model of aid delivery that the Israeli government has proposed. 'It places beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermines the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners, and links humanitarian aid to political and military objectives,' the foreign ministers said. 'Humanitarian aid should never be politicised, and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.' However, Australia has not gone as far as Canada, France and the United Kingdom, who threatened to impose sanctions against Israel in a separate statement unless it halts the renewed military offensive in Gaza and lifts aid restrictions. Alongside Wong, the foreign ministers who signed the 23-nation joint statement include representatives from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. 'As humanitarian donors, we have two straightforward messages for the Government of Israel: allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity,' the foreign ministers said.
NZ Herald
12-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Hamas frees US-Israeli hostage
Flag-waving crowds gathered to greet the convoy carrying Alexander, while in Tenafly, the New Jersey town he grew up in, large crowds sang and danced while watching events on an outdoor big screen. Watching from home, his close friends and family chanted his name and applauded at the news, footage released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum showed. , hailed Alexander's return, adding: 'The Government of Israel is committed to the return of all hostages and missing persons – both the living and the fallen.' He credited 'political pressure' from Trump and 'our military pressure' for the release. Alexander's release comes a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a ceasefire. 'We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations yield results in the release of prisoners, while the continuation of aggression prolongs their suffering and may kill them,' Hamas said in a statement. 'We urge President Trump's administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war.' The release of Alexander, the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship, comes before Trump's arrival in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first leg of a regional tour. On Monday, Netanyahu thanked Trump 'for his assistance in the release', and also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the further release of hostages. Netanyahu earlier said, 'Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan'. Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages would continue 'under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting', he added. Meanwhile, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned Monday that Gaza was at 'critical risk of famine', with 22% of the population facing an imminent humanitarian 'catastrophe' after more than two months of a total aid blockade by Israel. 'Opportunity to breathe' Before Alexander's release, a Hamas source said that mediators informed the group that Israel would halt military operations for the handover of the 21-year-old soldier. The pause offered a much-needed respite for residents of the war-battered territory. Somaya Abu Al-Kas, 34, who had been displaced to the southern city of Khan Yunis, said that 'calm settled over Gaza, there was no shelling, and no nearby aircraft, which is very rare'. 'We are tired of the shelling, and any ceasefire, even if temporary, we consider it an opportunity to breathe and gather ourselves.' But Um Mohammed Zomlot, 50, also displaced in Khan Yunis, said that 'despite the calm, we are cautious'. 'Everyone is afraid that the shelling might resume suddenly after the prisoner is released.' Gaza's civil defence agency earlier reported at least 10 killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people. 'Good faith gesture' Before Monday's release, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: 'We must not leave anyone behind!' After Hamas announced Sunday it would release Alexander, Trump hailed the 'monumental news' in a post on social media, describing it as a 'good faith gesture'. 'Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,' he added. Egypt and Qatar, which along with the United States have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, called it 'an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table' in a joint statement. Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory. Earlier this month, Israel's Government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there. Hamas' 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday at least 2749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862.
