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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
In their words: Israeli leaders support the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza
President Donald Trump has said little about his idea of relocating many of the Gaza Strip's 2 million Palestinians to other countries since he stunned the world by announcing it in February. But Israel's leaders have run with it, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one point listed it as a condition for ending the 22-month war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. He and other Israeli officials present it as a humanitarian measure allowing Palestinians to flee war and hardship, and say it should be voluntary. Israel has been in talks with African countries — many of which are themselves wracked by war and at risk of famine — about taking Palestinians in. Palestinians say there would be nothing voluntary about leaving part of their homeland with no guarantee of return after an occupying power has rendered much of it uninhabitable. Rights groups and much of the international community say it would amount to forcible expulsion in violation of international law. The issue is likely to take on greater urgency as Israel widens its military campaign to the last parts of Gaza that it hasn't taken over and largely flattened, and as large numbers of Palestinians flee once again. 'This is our land, there is no other place for us to go,' said Ismail Zaydah, whose family has remained in Gaza City throughout the war, even after much of their neighborhood and part of their home was destroyed. 'We are not surrendering,' he said. 'We were born here, and here we die.' Here's what Israel's leaders have said, in their own words. Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a Feb. 6 post on X 'I have instructed the (Israeli military) to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them. … The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.' Netanyahu, addressing a Cabinet meeting on March 30 'Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration. This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.' Netanyahu, in a public address May 21 Israel will create 'a sterile zone in the southern Strip to which the civilian population will be evacuated from the combat areas, for the purpose of defending it. In this zone, which will be Hamas-free, the residents of Gaza will receive full humanitarian assistance.' 'I am ready to end the war — according to clear conditions that will ensure the security of Israel. All of the hostages will return home. Hamas will lay down its weapons, leave power, its leadership, whoever is left, will be exiled from the Strip, Gaza will be completely demilitarized, and we will carry out the Trump plan, which is so correct and so revolutionary, and it says something simple: The residents of Gaza who wish to leave — will be able to leave.' Netanyahu, in an interview with Israeli media on Aug. 12 'I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there.' 'Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want. We will allow this, first of all inside Gaza during the fighting, and we will also allow them to leave Gaza. We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.' ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
Boston Globe
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Aid deliveries begin to reach Gaza after days of delays
Israel's two-month ban on the entry of food and fuel led to widespread hunger in the enclave, which has been devastated by more than a year of war against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel justified the ban as an attempt to force Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages. Israeli officials have asserted that Hamas has largely diverted or made money off aid deliveries, a claim disputed by international aid groups. Advertisement Israel conditioned the resumption of assistance on the United Nations signing off on a new mechanism in which they would distribute relief in areas under Israeli security control. The UN and many other aid nonprofits refused, saying it would fundamentally compromise their work. After weeks of rising international pressure, Israel announced Sunday that it would let UN agencies send small amounts of food into the enclave under the old system. But wrangling between Israel and the United Nations further delayed the provision of aid for days. Advertisement OCHA, the UN agency that coordinates humanitarian relief, said Israel had stipulated that the aid trucks take an extremely perilous route through Gaza. UN officials believed that unless the plans were changed, looting was 'highly likely' to ensue, the agency said. A spokesperson for the Israeli military agency that works with the aid agencies -- known as COGAT -- did not respond to a request for comment. During the aid blockade, local bakeries supported by the World Food Program had been forced to shut down. On Thursday, some bakeries in central and southern Gaza resumed production for the first time since April 2, according to Abed Alnasser al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza Bakers Association. The bread in these areas is now being distributed for free by the World Food Program and other UN agencies, al-Ajrami said. But in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza, there were large crowds rushing to collect the bread, raising safety concerns for the bakery workers, he added. Israeli officials have said they hope to set up the new aid system in Gaza, bypassing the United Nations, in the coming days. In a televised news conference Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed once again to escalate the war imminently unless Hamas agreed to Israel's conditions for a cease-fire. Palestinians would be evacuated to a 'sterile zone' that would be 'Hamas-free' in southern Gaza, where humanitarian aid would be provided, he said. 'At the end of the effort, all areas of the Gaza Strip will be under Israel's security control -- and Hamas will be totally defeated,' Netanyahu said. Advertisement In northern Gaza, attacks by Israeli ground forces damaged Al-Awda Hospital, according to the hospital director, Dr. Mohammad Salha. He said the facility had come under repeated attacks by Israeli tank fire and gunfire since Wednesday without prior warning or coordination. A fire engulfed the central warehouse for medical supplies and spread to outpatient tents run by international humanitarian organizations. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hospital. The facility has been struck more than 20 times during the war. It has now run out of supplies and cannot admit new patients, the director said. While dealing with mass casualties from Israeli strikes, hospitals say their feeding centers are overwhelmed with patients. 'We have nothing at Nasser Hospital,' said Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, who said his emergency center for malnourished children is at full capacity. Supplies are running out, people are living off scraps, and the situation is catastrophic for babies and pregnant women, he said. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises, has warned that there could be some 71,000 cases of malnourished children between now and March. In addition, nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition in the coming months. Mai Namleh and her 18-month-old son, who live in a tent, are both malnourished. She wanted to wean him off of breastmilk because she barely has any, but she has so little else to give him. She gives him heavily watered-down formula to ration it, and sometimes offers him starch to quiet his hunger screams. 'I try to pass it for milk to stop him screaming,' she said of the formula. Advertisement Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
UN walks back 14,000 Gaza baby death claim after backlash
UN walks back 14,000 Gaza baby death claim after backlash (Picture credit: AP, ANI) The United Nations has backtracked on a widely reported claim made by its humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within 48 hours if aid didn't reach them, a figure now confirmed to reflect a longer-term estimate. Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Fletcher had said: 'There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them,' citing stalled aid trucks at the border carrying baby food and nutritional supplements. When asked how he arrived at that number, Fletcher responded that 'strong teams on the ground' were assessing the humanitarian situation from medical centres and schools. However, the BBC later confirmed that the figure was based on an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report that estimated around 14,100 cases of severe acute malnutrition among children aged six to 59 months over a year-long period, from April 2025 to March 2026. The report did not suggest that these children would die within 48 hours. According to the Jerusalem Post , the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) later clarified that while the figure was accurate, the time frame was not. UNOCHA was quoted saying by the BBC, 'We need to get the supplies in as soon as possible, ideally within the next 48 hours,' emphasising urgency but not predicting mass deaths in that span. Despite the clarification, Fletcher's original statement sparked international concern and was cited by at least nine UK Members of Parliament, according to the Jewish Chronicle . Critics, especially pro-Israel voices, accused Fletcher of inflating numbers to pressure Israel. Former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy labelled the figure 'a hoax' on X. The controversy unfolded as Israel reopened aid access into Gaza on May 18 after halting it post-ceasefire in early March. On Tuesday, around 93 UN-inspected trucks carrying flour, baby food, medical gear and pharmaceuticals were allowed in, Newsweek reported. Fletcher called this 'a drop in the ocean,' warning that significantly more aid was still urgently needed. Fletcher also rejected Israel's new plan to direct aid through a designated 'Hamas-free' zone in southern Gaza, calling it a 'dodgy modality.' He insisted the previous method of distributing aid worked better, adding: 'To go with the other modality would be to support the objectives of the military offensive.' Amid increasing international pressure, UK foreign secretary David Lammy announced a suspension of trade talks with Israel, calling its recent military escalation 'morally unjustifiable.' UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the situation as 'utterly intolerable,' adding, 'We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve.'
Express Tribune
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Hamas rejects Gaza ceasefire negotiations amid Israeli 'starvation war'
Palestinians with children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 13, 2024. PHOTO:REUTERS Listen to article Hamas has dismissed ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel as futile, accusing the Israeli government of waging a "starvation war" against Gaza's 2.1 million residents. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim stated that discussions are pointless while Israel maintains its blockade and military invasion. He maintained that the international community, including UN institutions, has recognized such actions as war crimes. Israel's security cabinet recently approved an expanded military invasion in Gaza, potentially leading to the forced displacement of most of the population and indefinite occupation of the territory. The operation, which includes the establishment of a new security corridor dividing Gaza, aims to pressure Hamas into dismantling its infrastructure. Israel's military spokesperson indicated that the attack would involve displacing the majority of Gaza's population to southern areas to create a "Hamas-free zone." In response, Hamas has warned that such actions represent an explicit decision to sacrifice Israeli hostages, undermining any prospects for a negotiated settlement. The United Nations has condemned Israel's plans, with Secretary-General António Guterres stating that expanded ground invasion and a prolonged military presence would "inevitably lead to countless more civilians killed and the further destruction of Gaza." France's Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, also condemned Israel's plans as "unacceptable" and a violation of humanitarian law. Since October 7, Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 52,615 Palestinians and injured 118,752, according to figures from Gaza's Health Ministry. The Government Media Office has reported that the death toll has likely surpassed 61,700, citing thousands still missing beneath the rubble who are presumed dead. As the humanitarian crisis deepens, international calls for restraint and dialogue continue, though prospects for a ceasefire remain uncertain.
New York Times
10-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Everyone Has a Plan For Gaza. None of Them Add Up.
Under President Trump's plan, the United States would govern Gaza and expel its residents. Under the Arab plan, Gaza would be run by Palestinian technocrats within a wider Palestinian state. By one Israeli proposal, Israel would cede some control to Palestinians but block Palestinian statehood. By another, Israel would occupy the entire territory. Since the opening weeks of the war in Gaza, politicians, diplomats and analysts have made scores of proposals for how it might end, and who should subsequently govern the territory. Those proposals grew in number and relevance after the sealing of a cease-fire in January, increasing the need for clear postwar plans. And when Mr. Trump proposed to forcibly transfer the population later that month, it fueled a push across the Middle East to find an alternative. The problem? Each plan contains something unacceptable to either Israel or Hamas, or to the Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia who some hope will fund and partially oversee Gaza's future. 'The devil is in the details, and none of the details in these plans make any sense,' said Thomas R. Nides, a former United States ambassador to Israel. 'Israel and Hamas have fundamentally opposed positions, while parts of the Arab plan are unacceptable to Israel, and vice versa. I'm all for people suggesting new ideas, but it is very hard for anyone to find common ground unless the dynamics change significantly.' The central challenge is that Israel wants a Hamas-free Gaza whereas the group still seeks to retain its military wing, which led the October 2023 attack on Israel that ignited the war. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
