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The first nine aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza with food and emergency supplies

ABC News

21-05-2025

Politics
ABC News

The first nine aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza with food and emergency supplies

Israeli officials say they've allowed dozens of trucks - carrying aid - to enter Gaza after imposing an 11-week blockade. UN health officials say malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during the blockade - and could rise exponentially, if food shortages continue. Yousra Abu Sherekh is a project manager for the aid agency in Gaza INARA, the International Network for Aid Relief and Assistance. She is also a mother of two young boys. Even with a job she struggles to feed her husband and children. She spoke to our reporter Anne Barker. Guest: Yousra Abu Sherekh, project manager for the aid agency INARA, in Gaza Producer: Anne Barker

USA Today

16-05-2025

Politics
USA Today

A humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza

A humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza | The Excerpt On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Arwa Damon, former CNN Senior International Correspondent and president and founder of INARA, joins The Excerpt to discuss the latest concerns about starvation in Gaza. Arwa wrote an essay earlier this week for the Atlantic Council detailing Gazans' famine fears. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Bart Jansen breaks down Supreme Court arguments over President Donald Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship. What can we expect from this summer's Trump birthday military parade? Staffing cuts leave the National Weather Service scrambling to cover vital shifts. Join The Excerpt and author Niall Harbison, whose story we featured, on Reddit for an AMA from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. ET in the r/IAmA subreddit. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, May 16th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today we get a closer sense of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Plus the Supreme Court wrestles with birthright citizenship questions and what to expect from a giant military parade this summer. ♦ Gaza's more than 2 million people face prolonged food shortages according to the World Health Organization and a global hunger monitor the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said this week that half a million Gazans face starvation. Those startling numbers come as no humanitarian assistance has been delivered to Gaza since March 2nd. For more on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, I spoke with Arwa Damon, a former CNN senior international correspondent and President and founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief, and Assistance, also known as INARA. Arwa, thank you so much for giving me a few minutes on this. Arwa Damon: Thank you. My pleasure. Taylor Wilson: So we've seen this humanitarian crisis really spiral since March, in particular, we know that a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation. What can you tell us about the latest, especially as it pertains to some of these hunger concerns? Arwa Damon: No food has entered Gaza, not even a single grain of rice, not even a single bag of flour for well over two months right now. In the last few weeks we've seen the World Health Organization announce that it has run out of its stocks. The World Central Kitchen whose work in Gaza was vital, providing hot meals, they have also stopped being able to do that because they've run out of supplies. My own organization, INARA, we had to stop our own hot meal deliveries that we were doing to the shelters that we work with around two weeks ago now because we couldn't find anything to cook up. Keeping in mind, especially in the last two to three weeks, when we say hot meals, we really just mean rice because that was all that there was to cook with. And so if you think that over 2 million people are living in these conditions, the vast majority of whom right now are subsiding on a single meal a day, if even that, it gives you an idea of just how dire the situation is. And then add to that, the reality of they don't have access to clean water, they don't have access to proper medical treatment, and they're constantly having to deal with the fear of being bombed, the fear of death that is either going to come to them from the skies or it's going to come to them because they starve to death. Taylor Wilson: Well, as you say, as part of this humanitarian nightmare, Israel has ramped up military strikes this week. How severe have these been and what has this meant for Gazans who have already been displaced for years and I guess, do they have anywhere else to go, to hide Arwa? Arwa Damon: No, there's never been anywhere to hide in Gaza. And that's been the situation, not just since October 7th, but any other time that Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip. And over the course of the last 18, 19 months, even when we've seen Israel declare certain areas of Gaza, these so-called safe zones, we've still had numerous times where people in their tents on the beachfront in Mawasi and [inaudible 00:03:23] being bombed. We've seen hospitals being bombed. And so there's very much this sense of death can come at any moment, but especially since the ceasefire broke, Gazans are feeling an even more intense and different level of fear. And you see this manifesting itself, especially in the children. You have children that have started bedwetting, you have children that are basically traumatized into complete silence. And you have children who say things like, "I've lost faith in myself. I don't trust myself because I allowed myself to hope during the ceasefire. And now I've realized that that was a lie." Taylor Wilson: Devastating. President Trump is in the region this week, Arwa. Talk us through the Trump administration's latest approach to Gaza. And I know this U.S-backed humanitarian organization will start work there by the end of the month under what's been a pretty criticized aid distribution plan. What can you tell us about that and how likely is it that this plan will be effective? Arwa Damon: The vast majority of us in the humanitarian community are extremely critical of this plan for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it contravenes any sort of baseline or standard that is established to be able to distribute humanitarian aid to a population. It militarizes access to aid. And then if you look at it just logistically, logically speaking from the perspective of Gaza, it doesn't make sense. There are over 400 distribution points in Gaza right now, and this plan wants to reduce those to 4. There is no transportation system in Gaza as well. So if I just sort of even simplify it further, let's say that there is a family in Gaza City that wants to get its food parcel under this new system that's going to be established. They have to walk roughly six to seven hours to get to any one of these distribution points, and then they're handed a food parcel. Now any decent food parcel weighs between 30 to 50 kilos, so that's like roughly 70 to 100 pounds. How are they supposed to carry that back to their tent? And then let's hypothetically assume that they are able to carry that back to their tent. How are they supposed to cook? Because there's no fuel source. If you have a family and kids who are starving, you're going to have to choose to either be forcibly displaced once again to be in proximity to the food or stay where you are and continue to watch your children go hungry. But just to give you an idea, in this clip that the team sent to me, the kids are running around holding cucumbers, laughing and shrieking over a cucumber the way that children and other parts of the world laugh and shriek over the biggest chocolate bar that they have ever seen. Taylor Wilson: That says it all. Arwa Damon is President and founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief, and Assistance. Thank you so much for your perspective and insight here, Arwa. I appreciate it. Arwa Damon: And thank you for having me. ♦ Taylor Wilson: The Supreme Court yesterday wrestled with whether to let President Donald Trump broadly enforce his changes to birthright citizenship as courts consider whether those changes are constitutional. I spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent Bart Jansen to learn more. Bart, thanks for joining me. Bart Jansen: Thanks for having me. Taylor Wilson: So just starting here, Bart, what exactly was the Supreme Court dealing with in its arguments yesterday? Bart Jansen: The underlying issue that they're talking about is birthright citizenship. President Trump issued an order on his first day of the second term saying that the children of two undocumented immigrant parents would no longer be recognized as citizens. Birthright citizenship is something that's been recognized since the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1868. And so this would be a dramatic change in policy that stood for 150 years. This case hurtled toward the high court faster than most cases, primarily because the Trump administration also wants to stop federal judges across the country from imposing nationwide injunctions on his policies. Over the past few decades, judges have more and more been saying, "Well, you can't do such and such a thing here and you can't do it anywhere in the country." And so the Trump administration, they're asking the justices to stop the ability of federal judges from ordering nationwide injunctions. We may only get a decision on injunctions and not get to that underlying issue of birthright citizenship. Taylor Wilson: And so just on that injunction point, what did we hear specifically from the justices? What did they focus on, on that angle? Bart Jansen: It's a thorny question for them because it's sort of arisen just out of practice. There were very few of them until the Obama administration and now they've just snowballed in recent terms. But administrations of both parties are frustrated by them because basically you can pick and choose a judge that you think is going to give you a good ruling. So the Trump administration is trying to halt nationwide injunctions, but it's not clear what mechanism the justices would use to do that. I mean, they could just say, "Okay, no more of these." But what's unclear then is well then you've got a policy that would leave children born to undocumented immigrants citizens in one state and not citizens in the other during the years that it takes the courts to ultimately resolve this question. So it's not clear how the justices can resolve that issue where you feel like, okay, everybody is getting heard. Taylor Wilson: All right, Bart, so big debate yesterday. Where do we go next with this conversation? Bart Jansen: Well, now we wait for the nine justices to make a decision. We don't know whether they're going to rule on just the injunction facet of the case or go all the way to say it looks like even if we don't have a national injunction from a federal court judge, that we as the Supreme Court might extend a national injunction so that the Trump policy is still blocked. That would be the best case scenario for the states and the individuals who brought these lawsuits. Of course, the justices could also throw out national injunctions and then let the birthright citizenship aspect of the case continue to be argued in lower courts. And that's where we might have the, what one lawyer called the chaos on the ground, where people aren't certain whether their children are citizens or it might make certain Democratic states magnets for immigrants to deliver their children. So we're going to wait for a decision by the end of June for probably at least on the injunction aspect of the case, and we'll have to see if they go further and talk about birthright citizenship. Taylor Wilson: All right. Bart Jansen covers the White House for USA TODAY with a great breakdown for us as always. Thanks, Bart. Bart Jansen: Thanks for having me. ♦ Taylor Wilson: A military parade planned for June 14th, the Army's 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump's 79th birthday will feature dozens of tanks moving through the streets of Washington, warplanes overhead and some 7,500 soldiers housed in government office buildings downtown according to Army planning documents. USA TODAY had an exclusive look at the latest planning that detailed the elaborate choreography required for a massive military parade, an unofficial birthday party with few, if any, precedents. Is the parade a celebration of the Army's storied heritage or an homage to Trump and the political movement he leads, or both? Army officials say that they have long planned a major celebration for their milestone anniversary. But Democratic lawmakers say Trump has co-opted the parade for his own political purposes. You can read more with the link in today's show notes. ♦ It's been a rough few months for many National Weather Service employees, more than 550 of the 4,800 weather service employees were either dismissed, retired, or accepted incentive offers to leave after the Trump administration ordered agencies to reduce staff and draft reorganization plans. Now many of the nation's 122 local weather service forecast offices typically staffed 24/7 are shorthanded. The departures included many senior level meteorologists who retired. To try to address the gaps, weather service officials are offering employees who remain on staff opportunities to transfer to try and fill positions. And earlier this month, five former directors of the weather service wrote a letter to the American people expressing concern about the staffing shortages and other issues. ♦ And later today we're joining author Niall Harbison, whose interview and story we featured this past Sunday on Reddit for an AMA. This will take place in the I Am A subreddit beginning at 11:30 AM Eastern. We hope to see you there. ♦ And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. If you have any comments or questions, you can always email us at podcasts@ I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

Ministry of Public Health and UNICEF launch ACWA Programme to support war-wounded children in Lebanon

National News

14-03-2025

Health
National News

Ministry of Public Health and UNICEF launch ACWA Programme to support war-wounded children in Lebanon

NNA - In response to the urgent and growing needs of children affected by the war in Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health, in partnership with UNICEF, is launching the "Assistance & Care for War-Wounded and Affected Children (ACWA)" Programme. Implemented in collaboration with the International Network for Aid, Relief, and Assistance (INARA) and The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund (GASCF), this initiative aims to provide comprehensive healthcare and protection services to children impacted by the latest war on Lebanon. Minister of Public Health, Dr Rakan Nassereddine said: "In the face of unimaginable hardship, our children's resilience remains our nation's most precious asset. The 'Assistance & Care for War-Wounded and Affected Children (ACWA)' Programme, forged in partnership with UNICEF, INARA, and the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund, is a testament to our unwavering commitment to safeguarding their health and well-being. The children of Lebanon have endured unimaginable suffering. This initiative is a vital step in our unwavering commitment to providing them with the comprehensive healthcare and protection they urgently need. We will ensure that every child affected by this war receives the comprehensive care and support they desperately need to heal and rebuild their future" The war, which began in October 2023 and escalated in September 2024, has left a devastating impact on children across the country. As of December 2024, the Ministry of Public Health has reported over 4,000 deaths, including 316 children, and nearly 1,500 injured children—many of whom have suffered life-altering injuries such as burns, fractures, and limb loss. These children are in desperate need of specialized medical care, rehabilitation, and psychological support. "We cannot allow these children to be forgotten. They have already lost too much—family members, homes, their sense of security. Through this lifeline programme, it is our collective responsibility to ensure they do not lose their future" Said Ettie Higgins, UNICEF Deputy representative in Lebanon "This collaboration brings together a synergistic group of partners dedicated to responding effectively to the urgent needs of war-affected children, ensuring their right to healthcare, protection, and a path to recovery" he added. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta said: "An injured child has a growing body, and the injury hinders the child's growth. The goal of the 'ACWA' programme is to implement a comprehensive healing journey—from the moment of injury to reconstructive surgeries, physical rehabilitation, psychological support, and reintegration into society. Whether a child requires a prosthetic limb or educational intervention to mitigate the effects of war, our aim is to provide holistic care." The ACWA programme takes a holistic approach to addressing children's physical, emotional, and social needs. It aims to provide life-saving medical care, including specialized surgeries and mental health support. Additionally, the programme offers specialized psychosocial support, case management, and referrals to essential services such as physiotherapy, disability aids, and the National Disability Allowance (NDA). The program also strengthens accountability, ensuring compliance with policies that protect children's rights. The programme will be implemented nationwide, ensuring that the identified children and their families receive the necessary support despite the destruction of health facilities and the existing structural challenges in Lebanon's health and social systems. Caregivers and parents who have children injured during the war, can call the following hotline numbers +961 76 325 928, +961 76835307 to access the needed support. -------------------

A child's life in Gaza, as explained by a Middle East reporter

Yahoo

26-01-2025

General
Yahoo

A child's life in Gaza, as explained by a Middle East reporter

(NewsNation) — Waiting in line for clean water, lugging around water jugs larger than they are and hoping for a slice of bread for the entire family, children in Gaza are living a life of survival. That's how one on-the-ground reporter described the life of a child in Gaza during war — one of devastation, medical suffering and pure survival. Middle East reporter Arwa Damon, who founded the nonprofit INARA, described what she's seen in Gaza to NewsNation on 'Morning in America with Hena Doba' on Sunday, as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal reached the one-week mark. The Emmy Award-winning journalist was in Gaza in December. She shared the story of a 2-year-old girl who is at risk of losing her limbs — and life. Israel blocks thousands of Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza The girl, who doctors say has a protein C deficiency leading to blood overclotting, has known war most of her life since Hamas' attack on Gaza on Oct. 3, 2023. 'Her arms and legs are covered with gangrenous tissue. She's at a very real risk of losing her limbs and potentially losing her life,' Damon said. 'She needs an emergency medical evacuation, as do thousands of other children who are on this waiting list, but we still have not seen those starting up.' Damon, whose nonprofit provides medical and mental health care to children impacted by war and natural disasters, is calling for urgent medical evacuations. She thought that aid would be 'speedier' after the ceasefire's enactment. 'The opposite seems to have taken place,' she said. Israel said it is keeping Palestinians out of northern Gaza after a civilian hostage was not returned in last weekend's hostage-prisoner exchange. On Saturday, Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers, three of whom are a mere 20 years old and one who is 19. Israel said it was expecting the hostages to include women and children civilians. Images show people living on top of rubble. 'It's this sort of overwhelming sensation of, how does this even happen?' Damon said. And in some areas: 'It's not even that a building has been reduced to rubble. It's actually been reduced to sand.' The Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates at least 14,000 children have been killed in Gaza. 'The medications, the treatment that (the girl) needs doesn't exist. And actually, you know, the sort of specialty care that she needs doesn't exist in Gaza,' Damon said. 'What you have is … children who get these horrific blast injuries, very complex injuries, but there isn't the needed testing.' What's next in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire? There is only one CT scanner in all of Gaza City and no MRI machine, according to her experience. 'The other issue is that the rate of infection among injuries has been extremely high because children's bodies are so weakened due to malnutrition that their body cannot fight to heal and fight off infection at the same time,' Damon said. Patients often return because their wounds haven't healed properly. And the mental wounds won't heal for a long time, either. 'The fear of the drone and the bombs … these traumas are very deep and very, very ingrained and are something that really needs to be focused on in the future,' she said. 'We talk a lot about Gaza's physical rebuilding, but we also need to equally talk about Gaza's psychological rebuilding.' Urgent needs include proper shelter, access to clean water and access to clean bathrooms. A bed to sleep on would seem like a luxury at this stage. Hamas releases 4 female Israeli soldiers in ceasefire deal swap 'We have to recognize that the vast majority of Gaza's children have not slept in a bed for 15 months,' Damon said. 'A number of children were being asked, 'What's the thing you look forward to the most?' And they were saying things like, 'I want to sleep in a bed. I want to sleep in a room on my own. I want to be able to go to the bathroom and have a measure of privacy. I want to go back to school.'' Stability and safety are what they hope for. 'The child is sort of entrenched in this daily struggle of survival. That's what it's like to be a child in Gaza right now.' NewsNation's Hena Doba contributed to this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Life-saving infrastructure in northern Gaza has been ‘decimated,' charity founder says

CBC