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CNN
11-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Netanyahu defends Gaza City takeover as UN warns of ‘calamity' and international condemnation grows
The Middle East Israel-Hamas war The UN FacebookTweetLink Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his planned military takeover of Gaza City in the face of growing international condemnation and anger, with United Nations officials warning Sunday the move would lead to 'another calamity' in the embattled, starving enclave. In a rare news conference with international media, Netanyahu said the controversial operation to take over what was once Gaza's largest city, which faces tremendous internal and international opposition, is the fastest way to end the war. 'Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,' he said. 'This is how we bring the war to an end.' In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, claiming it is part of its goals to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages being held in the enclave. But the move raised fears that further fighting will only endanger captives – and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis. Israel faced condemnation at the UN on Sunday, with the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France among others expressing their strong opposition to Netanyahu's military plan for Gaza that would constitute 'further violations of international law.' 'If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction – compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,' said Miroslav Jenča, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas. Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said what is unfolding in Gaza 'is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.' Hunger-related deaths are rising in the enclave, especially among children with severe malnutrition, Rajasingham said. Since October 2023, 98 children have died from severe acute malnutrition — 37 since July 1 alone, he told the security council, citing health authorities in Gaza. 'We have frankly run out of words to describe' the humanitarian conditions, which 'are beyond horrific,' Rajasingham said. Israel's expanded military operation is 'not a path to resolution but a path to more bloodshed,' the UK said. Russia condemned Israel's plan to bring Gaza under the control of its security forces as 'dangerous steps which undermine the already fragile prospects for the peaceful settlement to the Middle East conflict.' Denmark, South Korea, Greece, Slovenia and Guyana were among those adding their voices to a chorus of opposition and called on Israel to reverse course. 'After twenty-two months of forced displacement, starvation and ethnic cleansing, such an operation would not merely ruin Gaza, it would annihilate what remains of it,' Algeria said. The United States, which is becoming increasingly isolated on the world stage in its defense of Israel's actions in Gaza, said it was 'working tirelessly' to free the hostages and end the war. US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea accused members of the security council of 'actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel' and 'handing propaganda victories to terrorists.' 'The simple truth is this war could end today if Hamas let the hostages and all of Gaza go free,' Shea said, adding that genocide accusations against Israel 'are politically motivated and categorically false.' Israel is facing global condemnation over its conduct in Gaza, with growing protests breaking out in major cities as people demonstrate their horror and anger over starvation in the territory. Tens of thousands of people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge last week to protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And police in London arrested 466 people on Saturday during a protest against the British government's decision to ban the pro-Palestinian direct action group Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. Inside Israel itself families of Israeli hostages kept captive in Gaza are calling for a nationwide general strike next Sunday. Netanyahu's plan also brings Israel closer to fully occupying Gaza, something it has not done for nearly 20 years. Israel's military already controls approximately 75% of Gaza after nearly two years of war. Analysts argue that the plan, which was initiated and pushed by Netanyahu himself, arguably reveals more about his domestic political maneuvering than evidence of any well-thought-out military strategy. The plan, analysts say, gives Netanyahu time to fight for his political survival. Netanyahu described Gaza City and the central camps in the besieged enclave as the 'two remaining strongholds' of Hamas. 'Given Hamas' refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas,' he said. In response, the militant group on Sunday said that the only way to ensure the 'survival' of Israeli hostages is by halting the military campaign in Gaza and reaching a peace deal. 'Netanyahu continues to manipulate the issue of (Israeli hostages) as a pretext to continue the aggression and to mislead public opinion,' Hamas said in a statement. 'The only way to ensure their survival is to halt the aggression and reach an agreement, not to continue bombing and blockade,' it added. Also on Sunday, Netanyahu asserted once again that there is no starvation crisis in Gaza, despite contrary reports from international organizations including the United Nations. The UN's International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said on social media that the number of malnutrition cases amongst children in Gaza was 'staggering.' Nearly 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished in July alone, according to UNICEF, which is 'the highest monthly figure ever recorded.' Netanyahu blamed Hamas for food shortages and accused the group of looting aid, saying that it 'deliberately created a shortage of supplies.' Asked about US President Donald Trump saying two weeks ago that there was 'real starvation' in Gaza, the Israeli leader dodged the question, saying he appreciates Trump's support. Netanyahu and Trump spoke on Sunday about Israel's plans for the war in Gaza, according to a short readout from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. 'The two discussed Israel's plans to take control of the remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza in order to end the war with the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,' the readout said. 'The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his steadfast support of Israel since the beginning of the war,' it continued. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
CNN
11-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Netanyahu defends Gaza City takeover as UN warns of ‘calamity' and international condemnation grows
The Middle East Israel-Hamas war The UNFacebookTweetLink Follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his planned military takeover of Gaza City in the face of growing international condemnation and anger, with United Nations officials warning Sunday the move would lead to 'another calamity' in the embattled, starving enclave. In a rare news conference with international media, Netanyahu said the controversial operation to take over what was once Gaza's largest city, which faces tremendous internal and international opposition, is the fastest way to end the war. 'Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,' he said. 'This is how we bring the war to an end.' In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, claiming it is part of its goals to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages being held in the enclave. But the move raised fears that further fighting will only endanger captives – and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis. Israel faced condemnation at the UN on Sunday, with the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France among others expressing their strong opposition to Netanyahu's military plan for Gaza that would constitute 'further violations of international law.' 'If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction – compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,' said Miroslav Jenča, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas. Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said what is unfolding in Gaza 'is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.' Hunger-related deaths are rising in the enclave, especially among children with severe malnutrition, Rajasingham said. Since October 2023, 98 children have died from severe acute malnutrition — 37 since July 1 alone, he told the security council, citing health authorities in Gaza. 'We have frankly run out of words to describe' the humanitarian conditions, which 'are beyond horrific,' Rajasingham said. Israel's expanded military operation is 'not a path to resolution but a path to more bloodshed,' the UK said. Russia condemned Israel's plan to bring Gaza under the control of its security forces as 'dangerous steps which undermine the already fragile prospects for the peaceful settlement to the Middle East conflict.' Denmark, South Korea, Greece, Slovenia and Guyana were among those adding their voices to a chorus of opposition and called on Israel to reverse course. 'After twenty-two months of forced displacement, starvation and ethnic cleansing, such an operation would not merely ruin Gaza, it would annihilate what remains of it,' Algeria said. The United States, which is becoming increasingly isolated on the world stage in its defense of Israel's actions in Gaza, said it was 'working tirelessly' to free the hostages and end the war. US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea accused members of the security council of 'actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel' and 'handing propaganda victories to terrorists.' 'The simple truth is this war could end today if Hamas let the hostages and all of Gaza go free,' Shea said, adding that genocide accusations against Israel 'are politically motivated and categorically false.' Israel is facing global condemnation over its conduct in Gaza, with growing protests breaking out in major cities as people demonstrate their horror and anger over starvation in the territory. Tens of thousands of people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge last week to protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And police in London arrested 466 people on Saturday during a protest against the British government's decision to ban the pro-Palestinian direct action group Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. Inside Israel itself families of Israeli hostages kept captive in Gaza are calling for a nationwide general strike next Sunday. Netanyahu's plan also brings Israel closer to fully occupying Gaza, something it has not done for nearly 20 years. Israel's military already controls approximately 75% of Gaza after nearly two years of war. Analysts argue that the plan, which was initiated and pushed by Netanyahu himself, arguably reveals more about his domestic political maneuvering than evidence of any well-thought-out military strategy. The plan, analysts say, gives Netanyahu time to fight for his political survival. Netanyahu described Gaza City and the central camps in the besieged enclave as the 'two remaining strongholds' of Hamas. 'Given Hamas' refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas,' he said. In response, the militant group on Sunday said that the only way to ensure the 'survival' of Israeli hostages is by halting the military campaign in Gaza and reaching a peace deal. 'Netanyahu continues to manipulate the issue of (Israeli hostages) as a pretext to continue the aggression and to mislead public opinion,' Hamas said in a statement. 'The only way to ensure their survival is to halt the aggression and reach an agreement, not to continue bombing and blockade,' it added. Also on Sunday, Netanyahu asserted once again that there is no starvation crisis in Gaza, despite contrary reports from international organizations including the United Nations. The UN's International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said on social media that the number of malnutrition cases amongst children in Gaza was 'staggering.' Nearly 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished in July alone, according to UNICEF, which is 'the highest monthly figure ever recorded.' Netanyahu blamed Hamas for food shortages and accused the group of looting aid, saying that it 'deliberately created a shortage of supplies.' Asked about US President Donald Trump saying two weeks ago that there was 'real starvation' in Gaza, the Israeli leader dodged the question, saying he appreciates Trump's support. Netanyahu and Trump spoke on Sunday about Israel's plans for the war in Gaza, according to a short readout from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. 'The two discussed Israel's plans to take control of the remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza in order to end the war with the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,' the readout said. 'The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his steadfast support of Israel since the beginning of the war,' it continued. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Al Jazeera
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel's starvation denial is an Orwellian farce
For more than 21 months, much of the international media danced around the truth about Israel's war on Gaza. The old newsroom cliche – 'if it bleeds, it leads' – seemed to apply, for Western media newsrooms, more to Ukraine than Gaza. When Palestinian civilians were bombed in their homes, when entire families were buried under rubble, coverage came slowly, cautiously and often buried in 'both sides' framing. But when the images of starving Palestinian children began to emerge – haunting faces, skeletal limbs, vacant stares – something shifted. The photographs were too visceral, too undeniable. Western audiences were confronted with what the siege of Gaza truly means. And for once, the media's gatekeepers could not entirely look away. The world's attention, however, alerted Israel, and a new 'hasbara' operation was deployed. Hasbara means 'explaining', but in practice, it's about erasing. With Tel Aviv's guidance, pro-Israel media operatives set out to 'debunk' the evidence of famine. The method was fully Orwellian: Don't just contest the facts. Contest the eyes that see them. We were told there is no starvation in Gaza. Never mind that Israeli ministers had publicly vowed to block food, fuel and medicine. Never mind that trucks were stopped for months, sometimes vandalised by Israeli settlers in broad daylight. Israeli officials, speaking in polished English to Western media, assured the public this was all a Hamas fabrication, as though Hamas had somehow managed to trick aid agencies, foreign doctors and every journalist in Gaza into staging hunger. The propaganda machine thought it had struck gold with one photograph. A New York Times image showed a skeletal boy, Mohammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq. Israeli intelligence sources whispered to friendly outlets: He's not starving. He has a medical condition. As if that somehow makes his horrific condition acceptable. The Times went ahead and added an editor's note to 'correct' the record. That's how hasbara works – not by persuading people but by exhausting them. By turning every fact into a dispute, every image into a row. By pushing editors to 'balance' a photograph of an emaciated child with a government news release denying he is hungry. Imagine a weather report where one source says, 'It's raining,' and another insists, 'No, it's sunny,' while everyone stands outside, soaked from the downpour. Gaza is that drenched truth, and yet much of the Western news media still feels obliged to quote the weatherman in Tel Aviv. Every honest report is met with a barrage of emails, phone calls and social media smears, all designed to create just enough doubt to make editors pull back. But the claim 'He's not starving. He's just sick' is not an exoneration. It's an admission. A child with a pre-existing medical condition who is brought to the point of looking like a skeleton means he has been deprived not only of the nutrition he needs, but of the medical care. This is forced starvation and medicide side by side. Palestinian journalists inside Gaza, the only ones reporting since Israel banned all foreign media and killed more than 200 Palestinian journalists, are starving alongside the people they report on. In a rare joint statement, the BBC, AFP and Associated Press warned that their own staff members face 'the same dire circumstances as those they are covering'. At the height of the outrage over these photos last week, Israel allowed in a trickle of aid – some airdrops and 30 to 50 trucks a day when the United Nations says 500 to 600 are needed. Some trucks never arrived, blocked by Jewish extremists. Meanwhile, a parallel mechanism for aid distribution has been funnelled through Israeli-approved American contractors, which purposefully create dangerous and chaotic conditions that lead to daily killings of aid seekers. Crowds of starving Palestinians gather, only to be shot at by Israeli soldiers. And still, the denials persist. The official line is that this is not starvation. It's something else – undefined but definitely not a war crime. The world has seen famine before – in Ethiopia, in Somalia, in Yemen, in South Sudan. The photographs from Gaza belong in the same category. The difference is that here, a powerful state causing the starvation is actively trying to convince us that our own eyes are lying to us. The goal is not to convince the public that there is no hunger but to plant enough doubt to paralyse outrage. If the facts can be made murky, the pressure on Israel diminishes. This is why every newsroom that avoids the word 'starvation' becomes an unwitting accomplice. Starvation in Gaza is not collateral damage. It is an instrument of war, measurable in calories denied, trucks blocked and fields destroyed. Israel's strategy depends on controlling the lens as well as the border. It goes as far as prohibiting journalists allowed on airplanes airdropping food from filming the devastation below. For a brief moment, the publication of those photos of starving Palestinians broke through the wall of propaganda, prompting minimal concessions. But the siege continues, the hunger deepens and the mass killing expands. Now the Israeli government has decided to launch another ground offensive to occupy Gaza City, and with it, the genocide will only get worse. History will record the famine in Gaza. It will remember the prices of flour and sugar, the names of children and the aid trucks turned back. And it will remember how the world allowed itself to be told, in the middle of a downpour, that the sky was clear. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Al Jazeera
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel Bans international media from Gaza to 'hide' realities
ISRAEL BANS INTL MEDIA FROM GAZA TO 'HIDE' REALITIES Quotable Video Duration 01 minutes 17 seconds 01:17 Video Duration 01 minutes 06 seconds 01:06 Video Duration 01 minutes 28 seconds 01:28 Video Duration 01 minutes 48 seconds 01:48 Video Duration 00 minutes 50 seconds 00:50 Video Duration 00 minutes 24 seconds 00:24 Video Duration 00 minutes 54 seconds 00:54
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Banff will see a good few days, hoping for a good few years as a result of G7 Leaders' Summit
The G7 Leaders' Summit is putting a spotlight on the Canadian Rockies, with Banff ready to gain some visitors and worldwide exposure from the event. The G7 Leaders' Summit is putting a spotlight on the Canadian Rockies, with Banff ready to gain some visitors and worldwide exposure from the event. The area is hosting international media as well as one of the designated demonstration zones. The town, which already has heavy foot traffic in the summer, is about to get a little busier as the area embraces the energy of the G7 Leaders' Summit being held in Kananaskis. The Japanese delegation has several members staying in Banff, and they have no complaints about that. 'So beautiful. … Fresh air and kind people,' said Suguru Hayashida, first secretary with the Japanese embassy in Canada. In addition to hosting some delegates, the Banff Centre serves as the international media centre for the three-day event. And on the edge of town, the recreation centre's parking lot is a designated demonstration zone—its location strategically chosen, away from homes and the hustle and bustle. 'Folks who are planning to protest or demonstrate can expect to see a police presence,' said Cpl. Carlie McCann with the RCMP. 'Our goal for that is to be there, to allow it to be safe and to potentially step in if needed, if there's criminal activity.' Banff's welcome sign has been temporarily removed since visitors will be unable to access the rec centre parking lot to get photos. The G7 Leaders' Summit comes as the area is already flooded with visitors. On Sunday, it hosted a half-marathon. 'It's the busy weekend,' said Christie Pashby, Banff and Lake Louise Tourism director of communication and engagement. But businesses aren't shying away from the added influx of people. 'I think it is really exciting to have such a big global event here,' said Gemma Cashman with Big Bear Trading Company. It's a sentiment shared across town. There's hope this will spiral into future international visitation. 'Definitely a good three days. But hoping it's going to be a good next three years as a result of the summit,' said Kyler Brierley with Good Earth Banff.
