Latest news with #Israeli-militarised
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
Israeli attacks kill at least 58 people in Gaza
Agencies Gaza Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 58 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, many of them near an aid distribution site operated by the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to local health authorities, the latest deaths of people desperately seeking food for their hungry families. Medics at Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals in central Gaza, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed on Saturday as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the so-called Netzarim Corridor. The rest were killed in separate attacks across the besieged and bombarded enclave, they added. Since the GHF started operations last month, at least 274 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded near aid distribution sites, according to a statement by the Gaza Ministry of Health. The GHF said they were closed on Saturday. But witnesses said thousands of people had gathered near the sites anyway, desperate for food as Israel's punishing 15-week blockade and military campaign have driven the territory to the brink of famine. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Palestinians are starting to see GHF distribution hubs as 'execution sites,' considering the repeated attacks there. But people in Gaza 'have run out of options, and they are forced to travel to these dangerous humanitarian spaces to get aid'. Israel imposed a full humanitarian blockade on Gaza on March 2 for 11 weeks, cutting off food, medical supplies and other aid. It began allowing small amounts of aid into the enclave in late May following international pressure, but humanitarian organisations say it is only a tiny fraction of the aid that is needed. Israel has also admitted to backing armed gangs in Gaza, known for criminal activities, to undermine Hamas. These groups have been blamed for looting aid. Later on Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and the nearby towns of Abasan and Bani Suheila in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head west towards the so-called humanitarian zone area, saying it would forcefully work against 'terror organizations' in the area. More than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip is now within the Israeli-militarised zone, under forced displacement orders, or where these overlap, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Observer
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Observer
UN chief denounces ‘cruelest phase' in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Friday said "Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict" as Israel ramps up its military offensive. "For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid," he said in a statement. "The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine. "The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction. "Today, 80 per cent of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarised zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave." Israel resumed major operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Aid also began trickling into the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time in more than two months, amidst condemnation of the Israeli blockade that sparked severe shortages of food and medicine. "Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law," Guterres said. "As the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed." The foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including Germany, France and Britain, have urged Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip. "Whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza's people must receive the aid they desperately need," the joint statement, said. Meanwhile, justice watchdog TRIAL International said on Friday that Swiss authorities should investigate the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip, Describing the GHF as a private security company, it said aid distribution should be left to UN organisations and humanitarian agencies. "The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate response," TRIAL International's executive director, Philip Grant, said in a statement. "However, the planned use of private security companies leads to a risky militarisation of aid," he added. That, he argued, "is not justified in a context where the United Nations and humanitarian NGOs have the impartiality, resources and expertise necessary to distribute this aid without delay to the civilian population". TRIAL International said it had filed legal submissions calling on Switzerland, where GHF is registered, to check that the group was complying with its own statutes and the Swiss legal system. The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation. But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, which some have accused of working with Israel. On Friday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians. — Agencies
Barnama
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
No Humanitarian Aid Distributed In Gaza As It Is Stuck At Israeli-Controlled Kareem Shalom Crossing: UN
Trucks carrying aid are seen at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on the Israeli side - Credit: Reuters HAMILTON, May 22 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday that a small number of aid trucks have been allowed into the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, but none of the supplies have been distributed due to security concerns, Anadolu Ajansi reported. Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that none of the humanitarian supplies that crossed into the enclave were able to leave the loading area at Kerem Shalom because "Israeli authorities had only allowed our teams to go through one area that was highly congested, that we felt was insecure and where we felt looting was highly likely to take place, given the prolonged deprivation in Gaza since the blockade by the Israeli authorities for over 11 weeks." "Other critical items such as hygiene products or fuel have not been allowed by the Israeli authorities into Kerem Shalom," said Dujarric. bootstrap slideshow Emphasising that the aid remains stuck despite trucks being loaded and ready to move, he added that "as of noon (local time, Wednesday), there was no information that had reached our colleagues in Jerusalem that trucks had left Kerem Shalom." Saying that the situation is "fluid," Dujarric stated that the UN is continuing to engage with Israel "to identify the best possible routes out of Kerem Shalom towards Gaza, to ensure that the flow of aid is not disrupted or suspended." "However, it is important to underscore that the limited supplies finally being allowed to enter Kerem Shalom are nowhere near enough to meet the needs in Gaza, which are vast, which are tremendous. Much, much more aid needs to get in," he noted. Dujarric said Israeli "bombardment and shelling are continuing across the Gaza Strip. Today, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported dozens of people killed in the last 24 hours, and yesterday, it made an urgent call for blood donations for the sick and for those injured." Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he reported that "80% of the Gaza Strip is now either subject to displacement orders or located in Israeli-militarised zones. These zones require humanitarians to coordinate their movements with the Israeli security authorities." "The ongoing displacement of Gaza's population is putting immense pressure on humanitarian teams, especially when there is no food or any basic items being allowed in," he said.
Barnama
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
UN Security Council Urges Israel To Lift Gaza Aid Blockade Amid Famine Warnings
Palestinians receive free food at a food distribution center in Gaza City, on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council has called on Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, where food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, Xinhua reported. Addressing an emergency meeting held on Tuesday on Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly amid an Israeli blockade that has prevented the entry of food, medicine, water and shelter materials for more than 10 weeks. "We have life-saving supplies ready, now, at the borders ... We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians, and not to Hamas. But Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," he told the security council. bootstrap slideshow According to Fletcher, some 70 per cent of Gaza's territory is either under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in shrinking areas without basic necessities. "Every single one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faces the risk of famine. One in five faces starvation," he said, quoting a report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO). Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, with at least 2,720 Palestinians killed since then. Concerns over Gaza's humanitarian crisis have deepened following Israel's recent declaration that it plans to intensify its ongoing military campaign. Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, noted that nearly half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. He urged Israel to uphold international humanitarian law and lift the blockade to allow unhindered access to food, medicine and other critical supplies.
