Latest news with #IsraeliGovernment
Arab News
20 minutes ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Food situation in Gaza ‘absolutely desperate,' charity warns
LONDON: Rachael Cummings, the humanitarian director for Save the Children, described the food situation in Gaza as 'absolutely desperate' and 'the worst it has ever been.' She spoke to Sky News from Deir Al-Balah on Tuesday, a city in central Gaza where Israeli forces launched a bombing campaign this week and where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. 'One of my colleagues said to me yesterday: 'We are all walking together towards death'. And this is the situation now for people in Gaza. 'There is no food for their children; it's absolutely desperate here,' she said during the video call. Markets in the territory are devoid of goods, she added, and people with cash are unable to find bread or vegetables to buy. 'My team have said to me: 'There's nothing in my house to feed my children, my children are crying all day, every day'.' Cummings' remarks came as the UK, along with 24 other nations, issued a joint statement on Monday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and criticizing the US-Israeli model of aid distribution. In recent weeks, hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while attempting to obtain food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial organization supported by the US and Israel. 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the joint statement said. The 25 countries also called for the 'immediate and unconditional release' of hostages captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks. Sources informed Reuters that Israel suspects some hostages taken by the armed group may be located near Deir Al-Balah. Meanwhile, several humanitarian organizations, including UNRWA and the Norwegian Refugee Council, have also warned that some of their staff are starving due to low food and drinking water supplies in the territory. Since Sunday, 21 children have died in Gaza due to severe malnutrition and hunger-related complications, amid shortages of food and medical supplies. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy pledged £40 million ($54 million) for humanitarian assistance in Gaza on Tuesday. Charity staffer Liz Allcock, who works for Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza, welcomed the announcement, but told Sky News: 'There have been (similar) statements in the past 21 months and nothing has changed. In fact, things have only got worse. And every time we think it can't get worse, it does. 'Without a reversal of the siege, the lack of supplies, the constant bombardment, the forced displacement, the killing and the militarization of aid, we are going to collapse as a humanitarian response,' she said. 'And this would do a grave injustice to the 2.2 million people we're trying to serve.'
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
UAE condemns Israeli plan to seize control of Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron
The UAE has strongly condemned plans by the Israeli government to seize control of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron city, in the occupied West Bank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move to transfer control from Palestinian authorities to the Jewish Religious Council in the Kiryat Arba settlement represented a 'grave violation' of the mosque's historic and legal status. The ministry emphasised the importance of respecting the status quo of holy sites and called for an immediate halt to all 'unilateral and provocative actions that risk destabilising the occupied Palestinian territories and undermining international efforts towards de-escalation'. Israeli media reported this week that the directive would be undertaken by the Israeli Civil Administration, which operates under the Ministry of Defence and governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Ibrahimi Mosque is currently under the authority and administration of the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and the Hebron Municipality. The mosque is one of the most revered sites in both Judaism and Islam. It was designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2017, while also being placed on a list of sites considered in danger by the UN cultural body. The Permanent Delegation of the State of Palestine to Unesco on Wednesday described the Israeli plan as 'dangerous and illegal'. The UAE has called on the international community to uphold its responsibilities in safeguarding holy sites and preserving their religious and historical status. The ministry underlined the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East and end illegal practices that undermine the two-state solution.
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
UAE condemns Israeli plan to control Ibrahimi mosque in 'violation of historical status quo'
UAE has strongly condemned and denounced the Israeli plan to transfer the administration and supervision of the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and the Hebron Municipality to the Jewish Religious Council in the Kiryat Arba settlement. This move constitutes a serious violation of the historical and legal status quo at the Ibrahimi Mosque. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of respecting the status quo at holy sites and the need to halt all unilateral and provocative practices that would destabilise the occupied Palestinian territories and undermine international efforts to achieve calm. The UAE called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in protecting holy sites and ensuring that their religious and historical status is not undermined. The UAE also stressed the importance of supporting all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East and put an end to illegal practices that threaten the achievement of a two-state solution.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Could Trump be persuaded to save Palestinians in Gaza?
It seems paradoxical to look to Donald Trump to save the Palestinians, yet no recent American president has been better placed to insist that the Israeli government stop its extraordinary repression and brutality. Trump so far has largely given Israel carte blanche to continue its genocide in Gaza, but Benjamin Netanyahu would be remiss to count on the fickle and self-serving American president. And there may be a way to turn Trump around. Most US presidents have stuck with the Israeli government regardless of its atrocities because the political fallout of deviating was too high. Any pressure on Israel would be sure to trigger outrage from Christian evangelicals (Israel's largest group of supporters in the US) and the conservative segment of American Jews represented by the lobbying group Aipac. Trump is less susceptible to such pressure because there is no major political figure to his right. Israel's supporters can complain, but they have no place to turn. Trump has already used that latitude to differ from the Israeli prime minister on a range of issues. He lifted sanctions on the interim Syrian authorities when Netanyahu preferred a crippled neighbor. He struck a deal with Houthi forces in Yemen to stop attacking shipping without insisting on an end to attacks on Israel. He authorized direct negotiations with Hamas, which Netanyahu considered anathema, and initially pursued negotiations with Iran while Netanyahu preferred immediate bombing. He visited the Arab Gulf states without stopping in Israel. And he put pressure on Netanyahu twice to agree to temporary ceasefires in Gaza. In other respects, Trump has supported the Netanyahu government. He authorized renewed delivery of the 2,000-pound bombs that Joe Biden had suspended because Israel was using them to decimate Palestinian neighborhoods. He vetoed a UN security council call for an unconditional ceasefire. He imposed sanctions on the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor for charging Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant with the war crime of starving and depriving Palestinian civilians. He also sanctioned two ICC judges for affirming the charges, and a UN special rapporteur for accurately reporting on and denouncing Israel's genocide. But Netanyahu could find it perilous to count on Trump. Despite the periodic shows of mutual support, there seems to be no love lost between the two men. Moreover, Trump's mood changes with the weather. He can turn on a dime with barely a blush. His loyalty is foremost to himself. His only lodestar is his political or financial self-interest. There are plenty of reasons for the transactional Trump to sour on Netanyahu. While Trump bellyaches about the funds spent to defend Ukraine's democracy from Vladimir Putin's invasion, the US government has sent more than $22bn to Israel to sustain its war in Gaza, with no end in sight (more than $300bn since Israel's founding in 1948). Netanyahu seems to treat an open spigot from Washington as an entitlement, but Trump can easily develop an allergy to such enormous expenditures. Then there is Trump's ego. Netanyahu's pronouncement during his White House visit this month that he had nominated Trump for a Nobel peace prize was cringe-worthy in its pandering, especially from a man whose willingness to relentlessly kill Palestinian civilians as a vehicle to retain power and avoid pending corruption charges is the main obstacle to a ceasefire. But Trump seems genuinely to want a Nobel peace prize. That won't happen by underwriting the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, which Trump initially proposed and Netanyahu's far-right ministers, who are capable of collapsing his governing coalition, are demanding. Nor will it come from sequestering Palestinians in a 'concentration camp', as former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert describes the proposal of the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, to confine Palestinians on the ruins of a corner of Gaza. Trump would deserve accolades for truly ending the conflict and enabling the rebuilding of Gaza. But the conflict is unlikely to truly end, and the Gulf Arab states will be reluctant to pony up the billions needed for reconstruction, for a mere return to the apartheid that Israel has imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territory. A Nobel-worthy end to the conflict would be a Palestinian state living side-by-side with an Israeli one. Netanyahu has devoted his career to avoiding that possibility. The massive settlement enterprise is designed to preclude it. But because none of the alternatives – mass expulsion, endless apartheid or equal rights in a single state – is morally or politically viable, a Palestinian state is the best option. It is difficult to imagine Trump pushing for a Palestinian state. He has appointed an ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, whose vision for a state is to put it anywhere but in Palestine. But if Trump's quest for accolades, his bid for the history books, takes priority in his mind, which is entirely possible, we should not discount this turn of events. Trump turned on Putin last week when he proclaimed: 'We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' That describes Netanyahu to a T. Why does Trump let Netanyahu keep playing him the way Putin did? How can Trump proclaim himself the Master Negotiator when he can't manage to use his enormous leverage over Netanyahu to get him to stop bombing and starving Palestinian civilians? Is Trump not sophisticated enough to move from real-estate deals to international negotiations? I'm sure that Trump would hate to be asked these questions. The sycophants around him won't. Others can and should. Trump's fragile ego, his insatiable need for praise, may be the Palestinians' best chance of turning him in a constructive direction. Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. His book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, was published by Knopf and Allen Lane in February
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Is Israel using the Druze to expand its hegemony in the Middle East?
Is Israel using the Druze to expand its hegemony in the Middle East? NewsFeed Israel claims it has attacked Syria to protect its Druze minority, but analysts say its primary goal is to 'divide and weaken' the country while expanding its hegemony in the Middle East. Video Duration 00 minutes 34 seconds 00:34 Video Duration 02 minutes 45 seconds 02:45 Video Duration 02 minutes 49 seconds 02:49 Video Duration 01 minutes 03 seconds 01:03 Video Duration 01 minutes 10 seconds 01:10 Video Duration 00 minutes 33 seconds 00:33 Video Duration 02 minutes 20 seconds 02:20
