Latest news with #JamesMackenzie
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gaza aid supplies hit by looting as Hamas ceasefire response awaited
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Armed men hijacked dozens of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip overnight and hundreds of desperate Palestinians joined in to take supplies, local aid groups said on Saturday as officials waited for Hamas to respond to the latest ceasefire proposals. The incident was the latest in a series that has underscored the shaky security situation hampering the delivery of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close but Hamas has said it is still studying the latest proposals from his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the proposals. The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. On Saturday, the Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site. The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis. Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created. The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war began 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month. Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the World Food Programme and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting. At the same time, a separate system, run by a U.S.-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites. However, aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine. "The aid that's being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main U.N. relief organization for Palestinians, said in a message on the social media platform X. NO BREAD IN WEEKS The World Food Programme said it brought 77 trucks carrying flour into Gaza overnight and early on Saturday and all of them were stopped on the way, with food taken by hungry people. "After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by," it said in a statement. Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said the dire situation was being exploited by armed groups which were attacking some of the aid convoys. He said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a "systematic policy of starvation". Overnight on Saturday, he said trucks had been stopped by armed groups near Khan Younis as they were headed towards a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and hundreds of desperate people had carried off supplies. "We could understand that some are driven by hunger and starvation, some may not have eaten bread in several weeks, but we can't understand armed looting, and it is not acceptable at all," he said. Israel says it is facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centres and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza. Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza, which it had been running since 2007. The Palestinian militant group denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters. U.N. officials say they have seen no evidence that the group has been stealing supplies since the latest deliveries began to arrive. Israel began its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza. The campaign has laid waste large areas of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying or damaging most of its buildings, leaving most of the population in makeshift shelters. (Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Daily Maverick
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Deadly break in at UN warehouse as aid trickles into Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi, James Mackenzie and Michelle Nichols The World Food Programme said initial reports were that two people had died and several more were injured at the central Gaza warehouse. The U.N. agency appealed for an immediate scale-up of food aid 'to reassure people that they will not starve.' Eyewitness video independently verified by Reuters shows large crowds of people pushing into the warehouse and removing bags and boxes as gunfire can be heard. It was not immediately clear how the people may have been killed or injured in the incident. Under growing international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week long aid blockade on Gaza 10 days ago. It has allowed a limited amount of relief to be delivered via two avenues – the United Nations or the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. U.N. Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag told the Security Council that the amount of aid Israel had so far allowed the U.N. to deliver was 'comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk' when everyone in Gaza was facing the risk of famine. The United States has been trying to broker a ceasefire. Israel – which resumed its military operation in Gaza in March after a brief truce – continued strikes on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, Palestinian health officials said. 'We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today,' U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Wednesday. 'The president is going to review it.' The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. UN VS GHF Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel's killing of Hamas Gaza chief Mohammad Sinwar marked a turn towards the 'complete defeat of Hamas', adding that Israel was 'taking control of food distribution' in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid. At the United Nations, more than half the Security Council called on Wednesday for the 15-member body to act on Gaza. Slovenia's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar said some members are working on a draft resolution to demand unimpeded aid access. 'Remaining silent is not an option,' he told the council. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that Israel would allow aid deliveries 'for the immediate future' via both the U.N. and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began aid deliveries on Monday. However, Israel ultimately wants the U.N. to work through the GHF, which is using private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites. 'The U.N. should put their ego aside and cooperate with the new mechanism,' Danon told reporters before the council meeting. The U.N. and other international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say the plan is not neutral. 'This new scheme is surveillance-based rationing that legitimizes a policy of deprivation by design,' senior U.N. aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, Jonathan Whittall, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday. 'The U.N. has refused to participate in this scheme, warning that it is logistically unworkable and violates humanitarian principles by using aid as a tool in Israel's broader efforts to depopulate areas of Gaza,' he said. WARNING SHOTS The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, told Reuters it was 'sad and disgusting' that the U.N. and other groups would not work with the GHF, describing the foundation's aid distribution as 'effective so far.' The Israeli military on Tuesday said it fired warning shots in the area outside a GHF distribution site, which was briefly rushed by people waiting for aid. Footage shared on social media showed fences broken down by crowds as private security contractors fell back before restoring order. 'I am a big man, but I couldn't hold back my tears when I saw the images of women, men and children racing for some food,' said Rabah Rezik, 65, a father of seven from Gaza City. The United Nations human rights office said on Wednesday that 47 people had been injured on Tuesday while seeking aid from the GHF, citing information from partners on the ground. It could not give a specific location of where people were injured. The GHF said no one was injured at the distribution site. The foundation said aid distribution continued on Wednesday without incident as it opened a second distribution hub. Across the two sites it has so far given out the equivalent of 840,262 meals. The GHF said it is working to open four sites and expand further in Gaza in the weeks ahead. The United Nations said that since aid deliveries resumed last week Israel had approved about 800 truckloads of relief. But U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that fewer than 500 truckloads had made it to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, 'where we and our partners could collect just over 200 of them – limited by insecurity and restricted access.' Israel is under pressure over Gaza's dire humanitarian situation. France, Britain, Canada and Germany have said they may take action if the military campaign is not halted. Italy on Wednesday said the offensive had become unacceptable.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Israeli government hits back as international pressure over Gaza mounts
By James Mackenzie JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government hit back at growing international pressure over the war in Gaza on Wednesday, amid deepening signs of division over the war at home, 600 days after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. On Wednesday, Italy joined a growing list of European countries that have traditionally held back from criticizing Israel in demanding an end to the war, after Germany stepped up its language against the Israeli campaign earlier in the week. Netanyahu said last week that similar criticisms from France, Britain and Canada were "emboldening" Hamas and said the leaders of the three countries were "on the wrong side of history". Speaking at a conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was living through a time "when the ancient desire to eliminate the Jewish people has become stronger". "The new antisemitism targets the state of Israel," he said. "It uses demonization, delegitimization and double standards." He said organizations like the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, as well as calls to impose an arms embargo on Israel, undermined the country's ability to defend itself. "Removing Israel's right and ability to defend itself can only mean one thing. A second Holocaust," he said. European countries have generally said explicitly that Israel has the right to defend itself. But there has been increasing shock at the scale of the destruction in Gaza, the deadliest episode in decades of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Hamas-led attack killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza on the deadliest day for Israel since its foundation in 1948. Its campaign in response has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, more than in any other of the countless rounds of war between the two sides. Netanyahu has drawn direct links between criticism coming from Europe and a surge in incidents of antisemitism which he said was part of a war of "civilization against barbarism" unleashed by the war in Gaza. 'COMPLETE VICTORY' As Israelis marked the 600th day of the war, the chorus of international voices has echoed sharpening divisions within Israel itself, as the early unity forged by the trauma of October 7 has weakened and efforts to reach a ceasefire have faltered. Facing a debate in parliament, Netanyahu accused the opposition of hypocrisy after it said his government had completely failed to achieve its war goals. He said he would continue until complete victory over Hamas. He has dismissed charges that Israel was deliberately causing starvation in Gaza, where it imposed an 11-week blockade that was only relaxed last week after mounting pressure from close allies. However even the United States, Israel's most important ally, has appeared to be shifting, with President Donald Trump pressing for an end to the war and saying Palestinians in the enclave were starving and should be helped. Opinion polls have consistently shown a majority favouring an agreement to bring back the 58 hostages still held in Gaza. Families and supporters of the hostages have staged regular protests demanding a deal. "The return of the hostages is Israel's security. Most of the public knows this and is asking you for a decision," said Ofri Bibas, sister of released hostage Yarden Bibas, at a rally in Tel Aviv for the 600 days landmark. "You are failing in your refusal to do the one thing that will bring them all back -- declare an end to the war." However, Netanyahu has continued to enjoy the support of hardliners in his government who have spoken in favour of reoccupying Gaza and driving out the Palestinian population. A poll reported in the left-wing Haaretz newspaper this week found 82% of those surveyed supporting expelling Palestinians from Gaza, with 56% favouring expelling Palestinian citizens of Israel. The same survey, based on a sample of 1,005 Jewish Israelis, found nearly 47% believed that all residents of a conquered enemy city should be killed in a manner similar to what the Bible says the ancient Israelites did when they conquered Jericho under the leadership of their leader Joshua.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Food trucks in Gaza raided, underscoring aid distribution problems
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.N. trucks delivering food to Gaza were stopped and looted overnight, Gaza residents and merchants said on Wednesday, hours after desperate Palestinians overran a distribution site run by a U.S.-backed group trying to start delivering aid. The incidents underscore the problems getting supplies to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians facing worsening hunger and starvation after a weeks-long Israeli blockade. On Tuesday, Israeli troops fired warning shots as crowds rushed to a distribution point run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed group that began supplying aid under a new system which Israel hopes will prevent aid reaching Hamas. The United Nations and other international aid groups have refused to take part, saying the scheme violates the principle that aid should be distributed neutrally, based only on need. As the new system began, the Israeli military also allowed 95 trucks belonging to the U.N. and other aid groups into the enclave, but three Gaza residents and three merchants said a number of trucks were targeted by looters. One Palestinian transport operator said at least 20 trucks belonging to the U.N. World Food Programme were attacked shortly before midnight. "Some trucks made it through, then it seems that people became aware of that," one witness told Reuters via a chat app, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "They woke up, some placed barriers on the road intercepted and stole the goods." Israeli forces, which resumed their operation in Gaza in March following a brief truce, continued strikes on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people including eight members of the family of a local journalist, Palestinian health officials said. SCREENING To qualify for aid under the new system, people seeking food are supposed to undergo screening to ensure they are not linked to Hamas, a measure that has heightened Palestinian suspicion of the operation. But witnesses on Tuesday said that no effective identification process seemed to be in place. "What we saw yesterday was a very clear example of the dangers of distributing food," said Ajith Sunghay, Head of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "We are exposing people to death and injury," he told reporters in Geneva, adding that 47 people had been wounded by gunfire as the chaos unfolded. Footage shared on social media showed fences broken down by crowds trying to reach crates of supplies as private security contractors operating the site fell back. "I am a big man, but I couldn't hold back my tears when I saw the images of women, men, and children racing for some food," said Rabah Rezik, 65, a father of seven from Gaza City. Israel imposed the blockade on aid supplies in March, accusing Hamas of seizing supplies meant for civilians, a charge Hamas denies. U.N. officials say they have seen no evidence that the militant group has been looting trucks since Israel eased the blockade this month under mounting international pressure. However, Hamas has told people in Gaza not to go to the four distribution points in southern Gaza set up for the new system. It denied accusations from Israel that it was blocking access to the sites. INCREASING PRESSURE The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called it "sad and disgusting" that the United Nations and other groups were not taking part in the new system to distribute aid. "There were lines of people that got food which was not stolen by Hamas. The manner in which it was distributed is effective so far," he told Reuters. Israel has faced increasing pressure over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, even from countries long reluctant to voice strong criticism. France, Britain and Germany have said they may take action if the military campaign is not halted. On Wednesday, Italy also said the offensive had become unacceptable and must stop immediately. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. Its assault has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and reduced much of the crowded coastal enclave to rubble, with the population of more than 2 million now squeezed into narrow areas on the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis. (Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Japan Today
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of 'emboldening' Hamas
By James Mackenzie Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help the Palestinian militant group Hamas after they threatened to take "concrete action" if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza. The criticism, echoing similar remarks from Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday, was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza. "You're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history," Netanyahu said. The Israeli leader, facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, has regularly criticized European countries as well as global institutions from the United Nations to the International Court of Justice over what he says is their bias against Israel. But as the flow of images of destruction and hunger in Gaza has continued, fuelling protests in countries around the world, Israel has struggled to turn international opinion, which has increasingly shifted against it. "It's hard to convince at least some people, definitely on the far left in the U.S. and in some countries in Europe, that what Israel is doing is a war of defense," said former Israeli diplomat Yaki Dayan. "But this is how it is perceived in Israel and bridging this gap is sometimes an impossible mission," he said. Israeli officials have been particularly concerned about growing calls for other countries in Europe to follow the example of Spain and Ireland in recognizing a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to resolve decades of conflict in the region. Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel and he has framed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington on Tuesday by a man who allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" as a clear example of that threat. He said "exactly the same chant" was heard during the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023. "They don't want a Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state," he said in a statement on the social media platform X. "I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others," he said, adding that any moves by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state would "reward these murderers with the ultimate prize". Instead of advancing peace, the three leaders were "emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever", he said. AID BLOCKADE The Israeli leader, whose government depends on far-right support, said Hamas, which issued a statement welcoming the move, had thanked French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canada's Mark Carney over what he said was their demand for an immediate end to the war. The leaders' statement on Monday did not demand an immediate end to the war, but a halt to Israel's new military offensive on Gaza and a lifting of its restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel had prevented aid from entering Gaza since March, before relaxing its blockade this week. "By issuing their demand – replete with a threat of sanctions against Israel, against Israel, not Hamas – these three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power," Netanyahu said. "And they give them hope to establish a second Palestinian state from which Hamas will again seek to destroy the Jewish state." French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France, which like Britain and Canada designates Hamas as a terrorist organization, was "unwaveringly committed to Israel's security" but he said it was "absurd and slanderous" to accuse supporters of a two-state solution of encouraging antisemitism or Hamas. French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said France did not accept Netanyahu's accusations, adding: "We need to de-escalate this rising tension between our two states and work to find lasting peace solutions, for Israel and for Palestine." Asked about Netanyahu's remarks, Britain's armed forces minister Luke Pollard said London stood with Israel in their right to self-defence. "But that self-defence must be conducted within the bounds of international humanitarian law," he said. "At this moment, we stand fast against terrorism, but we also want to make sure that the aid is getting into Gaza," Pollard told Times Radio. Israel's offensive in Gaza was launched in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attack, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken as hostage into Gaza. It has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians and devastated the enclave, where wide areas have been reduced to rubble. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
