Latest news with #NebalFarsakh
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Forced starvation deaths climb to 111 in Gaza, including at least 80 children
A Palestinian man carries the body of a child killed in an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, at the site of the strike, in Gaza City on July 23, 2025. — Reuter Listen to article At least 10 Palestinians have died from forced starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza to 111, including at least 80 children, according to the territory's health ministry. More than 100 international humanitarian organisations have issued an urgent appeal for governments to immediately open all land crossings into Gaza and restore access to essential supplies including food, clean water, medical aid, shelter materials and fuel. Almost 101 people died because of #starvation, including 80 children' Palestine Red Crescent Society Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh warns 'situation only getting worse' in #Gaza 'Unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe' — PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 22, 2025 The organisations, in a joint statement published by Wafa news agency on Wednesday, also called for a UN-led humanitarian mechanism and an immediate, lasting ceasefire. 'Aid workers are now standing in food lines, risking gunfire, just to feed their families,' the statement said, blaming the Israeli government's continued blockade for the starvation gripping the enclave. Humanitarian agencies have reported a rapid physical deterioration among colleagues and local partners as aid supplies run critically low. Bodies of Palestinians are brought to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an Israeli air raid. Photo: Anadolu Agency Separately, Gaza's Government Media Office confirmed the killing of two more Palestinian journalists, raising the total number of media workers killed since October 2023 to 231. The journalists, identified as Tamer al-Za'anin, a photojournalist affiliated with various outlets, and Walaa al-Jabari, a newspaper editor, were reportedly targeted in Israeli strikes. 'The Government Media Office condemns in the strongest terms the systematic targeting, killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the 'Israeli' occupation,' the office said in a statement on Telegram. A Palestinian boy inspects the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on July 23, 2025. Photo: Reuters Read: Gaza starvation spirals amid Israeli assault Israeli airstrikes kill 21 today At least 21 more Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, targeting the Tuffah neighbourhood, according to hospital sources. Al-Ahli Arab Hospital confirmed receiving bodies of the deceased and treating dozens of wounded. Additional casualties were reported in Khan Younis, Bani Suheila, and central Gaza, including Deir el-Balah. Bodies of Palestinians are brought to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an Israeli air raid. Photo: Anadolu Agency Deir el-Balah, once considered a relatively safe area and a key hub for aid operations, has come under intensified Israeli ground activity. Humanitarian workers said the area is now experiencing renewed displacement orders amid large-scale destruction. The Israeli army withdrew from southern Deir el-Balah after a 24-hour operation that left displaced families without access to aid or shelter. Bodies of Palestinians are brought to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an Israeli air raid [Ali Jadallah/Anadolu] AFP seeks urgent exit for reporters Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has urged Israel to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance journalists from Gaza, describing their conditions as 'appalling' and 'untenable'. 'For months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions deteriorated dramatically,' AFP said in a statement from its Paris headquarters. 'Their situation is now untenable, despite their exemplary courage, professional commitment, and resilience.' Palestinians look on while standing at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on July 23, 2025. Photo: Reuters The AFP journalists' association, SDJ, warned on Monday that its staff in Gaza are facing extreme food shortages and risk starving due to the Israeli blockade. "Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can recall seeing a colleague die of hunger," the association said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Read more: Hamas says no interim truce possible without work toward permanent ceasefire The SDJ said AFP has been working with a team of one freelance reporter, three photographers, and six freelance video journalists in Gaza. One of them, Bashar Taleb, 30, posted on Meta: "I don't have the power to cover media anymore. My body is lean and I no longer have the ability to walk". He added that his older brother collapsed from hunger on Sunday morning. Despite receiving salaries, AFP freelancers in Gaza have reported being unable to find food or being forced to pay exorbitant prices. Israel's war on Gaza The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 58,667 Palestinians, including 17,400 children. More than 139,974 people have been injured, and over 14,222 are missing and presumed dead. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave. A proposed 60-day ceasefire deal includes a pause in hostilities, increased humanitarian aid, and negotiations on the release of captives.
Canada News.Net
6 days ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Pope Leo urges end to 'indiscriminate' use of force in Gaza
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy: Pope Leo has issued a heartfelt appeal for an end to the violence in Gaza, condemning what he described as the "barbarity of war." His urging followed last week's Israeli strike on the only Catholic church in the territory. The attack on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City killed three people and injured several others, including the parish priest. Photos from the site showed damage to the church's roof near its main cross, with its stone facade scorched and windows shattered. Addressing the faithful from Castel Gandolfo after his Angelus prayer, Pope Leo expressed his deep sorrow and named the victims of the strike. "I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population," he said. The pope appealed for "an immediate halt to the barbarity of the war" and for "a peaceful resolution of the conflict." The pope later told journalists, ""We must encourage everyone to leave weapons behind, and to leave behind the money-making that is behind every war.' The pope's remarks come amid mounting concern over civilian casualties in the region and growing calls for restraint from global leaders and humanitarian organizations. Aside from the unprecedented death and destruction that has gripped Gaza for the past year and 9 months, people are now dying of hunger. 101 Palestinians, including eighty children, have died of starvation in recent days Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), a branch of the International Red Cross, said people in the enclave are facing an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" and warned the "situation is only getting worse." "Since the closure of all crossings for more than four months, there has been no food, no clean water, medicine… getting into the Gaza Strip," Farsakh said in a video. "This has resulted to a catastrophe where people are literally starving to death," she said. "More people are being admitted to hospitals with malnutrition, especially among children, pregnant women and elderly," she added.
NZ Herald
21-07-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Violence keeps occurring near Gaza aid sites with Israeli soldiers opening fire on crowds of hungry Palestinians
Since then, thousands of desperate Palestinians have come to its four aid sites early each morning hoping to obtain food. About 700 people have been killed while trying to get aid from those sites, according to data provided last week by the United Nations. Eyewitnesses and Gaza health officials have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of shooting into crowds. The shooting today took place near a border crossing, not outside one of the aid group's new sites, but both episodes highlighted the extreme danger Gaza residents are facing as Israel tries to replace the system for distributing food in the war-torn enclave. Israel has faced widespread international condemnation for restricting aid to the two million people in Gaza, bringing the enclave to the brink of famine. Here is what to know about the situation: What happened this weekend? The Israeli military said that soldiers had fired 'warning shots' after crowds of thousands had gathered in northern Gaza to 'remove an immediate threat posed to them'. It said that the number of reported casualties did not 'align' with its initial review. More than 60 people were killed in the incident near the Zikim crossing between Gaza and Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Mohammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. A field hospital operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society in northern Gaza was flooded with gunshot victims, including two dead and more than 100 wounded, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent Society. The deaths in northern Gaza followed violence near an aid distribution site in Rafah, in the south of the enclave. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops about 915m from an aid site had fired 'warning shots' in the morning, before the hub opened, as people approached them and did not comply with an order to halt. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said there were 'no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today'. But it acknowledged that deadly violence had 'occurred hours before our sites opened'. Though the foundation has told civilians to avoid the sites before they open, many people often head to the locations early, sometimes walking for hours to get there, because food is so scarce in Gaza and the aid runs out quickly. 'This has become my terrifying daily routine,' said Luay Abu Oda, 24, who described in an interview how he had survived the violence yesterday. 'I dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead just to survive. I couldn't even reach for my phone to check the time.' What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? The group, which was conceived by Israel and has diplomatic and financial support from the US, is staffed by American private contractors with Israeli troops positioned nearby as guards. Israeli officials have said that the foundation was established to allow aid delivery that does not benefit Hamas, accusing the group of systematically seizing humanitarian assistance and restricting supplies for ordinary Gaza residents. Human rights organisations say the new foundation's approach flies in the face of internationally established methods to protect people in need. Its 'militarised model, coupled with its close collaboration with Israeli authorities, undermines the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence', 15 rights groups from various countries said in a statement last month. At a United Nations Security Council meeting this month called by Britain, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia to address the alarm about the situation in Gaza, the US defended the new system and accused aid groups that have rejected it of shirking their duty. What happened previously? There have been several deadly incidents at and near the new aid sites. Witnesses have repeatedly reported that Israeli troops have opened fire on people near the new hubs. The Israeli military has said that it had fired 'warning shots' when people approached soldiers. — Earlier in July, at least 20 people died in a stampede near an aid distribution centre, and an Israeli airstrike near a health clinic run by an American aid group killed more than a dozen people, according to Palestinian and aid officials. — In June, more than 100 Palestinians seeking aid were killed by Israeli troops in at least four violent incidents, according to Gaza health officials. Is any other aid getting into Gaza? In a separate aid effort that has also become engulfed in chaos, the UN and other international organisations have been delivering a trickle of food handouts to northern Gaza. Desperate crowds have been ransacking trucks carrying flour and other goods minutes after they enter the enclave, according to witnesses. UN officials say that distribution to warehouses and bakeries inside Gaza has been hampered by the lack of secure routes, and that negligible quantities of food are reaching the people who need it. Tom Fletcher, who leads the UN humanitarian agency, said at the UN Security Council meeting about the dire situation in Gaza that assistance entering the enclave was 'a drop in the ocean of needs' for civilians. 'Gaza's soaring humanitarian needs must be met without drawing people into a firing line,' he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Aaron Boxerman, Ephrat Livni and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad © 2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? Israel-backed aid group blames Hamas for attacking workers; UN warns aid distribution is being militarised
A deadly attack on aid workers in southern Gaza has drawn sharp condemnation from a US- and Israel-backed relief group, which accused Hamas of targeting its Palestinian staff as they travelled to distribute humanitarian aid, reports the New York Times. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began operating in late May, said a bus carrying around two dozen of its workers came under fire on Wednesday night. At least five people were reportedly killed and others wounded, with some possibly taken hostage. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' the group said in a statement. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others.' The group is run by American contractors but is backed by Israeli authorities. It said it held Hamas "fully responsible" for the killing of its "dedicated workers who have been distributing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people." It urged the international community to speak out against the assault. 'Tonight, the world must see this for what it is: an attack on humanity,' the foundation added. The GHF has previously accused Hamas of threatening its staff and obstructing aid delivery. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เทรด CFDs ด้วยเทคโนโลยีเทรดสุดล้ำ และ รวดเร็วกว่า IC Markets สมัคร Undo On Saturday, it reported that it was 'impossible to proceed' with its distribution because of Hamas interference. In turn, Hamas has rejected the accusations and questioned the group's neutrality, calling the foundation 'nothing more than a propaganda front for the Israeli occupation army.' Violence near aid sites has also been reported. Earlier on Wednesday, shootings in central Gaza left several dead and dozens injured, according to health officials and emergency workers. The incidents occurred near a distribution centre run by the GHF. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at potential threats before dawn but denied daytime fire on civilians. The Palestine Red Crescent Society blamed Israeli gunfire for some of the casualties. 'Most victims had injuries from shell fragments, although some also had bullet wounds,' said spokesperson Nebal Farsakh. The actual death toll remains unclear. GHF said its centre was closed at the time of the early morning shooting and it could not confirm what had occurred, but it did reopen later that day. The organisation has asked the media not to confuse its operations with military activity. 'Do not confuse the public by reporting on GHF operations in the same breath as Israeli military operations far removed from distribution sites,' it said. The group's origins have added to the controversy. GHF's close association with Israeli authorities has led to criticism from international humanitarian bodies. The United Nations and others have accused Israel of militarising aid distribution and said the foundation undermines the independence expected of humanitarian groups. Israel has long accused Hamas of looting aid meant for civilians. However, the UN says there is no clear evidence of systematic diversion by the militant group. It has instead pointed to broader lawlessness and the impact of Israel's 80-day aid blockade earlier this year, which led to extreme food shortages and a collapse of basic services. The foundation has vowed to continue working. 'Despite this heinous attack, we will continue our mission to provide critical aid to the people of Gaza,' it said.
The National
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
IDF report into killing of Palestinian medics 'full of lies'
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS), Gaza's civil defence service and the UN's humanitarian agency have rejected the findings of the report which concluded the deaths were caused by "professional failures". Eight PCRS personnel, six civil defence workers and a UN staff member were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by Israeli troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies. READ MORE: Scottish Government to respond to Supreme Court gender ruling in Holyrood statement Israel initially claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire. It also claimed, without evidence, that nine of those killed were Hamas militants. However, video emerged showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with lights flashing and logos visible, as they pulled up to help another ambulance that had earlier come under fire. Israel has now said that a deputy commander of the Golani Brigade will be fired, and claimed the military investigation found the commander, 'due to poor night visibility', assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. The report has been rejected by humanitarian agencies, with the PCRS saying it was "full of lies". Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PRCS, said: 'The report is full of lies. It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.' The PRCS has previously called for an international investigation into the incident. Gaza's civil defence agency, which rescues victims of airstrikes, dismissed the Israeli army report, accusing the military of lying in an attempt to justify targeting the rescue convoys. 'The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,' Mohammed al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told Agence-France Presse on Monday, accusing Israel of seeking to 'circumvent' its obligations under international law. Jonathan Whittall, the UN's humanitarian chief for Gaza, said the investigation did not go far enough. READ MORE: Pope Francis remembered for 'outspoken commitment' to Gaza 'A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place,' he said. 'Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all eroding.' Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of medical workers and the staff of aid agencies and UN organisations in Gaza. In April last year, seven members of the charity World Central Kitchen were killed in a sustained Israeli attack on their clearly marked vehicles. Human rights organisations have long accused the Israeli military of a culture of impunity, with few soldiers ever facing justice. In 2023, fewer than 1% of complaints made against Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories ended in a conviction, according to the latest US state department annual human rights report.
