Latest news with #NidalAl-Mughrabi
Ya Libnan
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Gaza still waiting for aid as pressure mounts on Israel
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie No aid has reached people in Gaza, a U.N. aid official said on Wednesday, two days after the Israeli government said it had lifted an 11-week-old blockade that has brought the Palestinian enclave to the brink of famine. The Israeli military said five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday and 93 on Tuesday but supplies have not made it to Gaza's soup kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals, according to aid officials and local bakeries that were standing by to receive supplies of flour. 'None of this aid – that is a very limited number of trucks – has reached the Gaza population,' said Antoine Renard, country director of the World Food Programme (WFP), who said the trucks appeared to be stopped in Kerem Shalom, the sprawling logistics hub at the south-eastern corner of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade has left Gazans in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival , despite growing international and domestic pressure on Israel's government, which one opposition figure said risked turning the country into a 'pariah state'. 'There is no flour, no food, no water,' said Sabah Warsh Agha, a 67-year-old woman from the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya sheltering in a cluster of tents near to the beach in Gaza City. 'We used to get water from the pump, now the pump has stopped working. There is no diesel or gas.' Abdel-Nasser Al-Ajramy, the head of the bakery owners' society, said at least 25 bakeries that were told they would receive flour from the WFP had seen nothing and there was no relief from the hunger for people waiting for food. 'I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person,' said Mahmoud al-Haw, who waits in panicked crowds for up to six hours a day hoping for some lentil soup to keep his children alive. Israel imposed the blockade in March, saying Hamas was seizing supplies meant for civilians – a charge the militants deny – and a new U.S.-backed system, using private contractors, is due to begin aid distribution in the near future. As people waited, air strikes and tank fire killed at least 34 people across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities said. The Israeli military said air strikes hit 115 targets, which it said included rocket launchers, tunnels and unspecified military infrastructure. The resumption of the assault on Gaza since March, following a two-month ceasefire, has drawn condemnation from countries that have long been cautious about expressing open criticism of Israel. Even the United States, the country's most important ally, has shown signs of losing patience with Netanyahu. UK SUSPENDS TRADE TALKS WITH ISRAEL Britain has suspended talks with Israel on a free trade deal, and the European Union said it will review a pact on political and economic ties over the ' catastrophic situation' in Gaza. Britain, France and Canada have threatened 'concrete actions' if Israel continues its offensive. 'PARIAH STATE' Within Israel, left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan drew a furious response from the government and its supporters this week when he declared that 'A sane country doesn't kill babies as a hobby' and said Israel risked becoming a 'pariah state among the nations.' Golan, a former deputy commander of the Israeli military who went single-handedly to rescue victims of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, leads an Israeli party . But his words, and similar comments by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an interview with the BBC, underscored the deepening unease in Israel at the continuation of the war while 58 hostages remain in Gaza. Netanyahu dismissed the criticism. 'I heard Olmert and Yair Golan – and it's shocking,' he said in a videoed statement. 'While IDF soldiers are fighting Hamas, there are those who are strengthening the false propaganda against the State of Israel.' Opinion polls show widespread support for a ceasefire that would include the return of all the hostages, with a survey from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this week showing 70% in favour of a deal. But hardliners in the cabinet, some of whom argue for the complete expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza, have insisted on continuing the war until 'final victory', which would include disarming Hamas as well as the return of the hostages. As some trucks left the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom, a small group of Israeli protestors angry that any supplies were being let into Gaza while hostages were still held there tried to block them. Gaza children slowly dying Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Father of four Mahmoud al-Haw and other Palestinians crowd around a soup kitchen in war-ravaged Gaza , surging forward and frantically waving pots. Small children, squashed at the front, are in tears. One of them holds up a plastic basin hoping for some ladles of soup. Haw pushes forward in the scrum until he receives his share. Haw does this every day because he fears his children are starving. He sets out through the ruins of Jabalia in northern Gaza in search of food, waiting in panicked crowds for up to six hours to get barely enough to feed his family. Some days he gets lucky and can find lentil soup. Other days he returns empty-handed. 'I have a sick daughter. I can't provide her with anything. There is no bread, there is nothing,' said Haw, 39. 'I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person.' Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March, prompting international experts to warn of looming famine in the besieged enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Some trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, after Israel agreed to allow limited humanitarian deliveries to resume following mounting international pressure. But by Tuesday night, the United Nations said no aid had been distributed. Netanyahu, trailing in the opinion polls and facing trial at home on corruption charges which he denies as well as an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court has so far sided with the hardliners. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on Oct 7, which killed some 1,139 people by Israeli tallies and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. The campaign has killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip, where aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread. Reuters
Ya Libnan
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Trump says ‘people in Gaza are starving': Deadliest Israeli strikes since ceasefire collapsed
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they fled their homes, after Israeli air strikes, in the northern Gaza Strip May 16, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie Highlights CAIRO/JERUSALEM – Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 250 people since Thursday morning, local health authorities said on Friday, one of the deadliest phases of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March, with a new ground offensive expected soon. U.S. President Donald Trump , who ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire as Israel steps up its military campaign, acknowledged Gaza's growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries. Just before midnight on Friday, the Israeli military said that during the last day forces began launching extensive strikes and transferring forces to seize control over areas within the Gaza Strip. It said the escalation was part of the initial stages of what it said was 'Operation Gideon's Wagons' to expand the battle in the enclave 'with the aim of achieving all the war's objectives, including the liberation of the kidnapped soldiers and the defeat of Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 5 that Israel was planning an expanded, intensive offensive against Hamas as his security cabinet approved plans that could involve seizing the entire Gaza Strip and controlling aid. An Israeli defence official said at the time that the operation would not be launched before Trump concluded his visit to the Middle East, which was expected to end on Friday. Israel's declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,139 people and seizing about 250 hostages. Its military campaign has devastated the enclave, pushing nearly all inhabitants from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people , according to Gaza health authorities, while aid agencies say its blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis. Heavy strikes were reported on Friday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya and in the Jabalia refugee camp, where Palestinian emergency services said many bodies were still buried in the rubble. Israel dropped leaflets on Beit Lahiya ordering all residents to leave, whether they lived in tents, shelters or buildings. 'Leave southwards immediately,' the leaflets read. Residents said Israeli tanks were advancing towards the southern city of Khan Younis. Israel's military said its air force had struck more than 150 military targets across Gaza. STRIKES In Jabalia, men picked through a sea of rubble following the night's strikes, pulling out sheets of metal as small children clambered through the debris. Around 10 bodies draped in white sheets were lined up on the ground to be taken to hospital. Women sat crying and one lifted a corner of a sheet to gaze at the dead person's face. 'Where should I go today? To west Gaza? There's bombing in west Gaza. To the south? They're killing people in Khan Younis. To Deir al-Balah? There is bombing. Me, my children and my family, where should we go?' said Fadi Tamboura, sitting crying next to a crater left by an overnight strike. Ismail, a man from Gaza City who gave only his first name, described a night of horror. 'The non-stop explosions resulting from the airstrikes and tank shelling reminded us of the early days of the war. The ground didn't stop shaking underneath our feet,' Ismail told Reuters via a chat app. 'We thought Trump arrived to save us, but it seems Netanyahu doesn't care, neither does Trump.' Israel has faced increasing international isolation over its campaign in Gaza, with even the United States, its staunchest ally, expressing unease over the scale of the destruction and the dire situation caused by its blockade on deliveries of food and other vital aid. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was 'troubled' by the humanitarian situation. Netanyahu has dispatched a team to Doha to take part in ceasefire talks with Qatari mediators, but he has ruled out concessions, saying Israel remains committed to defeating Hamas. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some of the families and supporters of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, said Israel risked missing a 'historic opportunity' to bring them home as Trump wound up his visit to the Middle East. 'We are in dramatic hours that will determine the future of our loved ones, the future of Israeli society, and the future of the Middle East,' the group said in a statement. Reuters
Reuters
18-03-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Israel-Hamas Live Updates: Israeli air strikes across Gaza, more than 200 reported killed
LIVE Summary Israeli air strikes hit dozens of targets in Gaza Palestinian authorities say at least 250 killed Israel says Hamas refused to release hostages Hamas says Israel has overturned the ceasefire deal Read our full roundup here Piles of bodies 18 minutes ago 02:32 EDT Nidal Al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie In hospitals strained by bombardment since the latest outbreak of hostilities in October 2023, piles of bodies in white plastic sheets smeared with blood could be seen stacked up as casualties were brought in. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams dealt with 86 killed and 134 wounded, but others were brought to overwhelmed hospitals by private cars. Officials from Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip and Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza Citysaid that altogether they had received around 85 dead. Authorities also reported separately that 16 members of one family in Rafah, in southern Gaza had been killed. A spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said the death toll was at least 200. Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 200, Palestinian health authorities say Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least 200 people, Palestinian health authorities said, as attacks hit dozens of targets early on Tuesday. The attacks ended a weeks-long standoff over extending a ceasefire that halted fighting in January. The Palestinian militant group Hamas issued a statement accusing Israel of breaching the ceasefire. Strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian health ministry officials said many of the dead were children. The Israeli military, which said it hit dozens of targets, said the strikes would continue for as long as necessary and would extend beyond air strikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting.
Ya Libnan
28-01-2025
- General
- Ya Libnan
Palestinians head back to their destroyed homes in northern Gaza
Palestinians wait to head back to their homes in northern Gaza by vehicle through Salahudeen Road in the central Gaza Strip, January 27. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday, jubilant to be returning home after months of living in temporary shelter but fearing what might remain of their homes amid the bombed-out ruins. Their return, which had been delayed at the weekend, went ahead after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages this week and Israeli forces began to withdraw from a main corridor across the enclave under terms of an agreement on a ceasefire in the 15-month-long war. In Israel, families of hostages waited anxiously for news of their loved ones. Along a road running by Gaza's Mediterranean shore, a mass of people, some holding infants in their arms or carrying bundles of belongings on their shoulders, trekked north on foot. 'It's like I was born again and we were victorious again,' said a Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the miles-long throng that moved slowly up the coastal road. Witnesses said the first residents arrived in Gaza City in the early morning after the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT). Another crossing opened around three hours later, letting in vehicles. 'My heart is beating. I thought I would never come back,' said Osama, 50, a public servant and father of five, as he arrived in Gaza City. 'Whether the ceasefire succeeds or not, we will never leave Gaza City and the north again, even if Israel would sent a tank for each one of us. No more displacement.' Families repeatedly displaced after over 15 months of war erupted in cheers at shelters and tent encampments when they heard the crossings would be opened. 'No sleep, I have everything packed and ready to go with the first light of day,' said Ghada, a mother of five. 'At least we are going back home, now I can say war is over and I hope it will stay calm,' she told Reuters via a chat app. Children in warm jackets and carrying backpacks walked hand in hand. Men pushed the elderly in wheelchairs and families posed for photos as Hamas-hired officials in red vests directed them along the road. Despite the ceasefire agreement, Palestinian hospital officials said a bulldozer driver was killed by an Israeli missile along the coastal road west of Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip. There was no immediate Israeli comment. The Israeli military said in a statement it 'precisely' operated against suspects who posed a threat to troops operating in the Gaza Strip. 'Moreover, in central Gaza, an IDF aircraft fired to distance a number of suspicious vehicles that were moving northward in an area that is not authorized for passage according to the agreement, and without inspection, in violation of the terms of the agreement,' it added. DESTRUCTION Around 650,000 Palestinians were displaced from northern Gaza during the war, which was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel in which 1,139 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 47,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry Later on Monday, Gaza's Hamas authorities said more than 300,000 people had crossed into Gaza City and the north edge of the enclave. Many of those displaced have had to move several times as Israel designated parts of Gaza as humanitarian zones and then cleared them out before mounting bombardments and ground operations. Much of Gaza now lies in ruins. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said returnees to the north need at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they try to reestablish their lives in the rubble-strewn landscape of their former homes. HOPE AND DREAD Under terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were to return at the weekend. But Israel said Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud and kept its forces in the Netzarim corridor that cuts across the enclave south of Gaza City. Late on Sunday, Qatari mediators resolved the dispute after Hamas agreed to release Yehud, along with female soldier Agam Berger and another hostage on Thursday, before the next scheduled release of three more hostages on Saturday. Israel then gave the green light for a return to north Gaza from Monday morning. The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas, published a video on Monday showing Yehud alive. Hamas has also provided a list of all hostages to be released during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, stating their condition. On Monday, a Hamas official told Reuters the group had handed over to mediators a list that showed that 25 of 33 hostages scheduled for release in the first phase are alive. The figure of 25 included the seven hostages released since the truce began on Jan. 19. Israel has confirmed the Hamas figures in the list – 25 are alive but eight were killed by Hamas, an Israeli government spokesman said. The identities of who was dead and who was alive was not immediately confirmed, keeping families in a state of hope and dread. Israeli authorities have previously said there are grave concerns about the lives of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, aged 4 years and 10 months when they were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her sister-in-law Ofri Bibas said the past few weeks have been agonizing for the family. Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, is also hostage in Gaza but was taken separately from his family. 'We are waiting, amid a sea of rumors,' Ofri Bibas told Israel's Public Broadcaster Kan. 'We have no certainty and we are still clutching on to hope, hoping to see them here, together with Yarden.' (Reuters)
