Latest news with #PNGO
Saba Yemen
7 days ago
- General
- Saba Yemen
Palestinian body warns of severe famine crisis in Gaza Strip
Gaza - Saba: Amjad Al-Shawa, Director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), stated that famine is worsening at an extremely dangerous rate in the Gaza Strip, warning of its catastrophic effects on the lives of children, women, and the elderly. In a press statement on Tuesday, Al-Shawa added that the Israeli enemy is systematically targeting schools, particularly those affiliated with UNRWA, which have served as shelters for displaced Palestinians amid repeated forced evacuation orders imposed by the enemy's military. He pointed out that 90% of UNRWA schools have been targeted, along with government schools, resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands of Palestinians. Entire families have been killed in areas where civilians sought refuge, with the Israeli enemy attacking nearly 300 schools in Gaza since the start of the aggression. Al-Shawa emphasized that the Israeli enemy continues to escalate its killing operations against the Palestinian people, whether through bombardment or the humanitarian catastrophe it has imposed on the residents of Gaza. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
See - Sada Elbalad
23-05-2025
- Health
- See - Sada Elbalad
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Over 100 in Gaza as Hospitals Become Military Targets, Says Palestinian NGO Director
Ahmed Emam Amjad Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), has condemned the ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza, stating that more than 100 people — mostly women and children — have been killed in the past 24 hours as airstrikes intensify across the besieged territory. Speaking in an interview with Alqahera News Channel, Shawa accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting entire families and civilian homes without distinction. 'The occupation is systematically enforcing forced displacement,' he said, adding that Israeli forces now control between 79 and 80 percent of the Gaza Strip. 'Civilians have been pushed into less than 20 percent of the area. Northern Gaza has been entirely transformed into an uninhabitable evacuation zone.' Shawa also warned of an escalating humanitarian catastrophe as hospitals come under direct attack. He cited a recent strike on Al-Awda Hospital, where missile fire ignited fires in fuel and medicine storage facilities, hindering emergency response teams from reaching the site. He also referenced previous Israeli attacks on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. 'These strikes are not only war crimes; they are part of a broader strategy to forcibly evacuate civilians by dismantling the healthcare system,' Shawa said. 'Wounded individuals are left without treatment as hospitals are forced out of service, pushing Gaza's fragile health infrastructure to the brink of collapse.' He called the targeting of the health sector a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and urged the international community to act immediately. 'This is a historic responsibility,' he said, emphasizing the urgency of protecting civilians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. As the bombardment continues, humanitarian agencies warn that Gaza is facing a spiraling crisis with little room left for safe shelter, medicine, or medical care. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
Time of India
06-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
As Israel blocks aid, 'reality in Gaza is indescribable'
After nearly 19 months of war, the people of are running out of ways to cope and are wary of what lies ahead. The Israeli blockade on all humanitarian and commercial supplies is now 2 months old. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now And Israeli bombardments across Gaza continue. "The reality in Gaza is indescribable," told DW by phone from Gaza City. "We live in tragedy, trying to survive without knowing whether we'll make it or not. We may survive, but our souls died a long time ago." Fear of bombing is one issue, he said; finding enough to eat is another. "We are consumed by the daily search for food, storing whatever we can for the coming days," he said. "We eat frugally, and as much as possible." Aid organizations have consistently warned that the risk of malnutrition and hunger is high as bakeries are closed, the cost of basic food items skyrockets and the borders remain shut. Markets are still selling small quantities of vegetables, but these are now unaffordable for most people. Prices have skyrocketed and many Gazans have no more income. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of tomatoes, a staple in Palestinian kitchens, now costs about 30 shekels (€7 or $7.90). This is compared to 1-3 shekels per kilo before the war. And a kilo of sugar goes for over 60 shekels. "Our lives now depend entirely on canned food, with the rare exception of some vegetables," the 44-year-old Qatawi said, adding that cooking is a challenge because of the shortage of gas. "There is no wood to light fires, so we burn whatever we can find: clothes, shoes, anything. This is our daily life." 'No safe place' "Never in Gaza's history were we in such a situation," Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), told DW by phone from Gaza City. "It's a catastrophe" "We have airstrikes, artillery, attacks on tents, on shelters," Shawa said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "There is no safe place. And then everyone is starving. Even, speaking personally, we don't know what to eat. There is almost nothing." Shawa said people felt that they were being pushed deeper and deeper into a corner with no end in sight. "And the worst thing for us as humanitarians is to feel that you are handcuffed, that you have nothing to give," Shawa said. "We do our best to give some hope here and there, but on the other hand we are part of the community and we cannot isolate ourselves from the situation." In addition, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the health care system was "on the brink of collapse, overwhelmed by mass casualties and critically hindered by the full blockade that has cut off essential medicines, vaccines, and medical equipment." The recently announced that it had depleted its food stocks for Gaza and distributed its last remaining supplies to community kitchens, which serve basic meals for the most vulnerable, as well as the last of the flour to bakeries. "On March 31, all 25 -supported bakeries closed as wheat flour and cooking fuel ran out," the UN body announced in a statement. "The same week, WFP food parcels distributed to families — with two weeks of food rations — were exhausted. WFP is also deeply concerned about the severe lack of safe water and fuel for cooking — forcing people to scavenge for items to burn to cook a meal.' Living in fear As supplies dwindle, the worry about how to provide for loved ones overshadows everything, Mahmoud Hassouna, a resident of the city of in southern Gaza, told DW by phone. The 24-year-old was displaced at the beginning of the war in 2023, when his family home was destroyed by Israeli bombings. He said he spends his day moving around his family's makeshift home and helping his mother prepare meals. "We're back living on canned food again," he said. "We don't have enough money to buy vegetables, which are sold at exorbitant prices in the market." Hassouna said his job was to find firewood, which is hard to come by these days as most of the trees have been cut down or destroyed by bombing. Many people risk going into bombed-out houses to salvage any doors or wooden items. He also has to find clean drinking water and try to charge the phones nearby. The fear of bombing and displacement has become constant. "I have spent almost two years of my life under bombs, killing and death. I don't even recognize myself anymore." A ceasefire that began in January and lasted until early March brought some relief to the people of Gaza and bought time to fill the warehouses of aid organizations. However, the situation deteriorated again as soon as Israel broke the ceasefire and renewed its offensive on March 18 after the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement ended and talks on a second phase failed to take place. Before breaking the ceasefire, the Israeli government had already ordered the closure of all border crossings and halted all humanitarian and commercial deliveries into Gaza. Israel's 'maximum pressure' The blockade is part of what Israeli officials say is a "maximum pressure" strategy to force Hamas release the remaining hostages under a new temporary ceasefire agreement and ultimately topple the Palestinian militant group. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of stealing aid and using it for its own forces. Israeli media report that the security cabinet is set to approve operational plans to expand the current military offensive, including calling up tens of thousands of reservists. It not clear when such an expansion would take place. Hamas has rejected all calls for its disarmament and insists on an agreement that guarantees an end to the war. Israel launched the war after a Hamas-led terror attack on October 7, 2023, in which gunmen killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israeli officials say 59 hostages remain in Gaza, less than half of whom are believed to be alive. Israel retaliated immediately to the Hamas-led attack with a massive military operation and ground offensive in Gaza. The death toll in the strip has now risen to over 52,000, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said last week. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. Strategically withholding aid? Aid groups and the accuse Israel of using humanitarian and food aid as a political tool. This is a potential war crime that affects the whole of Gaza's population of 2.2 million. This week, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher reminded Israel in a statement that "international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in. Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip." Over the course of the war, Gaza's population has become almost entirely dependent on aid and commercial supplies from constant displacement of people and the creation of a large buffer zone held by the Israeli military in the north, along the eastern border and in the south has denied Palestinians access to Gaza's most fertile agricultural land. "Put simply, Israel is not only preventing food from entering Gaza, but has also engineered a situation in which Palestinians cannot grow their own food, and cannot fish their own food,' Gavin Kelleher, a Norwegian Refugee Council aid worker recently returned from working in in Gaza, told a press briefing. Gazans say there have also been incidents of looting of warehouses and a general atmosphere of chaos and limited internal security during Israel's bombardment. OCHA reported on Thursday that "recent strikes have reportedly hit residential buildings and tents sheltering displaced people, especially in Rafah and eastern Gaza city. As of this Tuesday, our humanitarian partners estimate that more than 423,000 people in Gaza have been displaced once again, with no safe place to go." This is a nightmare for Mahmoud Hassouna. "My only wish is not to be displaced again," Hassouna said. "After that, I want this crazy war to stop."
Times of Oman
05-05-2025
- General
- Times of Oman
As Israel blocks aid, 'reality in Gaza is indescribable'
After nearly 19 months of war, the people of Gaza are running out of ways to cope and are wary of what lies ahead. The Israeli blockade on all humanitarian and commercial supplies is now 2 months old. And Israeli bombardments across Gaza continue. "The reality in Gaza is indescribable," Ahmad Qattawi told DW by phone from Gaza City. "We live in tragedy, trying to survive without knowing whether we'll make it or not. We may survive, but our souls died a long time ago." Fear of bombing is one issue, he said; finding enough to eat is another. "We are consumed by the daily search for food, storing whatever we can for the coming days," he said. "We eat frugally, and as much as possible." Aid organizations have consistently warned that the risk of malnutrition and hunger is high as bakeries are closed, the cost of basic food items skyrockets and the borders remain shut. Markets are still selling small quantities of vegetables, but these are now unaffordable for most people. Prices have skyrocketed and many Gazans have no more income. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of tomatoes, a staple in Palestinian kitchens, now costs about 30 shekels (€7 or $7.90). This is compared to 1-3 shekels per kilo before the war. And a kilo of sugar goes for over 60 shekels. "Our lives now depend entirely on canned food, with the rare exception of some vegetables," the 44-year-old Qatawi said, adding that cooking is a challenge because of the shortage of gas. "There is no wood to light fires, so we burn whatever we can find: clothes, shoes, anything. This is our daily life." 'No safe place' "Never in Gaza's history were we in such a situation," Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), told DW by phone from Gaza City. "It's a catastrophe" "We have airstrikes, artillery, attacks on tents, on shelters," Shawa said. "There is no safe place. And then everyone is starving. Even, speaking personally, we don't know what to eat. There is almost nothing." Shawa said people felt that they were being pushed deeper and deeper into a corner with no end in sight. "And the worst thing for us as humanitarians is to feel that you are handcuffed, that you have nothing to give," Shawa said. "We do our best to give some hope here and there, but on the other hand we are part of the community and we cannot isolate ourselves from the situation." In addition, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the health care system was "on the brink of collapse, overwhelmed by mass casualties and critically hindered by the full blockade that has cut off essential medicines, vaccines, and medical equipment." The World Food Programme recently announced that it had depleted its food stocks for Gaza and distributed its last remaining supplies to community kitchens, which serve basic meals for the most vulnerable, as well as the last of the flour to bakeries. "On March 31, all 25 WFP-supported bakeries closed as wheat flour and cooking fuel ran out," the UN body announced in a statement. "The same week, WFP food parcels distributed to families — with two weeks of food rations — were exhausted. WFP is also deeply concerned about the severe lack of safe water and fuel for cooking — forcing people to scavenge for items to burn to cook a meal.' Living in fear As supplies dwindle, the worry about how to provide for loved ones overshadows everything, Mahmoud Hassouna, a resident of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, told DW by phone. The 24-year-old was displaced at the beginning of the war in 2023, when his family home was destroyed by Israeli bombings. He said he spends his day moving around his family's makeshift home and helping his mother prepare meals. "We're back living on canned food again," he said. "We don't have enough money to buy vegetables, which are sold at exorbitant prices in the market." Hassouna said his job was to find firewood, which is hard to come by these days as most of the trees have been cut down or destroyed by bombing. Many people risk going into bombed-out houses to salvage any doors or wooden items. He also has to find clean drinking water and try to charge the phones nearby. The fear of bombing and displacement has become constant. "I have spent almost two years of my life under bombs, killing and death. I don't even recognize myself anymore." A ceasefire that began in January and lasted until early March brought some relief to the people of Gaza and bought time to fill the warehouses of aid organizations. However, the situation deteriorated again as soon as Israel broke the ceasefire and renewed its offensive on March 18 after the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement ended and talks on a second phase failed to take place. Before breaking the ceasefire, the Israeli government had already ordered the closure of all border crossings and halted all humanitarian and commercial deliveries into Gaza. Israel's 'maximum pressure' The blockade is part of what Israeli officials say is a "maximum pressure" strategy to force Hamas release the remaining hostages under a new temporary ceasefire agreement and ultimately topple the Palestinian militant group. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of stealing aid and using it for its own forces. Israeli media report that the security cabinet is set to approve operational plans to expand the current military offensive, including calling up tens of thousands of reservists. It not clear when such an expansion would take place. Hamas has rejected all calls for its disarmament and insists on an agreement that guarantees an end to the war. Israel launched the war after a Hamas-led terror attack on October 7, 2023, in which gunmen killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israeli officials say 59 hostages remain in Gaza, less than half of whom are believed to be alive. Israel retaliated immediately to the Hamas-led attack with a massive military operation and ground offensive in Gaza. The death toll in the strip has now risen to over 52,000, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said last week. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. Strategically withholding aid? Aid groups and the United Nations accuse Israel of using humanitarian and food aid as a political tool. This is a potential war crime that affects the whole of Gaza's population of 2.2 million. This week, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher reminded Israel in a statement that "international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in. Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip." Over the course of the war, Gaza's population has become almost entirely dependent on aid and commercial supplies from constant displacement of people and the creation of a large buffer zone held by the Israeli military in the north, along the eastern border and in the south has denied Palestinians access to Gaza's most fertile agricultural land. "Put simply, Israel is not only preventing food from entering Gaza, but has also engineered a situation in which Palestinians cannot grow their own food, and cannot fish their own food,' Gavin Kelleher, a Norwegian Refugee Council aid worker recently returned from working in in Gaza, told a press briefing. Gazans say there have also been incidents of looting of warehouses and a general atmosphere of chaos and limited internal security during Israel's bombardment. OCHA reported on Thursday that "recent strikes have reportedly hit residential buildings and tents sheltering displaced people, especially in Rafah and eastern Gaza city. As of this Tuesday, our humanitarian partners estimate that more than 423,000 people in Gaza have been displaced once again, with no safe place to go." This is a nightmare for Mahmoud Hassouna. "My only wish is not to be displaced again," Hassouna said. "After that, I want this crazy war to stop."
Dubai Eye
01-05-2025
- Health
- Dubai Eye
Looting of Gaza stores signals worsening hunger crisis
Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say. Palestinian residents and aid officials said at least five incidents of looting took place across the enclave on Wednesday, including at community kitchens, merchants' stores, and the UN Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) main complex in Gaza. Israeli forces are continuing their aerial and ground offensive across Gaza in the war with Hamas that began nearly 19 months ago. Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed at least 12 people, the territory's health ministry said. The looting "is a grave signal of how serious things have become in the Gaza Strip - the spread of hunger, the loss of hope and desperation among residents as well as the absence of the authority of the law," said Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network (PNGO) in Gaza. Thousands of displaced people broke into the UNRWA complex in Gaza City late on Wednesday, stealing medicines from its pharmacy and damaging vehicles, said Louise Wateridge, a senior official for the agency based in Jordan. "The looting, while devastating, is not surprising in the face of total systemic collapse. We are witnessing the consequences of a society brought to its knees by prolonged siege and violence," she said in a statement shared with Reuters. Hamas deployed thousands of police and security forces across Gaza after a ceasefire took effect in January, but its armed presence shrunk sharply since Israel resumed large-scale attacks in March. Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza Hamas-run government media office, described the looting incidents as "isolated individual practices that do not reflect the values and ethics of our Palestinian people". He said that despite being targeted, Gaza authorities were "following up on these incidents and addressing them in a way that ensures the preservation of order and human dignity". CHILD MALNUTRITION Thawabta said Israel, which since March 2 has blocked the entry of medical, fuel and food supplies into Gaza, was to blame. Israel says its move was aimed at pressuring Hamas to free hostages as the ceasefire agreement stalled. Israel has previously denied that Gaza was facing a hunger crisis. It has not made clear when and how aid will be resumed. Israel's military accuses Hamas of diverting aid, which Hamas denies. The United Nations warned earlier this week that acute malnutrition among Gaza's children was worsening. Community kitchens that have provided lifelines for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at risk of closure due to lack of supplies, and face an additional threat from looting. "This is going to undermine the ability of the community kitchens to provide meals to a great number of families, and an indication that things have reached an unprecedentedly difficult level," PNGO's Shawa told Reuters. More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's campaign in Gaza, Palestinian officials say. It was launched after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Much of the narrow coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.
