Latest news with #PalestineRedCrescentSociety
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Israeli settlers attack villages in West Bank, several injured
Israeli settlers have attacked two Bedouin villages in the West Bank, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday. The aid organization said one attack targeted a settlement east of Ramallah which had already been abandoned by some of the 25 families living there due to previous raids. Five of the remaining residents were injured in the attack, the PRCS said. In addition, seven people were injured in a second incident in a village east of Bethlehem. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the settlers had tried to set fire to houses. They also killed some of the villagers' goats and sheep, which are central to their livelihood. The Israeli military did not initially comment on the reports. The situation in the occupied West Bank has worsened since the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 920 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists. There has also been increased violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.
DW
22-05-2025
- General
- DW
Red Crescent warns Gaza aid still undelivered – DW – 05/22/2025
Aid deliveries to Gaza have resumed, but they are failing to reach civilians, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The stalled relief effort has sparked fears of looting and a deepening crisis. The Palestinian Red Crescent on Thursday warned that aid trucks allowed into Gaza this week have not yet reached civilians and that the limited number of deliveries risks fueling chaos and violence. Israel announced this week it would begin allowing aid into the Palestinian territory after a nearly three-month blockade of food and supplies. However, the UN has expressed frustration with the scale and pace of deliveries as most trucks stuck are at the border crossing or awaiting Israeli permission to distribute supplies. UN agencies and aid groups have been struggling to retrieve and distribute the aid, blaming complicated Israeli military procedures and the breakdown of law and order inside the territory. What is happening with Gaza aid deliveries? "I can prove that nobody has received [aid]. No civilian has received anything yet," said Younis Al-Khatib, President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. "In fact, most of these trucks are still in Karem Shalom at the border, inspected, but not into Gaza." Al-Khatib described the modest aid shipments as an "invitation for killing," citing fears of mobbing, looting, and unrest as desperate residents await food and medical supplies. The warning follows reports that about 90 trucks' worth of humanitarian aid have been collected by agencies out of nearly 200 that entered Gaza in recent days, but distribution remains stalled due to insecurity and logistical hurdles. Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities say starvation-related deaths have begun to rise, with at least 29 children and elderly individuals reported dead in recent days. Aid officials continue to stress that current deliveries are far below what is needed to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe. Hopes of limited aid on the way Palestinian officials said flour and other food aid would start to reach some of Gaza's most vulnerable people on Thursday, but they added this would be nowhere near enough to compensate for shortages caused by an 11-week blockade. "Some bakeries will begin receiving flour to produce bread, and we expect the distribution of bread to begin later today," Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross, that Gazans began receiving items such as flour and baby food and that a field hospital has received medical equipment. "In close touch with team in Gaza. Today will be crucial. Truckloads of lifesaving aid finally on move again," UN aid chief Tom Fletcher posted on X. "I'm in awe of [the] courage of our humanitarians," he added. "They continue to face huge challenges getting goods out of the crossing to where it is needed. Vital, lifesaving work." Israel's three-stage aid plan faces criticism Facing global pressure to ease the blockade and end fighting in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is open to a "temporary ceasefire" but emphasized that the military aims to bring all of Gaza under Israeli control. Israel has said the blockade was necessary because the Islamist militant group Hamas diverts humanitarian aid. Israeli officials have also said they plan to implement a new aid distribution system within days. Initially, Israel says it will permit basic food supplies into the coastal enclave to avert a humanitarian crisis. The second phase would involve opening food distribution points by US companies. In the final step, a "sterile zone" free from Hamas in the south of Gaza would be created to facilitate humanitarian assistance for displaced Palestinians. UN agencies and aid groups have been warning that the proposed system would not meet growing humanitarian needs and could force large numbers of people to relocate to reach aid sites. They said the plan violates humanitarian principles by requiring people to move to access aid, rather than delivering assistance based on need where they currently live. Edited by: Sean Sinico
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Gaza ambulance fleet down to a third, Palestinian Red Crescent says
A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, near the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen GENEVA - The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages. Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza. Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: "It's a matter of time. It could be days. "We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one third," he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations. The PRCS is part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Al-Khatib criticised the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza so far, warning of the risk of mob attacks. "I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving," he said. Israel, at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023, has repeatedly defended its controls on aid in the enclave, saying there is enough food there and denying accusations of causing starvation. He added his voice to criticism of a U.S.-backed organisation that aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May overseeing a new model of aid distribution. "It's not up for discussion. No, no, no," he said. "The world should not give up on the system as we know it." The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation intends to work with private U.S. security and logistics firms to provide aid to 300,000 people from distribution hubs in Gaza's south. Gaza's total population is 2.3 million, most of it displaced. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Middle East Eye
17-05-2025
- Middle East Eye
Israeli forces shoot elderly man in leg near Jenin
A Palestinian man has been shot in the leg by Israeli forces near the Jenin refugee camp's entrance in the occupied West Bank. The man, described by Wafa news agency as elderly, received medical treatment from the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Middle East Eye
03-05-2025
- Middle East Eye
13-year-old Palestinian shot and wounded by Israeli forces in Jenin
Israeli forces shot and injured a 13-year-old boy in the village of Zababdeh, south of the occupied West Bank's Jenin city, Wafa news agency is reporting, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). According the report, emergency teams transferred the victim to a hospital. He is reported to be in stable condition.
