Latest news with #Stephane Dujarric
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah, leaving hostage families concerned
Israeli tanks pushed into the southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held. The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and capabilities of the militant group Hamas. Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said. "U.N. staff remain in Deir al-Balah, and two U.N. guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of U.N. premises, which are inviolable. These locations — as with all civilian sites — must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The World Health Organization said its staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah was attacked on Monday. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained by the Israeli military, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that three were later released while one staff member remained in detention. Israel's mission to the U.N. in New York declined to comment. To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said. In its daily update, Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents. Palestinians ride away from an Israeli attack along Salah al-din road in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. | AFP-JIJI Israeli sources have said the reason the army had stayed out of the Deir al-Balah districts was because they suspected Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive. Families of the hostages have expressed concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and the army chief on how they will protect them. "The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages — both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn't know what was at stake," the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement. Gaza health officials have warned of potential "mass deaths" in coming days from hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry said. Hunger United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled by an accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza "where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing," Dujarric said. "He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition," said Dujarric. "Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations." Health officials say hospitals have been running out of fuel, food aid and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations. Health Ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion. In southern Gaza, the Health Ministry said an Israeli undercover unit had on Monday detained Marwan Al-Hams, head of Gaza's field hospitals, in a raid that killed a local journalist and wounded another outside a field medical facility run by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Smoke billows into the air during Israeli strikes in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Monday. | REUTERS An ICRC spokesperson said the ICRC had treated patients injured in the incident, but did not comment further on their status. It said it was "very concerned about the safety and security" around the field hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has raided and attacked hospitals across Gaza during the war, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, an accusation the group denies. Sending undercover forces to carry out arrests is rare. The incursion into Deir al-Balah and the growing number of deaths appeared to be complicating efforts to secure a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with U.S. backing. A Hamas official said on Sunday that the militant group was angered by the mounting death toll and hunger crisis, and said it could affect the talks on a 60-day truce and hostage deal. Aid waiting UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said on X it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff, as food prices have soared. "Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses, UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale," it said. The Health Ministry said on Sunday at least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for U.N. aid trucks to enter Gaza. It said at least 36 aid seekers were killed a day earlier. Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots to remove what it said was "an immediate threat." It said initial findings suggested that reported casualty figures were inflated. Israel's military said it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community." Britain and more than 20 other countries called on Monday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and criticized the Israeli government's aid delivery model after hundreds of Palestinians were killed near sites distributing food. Israel rejected the statement "as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas." The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed over 59,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population, and caused a humanitarian crisis.
Al Mayadeen
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
UN sounds alarm over Gaza humanitarian collapse amid Israeli blockade
The United Nations confirmed that its Charter and international law are being repeatedly violated by some member states, particularly in the context of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and other crises. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told the Jordanian news agency Petra that states must believe in and implement the commitments they themselves have signed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep alarm over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, condemning recent attacks that have struck areas sheltering displaced Palestinians and those seeking food. In a statement conveyed by Dujarric, Guterres highlighted that in a single day this week, Israeli relocation orders forced nearly 30,000 Palestinians to flee with no safe refuge and critical shortages of shelter, food, medicine, and water. "International humanitarian law is unambiguous: civilians must be respected and protected, and the needs of the population need to be met," he stressed. Read more: US contractors confirm; Gazans are being targeted at aid sites: AP With fuel barred from entering Gaza for over 17 weeks, Guterres said he is "gravely concerned that the last lifelines for survival are being cut off." He explained that without immediate fuel access, hospitals will lose incubators, ambulances won't function, and water cannot be purified, adding that the limited humanitarian aid still being delivered by the UN and partners risks grinding to a complete halt. The UN chief reiterated his call for full, safe, and sustained humanitarian access, emphasizing that the UN has a comprehensive, proven plan rooted in humanitarian principles to deliver aid safely and effectively to all civilians in need. The Secretary-General renewed his call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the unconditional release of all captives held in Gaza. Read more: UN: Gaza health system facing systematic, deliberate destruction In a related context, Dujarric noted that the area available for civilians in Gaza continues to shrink daily. He recalled that on Thursday, Israeli authorities issued a new displacement order targeting parts of Gaza City, where an estimated 40,000 people lived, including one displacement center, one medical point, and a neighborhood previously untouched by evacuation orders. About 900 families have reportedly fled since the order. The UN spokesperson cited an OCHA report, which noted that since the end of the ceasefire in mid-March, over 50 such orders have been issued, covering approximately 78% of Gaza. He added that when Israeli-militarized zones are factored in, this figure rises to 85%, leaving only 15% of the territory theoretically habitable for civilians. Dujarric noted that these areas are dangerously overcrowded and lack basic infrastructure, likening Gaza's condition to housing over 2 million people in a space the size of Manhattan, reduced to rubble and devoid of support systems, while remaining zones are fragmented and unsafe. The UN official also cited a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report, which emphasized that menstruation has become a 'nightmare' for an estimated 700,000 women and girls in Gaza due to the absence of water, soap, menstrual pads, and privacy. While nearly 170 truckloads of supplies are ready, they remain barred from entering the Strip, he mentioned. Meanwhile, OCHA confirmed that nine more aid workers from five different organizations were killed since last Thursday, bringing the 2025 total to 107 and the overall toll since October 2023 to 479, including 326 UN personnel, Dujarric said. Touching on humanitarian aid, Dujarric said that in June, out of nearly 400 coordination attempts to deliver aid or carry out critical operations, 44% were outright denied by Israeli authorities, 10% were obstructed, 33% were facilitated, and 12% were canceled due to operational challenges. He pointed out that just yesterday, four out of 16 coordination attempts were denied, hindering medical supply relocation and debris removal.
