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Shafaq News
a day ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Israeli fire kills 30 Palestinians at Gaza aid center
Shafaq News/ At least 30 Palestinians were killed and over 120 wounded on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of civilians gathered at a US-run aid distribution center in western Rafah, according to Gaza health officials. The attack comes amid an intensifying humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The United Nations warned that the territory is now 'the most food-insecure place on Earth,' with 100% of the population at risk of famine. Aid agencies report severe disruptions to deliveries, with only 600 out of 900 authorized trucks managing to enter Gaza in recent days, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). UNRWA said it has supplies in Amman ready to feed 200,000 people for an entire month, but bureaucratic and security hurdles have blocked aid shipments. The new aid distribution system—replacing UN agencies with a US company operating under Israeli military protection—has also stoked protests, with Palestinians storming aid centers to seize basic supplies. Hamas has slammed the new system as a 'criminal manipulation' of Gaza's basic needs and accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon. The group called on the UN Security Council to enforce an end to what it called 'fascist aggression' and to ensure safe aid delivery under UN oversight. The deadly aid center strike coincides with faltering diplomatic efforts. US special envoy Steve Witkoff recently presented a 60-day ceasefire proposal to Hamas. However, while Hamas submitted a response, Witkoff rejected it outright, saying in a post on X, 'It's unacceptable and only takes us backward.' Hamas, for its part, offered a phased release of 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, reiterating its demands for a permanent truce, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and unobstructed humanitarian aid—none of which were in the US proposal. The diplomatic impasse and rising violence come as the UN and aid agencies warn of an imminent famine in Gaza. A joint report from the UN and international partners says hunger and malnutrition have sharply worsened since March 2, when aid deliveries were halted and Israeli strikes intensified. The casualty toll of the Gaza war that began on October 7, 2023, now stands at 54,000 Palestinians killed and more than 124,000 injured.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Morning updates on the Israeli war on Gaza
Good morning Middle East Eye readers, Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 603rd day: Israeli forces have once again opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid at the US-run distribution point in central Gaza. On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed an entire family in Gaza City, including two parents and their three children.
Middle East Eye
3 days ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Israel fires at Palestinian aid seekers as new north Gaza expulsion orders issued
Israeli forces shot and wounded more than 20 Palestinians on Friday as they attempted to receive aid at an US-run food distribution point in central Gaza, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the besieged strip. The scenes were "chaotic and uncoordinated" with no effective humanitarian mechanism in place, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. Civilians in Gaza have been desperately seeking food supplies, as no essentials or humanitarian aid have entered the area since a complete Israeli siege began on 2 March. According to recent statistics published by the Gaza-based Government Media Office, at least 58 people, including 53 children, have died as a direct result of malnutrition since the start of the war. Meanwhile, a further 242 deaths were due to a lack of food and medicine, with the majority of victims being children and the elderly. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In a post on Friday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) noted that its warehouse in Amman, a three-hour drive away from Gaza, contains enough stockpiled aid to last a month for over 200,000 people. The essentials include flour, food parcels, hygiene kits, blankets and medical supplies. "Gaza needs aid at scale - an unhindered, uninterrupted flow of supplies must be allowed in," the agency said. In an interview with MEE Live's Mathilda Mallinson, Palestinian journalist Mohammed Shehada described the Israeli aid distribution centres in Rafah as "heavily militarised concentration camps," expressing widespread fear among Gaza residents. — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 27, 2025 The limited aid distributed this week has been provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a scandal-plagued organisation that is a US-Israeli initiative designed to bypass the UN's infrastructure for aid delivery and distribution in the strip. Senior humanitarian officials and aid organisations have condemned the GHF, arguing that a new mechanism is unnecessary, especially with ongoing Israeli interference with aid and continued attacks on civilians waiting at distribution points North Gaza expulsion orders As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza on the 602nd day of the war, further displacement orders have been issued. Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, called on Palestinians residing in the areas of Al-Atatra, Jabalia Al-Balad, Shujaiya, Al-Daraj and Al-Zeitoun, located in the north of the Gaza Strip, to flee westward. "From this moment on, the mentioned areas will be considered dangerous combat zones," the post read, adding that the military is expanding its operations in the region. At least 28 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, following the latest round of Israeli offensives. The death toll is expected to rise as operations intensify. The International Organisation for Migration stated on Tuesday that nearly 180,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been forcibly displaced by recent Israeli military actions. A statement issued on behalf of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster condemned direct attacks on shelters, stating that such incidents had become "common". Ceasefire talks Meanwhile, ceasefire talks have been left in limbo after the United States presented a new proposal that reportedly lacked a guarantee to end the war and ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Gaza is an open graveyard, yet the West still debates whether Israel has gone 'too far' Read More » The White House said Israel had accepted the new proposal, while Hamas confirmed it was still reviewing it. Though the new proposal has not been made public, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group was "surprised" by Israel's response, which he said was "practically the opposite" of what had been agreed and relayed to the American envoy via mediators earlier this week. "The Israeli response contains no commitment to a ceasefire, no withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and keeps Israeli control over the aid entry mechanism," he said. "What Netanyahu is offering is a bad proposal aimed at forcing our people into submission." Hamas official Basem Naim echoed this view, telling Reuters that Israel's response "fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation and perpetuate policies of killing and starvation, even during what is supposed to be a period of temporary de-escalation". He added that the Hamas leadership was conducting a "thorough and responsible review" of the latest offer.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration prepares to send more deported migrants to notorious El Salvador prison
The Trump administration is preparing to send more immigrants with criminal records to El Salvador's notorious mega prison on the heels of a Supreme Court order allowing the use for now of a sweeping wartime authority for deportations, according to two US officials. El Salvador has emerged as a key US ally in Latin America as President Donald Trump pushes to advance his aggressive immigration agenda. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss the use of the country's Cecot prison, the largest in the Americas. And the Trump administration has even fielded a recent proposal from private security contractor Erik Prince to establish a US-run migrant detention facility in El Salvador, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday the US would continue using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people. 'It's one of the reasons I went to El Salvador last week was a visit with the President. Asked him to continue to take terrorists from the United States of America that no longer belong here,' she said. But the administration's reliance on El Salvador as it seeks to ramp up deportations has proven to be controversial — prompting fraught legal battles and public pushback. This week, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed removals, but made clear that officials must give migrants subject to the measure adequate notice, so they have 'reasonable time' to bring habeas complaints. Those complaints have already popped up in some parts of the country. Federal judges in New York and Texas on Wednesday issued orders to temporarily halt the deportation of Venezuelan plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act. Amid the legal back and forth, the administration fielded an unprecedented pitch from Prince, a long-time ally of Trump and a notorious private security contractor, to set up a US-run immigrant detention facility in El Salvador to detain immigrants with criminal records, according to the sources familiar with the discussions. The idea gained traction in some corners of the federal government because some officials believed it would potentially be cheaper to detain immigrants abroad and help shore up detention capacity which is already stretched thin. But other US officials were more skeptical and have sought to knock it down, seeing it as legally tenuous and unrealistic. The pitch revealed Prince's influence on the Trump administration's push for significantly tougher immigration enforcement and reflected the increasing interest in partnering with El Salvador and its Trump-friendly president in that effort. But the Supreme Court decision appears to have put Prince's proposal for another facility on hold because sending migrants to Cecil remains a possibility. CNN has reached out to both the White House and Prince for comment. US officials who entertained the idea internally saw it as a way to avoid logistical challenges that have risen with the use of the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and skirt issues related to sending migrants to countries other than their place of origin, according to one source familiar with the discussions. 'Guantanamo is a PR statement that they have to figure out how to get out of. Logistically, it was a nightmare,' the source said. In February, the Trump administration halted efforts to place migrants in tent structures built at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amid concerns that the emerging facilities didn't meet detention standards because they lacked air conditioning and electricity. Trump has expressed support for sending US nationals to El Salvador as well, an unprecedented move that would face significant legal pushback. 'I'd love that,' he said when asked by reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One about a proposal from El Salvador's president to take in convicted US citizens into the country's high-security mega prison. 'If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I'm all for it, but I'd only do according to the law, but I have suggested that, you know, why should it stop just to people that cross the border illegally?' Last month, the US removed 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua held by the US, along with 22 alleged MS-13 members to El Salvador to be detained in the country's notorious mega prison. The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting a Salvadoran national to El Salvador despite a previous order barring his removal to the country over fear of persecution — and come under fire for other cases that have cast doubt over the administration's assertions that all those sent to the Central American nation were criminals. The administration has signaled its desire to significantly ramp up immigration detention. A request for proposals for detention facilities posted by the administration totaled as much as $45 billion over the next two years. Bukele is key to these efforts, and CNN previously reported that Prince's direct line to the Salvadoran president has helped a former pariah of Washington establish himself back inside Trump's orbit. Prince, who is the brother of Trump's former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, founded Blackwater, which gained notoriety in 2007 during the Iraq War, when its private contractors opened fire in Baghdad's Nisour Square, killing 17 Iraqi civilians. Four contractors were convicted and later pardoned by Trump. The company later changed its name and Prince sold the firm in 2010. He currently identifies himself on his website as an investor, entrepreneur and leader in military affair reforms. Interviews with more than a dozen current and former administration officials and people close to Prince suggest that he has gained traction within the second Trump administration and is moving quickly to leverage his influence in pursuit of long-held policy beliefs, some of which could turn into big business for him. Prince previously proposed deputizing private security contractors to swiftly deport undocumented immigrants. The proposal suggested hiring retired ICE and CBP officers, as well as retired state and local law enforcement and properly trained veterans to arrest people. When asked about that proposal, Trump said he hadn't seen it but 'wouldn't be opposed.'
CNN
09-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump administration prepares to send more deported migrants to notorious El Salvador prison
The Trump administration is preparing to send more immigrants with criminal records to El Salvador's notorious mega prison on the heels of a Supreme Court order allowing the use for now of a sweeping wartime authority for deportations, according to two US officials. El Salvador has emerged as a key US ally in Latin America as President Donald Trump pushes to advance his aggressive immigration agenda. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss the use of the country's Cecot prison, the largest in the Americas. And the Trump administration has even fielded a recent proposal from private security contractor Erik Prince to establish a US-run migrant detention facility in El Salvador, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday the US would continue using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people. 'It's one of the reasons I went to El Salvador last week was a visit with the President. Asked him to continue to take terrorists from the United States of America that no longer belong here,' she said. But the administration's reliance on El Salvador as it seeks to ramp up deportations has proven to be controversial — prompting fraught legal battles and public pushback. This week, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed removals, but made clear that officials must give migrants subject to the measure adequate notice, so they have 'reasonable time' to bring habeas complaints. Those complaints have already popped up in some parts of the country. Federal judges in New York and Texas on Wednesday issued orders to temporarily halt the deportation of Venezuelan plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act. Amid the legal back and forth, the administration fielded an unprecedented pitch from Prince, a long-time ally of Trump and a notorious private security contractor, to set up a US-run immigrant detention facility in El Salvador to detain immigrants with criminal records, according to the sources familiar with the discussions. The idea gained traction in some corners of the federal government because some officials believed it would potentially be cheaper to detain immigrants abroad and help shore up detention capacity which is already stretched thin. But other US officials were more skeptical and have sought to knock it down, seeing it as legally tenuous and unrealistic. The pitch revealed Prince's influence on the Trump administration's push for significantly tougher immigration enforcement and reflected the increasing interest in partnering with El Salvador and its Trump-friendly president in that effort. But the Supreme Court decision appears to have put Prince's proposal for another facility on hold because sending migrants to Cecil remains a possibility. CNN has reached out to both the White House and Prince for comment. US officials who entertained the idea internally saw it as a way to avoid logistical challenges that have risen with the use of the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and skirt issues related to sending migrants to countries other than their place of origin, according to one source familiar with the discussions. 'Guantanamo is a PR statement that they have to figure out how to get out of. Logistically, it was a nightmare,' the source said. In February, the Trump administration halted efforts to place migrants in tent structures built at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amid concerns that the emerging facilities didn't meet detention standards because they lacked air conditioning and electricity. Trump has expressed support for sending US nationals to El Salvador as well, an unprecedented move that would face significant legal pushback. 'I'd love that,' he said when asked by reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One about a proposal from El Salvador's president to take in convicted US citizens into the country's high-security mega prison. 'If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I'm all for it, but I'd only do according to the law, but I have suggested that, you know, why should it stop just to people that cross the border illegally?' Last month, the US removed 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua held by the US, along with 22 alleged MS-13 members to El Salvador to be detained in the country's notorious mega prison. The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting a Salvadoran national to El Salvador despite a previous order barring his removal to the country over fear of persecution — and come under fire for other cases that have cast doubt over the administration's assertions that all those sent to the Central American nation were criminals. The administration has signaled its desire to significantly ramp up immigration detention. A request for proposals for detention facilities posted by the administration totaled as much as $45 billion over the next two years. Bukele is key to these efforts, and CNN previously reported that Prince's direct line to the Salvadoran president has helped a former pariah of Washington establish himself back inside Trump's orbit. Prince, who is the brother of Trump's former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, founded Blackwater, which gained notoriety in 2007 during the Iraq War, when its private contractors opened fire in Baghdad's Nisour Square, killing 17 Iraqi civilians. Four contractors were convicted and later pardoned by Trump. The company later changed its name and Prince sold the firm in 2010. He currently identifies himself on his website as an investor, entrepreneur and leader in military affair reforms. Interviews with more than a dozen current and former administration officials and people close to Prince suggest that he has gained traction within the second Trump administration and is moving quickly to leverage his influence in pursuit of long-held policy beliefs, some of which could turn into big business for him. Prince previously proposed deputizing private security contractors to swiftly deport undocumented immigrants. The proposal suggested hiring retired ICE and CBP officers, as well as retired state and local law enforcement and properly trained veterans to arrest people. When asked about that proposal, Trump said he hadn't seen it but 'wouldn't be opposed.'
