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Sky News
4 days ago
- General
- Sky News
UK 'appalled' by reports of Palestinians killed while trying to reach new Gaza aid sites
The government has said it is "appalled" by reports of Palestinians being killed while trying to access aid sites in Gaza. Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told the Commons on Wednesday afternoon that Israel's newly introduced measures for aid delivery are "inhumane, foster desperation and endanger civilians". The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the US, opened new aid centres last week in Gaza after an 11-week aid blockade, but they have been highly criticised as Palestinians have been killed and injured while waiting at the centres. The Hamas-run health ministry claimed 27 Palestinians were killed at a centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Tuesday and more than 90 people were injured in what it called a "massacre". However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said accusations that the Israeli military shot at civilians were "completely unfounded and false". Mr Falconer said: "We are appalled by repeated reports of mass casualty incidents in which Palestinians have been killed when trying to access aid sites in Gaza. "Desperate civilians who have endured 20 months of war should never face the risk of death or injury to simply feed themselves and their families. We call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events for the perpetrators to be held to account." He said it is "deeply disturbing" the incidents happened near the new aid distribution sites. "Israel's newly introduced measures for aid delivery are inhumane, foster desperation and endanger civilians," he said. "Israel's unjustified block on aid into Gaza needs to end - it is inhumane. Israel must immediately allow the United Nations and aid partners to safely deliver all types of aid at scale to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity." The minister said the UN Security Council is expected to consider a resolution on Wednesday calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the lifting of all restrictions on humanitarian aid. On Wednesday morning, GHF announced it was temporarily closing its three distribution sites "for renovations, organisation, and efficiency improvements". The IDF said "travel is prohibited via the roads leading to the distribution centres, which are considered combat zones". On Sunday, at least 31 people were reported to have been killed near the same aid distribution centre, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry - but the IDF said they were "false reports". PM: Gaza facing dark days Sir Keir Starmer, speaking as pro-Palestine protesters surrounded parliament on Wednesday, said Gaza is facing "dark days" and vowed to consider "further action" against Israel. He used Prime Minister's Questions to describe the Israeli government's conduct in Gaza as "counter productive and intolerable". 0:37 The government, he said, has "strongly opposed the expansion of military operations and settler violence, and the blocking of humanitarian aid". Sir Keir said the government "will keep looking at further action along with our allies, including sanctions". "But let me be absolutely clear; we need to get back to a ceasefire," he said. Corbyn calls for UK involvement inquiry Later on Wednesday afternoon, former Labour leader and now-independent MP Jeremy Corbyn demanded a public inquiry into the UK's involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza. He introduced the bill, which will get a second reading on 4 July after no MPs opposed it. The long-time supporter of Palestine had been hoping for a vote, obtained if anybody opposed it, in the hope of forcing Labour MPs to vote against the government.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
The US aid agency sowing chaos in Gaza
The aerial photographs show five narrow lanes made of high metal fences wedged between two artificial mounds of earth and topped with barbed wire. Inside, hundreds of people are crammed under the baking sun. The sight of ordinary Gazans corralled into cages is not the image Israel's reputation managers were after. But, just over a week into its controversial new aid delivery scheme to bypass Hamas using a US contractor, that is what they are faced with. That, and viral videos of civilians running for their lives to the sound of gunfire, amid accusations – bitterly denied by Israel – that more than 20 were shot dead by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Sunday as order disintegrated at a distribution centre in the south of the Strip. One man who spoke to The Telegraph said he found the centre 'terrifying' and 'like a prison', but that he was forced there – miles from his temporary home – out of fear that his children would starve. Another called it 'a place of killing'. Fuelling the international criticism is the nature of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the American company created to deliver the new system, with persistent suggestions of CIA involvement, opaque funding and concealed Israeli control. This has been enhanced by condemnation from the UN and other large aid NGOs, which want nothing to do with the GHF and accuse it of politicising aid. After Sunday's alleged shooting, and new claims of gunfire killing more than 20 people overnight, the project's credibility is on a knife-edge. From Israel's point of view, the new system makes perfect sense. The government argues that under the previous model, which it cut off entirely at the beginning of March, Hamas robbed the aid trucks blind – the UN denies this – then sold the food, fuel and medical supplies back to civilians, thus cementing their control over the population and financing their terror infrastructure. By contrast, the new arrangement requires people to travel to four purpose-built distribution centres in the south of the Strip where – it was promised – they would be screened to make sure they are deserving civilians and not terrorists. The idea, in principle, is that while the IDF provides a wider blanket of security, Gazans themselves do not interact with Israeli soldiers, but deal directly with the foundation staff and associated security contractors. Some reports suggest these contractors are paid more than $1,000 a day. 'Places of killing' The UN and legacy NGOs, which used to deliver aid into communities through more than a hundred drop-off points, say this offends basic humanitarian principles, trapping people between starvation and a long and dangerous journey. Omar Baraka, 40, from Khan Younis, said: 'We go to dangerous red zones, the army asks us to walk for several kilometres. 'There is no order in the place, it's very chaotic. 'Tens of thousands of citizens go there. The organisation delivered aid in the first two days, then the centres became places of killing.' Salem Al-Ahmad, an 18-year-old high school student, has ventured to the GHF site on several occasions to try to pick up flour for his family. 'The situation required getting food and saving yourself from death,' he said. 'Anyone who gets aid has to run back quickly, about three kilometres, because the army starts shooting to empty the area of civilians. 'I found a lot of food lying on the ground because it is difficult to carry and run with it. I only had 1kg bags of flour so I could run from the gunfire.' Israeli government officials and their supporters in the press argue that, despite the chaotic scenes, the early days of the new scheme represents a triumph. This is because it shows Gaza's civilian population has passed through the 'fear barrier' – in other words, it shows they are now prepared to defy the terror group's commands not to engage with the GHF. There is certainly evidence that Hamas has tried to put obstacles – some physical, others in the form of propaganda – between the Gazan civilians and the new aid system. It is far less certain to what extent the group has been behind the scenes of chaos at the new distribution centres themselves. Critics say that the scenes of disorder are simply a function of a desperate, starving population and inexperienced aid distributors. Aside from gunfire, flashbangs and smoke grenades have been thrown. Meanwhile, multiple people say that no serious attempt at screening is made. On Monday night, UN human rights chief Volker Turk told the BBC the way humanitarian aid is now being delivered is 'unacceptable' and 'dehumanising'. 'I think what it shows is utter disregard for civilians. Can you imagine people that have been absolutely desperate for food, for medicine, for almost three months and then they have to run for it or try to get it in the most desperate circumstances? Mr Turk told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme. Aside from the practical difficulties the new system imposes, it has been accused of serving Benjamin Netanyahu's agenda by forcing the population into the largely levelled south of the Strip, leaving the IDF clear to execute Operation Gideon's Chariot, which, sources have said, will see a similarly widespread demolition of property. Some have even questioned whether the GHF model is a crucial component of an attempt to realise Donald Trump's 'riviera' vision for Gaza, which would see the population displaced ahead of a comprehensive redevelopment. While the president himself now appears lukewarm about the scheme, there are some in Israel's government – notably the defence minister Israel Katz – who allude to it often. Aside from its performance on the ground, the origins and make-up of the GHF and its partner organisation, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), continue to provoke comment. The latter is headed by Philip F Reilly, a CIA veteran, who is said to have played a role training the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s, and was then the first agency officer into Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, where he went on to be station chief. SRS previously had the contract to police traffic and people along a main north-south road in Gaza during the January to March ceasefire. A recent investigation by the New York Times suggests that an informal network of powerful individuals in both the IDF and prime minister's office, known as the Mikveh Yisrael Foru, had been aiming towards a parallel aid system that cut out the NGOs since Dec 2023. It claimed that the group had identified Mr Reilly as its candidate to lead such a mission as early as January last year, and that the January contract was a key step in convincing Mr Netanyahu to hire him for the aid distribution job. The GHF is a separately registered company, although it was registered by the same lawyer and previously had the same spokesman. A $100 million donation to the GHF got tongues wagging in Israel that this was really the work of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency– indeed, the former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said as much. The GHF denies this, saying the donation was from a western European country, but declined to name which one. 'Tired from malnutrition' Jake Wood, a former US Marine, quit as chief executive of the foundation the day before aid distribution operations began, claiming it violated 'humanitarian principles'. He had previously said: 'I would participate in no plan in any capacity if it was an extension of an IDF plan or an Israeli government plan to forcibly dislocate people anywhere within Gaza.' Mr Wood has since been replaced by John Acree, a former senior official at USAid. Back in Rafah, Ahmed Musa, a 34-year-old from Khan Younis, spoke of despair at Sunday's events. 'I left at dawn to go to the American aid centre in the Mawasi area of Rafah,' he said. 'I went there under duress, as I have four hungry children who are tired from malnutrition. 'The scene was terrifying,' he added. 'I sat and cried bitterly over my helplessness that I did not receive anything. But I will try again.'
The National
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israeli civilians try to stop aid lorries from entering Gaza
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Israeli protesters are attempting to block aid deliveries to Gaza through the Karam Abu Salem crossing. Video online showed lorries lined up on the road as men waving Israeli flags stood in front of them and stop them from crossing. Five lorries entered Gaza on Monday with the first delivery of aid for the Palestinian territory's 2.2 million people since Israel imposed a blockade on March 2. The UN Office for Co-ordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday that it had received permission from Israel to send in about 100 more lorries. Israel's decision to allow aid deliveries to resume comes amid increasing international pressure over what critics say is the weaponisation of hunger in its war against Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. Far right members of Israel's government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both settlers, are strongly opposed to the move, which they say would be a 'gift to Hamas'. On Monday, Israel cleared nine aid lorries for entry to Gaza but only five were allowed in. None of that aid has been distributed so far, according to the UN and aid agencies, although levels of hunger among Gazans have reached dangerous levels. This month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Gaza's entire population was at risk of famine. Health authorities in the enclave have said dozens of people, many of them children, have died from hunger. Speaking to The National, UN officials and NGOs said the amount of aid Israel is letting in is not enough. 'To think that 19 months into the conflict and 11 weeks into a full blockade, with IPC figures and images of emaciated people, including children, have been on full display, we are all back to counting trucks is truly disheartening,' said Tamara Alrifai, director of external relations and communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Before the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, Gaza was receiving at least 600 lorryloads of supplies each day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an easing of the aid blockade on Monday, saying that pressure from Israel's supporters over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza was reaching a 'red line'. In comments after a trip to the region last week, which did not include Israel, US President Donald Trump said Gazans were 'starving'. A US-Israeli plan for the distribution of aid has also been internationally criticised and boycotted by aid groups. Under the scheme, aid would be allowed in and immediately given out through four 'hubs', rather than stockpiled and distributed to people in need. This places civilians at risk and encourages their displacement, in beach of international humanitarian law, they said. Ms Al Rifai said the UN systems had worked when Israel allowed aid in and there was enough political will to see it through, as was seen during a ceasefire from mid-January to mid-March, when hundreds of lorries were allowed in daily. Even instances of looting by armed gangs had decreased in that time, because there was enough aid to go around, a UN official previously told The National.
