Latest news with #aidgroups
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
The White House keeps promising ‘lifesaving' aid that's not coming
Kelly Ryan is the president of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared last week before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he spent much of his testimony responding to criticisms of the Trump administration's use of executive orders in January to dismantle congressionally authorized foreign assistance. The cuts and freezes have sent aid groups scrambling to triage help for desperate communities.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Hamas orders starving Gazans to stay away from US-backed aid deliveries
Hamas has ordered Palestinians to stay away from vital aid delivered by a US-backed organisation, claiming it is part of an Israeli plot to gather intelligence. The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has ties to both the Israeli and US governments, has been approved by Israel to take over aid deliveries inside the Strip, despite strong opposition from the UN and most aid groups. Witnesses reported that very few Palestinians were turning up at distribution centres, despite Gaza 's population being pushed towards famine following Israel's three-month aid blockade. Hamas's warnings about biometric screening procedures, an apparent requirement before food packages are handed out, have frightened Gazans, according to reports. 'Do not go to Rafah ...Do not fall into the not risk your lives. Your homes are your fortress. Staying in your neighbourhoods is survival, and awareness is your protection,' a statement published by the Hamas-linked Home Front said. 'These schemes will be broken by the steadfastness of a people who do not know defeat,' it added. The GHF operation involves private security contractors guarding Israeli-designated corridors and distribution points, where aid groups can distribute food parcels to vetted Gazans. Currently four hubs are being set up, all close to Israeli military positions. The organisation said that the aid would reach a million Palestinians – just under half Gaza's population – by the end of the week. Israel's endorsement of the GHF plan – and the organisation's closeness with the US – has raised serious questions over the scheme's neutrality. Israel has said GHF is a US-backed initiative and that its forces will not be present at the distribution 'hubs'. Officials said the new system offers the opportunity to screen recipients to exclude anyone found to be connected with Hamas. The UN and most humanitarian groups have opposed the plan, claiming it will 'weaponise' aid and argued that deliveries must be carried out by parties independent to the conflict. 'Humanitarian assistance must not be politicised or militarised,' said Christian Cardon, chief spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Aid groups briefed on GHF's plans say anyone accessing aid has to submit to facial recognition technology that they fear will end up in the hands of Israel's government and used to track and potentially target them. Israel already makes extensive use of biometric identification in the West Bank and according to Israeli media, in Gaza too. GHF posted photographs on Monday of what it said were several Gazans carrying boxes of aid from a site near the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, but did not say how many turned up. On Tuesday, witnesses said that many Palestinians stayed away from the distribution hubs. 'As much as I want to go because I am hungry and my children are hungry, I am afraid,' Abu Ahmed, 55, a father of seven, told Reuters. 'I am so scared because they said the company belongs to Israel and is a mercenary, and also because the resistance (Hamas) said not to go,' he added. A non-profit registered in Geneva and Delaware, it is still not clear who is funding GHF, which has been rocked by the recent resignation of two of its most senior officials. Jake Wood, the executive director, resigned on Sunday because GHF's plans could not be consistent with what he called the 'humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence'. David Burke, the chief operating officer, also resigned, sources told the Washington Post.
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Controversial new U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza aid effort gets off to a slow, tumultuous start
What to know about the controversial aid group beginning operations in Gaza A controversial new U.S. and Israel-backed aid group says it began operating in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Monday, despite objections from the United Nations, other humanitarian groups, and the recent, sudden resignation of its American executive director, who said it couldn't operate independently. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GFH) said it opened its first aid distribution hubs in the enclave on Monday and that truckloads of food had been delivered. The GFH said in a statement that about 8,000 food boxes had been distributed by Tuesday afternoon, each one containing enough to feed "5.5 people for 3.5 days, totaling 462,000 meals." "More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day," GHF said in a statement. There were unconfirmed reports by Israeli and Palestinian media outlets that one of the aid hubs was abandoned by the security personnel in charge of securing the operation after thousands of people clambering for food overran the location. The Israel Hayom newspaper said the security forces withdrew to helicopters amid gunfire. In a statement, the GFH said there was a "moment in the late afternoon" at one of its Secure Distribution Sites when the number of people seeking aid "was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate. This was done in accordance with GHF protocol to avoid casualties. Normal operations have resumed." The group said some Palestinians endured "several hour delays in accessing the site due to blockades imposed by Hamas." In a separate statement, the Israeli military said troops had "fired warning shots in the area outside the compound. Control over the situation was established, food distribution operations are expected to continue as planned, and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised." The GFH — the leadership and funding of which have remained unclear — was created as Israel and its closest ally, the U.S., faced a growing outcry over Palestinians in Gaza starving amid Israel's nearly three-month blockade of the territory. Under intense pressure from the international community, Israel began letting some food into Gaza last week, but aid organizations have called it a "drop in the bucket" given the level of need. A displaced Palestinian receives a food package from a U.S.-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza, in western Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 27, 2025. AFP via Getty "As part of the gradual opening of the distribution centers, two of the centers, located in Tel al-Sultan and the Morag Corridor in the Rafah area, began operating today (Tuesday) and are distributing food packages to thousands of families in the Gaza Strip," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. "The establishment of the distribution centers took place over the last few months, facilitated by the Israeli political echelon and in coordination with the US government. This process coincided with an ongoing dialogue and cooperation with the IDF." The IDF said the new aid system was "operated by International Aid Organizations, and Secured by an American Civilian Security Company," but neither the military nor the GHF itself has named any global non-profit organizations involved in the effort, and it was unclear what security firm from the U.S. was helping secure the hubs. U.N. calls new aid operation a "distraction" On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office called the work of GHF a "distraction from what is actually needed," which the spokesperson said was the reopening of crossings into Gaza and the end of Israeli restrictions on the kind of aid entering the territory. The GFH has been tasked by Israel with taking over the handling of aid in Gaza despite objections from the U.N., which, along with other aid groups, has pushed back against the new system. They assert that Israel is trying to use food as a weapon and say a new system won't be effective. Israel has pushed for an alternative aid delivery plan because it says it must stop Hamas from seizing aid. The U.N. has denied that Hamas has diverted large amounts of aid. Hamas, long designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, also denies the allegations. The GFH began operations just a day after its executive director, American Jake Wood, announced his resignation and said it had become clear the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently. GFH said it had appointed an interim leader, John Acree, to replace Wood. The organization, said to be made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials, has said its distribution points will provide aid for a million Palestinians - around half of Gaza's population - by the end of the week. Under pressure from allies, Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering since early March. Aid groups had issued multiple warnings of a looming famine in Gaza. Hamas tells Palestinians not to use new aid system Hamas warned Palestinians on Monday not to cooperate with the new aid system, saying it is part of Israel's plans to transfer much of Gaza's population to other countries or to force people out of the north into the southern part of Gaza. Israel says it plans to facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of Gaza's population of 2 million, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Israel's military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90% of its population, many people multiple times. Deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza continue The desperately needed supplies started flowing into Gaza, according to the GHF, on Monday as Israeli strikes kill at least 52 people in the Palestinian territory. The airstrikes killed at least 36 people in a school-turned-shelter that was hit as people slept, setting their belongings ablaze, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said it targeted militants operating from the school, but CBS News met a young girl who said her mother and all of her sisters were killed in the strike as they slept in the building in the dead of the night. Palestinians comb the area following an Israeli airstrike at dawn on a school in the al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City that killed at least 31 people on May 26, 2025. Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu/Getty Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that ignited the war. Hamas and allied militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the 2023 attack. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. It says more than half the dead are women and children, but it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Says ‘a Lot of People Are Starving' in Gaza and the U.S. Wants to Help
President Trump said on Friday that 'a lot of people are starving' in the Gaza Strip under an Israeli blockade preventing aid deliveries, adding that the U.S. wanted to help alleviate the suffering. 'We're going to handle a couple of situations that you have here,' Mr. Trump said, speaking in the United Arab Emirates on the last leg of his visit to three Persian Gulf nations this week. 'We're looking at Gaza, and we got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There's a lot of bad things going on.' Aid groups have warned that the population of Gaza is on the brink of famine, and some Israeli military officials have begun to privately express concerns over the risk of starvation in the territory, 19 months after the war there began. In addition to the total siege it has imposed on Gaza for more than two months, Israel has escalated its military campaign in recent days. Strikes on Friday killed more than 100 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, a day after Israeli bombardment forced the closure of one of the enclave's major hospitals. Mr. Trump later told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. must take action on the Gaza crisis. He was en route home after the first major state visit of his second term, which took him to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 'I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month ,' Mr. Trump said. 'We have to help also out the Palestinians,' he added, noting that the United States would look at both sides of the issue. 'We'll do a good job,' he said. Gulf leaders pressed Mr. Trump on the plight of the Palestinians during his visit to the region. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, asked Mr. Trump to use American leverage to bring about peace in Gaza and end the killing. Israel started its total blockade on March 2. For more than 70 days, it has barred the entry of food, water and other supplies while cases of malnutrition and disease are spiraling. Israel says it is aiming to force Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that dominates Gaza, to accept new cease-fire conditions after a two-month truce fell apart. It also wants to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war. Israel has been threatening to escalate its military campaign in Gaza even further and recently stepped up the intensity of deadly military strikes. The United Nations-backed body that monitors starvation conditions in the world warned this week that Gaza is at 'critical risk of famine,' saying that 100 percent of the enclave's two million residents face a malnutrition crisis. The conditions in Gaza spurred the creation of an aid group with backing from the Trump administration, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The group says it aims to establish a new system for aid to flow into the territory in agreement with Israel. The foundation said it would set up a number of distribution centers where Gazans could pick up food, hygiene kits and other humanitarian support. The plan has been met with widespread skepticism from established humanitarian groups and U.N. agencies, which argue that the system could force sick or older Gazans into long and dangerous treks for aid. Vowing not to join the effort, the United Nations also warned that the foundation's distribution system could become a means for forced displacement, as most centers were expected to be in the southern part of the enclave. More than 90 percent of Gazans have been displaced in the war, many of them multiple times. Israel has declared about 70 percent of the enclave to be either 'no go' zones or under evacuation orders.
