Latest news with #refugeecamp
Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Sudan paramilitaries attack Darfur camp, killing over 40
Sudan 's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a famine-hit refugee camp in Darfur on Monday, killing at least 40 civilians, first responders said, as fighting in the western region rages on. The RSF stormed Abu Shouk camp, opening fire inside homes and on the streets, said the local Emergency Response Room – one of hundreds of volunteer networks providing frontline aid since war erupted between the army and the RSF in April 2023. It said more than 40 civilians were killed and at least 19 others wounded in the attack. The rescue group said civilians were 'killed either by stray bullets or direct executions' at the camp, located on the northern outskirts of al-Fashir – the last major city in Darfur still held by the Sudanese army. The RSF has laid a siege on al-Fashir since May 2024. The local resistance committee, a pro-democracy volunteer group, confirmed the toll of at least 40 killed in Monday's attack. The group condemned what it called 'horrific violations being committed against innocent, unarmed people.' In recent months, North Darfur state capital al-Fashir and nearby displacement camps have come under renewed RSF attacks, after the group was pushed out of Sudan's capital Khartoum by the army earlier this year. A major RSF offensive in April on the Zamzam camp displaced tens of thousands of people, with many seeking shelter in al-Fashir. The war between Sudan's army and the RSF, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and created what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. The conflict has effectively split the country in two with the army holding the north, east and center while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south. Last year, famine was declared in three camps around al-Fashir, including Abu Shouk, and the UN warned it could spread to the city by May. But data shortages have prevented an official declaration. This week alone, malnutrition has killed at least 63 people in al-Fashir, mostly women and children, a senior health official told AFP. Many families are unable to reach hospitals due to insecurity and lack of transport, choosing instead to bury loved ones quietly. At a community kitchen in al-Fashir, organizers have said some of the children and women they serve arrive there with swollen bellies, sunken eyes and signs of acute malnutrition. Abu Shouk community leader Adam Essa told AFP on Sunday that the camp has seen between five and seven child deaths daily. Across Sudan, nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity, according to UN figures. UNICEF's Sudan representative, Sheldon Yett, warned this week of a 'looming catastrophe.' 'We are on the verge of irreversible damage to an entire generation of children.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Voices: The killing of Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif in Gaza is an attack on truth itself
The news of Anas al-Sharif's killing hit me like a physical blow. A journalist with Al Jazeera, Anas was not my friend in the everyday sense – we never shared coffee, never walked the streets of Gaza together. But he was my neighbour. He was born in the same place I was born: Jabalia refugee camp. His family's home stood in the same crowded lanes where I grew up, among the same walls scarred by decades of displacement and war. Over the past 677 days, I saw him every single day – not in person, but through my screen. When the rest of the world looked away, Anas was still there, reporting from the very heart of my city, from the streets where my family still lives. At a time when no one else dared to enter northern Gaza, he walked through the rubble, speaking into his camera, delivering not just the news, but fragments of home. When Israel plunged Gaza into darkness, cutting communications and severing people from the outside world, Anas's voice broke through like oxygen. Through his reports, I could see the neighbourhoods I knew, hear the voices I recognised, and feel the pulse of a place I am exiled from but can never leave in my heart. He was more than a journalist – he was the thread that connected me to my people in their darkest hour. That made him a target. The Israeli army threatened Anas several times. They warned him to stop reporting from the north. They told him his life was in danger. He knew exactly what they meant – in Gaza, such threats are never empty. Yet he never stopped. He refused to be silenced. Instead, he doubled down, documenting every bombing, every destroyed home, every lifeless child carried from the ruins. He understood better than anyone that Israel does not just want to erase lives – it wants to erase the record of those lives. And it has made sure of that by banning international journalists from entering Gaza, leaving Palestinian reporters like Anas to bear the entire, deadly weight of telling the world what is happening. Israel even accused him of being Hamas – an accusation as absurd as it was predictable – despite the fact that Anas spent most of the past 23 months in front of the camera, reporting live, his location always known. I often knew exactly where he was, just by following his social media and Al Jazeera broadcasts. The question is: why did Israel kill him now? Is it because what is coming to Gaza is even darker, with the latest announcement of invading Gaza City and displacing more than a million people? Anas even pleaded publicly with the international community to protect journalists in Gaza so they could continue to expose Israeli war crimes. He was not asking for special treatment. He was asking for the basic right to do his job without being killed for it. That plea, like so many others from Gaza, went unanswered. On 10 August 2025, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent outside al-Shifa Hospital where Anas and his colleagues were covering the famine and starvation gripping Gaza. The strike killed Anas along with four other journalists – Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. It was not just an attack on individuals; it was an attack on the truth itself. Anas's killing is part of a relentless pattern. Since the war began in October 2023, over 230 journalists have been killed in Gaza – the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history. The vast majority were Palestinian reporters, camera operators, and media workers, many of whom were the sole remaining eyes and ears for the outside world. But journalists are not the only ones targeted. Israel has also killed over 400 aid workers, including UN staff and Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers. It has bombed clearly marked ambulances and convoys. More than 700 doctors, nurses, and paramedics have been killed. Hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or rendered inoperative. These are not 'collateral damage' – these are deliberate strikes on the people and infrastructure meant to protect life. And still, no one has been held accountable. Not for Anas. Not for the executed medics in Rafah. Not for the aid workers buried in mass graves. The world issues statements of concern, but statements cannot stop bombs. Words without action are just noise – and in Gaza, the noise is already deafening. For me, this loss is deeply personal. Anas and I shared the same streets growing up, the same camp, the same stubborn will to survive. I have lived in exile for years, but through his reporting, I could still feel close to Gaza. Every time he went live, I knew I was watching someone who was not just doing his job – he was carrying the burden of speaking for an entire people. He filmed not as an outsider looking in, but as someone living the nightmare alongside those he reported on. He showed the world mothers digging through rubble for their children. Fathers carrying tiny bodies wrapped in white cloth. Children searching for food among the debris. And he showed it without flinching, without sanitising, without letting anyone look away. That is why they killed him. And that is why we must remember him. If there is any award, any honour, any recognition worth giving, it belongs to the Palestinian journalists of Gaza. They have risked – and given – their lives so the truth could survive. Their work has been done under constant bombardment, without protective gear, without safe corridors, and often while their own families were being killed. Anas al-Sharif will never report another story. But his courage remains. His words remain. And his example must remain a rallying cry – not just for press freedom, but for justice. Because the killing of journalists is not just a crime against the press. It is a crime against history itself. It is an attempt to ensure that what happened in Gaza can one day be denied. We cannot allow that to happen. For Anas. For every journalist, aid worker, and medic killed. For the people of Gaza still living – and dying – under siege. Ahmed Najar is a Palestinian economist and commentator originally from Gaza, now based in London
Arab News
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Gaza civil defense says Israeli strikes kill 30
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defense agency said Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and 'targeted a number of citizens' homes' in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received 'the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children.' There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, whose forces have been conducting operations against militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip for almost 22 months. The Israeli offensive, triggered by a bloody attack by the Palestinian group on October 7, 2023 attack, has killed more than 59,900 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. At the weekend, under pressure from international opinion to head off the territory's slide into famine, Israel declared a series of 'tactical pauses' which began on Sunday to allow aid deliveries. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers 'key populated areas' between 10 am (0700 GMT) and 8 p.m. every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6 am to 11 pm, Netanyahu's office said. Overnight, however, strikes continue. COGAT, an Israeli defense ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies on Monday. Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said.
Globe and Mail
26-07-2025
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Witnessing starvation on the streets of Gaza
Years ago, I planted a tree by my house that produced wild fruit. I didn't know what it was, and thought it might be poisonous, so no one went near the fruit. But as the famine in Gaza has worsened, I started to see children climb the tree every day and eat the fruit, though I warned them not to many times. Their answer is always the same: 'We are very hungry.' Children, who should be safe and protected, have to look for any food, even if it is dangerous. Words are inadequate. What is happening in Gaza is not just a temporary food crisis as sometimes reported in international media. It is a real famine. A few days ago, we heard shouting and noise outside our home in the Bureij refugee camp. We rushed to the door and found a woman lying on the ground, unconscious. Some young men were trying to help her and had called an ambulance. We brought her water and tried to wake her up. When the medics arrived, they said she was suffering from severe malnutrition. She hadn't eaten for days. Her body was so weak that she had collapsed in front of our home. This is now normal in the streets of Gaza. Pale faces, sunken eyes, and thin bodies searching for something to eat. Many don't know if they will find food today or not. Our life in Gaza is hungry and sleep-deprived under Israel's blockade Hassan Abdel Fattah, 25, was healthy before the war. Today he sits in the corner of his room at the Bureij camp, unable to move. He has lost more than half of his weight. 'I can't stand on my feet,' he tells me in a voice low with fatigue. 'My body is collapsing, and sometimes I feel like my heart will stop from how tired I am. The last time I ate meat was five months ago.' Om Ibrahim is a mother living with her six children in a tent in the refugee camp. She says that she sometimes cooks a light lentil soup for them to eat. 'My children cry all night from hunger,' she says. 'I give them water to calm them, but it doesn't help any more.' My family – my wife and our four children – is made up of adults, but that doesn't make life any easier. We start each day searching for something to eat for breakfast. Most days we try to buy hummus or falafel if they're available, though prices have become very high. We used to buy 10 pieces of falafel for about 25 cents. Now, we buy one piece for the same cost. Sometimes we find nothing, so we just eat lentils. Bread is rare since flour is almost gone. We usually eat with spoons instead of mopping food up with bread as we used to do. Because of the power cuts, we don't use a fridge any more. That means we must eat everything immediately and we can't save food for the next day. The borders with Israel and Egypt remain closed. Only very small amounts of aid enters Gaza. There are no shops open, only a few random street stalls that change location and what they sell from day to day. If we're lucky, we find a little bit of vegetables. As for meat or chicken, we haven't tasted them in more than five months either, like Mr. Abdel Fattah. At Al Awda hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp, a nurse, Imad Muharab was examining a child suffering from extreme thinness. 'We receive dozens of children every day with malnutrition,' he says. 'Most of them have dehydration, severe thinness and ongoing diarrhea. Sadly, we don't have enough medicine or special food.' He said that basic medical tools are hard to find. 'Sometimes we have to send kids home, even though they badly need treatment,' he says. Journalists are also suffering from hunger, making it hard to do our job. When I visited Al Awda hospital recently, a journalist standing near me fainted in front of the medical team. It was a shocking moment. He was helped immediately. Later, they discovered he had very low blood pressure, severe malnutrition and was exhausted. Aya Hasaballah, a nutrition expert, says hunger slowly breaks down a person's health and it is worse for Gaza's children. 'Most children today don't get enough protein or calories, or important nutrients like iron, zinc and iodine,' she says. 'This causes serious problems like low weight, stunted growth and anemia as well as weak immunity.' Canada, 24 other nations urge Israel to end war in Gaza, condemn 'drip feeding of aid' She says the effects of hunger will not end when the war ends. Children with malnutrition are at risk of brain development issues and chronic diseases in the future such as diabetes and heart problems, as well as mental-health ones including anxiety and depression. Compared to past wars or crises in Gaza, the situation is much harder this time. In previous conflicts, even with bombing and power cuts, people could buy some basic needs on some days. Aid was allowed in. But now there has been almost no real ceasefire, markets are not open and the crossings are mostly closed. The same goes for medical supplies including medicine, disinfectants and personal hygiene items. As for those who die from hunger, their families face problems just to bury them. The cost of a grave in Gaza is about $370 Canadian – a very high amount for families who have lost their income.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Israeli airstrike hits refugee camp
Middle East correspondent Perry Wilton spoke to Melissa Chan-Green about an Israeli airstrike that killed ten people, including six children, in central Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli army claims a technical error caused the strike which hit a crowd waiting to fill water containers in a refugee camp. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
