Latest news with #WorldFoodProgramme
Economist
7 hours ago
- Economist
Gaza is in a bloody limbo as the battle over Iran rages
THE IMAGES from southern Gaza are dire. Desperate crowds throng to get aid. Some people look relieved, hauling away bags of flour and boxes of food after waiting for hours. Others carry the bodies of dead relatives on makeshift pallets. On June 17th 51 Palestinians were killed and over 200 wounded at a hub run by the World Food Programme near the city of Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health authority. Witnesses say Israeli troops were to blame. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) says it is investigating the reports.
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Health
- Arab News
Gaza faces a manmade drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
GENEVA: Gaza is facing a manmade drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. 'Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,' UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. Israel is now channelling much of the aid into Gaza through a new US – and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private US security and logistics firms and operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. Israel has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring it doesn't get to Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called the current system for distributing aid 'a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness,' in a post on X on Wednesday. Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis. The World Food Programme called on Wednesday for a big increase in food distribution in Gaza, saying that the 9,000 metric tons it had dispatched over the last four weeks inside Gaza represented a 'tiny fraction' of what was needed. 'The fear of starvation and desperate need for food is causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit,' the WFP said in a statement. 'Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable,' it added. Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel's air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas. 'We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people,' said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza. 'We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten.'
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Gaza rescuers say 30 killed by Israeli fire
Palestinians ride on a truck loaded with food and humanitarian aid from the World Food Programme. (AP pic) GAZA CITY : Gaza's civil defence agency said 30 people were killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid. The war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel has ravaged the Gaza Strip, with severe shortages of food, fuel and clean water. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded 'after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells… at thousands of citizens' who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza. In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May. Since then, chaotic scenes and a string of deadly shootings have occurred near areas where Palestinians have gathered in hope of receiving aid. The civil defence agency said another 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, which it said targeted houses and a tent for displaced people. When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the reports. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency. The UN humanitarian office OCHA said on Monday that its partners 'continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity'. The civil defence agency reported that at least 53 people were killed on Tuesday, as they gathered near an aid centre in the southern city of Khan Yunis hoping to receive flour. After Israel eased its blockade, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths. In a statement on Tuesday, the organisation said that 'to date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites nor has an incident occurred during our operating hours.' UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. The Hamas attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to Israeli official figures. The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed major operations in the territory on March 18, ending a two-month truce. The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
Yemen Online
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yemen Online
Yemeni Security Forces Arrest Suspects in UN Official's Assassination in Taiz
Yemeni security authorities in Taiz governorate have announced the arrest of several individuals suspected of involvement in the assassination of UN official Moayad Hamidi, who was gunned down in the city of Al-Turba in July 2023. According to the Taiz Security Committee, the arrests were made during a joint security operation in the Al-Shamayatayn district, south of the city. The detained individuals are believed to be part of a terrorist cell linked to the Houthi militia, and are accused of carrying out acts of sabotage, murder, and resistance to law enforcement in Taiz, Aden, and Lahj. Authorities confirmed that the suspects have direct ties to the killing of Hamidi, a Jordanian national and head of the World Food Programme's office in Taiz, who was assassinated just days after assuming his post. The operation also led to the seizure of explosives, light and medium weapons, and vehicles rigged for attacks, which were allegedly intended for use in targeting military, security, and civilian leaders in Taiz and other regions. The security committee emphasized that investigations are ongoing and pledged to bring all perpetrators to justice, reaffirming its commitment to combating terrorism and protecting humanitarian workers operating in Yemen.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Gaza: Eleven killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid, rescuers say
Eleven Palestinians seeking aid were among at least 33 killed by Israeli gunfire and strikes across Gaza on Wednesday, rescuers and medics say.A spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defence agency said Israeli forces "opened fire and launched several shells" at thousands of people who were queuing for desperately needed food supplies on the main Salah al-Din Israeli military said troops operating in the Nuseirat area fired warning shots overnight after a group approached them in a manner that posed a potential threat, but that it was unaware of any 19 people were killed in three Israeli air strikes in northern and southern Gaza, according to the civil defence agency. They included eight who died when a home was hit in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, it the air strikes, the Israeli military said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" in the territory. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said on Wednesday afternoon that at least 140 people had been killed over the previous 24 ministry reported on Tuesday that 51 people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern city of Khan Younis, while the UN cited partner organisations working on health as putting the death toll at more than told the BBC that Israeli tanks and drones opened fire as crowds gathered near a charity community centre and a warehouse belonging to the UN's World Food Israeli military acknowledged that its troops were in the area and said the details of the incident were under a separate incident on Tuesday, the civil defence agency said another seven people seeking aid were killed and many others were injured on Rashid Street north-west of Gaza City.A doctor at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City told Reuters news agency that the fatalities were the result of Israeli air strikes and that the injuries were caused by Fida Masoud said her son "went to bring a bag of flour and came back [injured] in a bag".Meanwhile, a local journalist posted footage that he said showed his cousin celebrating after collecting a bag of flour for his family."A 50kg bag. I pulled it out from under the truck, inches from death," he declares. Almost 400 people have been killed while trying to get aid since 26 May, when the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) opened the first of its three distribution centre, according to the health GHF, which uses US private security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in UN and other aid groups refuse to co-operate with the new system, saying it contravenes the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and also warn that Gaza's population faces catastrophic levels of hunger after an 11-week total Israeli blockade that was partially eased a month US and Israel say GHF's system will prevent aid being stolen by Hamas, which the group denies Wednesday, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) condemned it as "lame, medieval and lethal"."Inviting starving people to their death is a war crime. Those responsible of this system must be held accountable," Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X."This is a disgrace and a stain on our collective consciousness." The GHF has not commented, but it said in a statement that it had so far distributed 30 million meals across its three distribution centres "without incident"."We remain focused on a singular mission: to feed the people of Gaza - and we are committed to scaling our efforts to reach even more in need," it WFP meanwhile warned that the 9,000 tonnes of food aid it had dispatched over the past four weeks was "a tiny fraction" of what was needed in also said the desperate need for food was causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit."Only a massive scale-up in food distributions can stabilize the situation, calm anxieties and rebuild the trust within communities that more food is coming," it military body Cogat reported that 85 lorry loads of aid entered southern and northern Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Erez West crossings on Tuesday, 66 of which were collected. Another 380 lorry loads of aid were waiting for collection by the UN, it Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 55,637 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.
