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☆ Gaza aid efforts dealt major blow as Israel’s deadly attack on relief workers prompts withdrawal of agencies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

WCK and Anera, another aid group, have said they will pause operations in Gaza following the incident. Israel maintains there is no limit on the amount of food or humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza, but aid agencies accuse it of deliberately restricting deliveries. Shortly afterwards, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), an NGO that delivers aid to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan, also suspended its Gaza operations. Along with Turkey, the UAE is the biggest donor of aid to Gaza, according to COGAT, providing 25% of all aid from foreign nations. The fate of the extra aid WCK had planned for Gaza is also uncertain.

Persons: “, ” WCK, Jose Andres, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Juliette Touma, Ismael Abu Dayyah, WCK, Touma, Ghassan, ” Abu, Sittah, CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Anera, Barak Ravid, Nikos Christodoulides, Jamie McGoldrick Organizations: CNN, United Arab Emirates, Integrated, UN’s, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Israel, UN, WCK, Reuters, Wednesday, UNRWA, Israel’s, CARE, ICRC, United Nations, Israel Defense Forces, East Refugee, West Bank, Touma, UN agency’s Locations: Gaza, Cyprus, Israel, UAE, ”, East, Gaza’s, Deir al Balah, Cypriot, Larnaca, Territories, Egypt, Jordan, British, Palestinian, Gazan, Deir, American, Lebanon, Axois, Turkey, The Gulf, UNRWA, Palestinian Territory

☆ 7 Aid Workers Killed in Gaza Were Known for a Passion for Helping Others
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Gaya Gupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They are the latest casualties in the growing toll of aid workers killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and they are among more than a dozen workers who have been killed while doing their jobs. Gaza has been the deadliest place for aid workers since the Oct. 7 attacks. According to the Aid Worker Security Database, a compilation of data on attacks funded by the United States Agency for International Development, 203 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war started. All were Palestinian, except for six of the World Central Kitchen workers most recently killed, who were citizens of Australia, the United States, Canada, Poland and Britain. As of Monday, 176 workers from UNRWA, the U.N. agency dedicated to Palestinians, have been killed, according to the group.

Persons: humanitarians Organizations: Central Kitchen, Aid Worker Security, United States Agency for International Development, Central Locations: Gaza, Palestinian, Deir al Balah, Australia, United States, Canada, Poland, Britain

☆ After Strike, Aid Groups in Gaza Are More Fearful Than Ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( John Yoon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aid groups in Gaza said on Tuesday that they were more concerned than ever about the safety of their staff members there after seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an airstrike, saying that the deaths underscored the growing challenges of meeting Palestinians’ basic needs. Humanitarian workers have been killed throughout the war in Gaza. Several other aid groups say their staff members have been killed in airstrikes. As they assessed their future plans, aid groups urged the Israeli authorities to adhere to the international laws that protect humanitarian workers. “Everybody feels endangered now,” said Michael Capponi, the founder of Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit aid group distributing tents, sleeping bags, medical equipment and food to Palestinians in Gaza.

Persons: Juliette Touma, ”, Michael Capponi, Capponi, “ Organizations: Central, UNRWA, United Nations, Global Empowerment, Central Kitchen Locations: Gaza

☆ 'Uncommitted' Democrats may dump Biden over the war in Gaza. They say it's not their fault if Trump wins.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

AdvertisementFor the leading voices in the uncommitted movement, that's missing the point — and it's insulting. The "Listen to Michigan" campaign was originally conceived in a memo drafted by Waleed Shahid, a progressive strategist and former spokesman for the left-wing group Justice Democrats. "There is an entire menu of things that President Biden could do to move in the direction of discontinuing the funding of the killing," he said. What uncommitted voters are ultimately looking for is a sense of seriousness and clarity that they feel has been lacking from Biden. Uncommitted movement organizers do not seem to be taking glee in embarrassing Biden.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Layla Elabed, Abbas Alawieh, Donald Trump, Mitch Landrieu, uncommitted, Trump, Abdullah Hammoud, Waleed Shahid, Jeff Kowalsky, Rashida Tlaib, —, Cori Bush, Missouri —, Elabed, Mayor Hammoud, that's, Hammoud, haven't, I've, James Zogby, We're, Alawieh, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Andy Levin, Zogby, Ronald Reagan, Menachem Begin, Seth Meyers, he's, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Service, Democratic, Democratic National Convention, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, Dearborn, Biden, Movement, Michigan, Democrats, Getty, Democratic Party, Trump, Arab American Institute and, Union, UN, Democrat, Israel Locations: Gaza, Detroit, Michigan, Israel, American, United States, Dearborn, AFP, Missouri, Dearborn Heights, Hamtramck, —, Biden's, Arab, Chicago, Paterson, Rafah, Beirut, New York

☆ Hundreds of trucks full of aid sit idle near border with Gaza as crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Charlene Gubash | Doha Madani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Israeli officials have been imposing an opaque and cumbersome process and worsening the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, Nossair and other aid officials charge. Israeli officials have repeatedly denied obstructing aid from entering Gaza, and instead blame the U.N. for acute shortages of lifesaving supplies in the strip — particularly the north. (Aid agencies and the U.N. say Gaza needs between 500 and 600 trucks a day carrying both humanitarian aid and commercial goods.) COGAT has said it places "no limit" on the amount of aid entering Gaza but subjects some items to higher security scrutiny. Israeli officials have also blamed the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) for a failure to distribute aid.

Persons: Mohamed Nossair, Nossair, COGAT, Kerem, Israel Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, NBC News, United Nations, NBC, UNRWA Locations: Israeli, Kerem, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Ismailia, Territories, Kerem Shalom, Egypt, COGAT

☆ U.N. Peacekeepers Injured in Lebanon Blast as Tensions Rise
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | Euan Ward | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The Israeli authorities have denied blocking UNRWA, but Israel and the aid agency have been locked in a dispute over not only responsibility for the crisis, but also the status of UNRWA itself. UNRWA suspended the staff members and opened an investigation, but some of its biggest donors have since suspended funding. U.N. officials and international aid groups have reported severe and deadly malnutrition in Gaza and have blamed Israel, which inspects every truckload aid. In some cases, crowds of people have swarmed the trucks, stripping them of supplies. The World Food Program said that only 11 of its convoys carrying food had reached the north since the start of the year.

Persons: Philippe Lazzarini, Israel, Lazzarini, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr, Natalia Kanem, “ Organizations: Nations, International Court of Justice, United Nations, UNRWA, “, Food Program Locations: Israel, Gaza, The Hague

☆ UN chief urges massive Gaza aid flow, sees 'dramatic starvation'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Secretary-General answered questions on upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai and continued war between Israel and Hamas. Israel should lift all obstacles to aid into Gaze and allow convoys of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into northern Gaza where starvation is looming, Guterres said. Palestinians wait to receive food during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip March 13, 2024. Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty ImagesIsrael stopped all imports of food, medicine, power and fuel into Gaza at the start of the war. Although it later let in aid deliveries, aid organisations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through a war zone have greatly hindered their operations.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, Lev Radin, Lightrocket, Israel, Guterres, Mohammed Salem, Mohammed Abed, Getty Images Israel, Ayman Safadi Organizations: UN, Getty, UNRWA, Hamas, Reuters, Palestinian, Getty Images, Jordan's, . Security, Afp Locations: Chile, Antarctica, Dubai, Israel, Gaza, Jordan, Rafah, Gaza's, Palestinian, Jordan's, Ramadan

CNN —Israeli forces have surrounded two more hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said, describing intense shelling and heavy gunfire. The PRCS said Sunday that Al-Amal Hospital and Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza were both encircled. Both hospitals were surrounded by Israeli forces for prolonged spells earlier this year. On Monday, the IDF launched a fresh operation at Al Shifa after claiming that “senior Hamas terrorists” were using the facility. Hamas accused Israel of striking targets “without regard” to the patients or medical staff inside – a claim echoed by people at the complex.

Persons: PRCS, Amir Abu Aisha, “, Khan Yunis, Yoav Gallant, Shifa, Al Shifa, ”, Israel, General António Guterres, Guterres, Israel Katz, Katz, – Organizations: CNN, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Amal Hospital, Nasser Hospital, Israel Defense Forces, Al, Islamic Jihad, Getty, Gaza Ministry, Israeli, IDF, Health, AFP, Foreign, UN Locations: Gaza, Israel, Gaza’s, Khan, AFP, Al, –, ” Israel

☆ It happened again: These 20 House members, mostly Republican, voted against millions in funding for their own districts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"Ultimately, I don't control what the final language of the total funding bill will be," said Higgins. Higgins voted against the bill, despite securing $2.3 million in federal funding for an emergency operations center at the port in Morgan City, Louisiana. He was one of 20 House members — 15 Republicans and 5 Democrats — who voted against Friday's government funding bill despite securing so-called "earmarks," known officially as congressionally directed spending. Related storiesThe other 30% was contained in a separate funding bill passed roughly two weeks ago, but that bill contained far more earmarks, especially for House members. Nonetheless, 42 House members who secured earmarks voted against it anyway, 40 of whom were Republicans.

Persons: —, Clay Higgins, couldn't, Higgins, congressionally, Pramila Jayapal, Mandel Ngan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Johnson, Pramila, Jayapal, Greene, Lauren Boebert, Brian Babin, Texas Gus Bilirakis, Florida John Curtis of, Florida John Curtis of Utah Mike Ezell, Mississippi Garrett Graves, Louisiana Michael Guest, Mississippi Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee Clay Higgins, Louisiana Trent Kelly, Mississippi Burgess Owens, Utah Mike Rogers, Alabama Chris Smith of, Alabama Chris Smith of New Jersey Greg Steube, Florida Jeff Van Drew, New Jersey Randy Weber of Organizations: Service, Louisiana Republican, Business, Pentagon, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Democratic, Seattle Public Library, Getty, Republican, Republicans, GOP, Congressional Progressive Caucus, UN Relief and Works Agency, Louisiana, Alabama Chris Smith of New, New Locations: Louisiana, Morgan City , Louisiana, AFP, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Gaza, Washington, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Florida John Curtis of Utah, Mississippi, Utah, Alabama, Alabama Chris Smith of New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey Randy Weber of Texas

GAZA StripWhy Isn’t More Aid Getting to Gazans? From El Arish, the trucks carrying aid typically undergo security checks in Rafah, Egypt, shortly before reaching the border with Gaza. One arrow points from near Rafah crossing to Kerem Shalom crossing, and a second arrow points from near Rafah crossing to Nitzana crossing. One arrow points from Nitzana crossing to Rafah crossing, and another points from Nitzana to Kerem Shalom crossing. More than a hundred Gazans died near a convoy on Feb. 29, after thousands massed around aid trucks.

Persons: Israel El Arish JORDAN Trucks, Balah Netivot Khan Younis Ofakim, Balah Khan, Salah Al Din, Rashid, Kerem, Khan Younis, Al Rashid, Israel, Trucks, Scott Anderson, Shimon Freedman, COGAT, Freedman, Mr, Anderson, Gazans, ”, Naser Qadous, Balah, Khan Younis Ofakim, Carl Skau, Sarah Schiffling, Deir, Younis Ofakim, Deir al, Biden, it’s, Schiffling, Juliette Touma, ” Ms, Touma Organizations: United Nations, West Bank Ships, Bank, Israel El Arish Trucks, Jordan, El Arish Egypt Israel Nitzana, Arrows, UNRWA, Food, Food Program, Hanken School of Economics, Central Locations: GAZA, Gaza, Gaza’s, SyRIA, Port, Israel El Arish, Cairo Egypt Saudi Arabia, Bank GAZA, Jordan Egypt, Ashkelon Gaza, Rafah, Egypt, El Arish Egypt Israel, Egypt Rafah, Egypt Israel, Rafah Rafah, Kerem, Kerem Shalom, Sderot GAZA, Gaza City Sderot Al Rashid, El Arish, Port Sa’id, Jordan, From El Arish, Nitzana, Israel, United States, Anera, ”, Khan Younis Ofakim Israel Rafah, Shalom, U.S, Air, France, Finland, Gaza City, Cyprus, Sderot, Balah, Deir

☆ Netanyahu says he’s trying everything to get more aid to Gaza. Aid groups say that’s not true
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In his interview with CNN, Netanyahu made several claims about his country’s aid policy in Gaza. The Israeli leader’s claim contradicts statements he made previously, in which he boasted about permitting “minimal humanitarian aid” to enter Gaza. “We provide minimal humanitarian aid,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in January. The first 15 days of March saw an average of 165 aid trucks per day cross into Gaza, UNRWA reported Sunday. The UN and other aid groups have reported some of their aid trucks had been looted, but haven’t ascribed any blame for it.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, CNN’s Dana Bash, Netanyahu, Israel, ” Netanyahu, ”, Yoav Gallant, “, “ I’ve, Janti Soeripto, – we’ve, Martin Griffiths, Long, haven’t, Sameh Shoukry, Netanyahu lauds, Philippe Lazzarini, Israel hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Israeli, United Nations, European Union, Children, ” Trucks, UN, Food Programme, Palestine, UNRWA, Amnesty International, Aid, Palestinian, CNN Sunday, Israeli Defense Force Locations: Gaza, United States, Territories, Rafah, Israel, Egypt, Arish, airdrops

☆ Israel to Attend New Ceasefire Talks as UN Says Gaza Hunger Crisis Worsens
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

DOHA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The main U.N. aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition is rising more quickly in the north of the enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new ceasefire talks. Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after its enemy Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners. Israel's ground and air campaign has killed more than 31,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Israel says it puts no limit on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and blames slow aid delivery on incapacity or inefficiency among U.N. agencies. Air and sea relief deliveries into Gaza have started, but aid agencies say these are no substitute for bringing in supplies by land.

Persons: David Barnea, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ramadan, Olaf Scholz, Jordan, Andrew Mills, Angus McDowall, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: The United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Hamas, Air, Maayan Locations: DOHA, JERUSALEM, Gaza, Israel, Qatar, Rafah, Cyprus, United States, Doha, Jerusalem

☆ U.N. Agency in Gaza Says One in Three Children Under 2 Is Acutely Malnourished
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - One in three children under age 2 in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished and famine is looming, the main U.N. agency operating in the Palestinian enclave said on Saturday. "Children's malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza," the U.N. Hospitals in Gaza have reported some children dying of malnutrition and dehydration. Israel says it puts no limit on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and blames slow aid delivery on incapacity or inefficiency among U.N. agencies. Israel has accused UNRWA of complicity with Hamas, saying some staff members took part in the Oct. 7 attack and calling for the agency to be dismantled.

Persons: Israel, Janez Lenarcic, Angus McDowall, Jason Neely Organizations: Reuters, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, IPC, Air, UNRWA, Union Locations: Gaza, Israel, Cyprus

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Ramadan in Gaza, Rafah UNRWA food distribution center
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli shelling killed at least 20 people and wounded 155 others as civilians waited for food aid in Gaza City on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied the attack and said it was assessing "the incident with the thoroughness that it deserves." The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of "targeting a gathering of citizens waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwaiti Roundabout in Gaza." The roundabout is known to be an area where aid trucks commonly distribute food, attracting crowds of people desperate for supplies. Eyewitnesses said the area was struck by what sounded like tank or artillery fire.

Organizations: Palestinian Health Ministry, Israel Defense Forces, Kuwaiti Locations: Gaza City, Gaza

☆ Second Gaza Aid Convoy Ends in Violence, With at Least 20 Killed
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | Anushka Patil | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

For the second time in just over two weeks, a convoy bringing aid to hunger-stricken northern Gaza ended in bloodshed late Thursday when Palestinians were killed and wounded in an attack surrounding the trucks, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military, which offered divergent accounts of what happened. The Israeli military has said that most of the people died in a stampede and that some were run over by the trucks. Israel, which has been under growing pressure to allow more aid into the territory, had organized that convoy to northern Gaza, where the United Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands of people are facing starvation. It was not clear immediately on Friday who had sent the latest supplies, driven the trucks or provided security for them. The Israeli military said it had “facilitated the passage” of the 31 trucks but did not elaborate on that.

Persons: ” Organizations: Gaza Health Ministry, “, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Kuwait, Gaza City, Israel

☆ First ship carrying aid approaches Gaza Strip as Israel accused of stalling supplies
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Dalya Al Masri | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Video footage from the AFP news agency showed the ship visible off the shore of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning London time. Israel last year agreed to work with Cyprus in setting up an aid corridor across the sea between the European Union member and the Gaza Strip. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and food supplies at the Kerem Shalom Crossing on the Israel-Gaza border. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it continues to expand its efforts to enable the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, Refugees International released a report that alleges that Israel is obstructing the entry of life-saving supplies into the Gaza Strip.

Persons: —, Juliette Touma, Ahmad Hasaballah, Nebal Farsakh, Farsakh, Israel, Touma, Menahem Kahana, Philippe Lazzarini, Jesse Marks, Jordan, José Andrés, Jose Andres, Sen, Chris Coons, Peter Welch, Andres, Chip Somodevilla Organizations: Afp, Getty, AFP, European Union, Israeli Foreign Ministry, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, CNBC, Palestinian Health Ministry, Palestine Red Crescent Society, West Bank, Bloomberg, Israel Defense Forces, United Arab Emirates, ., IDF, Palestinian, Refugees International, UN, Gaza, Arms, U.S, Capitol Locations: Cypriot, Larnaca, Gaza, Spanish, Cyprus, Israel, Rafah, Egypt, Palestine, Israeli, Kerem, U.S, United States, Israel's, Morocco, Israel's Ben Gurion, WASHINGTON, DC, Washington ,

☆ Aid is being shipped to Gaza by sea. But a new maritime corridor is unlikely to stop the looming famine
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

With Palestinians in Gaza in dire need, any aid is welcome, but aid groups say maritime and air-dropped aid should be complementary to land deliveries, not a substitute. How do maritime aid deliveries compare to other methods? The US and other countries have meanwhile been air-dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza, a method aid agencies have criticized as ineffective given the scale of need in Gaza. Mousa Salem/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Palestinians transport bags of flour on the back of trucks as humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza City on March 6. Omar Qattaa/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Humanitarian aid packages are dropped from the air by Jordanian army planes in Gaza City on March 1.

Persons: WCK, Israel, ”, Michael Fakhr, Jamie McGoldrick, ” WCK, Joe Biden, Mahmud Hams, Lior Haiat, “, COGAT, Menahem Kahana, McGoldrick, Josep Borrell, Ashraf Al, Qidra, Loay, Fadi, Kamal Adwan, Omar Qattaa, Saher, Ahmed Qannan, Mohammed Salem, Said Khatib, Dawoud Abo, Jehad, crouches, Abed Zagout, Yazan, Rabie Abu Noqaira, Mohammed Abed, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Yasser Qudih, Fatima Shbair, ” Juliette Touma, ” Touma Organizations: CNN, Gaza, Spanish, European Commission, United Arab, Israel, Aid, UN, Pentagon, AFP, Getty, Crescent, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, Foreign, European Union, Food Programme, Gaza Ministry, Health, Washington Post, Kamal, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, US Air Force, UPI, Dawoud Abo Alkas, Communications Locations: Cyprus, Gaza, United States, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Israel, Port, Rimal, Gaza City, UAE, Palestinian, AFP, Cypriot, Territories, Kerem, Rafah, Egypt, Mousa Salem, Jordanian

☆ Many Aid Deliveries for Gaza Are Rejected for ‘Dual-Use’ Items, Groups Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

COGAT, the Israeli agency overseeing aid deliveries into Gaza, accused Mr. Lazzarini of lying, saying that it was in constant contact with the United Nations and had not been notified of the denial. The agency said 1.5 percent of aid trucks trying to enter the territory had been turned away. Mr. Lazzarini is the latest official to say that the Israeli military’s inspections are keeping aid from getting to Gaza’s 2.2 million people. A member of the British Parliament said this month that Israel had turned away 1,350 water filters and 2,560 solar lights provided by the British government because they were considered a threat. Many items that have been turned away aren’t explicitly listed, she said.

Persons: Philippe Lazzarini, Mr, Lazzarini, David Cameron, Israel, Miriam Marmur, aren’t Organizations: UNRWA, United Nations Locations: Gaza

☆ Israeli forces claim to assassinate a Hamas commander in a strike on a U.N. aid warehouse in Rafah.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Anushka Patil | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Israeli military confirmed that it had bombed an aid warehouse in Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday, saying it had “precisely targeted” and killed a Hamas commander in an attack that the United Nations said also killed at least one aid worker and injured 22 others. The Israeli military said the Hamas commander, whom it identified as Muhammad Abu Hasna, was “involved in taking control of humanitarian aid” and coordinating “the activities of various Hamas units.”UNRWA, the U.N. agency that supports Palestinians, said the strike in Gaza’s southernmost city hit one of its facilities that serves as both an aid warehouse and a food distribution center. The agency, formally the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, is the largest provider of aid on the ground in Gaza and the chief lifeline for the enclave’s 2.2 million residents, more than half of whom have been forced by Israeli military orders or fighting to cram into Rafah. The UNRWA facility was not distributing food to civilians on Wednesday, but more than 50 staff members were working at the facility when it was hit by Israeli forces around noon, according to Juliette Touma, an UNRWA spokeswoman. Physical damage to the facility appeared to be minimal, but the human toll was “quite high” and some of the 22 wounded aid workers were “severely injured,” she said.

Persons: Muhammad Abu Hasna, Juliette Touma, “, ” Organizations: United Nations, UNRWA, United Nations Relief, Works Agency Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Gaza’s

☆ This Ramadan, American Muslims say they feel urgent need to send aid to Gaza as threat of mass starvation looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Monica Haider | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

On Friday, the European Union announced it’s opening an emergency maritime aid corridor from Cyprus to Gaza with allies including the US. The day prior, President Joe Biden announced the US Military is planning to build a temporary port along the Gaza coast to try to deliver much-needed humanitarian relief. In 2023, the nonprofit Islamic Relief raised more than $30 million in online donations during Ramadan, according to a spokesman for the organization. The charity, Human Appeal, has provided humanitarian relief in Gaza since 1991, according to Samina Taj, the organization’s associate director of communications. Since the start of the war in Gaza, Taj said their teams have mobilized to try to meet the desperate need for aid.

Persons: Nadia Duwaik, Duwaik, Joe Biden, Israel, Rashid, Dawoud Abo, Jad Shaheen, they’re, ”, ” Duwaik, she’s, Awrad Saleh, “, ” Saleh, Khan, It’s, it’s, Allah, Nasma, Shehadeh, ” Shehadeh, Ashraf Amra, Taj, Ramadan, Noor Traina, Traina Organizations: CNN, Ministry of Health, United Nations, European Union, Military, Dawoud Abo Alkas, Anadolu Agency, Getty, West Bank, Palestinian Children’s Relief, United Nations Agency, Islamic Relief, Islamic, The United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees Locations: Israel, Gaza, United, Cyprus, al, Gaza City, Palestinian American, West, Palestine, Khan Yunis, Rafah, Bethlehem, New York, East, Egypt, Washington , DC, Libya

☆ Israel Hamas War: Latest Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Distribution of humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, in Rafah, Gaza, earlier this week. But aid workers say that the maritime project is not ambitious enough to alleviate the humanitarian disaster unfolding as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip. The floating pier, General Ryder said, would be built and assembled alongside an Army ship off the Gaza coast. Israeli officials have denied they are hampering the flow of aid, saying the United Nations and aid groups are responsible for any backlogs. “We want to see the amount of aid going via land increase significantly,” General Ryder said.

Persons: Biden, Biden’s, Pat Ryder, General Ryder, Sigrid Kaag, “, Israel, ” General Ryder, “ We’re, ” Organizations: United Nations Relief, Works Agency, Pentagon, U.S ., 7th Transportation Brigade, Base, Army, Defense, U.S . Army, . Security Council, Israel ., United Nations, ” Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Eustis, Va, Norfolk, Egypt, Kerem, Israel, United, U.S, ”

☆ Plan to Deliver Aid by Sea Faces Big Hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Gaya Gupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

“It constitutes tacit consent and encouragement on the part of the governments of Canada and Sweden to continue to ignore the involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activity,” the statement said. In a government statement on Saturday, Sweden said that it would disburse a conditional first payment of some $20 million. The United Nations has also commissioned an external review. The United States and other countries announced plans this week to try to get aid into northern Gaza by sea through the Mediterranean coast. In recent weeks, nations have been sending in aid via airdrops attached to parachutes.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, ” Philippe Lazzarini, Aaron Boxerman Organizations: United Nations, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNRWA, Nations, European Union, United, Palestinian Locations: Canada, Sweden, Gaza, Israel, United States, Jerusalem

☆ Middle East Crisis Head of U.N. Aid Agency Says Israel Is Trying to Undermine Its Work
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

He warned on Monday that the worst might be yet to come in Gaza if humanitarian services collapse. The head of the United Nations agency providing aid for Palestinians in Gaza has said that his organization was being targeted with a “deliberate and concerted campaign” to undermine its operations when its services are most needed. Israel’s accusations in January prompted 16 donor countries, including the United States, to suspend about $450 million in funding. The court, the United Nations’ highest judicial body, has ordered Israel to take immediate steps to facilitate the aid Gaza desperately needs and is weighing whether Israel has committed genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel has a long history of friction with UNRWA, which was founded in 1949 and is one of the oldest U.N. agencies.

Persons: Philippe Lazzarini, Lazzarini, Israel, ”, ” Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu, Matthew Miller, Biden, “ Organizations: UNRWA, United Nations, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, General Assembly, International Court of Justice, Palestinian, U.S . State Department Locations: Geneva, Gaza, New York, Israel, United States

☆ UN agency accuses Israel of detaining, coercing staffers into false confessions about ties to Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Tel Aviv, Israel CNN —The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Monday accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staffers, coercing them into making false confessions about the agency’s ties to Hamas. “Some of our staff have conveyed to UNRWA teams that they were forced to (make) confessions under torture and ill-treatment. These false confessions were in response to questioning about relations between UNRWA and Hamas and involvement in the 7 October attack against Israel,” UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said in a statement. UNRWA estimates that at least 4,000 Gazans have been detained by the Israeli military since the start of the war. According to the UNRWA report, some detainees reported being stripped, handcuffed and held in the cold with no access to toilets, food or water for over 24 hours.

Persons: Israel, Juliette Touma, Touma, ” Organizations: Israel CNN —, UN, UNRWA, UN Relief and Works Agency of, CNN, Agency, New York Times Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza

☆ U.N. Aid Agency Researchers Allege Abuse of Gazans in Israeli Detention
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An unpublished investigation by the main United Nations agency for Palestinian affairs accuses Israel of abusing hundreds of Gazans captured during the war with Hamas, according to a copy of the report reviewed by The New York Times. The authors of the report allege that the detainees, including at least 1,000 civilians later released without charge, were held at three military sites inside Israel. The report said the detainees included males and females whose ages ranged from 6 to 82. Some, the report said, died in detention. The document includes accounts from detainees who said they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused and denied access to lawyers and doctors, often for more than a month.

Persons: Israel, Gazans Organizations: United Nations, The New York Times, UNRWA Locations: Israel

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