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We used to go out on the weekends,” the displaced health worker told CNN. Palestinian siblings Ella Mohammed Hamouda (left) and Sila Mohammed Hamouda (right) ride a camel on a beach in northern Gaza, on October 6, 2023. Nearly five months into Israel’s offensive, Palestinian children in Gaza are living with violence, homelessness, starvation, and disruption to education. Several parents and carers told CNN they struggle to explain the war to children, who they say are psychologically terrorized by relentless bombardment. “I miss my room and my toys,” Ella told CNN in a voice message.

Persons: Mohammed Hamouda, Dina, “, Hamouda, Kareem, Ella, ”, Ella Mohammed Hamouda, Sila Mohammed Hamouda, ” Ella, ” Ella Hamouda, Amira, Mohamed, hasn’t, Waseem El, Helal, ” Ella Mohammed Hamouda, Yehia, Mohammed Abed, Hazem Saeed Al, couldn’t, Naizi, ” Hazem Saeed Al, Ayas, Al, –, Naizi Hamouda, Saeed Muhammad Al, – Siwar, Muhammad, ” Mohammed Hamouda, Aya, Saeed Al, Kahlot, “ bedwetting, ” Saeed Muhammad Al, ” Hamouda Organizations: CNN, World Bank, Ministry of Health, Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, Getty Images Health, Israel Defense Forces, Gaza UNICEF, UNRWA, UN, Global, WFP Locations: Gaza, Beit Lahia, Rafah, Sila, Israel, Yehia, Deir al, AFP, Gaza City, Palestine, Ayas, Saba, —, Al

☆ Middle East Crisis Disastrous Convoy Was Part of New Israeli Effort to Hand Out More Aid in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | Adam Rasgon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Mourning a person who was killed on Thursday when Gaza residents rushed toward aid trucks and Israeli forces guarding the convoy opened fire. Its bombing campaign and ground invasion have decimated Hamas’s control over northern Gaza, leaving both a gaping security vacuum and a humanitarian catastrophe. U.N. aid convoys carrying essential goods to northern Gaza have been suspended for days. Like Mr. Aqel, Mr. Khoudary said that he had organized some of the trucks that transported aid as part of the relief initiative involving Israel. Some were aid trucks he had dispatched, while others were organized by other contractors, he said.

Persons: Mourning, Izzat, Khoudary, Aqel, Peter Lerner, —, Witnesses, Gazans, “, Mr, Israel, ” Mr, ” Organizations: United Nations, The New York Times, British, Israel, Food Program, UNRWA, Food Locations: Gaza, Israel, Israeli

☆ Gaza Aid Declined Significantly in February
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The number of aid trucks entering Gaza dropped significantly in February, data shows, even as humanitarian leaders warned of famine and demanded that Israel and others increase aid to civilians trapped in the enclave. The deaths of dozens of people amid a rush for food aid on Thursday underlined the degree of desperation in the territory. An average of 96 trucks a day entered Gaza through Feb. 27, a 30 percent drop from the January average and the lowest monthly average since before a cease-fire in late November, according to data from UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Gaza. A relatively small quantity of aid has also been dropped by plane to people in Gaza. Goods also pass into Gaza from Egypt through a crossing at the city of Rafah after undergoing Israeli inspection at a separate site.

Persons: ”, Juliette Touma, “ It’s, there’s Organizations: UNRWA, Goods Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Rafah

☆ Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh resigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh speaks during a press conference after several key donor countries halted funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 28, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel's war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority, formed 30 years ago under the interim Oslo peace accords, exercises limited governance over parts of the occupied West Bank but lost power in Gaza following a struggle with Hamas in 2007. A senior Hamas official said the move had to be followed by a broader agreement on governance for the Palestinians. So far, almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza fighting, according to Palestinian health authorities, and almost the entire population has been driven from their homes.

Persons: Mohammad Shtayyeh, Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas, Fatah, Sami Abu Zuhri Organizations: Palestinian, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, West Bank, Hamas, Gaza . Palestinian, Palestinian Authority, Reuters Locations: Ramallah, Israel, Gaza ., Gaza, Palestine, Oslo, Moscow

☆ First on CNN: Top US humanitarian official to travel to Middle East this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The US government’s top humanitarian aid official will travel to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan this week in an effort to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is veering into catastrophe. Power will “underscore the importance of protecting civilians and aid workers in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the spokesperson said. Power is the latest Biden administration to travel to the region to emphasize the US’ strong concerns over the deepening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn strip. Although the Biden administration has become increasingly critical of the toll of the Israeli offensive, it remains at odds with the international humanitarian community and nations like Jordan by vetoing calls for an immediate ceasefire. Ongoing outrage over the administration’s continued support for the Israeli military offensive threatens to be a political problem for Biden in an election year.

Persons: Samantha Power, “, Biden, –, Joe Biden, vetoing, ”, ” Christopher Lockyear Organizations: CNN, West Bank, US Agency for International Development, USAID, Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Biden, UNRWA, Congress, United Nations, Doctors, UN Locations: Israel, Jordan, Gaza, ”, Rafah, Michigan, States

☆ Netanyahu unveils plan for Gaza’s future post-Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Richard Allen Greene | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Jerusalem CNN —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a plan for the Gaza’s future post-Hamas, which includes the “complete demilitarization” of the enclave, closing off the territory’s southern border with Egypt, as well as the overhaul of Gaza’s civil administration and education systems. CNN has obtained a copy of the plan, which Netanyahu presented to members of Israel’s security cabinet Thursday night. On the security file, the envisioned plan includes Israel closing off Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, giving Israel complete control of entry and exit from the enclave. Yahya Hassouna/AFP/Getty ImagesOn the civil level, Netanyahu details an overhaul of Gaza’s civil administration and education systems, including an apparent cut-off of funding from Qatar to Gaza – which a previous Netanyahu government approved and facilitated. The Netanyahu plan also calls for “de-radicalization” in the education system, which Israel and its allies have long accused of promoting antisemitism and hatred of Israel.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Israel, David Barnea, “, Yahya Hassouna, Joe Biden, “ Israel, ” Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Israeli, CNN, West Bank, Israel, Palestinian Authority, United Nations Locations: Jerusalem, Egypt, Paris, Gaza, Israel, Gaza’s, Rafah, United States, Jordan, ”, East Jerusalem, Gaza City, AFP, Qatar, Palestinian, United Kingdom

☆ Israeli forces fired on food convoy in Gaza, UN documents and satellite analysis reveals
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Katie Polglase | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“A convoy that had food on it, heading to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip. In the wake of the strike on February 5, UNRWA decided to stop sending convoys to northern Gaza. The UN estimates that 300,000 people are still living in northern Gaza, with very little assistance. “Because of the level of desperation in Gaza, people would see an aid convoy, they would come to the aid convoy, take the stuff from the aid convoy,” Touma told CNN. “By the time we get the approval, the aid convoy is empty.”Other routes are impassable due to debris and craters, satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows.

Persons: ” Juliette Touma, CNN’s, Al Rashid, ” Touma, Thomas White, Tom White, “, ” Janina Dill, it’s, ”, Philippa Greer, COGAT, Abed Zagout, Israel “, Craig Jones, ” Jones, ” Gianluca Mezzofiore, Jennifer Hansler Organizations: UN, CNN CNN, United Nations, CNN, UNRWA, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Ministry of Health, Al, X, Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law, US State Department, “, Government, Planet Labs, Food, Getty, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Health Organization, International Court of Justice, Newcastle University Locations: Gaza, Israel, Wadi Gaza, Palestinian, “ Israel, Al, Gaza City, Rafah, Egypt, Anadolu, French, Palestine, United Kingdom

☆ Israel Presents Video Allegedly Showing UN Aid Worker Taking Body of Israeli on Oct. 7
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A video made public by Israeli officials allegedly shows a U.N. relief worker loading the limp body of a shot Israeli man into the back of an SUV and driving away from a southern Israeli village during Hamas' Oct. 7 cross-border attack. Jonathan Fowler, an UNRWA spokesperson, said in response to the video: "It is not possible for UNRWA to verify the footage or photographs and ascertain who the person is. In the CCTV footage, a white SUV drives into Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the communities hardest hit on Oct. 7. A screen shot of the video was posted on X by an Israeli military spokesperson and a clip of it was posted by a Foreign Ministry official. Reuters did not and could not independently verify the identities of the men in the video.

Persons: Faisal Ali Mussalem Al Naami, Jonathan Fowler, Kibbutz, Yoav Gallant, Ari Rabinovitch, Nidal, Giles Elgood Organizations: Washington Post, United Nations Relief Works Agency, UNRWA, UN, Be'eri, Foreign Ministry, Reuters, Israeli Locations: JERUSALEM, Gaza, Israel, Kibbutz Be'eri

☆ Israel releases names and details of alleged involvement of UNRWA employees in October 7 attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The additional details also included screengrabs of what Israel said were two UNWRA employees – a social worker and math teacher – in Israel on October 7. The defense ministry also provided ID photos of 10 other alleged Hamas members, their positions and alleged involvement in the deadly incursion, but did not provide any supporting evidence to back up their claims. CNN could not independently verify the identity of the men or Israel’s allegations about their involvement with Hamas. The UNWRA spokesman said the agency annually shares the names, employee numbers and functions of all staff members with Israel. It said the names shared included the names of the 12 individuals identified by Israel in the dossier, and that Israel had not informed UNRWA of those staffers’ alleged involvement with Hamas prior to January.

Persons: CNN — Israel, Israel, –, Khan Younis, Nasser, ”, Yoav Gallant, Gallant, ’ Organizations: CNN, Nasser Hospital, Ministry of Health, United Nations, UNRWA, UN, Israeli, United, Israel, UN Security Locations: Israel, Gaza, Rafah, Egypt, Khan, United States, Hamas’s Deir el

☆ Brazil's Lula Slams Israel on Gaza War, Says UN Failed
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

CAIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that the United Nations has failed to resolve international conflicts and harshly criticized Israeli actions in Gaza. Lula said there would not be peace without the establishment of a Palestinian state and called for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. War in Israel and Gaza View All 209 Images"The killing must be stopped," he said. Lula said the permanent Security Council should be expanded and its veto powers abolished. Brazil has supported South Africa's case brought before the International Court of Justice against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, he added.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Abdel Fattah al, Lula, Sisi, who's, Israel, Lisandra Paraguassu, Peter Frontini, Anthony Boadle, Andrew Cawthorne, Nick Macfie Organizations: United Nations, Arab League, . Security, Security, International Court of Justice Locations: CAIRO, Gaza, Brazil, Palestinian, Israel, Palestine

☆ Opinion: I’m a Palestinian American. This is what I told Blinken
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Opinion Rajaie Batniji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —On February 1, I met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a 90-minute private discussion on the situation in Gaza. Many of my fellow Palestinian Americans discouraged me from speaking with you today, concerned that this discussion was solely performative. You know that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, provides food for most Gazans and critical infrastructure for other aid organizations. I have worked extensively in global health and wrote a series of research papers in 2009 on what we thought then was a Palestinian health crisis. What do you wish to be your legacy, Secretary Blinken?

Persons: Read, CNN —, Antony Blinken, Blake Marvin I, Blinken, nodded, Mr, ’, –, Abed Rahim Khatib, Israel, indignity Organizations: CNN, State Department, Palestinian, Oxford, Marshall, Wall Street, United Nations, UN, UNRWA, International Court of Justice Locations: Gaza, San Francisco, Rajaie, Palestinian American, California, Stanford, Shejaiya, Israel, Iraq, Rafah, American, Shifa, al, Palestinian

☆ Some Palestinians Leave Rafah Refuge, Fearing Israeli Assault
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Mohammad SalemRAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Nahla Jarwan fled her home in the central Gaza Strip to seek refuge in Rafah - like more than 1 million other Palestinians escaping Israel's military offensive. Now, as Israeli shells crash into Rafah, Jarwan said she is going back to an area she fled, even though nowhere is safe. She is one of dozens of people who residents said were leaving Rafah on Tuesday after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days. For Palestinians, Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip has provided sanctuary from an Israeli offensive which has killed more than 28,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said it has ordered the army to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah.

Persons: Mohammad Salem, Nahla Jarwan, Jarwan, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's, We're, I'm, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Momen Shbair, Khan Younis, Nidal al, Tom Perry, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Al, UNRWA, Aid Locations: Mohammad Salem RAFAH, Gaza, Rafah, Israel, Al, Egypt

☆ Why only a trickle of aid is getting into Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Getting any form of relief into Gaza is a long and arduous process, aid workers and the UN say. An average of 95 aid trucks per day entered Gaza between October 10 and February 1, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, down from 500 commercial and aid trucks a day before the war, when Palestinians weren’t facing mass displacement and starvation. Following pressure from the US, Israel began allowing aid trucks to pass through Kerem Shalom in late December. Protesters blocking trucksIsraeli protesters have more than once blocked trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza via Israeli crossings. Risk of bombardmentOnce relief enters Gaza, Israeli bombardment, damage to roads from airstrikes, communications blackouts and mass displacement impede distribution within the enclave.

Persons: Martin Griffiths, Yoav Gallant, Israel, Juliette Touma, Philippe Lazzarini, ”, ” Lazzarini, Kerem Shalom, Sameh Shoukry, Erez, Khan Younis, Belal Al Sabbagh, “, Griffiths, ” Touma, Khan, Abed Zagout, Touma Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief, UN, Palestinian, Palestine, UNRWA, Israeli Defense Forces, International Court of Justice, Getty, ” Trucks, Food Programme, IDF, United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, Food Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, Territories, Egypt, Rafah, Khan, AFP, Kerem Shalom, Khan Younis, Anadolu, ”, Gaza City

☆ UN Agency Says Aid Shipment Blocked in Israeli Port
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The main United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza is facing growing administrative hurdles from Israel, with a shipment amounting to a month's supply of food blocked in port, the agency's chief said. UNRWA has dismissed staff accused of involvement in the attack and launched an investigation. He said UNRWA had been informed by a contractor that provided handling services in the port of Ashdod that it could no longer continue working with UNRWA, following instructions from the Israeli authorities. Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on social media platform X that Israel was cancelling tax breaks previously offered to UNRWA. The decision was not formally communicated to the agency which only learned about it when the statement appeared on the platform, Lazzarini said.

Persons: Israel, Philippe Lazzarini, Lazzarini, Bezalel Smotrich, James Mackenzie, Steve Scheer Organizations: United Nations, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, Israel, West Bank Locations: JERUSALEM, Gaza, Israel, East, Ashdod, Turkey, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria

☆ Tunnel complex with rows of computer servers discovered under UN aid agency HQ in Gaza, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it discovered a Hamas complex under a UN agency HQ in Gaza. AdvertisementThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it discovered a Hamas complex under a UN aid agency's headquarters in Gaza. An Israeli soldier gestured in what the military described as a Hamas command tunnel running partly under UNRWA headquarters. The WSJ report published a photo of a room containing eight black server racks "inside what Israeli military officials say is a Hamas intelligence hub." The Israeli military has nicknamed the subterranean world "the Gaza metro."

Persons: —, gestured, António Guterres, Israel's Organizations: Israel Defense Forces, UN, IDF, Street Journal, Service, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, Street, Associated Press, Hamas, New, Reuters, Cross, Rafah, Business Locations: Gaza, East, Gaza City, Israeli, Palestinian, Israel

☆ Live updates: The latest on the Israel-Hamas news
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Chris Lau | Andrew Raine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A woman and children sit outside tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, on February 8. Satellite images showed this week how a tent city has swelled in size in just a few weeks. Also, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns about the expansion into Rafah during meetings with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials this week, two Israeli officials told CNN on Wednesday. Non-governmental organizations issue warnings: Several non-governmental organizations have warned about the humanitarian consequences of Israeli operations in Rafah. Half of UNRWA requests to deliver aid in Gaza denied: The UN's main relief agency in Gaza said Friday that half of its aid mission requests to deliver aid in Gaza since the beginning of the year have been denied.

Persons: Mohammed Abed, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, Vedant Patel, Antony Blinken, Netanyahu, won’t, Philippe Lazzarini Organizations: Getty, United Nations, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, Wednesday, Norwegian Refugee Council, Hamas, The United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees Locations: Rafah, Gaza, AFP, ”, Israel, United States, Egypt

☆ Palestinians brace for Rafah evacuation, Israeli assault plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Trapped in and around Rafah, more than 1 million Palestinians braced for Israel to complete a plan to evacuate them and launch a ground assault against Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city. "There is a sense of growing anxiety, growing panic in Rafah," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA agency. Doctors and aid workers are struggling to supply even basic aid to Palestinians sheltering around Rafah. The United Nations said Palestinian civilians in Rafah require protection, but there should be no forced mass displacement, which is barred by international law. Hamas gunmen killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in the Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

Persons: Khan Yunis, Philippe Lazzarini, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Netanyahu, Karine Jean, Pierre, Jan Egeland, Netanyahu's, Mahmoud Abbas, Israel, ActionAid Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, United Nations, Norwegian Refugee Council, Palestinian Authority, West Bank . Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Washington, U.S, Egypt, Gazans

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has imposed financial restrictions on the main U.N. agency providing aid in the Gaza Strip, a measure which prevented a shipment of food for 1.1 million Palestinians from reaching the war-battered enclave, the agency's director said Friday. The U.N. food agency defines a famine as when 30% of children are malnourished, one-fifth of households face acute food shortages and two of every 10,000 people are dying from hunger or malnutrition. UNRWA, which serves about 6 million Palestinians whose families were displaced during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948, denies the charges. UNWRA is the main provider of aid to Palestinians in Gaza, but Israeli bombardment and combat between Israel and Hamas has made much of the territory too dangerous for aid convoys to cross. Israel alleged last month that 12 employees of the aid agency participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel.

Persons: — Israel, Philippe Lazzarini, Israel, Juliette Touma, Touma, Bezalel Smotrich, ”, Benjamin Netanyahu, didn't, Lazzarini, “ Organizations: JERUSALEM, UNRWA, Food, Israel, Bank Leumi, Hamas, Food Program Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Turkey, Ashdod, Port Said, Egypt, Rafah

☆ US Won't Restart UNRWA Aid Until Investigation Completed -Officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Andrea ShalalWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to wait for an internal investigation of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees to conclude before resuming aid to the organization, U.S. officials told Arab-American community leaders in Michigan. UNRWA officials say they expect the U.N. oversight office's preliminary investigation report to take several weeks. "They did tell us in that meeting that they ... expect that the president will be shifting his language," Alawieh said. ... We're looking for action from President Biden that saves lives." Israel began its military offensive after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages on Oct. 7.

Persons: Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON, Biden, Samantha Power, Joe Biden's, Ali Dagher, Abbas Alawieh, Alawieh, Israel, Andrea Shalal, Heather Timmons, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: United Nations, Michigan . U.S . Agency for International, Reuters, Israel Locations: American, Michigan ., Michigan, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Lebanese, Dearborn, Arab, Detroit

Blinken appealed to Netanyahu and other Israelis still reeling from the Hamas attack not to allow vengeance to dictate their continued response. In Qatar on Tuesday, both Qatar’s prime minister and Blinken said the proposal had promise as a starting point for further negotiation. And Blinken talked up Saudi Arabia’s interest in normalizing relations with Israel, provided the Gaza war ends and the Palestinians are given a clear, credible and time-bound pathway to an independent state. “We remain determined as well to pursue a diplomatic path to a just and lasting peace, and security for all in the region, and notably for Israel,” Blinken said in Tel Aviv. However, Netanyahu is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Blinken, There’s, ”, Netanyahu, Israel, “, ” Netanyahu Organizations: —, Washington, UN Locations: TEL AVIV, Israel, United States, Gaza, U.S, Egypt, Qatar, Rafah, Tel Aviv, Palestinian

A bipartisan coalition of senators over the weekend released a long-awaited and highly anticipated bill that spans border security and international aid for Ukraine and Israel in their wartime efforts. The proposed deal would substantially change immigration laws and also provide $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. Some Republicans have grown skeptical of additional funding for Ukraine, which President Joe Biden proposed in a supplemental spending package. But GOP hard-liners insisted on border reforms before any consideration of Ukraine aid – which is how the border bill originated. Additionally, it includes $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel and some pockets of money for humanitarian aid in war-torn regions.

Persons: Mike Johnson, ” Johnson, Johnson, Don’t, Chuck Schumer, MSNBC’s, Joe ”, ”, Here’s, Joe Biden Organizations: Israel, of Homeland Security, International, Ukraine, Russia, United Nations Relief, Agency, Asylum Locations: Ukraine, Israel, U.S

☆ EU Diplomat Says Defunding U.N. Palestinian Agency Would Be Dangerous
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

A string of countries, including the United States, Britain and Italy, have paused funding to the aid agency, which has opened an investigation into several of its thousands of employees and severed ties with those people. "Defunding UNRWA would be both disproportionate and dangerous," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote in a blog post. Borrell said neither the European Commission, nor the EU's two biggest economies, Germany or France, had decided to end their contributions. In 2022, the EU was the third biggest donor to UNRWA, after the United States and Germany. "The lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, not only in Gaza, are at stake," Borrell said.

Persons: Kate Abnett BRUSSELS, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Kate Abnett, Andrew Gray, Sharon Singleton Organizations: UNRWA, European Commission, West Bank, UN Locations: Israel, United States, Britain, Italy, Gaza, EU, Germany, France

☆ Australia PM Says Government 'Examining' Claims Against UN Palestinian Agency
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday his government was probing claims that some staff of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, after Australia paused funding to the aid agency last month. Australia is one of several countries to have halted funding for UNRWA, a critical source of support in Gaza, after Israeli claims of U.N. employees' complicity with Hamas. "We're examining it, along with other like-minded countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. War in Israel and Gaza View All 194 ImagesLate last month, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the aid agency. The agency has opened an investigation into several employees and has severed ties with those people, it has said.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Sam McKeith Organizations: SYDNEY, Australia's, Australia, UNRWA, Australian Broadcasting Corp, European Union Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Australia, Gaza, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Sydney

☆ The 8 Days That Roiled the U.N.’s Top Agency in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | Ronen Bergman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a senior U.S. diplomat called the Israeli military last week to request further details about Israeli allegations against a United Nations agency in Gaza, military leaders were so surprised that they ordered an internal inquiry about how the information had reached the ears of foreign officials. The allegations were grave: 12 employees of the organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, were accused of joining Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel or its aftermath. The claims reinforced Israel’s decades-old narrative about UNRWA: that it is biased against Israel and influenced by Hamas and other armed groups, charges that the agency strongly rejects. But while most Israeli officials oppose UNRWA, some military leaders did not want to see it shuttered amid a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. In fact, it was not the military that disclosed the information to the United States but UNRWA itself.

Persons: Israel Organizations: United, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, Hamas’s, UNRWA Locations: U.S, United Nations, Gaza, Israel, United States

☆ Opinion | The World Needs to Stand by UNRWA
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Espen Barth Eide | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, the nearly 75-year-old agency that is almost entirely funded by voluntary contributions. But now is exactly the wrong time to halt funding for UNRWA. Norway is standing fast to our commitment to continue funding this crucial agency and to the Palestinian people. As the Norwegian foreign minister, I urge fellow donor countries to reflect on the wider consequences of cutting UNRWA off. And since UNRWA also supports millions of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, a stop to payments could further destabilize an already extremely volatile region.

Organizations: United Nations, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, West Bank Locations: Gaza, United States, Israel, Norway, Norwegian, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

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