Category Archives: Palestinian Territories

Israeli troops open fire as aid group loses control of distribution centre

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, chosen by Israel, unprepared for thousands of hungry Palestinians, leading staff to abandon posts

Israeli troops have opened fire near thousands of hungry Palestinians as a logistics group chosen by Israel to ship food into Gaza lost control of its distribution centre on its second day of operations.

An 11-week total siege and a continuing tight Israel blockade mean most people in Gaza are desperately hungry. Hundreds of thousands walked through Israeli military lines to reach the new distribution centre in Rafah on Tuesday.

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Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says his country is committing war crimes

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Leader from 2006 to 2009 says Palestinian victims are at ‘monstrous proportions’ and Netanyahu heads a ‘criminal gang’

The former prime minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has said Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, and that “thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed, as well as many Israeli soldiers”.

Olmert, who was the 12th prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, wrote in an opinion piece for the Israeli newspaper and website Haaretz that “the government of Israel is currently waging a war without purpose, without goals or clear planning and with no chances of success”.

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Gaza’s youngest influencer aged 11 among children killed by Israeli strikes

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Yaqeen Hammad offered tips for surviving in war zone and is one of dozens of minors who have died in recent attacks

Her life was one of war but Yaqeen Hammad somehow found a reason to smile. The 11-year-old was Gaza’s youngest influencer, whose bright smile reached tens of thousands, including other children, while she offered practical survival tips for daily life under bombardment, such as advice on how to cook with improvised methods when there was no gas.

In one social media post, Yaqeen wrote: “I try to bring a bit of joy to the other children so that they can forget the war.”

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Israel-Gaza war: UN says it is unsure how much aid has been delivered inside Gaza by Israeli-backed logistics group – as it happened

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says lorry loads of food have been delivered to sites in Gaza but UN humanitarian agency says it is unaware if any aid has been distributed

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has written a powerful opinion piece in Israeli newspaper Hareetz, saying Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza and carrying out the “indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing” of Palestinian civilians.

Olmert said that over the last year he had publicly rejected accusations of genocide and war crimes being levelled at Israel, arguing that although “excessive killing happened” the Israeli government did not “give orders to hit Gazan civilians indiscriminately”. But he said his view has changed over recent weeks. Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009, wrote in the Hareetz opinion piece:

What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians.

We’re not doing this due to loss of control in any specific sector, not due to some disproportionate outburst by some soldiers in some unit. Rather, it’s the result of government policy – knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes.

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Gaza influencer, 11, among dozens of children killed by recent Israeli strikes | First Thing

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Yaqeen Hammad is one of dozens of minors killed by Israeli attacks. Plus, US faces another summer of extreme heat

Good morning.

Eleven-year-old Yaqeen Hammad, Gaza’s youngest social media influencer, is among the dozens of children killed by Israel in recent strikes as its forces intensify their military offensive across the Palestinian territory.

How has Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza in recent days? Israeli airstrikes killed at least 52 people on Monday, including 31 in a school turned shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials.

What is the latest with Israel’s aid blockade? A US-backed group tasked with delivering supplies said it had begun operations on Monday, in a plan endorsed by Israel but rejected by the UN.

How are Israel’s allies responding? The UK, France and Canada have called for Israel to end the siege of Gaza, with the British foreign secretary calling Israeli actions “monstrous”. But, as Patrick Wintour explains in Today in Focus, allies have not yet used all the tools at their disposal.

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UK must impose sanctions on Israel to meet legal obligations, say more than 800 lawyers

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Exclusive: Letter to PM signed by retired supreme court justices among others says lack of action will imperil international legal system

The UK must impose sanctions on the Israeli government and its ministers and also consider suspending it from the UN to meet its “fundamental international legal obligations”, more than 800 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including former supreme court justices, have said.

In a letter to the prime minister, they welcome Keir Starmer’s joint statement last week with the leaders of France and Canada warning that they were prepared to take “concrete actions” against Israel. But they urge him to act without delay as “urgent and decisive action is required to avert the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza”.

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Thousands of Israelis join violent, racist march through Jerusalem’s Muslim quarter

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State-backed flag day march shut down Palestinian life in Old City to celebrate Israel’s 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem

Thousands of Israelis have joined a state-funded march through the Muslim quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, where large groups chanted racist slogans including “Gaza is ours”, “death to the Arabs” and “may their villages burn”.

The annual march, paid for and promoted by the Jerusalem city government, celebrates Israel’s capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites in the war of 1967. The Israeli takeover is not recognised internationally.

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EU officials accuse bloc of taking ‘little to no meaningful action’ on Gaza

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EU Staff for Peace letter accuses institution bosses of failing to exert influence to help Palestinians

A group of EU officials has written to the leaders of the European institutions criticising the bloc for “little or no meaningful action” in response to the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The group EU Staff for Peace said that more than 2,000 officials working for the European Commission, European parliament and EU agencies had signed a letter drafted in May 2024 which accused the EU of apathy to the plight of Palestinians.

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Israeli strikes over past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

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Civil defence agency says some people are still under rubble after attacks on Deir al-Balah and Jabaliya

Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours have killed at least 38 people in Gaza, health officials in the Palestinian territory have said, bringing the death toll to more than 100 in less than three days.

An attack on a tent housing displaced people in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed a mother and her two children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Another strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, it added.

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Irish pro-Palestine activists embrace ‘Paddystinian’ term as badge of honour

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Believed to have originated as an insult by Israel supporters, neologism is now used to campaign against war in Gaza

The term was coined to disparage Ireland’s solidarity with Palestine but has been adopted as a badge of honour that now adorns T-shirts, hoodies, pins and social media bios: welcome to Paddystine, home of the Paddystinians.

Irish activists have embraced the neologism as a galvanising term to campaign against Israel’s war in Gaza and to pressure the Irish government to do more to end the conflict.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Israeli soldiers accused of widespread use of human shields in Gaza – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

In its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the “massive needs” of the territory.

Ocha said “the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza’s population is facing”.

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Israel investigates use of Palestinians as human shields by its forces in Gaza

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IDF says practice ‘strictly prohibited’ after report of incidents quoting both Palestinians and Israeli troops

Israel is investigating “several cases” involving soldiers who have forced Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for bombs and gunmen.

“The use of Palestinians as human shields, or otherwise coercing them to participate in military operations, is strictly prohibited in IDF [Israel Defense Forces] orders,” the Israeli army said in a statement.

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Netanyahu accused of slander after criticising Macron, Carney and Starmer

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Israeli leader’s antisemitism claim labelled defamatory as he is warned against pursuing a war without end

Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of slander and pursuing a war without end after he claimed the leaders of France, Canada and the UK were stoking antisemitism and siding with Hamas by demanding he end the two-month blockade of food and aid into Gaza.

In what has become an extraordinary standoff with some of Israel’s closest allies, Netanyahu appeared to deliberately raise the stakes on Thursday night by accusing his western critics of abandoning Israel in a war for its very existence.

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Children and elderly are dying from starvation in Gaza, says health minister

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UN spokesperson says about 90 aid trucks have entered Gaza, but Palestinian Red Crescent says deliveries have not arrived

Twenty-nine children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza in the last two days, the Palestinian Authority health minister has said , as Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people since dawn amid a renewed military offensive across the territory.

The warning came as food aid is expected to start reaching Palestinians in Gaza this week after Israel began allowing limited goods through after nearly three months after global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive.

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Israeli army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas in northern Gaza – Middle East crisis live

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AFP says army released statement in Arabic claiming it was ‘operating with intense force’ in a number of areas

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place.

Israel has faced criticism from Europe as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.

There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder.

This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.

These libels about genocide, crimes against humanity and murdering babies pave the way exactly for such murders.

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Palestinian paracyclist who lost leg in 2014 airstrike killed in Gaza

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Israeli strike on Khan Younis kills Ahmed al-Dali, 33, a father of four and member of Gaza Sunbirds cycling team

A Palestinian cyclist who lost his leg in an Israeli airstrike more than a decade ago was killed by another missile attack this week, after spending his life trying to defy his disability.

Ahmed al-Dali, 33, was a member of the Gaza Sunbirds, a paracycling team formed in 2020. He was also a keen para-footballer.

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UN warns 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours without aid – Israel-Gaza war live

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UN’s humanitarian chief says aid lorries, which contain baby food and nutrition, are technically in Gaza but have not reached civilians

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of Unrwa, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, has been speaking to Euronews.

He said US President Donald Trump has the unique power to force Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “change the situation” in Gaza.

I do believe that President Donald Trump has the necessary influence to change the situation in Gaza and make sure that the siege be lifted and that the population get access to the assistance it deserves.

It’s an outrage that we are confronted by a situation of starvation when it comes to Gaza. It’s a completely fabricated one. We are in a situation where hunger and food are being weaponised for political and military purposes…

What is needed in Gaza is a massive, unhindered, uninterrupted assistance of supply to make sure that we are reversing the trend of the spreading hunger.

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Australia demands Israel allow aid into Gaza, stating ‘the population faces starvation’ in joint statement

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‘Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change,’ joint statement declares after Israel announces military expansion

Australia has joined 22 other nations in condemning Israel over its decision to allow limited aid into Gaza while announcing a military expansion to “take control” of the besieged strip.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his troops were “making progress” on taking control of Gaza after Israel’s military had earlier declared a central city a combat zone and killed more than 60 people in airstrikes, while a senior minister said Israel’s army would “wipe out” what remains of Palestinian Gaza.

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