2 h. ago Unicef warns children could die of thirst in Gaza amid collapse of water systems

Fears grow of drought as well as hunger as medics report more killings by Israeli forces of Palestinians seeking aidMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe collapse of water systems in Gaza is threatening the territory with devastating drought as well as hunger, Unicef has warned, as medics reported that Israel had killed more desperate Palestinians seeking aid.On Friday at least 24 people waiting for aid were killed by Israeli fire in central Gaza, according to local health authorities, in addition to other deaths by airstrikes. Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago Israel, we’re begging you: please let aid organisations do our jobs in Gaza | James Elder

Four hundred distribution points have dwindled to four under this private and militarised ‘aid’ system. This is not how to avert a famineJames Elder is Unicef’s global spokespersonAbed Al Rahman, just a boy, carried the weight of his family’s hunger as he stepped into the streets of Gaza in search of bread. He had his father’s money, but when he saw the tide of people pushing towards a food distribution site in Rafah, hunger pulled him into their flow.Almost immediately, the site descended into chaos. Gunfire. Drones. Then in a flash, shrapnel from a tank shell ripped through his little body. When I met him at a hospital in Khan Younis – where painkillers, like food, are scarce – the 13-year-old was in agony. “I have shrapnel inside my body that they couldn’t remove,” he told me. “I am in real pain; since 6am I have been asking for a painkiller.” As he recounted the chaos, his father’s composure shattered, and tears rolled down his face. Was he going to lose his son simply because A...

Politics

8 h. ago Israel, please let aid organisations do our jobs in Gaza | James Elder

Four hundred distribution points have dwindled to four under this private and militarised ‘aid’ system. This is not how to avert a famineJames Elder is Unicef’s global spokespersonAbed Al Rahman, just a boy, carried the weight of his family’s hunger as he stepped into the streets of Gaza in search of bread. He had his father’s money, but when he saw the tide of people pushing towards a food distribution site in Rafah, hunger pulled him into their flow.Almost immediately, the site descended into chaos. Gunfire. Drones. Then in a flash, shrapnel from a tank shell ripped through his little body. When I met him at a hospital in Khan Younis – where painkillers, like food, are scarce – the 13-year-old was in agony. “I have shrapnel inside my body that they couldn’t remove,” he told me. “I am in real pain; since 6am I have been asking for a painkiller.” As he recounted the chaos, his father’s composure shattered, and tears rolled down his face. Was he going to lose his son simply because A...

Politics

34 h. ago ‘My son went to get flour. He came back in a coffin’: As the world focuses on Iran Palestinians are being shot dead seeking aid

While the world has its attention fixed on a regional war, desperate Palestinians are being killed by the dozen as they seek food at controversial American-run aid sites in Gaza, write Bel Trew and Richard Hall

Events

47 h. ago Israeli attacks kill dozens in Gaza in 24 hours as world focus shifts to Iran

‘Starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable’ says World Food Programme

Events

51 h. ago Aid minister says situation in Gaza is so dire that she ‘would loot too’

The international aid minister has said the situation in Gaza is so dire that she “would loot too” if she was there.

Politics

57 h. ago Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians waiting for UN food aid in Gaza, health officials say

At least 59 Palestinians killed as Israeli tanks accused of shelling crowd gathered at aid delivery site

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on Gaza’s engineered famine: stop arming the slaughter – or lose the rule of law | Editorial

As Palestinians starve amid the rubble, western governments defend Israel, fund armed aid and dismantle the very rules they claim to upholdGaza’s cries have been drowned out by Israel’s strikes on Iran, and the diplomatic pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu over the suffering has ebbed. Yet as the industrialised world urges de-escalation in the Middle East, the devastation continues. On Tuesday morning, witnesses described Israeli forces firing towards a crowd waiting for trucks loaded with flour, leaving more than 50 dead. These are not stray bullets in wartime chaos, they are the outcome of a system that makes relief deadly.As Médecins Sans Frontières declared this week, what is unfolding in Gaza is “the calculated evisceration of the very systems that sustain life”. That includes homes, markets, water networks and hospitals – with healthcare continually under attack. Last week, a UN commission found that more than 90% of the Gaza Strip’s schools and universities have be...

Politics

5 d. ago At least eight killed near Gaza food sites as Palestinians fear global attention switching to Iran

People say situation in territory has worsened since outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran last weekMiddle East crisis – live updatesAt least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded on Sunday in shooting near food distribution points in Gaza, as residents described an escalation of Israeli attacks happening against the backdrop of the new war with Iran.Although Israel has said Gaza is a secondary theatre of operations to Iran, Palestinians reported continuing serious violence including fire around US- and Israel-supported aid distributions points and there are fears that global attention is moving on from Gaza. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Israel ‘deporting six more activists’ detained on Gaza aid boat with Greta Thunberg

Israel is deporting six more activists who were detained when it seized an aid boat bound for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip

Politics

8 d. ago Israel is deporting 6 more activists detained on Gaza aid boat, rights group says

Israel is deporting six more activists who were detained when it seized an aid boat bound for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip

Politics

8 d. ago At least 60 killed as Israeli forces continue to fire on Palestinians seeking aid

Medics say 25 people killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire while approaching food distribution centre in central Gaza

Events

9 d. ago Greta Thunberg news latest: Climate activist breaks silence after being deported by Israel over Gaza aid boat

Greta Thunberg says the world ‘needs more angry young women’ after criticism from Donald Trump

Politics

9 d. ago Greta Thunberg says she was ‘kidnapped’ from Gaza aid boat by Israel

Greta Thunberg has spoken out following her deportation from Israel, accusing the country of committing an “illegal act” by “kidnapping” the 12 activists in international waters.

Politics

1 week ago Greta Thunberg speaks out as she lands in France after 'dehumanising' Israel detention and deportation: 'We won't stop'

Charity organisers claimed the Swedish activist was among volunteers ‘kidnapped by Israeli forces’ while trying to deliver aid to Gaza

Politics

1 week ago Voices: Why my friend Greta Thunberg had no choice but to sail an aid boat to Gaza

If I know anything about Greta, it is that she would want this moment to bring light to the ongoing repression and human rights violations of Palestinian civilians, writes fellow youth climate campaigner Scarlett Westbrook

Politics

1 week ago Greta Thunberg Gaza flotilla latest: Climate campaigner lands in Paris after being deported by Israel over aid ship

Israel's latest strikes on Gaza kill at least three medical services staff and journalist

Politics

1 week ago From Gaza prisoner to ‘the Israeli agent’: how rise of Abu Shabab could ignite new phase of war

In email exchange, leader of clan that Israel acknowledges arming blames Hamas for war and for looting of aid trucksOn 7 October 2023, Yasser abu Shabab was languishing in a Hamas-run jail in Gaza on charges of drug trafficking. With the outbreak of the conflict, the Palestinian from Rafah managed to leave prison, though the circumstances of his release remain unclear to this day.For a while, Abu Shabab vanished from sight. That changed last week when Israeli defence officials acknowledged they had begun arming a clan that calls itself the Anti-Terror Service. It consists of about 100 armed men who operate in eastern Rafah under the command of Abu Shabab, whose nickname is “the Israeli agent” and who is described as a “traitor” on social media in the territory. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Greta Thunberg Freedom Flotilla latest: Swedish activist 'refused to watch October 7 footage' before being kicked out of Israel

Charity organisers earlier claimed the volunteers were ‘kidnapped by Israeli forces’ while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza

Politics

1 week ago Greta Thunberg Freedom Flotilla latest: Swedish activist 'refused to watch October 7 footage'

Charity organisers earlier claimed the volunteers were ‘kidnapped by Israeli forces’ while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza

Politics