10 h. ago Nearly 800 killed near Gaza food distribution sites and aid convoys since late May, says UN

More than 600 of these deaths were recorded near the Israel-backed GHF aid distribution site

Events

34 h. ago Nearly 800 killed at Gaza food hubs and aid convoy routes since end of May, UN says

UN human rights office says 615 of the deaths were in vicinity of sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian FoundationMiddle East crisis – live updatesAt least 798 people have been killed while seeking food at distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other humanitarian convoys since the end of May, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.The GHF, proposed by Israel as an alternative to the UN aid system in Gaza, has been almost universally condemned by rights groups for its violation of principles of humanitarian impartiality and what they have said could be complicity in war crimes. Continue reading...

Events

39 h. ago Almost 800 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food aid since end of May, says UN – Middle East crisis live

Majority of those killed were in the vicinity of sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation The number of people killed by strikes in Gaza on Friday has risen to seven, according to the region’s civil defence agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the more than 21-month war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living there. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Gaza aid workers overwhelmed by ‘mass casualty incidents’ at food distribution sites

Doctors say hundreds have been wounded by Israeli gunfire while trying to reach convoysMedical officials, humanitarian workers and doctors in Gaza say they have been overwhelmed by almost daily “mass casualty incidents” as they struggle to deal with those wounded by Israeli fire on Palestinians seeking aid.Doctors said many of the casualties they are treating describe being shot as they try to reach distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive US- and Israel-backed organisation that began handing out food in late May. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Organization denies AP report that US contractors at its Gaza food distribution sites used live ammo

An Israeli-backed American organization running a new aid program in Gaza is denying a report by The Associated Press that American contractors guarding the foundation’s aid sites inside Gaza were using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scrambled for food

Society

2 w. ago IDF opens inquiry into possible war crimes after deaths near Gaza aid sites

Israel Defense Forces to examine growing evidence of shootings of Palestinians trying to obtain foodThe Israeli military has launched an investigation into possible war crimes following growing evidence that troops have deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians gathering to receive aid in Gaza.Hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks after being subjected to air attacks, shootings and bombardments by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while waiting for food to be distributed or while making their way to distribution sites. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Gaza slides into lethal chaos as desperate Palestinians fight to survive

Witnesses and NGO records reveal the tragic toll of hunt to secure the basics of lifeJust after midnight on Thursday morning, Abdullah Ahmed left his sleeping wife and children in their small and crowded home in the battered al-Bureij camp in central Gaza and headed north.The 31-year-old vegetable seller had heard that the nearby food distribution site recently opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation that began operations in the territory last month, would be handing out food at 2am. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. 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

3 w. 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