Aid trucks move from Egypt to Gaza after Israel said it began airdrops
CAIRO : Aid trucks started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said that it began aid airdrops to Gaza on Saturday and was taking several other steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Israeli military said 'humanitarian corridors' would be established for the safe movement of UN convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that 'humanitarian pauses' would be implemented in densely populated areas.
Dozens of trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid moved towards the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, the Al Qahera correspondent said from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
International aid organisations say there is mass hunger among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, before resuming it in May with new restrictions.
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the UN of failing to distribute it. The UN says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions.
Israel's announcement on airdrops came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organisations and would include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food.
Palestinian sources confirmed that aid had begun dropping in northern Gaza.
Israel's foreign ministry said the military would 'apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centres and in humanitarian corridors' on Sunday morning. It provided no further details.
'The IDF emphasises that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,' the Israeli military said in its Saturday statement.
'Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the UN and international aid organisations. Therefore, the UN and international organisations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.'
Aid ship intercepted
The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, 'combat operations have not ceased' in the Gaza Strip.
Separately, international activists on an aid ship that set sail from Italy en route to Gaza said in a post on X that the vessel had been intercepted.
The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that naval forces 'stopped the vessel from illegally entering the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza' and that it was being taken to Israeli shores and all passengers were safe.
The UN said on Thursday that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow 'the scaling up of humanitarian assistance' and said Israel had not provided enough route alternatives for its convoys, hindering aid access.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, according to the Gaza health ministry, while 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, which began nearly two years ago.
On Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.
The military also said on Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazans.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on Oct 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Israeli forces kill 15 Palestinians in Gaza
Nearly 88% of Gaza is now either under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones. (AP pic) GAZA CITY : Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 15 people in the Palestinian territory today, as the military expanded ground operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes on the Al-Shati camp west of Gaza City killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 50. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during 21 months of conflict and the Al-Shati camp, on the Mediterranean coast, hosts thousands of people displaced from the north in tents and makeshift shelters. Raed Bakr, 30, lives with his three children and said he heard 'a massive explosion' at about 1.40am today, which blew their tent away. 'I felt like I was in a nightmare. Fire, dust, smoke and body parts flying through the air, dirt everywhere. The children were screaming,' Bakr, whose wife was killed last year, told AFP. With private cars off the road due to fuel shortages, neighbours carried some of the wounded on foot. 'There were no vehicles or even donkey carts,' he said. Muhannad Thabet, 33, who also lives at the Al-Shati camp, called it 'a night of terror' due to 'non-stop air strikes and explosions'. He said he carried a six-year-old child to get treatment and said the nearby Shifa hospital – once one of Gaza's largest – was overwhelmed with wounded people. The civil defence agency's Bassal said two more people were killed in Deir el-Balah, where the Israeli army said it would expand its ground operations, having ordered the evacuation of much of the area. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) estimated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were living in the area, which until now had been considered relatively safe. Some 30,000 were living in displacement sites. AFP footage from central Gaza showed a large plume of smoke rising over Deir el-Balah today while a surveillance drone was heard buzzing overhead. Ocha said nearly 88% of the entire Gaza Strip was now either under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones, forcing the population of 2.4 million into an ever-shrinking space.
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Aid trucks move from Egypt to Gaza after Israel said it began airdrops
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. (AFP pic) CAIRO : Aid trucks started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave. Israel said that it began aid airdrops to Gaza on Saturday and was taking several other steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Israeli military said 'humanitarian corridors' would be established for the safe movement of UN convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that 'humanitarian pauses' would be implemented in densely populated areas. Dozens of trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid moved towards the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, the Al Qahera correspondent said from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. International aid organisations say there is mass hunger among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, before resuming it in May with new restrictions. Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the UN of failing to distribute it. The UN says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions. Israel's announcement on airdrops came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight. The Israeli military said in a statement that the airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organisations and would include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food. Palestinian sources confirmed that aid had begun dropping in northern Gaza. Israel's foreign ministry said the military would 'apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centres and in humanitarian corridors' on Sunday morning. It provided no further details. 'The IDF emphasises that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,' the Israeli military said in its Saturday statement. 'Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the UN and international aid organisations. Therefore, the UN and international organisations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.' Aid ship intercepted The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, 'combat operations have not ceased' in the Gaza Strip. Separately, international activists on an aid ship that set sail from Italy en route to Gaza said in a post on X that the vessel had been intercepted. The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that naval forces 'stopped the vessel from illegally entering the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza' and that it was being taken to Israeli shores and all passengers were safe. The UN said on Thursday that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow 'the scaling up of humanitarian assistance' and said Israel had not provided enough route alternatives for its convoys, hindering aid access. Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, according to the Gaza health ministry, while 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, which began nearly two years ago. On Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave. The military also said on Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazans. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on Oct 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
On your next trip to Ipoh, head to the 56-year-old Cheong Kee Wan Tan Mee in Buntong for ‘wantan mee' and outstanding ‘wantan' made fresh from scratch
IPOH, July 27 — Think Ipoh, think food, think kai si hor fun, think chee cheong fun, think tau foo fah. On most weekends, it's common to see folks from the Klang Valley flocking to the city for a taste of its rich food scene. On long weekends, the crowd often swells into something closer to a horde. After all, even if plenty of restaurants in the Klang Valley (some opened by the original Ipoh businesses themselves!) claim to serve Ipoh fare, nothing quite beats the real thing. Preparing orders for a regular. — Picture by Ethan Lau But venture a little further out of downtown, beyond the biscuit shops and bean sprout chicken, and things start to look a little different. Buntong, a residential suburb known for Kampung Kacang Puteh, is just a ten-minute drive from the city centre and barely two minutes from the KTM station. More than half of Buntong's population is Indian, but it is also home to Cheong Kee Wan Tan Mee, a time-honoured wantan mee spot that has been around for over 50 years. Now I know what you're thinking. Wantan mee? Isn't that what Menglembu is famous for, not Buntong? And you'd be right. Cheong Kee's 'wantan' is the clear highlight. They're made in the old-school fashion, thin, smooth and translucent. — Picture by Ethan Lau The neighbouring township is only a five-minute drive away, so why come here? The answer lies in Cheong Kee's small, delicate wantans. Cheong Kee has been run by the same family for three generations. They still make everything fresh from scratch, daily, just as they did back in the day. It is not at all uncommon to find wantan mee stalls that make their own noodles, but it is harder to find one that still makes its own wantan. These put the old in old-school: small, barely the size of a coin, filled only with pork and wrapped in a supremely thin, nearly translucent skin. They slip into the mouth with barely any resistance. The broth, made from anchovies and pork bones, is dark, clear, and deeply savoury. Though one already gets five pieces with each order of wantan mee, an extra portion of 10 pieces at RM7.50 is well worth the price of admission. This is the taste of wantans as they used to be: smooth, elegant, and dainty. Cheong Kee also makes their own noodles, which are chewy and springy without being too snappy. — Picture by Ethan Lau And what of the noodles? Unlike the slightly curly, alkaline-heavy variety common elsewhere, Cheong Kee's run a little stiff and thick, resembling Hakka mee. Instead of the conventionally bouncy 'QQ' texture, these offer a springy chew without much snappiness. They're tossed in a moderately dark sauce that leans more savoury than sweet, and topped with fat, crunchy bean sprouts. A single portion is RM6.80, and for an additional 80 sen, you can add 'meat strands', shreds of pork cooked down in a glossy mixture of oyster sauce, light soy and dark soy. It's a rustic, hearty plate that looks plain at first glance, but decades of know-how separate it from the rest. It's the sort of know-how and technique that's developed from experience, not gleaned from a book, and a reminder that some things are better left the way they've always been. In places like Buntong, it's a quiet snapshot of another time, not just preserved but still very much alive. There is no big sign; just look for the house on the quiet street with the stall in front. — Picture by Ethan Lau Cheong Kee Wan Tan Mee 542, Jalan Sekolah, Buntong, Ipoh. Open Monday to Saturday, 4.30pm-10.30pm Tel: 012-595 3938 This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal. *Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems. *Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and self-deprecating attempts at humour.
