UN conference on two-state solution convenes amid calls for increased aid into Gaza
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CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
US envoy Witkoff visits aid operation in Gaza rejected by UN
JERUSALEM: President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy became the first high-profile United States official to visit Gaza since the war began, touring a US-backed aid operation on Friday (Aug 1) that the United Nations (UN) says is partly to blame for deadly conditions in the enclave. Hours after Steve Witkoff visited a site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, Palestinian medics said Israeli forces had shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The UN says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating there in May, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who travelled with Witkoff to Gaza on Friday, posted on X a picture showing hungry Gazans behind razor wire with a GHF poster with a big American flag that read "100,000,000 meals delivered". "President Trump understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority," GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement, accompanied by images of Witkoff in a grey camouflage top, flak jacket and "Make America Great Again" baseball cap with Trump's name stitched on the back. "We were honoured to brief his delegation, share our operations, and demonstrate the impact of delivering 100 million meals to those who need them most," Fay said. Witkoff made his visit to Gaza a day after arriving in Israel to push for fresh ceasefire negotiations, as Israel is under mounting international pressure over the destruction of Gaza and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. In addition to the three shots near a GHF site, medics said at least 12 other Palestinians were killed in air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's reported killings. The Gaza war, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage from southern Israel in October 2023, has now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them in Israeli airstrikes. Gaza medics say dozens have died of malnutrition in recent days as hunger sets in, after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March-May and restricted supplies since. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes. It has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The worsening humanitarian crisis has prompted France, Britain and Canada to announce plans to potentially recognise a Palestinian state, a move already taken by most countries but not by major Western powers. "STARVING TO DEATH" Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians there. The Israeli military's statistics show that an average of around 140 aid trucks have entered Gaza daily during the course of the war, about a quarter of what international humanitarian agencies say is required. The UN says it has thousands of trucks waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures, which aid groups say have prevented the entry of much-needed humanitarian assistance throughout the war. Israel has begun food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. "If there is political will to allow airdrops - which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings. As the people of Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance," UN Palestinian aid agency chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the social media site X.
AsiaOne
16 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Germany to respond to any unilateral Israeli moves on Palestinian territories, minister warns, World News
BERLIN — Germany's foreign minister said on Thursday (July 31) recognition of a Palestinian state should come at the end of talks on a two-state solution but Berlin would respond to any unilateral actions, after citing "annexation threats" by some Israeli ministers. Johann Wadephul issued the statement before heading off to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a trip Berlin has billed as a fact-finding mission amid heightened alarm over starvation in Gaza. His remarks marked Germany's strongest warning yet to Israel as Western nations intensify efforts to exert pressure. In recent weeks, Britain, Canada and France have all signalled their readiness to recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory at the United Nations General Assembly this September. However, critics argue that Germany's response remains overly cautious, shaped by an enduring sense of historical guilt for the Holocaust and reinforced by pro-Israel sentiment in influential media circles, weakening the West's collective ability to apply meaningful pressure on Israel. In his statement, Wadephul reiterated Germany's stance that a sustainable resolution to the Gaza war can only be achieved through a negotiated two-state solution — a Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel. "In light of open annexation threats from parts of the Israeli government, a growing number of countries - including many in Europe - are now prepared to recognise a Palestinian state even without a prior negotiation process. The region and the Middle East peace process are therefore at a crossroads," Wadephul said. "That process must begin now. Should unilateral steps be taken, Germany too will be compelled to respond." [[nid:720807]] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition includes two far-right parties that call for the outright conquest of Gaza and re-establishment of Jewish settlements there. Two senior government ministers also voiced support on Thursday for annexing the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The death toll from almost two years of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza surpassed 60,000 this week. A growing number of civilians are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and intensifying criticism of Israel over its curbs on aid into the enclave. Germany, together with the United States, has long remained one of Israel's staunchest allies and largest arms suppliers. German officials say their approach to Israel is governed by a special responsibility, known as the "Staatsraison", arising from the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust. They say they can achieve more through diplomatic back channels than public statements. Pro-Israel German media The largest media group in Germany, Axel Springer, which owns its best-selling daily Bild as well as other publications like Welt and Politico, includes a specific pro-Israel commitment in its core corporate principles. The clause commits Axel Springer and its employees to a pro-Israel editorial stance. [[nid:720862]] Bild published a story on Thursday, for example, denouncing a "hunger campaign" against Israel and moves by Western countries to raise pressure on the country which it said had prolonged the war in Gaza by emboldening Hamas to leave ceasefire talks. The paper praised Germany for not doing so. Another Bild story on Thursday denounced a "campaign designed to morally destroy Israel". Chancellor Friedrich Merz has long been pro-Israel. In February, he said he would find a way for Netanyahu to visit Germany without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court. But the tone has shifted in Berlin in recent weeks, in tandem with a shift in public opinion, with a poll released on June 4 showing 63 per cent of Germans saying Israel's military campaign in Gaza has gone too far. Merz said on Monday that steps like suspending the European Union pact governing relations with Israel were on the table now, in order to raise pressure on the country over the "catastrophic" situation in Gaza. The EU's executive body recommended on Monday curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme but the proposal does not yet have enough support to pass, with heavyweight Germany in particular still uncertain. [[nid:720803]]
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
GHF aid system in Gaza is a 'scandal, and shameful' says French foreign minister
NICOSIA - France's foreign minister said on Thursday a U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a "bloodbath" and had to cease activity. "I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia. A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted. The U.N. estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a U.S. logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. veterans. The GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys. The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centres, and says its forces have now received better instructions. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of stealing aid - which the militants deny - and the U.N. of failing to prevent it. The U.N. says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon. Barrot said France would carry out four humanitarian flights carrying 10 tons each of aid from Friday into Gaza in cooperation with Jordan. Cyprus was briefly a staging point for about 22,000 tons of pre-screened aid sent to Gaza by sea in 2024 via a short-lived U.S.-built landing jetty. Some 1,200 tonnes of aid is still on the island, awaiting delivery when conditions allow, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said. REUTERS
