Six die of starvation in Gaza in past 24 hours
According to the Health Ministry in the enclave, six Palestinians have died of starvation in the past 24 hours.
While Israel's far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, caused outrage as he led a group of over a thousand supporters to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem where he admitted praying at the site which is holy to Muslims, flouting rules forbidding Jews to pray there.
Warning: this report contains distressing images.
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The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel's assault on humanitarian norms
We are Israeli historians teaching in Jerusalem who have been writing publicly about the war since early 2024. The processes that Jonathan Whittall describes, the result of a siege and an unprecedented assault on international humanitarian organisations, have been known to anyone willing to listen, in Israel and in the west, for a very long time (I saw many atrocities as a senior aid official in Gaza. Now Israeli authorities are trying to silence us, 3 August). Israel's siege, which has fluctuated in its totality since 7 October, limited the amounts of food, medication and essential supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip, culminating in a complete siege from March to May 2025. Israel's assault on international organisations started with a campaign against Unrwa, the UN agency dedicated to the care for Palestinian refugees, and developed into a set of regulations aimed at intimidating international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and obstructing their ability to work in the occupied Palestinian territories. The effect has been the replacement of reputable humanitarian organisations by an Israeli-funded private enterprise (the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation), with no experience in humanitarian aid or commitment to human wellbeing. The result is the reported starvation to death of more than 100 Palestinians and the shooting of Palestinians who sought aid, killing and injuring many thousands. Human life in the Gaza Strip has become exceedingly cheap. For us, as Israeli citizens who believe in the sanctity of all human life, the current moment represents our own failure, alongside the failure of international law, the international community and most media outlets. During Whittall's term in office as head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), it has been an unrelenting source of information regarding the systematic assault on human life in the occupied territories. We applaud Whittall for speaking out. OCHA and other INGOs need the backing of governments and the international community to restore a human-oriented humanitarian system and save those who can still be saved. Dr Lee MordechaiHistory department, Hebrew University of JerusalemProf Liat KozmaDepartment of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Powys County Times
42 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Starmer has ‘made a mistake' with plan to recognise Palestinian state
Sir Keir Starmer has 'made a mistake' in announcing plans to recognise Palestine as a state, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said. The Government last week said it will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to meet certain conditions, including a ceasefire and a revival of the two-state solution. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister reiterated that Hamas must release the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and play no role in the government of Gaza. The Government will then make an assessment in September 'on how far the parties have met these steps', the Prime Minister said. During a visit to a farm in Little Walden, Essex, on Tuesday, Mrs Badenoch said she would never agree to recognising a Palestinian state while Hamas is still in power in Gaza. She said: 'Absolutely not. No. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. We should not be creating a new terrorist state. 'This is basic stuff, and I don't understand why Keir Starmer doesn't understand that.' The Tory leader added: 'Keir Starmer has made a mistake. What we need to focus on now is a ceasefire and getting the hostages home. 'We've been seeing images of a hostage who looks like he's being starved to death, forced to dig his own grave. This is what Hamas is about. 'Now is not the time to reward them for their atrocities and for the massacre they committed on October 7 by giving them statehood recognition. 'We want to see a two-state solution after a peace settlement done in the right way at the right time. It is not the right thing to do now. 'And I'm not surprised that British hostages like Emily Damari have condemned the Government for the approach they've taken.' Ms Damari, a British-Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas for more than a year, has said she believes Sir Keir is 'not standing on the right side of history' after his conditional pledge to recognise Palestine. Mrs Badenoch's comments came as it was announced a protest will take place in London this weekend opposing Sir Keir's plans to recognise Palestine as a state. Demonstrators, including some British family members of hostages still held by Hamas, will march on Downing Street calling for the release of the remaining hostages before any talk about the recognition of Palestine. Marchers will include the relatives of Avinatan Or, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival with his girlfriend Noa Argamani. Mr Or's cousin Ariel Felber, from London, said: 'Keir Starmer has failed the hostages and their families by not making it a condition that all the remaining hostages are brought home to their loved ones before he can even entertain talk of state recognition of Palestine. 'He urgently needs to correct this.' Steve Brisley from Bridgend, Wales, whose sister and nieces were murdered on October 7 and his brother-in-law Eli taken hostage, said: 'As British families of hostages and victims, devastated by the ongoing suffering of our loved ones, our emotional torture has been exacerbated by the suggestion that the UK may recognise a Palestinian state without securing the release of the hostages as an absolute precondition. 'This is not about politics. This is about basic humanity.' The family members are expected to be joined by Jewish leaders and other supporters on their National March For The Hostages through central London on Sunday afternoon. Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli ambassador to the UK, said on X that Hamas's actions 'must never be rewarded' as she highlighted the plight of one of the hostages, 24-year-old Evyatar David. Hamas released a video on Saturday which showed Mr David looking skeletal and hollow-eyed in a dimly lit Gaza tunnel. Ms Hotovely said: 'He is clearly malnourished and ill-treated. A shadow of his former self, his suffering is unimaginable. 'Like countless others who saw it, I was appalled by the sickening footage of Evyatar being forced to dig his own grave. 'This abhorrent footage shows Hamas for what they are – wicked terrorists who seek to inflict as much death, destruction and suffering on as many Jews and Israelis as they can. Their actions must never be rewarded.'
Powys County Times
42 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Ex-Israeli security chiefs call for end to war as Netanyahu hints at new stage
Former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs called for an end to the war in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at further military action and Israel's government plotted its next move in the devastated territory. On the ground in Gaza, health officials reported new deaths on Tuesday of Palestinians seeking food at distribution points. The Israeli defence body co-ordinating aid to Gaza announced a new deal with local merchants to improve aid deliveries as desperation mounts. The former security officials speaking out included those who led Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, Mossad spy agency and the Israeli military – and ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In a roughly three-minute video posted to social media this week, they demanded an end to the war and said the far-right members of the government are holding the country 'hostage' in prolonging the conflict. 'This is leading the state of Israel to the loss of its security and its identity,' Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, said in the footage. Yoram Cohen, former head of Shin Bet, called Mr Netanyahu's objectives 'a fantasy'. 'If anyone imagines that we can reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon and in parallel bring our hostages home, I think it is impossible,' he said. Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, announced on Monday that he would convene his Security Cabinet in the coming days to direct the army on the next stage of the war, hinting that even tougher military action was an option in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu said he remained committed to achieving his war objectives, including defeating Hamas, releasing all hostages and ensuring Gaza never again threatens Israel. Israeli media said the meeting was expected on Tuesday, with disagreements between Mr Netanyahu and the army chief, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, on how to proceed. The reports, citing anonymous officials in Mr Netanyahu's office, said the prime minister was pushing the army, which already controls about three quarters of Gaza, to conquer the entire territory, a step that could endanger the hostages, deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally. Various reports have said Mr Zamir opposes this step and could step down or be pushed out if it is approved. Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites, airdropped parcels and aid convoys in Gaza, according to witnesses, local health officials and the United Nations human rights office. The Israeli military says it has fired only warning shots and disputes the toll. Local health officials said Israeli forces opened fire on Tuesday morning towards Palestinians seeking desperately needed aid and in targeted attacks in the central and southern Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 people. The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment. The dead include 19 people who were killed in southern Gaza, 12 of them seeking aid near the Morag corridor and in Teina area, some three kilometres (1.86 miles) from the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hub east of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital and the Ministry of Health. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Elsewhere in central Gaza, Al-Awda hospital said it received the bodies of six Palestinians who were killed on Tuesday after Israeli troops targeted crowds near an aid distribution site run by the GHF. The GHF, however, said there were no incidents at their sites on Tuesday. The Israeli defence body in charge of co-ordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, wrote on X that there will be a 'gradual and controlled renewal of the entry of goods through the private sector in Gaza'. 'This aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the UN and international organisations,' it said Tuesday. A limited number of local merchants were approved for the plan and will sell basic food products, baby food, fruit and vegetables, and hygiene supplies through bank transfers, COGAT said. Thousands of Palestinians crowded against aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the southern Morag corridor on Monday, attempting to get whatever food they could during a protracted food shortage across the enclave. Mohammed Qassas from Khan Younis in southern Gaza said his children are so hungry that he is forced to storm aid trucks. 'I have young children, how am I supposed to feed them? No one has mercy. This resembles the end of the world,' he said. 'If we fight, we get the food. If we don't fight, we don't get anything.' As the trucks drove away, men climbed onto them, scrambling for any remaining scraps. 'The conditions are very challenging and we are hoping for a system to be in place,' Mr Qassas said. 'Some people go home with some 200 kilogrammes (441 pounds), and others go home with only one kilogramme (35 ounces). It is a mafia-like system.' After relentless efforts to get food from the trucks, it has become a routine for men to be seen coming back carrying flour sacks on their back, as well as carrying wounded and dead bodies from near the aid sites. Yusif Abu Mor from Khan Younis said the trucks' aid system is akin to a death trap. 'This aid is stained with humiliation and blood,' he said, adding that aid seekers run the risk of being killed by shootings or run over by aid trucks surrounded by crowds of hungry Palestinians. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to deliver aid safely, contributing to the territory's slide towards famine nearly 22 months into the war with Hamas. Aid groups say Israel's week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas. As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The UN and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks. Egypt, which has strong security ties with Israel, is a mediator in ceasefire talks, and its President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said Israel's war in Gaza has become a 'war of starvation, genocide and liquidation of the Palestinian cause'. Mr El-Sissi said the war no longer aims to achieve political outcomes or release the hostages. He reiterated his call for European governments and US President Donald Trump to help stop the war and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza's more than two million people. Long lines of trucks waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt have been a recurring image of the war.
