Gaza rescuers say 46 killed as UN slams US-backed aid system
"Every day we face this scenario: martyrs, injuries, in unbearable numbers," paramedic Ziad Farhat told AFP at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.
"Hospitals cannot accommodate the number of casualties arriving," he said.
The latest deaths came as Israel's opposition leader and the families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to widen a ceasefire with Iran to include the Palestinian territory.
Pressure also grew on the US- and Israeli-backed privately run aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace United Nations agencies.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) called the system an "abomination" while a spokesman for the UN human rights office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, condemned the "weaponisation of food" in Gaza.
According to figures issued on Tuesday by the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, at least 516 people have been killed and nearly 3,800 wounded by Israeli fire while seeking rations since late May.
The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups.
The Israeli military said the reports of deaths near the Netzarim corridor were "under review."
- 'Tank shells' -
Gaza civil defence spokesman Bassal reported a first deadly shooting "with bullets and tank shells" near the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza where thousands of Palestinians gather each night for rations from a nearby GHF distribution point.
The Israeli military later said that a crowd had been identified in an area "adjacent" to its troops.
Witness Ribhi Al-Qassas told AFP that troops had "opened fire randomly" at a crowd he estimated at 50,000 people.
The second incident took place in south Gaza about two kilometres from another GHF centre in Rafah governorate, Bassal said.
"Israeli forces targeted civilian gatherings near Al-Alam and Al-Shakoush areas with bullets and tank shells", he told AFP.
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and witnesses in the Palestinian territory.
"The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in Geneva.
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
In a statement on Saturday, GHF said it was "delivering aid at scale, securely and effectively", but it acknowledged it "cannot meet the full scale of need while large parts of Gaza remain closed".
GHF has denied responsibility for deaths near its aid points.
On Monday, more than a dozen human rights organisations called on GHF to cease its operations, warning of possible complicity in war crimes.
Ceasefire calls
After Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday after a 12-day war, Netayahu faced renewed calls to agree a ceasefire with Hamas after more than 20 months of war in Gaza.
"And now Gaza. It's time to finish it there too. Bring back the hostages, end the war," opposition leader Yair Lapid of the centre-right Yesh Atid party wrote on X.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel's war against Iran was "contributing to the successes in Gaza, but it will still take a bit more time".
The October 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,077 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
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France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
'Blood for food': The US soldier-spies sidelining UN aid work in Gaza
Gaza's health ministry reported last week that at least 549 Palestinians had been killed, and 4,066 injured, while seeking aid since the introduction of a controversial US-backed distribution system on May 27. Gazans are now forced to travel through militarised areas in southern Gaza to pick up bags of food, frequently resulting in the Israeli military firing on civilian aid seekers. Behind the statistics are grieving families. One Gazan, whose little brother was killed as he sought aid west of Gaza City, told FRANCE 24 that he got a call from Al Shifa hospital on Tuesday June 17. His brother was dumped there, wrapped in a bag. 'He was killed by an Israeli sniper, shot while crowds rushed towards aid trucks,' he said, 'I touched his body and found the sniper's bullet had entered through his left shoulder and exited through his heart.' 'We couldn't bury him that night because of the war,' he added. 'He spent his last night at home – dead.' 'He wasn't just my little brother. He was the joy in our home – the soul of the family. Everywhere he went, laughter followed. He was generous, loved by all, kind hearted. But now... He's no longer here,' he wrote. 'He was killed while searching for a piece of bread, while the world remains silent – watching, or justifying the killing.' Beginning in March, Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza for more than two months. It began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May through sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and secured by armed US contractors, with Israeli troops on the perimeter. The UN has boycotted the GHF, refusing to work with the group over concerns it violates humanitarian principles and was designed to help Israeli military objectives in the enclave. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday told the press that, 'Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarised zones is inherently unsafe. It is killing people.' 'Blood for food' A UN source in Gaza who requested anonymity explained that the new system forces civilians to approach evacuated areas, putting their lives at risk. 'Because there is not enough aid, people go in the thousands into the areas under evacuation, and this is where the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) kills them for not coming one by one,' the source said. 'It's blood for food.' A report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in early June cited several eyewitness accounts of civilians encountering fire from tanks, drones and helicopters as they sought food at GHF distribution sites. Both the GHF and the Israeli army have rejected such accounts. A GHF spokesperson told FRANCE 24 that, 'There has not been a single fatality at or near any of GHF [sic] distribution sites. Period.' 'Hamas doesn't want us here because they want to control the aid,' the spokesperson added. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of looting aid, without providing evidence. It sees the GHF as crucial to undermining what remains of Hamas's control over Gaza. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained in a recent interview with Fox News: 'We have a plan, that we devised with the help of American firms, to separate the giving of the humanitarian aid to the population from Hamas control.' Who is behind the GHF network? After the tumultuous resignation of its original executive director, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is now led by former USAID official John Acree and former Trump adviser Johnnie Moore, an evangelical preacher and public relations professional with close ties to both the US president and Israel's Netanyahu. During Trump's first term in office, Moore was part of an evangelical Christian drive to convince the president to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and move the US embassy there. He recently wrote in a post on X, 'There's nothing more Christian than feeding people in need.' GHF's private security partner, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), is run by Philip Francis Reilly, a former head of the CIA's covert action – 'special activities' – unit with experience of training insurgencies such as Nicaragua's right-wing Contras militias. Safe Reach first began operating in late January, leading a vehicle inspection checkpoint effort along the Netzarim Corridor splitting northern and southern Gaza with another private security contractor, UG Solutions. Both companies have been urgently recruiting former intelligence officers and special forces veterans to run their Gaza operations. 'Unconventional warfare' Safe Reach job postings have requested expertise with processing CCTV and aerial surveillance footage. A contractor with UG Solutions further recently told The Associated Press that American analysts and Israeli soldiers sit next to each other in a control room, analysing the results of facial recognition software running on top of real-time footage of distribution sites. Safe Reach told the AP that it has never used biometrics; an anonymous employee from the security contractor told the Israeli news outlet Shomrim in late May that the firm's surveillance is focused on preventing groups such as Hamas from bringing weapons near aid distribution sites. A job posting from UG Solutions sought former members of US Army Special Forces and Delta Force who were 'skilled in unconventional warfare tactics' and could deploy to an undisclosed overseas location within two weeks of May 20. The posting also enquired about proficiency with 'Belt-Fed Machine Guns'. Footage provided to The AP by their UG Solutions contractor source was geolocated to GHF distribution sites and, according to forensic audio experts, machine guns were being fired within 50 to 60 metres of the camera microphone. The most recent LinkedIn comment attributed to Joseph A. L'Etoile – a former chief operating officer of Orbis and self-identified contractor with Safe Reach – also stated that, 'Nothing beats a belt fed MG [machine gun] for engaging moving targets.' 'Bringing in such individuals with no obvious qualifications in aid delivery, accompanied by serious personal firepower, plays directly into concerns of humanitarian aid professionals that SRS and GHF are there for military purposes, more than feeding a starving population,' James Wasserstrom, an expert on conflict and post-conflict reconstruction who worked in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Kosovo for the UN, and then the US government, told FRANCE 24. GHF told FRANCE 24 in response that, 'This so-called expert obviously knows nothing about our operations,' adding that 'GHF personnel includes humanitarian experts.' An IDF soldier providing security to the GHF distribution sites recently told Haaretz that the Israeli-armed militia of the Palestinian alleged drug trafficker Yasser Abu Shabab – a Hamas opponent with alleged ties to ISIS – has affiliates participating in an external layer of security. A UN source inside Gaza told FRANCE 24 that both GHF and the IDF are collaborating with Abu Shabab's militia, which the source said 'used to loot UN convoys' in the enclave. The militiamen, wearing 'bulletproof vests and tactical helmets and holding brand new Kalashnikovs", are deployed inside the Israeli military zones that surround the GHF centers, the source explained. GHF and Safe Reach Solutions both told FRANCE 24 that allegations of their collaboration with Abu Shabab were 'false". Netanyahu, however, has admitted that Israel is supporting anti-Hamas clans in Gaza 'on the advice of security officials', with a view to undermining the Palestinian Islamist group. 'What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on June 5. 'It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers.' Intelligence contractors and family wealth management McNally Capital, the private equity firm behind the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation network, made its name advising wealthy families on how to invest their fortunes. It was founded by Ward McNally in 2008, a decade after he sold his inherited stake in the mapping and publishing company Rand McNally, a household name in the US. Many of McNally Capital's recent investments have been in US-based defence and aerospace contractors. This has included an investment in Safe Reach Solutions, which McNally Capital helped form through the Wyoming-based "generational wealth management" firm Two Ocean Trust, as revealed by the state's public corporate records. Roughly four years ago, McNally acquired the McLean-based intelligence contractor Orbis Operations, which was then chaired by former acting CIA director Michael J. Morell. Reilly, the CEO of Safe Reach Solutions, led the creation of both GHF and SRS as an offshoot of his work with Orbis. Last year it was revealed that Orbis was using numerous controversial surveillance tools, including commercial cellphone location tracking. An investigation from Shomrim in early May revealed that the same lawyer had registered both SRS in Wyoming and the original incarnation of GHF in Delaware in November, with the original GHF legal entity being renamed to 'For Those in Need Foundation' in February and swapped out for a company newly registered under the original name. Later the same month, The New York Times reported that the November incorporations of GHF and SRS were handled by 'representatives' of Reilly, in relation to his work at Orbis. McNally Capital subsequently confirmed to Reuters that it had an 'economic interest' in SRS and helped with the company's legal formation. McNally Capital did not respond to FRANCE 24's request for comment. Former 'Blackwater' The sole American director of Safe Reach's Israeli branch is the financial officer Charles J. Africano. Africano and Reilly have overlapped professionally for years, including circa 2015 at Constellis – a successor to the private military contractor Blackwater that gained notoriety for a civilian massacre in Iraq – and then at the similarly controversial private security and surveillance firm Circinus. Africano's connections with GHF were first highlighted by Middle East Eye and independently confirmed from public records by FRANCE 24. Africano is also a member of the private LinkedIn group of the Tampa-based special operations contractor Quiet Professionals, which was acquired last month by McNally and is led by former Delta Force sergeant major Andy Wilson. Quiet Professionals on Friday celebrated the completion of an affiliated non-profit's mission to extract Americans from Israel. When reached for comment regarding its relationship with Quiet Professionals, GHF responded with a refusal to discuss its financial relationships, stating, 'Like most non-profits, we don't disclose our donors to protect their privacy.' Special operations-affiliated private contractors form a tight-knit group. Both Orbis Operations and Quiet Professionals were acquired by McNally in partnership with NIO Advisors, the Illinois-based strategic advisory firm of investor Christopher J. Oates, who was recently revealed through public records to have helped establish the Israeli branch of Safe Reach Solutions. The chief business officer of Quiet Professionals, Leo Kryszewski, has also publicly disclosed spending four years with the CIA's special activities division and the US Army's Office of Military Support, a secretive intelligence unit often referred to as Task Force Orange. Africano was publicly credited with setting up the first bank account of the task force's de facto non-profit arm. Public US military procurement records have revealed that Quiet Professionals is providing its Cerebra Gray data analytics platform to the Army's Fort Huachuca in Arizona to train covert operatives in evading foreign counterintelligence services, including through hiding and remotely wiping cellphone data. Orbis and Quiet Professionals did not respond to FRANCE 24's request for comment. A $30 million award to GHF Despite the UN's serious misgivings about the high rate of civilian casualties among Gazans trying to access GHF aid hubs, the US State Department on Thursday afternoon announced its approval of a $30 million grant for the new organisation through the recently gutted USAID. When asked during the press briefing whether the State Department opposed Israeli blockades on pre-existing aid groups, principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, 'What we're pushing for is for other countries to support the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's work.' A US government source who requested anonymity cited a special adviser to the State Department as having 'vehemently pushed for (the) State (Department) to support the GHF mechanism'. The source described the adviser as a '20-something-year-old' Trump political appointee with 'very little experience of the region'. Leaked documents obtained by FRANCE 24 from USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) include GHF's 'Technical Narrative' proposal and an automated message from BHA's award management system, Abacus, stating that the GHF funding relates to a 'high-priority' White House directive. An employee of what remains of BHA, who requested anonymity, stated that GHF's application for funding fell 'well below our normal technical standards for funding". 'Additional funds were added to the Gaza project for a [White House] high-priority directive,' they added. Josh Paul, a former director of public affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said the new foundation's lack of transparency leaves it wide open to abuses. 'I cannot recall a time during my service in government in which the US contributed half a billion dollars to an entity as new, opaque and questionable as the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation',' he said, referring to reports earlier this month that the State Department was considering a $500 million grant for GHF. 'Not only has this mechanism proven to be deeply flawed – indeed, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians through its operations – but its formation through a series of shell companies and interweaving personalities and organisations creates the significant risk of diversion of funds and corruption,' Paul said. 'There is a significant likelihood that much of these funds, rather than buying food for starving people in Gaza, will be lost to waste, abuse and fraud." The US State Department did not respond to FRANCE 24's request for comment. 'Aiding and abetting war crimes' The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is not the only Gaza aid group founded by former US military and intelligence officials. Fogbow, an offshoot of the New York-based business intelligence firm Veracity Worldwide, planned to deliver aid to Gaza via an ill-fated floating pier. Supporters of the GHF say its cooperation with the Israeli army gives it an advantage over established aid organisations, which have been at loggerheads with Israeli authorities since the start of the war. 'What GHF has been able to achieve that other organisations have not is far better deconfliction with the IDF,' Safe Reach Solutions told FRANCE 24. 'Deconfliction', however, has come at a terrible cost for desperate Gazan civilians who risk their lives each day simply trying to access food from GHF distribution sites. The head of the UN agency for supplying aid into Palestine, Philippe Lazzarini, has described the GHF as a 'lame, medieval and lethal system that is deliberately harming people under the camouflage of 'humanitarian aid' with lies, deceit and cruelty". Lazzarini said in a June 18 post on X that the deaths of civilians seeking aid was a ' disgrace ', adding: 'Inviting starving people to their death is a war crime.' The World Food Programme and other UN agencies say they are much better equipped – with the 'logistics capacity, expertise and operational coverage' – to distribute food aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in accordance with international humanitarian law. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights notified the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in early June of its potential legal liability for complicity in war crimes. 'The GHF operations run the risk of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide,' senior staff attorney Katherine Gallagher told FRANCE 24. A group of 15 human rights and legal groups joined these calls with an open letter on Monday, also warning GHF that it was risking legal liability. As agencies like UNICEF, UNRWA and other NGOs are supplanted, the letter said, GHF's aid model for Palestinians 'exposes them to violence', including requiring them to travel long distances to just a handful of distribution hubs. The letter urges donors and private contractors to withdraw from any involvement with the GHF in favour of supporting aid models 'that uphold international humanitarian law'.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
New Delhi says fuel ban on old vehicles not feasible
New Delhi is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted capitals globally with vehicular emissions being one of the worst offenders, according to several studies. At the peak of the smog, levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- dangerous cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surge to more than 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum. The fuel restriction was introduced Tuesday to reinforce an already-existing but widely disregarded ban on petrol cars older than 15 years, and diesel vehicles older than 10. But Delhi's environment minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, told reporters the fuel ban was not feasible because of "crucial issues related to technological glitches". Number plate-recognising cameras and loudspeakers installed at fuelling stations were "malfunctioning", Sirsa said, leading to "fights and arguments". The ban had resulted in public "discontent", he added. Sirsa said he had written to the area's pollution control authority, explaining the problems in implementing the ban. "Unless there is a robust system and the ban is everywhere, it will not work," he added. The ban was to be extended to satellite cities around the capital, an area home to more than 32 million people, from November. A study in The Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths in India to air pollution in 2019. Each winter, vehicle and factory emissions coupled with farm fires from surrounding states wrap the city in a dystopian haze. Cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds worsen the situation by trapping deadly pollutants. Piecemeal government initiatives, such as partial restrictions on fossil fuel-powered transport and water trucks spraying mist to clear particulate matter from the air, have failed to make a noticeable impact. © 2025 AFP
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Australian man dies from 'extremely rare' bat bite virus
The man in his 50s was bitten by a bat carrying Australian bat lyssavirus several months ago, the health service in New South Wales said. "We express our sincere condolences to the man's family and friends for their tragic loss," NSW Health said in a statement. "While it is extremely rare to see a case of Australian bat lyssavirus, there is no effective treatment for it." The man from northern New South Wales, who has not been identified, was this week listed as being in a "critical condition" in hospital. Officials said he was treated following the bite and they were investigating to see whether other exposures or factors played a role in his illness. The virus -- a close relative to rabies, which does not exist in Australia -- is transmitted when bat saliva enters the human body through a bite or scratch. First symptoms can take days or years to appear. Early signs of the disease are flu-like -- a headache, fever and fatigue, the health service said. The victim's condition rapidly deteriorates, leading to paralysis, delirium, convulsions and death. There were only three previous cases of human infection by Australian bat lyssavirus since it was first identified in 1996 -- all of them fatal. 'Coma and death' People should avoid touching or handling bats, as any bat in Australia could carry lyssavirus, the New South Wales health service said. Only wildlife handlers who are trained, protected, and vaccinated should interact with the flying mammals, it warned. "If you or someone you know is bitten or scratched by a bat, you need to wash the wound thoroughly for 15 minutes right away with soap and water and apply an antiseptic with anti-virus action," it said. "Patients then require treatment with rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine." The virus has been found in species of flying foxes and insect-eating microbats, NSW Health said. The type of bat involved in the latest fatality has not been identified. Australian bat lyssavirus was first identified in May 1996 by scientists at the national science agency CSIRO, who examined brain tissue from a flying fox that had been showing "nervous signs" in New South Wales. Later that year, a bat handler in Queensland became ill. "The initial numbness and weakness suffered in her arm progressed to coma and death," the science agency said in an online document on the virus. "Two further cases in Queensland -- a woman in 1998 and an eight year old boy in 2013 -- resulted in death after being bitten or scratched by a bat," it said. There are subtle differences between the lysssavirus in flying foxes and insectivorous bats, the science agency has found. © 2025 AFP
