
UN agency calls for lifting of Israel's ban on international media in Gaza
According to Anadolu Ajansi (AA), Philippe Lazzarini said on X that the media ban has persisted for over 650 days amid what he described as "atrocities against civilians."
"The ban on the entry of international media must be lifted," Lazzarini said.
He pointed out that more than 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed during the ongoing conflict.
"Media ban fuels disinformation campaigns questioning firsthand data and accounts from eyewitnesses and international humanitarian organisations," he added.
– Bernama-Anadolu

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
24 minutes ago
- The Star
Myanmar junta mandates prison sentences for election critics
YANGON: Myanmar's junta said Wednesday (July 30) it has enacted a new law dictating prison sentences for critics or protesters of their planned election, which is being boycotted by opposition groups. The junta seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a many-sided civil war, and has touted elections at the end of this year as a path to peace. Opposition groups -- including democratic lawmakers ousted by the military takeover -- and international monitors have called the poll a ploy to legitimise the junta's rule. State newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar said the "Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic Elections from Obstruction, Disruption and Destruction" was enacted on Tuesday. Its 14-page text forbids "any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets in order to destroy a part of the electoral process". Individuals convicted face between three and seven years behind bars, while offences committed in groups can result in sentences between five and 10 years. The legislation also outlaws damaging ballot papers and polling stations, as well as the intimidation or harm of voters, candidates and election workers, with a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. If anyone is killed during an attempt to disrupt the election "everyone involved in the crime faces the death penalty", the law says. Swathes of Myanmar are beyond the control of the junta and some government census workers deployed last year to gather data ahead of the poll faced resistance and security threats. Data could not be collected from an estimated 19 million of the country's 51 million people, provisional results said, in part because of "significant security constraints". Analysts have predicted the myriad of anti-coup guerrillas and ethnic armed groups the junta is battling may stage offensives in the run-up to the vote as a sign of their opposition. A UN expert called on the international community last month to reject the election plan as "a fraud". Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar, said the junta is "trying to create this mirage of an election exercise that will create a legitimate civilian government". - AFP


New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Fahmi: Cabinet may discuss Hamas disarmament bid Friday
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has not yet discussed recent calls by several Arab nations for Hamas to disarm and relinquish control of Gaza. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the matter may be raised at the cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday. "As of now, the cabinet has not discussed the issue. It may be raised at this Friday's meeting," he told reporters after officiating the International Connectivity Conference and Expo today. Fahmi, who is also the government spokesman, said matters involving foreign policy would be handled by Wisma Putra. "Any developments on political matters concerning international affairs will be provided by Wisma Putra and discussed accordingly," he said. Several Arab countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, recently issued a joint call for Hamas to disarm and withdraw from Gaza to help end the 21-month conflict with Israel. Previously, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia's support for the Palestinian people is based on principle and is not an endorsement of any specific group. He said Malaysia has always supported the Palestinian cause and their right to statehood, not any specific political faction, including Hamas. "Many have asked, including my counterparts, why Malaysia appears to support Hamas. "We have made it clear that we are not supporting Hamas. We are supporting the Palestinian cause, and Hamas is just part of the Palestinian landscape," he said.

Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
Gaza ‘on brink of full-scale famine' as Israeli strikes continue despite aid push
GAZA CITY, July 30 — Gaza is slipping into famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly 22-month war had topped 60,000. The World Food Programme, Unicef and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that time was running out and that Gaza was 'on the brink of a full-scale famine'. 'We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation,' WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement from the agencies. This week, Israel launched daily pauses in its military operations in some parts of Gaza and opened secure routes to enable UN agencies and other aid groups to distribute food in the densely populated territory of more than two million. However, Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency — and experts warned a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent. 'The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip,' said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a group of monitors who advise the United Nations on impending crises. The IPC stopped short of declaring a state of famine, but made clear the situation is critical. Urgent action now Britain, France and Germany could send their foreign ministers to Israel next week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, adding: 'We assume that the Israeli government is willing to acknowledge that something must be done now.' In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and of looting food intended for civilians. 'While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis,' his office said. 'We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians.' Israel's international isolation increased Tuesday, when Britain joined France in proposing to recognise a Palestinian state as early as September. 'I have always said that we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,' Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. 'With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.' Israel's reaction was much like its response to a similar announcement last week by French President Emmanuel Macron. It 'constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza', the foreign ministry said. Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. Then on Sunday, faced with mounting international criticism, Israel began a series of 'tactical pauses' while allowing aid trucks to pass through two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to conduct airdrops. Deliveries have been ramped up, but the IPC said this effort would not prove enough unless aid agencies were granted 'immediate, unimpeded' humanitarian access. 'Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip,' it said, adding that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17. According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers 'key populated areas' between 10am (0700 GMT) and 8pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6am to 11pm. Cogat, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed on Monday. Air strikes Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, Cogat said. Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. The Israeli military said it had 'struck several terror targets in the central Gaza Strip', but that the number of reported casualties 'does not align with the information held by the (military)'. The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said Israel's campaign had now killed 60,034 people, most of them civilians. The war was sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, the majority civilians, based on an AFP tally of official figures. — AFP