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Middle Eastern Headlines at 11:34 a.m. GMT

Middle Eastern Headlines at 11:34 a.m. GMT

Yahoo6 days ago
Israeli strikes kill at least 20 in Gaza, health officials say
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IDF soldiers removed from duty, punished after refusing orders to return and fight in Gaza
IDF soldiers removed from duty, punished after refusing orders to return and fight in Gaza

Yahoo

time24 minutes ago

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IDF soldiers removed from duty, punished after refusing orders to return and fight in Gaza

Soldiers from the Nahal Brigade face repurcussions after refusing orders to return to fight in Gaza due to "a deep, internal crisis." Four soldiers from the 931st Battalion in the Nahal Brigade informed their commanders that they refuse to engage in any further fighting in the Gaza Strip, Kan News reported on Sunday. The four soldiers have been removed from active service for refusing orders, and three have been tried in military court, receiving sentences ranging from 7 to 12 days. The fourth has not been tried yet. The soldiers have all undergone multiple rounds of fighting in Gaza and have all lost friends in the war. One of the four was injured on the Gaza border in 2024, and after recovery, returned to fight voluntarily. 'These things will be deeply etched into their souls,' one of their mothers told Kan. According to Kan, the four announced that their refusal to fight came out of a "deep, internal crisis," not fear. Despite this, the group claimed they were immediately imprisoned instead of being offered treatment. "Three soldiers from the Nahal Brigade refused to enter combat in the Gaza Strip,' the IDF responded to the incident. 'It should be noted that the soldiers were seen by a mental health officer (Kaban), who determined they were fit for combat. After a disciplinary process, the soldiers maintained their refusal and were therefore sentenced to imprisonment in a military jail." "The matter was handled with sensitivity and in accordance with regulations. The IDF views the refusal of an order very seriously, especially during wartime, and will continue to uphold discipline,' the military stated. Additional soldiers' refusal of orders This is not the first time that soldiers have refused orders to resume fighting in Gaza, nor is it the first time the IDF has seemingly disregarded its soldiers' mental health. Earlier this month, a Kfir soldier serving in Gaza repeatedly asked to see a mental health officer but was refused, even after threatening to take his own life multiple times. Only after his fellow soldiers brought the severity of the situation to the attention of their battalion commander was he granted a visit. In May, additional soldiers from Nahal were sentenced to suspended prison sentences after requesting to serve in rear-line positions because they were 'tired of the continuous fighting,' according to Walla. Other soldiers were driven by their anger, accusing the government of putting its desire to fight over the necessity of bringing the remaining hostages home. Last October, approximately 140 soldiers signed a letter expressing their refusal to continue to serve if the government did not advance a hostage deal. More recently, in May 2025, Capt. (res.) Ron Feiner was sentenced to 20 days in military prison after refusing to return to reserve duty after almost three hundred days of service. Feiner cited moral obligations related to both the war and the government's handling of hostage rescue efforts. 'I am horrified by the never-ending war in Gaza, the abandonment of the hostages, and the ongoing deaths of innocent people,' Feiner said in a statement following his sentencing. 'I cannot morally continue to serve as long as this doesn't change.' Solve the daily Crossword

Israeli forces kill 63 Palestinian in Gaza within hours of ‘humanitarian pause'
Israeli forces kill 63 Palestinian in Gaza within hours of ‘humanitarian pause'

Yahoo

timean hour ago

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Israeli forces kill 63 Palestinian in Gaza within hours of ‘humanitarian pause'

The Israeli military killed at least 63 people across Gaza just hours after declaring daily 'pauses' in operations to facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid, health officials said. The military said on Sunday it would suspend operations daily from 10am until 8pm in parts of central and northern Gaza, including al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City, and promised to open aid corridors from 6am to 11pm to let in food and medical supplies. However, within hours of the so-called 'humanitarian pause' taking effect, Israeli forces resumed air raids. One reported strike targeted a bakery in an area designated as a 'safe zone', according to Al Jazeera. The humanitarian crisis continued to worsen. Health officials reported six more deaths, including of two children, from starvation in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 133. Among the latest to succumb was five-month-old Zainab Abu Haleeb, who died of malnutrition at the Nasser Hospital. 'Three months inside the hospital and this is what I get in return, that she is dead,' her mother Israa Abu Haleeb told Al Jazeera. The World Food Programme said one in three people in Gaza had gone days without food and about half a million were experiencing famine-like conditions. More than 20 per cent of pregnant and breastfeeding women were malnourished, according to the World Health Organization. Israel maintains that it is working to improve aid access and denies that famine exists in Gaza. But aid organisations say the situation is catastrophic, with a quarter of the population at risk of acute malnutrition. UN officials say the crisis won't ease unless Israel speeds up the movement of aid convoys through its checkpoints. A top UN official said last week Palestinians were beginning to resemble 'walking corpses'. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said humanitarian workers were encountering children who were 'emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying' without immediate intervention. 'Families are no longer coping. They're breaking down, unable to survive,' Mr Lazzarini said. 'Their existence is threatened.' Israel has severely limited the flow of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza, allowing only a small number of trucks to enter each day after enforcing an 11-week total blockade earlier this year. UN officials warn the current level of aid is merely a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of need. The Israeli military intercepted an aid ship bound for Gaza that aimed to breach the blockade on the Palestinian territory, detaining 21 international activists and journalists and confiscating all cargo, including baby formula, food, and medicine, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on Sunday. The group said Israeli forces 'violently intercepted' their vessel, Handala, in international waters around 40 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, cutting off cameras and communication shortly before midnight on Saturday. 'All cargo was non-military, civilian and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade,'' the group said in a statement. It was the second ship operated by the coalition that Israeli forces prevented in recent months from delivering aid to Gaza. It was reported on Sunday that Jordan and the UAE had begun airdropping aid into the besieged Palestinian territory. But Mr Lazzarini said 'airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation'. 'They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction & smokescreen,' he said in an X post. 'A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements with dignified access to people in need. Israel's war on Gaza has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, injured over 144,000, and left most of the densely populated coastal territory in ruins and the majority of its 2.2 million people homeless and starving. Israel launched the war in October 2023 after nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage during a Hamas attack.

Israeli strikes kill 63 in Gaza despite ‘pauses', as hunger crisis deepens
Israeli strikes kill 63 in Gaza despite ‘pauses', as hunger crisis deepens

Yahoo

time6 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Israeli strikes kill 63 in Gaza despite ‘pauses', as hunger crisis deepens

Israeli forces have killed at least 63 people across Gaza, hours after the military announced it would begin 'pausing' attacks for 10 hours daily in some areas to allow humanitarian aid to pass through. On Sunday, the Israeli army said it would temporarily halt military activity each day from 10am to 8pm (07:00-17:00 GMT) in parts of central and northern Gaza, including al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City. It also pledged to open designated aid corridors for food and medical convoys between 6am and 11pm. But hours into the first day of the 'humanitarian pauses', Israeli air raids resumed. 'There was an air strike on Gaza City, and this is one of the areas that was designated as a safe area, and where the Israeli forces are going to halt their military operations,' Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary reported from Deir el-Balah. 'According to Palestinians in that area, a bakery was targeted.' The bombardment comes as global outcry grows over the worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza inflicted by Israel. Famine deaths rise Gaza's Ministry of Health reported that six more Palestinians, including two children, died from hunger-related causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the number of starvation deaths to 133 since October 2023. Among the dead was five-month-old Zainab Abu Haleeb, who succumbed to malnutrition at Nasser Hospital. 'Three months inside the hospital, and this is what I get in return, that she is dead,' said her mother, Israa Abu Haleeb, as the child's father cradled her small body wrapped in a white World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday that one in three Gaza residents has gone days without eating, and nearly 500,000 people are suffering from 'famine-like conditions'. The World Health Organization also warned last week that more than 20 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished. Falestine Ahmed, a mother in Gaza, told Al Jazeera she lost one-third of her body weight. 'I used to weigh 57kg [126 pounds], now I weigh 42kg [93 pounds], and both my son and I have been diagnosed with severe malnutrition,' she said. 'We barely have any food at home, and even when it's available, it's far too expensive for us to afford.' Israel has authorised new corridors for aid, while the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have airdropped supplies into the territory. However, deliveries have been fraught with danger and are far too few. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported that one aid drop injured nearly a dozen people. 'Eleven people were reported with injuries as one of these pallets fell directly on tents in that displacement site near al-Rasheed Road.' Despite the mounting evidence of extreme hunger, Israel continues to deny that famine exists in Gaza. The Israeli military insists it is working to improve humanitarian access. But scenes of desperation contradict official claims. 'I've come all this way, risking my life for my children. They haven't eaten for a week,' said Smoud Wahdan, a mother searching for flour, speaking to Al Jazeera. 'At the very least, I've been looking for a piece of bread for my children.' Another displaced mother, Tahani, said that her cancer-stricken child was among those suffering. 'I came to get flour, to look for food to feed my children. I wish God's followers would wake up and see all these people. They are dying.' Aid groups overwhelmed Liz Allcock, the head of protection for Medical Aid for Palestinians, told Al Jazeera that she has never seen Gaza in such a state. 'The scale of starvation and the number of people you see walking around who are literally skin and bones [is shocking]… Money really has no value here when there is nothing to buy,' she said. 'All of Gazan society – no matter who they are – is suffering from critical food shortages,' she added, warning that one-quarter of the population is at risk of acute malnutrition. The United Nations says aid deliveries can only succeed if Israel approves the rapid movement of convoys through its checkpoints. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher noted that while some restrictions appeared to have eased, the scale of the crisis required far more action. 'This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,' he said. Diplomatic pressure builds French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he discussed the Gaza situation with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts and plans to co-host a conference in New York City next week focused on securing a two-state solution. 'We cannot accept that people, including large numbers of children, die of hunger,' he said. Macron confirmed that France would soon recognise Palestinian statehood, joining more than 140 UN member states. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an interview that Israel's blockade of aid amounts to a violation of 'humanity and morality'. 'Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March,' he told ABC News. However, he added that Australia was not ready to recognise Palestinian statehood 'imminently'. In the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that ceasefire talks led by President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, are making 'a lot of progress'. 'We're optimistic and hopeful that any day now, we will have a ceasefire agreement,' Rubio told Fox News, suggesting that half of the remaining Israeli captives may be released soon. Gaza's Health Ministry said that 88 Palestinians were killed and 374 wounded in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours alone. Since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, at least 59,821 Palestinians have been killed and more than 144,000 injured. Despite talk of pauses and diplomacy, the violence continues to the daily Crossword

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