Israeli military kills 41 people in Gaza, medics say, World News
Medics at Al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south.
An airstrike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said. In Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 11 people in a house. The rest were killed in separate airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip, they added.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month total blockade. Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings trying to reach the food.
The GHF said in a statement that it resumed food deliveries on Sunday, distributing more than two million meals from its three distribution sites without incident.
The United Nations rejects the new Israeli-backed distribution system as inadequate, dangerous, and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles.
COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the international community, including food and flour, into Gaza.
It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it steals aid and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the Gaza population.
The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at least 300 people have so far been killed, and more than 2,600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in Gaza.
"These are not humanitarian aid, these are traps for the poor and the hungry under the watch of occupation planes," said Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the health ministry.
"Aid distributed under fire isn't aid, it is humiliation," Bursh posted on X on Sunday.
The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, on Oct 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day.
Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread.
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AsiaOne
38 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger; burial shrouds in short supply, World News
CAIRO/GAZA — At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Gaza on Monday (Aug 4), including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine. The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The GHF said there were no incidents at or near their sites on Monday. Reuters was unable to verify where the incidents took place. Bilal Thari, 40, was among mourners at Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of Palestinians killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, Gaza health officials said. "Everyone who goes there, comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe," Thari said. At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of UN aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials said. At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said. "We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there's no life," Thari said. There was no immediate comment by Israel on Sunday's incident. The Israeli military said in a statement to Reuters that it had not fired earlier on Monday in the vicinity of the aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip. It did not elaborate further. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, allowing airdrops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government's war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the hostages. Deaths from hunger Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the last 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began. UN agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it. Cogat, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the last week, over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations. Israel's military later said 120 aid packages containing food had been dropped into Gaza "over the past few hours" by six different countries in collaboration with Cogat. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that more than 600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions in late July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. Palestinian and UN officials said Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements — the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offencive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. [[nid:720926]]
Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Straits Times
Some Kenyan runners see doping as a path to glory, and to basic sustenance
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Runners go to Iten for access to competition, coaching talent and the benefit of training in thin air, all to try to earn riches from running. – Thousands of feet above the Great Rift Valley that runs through East Africa, the small city of Iten, Kenya, calls itself the 'Home of Champions'. It has long produced and attracted world-class running talent, its high altitude and red dirt roads a training ground for thousands. The town also has a far less laudatory reputation. It is a well-documented centre of a doping crisis that shows little sign of being tamed. Runners come here for access to competition, coaching talent and the benefit of training in thin air, all to try to earn riches from running. Many Kenyans who try to join the elite endure cramped and dirty living conditions, little food and separation from their families in service of their ambitions. In a region where the average annual income is the equivalent of little more than US$2,000 (S$2,590) and the competition so intense, the potentially life-changing lure of banned substances, referred to locally as 'the medicine', is obvious. A few thousand dollars in prize money or participation in a single overseas race can be the difference between runners and their families eating three meals a day and scratching around for the next bite. They calculate that doping is worth the risks not only of getting caught, but also of damaging their health and, in some cases, even dying. In that environment, the doping industry has flourished, with pharmacies in the region's healthcare hub city of Eldoret said to serve as a conduit for performance-enhancing substances. The crisis pulls together extreme poverty, money-making opportunity, corruption and a region overflowing with running talent that makes getting an edge harder than just about anywhere. 'This economic reality means the high-risk situation is always going to be impossible to completely eradicate,' said Brett Clothier, the head of global track and field's unit responsible for anti-doping efforts. Many runners and coaches suspect that their rivals dope and they point to the roster of athletes barred from international competitive racing. Kenya has the most names on the list. Some of Kenya's most prominent runners have been caught doping and barred from competition. The women's marathon world-record holder, Ruth Chepngetich, who is from the Rift Valley, was suspended in July after testing positive for a prohibited substance. International officials have made headway. Kenyans are now among the most-tested athletes anywhere, Clothier said, adding that as widespread as the doping is, it was far worse a few years ago. Yet, global anti-doping bodies suspect that policing efforts may be touching only the edges of a cheating epidemic. Officials in Kenya responsible for tackling doping have been caught taking bribes. The scale of the problem prompted track and field's governing body to threaten to ban Kenya from global competition unless its government committed to spending US$25 million to fight doping, a staggering amount in the anti-doping world. 'We have to teach them a different way of seeing things, that using illegitimate means of doing well is not going to help them in the long run. It damages their health and they might not be successful,' said Barnabas Korir, an executive committee member of Kenya's athletics federation who also sits on a multi-agency anti-doping body. 'It's a matter of changing the whole attitude.' To beat the competition and earn life-changing income, which could mean as little as US$5,000 or US$10,000 a year, doping is an attractive proposition. Over the past decade, Alfred, an athlete who acknowledged using banned drugs, achieved success in modest races. The income, he said, allowed him to provide a home for his immediate family and his mother, who had been living in the mud-and-thatch house where he was raised. Doping was the only route he saw to a better life, said Alfred, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition his last name not be used. Getting access to banned substances is straightforward. Pharmacies line the streets of Eldoret, a city of about a half million and the region's principal commercial hub, about a 30-minute drive from Iten. Runners can procure just about anything they need to boost performance. For those who cannot pay, some pharmacists or doctors will strike deals for a percentage of future earnings. The authorities' crackdown also took aim at drug suppliers, while blanket testing is the latest tool that officials have devised to catch cheats in Iten. Often, Kenyans and others taking drugs show little regard for the physical risks, such as dangerously elevated heart rates, kidney and liver disease, and even death. In the fall of 2024, at the same Iten track, a 20-year-old man trying out for an American college scholarship collapsed and died after a 3,000m trial, news reports said. He is one of many young Kenyan athletes to die while running. The causes of death have been hard for athletics officials to determine because they have been unable to get access to autopsy results. 'If someone drops dead like that, an athlete who is fit, a young one, there has to be a reason,' said Korir, the Kenyan official. 'It can't be someone just drops dead.' NYTIMES
New Paper
17 hours ago
- New Paper
Ong Beng Seng to be sentenced on Aug 15 for abetting obstruction of justice
Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty on Aug 4 to abetting the obstruction of justice in a case linked to former transport minister S. Iswaran. Ong is expected to be sentenced on Aug 15. His bail of $800,000 has been extended. The prosecution acknowledged that while eight weeks imprisonment would ordinarily be warranted, judicial mercy should be exercised in this case due to Ong's incurable medical conditions. Imprisonment would thus result in an increased risk of endangering his life, added the prosecuting team. In 2020, Ong was diagnosed with advanced multiple myeloma, a cancer which affects his white blood cells that are crucial to the body's immune response. His lawyer, Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull, said Ong suffers from a devastating cocktail of medical problems, and imprisoning him would dramatically increase life-threatening risks for him. Ong's hearing on Aug 4 was delayed after two fire alarms went off just as the case was about to begin. The first was triggered the moment Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng walked into the room. After a delay of almost an hour, the statement of facts detailing Ong's offences were read out by the prosecution in a packed courtroom. Addressing the court on Ong's abetment of obstruction of justice offence, the prosecuting team said Ong asked Mr Iswaran in December 2022 if the former minister would like to join Ong on a trip to Qatar. Ong told Mr Iswaran he would be his guest and travelling on his private jet. The businessman added he would take care of all of Mr Iswaran's expenses for the trip, including his hotel accommodation. Mr Iswaran accepted Ong's offer. On Dec 10, 2022, Mr Iswaran travelled to Doha, Qatar, on Ong's private jet, with the flight valued at around US$7,700 (S$10,410). Mr Iswaran checked into the Four Seasons Hotel, which cost $4,737.63 for a one-night stay. The prosecution said Mr Iswaran did not pay for his flight to Doha or hotel accommodation, and the hotel accommodation was paid for by Singapore GP on Ong's instructions. After one night in Doha, Mr Iswaran returned to Singapore on a business class flight valued at $5,700, which Singapore GP also paid for. The prosecution said: "Iswaran did not declare to the Government of Singapore that he had obtained the outbound flight on the accused's private jet, the hotel accommodation at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, or the Doha-SG Flight ticket from the accused." In May 2023, while the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was investigating a separate matter relating to Ong's associates, it came across the flight manifest of the outbound flight on Ong's private jet which Mr Iswaran took to Doha. On May 18, Ong was informed by his associates that CPIB had seized the flight manifest which had details of the Doha trip. Ong spoke to Mr Iswaran over the phone and told him CPIB had the flight manifest. Mr Iswaran asked Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the Doha trip, including the flight to Singapore on Dec 11, 2022. Ong agreed and had Singapore GP director Mok Chee Liang to arrange for the payment, and told Mr Mok to keep proper records of this. On May 24, 2023, Mr Mok emailed Mr Iswaran's personal assistant with an invoice for the flight from Doha to Singapore. Mr Iswaran then issued a cheque for $5,700 to Singapore GP, which the prosecution said had a tendency to obstruct the course of justice, as it made it less likely that he would be investigated by CPIB in relation to the Doha trip. The prosecution said Ong also knew that Mr Iswaran's act of making payment for the flight from Doha to Singapore was likely to obstruct the course of justice. On Oct 3, 2024, Mr Iswaran was handed a jail term of 12 months after he pleaded guilty to five charges, including four for obtaining valuable items as a public servant. Prosecution does not object to fine for Ong The prosecution team, led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong, said judicial mercy should be exercised due to the severity of Ong's medical conditions. Judicial mercy is the discretionary power of Singapore's courts to give a more lenient sentence because of exceptional mitigating circumstances. It has a high threshold and has so far been exercised in only two types of situations. The first is where the offender is suffering from a terminal illness, while the second is where the offender is so ill that jail time would carry a high risk of endangering his life. The prosecution said Ong's actions in the crime were serious, as it could have impeded CPIB's investigations. The prosecution also explained why Ong's case qualified for judicial mercy to be applied. "Treatment is continuous to delay relapse, but the disease will eventually progress, requiring a change in treatment, and eventually patients will die from refractory disease," said the prosecution. "The accused also has peripheral vascular disease of both feet, with a non-healing toe wound that places him at risk of infection and gangrene." In a lengthy mitigation, SC Bull said the cancer has compromised Ong's spine, and a metal rod has been inserted in it. If infected, the result would be catastrophic, he added. Besides the risk of infection, SC Bull said the medical condition has had a destructive impact on Ong's skeletal system. While showing a radiology photo to Judge Lee, SC Bull said the cancer had hollowed out his spinal vertebrae. While showing a radiology photo to Judge Lee, SC Bull said the cancer had hollowed out his spinal vertebrae. This means that the strength of Ong's spine has been so compromised, any fall or injury could result in permanent disability or life-threatening injury. Those convicted of the abetment of obstruction of justice can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both.
