Iran forcing out Afghans en masse after Israel spying claims
More than three years later, she is again in hiding — this time in a Tehran suburb with her siblings and eight-year-old son. Iran has embarked on a massive deportation drive of the country's 3 million-plus population of Afghan refugees, some of whom authorities say aided Israel's airstrikes on the country last month.
"I don't know for how long we can keep ourselves like prisoners and I don't know what lies ahead for us,' said Nawida, who no longer has a valid visa and didn't want to give her full name to avoid being identified. "We're calling out loud on the international community to reach out and help us.'
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NHK
6 hours ago
- NHK
Netanyahu renews resolve to continue fighting in Gaza after hostage videos
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his determination to continue military operations in Gaza, saying that Hamas is not interested in a deal. Netanyahu made the statement in a video on Sunday in reaction to the release of videos showing two Israelis held captive by Hamas. The clips show two extremely skinny men. One of the clips carried a caption that says, "The occupation government has decided to starve them." Netanyahu called the videos horrifying. Hamas was apparently attempting to pressure Israel to increase delivery of food and aid supplies to Gaza. Scores of Gazans have died from malnutrition and starvation amid acute food shortages in the Palestinian enclave. Netanyahu asked the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to swiftly provide food and medical care to hostages in Gaza. Hamas said it is ready to cooperate with the Red Cross if Israel opens humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to all the residents in Gaza and halts airstrikes during distribution.
Japan Times
19 hours ago
- Japan Times
Hamas says it will allow aid to hostages if Israel meets their conditions
Hamas said on Sunday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in the Gaza Strip if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting airstrikes during the distribution of aid. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organizations from having any kind of access to the hostages, and families have little or no details of their conditions. On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David. In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole that, he says in the video, is for his own grave. The arm of the individual holding the camera, which can be seen in the frame, is a regular width. The video of David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis. France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. were among countries to express outrage, and Israel's foreign ministry announced that the U.N. Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday morning on the issue of the situation of the hostages in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages during a conversation with the head of the Swiss-based ICRC's local delegation. A statement from The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of those being held in Gaza, said Hamas' comments about the hostages cannot hide that it "has been holding innocent people in impossible conditions for over 660 days," and demanded their immediate release. "Until their release," said the statement, "Hamas has the obligation to provide them with everything they need. Hamas kidnapped them, and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas' hands." Hala Al-Masri, 17, sits at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on an UNRWA school that was sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. | REUTERS Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said. Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said later in the day that four tankers of U.N. fuel had entered to help in operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services. There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt. Gaza's health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients. Fuel shipments have been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas militants to free the remaining hostages they took in their October 2023 attack on Israel. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. U.N. agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble. COGAT said that during the past 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 U.N. and other international organizations. Meanwhile, Belgium's air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defense ministry said. France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid. Aid packages dropped from an airplane descend over Gaza, as seen from the central Gaza Strip on Friday. | REUTERS The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive. Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said. Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at its headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials.
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
NHK finds aid not reaching all residents in Gaza
One week has passed since the Israeli military started a limited pause in its activity in the Gaza Strip from July 27, to allow more aid from the United Nations and other organizations to reach the area. Humanitarian aid deliveries by truck and airdrop have continued during this period, but NHK has found that sufficient supplies are not reaching all residents in the enclave. More than 200 truckloads of supplies have reportedly been delivered each day. NHK's Gaza-based crew saw more street stalls and shoppers in central Gaza's Nuseirat on July 30 compared with about three weeks ago on July 11. Some vendors were selling beans from the same bags in which they had been delivered as aid supplies. One vendor said much of the beans and rice he was selling came from aid delivered by the United Nations and others. He said that he had bought items from someone else and was reselling them with markups. The vendor said he is supporting his family this way. He said he does not feel good about reselling, and he wants food prices to return to normal. One liter of cooking oil that used to cost about 2.7 dollars before the conflict began now costs about 18 dollars. Soaring prices of food have made it unaffordable for many residents. Israeli media say aid supplies are sometimes stolen or resold. A woman who came to buy food said fruit was too expensive, and she could only buy flour needed to survive. She said serious starvation was happening in Gaza, and that she felt as if she was waiting for her turn to starve to death. Countries including the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have been flying transport planes to airdrop aid supplies tied to parachutes on a daily basis. People on the ground fight over the dropped supplies, and many are unable to get any. A man said that providing aid this way was humiliating, and he wants entry checkpoints to Gaza to reopen so that people can receive supplies in a dignified way.
