Hamas' exiled Gaza chief says ceasefire talks meaningless under 'blockade and starvation'
"The immediate and dignified delivery of food and medicine to our people is the only serious and genuine indication of whether continuing the negotiations is worthwhile," he said in a recorded speech.
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The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Two Israeli rights groups say their country is committing genocide in Gaza
Two prominent Israeli rights groups on Monday said their country is committing genocide in Gaza, the first time that local Jewish-led organizations have made such accusations against Israel during nearly 22 months of war. The claims by B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel add to an explosive debate over whether Israel's military offensive in Gaza — launched in response to Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack — amounts to genocide. The Palestinians, their supporters and international human rights groups make that claim, and the International Court of Justice is hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel. But in Israel, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, even the government's strongest critics have largely refrained from making such accusations. That's because of the deep sensitivities and strong memories of the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews, and because many in Israel view the war in Gaza as a justified response to the deadliest attack in the country's history and not an attempt at extermination. Shattering a taboo in Israel The rights groups, while prominent and respected internationally, are considered in Israel to be on the political fringe, and their views are not representative of the vast majority of Israelis. But having the allegation of genocide come from Israeli voices shatters a taboo in a society that has been reticent to criticize Israel's conduct in Gaza. Guy Shalev, director of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said the Jewish-Israeli public often dismisses accusations of genocide as antisemitic or biased against Israel. 'Perhaps human rights groups based in Israel, and coming to this conclusion, is a way to confront that accusation and get people to acknowledge the reality,' he said. Israel asserts that it is fighting an existential war and abides by international law. It has rejected genocide allegations as antisemitic. It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice, and it has rejected the International Criminal Court's allegations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant committed war crimes in Gaza. Both face international arrest warrants. Israel's government on Monday didn't immediately comment on the reports by B'Tselem and PHRI. Israeli officials largely blame civilian deaths in Gaza on Hamas, saying it uses civilians as shields by embedding militants in residential areas. The reports echo international claims The rights groups, in separate reports released jointly, said Israel's policies in Gaza, statements by senior officials about its goals there and the systematic dismantling of the territory's health system contributed to their conclusion of genocide. Their claims echoed those of previous reports from international rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Like other rights groups, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have not been allowed into Gaza during the war. Their reports are based on testimonies, documents, eyewitnesses and consultations with legal experts. Hamas' attack on Israel that started the war sparked a shift in the country's policy toward Palestinians in Gaza from 'repression and control to destruction and annihilation,' B'Tselem said. The group has long been outspoken about Israel's treatment of Palestinians. It halted cooperation with the military nearly a decade ago, saying the army's investigations into wrongdoing weren't serious, and it has accused Israel of being an apartheid state. The PHRI report was a detailed, legal-medical analysis focusing on what it called the step-by-step dismantling of Gaza's health and life-sustaining systems including electricity, clean water and access to food. Its report says Israel has committed three of the acts of genocide defined by international law, including 'deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.' The Israeli rights groups said repeated statements by Israeli officials and the military endorsing the total destruction, starvation and permanent displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, combined with policies on the ground, have demonstrated that Israel is intentionally trying to destroy Palestinian society. A 'painful' conclusion The term 'genocide' strikes a chord in Israel, where Israelis grow up learning about the Holocaust and hearing survivors' harrowing stories, while promising it would never happen again. The 1948 Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was drawn up in the aftermath of World War II and the murder by Nazi Germany of 6 million Jews. It defines genocide as acts 'committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.' 'As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, it's very painful for me to be reaching this conclusion,' said Shalev from PHRI. But after growing up in a society where the Holocaust was so important, it demands some kind of responsibility, he said. Until now, Israeli criticism of the war in Gaza has been focused on Netanyahu and whether his wartime decision-making has been politically motivated and delayed the return of hostages — 50 of them still in Gaza. Broader scrutiny of Israel's conduct in Gaza has been limited for multiple reasons. Despite the vast destruction and death in the territory and Israel's growing international isolation, most Israelis have believed for much of the war in its righteousness. And with most Jewish Israelis serving in the army, it's difficult for most people to fathom that their relatives in uniform could be carrying out genocide. Some soldiers, however, have refused to fight in the war. Jeffrey Herf, a historian who has published much on antisemitism, said the allegation of genocide doesn't take into account that there is a war between two parties. He said it ignores Hamas as a military force and Israel's right to defend itself. Israelis' focus is on the hostages, not Palestinians After groups like B'Tselem in recent years accused Israel of apartheid, more mainstream voices in Israel also picked up the claim, although in less sweeping ways. Israeli historian Tom Segev said he's not sure the new reports and their allegations will have an impact on the public. 'The major thing for Israelis is a question of the hostages, not necessarily the fate of the population in Gaza,' he said. But he said what's happening in Gaza is undermining the ideological and moral justification for the existence of Israel. The rights groups said the international community hasn't done enough to protect Palestinians and are calling on the world, including Israelis who have stayed silent, to speak up. 'We have an obligation to do everything we can to speak the truth about this, to stand by the victims,' said Sarit Michaeli, the international director for B'Tselem.
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Harrowing moment desperate Gazans overrun food trucks as Israel challenges UN to ship in more aid after pausing fighting
THIS is the harrowing moment starving Palestinian people overrun food trucks carrying aid into Gaza as the humanitarian crisis grows. Israel challenged the United Nations on Sunday to carry out its pledge to deliver more food to the Palestinian enclave after pausing fighting. Advertisement 9 This is the harrowing moment starving Palestinian people overrun food trucks carrying aid Credit: X 9 Massive crowds were seen trying to reach aid Credit: X 9 Six-year-old Yusuf Abdurrahman Matar and his four-year-old brother Emir Abdurrahman Matar face life-threatening malnutrition amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza Credit: Getty Distressing footage shared by Turkish news site TRT shows a sea of starving Gazans desperately climbing onto vehicles to reach food. Some individuals appear to manage to grab boxes of aid, while other malnourished people seem to scramble to safety due to the heaving crowds. Israel is facing condemnation from international aid groups as well as governments due to the deepening humanitarian crisis. Aid groups warned that Palestinians are on the brink of famine, with one in five children suffering from malnutrition. Advertisement The UN warned that civilians in the besieged enclave are becoming "walking corpses". But prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country isn't employing starvation as a cynical tactic. He also denied that starvation was occurring at all in Gaza - despite harrowing footage of aid sites being overrun, images of emaciated children, and local authorities reporting deaths from malnutrition. Netanyahu told a conference in in Jerusalem: "There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza." Advertisement Israel has previously blamed Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's population. Following two months of restricting UN aid convoys in favour of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the IDF said "humanitarian pauses" in fighting were being implemented to let in more UN aid. Watch hundreds of brave Gazans cry 'Hamas OUT' as rare peace protests against terror regime's war with Israel erupt They also said "secure routes to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip" had been set up. Three Jordanian and Emirati supply planes were also permitted to drop aid into the starving strip, but the quantity delivered of 25 tonnes is said to be tiny compared to what the UN can deliver on the ground. Advertisement The World Food Programme (WFP) said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched - but this amount fell short of Gaza's needs. WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber said: "Sixty is definitely not enough. So our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza." The Programme explained how almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments. Netanyahu said, making it unclear whether the lifting of restrictions on UN convoys came due to mounting international pressure: "Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies. Advertisement "There are secured convoys. There have been all along, but today it is official. There will be no more excuses." On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 89 children. Last week, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the Palestinian enclave. 9 Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City Credit: Reuters Advertisement 9 Palestinians, who lost their relatives in Israeli attacks, mourn as the deceased are being brought to Nasser Hospital in Gaza's Khan Yunis Credit: Getty 9 Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khamis Al-Rifi Credit: Reuters The military also said Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazan people. Israel's foreign ministry said the military would "apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centres and in humanitarian corridors" on Sunday morning. Advertisement The announcement came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight. The UN said that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow "the scale up of humanitarian assistance". The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, "combat operations have not ceased" in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Israel is keeping up its heavy bombardment in the face of global ceasefire pleas and huge protests in Tel Aviv. 9 A boy cries as he tries to receive food 9 Trucks carrying aid enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing today Credit: Getty 9 Smoke rises after Israeli warplanes bombed buildings in a residential area Credit: AFP
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump says he does not endorse Netanyahu's claim there is no starvation in Gaza
Donald Trump has said he believes there is a famine in Gaza and he has told Israel that 'maybe they have to do it in a different way'. Speaking outside his hotel in Turnberry, South Ayrshire, on Monday, the US president said people in Gaza needed 'to get food and safety right now' and that he wanted to get ceasefire talks restarted. Asked if he agreed with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said earlier on Monday that there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump replied: 'I don't know. Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry. We're giving a lot of money and a lot of food and other nations are now stepping up.' Asked if Israel had done all it could to avoid civilian casualties, Trump said: 'Nobody's done anything great over there. The whole place is a mess … I told Israel maybe they have to do it a different way.' Speaking alongside Trump, Keir Starmer said the events in Gaza were a 'real humanitarian crisis' and 'people in Britain are revolted at what they're seeing on their screens'. The US president said he did not believe Hamas would release the remaining Israeli hostages it was holding and that the US had 'given a lot of money to Gaza for food and everything else, a lot of that money is stolen by Hamas and a lot of that food is stolen'. Asked about the UK government's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state, Trump said: 'I'm not going to take a position, I don't mind him [the prime minister] taking a position. I'm looking for getting people fed right now.' Trump and Starmer were speaking outside the Trump Turnberry hotel and golf resort where they were due to hold a bilateral meeting on Monday. The crisis in Gaza is top of the prime minister's agenda in his talks with the US president. Downing Street indicated ahead of the meeting that Starmer would press Trump to take a tougher stance towards Israel and push for ceasefire talks to resume. The prime minister will hold an emergency cabinet meeting later this week to discuss the crisis amid international horror at the images of starvation in Gaza. Starmer is under pressure from senior members of his cabinet and over a third of his MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is expected to attend a UN conference in New York this week being held to discuss a pathway towards this. Trump also suggested he would reduce the 50-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before he imposed punishing tariffs, telling reporters he was 'very disappointed' with Vladimir Putin. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion He said: 'We thought we had that settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever. 'You have bodies lying all over the street, and I say that's not the way to do it. So we'll see what happens with that.' He added: 'We're going to have to look and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer, what's going to happen.'
