Israeli court delays Netanyahu's testimony in corruption trial, citing national security priorities
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The Sun
10 hours ago
- The Sun
UN says Iran aid budget will need to double post-war
GENEVA: The most senior UN official in Iran said Tuesday the organisation's humanitarian and development aid budget to the country would need to be doubled following the war with Israel. Stefan Priesner, the UN resident coordinator in Iran, said he hoped the international community would step up with more funding. 'We are now doing the budgeting' for 2025, he told a press briefing in Geneva. 'It's a significant increase,' he said. 'It's a bit early to say how much we exactly need. But we certainly would expect a doubling of the funding.' He said that last year's UN budget for development and humanitarian affairs in Iran was $75 million -- roughly $50 million for refugees and $25 million for the development programme. Iran hosts the largest number of refugees in the world -- around 3.5 million -- most of them from Afghanistan. Speaking from Tehran, Priesner said he hoped aid and development would be seen as separate from other issues and the situation would trigger the international community to increase its support. On June 13, Israel launched a major bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists. The Israeli strikes hit military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across Iran. Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drone strikes, hitting cities in Israel. A ceasefire took effect on June 24. Priesner said that in 2022, the UN and the Iranian government agreed a five-year programme on public health, socio-economic resilience, environmental protection, disaster reduction and management, and drug control. The UN is now in talks with Tehran on 'how to adapt the programme to meet emerging needs' following the conflict with Israel. Priesner indicated that the UN normally has 50 international staff in Iran and about 500 local staff. Although some employees and their families had to leave their homes when Israel's bombardment began, he said normal operations had resumed on Sunday.
New Straits Times
11 hours ago
- New Straits Times
NGOs urge end to US-backed Gaza aid distribution system
JERUSALEM: A group of 169 aid organisations called for an end to a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme in Gaza after repeated reports of people being killed while seeking rations. The NGOs urged a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed in the war-torn territory until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during an impasse in truce talks with Palestinian group Hamas. "NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza," the organisations wrote in a joint statement Monday. They urged action to "revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government's blockade on aid and commercial supplies". The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been tasked with distributing aid in the Palestinian territory since late May, when the two-month blockade was partially eased after mounting international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine. GHF operations have since been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect rations in the territory, where the Israeli military is seeking to destroy Hamas. The signatories to Monday's statement included NGOs from Europe, the United States and Israel working in medical assistance, hunger relief, development and human rights. They said more than 500 Palestinians were killed and almost 4,000 injured while trying to access or distribute food in less than four weeks. The Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry has given similar figures. "Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites," the statement read. Aid distribution in Gaza was traditionally coordinated through various NGOs and UN agencies, notably the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, which had 13,000 staff in the coastal enclave before the war. Israel said it tasked GHF with distribution in Gaza to keep Hamas from controlling the flow of aid. The Israeli military last week denied a newspaper report that cited Israeli soldiers as saying they had been ordered to fire at civilians near aid centres. It said in a statement that it was "operating to allow and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid" by GHF, "and to secure the routes leading to the distribution centres, in order to allow the aid to reach the civilians rather than Hamas".
The Sun
14 hours ago
- The Sun
Israel army says reviewing deadly strike on seafront Gaza cafe
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Tuesday that it launched a review into a strike on a seafront Gaza cafe it says targeted militants, but which rescuers said killed 24 people. In a statement to AFP regarding the incident, the army said it had struck 'several Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip'. Gaza's civil defence said at least 24 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Monday's strike on the Al-Baqa cafe, a prominent venue along Gaza City's coastal promenade. An army spokesperson said that 'prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians using aerial surveillance'. 'The incident is under review,' he added. The cafe and restaurant, which had so far survived more than 20 months of war and intense bombings on the Palestinian territory, had become a gathering spot for those not displaced by the conflict. 'There's always a lot of people at that spot, which offers drinks, spaces for families, and internet access,' said Ahmad al-Nayrab, 26, who was walking on the nearby beach when he heard a loud explosion. 'It was a massacre,' he told AFP. 'I saw bits of bodies flying everywhere, bodies mangled and burned. It was a bloodcurdling scene; everybody was screaming.' An AFP photographer said Palestinian journalist Ismail Abu Hatab was among those killed in the strike. Israeli restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the territory. Qatar, which has mediated between Israel and Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, said on Saturday a 'window of opportunity' had opened for a potential Gaza truce following a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. So far, no concrete signs of renewed talks have emerged. Israel launched its campaign in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
