France, Saudi Arabia spearhead framework for two-state solution between Israel, Palestine
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CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Under attack from all sides, armed clans try to protect aid coming into Gaza
The Middle East The UNFacebookTweetLink Follow Securing the trucks carrying aid into Gaza is a tight balancing act for the Abu Mughsaib clan. Getting too close to the Israeli military checkpoints can turn deadly. But staying too far away gives looters a chance to get to the precious cargo first. 'This is the biggest challenge we face. We cannot approach army positions any closer, as doing so would put us at risk,' a member of the group that acts as a protection for the trucks told CNN. Two weeks ago, Hamas killed one of his team members and last month two were injured by Israeli fire, he said. As law and order further breaks down and famine takes hold across Gaza, agencies trying to get aid to warehouses and distribution points in the territory rely on groups such as Abu Mughsaib. 'Once the trucks enter (Gaza), we receive them before they are intercepted by looters or overwhelmed by crowds,' said the man, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. 'As for our weapons, they are simple family-owned firearms, and we also carry sticks and batons.' Aid convoys are increasingly being attacked by armed looters seeking to resell the aid at exorbitant prices, as well as crowds of starving people who are just hoping to feed their families. The UN said this week that it was still struggling to deliver aid to where it is needed most, and blamed Israel for delaying convoys by making the procedures too cumbersome. While the World Food Program said on Sunday that Israel has agreed to streamline the process and allow the use of alternative routes, the UN says a large proportion of trucks are still being blocked. Faced with allegations of purposefully starving the Gaza population, Israel has in turn blamed the UN, saying it is not distributing the supplies properly, and Hamas, which it accused of stealing aid. In the absence of official security, the Abu Mughsaib clan and other groups are stepping in. A member of the clan told CNN that international organizations including the World Health Organization had asked for security in delivering their aid. 'After we succeeded, our family-based group was formally established to serve that purpose,' the clan member told CNN, adding that the family is part of the Tarabin tribe, a prominent Bedouin family. 'We coordinate with a few other families and handle the securing of aid deliveries,' he said, adding that unlike other groups, the Abu Mughsaib are not working with either Israel or Hamas. A spokesperson for WHO said the organization works with 'various community elders' and the health ministry in Gaza to ensure that 'when critical aid is passing through… communities are informed and understand the items are lifesaving medical aid.' Accompanying the trucks is a risky business. The clan sent one video to CNN, which it said shows its members escorting a convoy of 10 trucks delivering aid. It shows armed men – some of whom are masked and some wearing high-vis vests – sat on top of the vehicles speeding along the Salah al-Din road in Deir al-Balah, shooting in the air. People can be seen running alongside the road, but nobody tries to intercept the convoy. The clan also said it has partnered with a third-party transport company in Gaza, which it claimed moves aid for humanitarian groups including the World Central Kitchen. A spokesperson for the World Central Kitchen said the organization does not work with the Mugaiseb Clan. The clan member who spoke to CNN said that while they do receive payments from some groups, they sometimes provide protection for free. 'Like with the World Health Organization, when it involves medicine or infant formula, we work on a voluntary basis. For private sector shipments and commercial goods, we are paid in return for the risks we take. Some organizations also provide small payments to cover fuel, ammunition, and similar costs,' he said. The UN said that the time-consuming approval process to get aid into Gaza often leaves trucks stuck in one location for a long time, attracting large crowds of people. Olga Cherevko, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was accompanying one such convoy as it tried to deliver aid from the Kerem Shalom border crossing earlier this week. She said the convoy was held for two and half hours at an Israeli checkpoint. 'By the time we were allowed to pass, we were met on the road by tens of thousands of hungry and desperate people who directly offloaded everything from the backs of our trucks,' Cherevko said. According to its own data, the UN and its partners have offloaded 2,134 trucks of aid at Gaza crossings since May 19, when Israel partially lifted a blockade that was imposed in March. While the UN said a vast majority of them, some 2,010 trucks, had been collected, only 260 arrived at their intended destinations. More than 1,750 were intercepted – either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed gangs. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, but an internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft. More than 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food in Gaza since May, according to the United Nations. Most died in the vicinity of distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial private venture backed by the United States and Israel. Far too little aid is reaching those most in need, according to humanitarian agencies. Eyad al-Masri, a 31-year-old father of two with a third child on the way, used to buy food from people who got it at the notoriously dangerous aid distribution points. The prices were high, but still lower than at the market. But on Saturday, with no money left, he decided to go to the point near Netzarim in central Gaza himself. His is a common story. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed initiative said Tuesday that 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza. The health ministry in the territory also said on Tuesday that 900,000 children are going hungry, and 70,000 already show signs of malnutrition. 'I felt I had no other choice,' al-Masri told CNN. 'When the trucks arrived, I was shocked by the number of armed thieves, some carrying knives, others with firearms, operating in large groups.' Al-Masri managed to get a box of food, and was overjoyed at the prospect of giving his children and pregnant wife at least some of what they so desperately needed. 'But as I was leaving the area, a man armed with a knife came at me and tried to take the box by force,' Al-Masri said. He offered to split the contents, but the attacker insisted on taking the entire thing. 'When I refused, he stabbed me multiple times in the head,' he said. Running after the thief, al-Masri didn't realize he was bleeding. He was focused on getting at least some of the food back – which he eventually managed with the help of others. 'There are starving people who come to these distribution areas, but they can't get anything because of the armed groups,' he said. The Abu Mughsaib clan member said attacks against his group are coming from all sides – from other families, organized gangs of looters, Hamas and the Israeli army. He said that in July, a member of the escort team was shot dead by Hamas, who later said the killing was a mistake. 'A month ago, (the Israeli army) opened fire on a vehicle carrying members of our escort team, injuring two of our men,' he added. He added, however, that the group will continue to provide security for as long as necessary. 'Vulnerable people urgently need food and medicine. We are not an alternative to any authority, nor do we aim to replace anyone,' he said. But he admitted the group's power only goes as far. 'We are under strict instructions not to harm any civilians. … Even if they manage to seize a truck in such cases, we let them take it without confronting them.' CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect the World Central Kitchen's statement that it does not work with the Mughsaib clan.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Economy Updates: After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Fires That Agency's Commissioner
President Trump said on social media on Friday that he had directed his team to fire Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. President Trump unleashed his fury about weakness in the labor market on Friday, saying without evidence that the data were 'rigged' and that he was firing the Senate-confirmed Department of Labor official responsible for pulling together the numbers each month. In a long post on social media, Mr. Trump said he had directed his team to fire Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was confirmed on a bipartisan basis in 2024. Emily Liddel, an associate commissioner for the bureau, confirmed late Friday that Dr. McEntarfer had been fired and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as acting commissioner. The president fired Dr. McEntarfer after the bureau released monthly jobs data showing surprisingly weak hiring in July and large downward revisions to job growth in the previous two months. Economists widely interpreted the report as evidence that Mr. Trump's policies were beginning to take a toll on the economy, though the president insisted in a subsequent post that the country was 'doing GREAT!' Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the labor secretary, echoed Mr. Trump's concerns about Dr. McEntarfer in a post on social media. 'So you know what I did?' Mr. Trump later told reporters, as he claimed the numbers were 'phony.' 'I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing.' Dr. McEntarfer was appointed to her post by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2023 after a long career at the Census Bureau and other agencies, where she served under presidents of both parties, including Mr. Trump. Among the Republicans who voted to confirm her as commissioner was Vice President JD Vance, who was then an Ohio senator. The firing prompted swift criticism from economists, former government officials and others, who said the removal would further erode trust in government statistics and make it more difficult for policymakers, investors and businesses, who rely on having dependable data about the economy to make decisions. In addition to the monthly jobs numbers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for producing data on inflation, wages and other aspects of the economy. William W. Beach, who led the bureau during Mr. Trump's first term, criticized the move to fire Dr. McEntarfer on Friday. 'It's unfortunate,' he said. 'This could set a precedent where bad news on many different fronts is a reason for dismissing a person.' Mr. Beach, who was appointed by Mr. Trump in 2019 and remained in the role for the first two years of the Biden administration, said he had never felt pressure to manipulate the data under either president. Even if there were such pressure, he said, there is 'no way' the commissioner could interfere in the revisions process, which is conducted by career employees. Erica Groshen, who led the agency under President Barack Obama, called the decision 'a terrible precedent.' 'I hope will be reversed because it undermines the integrity of our statistical system and really all of government data and science,' she added, calling it 'a very sad day.' Dr. McEntarfer's tenure got off to a rough start last year when the agency made a series of missteps in which Wall Street firms had access to data before the general public. But none of those incidents involved issues with the statistics themselves. Mr. Trump and his top aides have made a habit of attacking government agencies, researchers and watchdogs when they have produced findings that the president does not like. That has led to concerns that Mr. Trump could seek to interfere with the operations of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other statistical agencies, particularly if the economy begins to take a turn for the worse. Until now, however, most experts on the statistical system said they remained confident in the data produced by the agencies and had seen no evidence of political interference in their operations. Current and former agency staff members consistently echoed that message — in part, they said, because they trusted Dr. McEntarfer and her counterparts at the other major statistical agencies to protect their independence. 'If that pressure got too great, you would see people resigning rather than shape the numbers,' Mr. Beach said. Economists across the ideological spectrum said Mr. Trump's move to oust Dr. McEntarfer was likely to erode public confidence in the data published by the administration. 'If you want people to stop trusting the numbers coming out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, firing the person who is confirmed by the Senate to make sure those numbers are trustworthy is a real good way to do it,' said Martha Gimbel, the executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale, who served in the White House under Mr. Biden. Dr. McEntarfer could not immediately be reached for comment. On Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that employers added only 73,000 new jobs in July. It also notably revised data for the previous two months, reducing the number of jobs created by 258,000. While revisions to previous months are common, it was an unusually high number that came as a surprise. It suggested the labor market was not as resilient as it had seemed earlier this summer. Shortly after the numbers were released, Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, offered an explanation for the jobs revision that was much different from Mr. Trump's. On CNBC, he said much of the change was the result of 'quirks in the seasonal adjustment process' and even the president's own policies, particularly on immigration, potentially affecting hiring numbers for May and June. He made no mention of any concerns about manipulated data as he sought to recast the slowdown in July as a 'pretty decent' jobs report. By evening, Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, sought to frame the firing as an attempt to restore 'trust' at the statistics agency. Unlike Mr. Trump, who described the revisions as politically motivated, Mr. Hassett said its jobs figures had been 'awful' for some time. 'I think it is a good time for a fresh set of eyes to look at what the heck is going on,' he told Fox Business. In his social media posts on Friday, Mr. Trump provided no evidence that Dr. McEntarfer had injected political bias into her agency's data. And his criticisms contained contradictions and inaccuracies. Mr. Trump complained about not just the latest jobs numbers but also a set of revisions from last year. The bureau, like other statistical agencies, routinely updates its figures to incorporate data that wasn't initially available or to reflect information from more authoritative sources. Last August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said employers had added roughly 818,000 fewer jobs over a 12-month period than previously believed. That announcement was part of a normal annual revision process, although the change was unusually large. (It was also preliminary — the final figures were revised down by just under 600,000 jobs.) In a social media post on Friday, Mr. Trump said the revision was made 'right after the election.' In fact, the announcement was made roughly two and a half months before Election Day. Indeed, Mr. Trump posted about the revisions at the time, calling them a 'MASSIVE SCANDAL.' To the agency's defenders, however, the twin revisions show that it operates without political bias and was willing to announce politically inconvenient news under presidents of both parties. 'President Trump is completely wrong in asserting there's been any sort of anti-Trump bias in the labor market data,' said Michael Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 'I think that assertion is wholly unsupported.' Mr. Strain said that government data is revised frequently, and that doing so reflected a 'standard' practice to ensure its quality. In this case, he acknowledged that the change was 'historically large' but 'doesn't smell fishy.' Federal statistical agencies have faced mounting challenges in recent years as Americans have become more reluctant to respond to the surveys that are the basis for much of the nation's economic data. Shrinking budgets have made it harder to make up for falling response rates, and to develop new approaches to replace surveys altogether. Those concerns predate the current administration, but have grown worse since Mr. Trump returned to office. The statistical agencies have struggled with staff attrition as a result of the president's freeze on federal hiring, combined with the buyouts he offered early in his term. The president's budget also proposed further staff and funding cuts. In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it was reducing its collection of data on consumer prices in response to resource constraints. Economists warned that, over time, such cuts could erode the reliability of the inflation data that Federal Reserve policymakers rely on when setting interest rates, and that determine cost-of-living increases in union contracts and Social Security benefits, among other uses. Asked about those cuts on Wednesday, Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said policymakers were 'getting the data that we need to do our jobs.' But he stressed the importance of the federal statistical agencies. 'The government data is really the gold standard in data,' he said. 'We need it to be good and to be able to rely on it.' Sydney Ember contributed reporting.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hamas delegation visits Turkey, officials condemn 'genocide' in Gaza
Turkish FM Hakan Fidan claimed Netanyahu was not serious about reaching a ceasefire deal. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed on Friday, during a meeting with a delegation from Hamas, that Israel is enacting a policy of genocide and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not serious about reaching a ceasefire deal, according to Turkish state media. 'Gaza is witnessing a genocide that the world is ashamed of," Hamas claimed Fidan told the delegation. "By prolonging the ceasefire negotiations, Israel aims to break the resistance of the Palestinians in Gaza and force them to leave their homes." Fidan further alleged that Israel was working to expel Palestinians from Gaza and annex the West Bank. During the meeting in Istanbul, Hamas's delegation, headed by Muhammad Darwish, claimed that insufficient humanitarian aid was reaching the Gaza Strip and condemned Israel's alleged unwillingness to compromise in hostage deal-ceasefire negotiations. Erdogan issues statements backing Gaza Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan posted on X/Twitter after the meeting concluded, 'To those targeting our government with expressions lacking decency and propriety, I say only this: Who are you to question our sensitivity towards Palestine? Weren't you the ones calling Gazans, who were defending their lands until just yesterday, 'terrorists'? If you were on the side of the oppressed, then where were you for 14 years in Syria?... 'You have never stood by the oppressed. You have never looked at the Middle East through the lens of brotherhood. You have never understood what it means to be part of the ummah, nor have you ever felt this sentiment in your hearts. Now you come forward, criticizing us without looking at your own dark record, criticizing our Cabinet members, shamelessly attacking our ministers. '...You cannot uproot the love for Turkey, the love for Tayyip Erdoğan, from the hearts of the Palestinian people. You cannot prevent the Turkish nation from embracing its brothers again after a century. Even if you deny it, history is recording our steadfast stance…' In a follow-up post, Erdogan wrote: 'The crimson door of freedom will surely be opened. Our Gazan brothers and sisters will, God willing, live freely forever in their homeland, on that blessed land watered with the blood of martyrs. When that glorious day arrives, if God grants it, we will be there too. '...We will embrace our Gazan brothers and sisters with love, hug each other, and, God willing, stand shoulder to shoulder to perform a prayer of gratitude together. Just as in Syria, we will, God willing, witness the end of oppression in Gaza, and we will surely reach those beautiful days. Everything will pass, this oppression will end, this blood will stop, this rubble will be cleared; God willing, Palestine will remain, standing tall in all its grandeur.' Solve the daily Crossword
