Latest news with #American-Israeli
Shafaq News
14 hours ago
- Health
- Shafaq News
Hamas accuses Israel of lacing aid flour with narcotics
Shafaq News – Middle East On Friday, Hamas's authorities in Gaza announced that narcotic pills were found hidden in flour distributed by the US-Israeli funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Describing the incident as a 'heinous crime' targeting civilians and social stability, the Media Office in Gaza revealed in a statement that several Oxycodone pills — a powerful opioid — were discovered inside flour bags provided by what it called the 'so-called American-Israeli aid centers.' The statement expressed deep concern and condemnation over the situation, warning that some of the pills may have been intentionally ground or dissolved into the flour. 'Four testimonies have so far been documented from citizens who allegedly found the pills in their food aid packages,' the statement clarified, holding Israel 'fully responsible' for what it described as a deliberate attempt to promote drug addiction and undermine Palestinian society as 'a part of a broader campaign of social destruction and genocide.' The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has not yet responded to the allegations. Earlier, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) organization called for the immediate dismantling of the Foundation, warning that the system has caused over 500 deaths and thousands of injuries in the past month. MSF accused Israeli authorities and their partners of 'turning humanitarian aid into a tool of degradation and violence,' forcing starving Palestinians to risk their lives for minimal supplies.
Middle East Eye
17 hours ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Opioid pills discovered in US-backed food aid, Gaza authorities say
The Gaza government media office on Friday condemned the discovery of oxycodone pills reportedly discovered in flour bags distributed by 'American-Israeli' aid centres. 'We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside the flour bags,' it said in a statement, warning of the 'possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself'. Oxycodone is an opioid meant to treat severe and long-term pain, often prescribed to cancer patients. The drug is highly addictive and can have life-threatening effects, including breathing complications and hallucinations. The media office's statement comes after several social media posts shared images of pills purportedly discovered in flour bags in Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Palestinian pharmacist Omar Hamad described the discovery of the pills as 'the most despicable form of genocide'. Khalil Mazen Abu Nada, a Palestinian doctor in Gaza, also posted about the drug on Facebook, describing it as a 'means to obliterate our societal awareness'. The Gaza government media office said it held Israel 'fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within'. Israel kills 25 Palestinians seeking aid as hospitals warn of infant mortalities Read More » The office also decried the Israeli military's 'exploitation of the blockade to smuggle these substances as 'aid and assistance'', describing the Israeli and American-operated aid centres as 'death traps'. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-Israeli organisation operating aid points in Gaza, has been widely condemned by human rights organisations for its lack of transparency and accountability. On Wednesday, 15 human rights and legal groups called for the suspension of GHF for its role in undermining international humanitarian organisations and fostering the 'forced displacement' of Palestinians in Gaza, amounting to what could be complicity in 'crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide'. Gaza's health authorities have reported that at least 516 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces near aid sites in the past month of GHF's operations. On Friday, Haaretz reported Israeli soldiers admitting to directly shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians at GHF-operated aid collection sites. Middle East Eye has asked the GHF for comment.
Al-Ahram Weekly
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israeli forces kill at least 62 in Gaza as strikes continue to hit civilians near aid points - War on Gaza
Israeli forces killed at least 62 people in Gaza on Friday, including 10 who had gathered to receive aid, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. Spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP that they were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip. A day earlier, the civil defence agency reported 56 people killed in another wave of Israeli attacks, including six struck at two separate aid distribution points. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday slammed the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which set up aid distribution sites across the war-torn strip, calling it "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid". According to Gaza's Government Media Office, at least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured by Israeli forces over the past month while attempting to access humanitarian aid. In a statement posted to Telegram on Wednesday, the office described the so-called "American-Israeli aid centres" as "death traps and traps for daily mass killing and luring," saying they had become sites of repeated massacres. The statement said the killings occurred as Palestinians attempted to reach food amid "a policy of starvation and comprehensive siege". According to MSF, in the week of 8 June, shortly after GHF opened a distribution site in central Gaza's Netzarim corridor, its field hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah recorded a 190 percent increase in bullet wound cases compared with the previous week. It has also previously warned that aid is being weaponised by Israel to forcibly displace Palestinians as part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing. "This initiative seems to be a cynical ploy to feign compliance with International Humanitarian Law," it said, adding that it "uses aid as a tool to forcibly displace people as part of... a broader strategy to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip." Earlier on Friday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least 11 people were killed in Israeli air and drone strikes in southern Gaza. Israeli warplanes bombed a tent sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi, a declared "safe zone" south-west of Khan Younis, while drones struck the Bani Suheila and Sheikh Nasser neighbourhoods. One person was also reported killed in a separate airstrike on al-Qarara. It was unclear whether those casualties were included in the civil defence toll. Gaza's health ministry said on Friday that Israel has killed at least 56,331 people and wounded more than 132,632 others since 7 October 2023, the majority of them women and children. It said 72 people were killed and 174 injured in the past 24 hours alone. "A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulances and civil defence crews cannot reach them," the ministry said. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
21 hours ago
- Health
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid: MSF slams US-Israeli aid scheme in Gaza - War on Gaza
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called for the immediate dismantling of a controversial US- and Israeli aid group in Gaza, denouncing it as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. In a statement on Friday, MSF condemned the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), set up last month by the US and Israel, saying it 'is degrading Palestinians by design, forcing them to choose between starvation or risking their lives for minimal supplies'. MSF has demanded the project be 'immediately dismantled'. The announcement comes as the United States has authorized providing $30 million to the group, a US official said on Tuesday, despite growing criticism of its operations. It also comes as conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate under Israel's blockade and genocidal war on the territory. On Thursday, Israel shut crossings into northern Gaza, blocking the most direct route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk of famine. The closure followed yet more killings of civilians waiting for food. Gaza's civil defence agency said 56 people were killed in another string of Israeli attacks on Thursday, including six who had gathered at two separate aid distribution points. At least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured by Israeli forces while trying to access humanitarian aid over the past month, the Government Media Office said. In a statement posted to Telegram on Wednesday, the office described the so-called 'American-Israeli aid centres' as 'death traps and traps for daily mass killing and luring' that have, within a month, become sites of repeated massacres. It said the killings occurred as Palestinians attempted to reach food amid 'a policy of starvation and comprehensive siege'. Since the GHF began operations, UN efforts to deliver aid through existing humanitarian frameworks have been repeatedly obstructed by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing airstrikes, and widespread lawlessness on the ground. The UN has warned that the GHF lacks neutrality and has undermined established, more effective aid systems that previously functioned in Gaza. At least 11 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli air and drone strikes in southern Gaza on Friday morning, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Warplanes reportedly bombed a tent sheltering displaced people in al-Mawasi, a declared 'safe zone' south-west of Khan Younis, while drones struck the Bani Suheila and Sheikh Nasser neighbourhoods. Another person was reported killed in a separate Israeli air raid on the town of al-Qarara. Since the war began on 7 October 2023, Israel has killed at least 56,156 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Memri
2 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
Bishara Bahbah, Who Mediates Between U.S. Administration And Hamas, Tells Of Direct Contact, Meetings With Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad, Who Promised More October 7 Attacks
Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman who heads the Arab Americans for Peace association and who has served in the past several months as a liaison between the U.S. administration and the Hamas movement, stated in a recent interview with Al-Ghad TV that he has direct contact with Hamas leaders, particularly with Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad. It should be noted that Ghazi Hamad stated in the past that Hamas was willing to stage more terror attacks like the one on October 7, 2023, and that the movement's goal was the elimination of Israel. On a different occasion he said that resistance was the only way to eliminate Israel and that Hamas rejected the two-state solution. Bishara Bahbah (image: and Ghazi Hamad (image: The following are excerpts from Bahabah's interview in which he described his ties with Ghazi Hamad, and past statements by Hamad that were translated and published by MEMRI. Bahbah: I Have Direct Contact With Hamas Leaders; I Met Dr. Ghazi Hamad For Lunch Asked about the recent reports regarding the arrival of a Hamas delegation in Cairo and whether he has direct contact with the Hamas movement, Bahbah said: "I met with Dr. Ghazi Hamad from Hamas. We had lunch together and discussed the issues on the [negotiation] table, especially the outstanding issues. Hamas is considerably aware of the necessity to find a swift solution to the situation in Gaza." He added: "Indeed, there are direct contacts with Hamas leaders." "In response to a question about whether, in his capacity as an unofficial mediator, he conveyed his conclusions from the meetings with Hamad and the Hamas leadership to the U.S. administration or to those responsible, Bahbah said: "Of course, I convey my messages on a daily basis, especially if there is any development..." He added; "I did not expect to become a mediator, but Dr. Hamad contacted me after requesting my phone number from Mrs. Suha Arafat [the widow of PLO leader Yasser Arafat]. That's how the connection began. He approached me, and after that I communicated with [U.S. Middle East envoy] Steve Witkoff and we reached an agreement for the release of American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander…" Bahbah also addressed the problematicity of contact between the U.S. administration and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., and the major controversy that erupted a few months ago when the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, made unprecedented contact with Hamas leaders. Asked whether he believes this track can continue, Bahbah said: "This U.S. administration is realistic in its way of thinking. Witkoff is a government official. I am not a government official. I am not reimbursed for my expenses or my travel costs by anyone. I pay all my expenses myself. In that regard, I am an American citizen of Palestinian origin, and what applies to Boehler does not apply to me. Legally speaking, Hamas is indeed designated as a terror organization, but that does not mean that, in the future, it cannot have a political role [or be part of] the Palestinian political fabric…"[1] Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad In October 2023: We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; Everything We Do Is Justified As stated, Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad, with whom Bahbah met, said on October 24, 2023, only two weeks after Hamas' October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 Israelis were murdered and about 250 were taken hostage, that Hamas was prepared to repeat this attack again and again until Israel was annihilated. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10923 – Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified , November 1, 2023. In an interview on November 20, 2024, he said that resistance was the only way to eliminate Israel and that Hamas never accepted the two-state solution. See MEMRI TV Clip No. 11585 – Senior Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Never Said That We Accept The Two-State Solution; Nobody Expected Such A Barbaric Reaction From Israel; We Had No Alternative To October 7, November 20, 2024.
