Latest news with #FatemaHassouna
USA Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Gaza a 'mass grave' of Palestinians, says MSF, as Israeli strikes kill 13
Gaza a 'mass grave' of Palestinians, says MSF, as Israeli strikes kill 13 CAIRO, April 16 (Reuters) - Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south. Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said. There was no comment from the Israeli military. In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages. "Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. "With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care." More: Israeli missiles strike Gaza hospital, patients evacuated Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas locked in their positions. Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas militants stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated. ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up. "Hundreds of patients and wounded individuals are deprived of essential medications, and their suffering is worsening due to the closure of border crossings," the ministry said. Israel said the punitive measures were designed to keep up pressure on Hamas, while the Islamist faction condemned it as "collective punishment." Since restarting its military offensive in March, after two months of relative calm, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities have said. The campaign has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave. More: 'Enough wars': Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza protest against Hamas Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of the militants. Israel believes 24 of them are alive. The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, at least 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities. (Reporting and writing by Nidal al-MughrabiEditing by Ros Russell)
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
No plans to allow any aid into Gaza, says Israeli minister
Israel has said it will keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, as it vowed to force Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages from the 7 October attacks. Aid supplies including food, fuel, water and medicine have been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza since 2 March, more than two weeks before the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group with a return to air and ground attacks on the territory. The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said on Wednesday that Gaza was becoming a 'mass grave for Palestinians'. The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said: 'Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population.' He added: 'No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid.' Amnesty International is among the aid agencies that have described Israel's blockade on all supplies going into Gaza as a crime against humanity and a violation of international humanitarian law. Israel has denied any violations. More than 51,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the conflict began, including more than 1,600 since Israel resumed airstrikes and ground operations on 18 March. The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but has said more than half of those dead were women and children. Another 13 people were killed in airstrikes overnight, with a well-known photographer, Fatema Hassouna, among those reported dead in the northern area of the strip. Doctors and aid groups on the ground said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was becoming graver by the day. 'The situation is the worst it has been in 18 months in terms of being deprived of your basic necessities and the resumption of hostilities and attacks against Palestinians in all of Gaza,' said Mahmoud Shalabi, a director at Medical Aid for Palestinians. Israel has been accused of worsening the humanitarian situation by targeting hospitals and medical personnel working in Gaza, with two hospitals struck and debilitated by airstrikes this week. Israel has claimed Hamas has used medical facilities as a cover for terrorist operations. On Tuesday, a report by the New York Times revealed that the autopsy reports of 14 medics and rescue workers killed by Israeli troops in Gaza in March showed they had mainly died from gunshot wounds to the head and the chest, and most had been shot several times. The resumption of aid into Gaza has become a highly inflammatory political issue in Israel. There are 58 hostages still in Gaza, who were taken captive after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, with 24 believed to still be alive. Far-right figures in Benjamin Netanyahu's government have said no aid should be restored to the civilians of Gaza until Hamas agrees to the hostages' release. 'As long as our hostages are languishing in the tunnels, there is no reason for a single gram of food or any aid to enter Gaza,' the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said on Wednesday. Katz said Israel intended to eventually set up its own 'civilian-based distribution infrastructure' for aid in Gaza, to prevent supplies falling into the hands of Hamas militants, but he gave no timelines or details of how it would be established. Reports have suggested this could involve the Israel Defense Forces setting up and running logistics centres for aid, and vetted aid agencies being tasked with distributing it. However, the plan remains unclear and the UN is said to have so far refused to hand over the names of employees. Efforts by mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US to restore the collapsed ceasefire in Gaza and return the hostages have continued to hit stumbling blocks. Katz said that no matter what deal was agreed, Israeli troops would remain in the buffer zones it had occupied in Gaza, as well as in neighbouring Syria and Lebanon. Since resuming operations in March, Israeli troops have seized control of 30% of the Gaza Strip, establishing what they describe as an 'operational security perimeter'. Hamas has demanded that any hostage deal must guarantee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Katz said: 'Unlike in the past, the [Israeli military] is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized.' The military would 'remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and [Israeli] communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza, as in Lebanon and Syria', he said.
Dubai Eye
16-04-2025
- Health
- Dubai Eye
Israeli strikes kill 13 as Gaza becomes 'mass grave' of Palestinians, says MSF
Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south. Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said. There was no comment from the Israeli military. In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages. "Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. "With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care." Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas locked in their positions. Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas militants stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up.
ARN News Center
16-04-2025
- Health
- ARN News Center
Israeli strikes kill 13 as Gaza becomes 'mass grave' of Palestinians, says MSF
Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south. Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said. There was no comment from the Israeli military. In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages. "Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. "With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care." Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas locked in their positions. Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas militants stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up.
Asharq Al-Awsat
16-04-2025
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Gaza a ‘Mass Grave' of Palestinians, Says MSF, as Israeli Strikes Kill 13
Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south. Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said. There was no comment from the Israeli military. In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages. "Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. "With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care." Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas locked in their positions. Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas gunmen stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated. ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up. "Hundreds of patients and wounded individuals are deprived of essential medications, and their suffering is worsening due to the closure of border crossings," the ministry said. Israel said the punitive measures were designed to keep up pressure on Hamas, while the group condemned it as "collective punishment." Since restarting its military offensive in March, after two months of relative calm, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities have said. The campaign has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave. Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of Hamas. Israel believes 24 of them are alive. The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, at least 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.
