Latest news with #Israel-supported
NDTV
04-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
US Guards Called Gaza Refugees 'Zombie Hordes', Shot At Them: Report
New Delhi: Palestine refugees in search of food and aid were fired upon by guards working for a United States- based aid agency called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - part of an Israel-supported aid distribution agency - security sub-contractors told the Associated Press and British broadcaster BBC. An ex-contractor told BBC guards tasked with protecting the aid distribution sites fired stun grenades and live rounds, including from a machine gun, at elderly people, women, and children - none of whom were armed or posed a threat - because they were 'moving too slowly away from the site'. Some guards referred to the refugees as ' zombie hordes ', the ex-contractor claimed. Asked to respond by the BBC, the Foundation, which began its Gaza operations in end-May, firmly denied these reports, and said no civilian had ever been fired upon at its aid distribution sites Sub-contractors also spoke to the Associated Press, which said it held eyewitness interviews, reviewed internal documents, and verified video footage before concluding also that 'live ammunition, stun grenades' were used on 'desperate Palestinian civilians trying to receive humanitarian aid'. Those who spoke to AP said the guards, many of whom were underqualified and heavily armed, displayed 'reckless and dangerous behaviour'. Desperately seeking food – starving Palestinians 🇵🇸 instead are met with live ammunition and stun grenades at the US 🇺🇸 Israeli 🇮🇱 GHF aid distribution center This video obtained by the Associated Press is the first time footage has been leaked from the contractors working at… — Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) July 3, 2025 AP said video footage from the aid sites showed 'civilians crammed between metal gates at aid sites amid gunfire, shouting, and explosions of flashbangs'; in one video, AP said, a man shouted "I think you hit someone!" after firing 15 rounds, followed by another responding "Hell, yeah, dude!" The video in question was shared on X by Saad Abedine, a journalist with Al Jazeera. 'Categorically False': GHF Denies Claim In response to the AP story the GHF posted an extensive statement on X in which it said it had launched "an immediate investigation" that found the claims to be "categorically false". "The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF (the Israeli military, the Israel Defence Force), which was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF distribution site. It was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured," the Foundation said. GHF statement in response to recent reporting from the Associated Press: 'GHF launched an immediate investigation when the Associated Press first brought these allegations to our attention. Based on time-stamped video footage and sworn witness statements, we have concluded that… — Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (@GHFUpdates) July 3, 2025 The GHF also complained AP had refused to share the video footage it had reviewed. "The primary source for the story is a disgruntled former contractor who was terminated for misconduct weeks before this article was published. That fact, combined with the AP's refusal to engage in good faith prior to publication, undermines the credibility of their reporting." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Safe Reach Solutions, the security and logistics company subcontracted by GHF, told the AP there have been no serious injuries at any of their sites to date. SRS also said its 'security professionals fired live rounds... away from civilians to get their attention'. 'Slaughter Masquerading As Aid' The GHF has been heavily criticised by over 150 charitable organisations, including Oxfam, after reports that over 500 refugees have been killed since it began functioning. Amnesty International, in a searing indictment of the GHF, said the it " does not adhere to core humanitarian standards and principles". Amnesty pointed out that 400 aid points set up earlier had been shut down and replaced by four "military-controlled" sites that force over two million refugees into "overcrowded, militarised zones". Doctors Without Borders, the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize-winning medical aid agency, called the GHF's aid sites "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid". Reports of Palestinian refugees being shot at while they line up for aid are not new; last month The New York Times said Israeli soldiers fired at crowds walking towards a food centre. The Red Cross and the Gaza Health Ministry said 27 people were killed. The day before 23 died at another aid centre. On that occasion the GHF acknowledged civilians had been killed, but said it was because they had strayed from a 'safe corridor' specified by the Israeli military. The IDF said it had opened fire, starting with a few 'warning' shots before claiming the refugees as 'posing a threat' and then killing them. But in a report by Israeli news outlet Haaretz, cited by Al Jazeera, some soldiers had been ordered to shoot at refugees at aid points, an allegation that, if true, means Tel Aviv committed war crimes. The israeli government has ordered an investigation into the Haaretz story. Gaza's Health Ministry, cited in an Al Jazeera report, said Thursday that at least 118 Palestinians had been killed in 24 hours, and 33 of those deaths had been reported from aid sites run by the GHF. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Based in Delaware in the US, the GHF is a private organisation that claims to have delivered over 52 million meal boxes in five weeks while other aid agencies remain 'helpless because their aid is looted'. NDTV Exclusive | The Foundation reportedly runs four aid sites in Gaza at this time, including three in the south. Israel says it supports but does not control the activities of the GHF, which has faced internal turmoil since the start. In end-May, days before it was to begin work, its head, Jake Wood, quit. A former US military veteran, Wood said, "I am proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry it is clear it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality..." NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
DW
16-06-2025
- Health
- DW
Israel strikes Iranian state TV in new attack on Tehran – DW – 06/16/2025
06/16/2025 June 16, 2025 Palestinians reported killed at Gaza food aid center Palestinians walks toward a Gaza Humanitarian Fund food distribution center in southern Gaza on June 5 Image: AFP/Getty Images At least 20 Palestinians were killed in shootings at food distribution centers in southern Gaza, the Health Ministry reported on Monday. According to the Health Ministry, the people killed were trying to reach the US- and Israel-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Gaza's civil defense agency reports that dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach aid distribution points operated by GHF. The United Nations does not work with the foundation, which it considers ineffective and aimed at catering to Israeli military objectives. There have been near-daily reports of shootings as Palestinians move through Israeli-controlled areas toward GHF food aid centers in Gaza. There was no immediate comment from Israel on Monday's incident. In previous incidents, the Israeli military has said it has fired warning shots at people approaching their positions. Israel restricts media access to the Gaza strip, meaning that news agencies are unable to independently verify death tolls. The UN's OCHA humanitarian agency has warned that Gaza's entire population of 2 million is at risk of famine. Israel is under international pressure to allow more aid to reach Gazans. Since Israel resumed strikes on Gaza in March, more than 5,000 people have been reported killed. Israel also cut off aid entering Gaza for two months, saying supplies were aiding Hamas militants who continue to control the enclave. More than 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks that preceded the war with Israel.
Irish Independent
14-06-2025
- Irish Independent
Hamas says it shot dead 12 fighters of Israel-backed Gazan militia
However aid group says the men were workers risking life to provide help ©Associated Press Today at 21:30 A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force says it has killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia after detaining them, but an Israel-supported aid group said the dead were its workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed.
Irish Independent
12-06-2025
- Irish Independent
Dispute over identity of 12 reported killed by Hamas police force in Gaza
Samy Magdy and Kareem Chehayeb ©Associated Press A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force says it has killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia after detaining them, but an Israel-supported aid group said the dead were its workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed on Thursday.
The Hill
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers
CAIRO (AP) — A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday. Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The Israeli military circulated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's statement on its social media accounts but declined to provide its own account of what happened. In a separate development, internet and phone lines were down across Gaza, according to telecom provider Paltel and the Palestinian telecoms authority. They said a key line was severed during an Israeli operation and that the military would not allow technicians into the area to repair it. Connectivity watchdog NetBlocks confirmed there had been a major disruption. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. Previous blackouts have deepened Gaza's isolation and made it difficult for people to call first responders after airstrikes. The aid group's operations in Gaza have already been marred by controversy and violence since they began last month, with scores of people killed in near-daily shootings as crowds headed toward the food distribution sites inside Israeli military zones. Witnesses have blamed the Israeli military, which has acknowledged firing only warning shots near people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner. Earlier this week, witnesses also said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the Israeli and U.S.-backed initiative, accusing them of militarizing humanitarian aid at a time when experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and renewed military campaign. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. Abu Shabab's militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the food distribution points set up by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. trucks. GHF has denied working with the Abu Shabab group. In a statement released early Thursday, the foundation said Hamas had attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen of its local Palestinian aid workers near the southern city of Khan Younis. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to help others.' Rev. Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump who was recently appointed head of GHF, called the killings 'absolute evil' and lashed out at the U.N. and Western countries over what he said was their failure to condemn them. 'The principle of impartiality does not mean neutrality. There is good and evil in this world. What we are doing is good and what Hamas did to these Gazans is absolute evil,' he wrote on X. Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system, which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. U.N. officials say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs, and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to the aid sites, most of which are in the southernmost city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The killings early Wednesday were carried out by the Hamas-run police's Sahm unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting. The unit released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident, said he was at the scene of the killings and that crowds were celebrating them, shouting 'God is greatest' and condemning those killed as traitors to the Palestinian cause and agents of Israel. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces and deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group, posted a statement online saying they clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the images shared by Sahm were of Abu Shabab fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers. Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed a complete ban on imports of food, fuel, medicine and other aid before easing the blockade in mid-May. The ongoing war and mounting desperation have plunged Gaza into chaos, with armed gangs looting aid convoys and selling the stolen food. The Hamas-run police force has largely gone underground as Israel has repeatedly targeted its forces. The military now controls more than half of the territory. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants. Israel's offensive has flattened large areas of Gaza and driven around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians from their homes. The territory is almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid because nearly all of its food production capabilities have been destroyed. ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
