Latest news with #JonathanLanday
Hindustan Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
US-backed aid group proposed 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' for Palestinians in Gaza
* US-backed aid group proposed 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' for Palestinians in Gaza US-backed aid group proposed building camps for displaced people in Gaza * The 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' would be located inside and outside of Gaza * Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says the plan is 'not under consideration' By Jonathan Landay and Aram Roston July 7 - A controversial U.S.-backed aid group proposed building camps called 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' inside - and possibly outside - Gaza to house the Palestinian population, according to a proposal reviewed by Reuters, outlining its vision of "replacing Hamas' control over the population in Gaza." The $2 billion plan, created sometime after February 11 for the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, was submitted to the Trump administration and recently discussed in the White House, according to a source familiar with the matter. The plan, reviewed by Reuters, describes the camps as "large-scale" and "voluntary" places where the Gazan population could 'temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so.' The Washington Post made a reference to GHF plans to build housing compounds for Palestinian non-combatants in May. A slide deck seen by Reuters goes into granular detail on the "Humanitarian Transit Zones," including how they would be implemented and what they would cost. It calls for using the sprawling facilities to "gain trust with the local population" and to facilitate U.S. President Donald Trump's "vision for Gaza." Reuters could not independently determine the status of the plan, who submitted it, or whether it is still under consideration. The aid group, responding to questions from Reuters, denied that it had submitted a proposal and said the slides "are not a GHF document." GHF said it had studied "a range of theoretical options to safely deliver aid in Gaza," but that it "is not planning for or implementing Humanitarian Transit Areas ." Rather, the organization said it is solely focused on food distribution in Gaza. A spokesperson for SRS, a for-profit contracting company that works with GHF, told Reuters "we have had no discussions with GHF about HTAs, and our 'next phase' is feeding more people. Any suggestion otherwise is entirely false and misrepresents the scope of our operations." The document included the GHF name on the cover and SRS on several slides. RELOCATION FEARS On February 4 Trump first publicly said that the U.S. should "take over" the war-battered enclave and rebuild it as "the Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling the population of 2.3 million Palestinians elsewhere. Trump's comments angered many Palestinians and humanitarian groups about the possible forced relocation from Gaza. Even if the GHF proposal is no longer under consideration, the idea of moving a large portion of the population into camps will only deepen such worries, several humanitarian experts told Reuters. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The proposal was laid out in a slide presentation that a source said was submitted to the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem earlier this year. The U.S. State Department declined to comment. A senior administration official said, "nothing of the like is under consideration. Also, no resources are being directed to that end in any way." The source working on the project said that it had not moved forward due to a lack of funds. Reuters previously reported that GHF had attempted to set up a Swiss bank account from which to solicit donations, but UBS and Goldman Sachs declined to work with the organization. The Israeli Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to a request for comment. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, to told Reuters it "categorically" rejects the GHF, calling it "not a relief organization but rather an intelligence and security tool affiliated with the Israeli occupation, operating under a false humanitarian guise." 'LARGE-SCALE' CAMPS The undated slide presentation, which includes photos dated February 11, said that the GHF is "working to secure" over $2 billion for the project, to "build, secure and oversee large-scale Humanitarian Transit Areas inside and potentially outside Gaza strip for the population to reside while Gaza is demilitarized and rebuilt." The Humanitarian Transit Areas described in the slides would be the next phase in an operation that began with GHF opening food distribution sites in the enclave in late May, according to two sources involved in the project. GHF coordinates with the Israeli military and uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get food aid into Gaza. It is favored by the Trump Administration and Israel to carry out humanitarian efforts in Gaza as opposed to the U.N.-led system which it says let militants divert aid. Hamas denies this and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon. In June U.S. State Department approved $30 million in funding for the GHF and called on other countries to also support the group. The United Nations has called GHF's operation "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. The U.N. human rights office says it has recorded at least 613 killings at GHF aid points and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups including the U.N. One slide outlining a timeline said a camp would be operational within 90 days of the launch of the project and that it would house 2,160 people, along with a laundry, restrooms, showers and a school. A source working on the project said that the slide deck is part of a planning process that began last year and envisions a total of eight camps, each one capable of sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The proposal did not specify how the Palestinians would be relocated into the camps, or where the camps could be built outside Gaza, but a map shows arrows pointing to Egypt and Cyprus as well as other points labeled "Additional Destination?" GHF would 'oversee and regulate all civil activities required for construction, deradicalization and temporary voluntary relocation,' the proposal said. Responding to questions from Reuters, three humanitarian experts expressed alarm over details of the plan to build camps. 'There is no such thing as voluntary displacement amongst a population that has been under constant bombardment for nearly two years and has been cut off from essential aid,' said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of the Refugees International advocacy group and a former senior U.S. Agency for International Development official who reviewed the plan. The source who worked on planning for the camps told Reuters that the intent "is to take the fear factor away," enabling Palestinians to "escape control of Hamas" and providing them "a safe area to house their families." The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, caused a hunger crisis, and displaced nearly Gaza's entire population internally. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Over 100 former senior officials warn against planned staff cuts at US State Department
By Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 130 retired diplomats and other former senior U.S. officials issued an open letter on Thursday criticizing a planned overhaul of the State Department that could see thousands of employees laid off. "We strongly condemn Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announced decision to implement sweeping staff reductions and reorganization at the U.S. Department of State," the officials said in the letter. The signatories included dozens of former ambassadors and senior officials, including Susan Rice, who served as national security advisor under President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The timing of the cuts remains unclear, with the U.S. Supreme Court expected to weigh in at any moment on a bid by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to halt a judicial order blocking the firings. The administration in late May notified Congress of a plan to overhaul its diplomatic corps that could cut thousands of jobs, including hundreds of members of its elite Foreign Service who advocate for U.S. interests in the face of growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia. Initial plans to send the notices last month were halted after a federal judge on June 13 temporarily blocked the State Department from implementing the reorganization plan. The shake-up forms part of a push by Trump to shrink the federal bureaucracy, cut what he says is wasteful spending and align what remains with his "America First" priorities. "At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges from strategic competitors, ongoing conflicts, and emerging security threats, Secretary Rubio's decision to gut the State Department's institutional knowledge and operational capacity is reckless," the former officials wrote.
Japan Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Over 100 former senior officials warn against planned staff cuts at U.S. State Department
FILE PHOTO: A general view of a U.S. State Department sign in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo By Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis More than 130 retired diplomats and other former senior U.S. officials issued an open letter on Thursday criticizing a planned overhaul of the State Department that could see thousands of employees laid off. "We strongly condemn Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announced decision to implement sweeping staff reductions and reorganization at the U.S. Department of State," the officials said in the letter. The signatories included dozens of former ambassadors and senior officials, including Susan Rice, who served as national security advisor under President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The timing of the cuts remains unclear, with the U.S. Supreme Court expected to weigh in at any moment on a bid by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to halt a judicial order blocking the firings. The administration in late May notified Congress of a plan to overhaul its diplomatic corps that could cut thousands of jobs, including hundreds of members of its elite Foreign Service who advocate for U.S. interests in the face of growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia. Initial plans to send the notices last month were halted after a federal judge on June 13 temporarily blocked the State Department from implementing the reorganization plan. The shake-up forms part of a push by Trump to shrink the federal bureaucracy, cut what he says is wasteful spending and align what remains with his "America First" priorities. "At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges from strategic competitors, ongoing conflicts, and emerging security threats, Secretary Rubio's decision to gut the State Department's institutional knowledge and operational capacity is reckless," the former officials wrote. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say
By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former U.S. officials, a move that would involve the U.S. more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos. The sources and former U.S. officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the U.S. State Department. The plan has met resistance from some U.S. officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume. The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs. The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites. On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an "economic interest" in the for-profit U.S. contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF's aid distribution hubs in the enclave. While U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Israel say they don't finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it. The U.S. and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that. USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump's drive to align U.S. foreign policy with his "America First" agenda. One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency's dismemberment. The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF's operations for 180 days. The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The two sources said that some U.S. officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF's contractor, and violence nearby. Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said. Gaza hospital officials have said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near GHF's distribution points between June 1-3. Since launching its operation, the GHF has opened three hubs, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning. Witnesses blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" advancing towards their positions.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State Department shifts $250 million from refugee aid to 'self-deportations'
By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department has moved $250 million to the Department of Homeland Security for voluntary deportations by migrants without legal status, a spokesperson said, an unprecedented repurposing of funds that have been used to aid refugees uprooted by war and natural disasters. The money has been transferred "to provide a free flight home and an exit bonus to encourage and assist illegal aliens to voluntarily depart the United States," the State Department spokesperson told Reuters. Historically, those funds have been used "to provide protection to vulnerable people" overseas and to resettle refugees in the U.S., said Elizabeth Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary of state. The re-routing of the money comes as President Donald Trump pushes to reshape U.S. government agencies to serve his 'America First' agenda. The State Department's planned reorganization explicitly states that the agency's refugee bureau now largely will focus on efforts to 'return illegal aliens to their country of origin or legal status.' The funds came from Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) overseen by the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration. Its website says its mission is to "reduce illegal immigration," aid people "fleeing persecution, crisis or violence and seek durable solutions for forcibly displaced people." Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, citing the law authorizing the funding, said in a May 7 Federal Register notice that underwriting the repatriation of people without legal status will bolster the "foreign policy interests" of the U.S. He did not mention the $250 million transfer to DHS. The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's administration is working to speed up deportations in a crackdown that the Republican president vowed during the 2024 campaign would expel millions of people illegally in the U.S. It has encouraged migrants to leave voluntarily by threatening steep fines and deporting migrants to notorious prisons in Guantanamo Bay and El Salvador. But the volume of deportations since he took office in January appears to be less than those overseen by his predecessor Joe Biden in the February-May period of 2024, about 200,000 people versus 257,000. On May 9, Trump announced Project Homecoming, an initiative overseen by DHS that offers $1,000 stipends and travel assistance to migrants who "self-deport." DHS said in a May 19 news release that 64 people had "opted to self deport" to Honduras and Colombia on a charter flight under the program. Some experts said that while legal, sending the money to DHS for deportation operations was an unprecedented use of MRA funds. The main purpose of the funds historically has been "to provide refugee and displacement assistance, refugee processing and resettlement to the U.S., and respond to urgent and emerging humanitarian crises - not to return those very people to the harm or persecution they fled,' said Meredith Owen Edwards, senior director of Policy and Advocacy at the Refugee Council USA.
