Latest news with #Katoo
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Israeli plan to move Gazans into closed zone triggers backlash
A Palestinian man from the Katoo family, with his son, mourns beside the body of his other son, who was killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid near a distribution point in Rafah, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025. REUTERS/ Ramadan Abed JERUSALEM, Undefined — An Israeli proposal to move Gazans into a so-called "humanitarian city" has come under intense fire, slammed by critics as a costly distraction at best, and at worst a potential step towards forcing Palestinians off of their land. Defense Minister Israel Katz first unveiled the plan during a briefing with reporters last Monday. It envisions building from scratch a closed zone in southern Gaza during a potential 60-day ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, currently under negotiation in Qatar. According to Katz, the area would initially house around 600,000 displaced people from southern Gaza and include four aid distribution sites managed by international organizations. The entire civilian population of Gaza—more than two million people—would eventually be relocated there. Critics, however, have questioned both the feasibility and ethics of the plan, with Israel's opposition leader citing its astronomical cost, and one expert pointing to lack of infrastructure in the area necessary to accommodate so many people. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has described the proposed facility as a "concentration camp," while Britain's minister for the Middle East and North Africa has said he is "appalled" by the idea "Palestinian territory must not be reduced," the UK's Hamish Falconer said on X. "Civilians must be able to return to their communities." 'Extremist delusions' Nearly 21 months of war have devastated much of the Gaza Strip, displacing most of its population, creating dire shortages of food and other essentials, and killing 58,026 people, most of them civilians, according to the territory's health ministry. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war led to 1,219 deaths, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures New arrivals to the proposed facility would undergo security screening to ensure they are not affiliated with Hamas, and once admitted, they would not be permitted to leave. The Israeli military would provide security "from a distance," Katz has said. However, the criticism of the plan reportedly extends even to Israel's own security establishment. Local media reported that army chief Eyal Zamir lambasted the proposal at a cabinet meeting, arguing it would divert focus from the military's two core objectives: defeating Hamas and securing the return of hostages taken on October 7. The broadcaster Channel 12 reported that unnamed security officials viewed the plan as little more than a "gigantic tent city," and warned it could pave the way for a return to Israeli military rule in Gaza. Such a move aligns with the long-standing goals of far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, key coalition partners of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir advocate the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza, from which Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005, and have repeatedly called for the voluntary expatriation of Palestinians from Gaza. The projected expense of the initiative—estimated between 10 and 20 billion shekels ($3–6 billion)—has further fuelled domestic outrage as the cost of nearly two years of war mounts. "That money is not coming back," opposition leader Yair Lapid said on X on Sunday. "Netanyahu is letting Smotrich and Ben Gvir run wild with extremist delusions just to preserve his coalition. Instead of plundering the middle class's money, end the war and bring back the hostages." 'Fantasies' The Palestinian Authority was scathing in appraisal of the proposed facility, with its foreign ministry saying: "The humanitarian city has nothing to do with humanity." That view was echoed by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which said the "plan would de-facto create massive concentration camps at the border with Egypt." A Palestinian official with knowledge of the ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar told AFP that Hamas rejected plans to concentrate Palestinians in a small part of the south, viewing it as "preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries." Amnesty International, which has accused Israel of genocide, warned that relocating Gazans within the territory or "deporting them outside against their will would amount to the war crime of unlawful transfer." On Friday, 16 Israeli scholars of international law sent a letter to Katz and Zamir also warning the scheme could amount to a war crime. Michael Milshtein, an Israeli former military intelligence officer, called the plan one of many "fantasies" floated by Israel's leadership amid mounting public frustration with the war's trajectory and lack of a political solution. He also noted there was no existing infrastructure in the proposed zone, raising questions about provision of electricity and water. "There is only sand and fields, nothing," said Milshtein, who heads the Palestinian studies programme at Tel Aviv University. "Nobody tells the Israeli public what is the price and what are the consequences of reoccupying Gaza, from the economic, political and security points of view," he told AFP. "I really think that if people understand that the purpose of the war is the reoccupation of Gaza, there is going to be a lot of social unrest in Israel." — AFP
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal; 17 reported killed in latest shooting near aid
A Palestinian man from the Katoo family, with his son, mourns beside the body of his other son, who was killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid near a distribution point in Rafah, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA - Progress is stalling at talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the sides divided over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday. The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire continued throughout Saturday, an Israeli official told Reuters, seven days since talks began. US President Donald Trump has said he hoped for a breakthrough soon based on a new US-backed ceasefire proposal. In Gaza, medics said 17 people trying to get food aid were killed on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire, the latest mass shooting around a US-backed aid distribution system that the UN says has resulted in 800 people killed in six weeks. Witnesses who spoke to Reuters described people being shot in the head and torso. Reuters saw several bodies of victims wrapped in white shrouds as family members wept at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots, but that its review of the incident had found no evidence of anyone hurt by its soldiers' fire. Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar pushing for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals and discussions on ending the war. The Israeli official blamed the impasse on Hamas, which he said "remains stubborn, sticking to positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement". Hamas has previously blamed Israeli demands for blocking a deal. Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that hit a tent sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed A Palestinian source said that Hamas had rejected withdrawal maps which Israel had proposed that would leave around 40% of Gaza under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza. Two Israeli sources said Hamas wanted Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March. The Palestinian source said aid issues and guarantees on an end to the war were also presenting a crisis could be resolved with more US intervention, the source said. Hamas has long demanded an agreement to end the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled as a fighting force and administration in Gaza. Shooting Saturday's reported mass shooting near an aid distribution point in Rafah was the latest in a series of such incidents that the United Nations rights office said on Friday had seen at least 798 people killed trying to get food in six weeks. "We were sitting there, and suddenly there was shooting towards us. For five minutes we were trapped under fire. The shooting was targeted. It was not random. Some people were shot in the head, some in the torso, one guy next to me was shot directly in the heart," eyewitness Mahmoud Makram told Reuters. "There is no mercy there, no mercy. People go because they are hungry but they die and come back in body bags." After partially lifting a total blockade of all goods into Gaza in late May, Israel launched a new aid distribution system, relying on a group backed by the United States to distribute food under the protection of Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the system as inherently dangerous and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles. Israel says it is necessary to keep militants from diverting aid. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Israel's campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins. Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding a deal that would release all remaining hostages being held by Hamas. Protester Boaz Levi told Reuters here was there to pressure the government, "to get to a hostage deal as soon as possible because our friends, brothers, are in Gaza and it's about the time to end this war. That is why we are here." —Reuters
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal; 17 reported killed in latest shooting near aid
A Palestinian man from the Katoo family, with his son, mourns beside the body of his other son, who was killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid near a distribution point in Rafah, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed Progress is stalling at talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the sides divided over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday. The indirect talks over a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire continued throughout Saturday, an Israeli official told Reuters, seven days since talks began. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he hoped for a breakthrough soon based on a new U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal. In Gaza, medics said 17 people trying to get food aid were killed on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire, the latest mass shooting around a U.S.-backed aid distribution system that the U.N. says has resulted in 800 people killed in six weeks. Witnesses who spoke to Reuters described people being shot in the head and torso. Reuters saw several bodies of victims wrapped in white shrouds as family members wept at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots, but that its review of the incident had found no evidence of anyone hurt by its soldiers' fire. Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar pushing for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals and discussions on ending the war. The Israeli official blamed the impasse on Hamas, which he said "remains stubborn, sticking to positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement". Hamas has previously blamed Israeli demands for blocking a deal. A Palestinian source said that Hamas had rejected withdrawal maps which Israel had proposed that would leave around 40% of Gaza under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza. Two Israeli sources said Hamas wanted Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March. The Palestinian source said aid issues and guarantees on an end to the war were also presenting a challenge. The crisis could be resolved with more U.S. intervention, the source said. Hamas has long demanded an agreement to end the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled as a fighting force and administration in Gaza. SHOOTING Saturday's reported mass shooting near an aid distribution point in Rafah was the latest in a series of such incidents that the United Nations rights office said on Friday had seen at least 798 people killed trying to get food in six weeks. "We were sitting there, and suddenly there was shooting towards us. For five minutes we were trapped under fire. The shooting was targeted. It was not random. Some people were shot in the head, some in the torso, one guy next to me was shot directly in the heart," eyewitness Mahmoud Makram told Reuters. "There is no mercy there, no mercy. People go because they are hungry but they die and come back in body bags." After partially lifting a total blockade of all goods into Gaza in late May, Israel launched a new aid distribution system, relying on a group backed by the United States to distribute food under the protection of Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the system as inherently dangerous and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles. Israel says it is necessary to keep militants from diverting aid. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Israel's campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins. Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding a deal that would release all remaining hostages being held by Hamas. Protester Boaz Levi told Reuters here was there to pressure the government, "to get to a hostage deal as soon as possible because our friends, brothers, are in Gaza and it's about the time to end this war. That is why we are here." © Thomson Reuters 2025.
