Latest news with #OdayBasheer
Time Magazine
04-07-2025
- Health
- Time Magazine
What to Know About Deaths at Gaza Aid Sites
The United Nations says that at least 613 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza while collecting aid since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operating in the strip on May 27, 509 of whom were at centers set up by GHF. GHF is a controversial U.S. company backed by Israel to be the major distributor of aid in Gaza. The new aid distribution plan has been heavily criticized by the U.N. for its inaccessibility. Three of GHF's distribution points are in southern Gaza, making it a long and difficult journey through militarized zones for many Palestinians. 'From where I am, you have to walk 20 kilometers there and back, carrying food. Just the strongest and fastest can get there,' Oday Basheer, who lives in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told TIME in June. 'The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime,' spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office Thameen Al Keetan said in June. One main controversy surrounding the organization is its use of private security personnel, as well as private logistics companies to facilitate aid entering Gaza and its distribution. Gunfire towards Palestinians in search of aid has repeatedly been reported, with witnesses claiming shots fired by Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers. The IDF has previously said on multiple occasions that it has fired warning shots in the direction of suspects approaching troops, and that it has been examining further reports of civilian casualties at aid sites. Since GHF aid centers began operations, there have been at least 18 incidents of violence in which Palestinians have been killed at the aid centers, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, its Civil Defense Agency, and health workers in Gaza. On Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that two anonymous U.S. contractors working with GHF said that guards at aid sites were using stun grenades, pepper spray, and live minution as Palestinians collected aid. Video provided by one the contractors, published by the AP, also shows tightly-packed crowds of people jostling for aid with the sounds of gunfire and stun grenades nearby that appear to panic the crowds. In Brussels this week, prior to the AP's report, GHF chairman Johnnie Moore said: 'We have not had a single violent incident in our distribution sites…[or] in close proximity to our distribution sites.' 'There is an unbelievable effort around the world to try to shut down our operation. We will not be shut down,' he added. GHF said in a statement on Thursday July 3 that the reporting from The Associated Press is 'categorically false' and that 'at no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF.' TIME has reached out to the IDF for comment. As of Tuesday, GHF said that it has distributed over 56.5 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since the start of its operations. TIME has reached out to GHF regarding the videos and testimony from contractors. This comes as over 170 charities and organizations, including Oxfam and Save The Children, have called for GHF to be shut down. Their joint statement issued June 30 says action must be taken to 'revert to the existing U.N.-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government's blockade on aid and commercial supplies.' The GHF distribution program came into place on May 27 after Israel initially let small amounts of U.N. aid into Gaza following an 11-week blockade of the strip. The new aid scheme was established after Israel accused Hamas of stealing aid entering the strip, which the United Nations said it found no credible evidence for. 'Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones,' the organizations' statement says. These concerns were echoed by Commissioner-General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Philippe Lazzarini, on July 1. Lazzarini said that GHF 'provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza. Under this new abomination, Gaza has gone from 400 aid distribution points to only four militarized distribution sites.' Most of Gaza is now under Israeli controls after the resumption of military operations in the strip in May.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What Israel's New Gaza War Plan Means for Civilians and Aid
Palestinian's receiving food in Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza, on May 6. Credit - Mahmoud Issa - Getty Images As Israeli drones buzz overhead and food supplies dwindle, Oday Basheer moves quietly through Deir al-Balah, helping run a community kitchen for displaced Palestinians. The daily threat of airstrikes has become routine. 'It's just a press of a button and my story is ended,' he says. Basheer, whose kitchen has partnered with World Central Kitchen (WCK), no longer tracks the headlines. 'No one's coming. No one's going to stop this war.' On Monday, Israel confirmed what many in Gaza had feared: its military will seize the territory indefinitely, calling up tens of thousands of reservists to significantly expand operations. The timing, according to a defense official speaking to the Associated Press, may hinge on President Trump's visit to the region next month. 'I will not do the dreams that I wanted to achieve,' Basheer tells TIME from Gaza. 'More than 50,000 people were killed during this genocide.' WCK has suspended operations in Gaza twice in the past year after Israeli strikes killed seven in April 2024 and three last November. As of April, at least 408 aid workers have been killed, deepening the crisis for Gaza's 2 million residents already enduring a near-total blockade. How Will Israel Expand Military Operations? The war began after a Hamas terror attack killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7, 2023, with the militants seizing some 250 hostages. As of May 6, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to its Health Ministry. Israel's plan marks a turning point in the nation's war strategy - one that NGOs and human rights groups warn will only escalate the humanitarian catastrophe inside Gaza. While Israeli forces have previously advanced deep into Gaza during the war, a sustained military presence has largely been confined to a 1km buffer zone along the border. In April, that zone was expanded, denying Palestinians access to more than half of the territory. 'There will not be an in-and-out,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video released on social media. 'We're not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward. That's not the plan. The intention is the opposite.' 'We want Israeli security control,' Eli Cohen, a Member of Israel's security cabinet, told Israeli public radio Kan. 'That means that anywhere in Gaza, at any time, we will be able to act.' 'We are not interested in managing civilian life. We're talking about four things: Israeli security control, Hamas not being the sovereign, demilitarization, and advancing President Trump's voluntary emigration plan,' he said. The Israel Defense Forces declined TIME's request for comment. Palestinian children collect clean water, walking past destroyed buildings in Gaza City on May 4. Majdi Fathi - Getty Images What Has Been The Reaction To The Plan? Thousands of reservists are refusing call ups, having recently signed letters to Netanyahu calling for an end to the war, and attendance amongst reserves is reportedly only 60% in recent weeks. The strategic pivot comes after Hamas appeared to rule out further cease-fire talks. On May 6, senior official Basem Naim told AFP there was 'no sense' in further negotiations while 'the hunger war and extermination war' continued. Naim urged international pressure on Netanyahu, who still faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2024 over alleged war crimes. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes tells TIME that 'President Trump remains committed to securing the immediate release of hostages and an end to Hamas rule in Gaza.' Inside Israel, families of hostages still held by Hamas have criticized the new military strategy. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum told Haaretz the government's plan prioritizes territory over lives. 'This decision will be remembered as a cry for generations,' the group said. As part of the new strategy, Israel also plans to overhaul how aid is distributed, shifting responsibility away from the UN and toward Israeli-controlled hubs. The UN Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory criticized the proposal, warning that it risks forcing civilians into militarized zones and violates humanitarian principles. Medical Aid for Palestinians also condemned Israel's plan, calling it a 'dangerous attempt to weaponise humanitarian aid." In the statement, Interim CEO Stephen Cutts said: 'This plan violates the core humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, and impartiality, and would knowingly deprive millions of vital aid.' How Much Food And Aid Is Getting Into Gaza? Two days after the Hamas attacks on October 7 2023, Israel announced a full blockade of aid entering Gaza including electricity, fuel, and water. This blockade was in effect until October 21 later that month. Israel resumed attacks on the Gaza Strip in March, ending a cease-fire deal with Hamas that had been in place for nearly two months. Since then, there has also been a 'near-total blockade on the delivery of aid' entering the territory according to the United Nations. Basheer says he and his family have been assisting a kitchen in Deir Al-Balah to cook and distribute food from their home every day for displaced families. 'Everyone needs food now because they can't get it from the markets,' Basheer says. Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA, says Gaza's humanitarian crisis worsens with each passing week. 'It's the basics for the survival of human beings, nothing has been allowed in. It's more than two months now,' she tells TIME. How Much Of Gaza Has Been Destroyed? In April, the UN estimated that about 92% of all residential buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed —equivalent to about 436,000 homes. This has created nearly 50 million tonnes of debris, something which could take decades to fully clear under current conditions. The UN estimates that 11,000 bodies are still trapped underneath rubble across the strip. Gaza's education system has also collapsed. According to a March report, over 95% of schools in Gaza have been damaged, and 62% of schools used as shelters for displaced civilians have been hit directly. Contact us at letters@
