Latest news with #OperationGideonsChariots
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Gaza's starving men and women chase trucks, willing to die to feed families
Gaza City – I only recently witnessed what it's like for the crowds waiting desperately for aid in Gaza. I don't see them in Deir el-Balah, but we travel north to Gaza to visit my family, and on the coastal al-Rashid Street, I saw something that made my heart uneasy about the much-discussed ceasefire in Gaza – what if it doesn't address the aid crisis? This crisis prompted Hamas to request amendments to the proposed ceasefire, on the entry of aid and ending the United States- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), at whose gates Israel kills dozens waiting for aid every day. On al-Rashid Street Since Israel broke the last ceasefire in March, our visits to the north have become highly calculated, less about planning and more about reading the escalation levels of Israeli air strikes. The intention to go north, formed before sleeping, is cancelled when we hear bombs. Conversely, waking up to relative quiet could spur a snap decision. We quickly dress and pack clothes, supplies, and documents, always under one lingering fear: that tanks will cut the road off again and trap us in the north. By the first day of Eid al-Adha, June 6, we had been avoiding visiting my family for three weeks. Israel's ground assault, 'Operation Gideon's Chariots', was at its peak, and my husband and I decided to stay put in hopes of avoiding the violence. But eventually, the longing to see family outweighed fear and our daughter Banias really wanted to see her grandfather for Eid, so we made the trip. The journeys reveal the dysfunction of Gaza's current transport system. A trip that used to take just over 20 minutes in a private car – door to door from Deir el-Balah to my family's home in Gaza City – now requires multiple stops, long walks, and long waits for unreliable transport. To reach Gaza City, we take three 'internal rides' within central Gaza, short trips between neighbourhoods or towns like az-Zawayda, Deir el-Balah, and Nuseirat, often on shared donkey carts or old cars dragging open carts behind them. Waiting for these rides can take an hour or more, the donkey carts holding up to 12 people, and car-cart combinations carrying six in the car, plus 10 to 12 in the cart. Then comes the 'external ride', longer, riskier travel between governorates usually involving a crowded tuk-tuk carrying 10 passengers or more along bombed-out roads. Since the January truce – broken by Israel in March – Israel has allowed only pedestrian and cart movement, with vehicles prohibited. The entire trip can take up to two hours, depending on road conditions. Exhausting journeys have become my new normal, especially when travelling with children. The 'aid seekers' My last two trips north brought me face-to-face with the 'aid seekers'. That harsh label has dominated news headlines recently, but witnessing their journey up close defies all imagination. It belongs to another world entirely. On June 6, to fulfil Banias's Eid wish to see her grandfather, we boarded a tuk-tuk as evening fell. Near the western edge of what people in Gaza call al-Shari al-Jadeed ('the new road'), the 7km Netzarim Corridor that the Israeli army built to bisect the enclave, I saw hundreds of people on sand dunes on both sides of the street. Some had lit fires and gathered around them. It's a barren, ghostly stretch of sand and rubble, filled with the living shadows of Gaza's most desperate. I started filming with my phone as the other passengers explained that these 'aid seekers' were waiting to intercept aid trucks and grab whatever they could. Some of them are also waiting for an 'American GHF' distribution point on the parallel Salah al-Din Street, which is supposed to open at dawn. A bitter discussion ensued about the US-run aid point that had 'caused so many deaths'. The aid system, they said, had turned survival into a lottery and dignity into a casualty. I sank into thought, seeing this was entirely different from reading about it or watching the news. Banias snapped me out of my thoughts: 'Mama, what are these people doing here? Camping?' Oh God! This child lives in her own, rosy world. My mind reeled from her cheerful interpretation of one of the bleakest scenes I'd ever witnessed: black smoke, emaciated bodies, hunger, dust-filled roads. I was silent, unable to answer. Men and boys passed by, some with backpacks, others with empty white bags like flour sacks, for whatever they might find. Cardboard boxes are too hard to carry. The aid seekers walk from all over Gaza, gathering in the thousands to wait all night until 4, 5, or 6am, fearing that Israeli soldiers will kill them before they can get into the 'American GHF'. According to reports, they rush in to grab whatever they can, a chaotic stampede where the strong devour the weak. These men were death projects in waiting; they know, but they go anyway. Why? Because hunger persists and there's no other solution. It's either die of hunger or die trying to survive it. We reached Gaza City. Dust, darkness, and congestion surrounded us as the tuk-tuk drove through completely destroyed roads. As each jolt shot through our backs, a passenger remarked: 'We'll all have back pain and disc issues from this tuk-tuk.' A silence fell, broken by Banias, our little reporter from the pink world: 'Mama, Baba, look at the moon behind you! It's completely full. 'I think I see Aunt Mayar in the sky next to the moon,' Banias said, about my sister who travelled during the war to Egypt, then Qatar. When we asked how, she explained: 'She said her name means the star that lives beside the moon. Look!' We smiled despite the misery, too drained to respond. The other passengers listened in to her dreamlike observations. 'Baba, when will we study astronomy in school?' she asked. 'I want to learn about the moon and stars.' We didn't have time to answer. We had arrived, and the curtain fell on another exhausting day. The return I told my family what I saw on al-Rashid, and they listened, shocked and intrigued, to their 'field correspondent'. They, too, were preoccupied with food shortages, discussing mixing their last kilo of flour with pasta to stretch it further – conversations ruled by fear of hunger and the unknown. We didn't stay long, just two days before heading back along a road filled with fear of bombing and aid seekers. Only this time it was daylight, and I could see women sitting by the road, ready to spend the night waiting for aid. About two weeks later, on June 26, we made the trip again. I travelled with my two children, my sister – who had come back with us on the last trip – and my brother's wife and her two young children: four-year-old Salam and two-year-old Teeb. My husband came the next day. We were seven in a small, worn-out minibus, and we had nine others crammed in with us: three men beside the driver, a young man with his wife and sister, and a woman with her husband and child. Sixteen people in a van, clearly not built for that! Although vehicles are banned from al-Rashid, some do manage to pass. Tired and worried about the young children with us, we took the risk and, that day, we made it. I don't know whether it was fate or misfortune, but as our van neared the area around the Netzarim Corridor, World Food Programme trucks arrived. Two trucks stopped on the road, waiting to be 'looted'. People in Gaza will tell you this is a new policy under Israeli terms: no organised distribution, no lists. Just let the trucks in, let whoever can take aid, take it, and let the rest die. On a nearby street, three others also stopped. People began climbing the trucks, grabbing what they could. Within moments, all vehicles, tuk-tuks, and carts, including our van, stopped. Everyone around us – men, women, and children – started running towards the trucks. A commotion erupted in our car. The young man travelling with his wife and sister insisted on going despite their pleas not to. He jumped out and two other men followed. I was most shocked when a woman behind us shoved past, telling her husband and son: 'I'm going. You stay.' She ran like the wind. Other women and girls left nearby vehicles and sprinted to the trucks. I wondered: Would she be able to climb up the side of a truck and wrestle men for food? Human waves surged around us, seemingly from nowhere, and I begged our driver to move on. The scene felt like a battle for survival, well past thoughts of dignity, justice, and humanity. The driver moved slowly; he had to keep stopping to avoid the crowds of people running in the opposite direction. My anxiety spiked. The kids sensed it too. None of us could comprehend what we were seeing, not even me, a journalist who claims to be informed. The truth: reality is entirely different. As we drove, I saw young men clutching bags, standing by the roadside. One had a knife, fearing he'd be attacked. Other men carried blades or tools because being attacked by fellow hungry people is not unlikely. 'We've become thieves just to eat and feed our children,' is the new phase Israel is imposing through its 'humanitarian' US-run foundation and its 'distribution policy'. And here we are, in this collapsing social order, where only the cries of empty stomachs are heard. How can we blame people for their misery? Did they choose this war? The car wound its way through until the flood of aid seekers finally dissipated. It felt like emerging from another world. We reached an intersection downtown, completely drained. I silently unpacked the car, wondering: How many sorrowful worlds are buried within you, Gaza? That day, I saw the world of the aid seekers after spending 20 months immersed in the worlds of the displaced, the wounded, the dead, the hungry, and the thirsty. How many more worlds of suffering must Gaza endure before the world finally sees us – and we finally earn a lasting ceasefire?
The National
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israeli attacks, aid crisis ... and a ceasefire? Where things stand in Gaza war
Israel has once more intensified its attacks on Gaza, killing dozens of people and firing at schools, hospitals and aid centres, residents say. The renewed offensive comes despite hopes that the end of a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel could open the door to peace in Gaza. While talks have resumed on a possible deal with Hamas, the strip continues to be hit by daily strikes. Adding to the military operations is what is widely viewed as a desperate humanitarian crisis in Gaza, after Israel blockaded aid for more than two months. While some food deliveries have resumed, some of it is controlled by a US and Israeli-backed foundation whose activities have been marred by violence. More than 20 months into the war, here are the latest developments. Military campaign Israel began what it calls Operation Gideon's Chariots in May, taking control of large parts of Gaza as part of its campaign against Hamas. Palestinian officials report daily fatalities as Israel bombards the strip. Since dawn on Monday, at least 80 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in a series of Israeli air strikes. One of the deadliest attacks occurred on a cafe where 13 people were reported killed and others injured on the Gaza city seafront. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that 28 bodies were brought to hospitals across Gaza in the past 24 hours alone. The death toll since the war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, is 56,531, with 133,642 wounded. From March 18, 2025, alone, more than 6,200 people have been killed. Israel disputes these casualty figures, saying they come from the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza and are too uncritically adopted by the UN. It says its objectives remain to defeat Hamas and return the hostages held by the militants. The Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza says Israel has also attacked more than 250 shelters and refugee camps, housing more than half a million people. 'These centres, most of them originally schools, were supposed to be safe havens. Bombing them is a compounded crime,' it said. 'Everything is being targeted now, as if we're back to the early days of the war. What should we do? We're exhausted, physically and mentally, and there's no place left to go,' Jawad Zedan, a 60-year-old resident of Jabalia, told The National. 'They're targeting shelters and tents. Every metre of Gaza holds death. We keep running from it, but I'm certain the day will come when death can no longer be escaped,' he added. Humanitarian crisis Aid workers say it is difficult to get food and medicine into Gaza due to Israeli restrictions, amid warnings of a worsening humanitarian crisis. On Monday, Israeli forces bombed Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza for the 12th time since the war began. Gaza officials condemned the repeated bombings of medical facilities as 'a deliberate attempt to dismantle Gaza's healthcare infrastructure'. Amjad Al Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, described the situation as 'a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions'. He told The National that 'the entire humanitarian system has collapsed'. According to Mr Al Shawa, more than 80 per cent of hospitals are out of service, most medicines and supplies have run out, more than 60 children have died from malnutrition, and about 100,000 more have severe nutritional deficiencies. More than 80 per cent of Gaza's territory is now under Israeli forced displacement orders. He warned of 'truly catastrophic scenes' in the coming days unless urgent nutritional and medical aid is delivered. Israel says it is allowing some aid to enter the strip but seeks to prevent it falling into the hands of Hamas. It says the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has provided almost 50 million meals to people in the strip. Dozens of people have been reported killed while trying to collect aid from the GHF's warehouses. Israeli troops say they have fired warning shots to control crowds, while the foundation insists it is working in difficult conditions to bring people food. Tayseer Muhanna, a representative of the media office, said the few aid lorries allowed into Gaza each week, compared to 600 lorries per day before the war, are often prevented from reaching distribution points. 'Many who attempt to reach these centres never return. They die trying to find food,' he said. Civil defence workers warn that many areas remain inaccessible due to continuing attacks, and fuel shortages are severely hampering rescue and ambulance efforts. Ceasefire talks The end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran was followed by a resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks. US President Donald Trump has expressed optimism that a deal could soon be reached, while musing about a wider settlement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. There has been no clear progress in the talks, although negotiators are engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on the momentum from the ceasefire in Iran. The US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker a new ceasefire since the previous arrangement collapsed in mid-March. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the end of the war in Iran 'presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements', which he said Israel was working on. 'Alongside the freeing of hostages and defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity that must not be missed,' he said. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday and 'emphasised the necessity' of a ceasefire, his office in Cairo said. He said this could be a prelude to achieving Mr Trump's 'vision of establishing comprehensive peace'. Mr Abdelatty said it was necessary to 'present a political horizon for the Palestinian cause' that meets demands for an independent state and could 'spare the region from repeated cycles of escalation and tension'.
The National
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israeli attacks, aid crisis... and a ceasefire? Where things stand in Gaza war
Israel has once more intensified its attacks on Gaza, killing dozens of people and firing at schools, hospitals and aid centres, locals say. The renewed offensive comes despite hopes that the end of a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel could open the door to peace in Gaza. While talks have resumed on a possible deal with Hamas, the strip continues to be hit by daily strikes. Adding to the military operations is what is widely viewed as a desperate humanitarian crisis in Gaza, after Israel blockaded aid for more than two months. While some food deliveries have resumed, some of it is controlled by a US and Israeli-backed foundation whose activities have been marred by violence. More than 20 months into the war, here are the latest developments. Military campaign Israel began what it calls Operation Gideon's Chariots in May, taking control of large parts of Gaza as part of its campaign against Hamas. Palestinian officials report daily fatalities as Israel bombards the strip. Since dawn on Monday, at least 60 Palestinians were reported killed in a series of Israeli air strikes. One of the deadliest attacks occurred on a cafe where 13 people were reported killed and others injured on the Gaza city seafront. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that 28 bodies were brought to hospitals across Gaza in the past 24 hours alone. The death toll since the war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, is 56,531, with 133,642 wounded. From March 18, 2025, alone, more than 6,200 people have been killed. Israel disputes these casualty figures, saying they come from the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza and are too uncritically adopted by the UN. It says its objectives remain to defeat Hamas and return the hostages held by the militants. The Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza says Israel has also attacked more than 250 shelters and refugee camps, housing more than half a million people. 'These centres, most of them originally schools, were supposed to be safe havens. Bombing them is a compounded crime,' it said. 'Everything is being targeted now, as if we're back to the early days of the war. What should we do? We're exhausted, physically and mentally, and there's no place left to go,' Jawad Zedan, a 60-year-old resident of Jabalia, told the The National. 'They're targeting shelters and tents. Every metre of Gaza holds death. We keep running from it, but I'm certain the day will come when death can no longer be escaped,' he added. Humanitarian crisis Aid workers say it is difficult to get food and medicine into Gaza due to Israeli restrictions, amid warnings of a worsening humanitarian crisis. On Monday, Israeli forces bombed Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza for the 12th time since the war began. Gaza officials condemned the repeated bombings of medical facilities as 'a deliberate attempt to dismantle Gaza's healthcare infrastructure'. Amjad Al Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, described the situation as 'a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions'. He told The National that 'the entire humanitarian system has collapsed'. According to Mr Al Shawa, more than 80 per cent of hospitals are out of service, most medicines and supplies have run out, more than 60 children have died from malnutrition and about 100,000 more have severe nutritional deficiencies. More than 80 per cent of Gaza's territory is now under Israeli forced displacement orders. He warned of 'truly catastrophic scenes' in the coming days unless urgent nutritional and medical aid is delivered. Israel says it is allowing some aid to enter the strip but seeks to prevent it falling into the hands of Hamas. It says the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has provided almost 50 million meals to people in the strip. Dozens of people have been reported killed while trying to collect aid from the GHF's warehouses. Israeli troops say they have fired warning shots to control crowds, while the foundation insists it is working in difficult conditions to bring people food. Tayseer Muhanna, a representative of the media office, said the few aid lorries allowed into Gaza each week, compared to 600 lorries per day before the war, are often prevented from reaching distribution points. 'Many who attempt to reach these centres never return. They die trying to find food,' he said. Civil defence workers warn that many areas remain inaccessible due to continuing attacks, and fuel shortages are severely hampering rescue and ambulance efforts. Ceasefire talks The end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran was followed by a resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks. US President Donald Trump has expressed optimism that a deal could soon be reached, while musing about a wider settlement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. There has been no clear progress in the talks although negotiators are engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on the momentum from the ceasefire in Iran. The US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker a new ceasefire since the previous arrangement collapsed in mid-March. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the end of the war in Iran 'presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements', which he said Israel was working on. 'Alongside the freeing of hostages and defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity that must not be missed,' he said. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday and 'emphasised the necessity' of a ceasefire, his office in Cairo said. He said this could be a prelude to achieving Mr Trump's 'vision of establishing comprehensive peace'. Mr Abdelatty said it was necessary to 'present a political horizon for the Palestinian cause' that meets demands for an independent state and could 'spare the region from repeated cycles of escalation and tension'.
LBCI
01-06-2025
- General
- LBCI
As Gaza assault widens, criticism mounts in Israel over stalled deal
Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian Israel responded to Hamas' demand to amend the "Witkoff proposal"—specifically the call for a ceasefire in Gaza—by doubling down on its military campaign and expanding the ongoing Operation "Gideon's Chariots." In a closed security meeting, Israel decided to increase military pressure, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip, following intelligence reports indicating that Hamas' Gaza Brigade commander, Ezz al-Din al-Haddad, may be present in the area. As families of Israeli hostages and critics of the government blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for obstructing a potential deal, sources familiar with the negotiations said the United States is continuing efforts to draft a new proposal acceptable to both sides. However, ministers in Israel's ruling coalition have rejected any new or previous proposals. Meanwhile, as the Israeli military continues its large-scale mobilization—reaching 450,000 reservists—an Israeli report said the army has established a one-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the length of the Gaza Strip. Civilians are now barred from entering areas up to three kilometers from this zone. The army has announced control over 80% of the Gaza Strip, where homes, factories, and farmland have been systematically destroyed. Even fishermen have been prohibited from returning to work.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
How Netanyahu finally lost Europe
Less than two years after the Hamas October 7 terror attack on Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has lost Europe. The continent's most influential leaders rallied behind Israel's right to defend itself and the subsequent war on the terrorist group, but new military tactics involving massive air strikes, food and aid shortages have sapped that goodwill. Operation Gideon's Chariots aims, for the first time, to seize and hold huge swathes of the Gaza Strip, rather than attacking Hamas in a given area, then moving on. It involves ordering the entire civilian population to a 'humanitarian zone' in the south, and follows, until last week, a two-and-half-month block on aid. Now there are increasingly loud European calls for an arms embargo to end the relentless prosecution of a war many see as already won. The starkest sign of the estrangement came on Monday, when Germany, Israel's strongest ally in Europe, warned it would not export weapons used to break humanitarian law. Friedrich Merz, the centre-Right Chancellor, attacked the air strikes as 'no longer comprehensible'. Such words carry extra significance because of the legacy of the Holocaust. Germany has a policy of special responsibility for Israel, which means it almost always backs it to the hilt. It is also its second-largest global arms supplier behind the United States. But public opinion is shifting, and there are calls from Mr Merz's coalition partners to impose the arms embargo or risk German complicity in war crimes. The rebuke from Israel was furious. Foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar warned that any attempt to block weapons from getting to Israel would result in the country's destruction and 'another Holocaust'. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is a member of Mr Merz's Christian Democrats. The German politician was criticised for freelancing after travelling to Israel after October 7 and giving a full-throated endorsement of its right to defend itself, in breach of EU convention. On Monday, she accused Israel of using 'disproportionate force' in an 'abhorrent' escalation and called for an immediate ceasefire. The EU is now reviewing its trade agreement with Israel, after a request by the Netherlands, which was backed by 17 of the bloc's 27 member states. Britain shelved trade talks with Israel last week, condemning Israel's refusal to allow thousands of aid trucks access to Palestinians. On this, as on Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, London is working in coordination with Berlin and Paris. Ireland and Spain faced accusations of anti-Semitism after they formally recognised Palestine in May last year. Once outliers in Europe, they are seeing other countries move closer to their position. Earlier this week, Spain hosted an international meeting in Madrid, attended by Britain, Germany, Italy and others, and called for an arms embargo on Israel. Ireland has begun work on a ban on Israeli imports from occupied Palestinian territories and said it hopes to convince its EU allies to follow suit. Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state probably ranks second in Israel's list of diplomatic nightmares after a weapons embargo. France, home to the largest Jewish population in Europe, is currently leading this effort. This has prompted behind-the-scenes accusations of betrayal in Jerusalem, with sources claiming they had been assured that Emmanuel Macron's government would not do this. The great moment of danger for Israel is a conference Mr Macron is convening along with the Saudis next month, beginning on June 17 at which, it is feared, more European declarations of Palestinian state recognition might emerge. Germany, it is thought, still opposes a move that would expose Israel's growing international isolation. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, but its most important ally remains the US, by far its largest arms supplier. What started as a honeymoon period in US-Israel relations at the start of Donald Trump's second term has, if not soured, then certainly cooled since January. Mr Netanyahu is frustrated that Mr Trump is prioritising a nuclear deal with Iran, which prevents Israeli strikes on the Iranian nuclear programme. Mr Trump is frustrated by the quagmire in Gaza and the lack of progress on hostages. But few seriously believe the Republican establishment, with its evangelical Christian core, will allow Mr Trump to drift too far from Israel. So Mr Netanyahu remains unrepentant and on the offensive. Last week, the UK, France and Canada warned they would take 'concrete actions' against Israel unless it allowed aid back in. Mr Netanyahu hit back, accusing the three leaders of being on the wrong side of history. One Israeli diplomatic source told The Telegraph: 'There was a real feeling of betrayal about Keir Starmer's involvement. 'There is a view here that France is unpredictable and just does what it does and Canada isn't that important. However, Britain is important, particularly because it's been such an ally in the past in the fight against terrorism and given such tangible support.'
