Latest news with #PhysiciansforHumanRightsIsrael
CNN
6 minutes ago
- Health
- CNN
‘Worst-case scenario of famine' now unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed body says
Update: Date: Title: Israeli human rights group official says her organization 'owed it to humanity' to call war in Gaza a 'genocide' Content: Returning now to yesterday's publication of two reports by two Israeli human rights groups who have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Tirza Leibowitz, Deputy Director and Director of Programs, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), said her organization felt they 'owed it to humanity' to call Israel's war in Gaza a genocide. Both PHRI and B'Tselem, another leading human rights group, accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, becoming the first such organizations inside Israel to make the claim. 'It is something that we owe to humanity. It is something that we owe in terms of solidarity with the Palestinian people and with our medical colleagues in Gaza as well.' Tirza Leibowitz told CNN's John Vause. PHRI published a legal and medical analysis documenting what it called 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.' In a separate major report released Monday, B'Tselem said it came to that 'unequivocal conclusion' that Israel was committing a genocide after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack.' Israel's foreign ministry rejected the reports by PHRI and B'Tselem, dismissing the accusations as 'obscene' and 'baseless.' It asserted that Israel only targets Hamas, not civilians, and takes 'extensive measures' to avoid harming civilians while delivering aid. Update: Date: Title: "Worst-case scenario of famine" unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed food security initiative says Content: The 'worst-case scenario of famine' is currently taking place in the Gaza Strip, according to an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed initiative. 'Conflict and displacement have intensified, and access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels,' the IPC said, adding that 'mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.' The IPC said that the alert is intended to 'draw urgent attention to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation' but doesn't constitute a formal classification of famine. 'Given the most recent information and data made available, a new IPC analysis is to be conducted without delay,' it said. More than 20,000 children were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, the IPC said, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished. 'Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,' the alert said, calling for 'immediate action' to end the hostilities and allow for 'unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response.' In May, the IPC reported that the enclave's entire population is experiencing 'high levels of acute food security' and the territory is at 'high risk' of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis. Update: Date: Title: Germany and Spain to help airlift humanitarian aid to Gaza, but concede airdrops aren't enough Content: Germany and Spain are sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza, although top officials from both countries acknowledged the aid isn't enough. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will coordinate with France and the UK, who he said are also prepared to provide airlifts for food and medical supplies. CNN has reached out to the French and UK governments for comment. 'We know that this can only be a very small help for the people in Gaza, but at least it is a contribution that we are happy to make,' Merz said. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno also said his country would arrange aid airdrops in the next few days in coordination with Jordan. 'Some airdrops with food stuff, but that's just a drop of water in the ocean,' he told CNN's Isa Soares. Spain plans to air-drop food aid for approximately 5,000 people into Gaza between the first and second week of August. However, the minister emphasized, 'This is not what we want. We don't want just a drop here and a drop there.' Calling for land access and distribution through United Nations agencies, the minister said there needs to be a permanent flow of aid, 'unimpeded, without any obstacles.' Update: Date: Title: Israel says it will continue working with global aid agencies to ensure assistance flows into Gaza Content: Israel will continue working with global aid agencies, as well as the United States and European countries, 'to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip,' the office of Israel's prime minister said yesterday. 'As part of this effort, Israel paused IDF operations in key populated areas of Gaza from 10am to 8pm every day and designated secure routes from 6am to 11pm that will ensure the safe passage of more convoys delivering aid,' the statement said. The statement comes after United States President Donald Trump told reporters in Scotland that the US will set up 'food centers' in Gaza to address the ongoing starvation and malnutrition crisis amid Israel's aid blockade. The Israeli prime minister's office said that Israel will 'continue to act responsibly, as we always have, and we'll continue to seek the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas. That is the only way to secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.' The statement reiterated accusations against Hamas of stealing humanitarian aid for which it provided no evidence. Some background: An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza. The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), looked into 156 incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse reported by partner organizations between October 2023 and May 2025. Update: Date: Title: Trump acknowledges 'real starvation' in Gaza as the death toll climbs. Here's what to know Content: We're resuming our coverage of events in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said yesterday there is 'real starvation' in Gaza and pledged to set up 'food centers' while blaming Israel for limiting aid into the enclave, during a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland yesterday. Trump's comments mark a shift from his prior comments on the aid crisis, which he has largely put on Hamas, and contradict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that there is 'no starvation in Gaza.' Meanwhile on the ground in Gaza, the death toll is rising as the starvation and malnutrition crisis worsens. The UN's aid chief warned the coming days will be 'make or break' for humanitarian efforts in Gaza as aid slowly trickles amid the Israel's military daily pause in operations. Here's what you also need to know:
Daily Tribune
an hour ago
- Health
- Daily Tribune
Israeli rights groups brand Gaza campaign ‘genocide'
Rights groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that they had concluded the war in Gaza amounts to a 'genocide' against Palestinians, a first for Israeli NGOs. Both organisations are frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports issued on Monday was their most stark yet. 'Nothing prepares you for the realisation that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us,' B'Tselem executive director Yuli Novak told a news conference unveiling the two reports. 'As Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible,' she said. 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.' A spokesman from the Israeli prime minister's office, David Mencer, denounced the allegation. 'We have free speech here in Israel but we strongly reject the accusation,' he said. 'Our defence forces target terrorists and never civilians. Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza.' Israel's war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has killed at least 59,921 people, most of them civilians. All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition. The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it 'plausible' that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention. The Israeli government, backed by the United States, fiercely denies the charge and says it is fighting to defeat Hamas and to bring back Israeli hostages still held inGaza. The reports from B'Tselem-- one of Israel's best-knownrights groups -- and Physiciansfor Human Rights Israel argue that the war's objectives gofurther. B'Tselem's report cites statements from senior politicians toillustrate that Israel 'is takingcoordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society inthe Gaza Strip'. Physicians for Human RightsIsrael's report documents whatthe group says is 'the deliberate and systematic destruction ofGaza's healthcare system'. Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 16 Gaza's civil defence agency said16 people were killed by Israelifire Monday in the Palestinianterritory devastated by more than21 months of war. Agency spokesman MahmudBassal told AFP the dead includedfive people killed in an overnightstrike on a residential buildingin the southern Gaza district ofAl-Mawasi. A pregnant woman was amongthose killed, the Palestinian RedCrescent said, adding its teamssaved the woman's foetus by performing a Caesarean section in afield hospital. Israel designated Al-Mawasi, acoastal area west of the southerncity of Khan Yunis, as a humanitarian zone in the early monthsof the war. Despite that designation, it hascontinued to be hit by air strikesand now shelters a large share ofGaza's displaced people.
Dubai Eye
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Two Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide
Two Israeli human rights organisations said on Monday Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the first major voices in Israeli society to level the strongest possible accusation against the state, which vehemently denies it. Rights group B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released their reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip". "The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write," said Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director. "The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights." Physicians for Human Rights Israel focused on damage to Gaza's healthcare system, saying: "Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is both calculated and systematic". Israel has fended off accusations of genocide since the early days of the Gaza war, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as "outrageous". Israel has consistently said its actions are justified as self-defence, and Hamas is to blame for harm to civilians, for refusing to release hostages and surrender, and for operating in civilian areas, which the militant group denies. A spokesperson for the Israeli government called the allegation made by the rights groups on Monday "baseless". "There is no intent, (which is) key for the charge of genocide ... it simply doesn't make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid, most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide," said spokesperson David Mencer. Israel's military also rejected the reports' findings as "baseless". It said it abides by international law and takes unprecedented measures to prevent harm to civilians while Hamas uses them as "human shields". Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel has often described that attack, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, as genocidal. Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, reduced much of the enclave to ruins, and displaced nearly the entire population of more than two million.
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Two rights groups are first Israeli voices to accuse Israel of genocide
TEL AVIV: Two Israeli human rights organisations said on Monday Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the first major voices in Israeli society to level the strongest possible accusation against the state. Rights group B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released their reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip." "The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write," said Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director. "The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights." Physicians for Human Rights Israel focused on damage to Gaza's healthcare system, saying: "Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is both calculated and systematic." Israel has fended off accusations of genocide since the early days of the Gaza war, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as "outrageous." A spokesperson for the Israeli government called the allegation made by the rights groups on Monday "baseless." "There is no intent, (which is) key for the charge of genocide ... it simply doesn't make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide," said spokesperson David Mencer. A spokesperson for Israel's military did not immediately respond to request for comment. Accusations of genocide have particular gravity in Israel because of the origins of the concept in the work of Jewish legal scholars in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust. Israeli officials have in the past said using the word against Israel was libellous and antisemitic. When Amnesty International said in December that Israel had committed genocidal acts, Israel's foreign ministry called the global rights group a "deplorable and fanatical organisation." The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted globally after the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, reduced much of the enclave to ruins, and displaced nearly the entire population of more than two million. International attention to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza has intensified in recent weeks, with UN agencies saying the territory is running out of food for its 2.2 million people. Israel shut off all supplies into Gaza in March for nearly three months, reopening the territory in May but with new restrictions it says are needed to prevent aid from ending up in the hands of fighters. Since then, its forces have shot dead hundreds of Gazans trying to reach food distribution sites. Israel has announced measures in recent days to increase aid supplies, including pausing fighting in some locations, allowing airlifts of food and safer corridors for aid. Throughout the conflict, Israeli media have tended to focus mainly on the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza, with less attention given to Palestinian civilians. Footage widely broadcast in other countries of destruction and casualties in Gaza is rarely shown on Israeli TV. That has been changing, with recent images of starving children having a little more impact, said Oren Persico from The Seventh Eye, a group that tracks trends in Israeli media. "It's very slowly evolving," he said. "You see cracks." But he did not expect the genocide allegation would spark a major shift in attitudes: "The Israeli perception is: 'what do you want from us? It's Hamas' fault, if it would only put down its weapons and (release) the hostages this could all be over'." In an editorial on the mainstream news site Ynet last Monday, journalist Sever Plotzker said images of Palestinians rejoicing over the October 7 attacks and abusing hostages had made Israelis "blind to Gaza." The Israeli public "now interprets the destruction and killing in Gaza as a deterrent retaliation and therefore also morally legitimate." In a comment in the Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Dani Dayan, the chairman of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, said it was not accurate to accuse Israel of committing genocide. "But that does not mean we should not acknowledge the suffering of civilians in Gaza. There are many men, women, and children with no connection to terrorism who are experiencing devastation, displacement, and loss," he wrote. "Their anguish is real, and our moral tradition obligates us not to turn away from it."
TimesLIVE
4 hours ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
Two rights groups are first Israeli voices to accuse Israel of genocide
Two Israeli human rights organisations said on Monday Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the first major voices in Israeli society to level the strongest possible accusation against the state, which vehemently denies it. Rights group B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released their reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out 'coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip'. 'The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write,' said Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director. 'The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights.' Physicians for Human Rights Israel focused on damage to Gaza's healthcare system, saying: 'Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is calculated and systematic'. Israel has fended off accusations of genocide since the early days of the Gaza war, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as 'outrageous'.
