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Middle East Eye
a day ago
- General
- Middle East Eye
Successful local efforts to get aid into north Gaza met with Israeli backlash
Successful local Palestinian efforts to organise the entry of aid to northern Gaza have prompted fresh restrictions by the Israeli military and violent looting by criminal gangs. Relief was brought into north Gaza for the first time in a month on Wednesday by local tribes, drawing anger from Israeli officials and members of the Israeli public. Northern Gaza has been under full siege since March, when Israel blocked all aid and goods from entering the territory and created a severe hunger crisis. In late May, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), a recently launched and scandal-hit aid group, began distributing limited food parcels at four locations in south and central Gaza. The northern parts of the Palestinian enclave remain largely cut off from aid distributed through this mechanism. However, Israel has recently allowed a limited number of aid trucks carrying only wheat flour to enter some areas of the north. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to local reports, the recent Palestinian-led relief delivery, backed by local clans, saw several trucks enter safely and successfully, with their contents distributed on Thursday. Footage circulating online show dozens of trucks carrying aid from the United Nations World Food Programme entering the northern Gaza Strip. Others show tribesmen watching over the vehicles, some armed, attempting to shield it from looting by local gangs. However, another batch of essentials was looted on Thursday by gangs. Amjad al-Shawa, who oversees civil society groups in Gaza, said that 50 trucks scheduled to arrive into Gaza City were looted. Shawa said that the gangs, under the protection of the Israeli military, were working to "sow chaos" and divert aid. 'Israel seeks to perpetuate chaos and disorder in Gaza, and does not want the aid distribution process to adhere to humanitarian standards' - Amjad al-Shawa, civil society leader in Gaza "Israel seeks to perpetuate chaos and disorder in Gaza, and does not want the aid distribution process to adhere to humanitarian standards through distribution centers and databases," he said. "Israel seeks to sabotage the humanitarian system in Gaza by preventing the entry of aid through the United Nations and international institutions, replacing it with an American security company, thus creating internal violence among Gaza's citizens." Shawa urged the need to strengthen the role of UN humanitarian organisations and other groups that have "been working in Gaza for decades". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously admitted to arming gangs in Gaza, which have been accused by aid groups of stealing lifesaving humanitarian aid, in a bid to counter Hamas. Netanyahu said earlier this month his government had "activated" powerful local clans in the enclave on the advice of "security officials", hours after former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman alleged a gang Israel was backing was affiliated with the Islamic State group. "We made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas… What's wrong with that?' Netanyahu said in a video posted on X. Targeting security and police Meanwhile, Israel has been condemned for attacking Palestinian police and security personnel who were trying to counter looters and criminals in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. "The Israeli occupation persists in its malicious plans and its efforts to spread chaos and destabilise the internal stability in the Gaza Strip by repeatedly targeting police and security personnel, with the aim of discouraging them from fulfilling their duty to protect the home front and confront the armed gangs operating under its command," the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza said in a statement. "This ongoing Israeli targeting will not achieve its goals. "The police and security services will continue to pursue thieves and those collaborating with the occupation, striking them with an iron fist, and taking all necessary measures to strengthen the steadfastness of citizens and preserve civil peace in the Gaza Strip." Israel has also killed three local police in Asdaa, west of Khan Younis, according to local reports. "The police and security apparatus in the Gaza Strip continues to perform its duty towards our people, despite the systematic targeting it is subjected to by the Israeli occupation through daily bombing and killing. This will not weaken our resolve or break our will," the ministry said. Israeli backlash and police targeting As Palestinian efforts to bring aid into north Gaza succeeded on Wednesday, Netanyahu ordered new restrictions on the region after backlash from prominent political leaders, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich threatened to leave Netanyahu's coalition following videos of aid trucks entering north Gaza. Netanyahu admits Israel armed Gaza gangs to drive lawlessness Read More » Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Hamas was taking over aid efforts. The Gaza government disputed the claim, saying Israel was attempting to "legitimise the continued blockade, starvation and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering for the 118th consecutive day". "We would like to clarify to the public that it was Palestinian families and clans who secured the aid convoys in the northern Gaza Strip, without any interference from the Palestinian government or factions," it stressed. "These cheap lies reveal that the occupation continues to 'engineer chaos' and spread falsehoods to create flimsy justifications for continuing to close the crossings and prevent the entry of aid, in a full-fledged crime against more than 2.4 million starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip." Israel has previously accused Hamas of stealing aid and said the Israeli blockade on the entry of food is partly aimed at preventing the group from diverting supplies. But Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme and widow of late US senator John McCain, rubbished such allegations, saying much of the aid that is being looted is being seized by destitute Palestinians.
Saba Yemen
a day ago
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Gaza NGO Network: Zionist enemy protecting gangs
Gaza - Saba: Amjad Shawa, director of the Gaza NGO Network, confirmed that 50 trucks scheduled to arrive in Gaza City were looted yesterday. Shawa said in statements to Al-Arabiya TV, "The enemy is protecting the gangs and directing aid trucks toward their areas." Whatsapp Telegram Print more of (International)
Egypt Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Gaza NGO Network warns of aid centers ‘run by militants'
The Director of the Gaza NGO Network, Amjad al-Shawa warned on Sunday that certain aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip are being run by armed soldiers, becoming ambush sites which put residents in danger. In press statements, Shawa confirmed that more than 126 people have been killed since the aid distribution centers began operating in the strip, emphasizing that Israel is misleading the world about the aid centers in order to cover up the famine. He explained that the new aid distribution system poses a direct threat to the lives of the people of Gaza, adding that 'armed soldiers are running the aid distribution centers in the Strip, and the people are forced to go to these centers due to their hunger,' calling for legal action against the humanitarian organization that caused the deaths. The Government Media Office stated that the Israeli army killed 120 citizens and wounded more than 550 others in special operations that included shelling and targeting hungry people as they tried to obtain food. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced the reopening of an aid distribution center after a two-day closure for security reasons. This came amid criticism to the organization, which some described as 'suspicious' for its involvement in the killing of Palestinians. Israeli forces also targeted aid distribution centers, killing one citizen and wounding others near the American Company Center on the Netzarim axis. Four people were killed and dozens wounded in a similar attack west of Rafah. Meanwhile, the Steadfastness Convoy, comprised of thousands of volunteers, departed from Tunisia toward the Rafah crossing to demand an end to Israel's genocide, the breaking of the blockade, and the entry of aid. And the Freedom Flotilla ship 'Madleen' continued its advance toward the shores of Gaza on Sunday. The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza confirmed that the ship approached the shores of the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip on Sunday, reaching within a few miles, and that the mission is approaching a 'moment of truth.' Israeli forces are monitoring the ship and likely intend to obstruct its progress. The newspaper 'Israel Hayom' reported on Sunday that the occupation army has chosen to intercept the Madleen before it enters territorial waters, preventing it from reaching the shores of Gaza Strip.
See - Sada Elbalad
23-05-2025
- Health
- See - Sada Elbalad
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Over 100 in Gaza as Hospitals Become Military Targets, Says Palestinian NGO Director
Ahmed Emam Amjad Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), has condemned the ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza, stating that more than 100 people — mostly women and children — have been killed in the past 24 hours as airstrikes intensify across the besieged territory. Speaking in an interview with Alqahera News Channel, Shawa accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting entire families and civilian homes without distinction. 'The occupation is systematically enforcing forced displacement,' he said, adding that Israeli forces now control between 79 and 80 percent of the Gaza Strip. 'Civilians have been pushed into less than 20 percent of the area. Northern Gaza has been entirely transformed into an uninhabitable evacuation zone.' Shawa also warned of an escalating humanitarian catastrophe as hospitals come under direct attack. He cited a recent strike on Al-Awda Hospital, where missile fire ignited fires in fuel and medicine storage facilities, hindering emergency response teams from reaching the site. He also referenced previous Israeli attacks on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. 'These strikes are not only war crimes; they are part of a broader strategy to forcibly evacuate civilians by dismantling the healthcare system,' Shawa said. 'Wounded individuals are left without treatment as hospitals are forced out of service, pushing Gaza's fragile health infrastructure to the brink of collapse.' He called the targeting of the health sector a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and urged the international community to act immediately. 'This is a historic responsibility,' he said, emphasizing the urgency of protecting civilians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. As the bombardment continues, humanitarian agencies warn that Gaza is facing a spiraling crisis with little room left for safe shelter, medicine, or medical care. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
Kuwait Times
10-05-2025
- General
- Kuwait Times
Hunger, lack of supplies in Gaza as 105 martyred
GAZA: Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors on Thursday due to a lack of supplies, closing off a lifeline used by hundreds of thousands of people in a further blow to efforts to combat growing hunger in the enclave. The move followed hours after the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity announced that it had run out of the ingredients necessary to provide much-needed free meals and had been prevented by the Zionist entity from bringing in aid. Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters that most of the enclave's 170 community kitchens had shut down after running out of stock due to the Zionist entity's continued blockade on Gaza. Shawa said the decision by the WCK, announced late on Wednesday, and the closure of community kitchens on Thursday would cause a drop of between 400,000 to 500,000 free meals per day for the 2.3 million population. 'Everyone in Gaza today is hungry. The world must act now to save the people here,' said Shawa, speaking to Reuters by phone from Gaza. 'The remaining kitchens will be closing soon. The hunger catastrophe is beyond words. People are losing their lone source of food,' Shawa added. Meanwhile, first responders in Gaza said Thursday that their operations were at a near standstill. 'Seventy-five percent of our vehicles have stopped operating due to a lack of diesel fuel,' the civil defense agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. He added that its teams, who play a critical role as first responders in the Gaza Strip, were also facing a 'severe shortage of electricity generators and oxygen devices'. Those Gazans trying to cook independently meanwhile complain that flour still available on the market is contaminated. 'The flour is full of mites and sand ... We sieve it three, four times, instead of once, so we can bake it,' said Mohammad Abu Ayesh, a displaced father of nine from northern Gaza.'We don't want to eat from it, but we feed the children, for the children. You can't tolerate its smell, cattle and animals would not eat it, we are forced to eat it against our will, we are helpless,' he told Reuters. On Thursday, the Gaza health ministry said Zionist military strikes across the enclave killed at least 105 people in the past 24 hours, in one of the biggest death tolls in a single day in two months. It added that more than 52,700 people have been killed by the Zionist entity since the war began on Oct 7, 2023. Senior civil defense official Mohammad Mughayyir told AFP that Zionist bombardment across Gaza on Thursday killed 21 people, including nine in a strike that targeted the Abu Rayyan family home in the northern city of Beit Lahia. In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian woman Huda Abu Diyya has just returned from a visit to a community kitchen where she received what the owners told her would be her family's last meal. 'If it weren't for the community kitchen, we would have died. For the sake of our children, what shall we do? ... What should I feed them tomorrow?' the woman told Reuters. 'Nothing is available here. Everything became so expensive, we have nothing here. The situation is below zero. A bit more like this and we will die of hunger,' she added. Two weeks ago most of the population relied on one and a half meals per day, but in the past few days that has dropped to one meal a day, and even that will lack meat, vegetables or the necessary healthy components, said Shawa. 'The free meals are usually rice or lentils, that is now also at risk of being suspended within the next week. I am afraid that we may begin to witness deaths among elderly, vulnerable children, pregnant women, and the ill,' said Shawa. 'It is unacceptable that humanitarian aid is not allowed into the Gaza Strip,' Pierre Krahenbuhl, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told reporters in Geneva Thursday. The situation in Gaza is on a 'razor's edge' and 'the next few days are absolutely decisive', he added. The UN's agency for children, UNICEF, warned that Gaza's children face 'a growing risk of starvation, illness and death' after UN-supported kitchens shut down due to lack of food supplies. Over 20 independent experts mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council demanded action on Wednesday to avert the 'annihilation' of Palestinians in Gaza. On Thursday, Palestinians waited in line to donate blood at a field hospital in Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis, an AFP journalist reported. 'In these difficult circumstances, we have come to support the injured and sick, amid severe food shortages and a lack of proteins, by donating blood', Moamen Al-Eid, a Palestinian waiting in the line, told AFP. Hind Joba, the hospital's laboratory head, said that 'there is no food or drink, the crossings are closed, and there is no access to nutritious or protein-rich food'. 'Still, people responded to the call, fulfilling their humanitarian duty by donating blood' despite the toll on their own bodies, she added. 'But this blood is vital, and they know that every drop helps save the life of an injured person.' – Agencies
