Latest news with #ThameenAl-Kheetan
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
UN says Israeli military killed over 1,000 seeking Gaza aid since late May
The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations. An officially private effort, the GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into the Gaza Strip for more than two months, sparking famine warnings. GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military is seeking to destroy Hamas. "Over 1,000 Palestinians have now been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food in Gaza since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP. "As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organisations' aid convoys." Kheetan added: "Our data is based on information from multiple reliable sources on the ground, including medical teams, humanitarian and human rights organisations." The war in Gaza, sparked by militant group Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Gaza's population faces severe shortages of food and other essentials. GHF says it has distributed more than 1.4 million boxes of foodstuffs to date.
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
Number of aid seekers killed by Israel in Gaza tops 1,000: UN
Agencies Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians as they were trying to access food in Gaza since the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operations at the end of May, according to the United Nations. 'As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organisations' aid convoys,' UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told the AFP news agency on Tuesday, stating the victims had been 'killed by the Israeli military'. On Tuesday alone, Israeli forces killed at least 43 Palestinians, including 10 aid seekers, in attacks across Gaza since dawn, a day after tanks pushed into southern and eastern parts of central Gaza's Deir el-Balah city for the first time. Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and humanitarian blockade, which it only partially lifted in March, continues to plunge the Palestinian territory into an increasingly dire malnutrition crisis as at least 15 people, including four children, have died due to starvation and malnutrition in Gaza within 24 hours, the enclave's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. One was a child from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and another was a 40-day-old baby in the north, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic. Over the past three days, 21 children have died from malnutrition and starvation, the team reported. 'These deaths were recorded at hospitals in Gaza, including al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis … over the past 72 hours,' Mohammed Abu Salmiya, head of al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, told reporters on Tuesday. This brings the total number of hunger-related deaths in the Gaza Strip to 101, including 80 children, since Israel launched its war on the enclave after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said more than one million children in Gaza are going hungry. Rachel Cummings, Save the Children's humanitarian director, described the situation in Gaza as 'catastrophic'. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah, she said there has been no adequate food supplies in Gaza for a very long time. The markets are empty, and the water sanitation situation is not adequate to meet the needs of 2 million people 'who are all on the brink of famine', Cummings said. She said that in Deir el-Balah, she has seen 'hungry people, children carrying empty bowls, looking for food, looking for water'. 'We're seeing an increased number of children in our clinics and our nutrition centres who are malnourished. … We're also seeing an increase in the number of pregnant women and breastfeeding women who are also malnourished,' she said, adding: 'Everyone in Gaza is hungry now, and even in my team, I see visibly my team are thin, and also they cannot get food in the market.' 'Man-made' famine Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has called the starvation in Gaza a 'man-made' famine. 'What we are seeing now in Gaza is the most horrific stage of Israel's starvation campaign,' Fakhri told Al Jazeera. The UN rapporteur underlined that the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in November for 'crimes against humanity and war crimes' committed during the Gaza war – allegations that are partly related to the use of starvation. He said the arrest warrants 'create a legal obligation: Countries must act to stop starvation.' Medical personnel are also affected by Israel's starvation tactics as doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in Gaza are 'fainting due to hunger and exhaustion', UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said. 'Right now, I am seeing severe hunger and starvation amongst both my colleagues and my patients. … I see people that struggle to get through a day's work because they don't have the energy to do their normal duties,' said Deirdre Nunan, a Canadian orthopaedic surgeon, speaking from Nasser Hospital, where she is currently volunteering.
Morocco World
2 days ago
- Health
- Morocco World
Gaza is Starving, and the World is Watching it Live
Rabat — Gaza is starving. If you are following any news source or Palestinian creator on social media, it does not take more than 20 seconds on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook to see a picture of a starving child on your feed. This footage has influxed so much to the point that a hashtag is now circulating #GazaIsStarving. This hashtag was reported over the weekend to have been used in over 5,000 posts on Instagram at this point. But, despite this larger awareness campaign, this is not merely a trend. On the contrary, these videos and photos are simply Gazans, reporting quite frankly for the world to see, that they are starving to death in a man-made famine in which Israel is solely responsible. These horrifying images of emaciated bodies are backed by numbers, reported daily. Gaza's health ministry recently reported that 15 people have died, including 4 children, due to malnutrition in the last 24 hours alone. This added to the rising, but likely under-reported, death toll of 101 Gazans who died from malnutrition – 80 of them being children – since the genocide began on October 7. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) has reported an even more alarming number: 1 million — that is how many Gazan children are going hungry. Bread or bullets What's more? Gazans everyday are having to choose between the harsh reality of continuing to wither away from malnutrition or risking their lives to get food. It is no conspiracy theory or false reporting that the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 'aid' points are merely danger zones for aid seekers. A Haaretz report released at the end of last month quoted IOF soldiers admitting that they were ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution centers, despite the lack of any threat being present. One unnamed soldier told the Israeli newspaper that 'between one five people' were killed everyday at these stations, which they described as being 'killing fields.' In a predictable turn of events, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected these claims, calling them 'blood libels,' but the on-site reports and social media footage by Palestinians themselves tell a different story. UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP today that: 'As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organizations' aid convoys.' In the above post on Instagram, a man cries over his son, who was reportedly shot while they were waiting for aid at one of these sites. Hunger does not differentiate Even more insidious about Israel's starvation campaign is that weaponizing food affects everyone, even those there to provide help to those in most need. What started as reports of dying Gazan children and the vulnerable is now shifting into reports of malnourished aid workers, UN personnel, reporters, medics, and other volunteers working around the clock desperately to provide support for Palestinians on the ground. UNWRA reported that they are receiving 'desperate messages reporting famine' from their staff in Gaza, while Anera aid organization posted a quote from one of their staff members saying, 'People are falling on the ground due to lack of food. We are really hungry and can't stand on our feet.' An often forgotten part of the suffering amongst the sheer mass of human toll suffering are the animals that are dying from hunger as well. Alongside photos of their own emaciated bodies, Palestinians are sharing photos of their pets as well, skin-and-bone and struggling to get by. 'Gaza is dying, and we are dying with it' Meanwhile, some journalists are risking their lives even further to call out the inhumanity, reportedly going on a hunger strike until Gazan children can eat. Palestinian reporter Wadea Abou Al Saoud posted on his channels that he and a group of other journalists will not eat until 'the youngest child in Gaza has eaten.' AFP issued a recent statement saying that for the first time in its bureau's history, its journalists are facing death by starvation while reporting on the ground. The bureau gave details about the very small staff that is left in the besieged enclave, quoting their pleas for help. 'I no longer have the strength to work for the media,' one of their photographers reported, 'My body is thin and I can't work anymore.' The bureau urged immediate international intervention, stating that they 'refuse to let them die.' Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif reported that '85% of Gaza's population have entered the 'fifth stage' of malnutrition – the most critical and dangerous phase, which is often irreversible even if food becomes available in the future.' The journalist even broke down on a live broadcast – a physical representation of his words: 'I am staggering from hunger, trembling from exhaustion, and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment.' He continued, speaking for journalists in Gaza as a whole saying, 'We stand in front of the camera trying to appear strong, but the truth is that we are falling apart inside. Gaza is dying, and we are dying with it.' Weightless words Israel's war crimes are not going without official condemnation. The head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Jonathan Whittall post on X denouncing Israel's starvation campaign: '…Gaza is being starved. Malnutrition is soaring. Hospitals lack essential supplies and are collapsing under relentless waves of casualties,' he wrote, adding that 'a ceasefire is overdue, but that alone won't end this atrocity. All orders of the court must be implemented.' On Monday, multiple foreign ministers from 28 countries banded together to condemn what they described as 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food' in a collective joint statement. The signees included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The statement marks a strong one as many of them, notably, are allies of Israel. Israel responded with an X statement by Oren Marmorstein, foreign affairs spokesperson, stating that they reject the joint statement, calling it 'disconnected from reality' and that it 'sends the wrong message to Hamas.' However, regardless of the slew of condemnations, these words are still weightless unless they come either with direct punitive action, and more specifically, from Israel's strongest ally – the United States. Humanitarian organizations, journalists on the ground, and Palestinians themselves are urging that direct action is more important than ever, and that this catastrophe has surpassed merely a need for awareness campaigns and hashtags. 'Bang the pots' Local, grass-roots organizations on the ground, such as The Sameer Project, are doing their part to help. The 'donations-based' aid initiative has a water campaign that they report provides 16,000 liters a day into central Gaza, specifically in Deir El Balah and Nuseirat, among other locations. They are also working simultaneously on other aid initiatives to provide medical services and food to desperate Gazans. The project has multiple ways in which those wishing to contribute can donate. People around the world continue to mobilize for the Palestinian cause, in a time when it is needed more than ever. Morocco's capital of Rabat witnessed thousands on its streets just this past Sunday, calling an end to the genocide and denouncing Israel's war crimes of mass killing and starvation. Bisan Owda, a name that needs no introduction in the world of Palestinian journalists and content creators, has joined the chorus of those calling for a world-wide mobile action on July 24 specifically protesting against Israel's aid blockade. This online and in-person initiative calls on the world to 'Bang the Pots' and make noise to stop Israel's man-made famine. 'You are not helpless, this is a call for action!' Bisan posted. 'Bang the pots, because the sound of sound of our empty stomach and voice of humanity must be louder than their brutality.'
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
UN says Israeli army killed over 1,000 seeking Gaza aid since late May - War on Gaza
The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations. An officially private effort, the GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into the Gaza Strip for more than two months, sparking famine warnings. GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on starving people waiting to collect rations in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military is seeking to destroy Hamas. "Over 1,000 Palestinians have now been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food in Gaza since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP. "As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organisations' aid convoys." Kheetan added: "Our data is based on information from multiple reliable sources on the ground, including medical teams, humanitarian and human rights organisations." The Israeli war on Gaza has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Gaza's population faces severe shortages of food and other essentials. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
UN: Over 1,000 Palestinians killed while seeking food aid in Gaza
GENEVA: The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations. An officially private effort, the GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel halted supplies into the Gaza Strip for more than two months, sparking famine warnings. GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military is seeking to destroy Hamas. "Over 1,000 Palestinians have now been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food in Gaza since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP. "As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organisations' aid convoys." Kheetan added: "Our data is based on information from multiple reliable sources on the ground, including medical teams, humanitarian and human rights organisations." The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people who live in the coastal territory. Gaza's population faces severe shortages of food and other essentials. GHF says it has distributed more than 1.4 million boxes of foodstuffs to date. "We're adjusting our operations in real time to keep people safe and informed, and we stand ready to partner with other organisations to scale up and deliver more meals to the people of Gaza," GHF interim director John Acree said Monday. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles.--AFP
