Latest news with #UNRWA
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First Post
an hour ago
- Health
- First Post
Israeli strikes kill at least 49 in Gaza as ceasefire prospects inch closer
At least 49 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer.. read more Men cover their faces as smoke billows while first-responders attempt to extinguish a blaze following an Israeli strike at the UNRWA's Osama bin Zaid school in the Saftawi district in western Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 27, 2025. AFP photo At least 49 people were killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes late Friday and into Saturday morning, as the humanitarian crisis deepens and efforts to secure a ceasefire show renewed momentum. According to medical staff, 12 people sheltering near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City were among the dead, along with eight others who died in residential apartments. Shifa hospital in Gaza City received numerous casualties, while more than 20 bodies were brought to Nasser hospital, health officials said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meanwhile, ceasefire efforts are gaining traction, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt engaging both Israel and Hamas in fresh talks. The push follows this week's ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which mediators hope to leverage into progress on Gaza. Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told AFP that Doha and its partners are 'trying to use the momentum that was created by the ceasefire between Iran and Israel to restart the talks over Gaza.' 'If we don't utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it's an opportunity lost amongst many in the near past,' said al-Ansari, who also serves as an adviser to Qatar's prime minister. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.' An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israel's Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza's ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Talks have been on again off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The war has killed over 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza. Netanyahu says he will only end the war once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. With inputs from agencies
Jordan News
4 hours ago
- Health
- Jordan News
UNRWA: Health Response in Gaza Faces Severe Operational Challenges - Jordan News
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported on Saturday that the health response in the Gaza Strip is facing severe operational challenges. اضافة اعلان In a post on its official Facebook page, the agency stated: 'The health response in Gaza continues to face significant operational challenges, including extensive damage to healthcare facilities.' UNRWA also highlighted major obstacles to safe movement and the imposition of restrictions on the entry of critical medical supplies and fuel. The agency further noted that large-scale demolitions are ongoing in the context of the Israeli operation that began on January 21, which has now entered its sixth month in the northern West Bank. (Petra)
MTV Lebanon
4 hours ago
- Health
- MTV Lebanon
UNRWA: Fuel crisis in Gaza threatens lifesaving services
The health sector in the Gaza Strip remains under intense strain, with widespread damage to medical facilities, the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has said. The health crisis in the Gaza Strip was further compounded by ongoing restrictions on the entry of essential medical supplies and fuel, UNRWA said in its latest situation report. 'The fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached deeply worrisome levels. Humanitarian organisations warn that without the immediate entry of fuel, lifesaving and life-sustaining services are at risk of shutting down imminently,' the UN agency said.
Barnama
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Barnama
UNRWA Chief Says New Gaza Aid System 'Has Become A Killing Field'
GENEVA, June 28 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday issued a scathing condemnation of the new aid distribution system operating in Gaza, warning it has turned into a "killing field" where over 400 desperate people have died in the past month, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. "The new aid distribution system has become a killing field," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X. "Over 400 starving people reported killed since it started operating just a month ago. They were shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families," he said. bootstrap slideshow He was referring to the Israeli attacks that happened near points of its new aid distribution mechanism, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation— a new Israeli plan to coordinate aid distribution in Gaza, which has been broadly criticised by UN agencies and humanitarian actors. Lazzarini said testimonies emerging from the ground indicate that soldiers opened fire "indiscriminately" as crowds gathered for food. "In the chaos, children were separated from their families: disorientated and traumatised," he added. Blasting the system as incompatible with humanitarian principles, the UNRWA chief said it was "not designed to address hunger and is often justified using the pretext of aid diversion that is yet to be substantiated let alone proven." "Instead of 'orderly food distribution,' this system brings dehumanisation, chaos and death," he said. "This cannot become the new norm." Calling the current setup an "abomination" Lazzarini urged a return to UN-led humanitarian deliveries, including through UNRWA, and called for an immediate ceasefire and the lifting of the siege to restore the flow of basic supplies such as food, medicine, soap, and fuel. -- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
Irish Examiner
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Michael D Higgins: EU must go further to stop Israel's war on Gaza
European countries must 'go further' to prevent Israel from continuing its war in Gaza, President Michael D Higgins has said. Mr Higgins has said there is a 'clear' finding that Israel has breached the terms of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, as he criticised the use of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation by the Israeli authorities. The President said: The time has now come to go further. The finding that Israel is in breach of the human rights obligations of the EU-Israel Association Agreement is clear. 'Now is the time for an immediate call for action and assistance from the international community to ensure that no more time is lost, that there is no further loss of life as people exercise the impossible choice between risking their lives to access aid or starving. 'This is a call that I know has become ever stronger on the European Street.' Mr Higgins quoted the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, who described the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a 'death trap' and an 'an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people'. 'It is imperative in this context that, as called for in a resolution overwhelmingly passed at the United Nations earlier this month, that UNRWA are allowed to resume their work in Gaza as the backbone of the humanitarian response,' he said. 'Calls for countries to alternatively fund an alternative system, one which has been described in the stark terms which I have quoted, amounts to no less than an attempt to undermine the United Nations and its vital work.' The President welcomed comments earlier this week by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who described the EU's response to the crisis in Gaza as a 'stain' on the bloc. He added while attacks in Gaza remain ongoing, people living in the West Bank 'continue to be subjected to killings and attacks by violent members of those living in illegal settlements with the full support of the Israeli military'.
