Latest news with #US-backed
Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
UN chief slams US-backed Gaza aid plan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the ReutersNEXT Newsmaker event in New York City, New York, US, November 8, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that a US-backed aid operation in Gaza is "inherently unsafe," giving a blunt assessment: "It is killing people". Israel and the United States want the UN to work through the controversial new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the UN has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. Guterres said UN-led humanitarian efforts are being "strangled", aid workers themselves are starving and Israel — as the occupying power — is required to agree to and facilitate aid deliveries into and throughout the Palestinian enclave. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence," Guterres told reporters. "It is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza."
AsiaOne
2 hours ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
UN chief slams US-backed Gaza aid operation: 'It is killing people', World News
UNITED NATIONS - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday (June 27) that a US-backed aid operation in Gaza is "inherently unsafe," giving a blunt assessment: "It is killing people." Israel and the United States want the UN to work through the controversial new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the UN has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. "Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarized zones is inherently unsafe. It is killing people, Guterres told reporters. Guterres said UN-led humanitarian efforts are being "strangled," aid workers themselves are starving and Israel - as the occupying power - is required to agree to and facilitate aid deliveries into and throughout the Palestinian enclave. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. The search for food must never be a death sentence," Guterres told reporters. "It is time to find the political courage for a ceasefire in Gaza." Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid from both the UN and GHF operations. A senior UN official said on Sunday that the majority of those people were trying to reach GHF sites. Responding to Guterres on Friday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said Israel's military never targets civilians and accused the UN of "doing everything it can" to oppose the GHF aid operation. "In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF's humanitarian operations," it posted on X. [[nid:719583]] A GHF spokesperson said there have been no deaths at or near any of the GHF aid distribution sites. "It is unfortunate the UN continue to push false information regarding our operations," the GHF spokesperson said. "Bottom line, our aid is getting securely delivered. Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome the UN and other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza." GHF uses private US security and logistics firms to operate. It began operations in Gaza on May 26 and said on Friday so far it has given out more than 48 million meals. The US State Department said on Thursday it had approved $30 million (S$38 million) in funding for the GHF and called on other countries to also support the group. Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the UN-led operations, which the militants deny.
AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Israeli military orders war crime probe into Gaza shootings, paper says, World News
JERUSALEM - Israel's Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday (June 27). Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said. Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they were told to fire at the crowds to keep them back, using unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat. The military told Reuters that the Israel Defence Forces had not instructed soldiers to deliberately shoot at civilians. It added that it was looking to improve "the operational response" in the aid areas and had recently installed new fencing and signs, and opened additional routes to reach the handout zones. Haaretz quoted unnamed sources as saying that the army unit established to review incidents that may involve breaches of international law had been tasked with examining soldiers' actions near aid locations over the past month. The military told Reuters that some incidents were being reviewed by relevant authorities. It added: "Any allegation of a deviation from the law or IDF directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary." There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants. Thousands of people gather around distribution centres desperately awaiting the next deliveries, but there have been near daily reports of shootings and killings on the approach routes. Medics said six people were killed by gunfire on Friday as they sought to get food in the southern Gaza Strip. More than 500 have died, Gaza authorities say In all, more than 500 people have died near aid centres operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) or in areas where UN food trucks were set to pass since late May, the Gaza health authorities have said. The unnamed Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians to disperse them and clear the area. During a closed-door meeting with senior Military Advocate General officials this week, legal representatives rejected IDF claims that the incidents were isolated cases, Haaretz reported. There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing for a time a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food. In a statement late on Friday, a GHF spokesperson said there had been no incidents or fatalities to date at or in the immediate vicinity of its distribution sites. The statement said the IDF is tasked with providing safe passage for aid-seekers to all humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza, including GHF. "GHF is not aware of any of these incidents but these allegations are too grave to ignore and we therefore call on Israel to investigate them and transparently publish the results in a timely manner," the spokesperson said. [[nid:719557]] The Gaza war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into the enclave. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that at least 72 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by Israeli fire across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
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First Post
4 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
IDF opens probe into possible war crimes in Gaza as hundreds die seeking aid
Anonymous Israeli soldiers have told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that troops had been told to shoot at crowds of Palestinian citizens collecting aid near food distribution sites to keep them away from Israeli military positions read more Men look around on alert in the wake of gunfire shots as displaced Palestinians receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. AFP The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have opened an investigation into possible war crimes after more evidence points to the possibility of its troops deliberately opening fire at Palestinians receiving food at aid distribution centres across Gaza. Anonymous Israeli soldiers have told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that troops had been told to shoot at crowds of Palestinian citizens collecting aid near food distribution sites to keep them away from Israeli military positions. The soldiers added that they had reservations about launching an assault on people who appeared to pose no threat. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Refresh for updates.
Mint
5 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Congo, Rwanda Sign US-Backed Peace Deal to End Years of War
(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to a US-backed peace deal meant to end years of deadly conflict and promote development in Congo's volatile eastern region. Foreign ministers from the two countries signed the accord Friday in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office later in the day. 'Today the violence and destruction comes to an end and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity, harmony, prosperity and peace,' Trump told reporters with Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and her Rwandan counterpart, Olivier Nduhungirehe, at his side. The peace deal commits the two countries to cease hostilities and halt support for armed groups. It also envisions allowing refugees and displaced people to return home as well as increased economic integration between the countries, with the potential for US investment. 'My administration will continue to work with all of the parties in this deal and ensure the agreements are fully taken care of and you're gonna do what's in the agreement,' Trump said. 'Because if somebody fails to do that, bad things happen,' he added, and later mentioned the possibility of 'very severe penalties, financial and otherwise.' The accord may bring an end to the occupation of a large swath of mineral-rich eastern Congo by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. The M23 says it's protecting the rights of ethnic Tutsis and other speakers of the Rwandan language in Congo. Officials there say the M23 and its Rwandan supporters are mainly interested in the region's minerals, including gold, tin and tantalum, which is used in most portable electronics. Trump said Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congo's president, Felix Tshisekedi, have been invited to Washington in July. Separate peace talks between Congo and the M23 are continuing, overseen by the government of Qatar. 'We will lend our full support in the weeks ahead to Qatar's efforts' for the two parties to come to an agreement, Rwanda's Nduhungirehe said. 'The first order of business' will be for Congo to 'neutralize' a Hutu rebel group in eastern Congo, known as the FDLR, with links to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, 'accompanied by the lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures,' Nduhungirehe said. More than 800,000 people were killed in the genocide that targeted the country's Tutsi minority in the span of about 100 days. Why Congo, Rwanda Agreed to End Three Decades of War: QuickTake Around six million people are currently displaced by conflict in eastern Congo, making it one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. 'This moment has been long in coming,' Kayikwamba said. 'It will not erase the pain, but it can begin to restore what conflict has robbed many women men and children of: safety, dignity and a sense of future.' The two countries are also working on an economic pact as part of the agreement that could be signed next month, according to Trump's senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos. There are also ongoing bilateral investment talks with both countries to invest in their mineral supply chains, he said. 'Many American companies have shown interest,' Boulos said, adding that the US was already negotiating a critical minerals deal with Congo. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. (Updates with Trump's comments throughout.) More stories like this are available on
