What's new

[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Bloodshed in the land of Palestine - 2023 Edition

Man sets himself on fire in front of Israeli embassy in Washington

A man is in a critical condition after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.

Firefighters arrived at 1pm and extinguished the fire, the authorities said.

A statement from the Israeli embassy said: "A man set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

"The man is unknown. No embassy staff were injured and are safe."

Police explosives experts were also called to the scene "in reference to a suspicious vehicle that may be connected to the individual", they said in a statement.

The vehicle was later cleared with no hazardous materials found, the force added.



SKY News
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Man sets himself on fire in front of Israeli embassy in Washington

A man is in a critical condition after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.

Firefighters arrived at 1pm and extinguished the fire, the authorities said.

A statement from the Israeli embassy said: "A man set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

"The man is unknown. No embassy staff were injured and are safe."

Police explosives experts were also called to the scene "in reference to a suspicious vehicle that may be connected to the individual", they said in a statement.

The vehicle was later cleared with no hazardous materials found, the force added.



SKY News
Click to expand...

Now USA will declare this guy a terrorist or a mentally ill patient and will portray that he tried to attack the embassy.
 

Israelis should be the ones doing this​

=====

Palestinian PM Shtayyeh hands resignation to Abbas over Gaza ‘genocide’​

Shtayyeh’s move comes amid US pressure on Palestinian Authority to work on a political structure that can govern a Palestinian state after Gaza war.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has announced the resignation of his government, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank, due to the escalating violence in the occupied territory and the war on Gaza.

“The decision to resign came in light of the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the war, genocide and starvation in the Gaza Strip,” said Shtayyeh, who submitted his resignation to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.

“I see that the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in Gaza and the need for a Palestinian-Palestinian consensus based on Palestinian unity and the extension of unity of authority over the land of Palestine,” he said.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
US airman sets himself on fire outside Israel embassy to protest ‘genocide’

An active member of the United States military has set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, according to officials, in an apparent act of protest against Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, was rushed to the hospital on Sunday with “critical life-threatening injuries”, according to the US capital’s fire department.

The agency said emergency responders rushed to the scene just before 1pm (18:00 GMT) in response to a “call for person on fire outside the Israeli embassy”. They arrived to find that officers from the US Secret Service had already extinguished the fire.

The US Air Force confirmed the incident involved an active duty airman.

US media reports said Bushnell livestreamed himself on Twitch, wearing fatigues and declaring he would “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid.

He then lit himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he fell to the ground.

The footage has since been removed from Twitch. Local police said they are investigating the incident.

The police also said an explosive ordinance disposal was requested to the scene in relation to a suspicious vehicle that may be connected to the individual. It later said that no hazardous material was found.

The Israeli embassy said all of its staff members were safe, a spokesperson told the New York Times.

Israel’s embassy has been the target of continued protest against the Israeli war on Gaza. The protests started after October 7 when Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 253 hostages in a cross-border attack.

Al Jazeera

www.aljazeera.com

US airman sets himself on fire outside Israel embassy to protest ‘genocide’

Active duty airman reportedly said he did not want to be ‘complicit in genocide’ as he lit himself on fire.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
This is an extreme level of protesting. Being an active US armed forces officer, he is well aware of the deadly genocide taking place there.
 
Israeli officials headed on Monday to Qatar, where Hamas has its political office, to work on terms of a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, a source told Reuters, a step towards nailing down a ceasefire which Washington says is now close.

Israel is under pressure from its main ally the United States to agree a truce soon, to head off a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah, the last city at Gaza Strip’s southern edge where over half the enclave’s 2.3 million people are sheltering.

The source said the Israeli working delegation, made up of staff from the military and the Mossad spy agency, was tasked with creating an operational center to support negotiations. Its mission would include vetting proposed Palestinian militants that Hamas wants freed as part of a hostage release deal.

The Israeli mission suggests that peace talks in the Gaza war are further along than at any time since a big push at the start of February, when Israel rejected a Hamas counter-offer for a four-and-a-half month truce.

Last week, Israeli officials discussed terms of a hostage release deal at talks in Paris with delegations from the United States, Egypt and Qatar, though not Hamas.

The White House said they had come to “an understanding” about the contours of a hostage deal though negotiations were still under way. The Israeli delegation briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet late on Saturday.

Egyptian security sources said proximity talks involving delegations from Israel and Hamas - who would meet through mediators in the same city but not face to face - would be held this week, first in Qatar and later in Cairo.

Israel has not officially commented on such talks and there was no immediate word from the Qatari hosts on Monday.

The sides remain far apart publicly on their ultimate aims: Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and precipitated the war by attacking southern Israel on Oct. 7, says it will not free more than 100 hostages it is still holding unless Israel promises to withdraw from Gaza and end the war.

Israel says it will negotiate only a temporary pause in hostilities to free hostages, will not fully halt its ground campaign until Hamas is eradicated, and wants overall security control for Gaza indefinitely.

Al Arabiya

 
FearlessRoar said:
US airman sets himself on fire outside Israel embassy to protest ‘genocide’

An active member of the United States military has set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, according to officials, in an apparent act of protest against Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, was rushed to the hospital on Sunday with “critical life-threatening injuries”, according to the US capital’s fire department.

The agency said emergency responders rushed to the scene just before 1pm (18:00 GMT) in response to a “call for person on fire outside the Israeli embassy”. They arrived to find that officers from the US Secret Service had already extinguished the fire.

The US Air Force confirmed the incident involved an active duty airman.

US media reports said Bushnell livestreamed himself on Twitch, wearing fatigues and declaring he would “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid.

He then lit himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he fell to the ground.

The footage has since been removed from Twitch. Local police said they are investigating the incident.

The police also said an explosive ordinance disposal was requested to the scene in relation to a suspicious vehicle that may be connected to the individual. It later said that no hazardous material was found.

The Israeli embassy said all of its staff members were safe, a spokesperson told the New York Times.

Israel’s embassy has been the target of continued protest against the Israeli war on Gaza. The protests started after October 7 when Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 253 hostages in a cross-border attack.

Al Jazeera

www.aljazeera.com

US airman sets himself on fire outside Israel embassy to protest ‘genocide’

Active duty airman reportedly said he did not want to be ‘complicit in genocide’ as he lit himself on fire.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
Click to expand...
US airman who set self on fire outside Israeli embassy dies: Pentagon

An active member of the US Air Force has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend in protest of the war in Gaza, the Pentagon said Monday.

An Air Force spokeswoman said the unnamed man had “succumbed to his injuries and passed away last night. We will provide additional details 24 hours after next of kin notifications are complete.”

Al Arabiya

 

Palestinian Authority PM Shtayyeh resigns citing new 'reality' in Gaza​

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has resigned along with his government, which runs parts of the occupied West Bank.

Mr Shtayyeh said new "arrangements" were needed to take into account of the "emerging reality in the Gaza Strip".

President Mahmoud Abbas accepted his decision, which could pave the way for a technocratic government.

Mr Abbas is under pressure from the US to reform the PA so it could govern Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends.

Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a vision for the territory that made no mention of any role for the PA.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people hostage.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says at least 29,782 people have been killed in the territory since then, including 90 in the past 24 hours.

Mr Shtayyeh, an economist who has been in office since 2019, announced his government's resignation at a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday morning.

He explained that the decision "comes in light of the political, security, and economic developments related to the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem", according to the official Wafa news agency.

"I see that the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus based on a national basis, broad participation, unity of ranks, and the extension of the Palestinian Authority's sovereignty over the entire land of Palestine," he added.

Mr Abbas asked Mr Shtayyeh and his cabinet to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed.

His preferred candidate for the premiership is believed to be Mohammed Mustafa, a US-educated economist and former senior World Bank official who is chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund.

He could be tasked with forming a new government of expert ministers not aligned to any factions, in the hope that Israel could be persuaded to let them govern Gaza after the war.

The PA, which was established in 1994 under the Oslo accords, has limited governance powers in parts of the occupied West Bank not under full Israeli control and is dominated by Mr Abbas's Fatah movement, Hamas's rival.

It lost control of Gaza in 2007, when Hamas ousted forces loyal to Mr Abbas a year after winning the last Palestinian elections, and is deeply unpopular among many Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza.

In November, US President Joe Biden said Gaza and the West Bank "should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalised Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution".

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a reformed PA had to "meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and deliver for them", including by combating corruption, engaging civil society and supporting media freedom.

Mr Netanyahu's plan for post-war Gaza, which he presented to ministers on Thursday, does not rule out a role for the PA. But it also does not specifically mention the body either.

It instead talks about handing responsibility for civilian management and public order to "local elements with managerial experience", who would "not be identified with countries or entities that support terrorism and will not receive payment from them". It also envisages a completely "demilitarised" Gaza, with Israel staying in charge of security for the foreseeable future.

A spokesman for Mr Abbas said the plan was doomed to fail.

Source: BBC
 
There should be some resignations coming from Israel too over the failure to stop killings of the innocent civilians in Gaza.
 
US President Joe Biden says he hopes to have a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza in place by Monday 4 March.


SKY News
 
Jordan Air-drops Aid Into Gaza With Help Of French Plane

The Jordanian army on Monday said it had carried out a series of humanitarian aid drops of food and other supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, one of them by a French army plane.

Jordanian forces made "four air drops carrying aid for the people of Gaza", under the directive of Jordanian King Abdullah II, a statement said.

The operation came on the same day that two human rights groups accused Israel of further limiting humanitarian aid into Gaza -- where the UN has warned of famine -- despite an order from the UN's top court.

Jordan has conducted a total of 16 air-drop operations since the war broke out on October 7 between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Previously announced air drops, including a joint operation with the Netherlands, sent medical and other aid to the Jordanian field hospital in northern Gaza.

Monday's operation "aimed at delivering aid to the population directly and drop it along the coast of the Gaza Strip from north to south," the Jordanian army statement said.

It comprised "relief and food supplies, including ready-made meals of high nutritional value, to alleviate the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip", the statement added.

"Four C-130 aircraft, one of them belonging to the French armed forces," carried out the deliveries, it said.

The cargo floated down on parachutes from the transport aircraft, including over the southern Gaza Strip where around 1.4 million Gazans have converged.

In November Israel said it had coordinated an air drop with Jordan.

Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive has killed at least 29,782 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest tally by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

SOURCE: AFP
 

Israel Gaza: Biden hopes for ceasefire by next week​

US President Joe Biden says he hopes to have a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by Monday.

His comments come amid reports of some progress in indirect negotiations involving Israeli and Hamas officials.

It would involve aid deliveries to Gaza and the release of more hostages taken during the 7 October Hamas attacks.

Israel has not commented and Hamas officials have indicated the two sides are not as close to a ceasefire deal as Mr Biden suggested.

Qatar, which has been mediating in the talks alongside Egypt, said there was no deal to announce yet.

The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said Doha was "going to push for a pause before the beginning of Ramadan" and felt "hopeful, not necessarily optimistic".

Israel launched a large-scale air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel.

The attackers also took 253 people hostage, a number of whom have since been released.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 29,878 people have been killed in the territory since then - including 96 deaths in the past 24 hours - in addition to 70,215 who have been wounded.

According to Reuters news agency, quoting an unnamed source close to the talks, Hamas is still studying a draft framework, drawn by France, which would include a 40-day pause in all military operations and the exchange of Palestinians held in Israeli jails for Israeli hostages, at a ratio of 10 to one.

"We're close," President Biden told reporters in New York on Monday. "We're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire."

On NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers" which was broadcast later, the president said Israel would be willing to pause its assault during Ramadan if a deal was reached.

The Islamic holy month begins around 10 March.

"Ramadan's coming up and there has been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out," Mr Biden said.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that "talks continue" but that "ultimately, some of this comes down to Hamas" to agree.

"We'd certainly welcome one by this weekend...we are trying to push this deal over the finish line," Mr Miller added, although he declined to comment further on the negotiations or possible timing. "We think it's possible."

However, a Hamas official told the BBC earlier: "The priority for us in Hamas is not the exchange of detainees, but the cessation of the war.

"It is not logical, after all this loss of life and property, to accept any offer that does not lead to a complete ceasefire, the return of the displaced, and the reconstruction of Gaza."

Last week, the US - Israel's main ally - was widely criticised for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Instead, it proposed its own resolution for a temporary ceasefire "as soon as practicable", which also warned Israel not to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafah "under current circumstances".

Israel has faced mounting international pressure not to launch an offensive in Rafah, where about 1.5m Palestinians are sheltering, most having fled fighting further north in the territory.

"There are too many innocent people that are being killed," Mr Biden said on Late Night With Seth Meyers. "And Israel has slowed down the attacks in Rafah. They have to. And they've made a commitment to me they're going to see to it that there is ability to evacuate significant portions of Rafah before they go and take out the remainder of Hamas."

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister's office said it had received plans from its military to evacuate civilians from areas including Rafah.

Mr Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS on Sunday that Israeli forces would eventually launch an invasion of Rafah regardless of any agreement for a temporary ceasefire, insisting: "We can't leave the last Hamas stronghold without taking care of it."

"If we have a deal, it'll be delayed somewhat," he added. "But it'll happen. If we don't have a deal, we'll do it anyway."

In a separate development on Monday, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh resigned along with his government, which runs parts of the occupied West Bank.

President Mahmoud Abbas accepted his decision, which could pave the way for a technocratic government.

Mr Abbas is under pressure from the US to reform the PA so it can govern Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends.

Last week, Mr Netanyahu presented a vision for the territory that made no mention of any role for the PA.

Source: BBC
 
The Gaza death toll nears 30,000 as aid groups warn of an 'imminent' famine. And the world is sleeping.
 
More than 50 journalists have sent an open letter calling on Israel and Egypt to provide "free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media".

The letter is signed by correspondents and presenters for broadcasters with UK bases, including the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet and Mishal Husain.

It says the need for comprehensive on-the-ground reporting is "imperative".

Israel's military says its troops have taken journalists on escorted trips in Gaza to allow them to report safely.

Palestinian journalists and media workers have reported from inside Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, but dozens have been killed, injured or gone missing.

In the letter, the 55 journalists write that "foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military".

The escorted trips are highly controlled and often only to show tunnels that the military says are used by Hamas or weapons stores.

Only one foreign journalist has been granted entry into Gaza through Egypt on an escorted visit. CNN's Clarissa Ward - who is among the signatories of the letter - was able to spend only a few hours on the ground in the southern border city of Rafah with an Emirati medical team in December.

The letter calls on Israel's government to "openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza".



BBC
 
Really disappointing only 13% voted uncommitted in the Democratic Michigan Primary.

Once again it highlights the Muslim community is all bark and no bite. A bigger vote against would've sent a stronger messsage to Biden to exert pressure on Israel.

Only good for rola on the street but cannot translate it into real political power. No wonder Israeli lobby has had free rein for 70 years.
 
Markhor said:
Really disappointing only 13% voted uncommitted in the Democratic Michigan Primary.

Once again it highlights the Muslim community is all bark and no bite. A bigger vote against would've sent a stronger messsage to Biden to exert pressure on Israel.

Only good for rola on the street but cannot translate it into real political power. No wonder Israeli lobby has had free rein for 70 years.
Click to expand...

Most people seem to be timid. They say and write big things but very few take meaningful actions.
 
More than 110 Palestinians are reported to have been killed while trying to get desperately needed aid in north Gaza.

Crowds of waiting civilians descended on a convoy of lorries after it passed through an Israeli military checkpoint on the coastal road west of Gaza City.

Israel's military said troops fired at some people they thought were a threat.

In the ensuing chaos, the lorries attempted to move forward. A Palestinian witness told the BBC that most of those who died were run over.

At least 112 people were killed and 760 others injured in the incident, the spokesman of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.


BBC
 
Cricket Warrior said:
More than 110 Palestinians are reported to have been killed while trying to get desperately needed aid in north Gaza.

Crowds of waiting civilians descended on a convoy of lorries after it passed through an Israeli military checkpoint on the coastal road west of Gaza City.

Israel's military said troops fired at some people they thought were a threat.

In the ensuing chaos, the lorries attempted to move forward. A Palestinian witness told the BBC that most of those who died were run over.

At least 112 people were killed and 760 others injured in the incident, the spokesman of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.


BBC
Click to expand...
If the Muslim leaders had any iota of shame they would have razed Israel for such heinous crimes.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
More than 110 Palestinians are reported to have been killed while trying to get desperately needed aid in north Gaza.

Crowds of waiting civilians descended on a convoy of lorries after it passed through an Israeli military checkpoint on the coastal road west of Gaza City.

Israel's military said troops fired at some people they thought were a threat.

In the ensuing chaos, the lorries attempted to move forward. A Palestinian witness told the BBC that most of those who died were run over.

At least 112 people were killed and 760 others injured in the incident, the spokesman of Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.


BBC
Click to expand...
Absolutely heinous. These guys are no better than Milosevic, Mladic or any other set of war criminals in history you wish to name.
 
The UN secretary-general has called for an independent investigation into an incident that allegedly left at least 100 Palestinians dead. Gaza officials say Israeli forces fired into a crowd of people waiting for food aid - while Israel said aid truck drivers "ploughed" into the crowd.
 
FearlessRoar said:
The UN secretary-general has called for an independent investigation into an incident that allegedly left at least 100 Palestinians dead. Gaza officials say Israeli forces fired into a crowd of people waiting for food aid - while Israel said aid truck drivers "ploughed" into the crowd.
Click to expand...
This is heart wrenching. May Allah have mercy on them.
 
Good to see their unison against the terrorist regime
=====
Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah have said they would pursue "unity of action" in confronting Israel after representatives met at Russia-hosted talks.

A statement on Friday by the Palestinian factions represented in Moscow said there would be an "upcoming dialogue" to bring them under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The meeting in Moscow on Thursday brought together Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah and other Palestinian groups for talks on the Israeli war in Gaza and an eventual post-war period.

It came on the heels of the resignation of the Palestinian Authority government, which is led by Fatah and based in the occupied West Bank.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called for intra-Palestinian consensus as he announced his resignation, and some analysts said the development could pave the way for a government of technocrats that could operate in the West Bank and Hamas-governed Gaza after the war.

Arab and Western leaders have been pushing for reforms to the Palestinian Authority as they discuss possible reconstruction efforts.

Thursday's "constructive" talks saw agreement on points including the need for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state, the statement said.

Source: TRT World
 
The Bald Eagle said:
If the Muslim leaders had any iota of shame they would have razed Israel for such heinous crimes.
Click to expand...
If they had the means and fire power, they would have done that. Muslim countries are backward and rely on the west for weapons and tech.
 
Champ_Pal said:
If they had the means and fire power, they would have done that. Muslim countries are backward and rely on the west for weapons and tech.
Click to expand...

Don't India rely on others for weapons and tech?

Many countries do that.

You are calling gulf states backward and yet many Indians work there.
 
Seven hostages being held in the Gaza Strip have died, Hamas said on Friday.

The group blamed the deaths on Israeli bombardment and said a "number" of its fighters were also killed. It said the number of hostages killed might now exceed 70.



BBC
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Good to see their unison against the terrorist regime
=====
Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah have said they would pursue "unity of action" in confronting Israel after representatives met at Russia-hosted talks.
Click to expand...

Unison of buffoons more like!

These idiots started a fire being clueless how to end it, burnt the house to the ground and are now shaking hands to see how they can protect the ruins and the dead bodies!
 
Israel Gaza: Large number of gunshot wounds among those injured in aid convoy rush – UN

Many of the people treated for injuries following a rush on an aid convoy in Gaza on Thursday suffered gunshot wounds, the UN has said.

UN observers visited Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital and saw some of the roughly 200 people still being treated.

Hamas, which governs Gaza, has accused Israel of firing at civilians, but Israel said most died in a stampede after its troops fired warning shots.

Leaders around the world have called for a full investigation.

The incident unfolded after hundreds of people descended on an aid convoy as it moved along a coastal road, accompanied by the Israeli military, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The World Food Programme has warned that a famine is imminent in northern Gaza, which has received very little aid in recent weeks, and where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.

In footage from the scene, volleys of gunfire can be heard and people are seen scrambling over lorries and ducking behind the vehicles.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said that at least 112 people were killed in the incident and that another 760 were injured.

In a statement on social media, Danial Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said, "Dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling."

Lt Col Peter Lerner also told Channel 4 News that a "mob stormed the convoy" and that Israeli troops "cautiously [tried] to disperse the mob with a few warning shots".

Mark Regev, special adviser to the Israeli prime minister, had earlier told CNN that Israel had not been involved directly in any way and that the gunfire had come from "Palestinian armed groups", though he did not provide evidence.

On Friday, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN chief António Guterres, said a UN team had visited al-Shifa Hospital earlier the same day and seen "a large number of gunshot wounds" among the survivors.

He said he was not aware of the team having examined the bodies of any of the people who were killed.

Dr Mohamed Salha, interim hospital manager at al-Awda hospital, previously told the BBC that al-Awda had received 176 of the injured, of whom 142 had bullet wounds.

He added that the others had suffered broken limbs in the stampede.

Responding to the incident, UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron called the deaths "horrific" and said there "must be an urgent investigation and accountability".

"This must not happen again," he said.

He added that the incident could not be separated from the "inadequate aid supplies" entering Gaza and called the current levels "simply unacceptable".

US President Joe Biden announced that the US would begin dropping aid into Gaza by air, saying: "Innocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families. We need to do more, and the United States will do more."

Israel military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others - after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 30,000 people, including 21,000 children and women, have been killed in Gaza since then with some 7,000 missing and at least 70,450 injured.

BBC
 
The US has carried out its first airdrop of aid for Gaza, with more than 30,000 meals parachuted in by three military planes.

The operation was carried out in conjunction with the Jordanian air force, the US Central Command said.

US officials say the drop was the first of many announced by President Joe Biden on Friday.

He promised to step up aid to Gaza after the death of over 100 people seeking aid from a convoy on Thursday.

C-130s dropped more than 38,000 meals along the coastline of Gaza, US Central Command said in a statement.

"These airdrops are part of a sustained effort to get more aid into Gaza, including by expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes," it added.

Other countries including Britain, France, Egypt and Jordan have previously airdropped aid into Gaza, but this is the first by the US.

In his statement on Friday, President Biden said the US would "insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need".

In Thursday's incident, 112 people were killed and more than 760 injured as they crowded around aid lorries.

Hamas accused Israel of firing at civilians, but Israel said most died in a crush after it fired warning shots.

There are growing calls for an international investigation of the deaths.

BBC

www.bbc.com

US carries out first air drop of aid for Gaza

President Biden has promised to step up aid after the death of more than 100 people seeking aid on Thursday.
www.bbc.com
 
First, they provided weapons to Israel to kill them, and now they are sending food aid to them. Hypocrisy at its best.
 
He was a man of conscience and then there is shameless Israeli government
====
US Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell, who died after self-immolating in protest of Israel's war in Gaza, wrote in his will that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in a free Palestine.

“I am sorry to my brother and my friends for leaving you like this. Of course, if I was truly sorry, I wouldn’t be doing it. But the machine demands blood. None of this is fair,” Bushnell wrote before setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC last Sunday, according to Memoirs of Aaron Bushnell, an article published on the Crimethinc website.

“I wish for my remains to be cremated. I do not wish for my ashes to be scattered or my remains to be buried as my body does not belong anywhere in this world,” he wrote.

“If a time comes when Palestinians regain control of their land, and if the people native to the land would be open to the possibility, I would love for my ashes to be scattered in a free Palestine,” he added.

PFF condoles death of Farhan Khan
Bushnell, 25, an active-duty member of the Air Force, set himself on fire outside the embassy.

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal,” he said during a live stream on his mobile phone.

Then he proceeded to douse himself in gasoline, setting himself ablaze.

Dressed in military uniform, Bushnell shouted “Freedom for Palestine” repeatedly, until he could no longer speak.

An embassy police officer was seen aiming his firearm at Bushnell, who was engulfed in flames, while another attempted to put out the fire, remarking: “I don’t need guns. I need a fire extinguisher.”

Source: The Nation
 
US says Israel ‘more or less’ accepts framework deal for Gaza ceasefire

The United States says Israel has endorsed a framework for a proposed Gaza ceasefire and a captive release deal, and it was now up to the Palestinian group Hamas to agree to it.

The comments on Saturday came hours before mediators were expected to reconvene in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to find a formula acceptable to Israel and Hamas for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

“There’s a framework deal. The Israelis have more or less accepted it,” a senior US official in the administration of President Joe Biden told reporters on a conference call.

“Right now, the ball is in the camp of Hamas,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The framework proposal includes a six-week ceasefire, as well as the release by Hamas of captives considered vulnerable, which includes the sick, the wounded, the elderly and women, the US official said.

A deal would also likely allow aid to reach hundreds of thousands of desperate Palestinians in northern Gaza, which humanitarian officials say are under threat of famine.

Israel has severely restricted the entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies into the Gaza Strip since its war began on October 7.

International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10.

Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the US announcement “looks like a bid to increase the pressure on Hamas to agree to the broad terms of this six-week ceasefire deal”.

But it was not clear if Hamas will accept, he said

“Hamas has previously insisted on a full permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. These are demands that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called delusional,” Smith said.

“So both sides on the face of it seem far apart,” he added.

Earlier this week, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Al Jazeera that “the gap is still wide” in reaching an agreement with Israel, as the Palestinian group is calling for a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. His comments followed remarks from Biden on Monday that a truce was a week away – comments the US president later walked back on.

A senior Egyptian official said mediators Egypt and Qatar are expected to receive a response from Hamas during the Cairo talks reportedly scheduled to start on Sunday.

The Egyptian official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the sensitive talks publicly.

Hamas has not backed away from its position that a truce must be the start of a process towards ending the war altogether, Egyptian sources and a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.

However, the Egyptian source also said assurances had been offered to Hamas that the terms of a ceasefire would be worked out in the second and third phases of the deal.

Al Jazeera’s Smith, citing Israeli media reports, said it was not clear if an Israeli delegation would attend the truce talks in Cairo.

“According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu has also said he will not send anyone to Cairo until Hamas gives up a list of all the captives who are alive. And we’ve heard from Hamas that they are not prepared to do this,” he said.

During a Qatari-mediated weeklong truce in November, 105 captives were released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.

Overall, at least 30,320 Palestinians have been killed and 71,533 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

Israel’s devastating offensive and blockade of Gaza has laid much of the coastal enclave to waste and left some 2.3 million people on the brink of famine.

Israeli forces on Thursday opened fire on hungry Palestinians trying to reach an aid convoy, killing at least 118 people. The attack spurred global outrage and led to the US airdropping food aid into Gaza. Jordanian forces also took part in the operation.

SOURCE: ALJAZEERA
 
What video and eyewitness accounts tell us about Gazans killed at aid drop

At least 112 Palestinians were killed as crowds rushed around lorries delivering desperately needed food aid in the small hours of Thursday morning, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Hundreds of people descended on the line of vehicles as it travelled in darkness northwards along the coastal road just outside Gaza City, accompanied by the Israeli military.

In addition to the dead, 760 people were injured, the ministry said.

The tragic incident has given rise to differing claims about what happened and who was responsible for the carnage.

BBC Verify has looked at key information - when it emerged and where from. We have examined social media videos, satellite imagery and IDF drone footage to piece together what we know - and don't know - about what happened so far.

Hundreds wait for aid

This footage, posted on Instagram at 23:30 local time on 28 February, shows some of the hundreds of people huddled round fires as they await a humanitarian aid shipment.

The UN is warning of a looming famine in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water - the area has received very little aid in recent weeks.

The video shows people are camped out on al-Rashid Street, the coast road to the south-west of Gaza City. It is an area that has been used recently as an aid distribution point.

We have previously verified video at that location showing people gathering around lorries to claim sacks of grain.

Mahmoud Awadeyah, a journalist who was at the scene, told the BBC: "There was a large number of people looking for something to eat and a bag of flour."

Convoy approaches encampment

At about 04:00 local time on Thursday 29 February, a convoy of lorries carrying the aid from Egypt passes through an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) location, making its way north along al-Rashid Street.

The IDF says there were 30 lorries in the convoy, while an eyewitness told the BBC there were 18 - even at the lower figure, it would have stretched for at least a few hundred metres.

The IDF's chief spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, said that at about 04:45 lorries in the convoy were surrounded by crowds of people as the vehicles approached the Nabulsi roundabout, on the south-western edge of Gaza City.

People surround trucks

This is a screengrab from infra-red drone footage released by the IDF.

The video released by the IDF is not one single sequence. It has been edited into four sections.

It shows events at two locations, both of which BBC Verify has geolocated.

The first two sections of video show people surrounding two or more lorries just south of the Nabulsi roundabout.

Events further down the convoy

The second two sections of video show events about 500m further south.

They show at least four static lorries. Again, people can be seen moving around them, but this time it is also possible to see what appear to be motionless figures lying on the ground.

This annotated screenshot of the IDF video highlights these figures with red squares.

It also shows what appear to be Israeli military vehicles nearby.

BBC Verify has asked the IDF for the complete footage of the incident.

Gunfire

We have examined exclusive Al Jazeera video filmed close to that second location at the rear of the convoy, about half a kilometre south of the roundabout.

Volleys of gunfire can be heard and people are seen scrambling over lorries and ducking behind the vehicles. Red tracer rounds can be seen in the sky.

Mahmoud Awadeyah said the Israeli vehicles had started firing at people when the aid arrived.

"Israelis purposefully fired at the men... they were trying to get near the trucks that had the flour," he said. "They were fired at directly and prevented people to come near those killed."

Aftermath

We have verified further footage filmed where the shooting occurred, of bodies being taken away on a cart north in the direction of Nabulsi roundabout.

There have been reports of casualties being taken to several hospitals.

Dr Mohamed Salha, interim hospital manager at al-Awda hospital, where many of the dead and injured were taken, told the BBC: "Al-Awda hospital received around 176 injured people...142 of these cases are bullet injuries and the rest are from the stampede and broken limbs in the upper and lower body parts."

Israeli response

In a video statement posted on X, the IDF's Daniel Hagari claimed: "Hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand."

At 13:06 local time on Thursday, an IDF statement posted on Telegram stated: "Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered.

"During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling."

At 15:35, a further IDF statement on X, formerly Twitter, repeated that description of the incident.

In further comments to the UK's Channel 4 News, IDF spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said a "mob stormed the convoy bringing it at some stage to a halt.

"The tanks that were there to secure the convoy see the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tries to disperse the mob with a few warning shots."

In a video statement posted on X at 20:35 GMT - 22:35 in Gaza and Israel - the IDF's Daniel Hagari claimed: "Hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand."

He said the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harming civilians and "they were backing up securely, not shooting at the mob".

And yet earlier, in an interview on CNN between 18:00 and 19:00 GMT, the Israeli prime minister's special adviser, Mark Regev, said Israel had not been involved directly in any way and was not on the ground.

He said the IDF had opened fire in a separate incident not related to the lorries, but did not provide further evidence.

Mr Regev added: "In the incident of the truck being swarmed there was gunfire, that was Palestinian armed groups. We don't know if it was Hamas or others."

Leaders around the world have demanded an investigation into what happened.

It follows concerns raised on Tuesday by a senior UN official who warned that more than half a million people across the Gaza Strip faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

BBC
 
Mediators and Hamas have arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for talks on a new ceasefire, as Israel is reported to be demanding reassurances on the hostages' fate before attending.

An unnamed US official has said Israel has "more or less accepted" the deal.

But Israeli media say Hamas is refusing to confirm which of its hostages are still alive, so Israel will not attend.

The US says the six-week pause would see the release of more Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Pressure for a deal intensified after Thursday's incident outside Gaza City in the north of the territory where at least 112 people were killed as crowds rushed an aid convoy.


BBC
 
Israel boycotted Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo on Sunday after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages that are still alive, an Israeli newspaper reported.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for the talks, billed as a possible final hurdle before an agreement that would halt the fighting for six weeks. But by the evening there was no sign of the Israelis.

"There is no Israeli delegation in Cairo," Ynet, the online version of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying. "Hamas refuses to provide clear answers and therefore there is no reason to dispatch the Israeli delegation."


Reuters
 
At least nine people have been killed and many others were wounded in an Israeli strike on an aid distribution truck in Deir el-Balah, the Wafa news agency reports.
 
A ceasefire should be enforced ASAP.
=====
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will visit Turkiye on Tuesday for talks about the Gaza war and reconciliation efforts between Palestinian factions, the Turkish foreign minister said.
The visit comes as intensive diplomacy is underway to pause the fighting in the almost five-month-old war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the Oct. 7 attacks.

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said: “There is a serious desire and effort to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan,” in closing remarks to an annual diplomacy forum in the Mediterranean holiday resort of Antalya.
Fidan confirmed that Abbas would visit Ankara on Tuesday at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal advocate of the Palestinian cause.

Both leaders would discuss “the developments in Palestine, the current course of the war as well as the intra-Palestinian dialogue, Fidan said. Hamas is a rival of Abbas’s Fatah faction that rules the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.

It ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2007 following its landslide victory in the previous Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Erdogan has become one of the harshest critics of Israel’s war in Gaza.
He has branded Israel a “terrorist state” and compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler while calling Hamas “a liberation group.”

The Israeli military said on Sunday it intensified operations in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, destroying dozens of militant targets in a blitz of air and artillery strikes.
The air force and artillery hit about 50 targets within six minutes, it said, in a bid to “intensify operational achievements in the area.”

“During the strikes, the troops destroyed terrorist infrastructure and eliminated Hamas terrorists who were operating from civilian facilities in urban areas,” it said.Residents in the area said they were surprised by the swift advancement of Israeli tanks, which sparked fresh battles with gunmen.

In one housing project some families took to social media, saying they were unable to leave their homes with the tanks in the streets.

Islamic Jihad said it attacked two tanks with rockets and blew up a building where soldiers had entered.
Khan Younis has been a focus of Israel’s military offensive in recent weeks.

Source: Arab News
 

Children starving to death in northern Gaza - WHO​

Children are dying of starvation in northern Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief says.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency's visits over the weekend to the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals were the first since early October.

In a post on social media, he spoke of "grim findings".

A lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children and "severe levels of malnutrition", while hospital buildings have been destroyed, he wrote.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported on Sunday that at least 15 children had died from malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan hospital.

A 16th child died on Sunday at a hospital in the southern city of Rafah, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported on Monday.

Dr Tedros reported "severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, hospital buildings destroyed" in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 people are living with little food or clean water.

"The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The visits were the WHO's first in months "despite our efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza", he wrote.

"The situation at Al-Awda Hospital is particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed," he added.

The UN warned last week that famine in Gaza was "almost inevitable".

A senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip - one quarter of the population - faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition.

And the regional director of the UN's children's agency, Unicef, said "the child deaths we feared are here, as malnutrition ravages the Gaza Strip".

"These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable," Adele Khodr said in a statement on Sunday.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and others - after the group's gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Source: BBC
 
Countries like US should do more than airdropping food to save these innocent children's lives.
 
US Vice-President Harris presses Israel's Gantz on aid for Gaza

US Vice-President Kamala Harris expressed "deep concern" over Gaza in talks with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, the White House says.

In a statement, Ms Harris's office said she had urged Israel to let more aid into Gaza, while calling on Hamas to accept terms for a ceasefire.

It said they discussed the need for a "credible" humanitarian plan before any major military operation in Rafah.

The US is ramping up pressure on Israel to facilitate more aid for Gaza.

US President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election this November, is facing political pressure from fellow Democrats over his handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

Mr Gantz's visit is being seen as a snub to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to receive an invitation to the White House 15 months after his right-wing coalition took office.

The moderate chairman of Israel's National Unity Party, Mr Gantz has proved a stiff political opponent to Mr Netanyahu, despite joining him as a member of his war cabinet after the attack nearly five months ago by Hamas that triggered the conflict.

The US vice-president told reporters before Monday's meeting: "Israel has a right to defend itself.

"Far too many Palestinian civilians, innocent civilians have been killed. We need to get more aid in, we need to get hostages out. And that remains our position."

The meeting took place while Mr Biden was at Camp David, the presidential retreat just outside Washington.

It came a day after Ms Harris, at a memorial event to civil rights marchers in Alabama, forcefully demanded that "given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire" of at least six weeks.

The US has been working to broker such an agreement between Hamas and Israel with the help of Qatar and Egypt.

Mr Gantz also spoke with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House on Monday. He was expected to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken, too, during his visit.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing on Monday that Mr Gantz had requested the Washington meeting.

Mr Kirby declined to address Mr Netanyahu's concerns over the visit.

Owing to the difficulties of getting humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the US airdropped aid over the weekend.

Last week, at least 112 Palestinians were reportedly killed when large crowds descended on lorries carrying aid while Israeli tanks were present.

Israel said the tanks fired warning shots, but did not strike the lorries and that many of the dead were trampled or run over.

This has been disputed by Hamas, which said there was "undeniable" evidence of "direct firing at citizens".

The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas after the group's gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and others.

BBC
 
An estimated 8,000 patients need evacuating out of the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, voicing frustration that few have so far been transferred outside the besieged territory.

The WHO said moving such patients out of Gaza would relieve some of the strain on the medics and hospitals that are struggling to keep functioning in a war zone.

Of those, an estimated 6,000 are related to the conflict, including patients with multiple trauma injuries, burns and amputations, he said.

The other 2,000 are regular patients, he said, noting that before the war began, 50 to 100 patients a day were referred from Gaza to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, of which around half were cancer patients.



Brecorder
 
Israel's government has advanced plans for more than 3,400 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

About 70% of the homes will be built in Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, with the rest in nearby Kedar and Efrat, south of Bethlehem.

A minister has said the construction is a response to a deadly Palestinian attack near Maale Adumim two weeks ago.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the plans, which are reportedly the first to be approved since June.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land the Palestinians want as part of a future state - in the 1967 Middle East war.

The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration - the body that implements Israeli government policy in the West Bank - had advanced plans for the development of 3,476 settler homes on Wednesday - with 2,452 in Maale Adumim, 694 in Efrat and 330 in Kedar.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who oversees the Civil Administration, said following the meeting that a total of 18,515 homes in West Bank settlements had now been approved over the past year.

"The enemies try to harm and weaken us but we will continue to build and be built up in this land," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

However, the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now warned: "Instead of building a future of hope, peace, and security, the Israeli government is paving the way for our destruction."

It said the projects would have a negative impact on the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The foreign ministry of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority condemned both the new plans and Mr Smotrich's remarks.

"Settlement is void and illegitimate from its foundation, representing an explicit call for the continuation of the spiral of violence and wars," a statement said.

Mr Smotrich put forward the plans on 22 February, hours after three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on cars on a road near Maale Adumim, killing one Israeli and wounding several others. He said the attack "must have a determined security response but also a settlement response".

Source: BBC
 
No wonder why the hell was created, certainly for the perpetrators of such crimes.
======
Palestinian journalist, Muhammad Salama, has been killed along with his entire family in an Israeli airstrike on his home on Tuesday.

Yet another Palestinian journalist was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli air raid on the besieged Gaza Strip, increasing the death toll of members of the media targeted by Israel since October 7 to 133, according to officials and state media.

Muhammad Salama, who worked for the Palestinian Al Aqsa channel, was killed along with his entire family when Israeli warplanes targeted his home in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, the Gaza Media Office said in a statement.

The office accused the Israeli army of killing Palestinian journalists in order to “obliterate the truth,” the Anadolu news agency reported.

From the funeral and farewell of journalist Muhammad Salama after he was targeted in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip last night.

On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stressed that journalists in Gaza were paying an “unprecedented toll.”

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, in a statement on the organization’s website.

Mansour added that “journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict.”

“Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats,” he stated, adding that many “have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”

Source: Palestine Chronicle
 
Food aid convoy for northern Gaza looted after delay at Israeli checkpoint

A new drive by the United Nation’s World Food Programme to deliver aid to an estimated half million people at risk of famine in northern Gaza has failed amid further scenes of chaos and violence.

A 14-truck convoy destined for northern Gaza was looted on Tuesday after being held at an Israeli army checkpoint for several hours, aid workers said. As the convoy turned back after the delay, it was attacked and 200 tonnes of food looted by “a large crowd of desperate people”.

Insecurity, logistical bottlenecks, ongoing fighting and restrictions on movement imposed by Israel have combined to limit aid deliveries to a fraction of what is needed, aid officials said.

The WFP convoy was the first to try to reach northern Gaza since insecurity forced the agency to pause efforts on 20 February despite looming starvation, because Israeli forces had twice shot at desperate Palestinians trying to get food from WFP trucks, senior WFP officials told the Guardian earlier this week.


www.theguardian.com

Food aid convoy for northern Gaza looted after delay at Israeli checkpoint

Trucks attacked by desperate people as logistical obstacles and restrictions imposed by Israel limit urgently needed aid
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Food aid convoy for northern Gaza looted after delay at Israeli checkpoint

A new drive by the United Nation’s World Food Programme to deliver aid to an estimated half million people at risk of famine in northern Gaza has failed amid further scenes of chaos and violence.

A 14-truck convoy destined for northern Gaza was looted on Tuesday after being held at an Israeli army checkpoint for several hours, aid workers said. As the convoy turned back after the delay, it was attacked and 200 tonnes of food looted by “a large crowd of desperate people”.

Insecurity, logistical bottlenecks, ongoing fighting and restrictions on movement imposed by Israel have combined to limit aid deliveries to a fraction of what is needed, aid officials said.

The WFP convoy was the first to try to reach northern Gaza since insecurity forced the agency to pause efforts on 20 February despite looming starvation, because Israeli forces had twice shot at desperate Palestinians trying to get food from WFP trucks, senior WFP officials told the Guardian earlier this week.


www.theguardian.com

Food aid convoy for northern Gaza looted after delay at Israeli checkpoint

Trucks attacked by desperate people as logistical obstacles and restrictions imposed by Israel limit urgently needed aid
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
Everyone knows who would have robbed these trucks at Israeli checkpoints.
 
Things are getting worse and worse every day. Just stop this now. Gaza has become a graveyard filled with children especially. WHat barbaric act is left for Israel to do now?
 
US to set up temporary port on Gaza coast for aid delivery

President Joe Biden is to announce that the US military will construct a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the territory by sea, senior US officials say.

The temporary port will increase the amount of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians by "hundreds of additional truckloads" per day, officials say.

However it will not include US troops on the ground in Gaza, they said.

The UN warns that a quarter of the population is on the brink of famine.

The port will take "a number of weeks" to set up, the officials said, and will be able to receive large ships carrying food, water medicine, and temporary shelters. Initial shipments will arrive via Cyprus, where Israeli security inspections will take place.

Mr Biden is due to make the announcement during his State of the Union address later.



www.bbc.com

US to set up temporary port on Gaza coast for aid delivery

In his speech to Congress, President Biden will say a temporary pier will transport supplies from ships to the shore.
www.bbc.com
 

Creator of viral boycott video talks about helping Palestinian cause​

The creator of a viral video about boycotting American products has been talking about his efforts to campaign against the Gaza war and help the Palestinian cause.

www.aljazeera.com

Creator of viral boycott video talks about helping Palestinian cause

The creator of a viral video about boycotting American products talks about his efforts to campaign against the Gaza war
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
American C-130 cargo planes airdropped aid to Gaza on Thursday, the US military said, its third joint operation with Jordan to deliver assistance by air in less than a week.

US officials say the drops are aimed at supplementing the insufficient supply of aid being brought in by ground to Gaza, but the amount of food provided by air is only enough to feed a tiny fraction of the people in need in the coastal territory, which has been devastated by months of conflict.


Brecorder
 
Netanyahu says Israel will push on with Gaza offensive, including in Rafah

Israel will push on with its offensive against Hamas, including into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite growing international pressure to stop, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas after its fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253, according to Israeli tallies. More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel's subsequent offensive, Palestinian health authorities estimate, prompting worldwide criticism and condemnation.

"There is international pressure and it's growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war," he said.

About 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed into Rafah, on the southernmost fringe of the enclave close to the border with Egypt, most of them having fled their homes further north to escape Israel's military onslaught.

Addressing a graduation ceremony at a training school for Israeli army officers, Netanyahu also said Israel must push back against a "calculated attempt" to blame it for Hamas' crimes.

He added that Israel would operate throughout Gaza, "including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold".

"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," Netanyahu said.

REUTERS
 
Trump’s Gaza comments highlight tough choice for peace-supporting US voters

Donald Trump has voiced explicit backing for Israel’s war on Gaza, suggesting that he supports the goal expressed by the hardline government in Tel Aviv of continuing the assault until “total victory”.

Asked if he is “on board” with the way Israel was “taking the fight to Gaza”, the frontrunner for the Republican US presidential nomination responded: “You’ve got to finish the problem”. With Trump set to race incumbent Joe Biden, his words suggest that voters opposed to United States support of Israel’s war will face a dilemma in November’s presidential election.

The interview with Fox News where Trump made the comments took place as his path to the presidential nomination was all but cleared on Super Tuesday. Shortly after being soundly beaten in most primaries across the country, his only serious challenger, Nikki Haley, was expected to quit.

Trump’s statement also came as Biden‘s support appears to be wobbling. While the president won almost all the Democratic nominating contests on Super Tuesday, a sizeable protest vote in Minnesota and six other states against his “rock solid” backing of Israel exposed vulnerabilities in his re-election campaign.

In Minnesota, a key swing state in the Midwest, early results showed that nearly 20 percent of Democrats marked their ballots “uncommitted” to show their anger at Washington’s continued backing for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists that the onslaught on Gaza will persist until Hamas is destroyed.

But while the urge felt by some left-leaning and pro-Palestinian voters to punish Biden at the polls remains strong, they may find they have little choice but to vote for the Democrat in November’s poll if they wish to keep Trump from returning to the White House.

Biden has long touted his staunch support for Israel, even as its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave has elicited concerns about the risk of genocide and famine. More than 30,600 Palestinians have died in Israel’s military campaign so far, prompting international condemnation from governments around the world.

Some believe Vice President Kamala Harris’s call for a temporary ceasefire on Sunday, in which she spoke of a “humanitarian catastrophe” and called for more to be done to allow aid into Gaza, showed the administration, and particularly the vice president, were listening to the message sent by the “uncommitted” voters.

“I don’t think the vice president would have made such a sweeping statement if Super Tuesday wasn’t happening, and we have been seeing the same thing with President Biden,” said Asma Nizami, a “vote uncommitted” organiser in Minnesota.

“Because it’s going national and because there are other states that are part of this,” the administration can’t sweep it aside, she said.

ALJAZEERA
 
The end of Israel will be a blessing for the entire world
======
  • Biden also warned Israel that it cannot use aid as a “bargaining chip” as he issued a call for an immediate, temporary ceasefire with Hamas. “To the leadership of Israel I say this – humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority,” Biden said in his annual State of the Union address.
  • Sigrid Kaag, the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late on Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot make up for a shortage of supply routes on land. Kaag said that while airdrops represented a “symbol of support for civilians in Gaza” and were “a testament to our shared humanity”, they were “a drop in the ocean”. “It’s far from enough,” she added.

Source: The Guardian
 
That's a pre planned killing.
===
Five people have died after a parachute failed on an aid package dropped by air into Gaza on Friday, reports say.

An eyewitness and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the five were killed when at least one parachute failed to deploy and a parcel fell on them, the BBC's US partner CBS reports.

It is unclear which air drop was involved in the incident.

The US, Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium have been dropping aid into Gaza in recent days as concerns about famine among the population grow.

Jordanian state TV quoted a source as denying that a Jordanian aircraft was involved in the incident.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
That's a pre planned killing.
===
Five people have died after a parachute failed on an aid package dropped by air into Gaza on Friday, reports say.

An eyewitness and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the five were killed when at least one parachute failed to deploy and a parcel fell on them, the BBC's US partner CBS reports.

It is unclear which air drop was involved in the incident.

The US, Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium have been dropping aid into Gaza in recent days as concerns about famine among the population grow.

Jordanian state TV quoted a source as denying that a Jordanian aircraft was involved in the incident.
Click to expand...

US President Joe Biden has said reaching a six-week ceasefire deal in Gaza before the start of Ramadan is "looking tough".

His comments come after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said it was up to Hamas to make further progress on the truce.

"The ball is in their court," he said.

"We're working intensely on it, and we'll see what they do," Mr Blinken added ahead of a meeting with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan on Friday.

He said the US remains "intensely focused" on securing a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has denied that US aid airdrops caused civilian casualties in Gaza on Friday.

Palestinian officials reported that five people were killed and several others were wounded when boxes of aid fell on them by mistake.

Footage showed dozens of people running around as the boxes were dropped.

"Press reports that US airdrops resulted in civilian casualties on the ground are false," a Pentagon spokesperson said.

"We have confirmed that all of our aid bundles landed safely on the ground."

SKY
 

UNRWA: Sweden and Canada resume funding for UN agency for Palestinian refugees​

Sweden and Canada have said they will resume aid payments to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

They were among 16 countries that paused funds after Israel accused at least 12 UNRWA staff of involvement in the 7 October attack by Hamas.

The UN is investigating, and France's foreign minister is leading a review.

Sweden said on Saturday it would send 200 million kronor (£15m; $19m) initially, after UNRWA agreed to more checks on its spending and staff.

"The government has allocated 400 million kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today's decision concerns a first payment of 200 million kronor," it said in a statement.

It comes after Canada said on Friday that it would re-start funding for UNRWA while investigations into the agency's staff continue.

On 7 October, Hamas gunmen stormed across Gaza's border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage.

In response, Israel launched a campaign of air strikes and a ground invasion of the territory.

More than 30,900 people have since been killed in Gaza, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says, and the amount of aid reaching civilians has plummeted.

The UN has warned that a quarter of the Strip's population is on the brink of famine and children are starving to death.

UNRWA is the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza. It provides healthcare, education and other humanitarian aid, and employs about 13,000 people there.

Its chief Philippe Lazzarini said he was "cautiously optimistic" donors would start funding it again within weeks.

He said the agency was "at risk of death" after major donor countries suspended funding following allegations in late January that a number of staff members were involved in the 7 October attack. Within days, Mr Lazzarini said an investigation was being carried out, and "to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance" these staff members had been sacked.

"What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis," Mr Lazzarini said.

The European Commission said earlier this month that it would release 50 million euros in UNRWA funding.

Sweden is the fourth largest contributor to the agency's budget, and Canada the 11th largest, 2022 data shows.

Canada's decision was announced in a statement on Friday by the country's Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen.

He said it was made so that "more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians", and "in recognition of the robust investigative process under way".

The Canadian Armed Forces will also donate about 300 cargo parachutes to Jordan, so they can be used to airdrop supplies into Gaza.

On Friday the EU, UK, US and others said they planned to open a sea route to Gaza to deliver aid that could begin operating this weekend.

Meanwhile an internal draft document compiled by UNRWA and seen by the BBC has detailed widespread abuse of Palestinians, including UNRWA employees who were released into Gaza from Israeli detention.

In the document, former detainees describe an extensive range of ill-treatment.

It says: "Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities while in detention, and pressured to make false statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities."

In a statement provided to the BBC, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rejected specific allegations and said: "The mistreatment of detainees during their time in detention or whilst under interrogation violates IDF values and contravenes IDF and is therefore absolutely prohibited."

Source: BBC
 
Stern actions against them, need of the hour.
====
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have expanded by a record amount and risk eliminating any practical possibility of a Palestinian state, the United Nations rights chief warns.

The growth of Israeli settlements amounts to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into occupied territories, which is a war crime, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Friday.

The international community has long viewed Israeli settlements as a violation of international law and a hindrance to Palestinian statehood.

The United States said last month that the settlements were “inconsistent” with international law after Israel announced new housing plans in the occupied West Bank.

Turk’s report found that the Israeli government’s policies “appear aligned, to an unprecedented extent, with the goals of the Israeli settler movement to expand long-term control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to steadily integrate this occupied territory into the State of Israel”.

“Settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state,” Turk said in a statement that accompanied a 16-page report about the growth in illegal Israeli housing units.

The report, based on the UN’s own monitoring as well as other sources, documented 24,300 new Israeli housing units in the occupied West Bank during a one-year period through to the end of October, which it said was the highest since monitoring began in 2017.

It also said there had been a dramatic increase in the intensity, severity and regularity of both Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which triggered the current war in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces or by settlers, the report said.

It additionally pointed to forced evictions, non-issuance of building permits, home demolitions and restrictions on movement imposed on Palestinians.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Another try to invade yet another country or just for aid purposes?

---------------------------------

US military ship heading to Gaza to build port

A US military ship is sailing towards the Middle East, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, the army says.

The support ship, General Frank S Besson, set sail from a military base in the state of Virginia on Saturday.

It comes after President Joe Biden said the US would build the floating harbour to help get aid into Gaza by sea.

The UN has warned that famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" and children are starving to death.

Aid deliveries by land and air have proved difficult and dangerous.

The World Food Programme had to pause land deliveries after its convoys came under gunfire and looting. And on Friday, there were reports that five people had been killed by a falling aid package, when its parachute failed to open properly.

The US ship departed "less than 36 hours" after Mr Biden made his announcement, US Central Command wrote on X.

It is "carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies" to Gaza, the statement continued.

The Pentagon has said it could take up to 60 days to build the pier with the help of 1,000 troops - none of whom would go ashore.

Charities have said those suffering in Gaza cannot wait that long.

Meanwhile, an aid ship laden with some 200 tonnes of food was still waiting for clearance to set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday morning.

It is hoped the vessel, Open Arms, will be able to depart before Monday, following an EU announcement that a new sea route would be opened over the weekend to allow aid to sail directly from Cyprus - the closest EU country to Gaza.

The ship belongs to the Spanish charity of the same name, Open Arms, and the food on board has been provided by US charity World Central Kitchen.

It is unclear how any aid delivered by sea would get safely to shore before the US pier is built. Gaza has no functioning port and its surrounding waters are too shallow for large vessels.

However Oscar Camps, the founder of Open Arms, told the Associated Press that at the destination point - which remains a secret - a team from the World Central Kitchen has been building a pier to receive the aid.

Israel has welcomed the ocean initiative, and said aid would be delivered after security checks were carried out in Cyprus "in accordance with Israeli standards".

Israel's military launched an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.

More than 30,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.

The conflict has created a growing humanitarian crisis, and the UN has warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip - one quarter of the population - are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Western countries have pressed Israel to expand land deliveries by facilitating more routes and opening additional crossings.

Lorries have been entering the south of Gaza through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. But the north, which was the focus of the first phase of the Israeli ground offensive, has been largely cut off from assistance in recent months.

An estimated 300,000 Palestinians are living there with little food or clean water.

Israel has been accused of hampering aid efforts, and an independent UN expert last week accused it of mounting "a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza".

Yeela Cytrin, a legal adviser at the Israeli mission to the UN, responded that "Israel utterly rejects allegations that it is using starvation as a tool of war", before walking out in protest.

BBC
 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected US President Joe Biden's comment that Israel's approach to the war in Gaza was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel".

"If he meant by that that I'm pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he's wrong on both counts," Netanyahu said in an interview with Politico.
 
If they go by this way then they should have vacated Palestine for the innocent people there long ago but still clinging to it like a dirty parasite.
=====
The Palestinian town of Jericho has named a street after Aaron Bushnell, the US air force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington to protest against the war in Gaza.

The 25-year-old, who died on 25 February, “sacrificed everything” for Palestinians, said the mayor of Jericho, Abdul Karim Sidr, as the street sign was unveiled on Sunday.

“We didn’t know him, and he didn’t know us. There were no social, economic or political ties between us. What we share is a love for freedom and a desire to stand against these attacks [on Gaza],” the mayor told a small crowd gathered on the new Aaron Bushnell Road.

Bushnell livestreamed his self-immolation on the social media platform Twitch, declaring he would “no longer be complicit in genocide” and shouting “free Palestine” as he started the fire. Law enforcement officials put out the flames, but he died in hospital several hours later.

Source: The Guardian
 

Palestine footballer Barakat killed in Israel’s attack on Gaza​


Palestinian footballer Mohammed Barakat has been killed after Israeli forces bombed his house in Khan Younis amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Barakat family’s home was hit by Israeli bombs early on Monday, the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Barakat, Gaza’s first centurion of goals and one of its top scorers, represented the national team and the Ahly Gaza football club in the local league.

The 39-year-old scored 114 goals and was known as “the legend of Khan Younis” during his long association with the Khan Younis Youth Club, which he captained. Barakat also played for several clubs in the occupied West Bank and Jordan, including Al-Wehdat.

The forward’s death was termed a “huge loss for Palestinian football” by Khalid Abu-Habel, a local club footballer.

“I played against him,” Abu-Habel, a defender for Khadamat al-Maghazi, told Al Jazeera hours after the legendary striker’s death was confirmed.

“He was quick and clever. A top, top goal-scorer. Off the pitch, he was kind and friendly. A beloved friend of all.”

Abu-Habel, who is also a doctor and works at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, said Gaza’s football community has “lost a lot” during the continuing war.

“How many should we lose more? The sports community in Gaza is simply collapsing.”

In the first month of the war that began on October 7, Khalil Jadallah, a Palestinian football commentator and analyst, put together a starting XI of Palestinian players who have died due to Israeli violence.

www.aljazeera.com

‘Huge loss’: Israel’s attack on Gaza kills Palestine football icon Barakat

Barakat, who played for Ahly Gaza and Palestine, died when his house in Khan Younis was bombed by Israeli forces.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 

Palestine footballer Barakat killed in Israel’s attack on Gaza​


Palestinian footballer Mohammed Barakat has been killed after Israeli forces bombed his house in Khan Younis amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Barakat family’s home was hit by Israeli bombs early on Monday, the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Barakat, Gaza’s first centurion of goals and one of its top scorers, represented the national team and the Ahly Gaza football club in the local league.

The 39-year-old scored 114 goals and was known as “the legend of Khan Younis” during his long association with the Khan Younis Youth Club, which he captained. Barakat also played for several clubs in the occupied West Bank and Jordan, including Al-Wehdat.

The forward’s death was termed a “huge loss for Palestinian football” by Khalid Abu-Habel, a local club footballer.

“I played against him,” Abu-Habel, a defender for Khadamat al-Maghazi, told Al Jazeera hours after the legendary striker’s death was confirmed.

“He was quick and clever. A top, top goal-scorer. Off the pitch, he was kind and friendly. A beloved friend of all.”

Abu-Habel, who is also a doctor and works at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, said Gaza’s football community has “lost a lot” during the continuing war.

“How many should we lose more? The sports community in Gaza is simply collapsing.”

In the first month of the war that began on October 7, Khalil Jadallah, a Palestinian football commentator and analyst, put together a starting XI of Palestinian players who have died due to Israeli violence.

www.aljazeera.com

‘Huge loss’: Israel’s attack on Gaza kills Palestine football icon Barakat

Barakat, who played for Ahly Gaza and Palestine, died when his house in Khan Younis was bombed by Israeli forces.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
aboveandbeyond said:
Specially when the Israeli state has unequivocal support from the USA and the NATO terrorists.

Shame on bin sulieman, Uae, Qatar. They should stop all oil supply to the NATO terrorists and other sympathizing leeches.
Click to expand...
They are dependent upon them for security.
 
Belfast band Kneecap have pulled out of South by Southwest (SXSW) in Texas over the arts festival's sponsorship with the US Army.

The group is the latest to cancel their sets at the event in protest against the military's support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Other artists who've announced they won't be performing include Lambrini Girls, Scowl and Sprints.


BBC
 
aboveandbeyond said:
Specially when the Israeli state has unequivocal support from the USA and the NATO terrorists.

Shame on bin sulieman, Uae, Qatar. They should stop all oil supply to the NATO terrorists and other sympathizing leeches.
Click to expand...
USA is the largest producer of oil, Canada, Norway and others are not behind. Oil blockade won't work. all nato countries can manage with oil trading a long themselves while transitioning to alternative energies. Loss of this market will bring down global prices thereby helping remaining countries. Only losers will be oil producing countries who have nothing else to sell. Infact they cant even produce enough food for themselves
 
US is trying to play on both sides atm. they want to make themselves look good by throwing penny aid for Gaza while supporting Israel at every forum and supplying them with weapons. Even the Hypocrisy is shocked to see what the US is doing atm.
 
More of these aid ships are needed for the Palestinians. Holy month of Ramadan has arrived so the people of affected areas will need it badly.

--------------------------

Gaza war: First aid ship sets off from Cyprus

A ship taking almost 200 tonnes of food to Gaza left a port in Cyprus early on Tuesday, in a pilot project to open a new sea route of aid to a population on the brink of famine.

The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein.

The ship belongs to a Spanish charity of the same name.

Exactly where it plans to dock when it reaches Gaza has not been disclosed.

The mission, mostly funded by the United Arab Emirates, is being organised by US based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), while the Spanish charity supplies the ship.

"Our goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza," said WCK founder Jose Andres and chief executive officer Erin Gore in a statement.

The initiative is separate from a US plan to construct and operate a floating pier close to the Gaza coast, which will allow swift delivery of humanitarian aid.

The charities intend to take aid directly to Gaza, which has been sealed off from the outside world since Israel began its offensive in response to an 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.

With the lack of port infrastructure, WCK has said it was creating a landing jetty in Gaza with material from destroyed buildings and rubble.

It has said it had another 500 tonnes of aid amassed in Cyprus which would also be sent.

BBC
 
US Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns said on Tuesday there was "still a possibility" of a Gaza ceasefire deal, although many complicated issues remain.

"I think there's still the possibility of such a deal. And as I said, it won't be for lack of trying on our part, working very closely with our Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian counterparts. This is a very tough process. I don’t think anyone can guarantee success. The only thing I think you can guarantee is that the alternatives are worse," he told a House of Representatives hearing.

www.jpost.com

US CIA Director Burns says 'still a possibility' of Gaza deal

US Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns said on Tuesday there was "still a possibility" of a Gaz
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com
 
BouncerGuy said:
US is trying to play on both sides atm. they want to make themselves look good by throwing penny aid for Gaza while supporting Israel at every forum and supplying them with weapons. Even the Hypocrisy is shocked to see what the US is doing atm.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

They are arming Israel one on side while sending "aids" to Palestine on the other side.

Who are they trying to fool?
 
sweep_shot said:
Indeed.

They are arming Israel one on side while sending "aids" to Palestine on the other side.

Who are they trying to fool?
Click to expand...
Trying to fool the whole world actually but not the whole world is gonna buy this US trick because we are not blind.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Trying to fool the whole world actually but not the whole world is gonna buy this US trick because we are not blind.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I believe most of the countries now know the American trick. It was evident from UN votes. Most countries were siding with Palestine and rejecting American/Israeli narrative.
 
BouncerGuy said:
US is trying to play on both sides atm. they want to make themselves look good by throwing penny aid for Gaza while supporting Israel at every forum and supplying them with weapons. Even the Hypocrisy is shocked to see what the US is doing atm.
Click to expand...
Don't think the US care about their image, or what other nations think of them. They have always, always had their hight hand (blessings) over Israel's head since it's inception.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

nextover666666
Pakistan defeat Palestine 11-3 in the final of the West Asia Baseball Cup 2023
Replies
22
Views
2K
CherylFogle
C
L
Dawah, Islamic Law, Punishments & Limits in Islam
6 7 8
Replies
601
Views
42K
Justcrazy
Justcrazy
BouncerGuy
  • Poll
What will it take to start a revolution of the kind we have seen in Bangladesh?
Replies
38
Views
848
anikrc1
A
MenInG
[VIDEOS/ PICTURES] Shahnawaz Dahani could be in trouble for his social media outburst after being ignored for Asia Cup and Afghanistan series
2
Replies
125
Views
37K
FearlessRoar
FearlessRoar
C
ICC World Cup 2023: Netherland (245/8) beat in-form South Africa (207 all out) by 38 runs to win their first match of the tournament
5 6 7
Replies
551
Views
12K
Swing
S
Back
Top