tag

United Nations agencies and Oxfam voiced grave concerns on Wednesday about food running out in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are experiencing famine, after Israel closed the only operational crossing there last week.Israel began its long-expected ground assault on Gaza City in the north on Tuesday and is stepping up efforts to empty the city of civilians by opening an additional route southwards.Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in the city and many are reluctant to follow Israel's orders to move because of dangers along the route, dire conditions, a lack of food to the south, and fear of permanent displacement."There are grave concerns over fuel and food stock depletion in a matter of days as there are now no direct aid entry points into northern Gaza and resupply from south to north is increasingly challenging due to mounting road congestion and insecurity," the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said in a statement.The Zikim Crossing was shut on September 12 and no aid groups have been able to import supplies since, it said.Bushra Khalidi, Policy Lead at Oxfam, said that the move could be "another strategy to corral the population to move down south".Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its reasons for the closure. Late on Tuesday it said that humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter northern Gaza, without giving details.Israel controls all access to Gaza and says it allows enough food aid into the enclave, where it has been at war with Palestinian fighters Hamas for nearly two years. It accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the fighters deny."There is an urgent need for an active border point into the north to be opened for essential life-saving humanitarian supplies," said Abeer Etefa, a World Food Programme spokesperson, which had used the crossing before its closure.A global hunger monitor said last month that Gaza City and surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine and that it was likely to spread.

Huge numbers of Palestinians were fleeing Gaza City by any means Wednesday as the Israeli military pressed its ground offensive, killing dozens in strikes.Images showed a steady stream of Gazans heading south on foot, by car and on donkey carts, with their few belongings piled high as Israel bombarded the city.Israel had announced the day before that the US-backed campaign in the Gaza Strip's largest city had begun, pledging to destroy the militant group Hamas in the area.The offensive has sparked outrage among the international community, with the Palestinian territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and the Gaza City region gripped by a UN-declared famine.Gaza's civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli fire had killed at least 62 people across the territory Wednesday.The Israeli military said it was opening a temporary new route via Salah al-Din Street to allow people to flee, after unleashing a massive bombardment before dawn on Tuesday and pushing its troops deeper into Gaza City.It came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime.Israel's Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours from midday (0900 GMT).Israel's campaign has killed at least 65,062 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield, whose name helped shape the popular ice cream brand, has quit the company, as its rift with parent Unilever deepened over its stance on the Gaza conflict.In an open letter addressing the Ben & Jerry's community that was shared by his partner Ben Cohen on social media platform X on Wednesday, Greenfield said that the Vermont-based company has lost its independence since Unilever curtailed its social activism.Unilever and Ben & Jerry's have clashed since 2021, when the Chubby Hubby maker said it would stop sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The brand has since sued its parent over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza conflict as "genocide," a rare stance for a major US company.Greenfield said he could no longer "in good conscience" continue working for a company that had been "silenced" by Unilever, despite a merger agreement meant to safeguard the brand's social mission."That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever," he wrote in the letter.A spokesperson for Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever's ice cream unit, said that it "disagrees with Greenfield's perspective and has sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's powerful values-based position in the world."Magnum said Greenfield stepped down as a brand ambassador and that he is not a party to the lawsuit.Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Greenfield's departure comes as Ben & Jerry's has been calling for its own spin-off ahead of a planned listing of Magnum Ice Cream in November after years of clashing over the US brand's vocal position on Gaza.Last week Cohen demanded to "free Ben & Jerry's" to protect its social values, which was rebuffed by new Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve.Cohen said the brand had attempted to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion but the proposal was rejected.Ben & Jerry's was founded by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978, and kept its socially conscious mission after Unilever bought it in 2000.

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed suspending a trade arrangement affecting about 5.8 billion euros ($6.87 billion) of Israeli exports due to the Gaza war, although the measure does not currently have enough support among EU nations to pass.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also proposed a package of sanctions on two Israeli ministers, as well as "violent" Israeli settlers and 10 senior members of Hamas.The two ministers are far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an EU official said.Israel's nearly two-year offensive in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian situation has increased political pressure on European leaders to take action.The European Union is Israel's biggest trading partner, with trade in goods between the two amounting to 42.6 billion euros last year, according to the EU.If the free-trade arrangement is suspended, Israel would face duties at the same level as other countries without a trade accord with the bloc.In Israel's case, that would affect exports worth approximately 5.8 billion euros, resulting in an estimated 227 million euros a year in duties, a senior Commission official told reporters.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that the European proposals are "morally and politically distorted, and it is to be hoped that they will not be adopted".The suspension of free-trade arrangements, first floated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week, would require the support of a qualified majority of EU governments - 15 out of 27 EU members representing 65% of the EU population.EU diplomats told Reuters that it is unlikely that the proposal would get the necessary support, with much depending on Germany, which has so far been reluctant to impose EU penalties on Israel.A German government spokesperson said on Wednesday it has not yet formed a final view on the EU proposals and Germany wants to keep the channels of communication with Israel open.Diplomats say the proposed measures against the Israeli ministers are also unlikely to pass as they require unanimous support from EU members.Kallas said that although public opinion has been shifting due to suffering in Gaza, she believes "the political lines are very much in the place where they have been so far".But the proposals mark a political shift in the EU's relationship with Israel.The Commission is also putting its bilateral support for Israel on hold, without affecting work with Israeli civil society and Yad Vashem, Israel's main Holocaust memorial centre.

Spain's King Felipe VI on Tuesday denounced the "unspeakable suffering" of hundreds of thousands of Gazans under Israeli bombardment in the Palestinian territory, in a rare political intervention."The latest episode in this conflict... has degenerated into an unbearable humanitarian crisis, the unspeakable suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and the total devastation of Gaza," the monarch said during a visit to Egypt.Felipe, who rarely speaks out on international issues, noted his trip "is taking place at a turbulent and tragic time for the region".The Spanish government, which recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024, has become one of Israel's fiercest critics in Europe.On Sunday, the final stage of the Vuelta cycling race was cancelled because of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that saw some 100,000 people take to the streets of Madrid, according to local authorities.Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez later expressed his "deep admiration" for the protesters, while also suggesting excluding Israel from sports competitions "as long as the barbarity continues" in Gaza.Israel has not had an ambassador in Madrid since 2024.Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel amid heated exchanges after Sanchez's government announced measures aimed at stopping "the genocide in Gaza".

Israel launched its long-anticipated ground offensive in Gaza City Tuesday, targeting Hamas fighters and prompting widespread international alarm, with the UN condemning it as "carnage".A United Nations probe charged Israel with committing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials of incitement.The Israeli military unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City overnight as its troops moved deeper into the territory's largest urban hub."Over the past 24 hours, following extensive discussions with the political echelon, the IDF (military) has significantly expanded its operation in Gaza City," said army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir."We are operating deep in the area, combining ground troops, precision strikes and high-quality intelligence. Our objective is to enhance the strikes on Hamas until its decisive defeat."UN chief Antonio Guterres said Israel was "determined to go up to the end".Israel was "not open to a serious negotiation for a ceasefire, with dramatic consequences from Israel's point of view," he said.The military estimated there were 2,000-3,000 Hamas fighters in central Gaza City, an army official told journalists.It said about 40% of Gaza City residents had left and moved to the territory's south, the official added.An AFP journalist saw many people, including children, sleeping in front of a hospital in Gaza City after fleeing from their homes."The people do not have money to move to the south or even to move internally," said Youssef Shanaa, who had taken refuge at a hospital.People spoke of relentless bombing in Gaza City, much of which is already in ruins after nearly two years of Israeli strikes.Only huge piles of rubble remained of a residential block in the north of the city hit by overnight bombing."Why kill children sleeping safely like that, turning them into body parts?" said Abu Abd Zaquout. "We pulled the children out in pieces."The assault was "systematic ethnic cleansing targeting our people in Gaza", Hamas said in a statement.US President Donald Trump accused Hamas of using hostages as human shields."I hear Hamas is trying to use the old human shield deal, and if they do that they're going to be in big trouble," he said.Israel struck Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeidah port Tuesday, saying it targeted a military infrastructure site of the rebel group, which has fired missiles at Israel since the outbreak of war in Gaza.Later the military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.Gaza's civil defence, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said at least 44 people had been killed by Israeli fire Tuesday.Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence or the Israeli military.The European Union said the assault on Gaza City would worsen an already "catastrophic" humanitarian situation, while Britain said it would bring only "more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages".Despite the growing criticism, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who visited Israel at the weekend, offered robust backing for the offensive as he met Netanyahu."We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go," he told reporters as he left Israel Tuesday.Before flying out to Qatar, the top US diplomat said he hoped the US ally would keep up its Gaza mediation efforts, despite Israel carrying out air strikes against Hamas leaders gathered in the Gulf country last week to consider a US truce proposal.Rubio's visit came a week before France was set to lead a UN summit in which several Western governments, angered by what they see as Israeli intransigence, plan to recognise a Palestinian state.

United Nations investigators on Tuesday accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza in a bid to "destroy the Palestinians", accusing Israel's prime minister and other top officials of incitement.The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body, found that "genocide is occurring in Gaza", commission chief Navi Pillay told AFP."The responsibility lies with the State of Israel."The bombshell report marks the first time a UN-mandated investigative body has concluded the country is committing genocide.Israel has since the start of the war in Gaza faced genocide accusations from NGOs and independent UN experts.The UN itself has not labelled the situation in Gaza a genocide, but Pillay said she believed the facts presented by the commission should prompt "high-level leaders at the United Nations also to call this what it is, the genocide".After the report was published, UN rights chief Volker Turk said it was up to the courts to determine whether genocide was taking place, but warned: "We see the evidence mounting."Israel "categorically" rejected Tuesday's report, with the foreign ministry describing it as "distorted and false" and calling "for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry".The commission published its latest report nearly two years after the war erupted in Gaza following Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack inside Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Israel's retaliatory campaign has displaced virtually the entire Gaza population and has killed nearly 65,000 people, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the UN considers reliable.The report came as Israel on Tuesday launched a ground assault on Gaza City, where the UN has declared a full-blown famine.The COI concluded that Israeli authorities and forces had since October 2023 committed "four of the five genocidal acts" listed in the 1948 Genocide Convention.These are "killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group".The investigators said explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and their patterns of military action "indicated that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy... Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group".They concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have "incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement"."The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons," stated Pillay, 83, a South African former judge who once headed the international tribunal for Rwanda and also served as UN human rights chief.Commissioner Chris Sidoti meanwhile stressed that the people of Israel too "have been betrayed by their government", whose "genocidal war... has made (their) peace and security... almost impossible for the foreseeable future"."Their trauma and their suffering has been ruthlessly manipulated by Netanyahu and his cronies," he told journalists.The commission is not a legal body but its reports wield diplomatic pressure and serve to gather evidence for later use by courts.Pillay said the commission was cooperating with the International Criminal Court's prosecutor, and had "shared thousands of pieces of information with them".The ICC has already issued international arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.And the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year ordered Israel "to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide" in Gaza.The investigators stressed that it could take years for the court to definitively rule on whether a genocide is taking place -- but Pillay insisted member states must "act now"."The absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity."

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) warned of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza Strip, stating that over a million people face "constant terror" after receiving urgent evacuation orders from Gaza City ahead of the large-scale ground offensive by Israeli occupation forces.Secretary-General of the organisation, Christopher Lockyer, stated on Sunday that escaping the intense bombardment is impossible for many elderly people, the sick, pregnant women, and the wounded, warning that survivors of this tragic journey will find themselves in overcrowded areas in central and southern Gaza that lack safety and basic necessities for survival.He emphasized that what is happening in Gaza goes beyond a humanitarian disaster, describing it as a systematic genocide of an entire nation, and noting that Israeli occupation forces are committing these crimes with complete impunity.Lockyer added that loss of life is immense, with figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health showing over 64,000 deaths, including 20,000 children, with the real number expected to be higher due to many still trapped under the rubble.He stressed that there is no safe haven in Gaza, citing entire families being annihilated in their homes, as well as attacks on health workers and journalists documenting events, describing the bombardment an attack on both infrastructure and civilians.He further pointed out that the healthcare system in the Strip has been subjected to systematic targeting, including hospitals and medical facilities, endangering the lives of staff and patients, and reaching the level of war crimes, noting that the remaining hospitals are overcrowded and severely lacking in supplies, resulting in unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths.

The Israeli military said Saturday that more than 250,000 people had fled Gaza City since it began intensifying operations there, as Palestinian officials reported many had been unable to evacuate south due to overcrowding.The United Nations estimated in late August that about one million Palestinians lived in and around Gaza's largest urban centre, where it said a famine was unfolding after months of worsening conditions.The world body and members of the international community have urged the military to abandon its plans to capture the city, warning the assault and ensuing displacement could worsen the already dire humanitarian situation.On Saturday, Arabic-language army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that "more than a quarter of a mn residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety".Gaza's civil defence agency, however, reported a much lower figure, saying fewer than 70,000 had managed to leave.The Israeli military dropped leaflets Saturday urging residents in western districts to evacuate, as the civil defence reported continuous air strikes.Mohammad Abu Salmiya, head of the Al-Shifa medical complex, said that displacement was continuing inside Gaza City, with residents moving from east to west, but "only a small number of people have been able to reach the south"."Even those who manage to flee south often find no place to stay, as the Al-Mawasi area is completely full and Deir al-Balah is also overcrowded," the senior official added, saying many had returned to Gaza City after failing to secure shelter or basic services.Bakri Diab, who fled western Gaza City for the south, said Israeli strikes continued there as well."Bombing happens here too — the south isn't safe either," said the 35-year-old father of four."All the occupation has done is force people to crowd into places with no basic services and no safety."Israel has come under mounting international pressure to halt its Gaza City offensive, but says it is determined to dismantle what it describes as one of Hamas's last strongholds.In recent weeks the military has targeted high-rise buildings there, saying they were being used by Hamas militants.On Saturday the military announced it had struck yet another tall building in the area.The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, has reached 64,803 martyrs and 164,264 injured.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday she would push to sanction "extremist" Israeli ministers and curb trade ties over Gaza, as she warned famine could not be used as a "weapon of war".Addressing the European Parliament, von der Leyen lamented that divisions among member states were holding back a European response and said the European Commission she leads "will do all that it can on its own"."What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world. People killed while begging for food. Mothers holding lifeless babies. These images are simply catastrophic," von der Leyen said."For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity -- this must stop."The German politician, 66, said the commission would put its bilateral support to Israel on hold, stopping all payments, but without affecting work with civil society groups and Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.The measure is to affect future allocations amounting to about six million euros ($7 million) a year and the disbursement of about 14 million euros for ongoing institutional cooperation projects, the commission said.The European Union's executive will propose sanctions on "extremist ministers" -- whose actions and words "incite violence" -- and "violent settlers".And it will push for a partial suspension of an association agreement with Israel on trade-related matters.But such measures will need approval by the bloc's 27 member states, which have been deeply divided on how to respond to Israel's actions in Gaza."I am aware it will be difficult to find majorities," von der Leyen conceded."And I know that any action will be too much for some. Too little for others. But we must all take our own responsibilities".The United Nations declared famine last month in parts of Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face "catastrophic" conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told residents of Gaza City on Monday to evacuate, as the military ramped up its deadly assault on the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre. Israel has been intensifying its bombardment of the city in preparation for an operation to conquer it, despite repeated entreaties from Western nations and aid agencies to stop. Gaza's civil defence agency meanwhile said at least 39 people had been killed by Israel, including 25 in Gaza City, Monday. The premier's warning came hours after one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Jerusalem since the start of the war, in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a bus, killing six people, according to Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. The two gunmen were killed by a security officer and an armed civilian, police said. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, had told Hamas earlier Monday to lay down its arms or face annihilation. On Monday, Israeli forces targeted a fourth high-rise building - the Al-Ruya tower- in Gaza City in as many days. Israel has faced mounting international pressure to halt its campaign in Gaza, with United Nations rights chief Volker Turk saying he was "horrified by the open use of genocidal rhetoric... by senior Israeli officials". US news outlet Axios reported that White House envoy Steve Witkoff sent a new proposal for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal to Hamas last week. Palestinian fighters killed four Israeli soldiers Monday after lobbing an explosive device into their tank, the Israeli military said. A Reuters report said Spain on Monday banned ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel from calling at Spanish ports or entering its airspace due to Israel's military offensive in Gaza, measures the Israeli foreign minister denounced as antisemitic. Spain, which recognised a Palestinian state in May 2024 and has been a vocal critic of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, responded to Gideon Saar's comments by summoning its ambassador in Tel Aviv back for consultations. On top of the ban on ships and aircraft delivering weapons or military-grade jet fuel to Israel, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government said it would not allow anyone who has participated directly in "genocide" in Gaza to enter Spain. Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and it is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that accuses it of genocide.

The UN rights chief accused Israeli officials on Monday of using overt "genocidal rhetoric" about Gaza and called for decisive international action to "end the carnage".In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council that was criticised by Israel, Volker Turk said the occupied Palestinian territory was already "a graveyard".He accused Israel of inflicting "indescribable suffering and wholesale destruction"."I am horrified by the open use of genocidal rhetoric and the disgraceful dehumanisation of Palestinians by senior Israeli officials."The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights did not provide examples, but his spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told AFP that "shocking and dehumanising language" has been used by a number of high-level officials, stressing that "this is not a case of one senior official mouthing off".A number of countries have sanctioned far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has urged "total extermination" in Gaza, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has called for opening the "gates of hell on Gaza (to) encourage Gazans to emigrate".Shamdasani also pointed to Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman's assertion in March that the "only solution for the Gaza Strip is to empty it of Gazans".And Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu said during a radio interview in July that "the government is racing to have Gaza erased".Turk stressed that nearly two years after the war erupted following Hamas's deadly attack on Israel, "the region is crying out for peace".The Israeli army bombed a Gaza City residential tower block on Sunday -- the third in as many days -- and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military was "deepening" its assault on the Gaza Strip's key urban centre.The UN estimates nearly one million people remain in and around Gaza City, where it officially declared a famine last month."Further militarisation, occupation, annexation and oppression will only feed more violence, retribution and terror," Turk warned.He insisted Israel had "a legal obligation to take the steps ordered by the International Court of Justice to prevent acts of genocide, punish incitement to genocide and ensure enough aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza".The UN rights chief said the international community was "failing the people of Gaza."Where are the decisive steps to prevent genocide," he asked.