UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza

UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza
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A truck carrying aid arrives at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on its Israeli side on May 28, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 28 May 2025
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UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza

UN blasts new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza
  • The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis in the territory
  • Intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The UN on Wednesday condemned a US-backed aid system in Gaza after 47 people were injured during a chaotic food distribution, where the Israeli military said it did not open fire at crowds.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis coupled with intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

According to the UN, 47 people were injured in the mayhem that erupted on Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians desperate for food rushed into a GHF aid distribution site, while a Palestinian medical source said at least one had died.

Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said most of the wounded had been hurt by gunfire, and based on the information he had, “it was shooting from the IDF” — the Israeli military.

The Israeli military rejected the accusation, with Col. Olivier Rafowicz telling AFP that Israeli soldiers “fired warning shots into the air, in the area outside” the center managed by the GHF, and “in no case toward the people.”

With the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel entering its 600th day on Wednesday, Palestinians in Gaza felt there was no reason to hope for a better future.

In Israel, the relatives of people held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack longed for the return of their loved ones, with hundreds gathering in their name in Tel Aviv.

“Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop,” said Bassam Daloul, 40, adding that “even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare.”

The UN has repeatedly hit out against the GHF, which faces accusations of failing to fulfil the principles of humanitarian work, and Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday reiterated the criticism.

“I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities. We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose,” he said during a visit in Japan.

In Gaza, the civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes killed 16 people since dawn Wednesday.

Heba Jabr, 29, who sleeps in a tent in southern Gaza with her husband and their two children, was struggling to find food.

“Dying by bombing is much better than dying from the humiliation of hunger and being unable to provide bread and water for your children,” she said.

Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.

A medical source in southern Gaza said that after Tuesday’s stampede at the GHF site “more than 40 injured people arrived at Nasser Hospital, the majority of them wounded by Israeli gunfire,” adding that at least one had died since.

The source added that “a number of other civilians also arrived at the hospital with various bruises.”

On Tuesday, the GHF said around “8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far... totaling 462,000 meals.”

UN agencies and aid groups have argued that the GHF’s designation of so-called secure distribution sites contravenes the principle of humanity because it would force already displaced people to move again in order to stay alive.

Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.

In Israel, hundreds of people gathered to call for a ceasefire that would allow for the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza since their 2023 attack.

Protesters gathered along the country’s roads and on the main highway running through the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.

Most Israeli media headlines read “600 days,” and focused on the hostage families’ struggle to get their relatives home.

Other events were planned across Israel to make the 600th day of captivity for the 57 remaining hostages still in Gaza.

Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.


Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch

Updated 4 sec ago
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Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch

Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch
“The ESA may order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period,” ESA said
GHF had not fulfilled certain legal requirements

GENEVA: Switzerland on Wednesday initiated proceedings to dissolve the Geneva branch of the controversial, U.S- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid group, citing legal shortcomings in its establishment.

The GHF began handing out food packages in the Gaza Strip at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid deliveries that has drawn UN criticism over a perceived lack of neutrality in Gaza’s war as well as the killings of hundreds of Palestinians in mass shootings near its distribution hubs.

The GHF is registered in the US state of Delaware and had registered an affiliate in Geneva on February 12. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Swiss move to shut down its Geneva office.

“The ESA may order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period,” the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) said in a creditors notice published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce on Wednesday.

The ESA told Reuters the GHF had not fulfilled certain legal requirements including having the correct number of board members, a postal address or a Swiss bank account.

“GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland...and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered (branch),” the ESA said in a statement.

Last week, Geneva authorities issued a separate legal notice to the GHF to remedy within 30 days “deficiencies in the organization” or face potential action.

More than 500 people have been killed near GHF distribution hubs in Gaza or along access roads guarded by Israeli forces since the GHF started operating, according to Palestinian medical authorities in the territory.

Israel’s military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been harmed near the distribution centers and its forces had been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned.”

The GHF has said that it has delivered more than 52 million meals to needy Palestinians in five weeks and that other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.”

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies in Gaza after a nearly two-year war by Israel against militant group Hamas that has displaced most of the enclave’s two million inhabitants and left much of it in rubble.

Hamas says it’s open to a Gaza truce but stops short of accepting a Trump-backed proposal

Hamas says it’s open to a Gaza truce but stops short of accepting a Trump-backed proposal
Updated 34 min 40 sec ago
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Hamas says it’s open to a Gaza truce but stops short of accepting a Trump-backed proposal

Hamas says it’s open to a Gaza truce but stops short of accepting a Trump-backed proposal
  • Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu said that the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement”
  • He said Hamas was “ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war”

CAIRO: Hamas suggested Wednesday that it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel, but stopped short of accepting a US-backed proposal announced by President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war.

Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war — something Israel says it won’t accept until Hamas is defeated. He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week.

But Hamas’ response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.

Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu said that the militant group was “ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.”

He said Hamas was “ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war.”

A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the talks with the media.

Israel and Hamas disagree on how the war should end

Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal.

Hamas has said that it’s willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.

Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.

An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory. The mediators and the US would provide assurances about talks to end the war, but Israel isn’t committing to that as part of the latest proposal, the official said.

The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the details of the proposed deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It wasn’t clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about 10.

Israel has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s announcement. On Monday, Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top US officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters.

Trump issues another warning

On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said.

Trump’s warning may find a skeptical audience with Hamas. Even before the expiration of the war’s longest ceasefire in March, Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more hostages and a return of more aid for Gaza’s civilians.

Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 56,000 dead in the Palestinian territory. The Gaza Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Since dawn Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 40 people across the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said. Hospital officials said four children and seven women were among the dead.

The Israeli military, which blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas, was looking into the reports.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger.


Hamas orders rival armed group leader to surrender

Hamas orders rival armed group leader to surrender
Updated 41 min 39 sec ago
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Hamas orders rival armed group leader to surrender

Hamas orders rival armed group leader to surrender
  • Palestinian media say the group operates in the east of the southern city of Rafah in an area controlled by Israeli forces as they battle Hamas in the territory

GAZA CITY: Authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza declared treason charges Wednesday against the leader of a rival armed group accused of working with Israel during its Gaza offensive, ordering him to turn himself in.

Yasser Abu Shabab, aged 35 according to Hamas's summons issued on Wednesday, is suspected of heading the Popular Forces group in southern Gaza.

Palestinian media say the group operates in the east of the southern city of Rafah in an area controlled by Israeli forces as they battle Hamas in the territory.

The "military judiciary authority" of the government in the Hamas-ruled territory ordered him "to surrender himself to the competent authorities for trial before the judicial bodies".

It said in a statement that its "revolutionary court" had "given Yasser Abu Shabab 10 days to turn himself in for trial on charges of treason, collaborating with hostile entities, forming an armed gang, and armed rebellion".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted last month that Israel was supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes Hamas, without naming it.

Israeli and Palestinian media named the group as the Popular Forces, led by Abu Shabab.

The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank described Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks".

It said he was thought to have been previously imprisoned by Hamas for drug-trafficking.

The Popular Forces said in a statement on Sunday that they had raided a site where they said Hamas was storing food aid meant for civilians.

Hamas has accused the Popular Forces of collaborating with Israel to loot humanitarian aid.


Iran suspends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

Iran suspends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
Updated 02 July 2025
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Iran suspends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

Iran suspends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
  • The war between Iran and Israel has intensified tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency

TEHRAN: Iran on Wednesday formally suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, a measure drawn up in the wake of unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.

The war between Iran and Israel, which broke out on June 13 and lasted for 12 days, has intensified tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill to suspend cooperation with the agency.

State media said on Wednesday that the legislation had cleared the final hurdle and was in effect.

The text, published by Iranian media, states that the legislation aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and “especially uranium enrichment.”

The issue of enrichment was at the core of disagreements between Washington and Tehran in nuclear negotiations that had been derailed by the war.

Israel and some Western countries had for long accused Iran of seeking to quire nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

The text of the law did not specify concrete moves linked to the suspension of cooperation with the IAEA, whose inspectors have had access to declared nuclear facilities.

Following the parliament vote, the bill was approved by the Guardian Council, a body tasked with vetting legislation, before a final ratification from the presidency.

Iranian President “Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” state TV said on Wednesday.

Iranian officials have sharply criticized the IAEA for what they described as the agency’s “silence” in the face of the Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

Tehran has also lambasted the UN agency for a resolution adopted on June 12 that accuses Iran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.

Iranian officials said the resolution was among the “excuses” for the Israeli attacks.

On Wednesday, senior judiciary official Ali Mozaffari said that IAEA director Rafael Grossi should “be held accountable” for what he called “preparing the groundwork for the crime” against Iran, referring to Israel’s air raids.

Mozaffari accused Grossi of “deceptive actions and fraudulent reporting,” according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.

Iran has rejected a request from Grossi to visit nuclear facilities bombed during the war, and earlier this week Pezeshkian decried his “destructive” conduct.

Iran has said Grossi’s request to visit the bombarded sites signalled “malign intent” but insisted there were no threats against him or against inspectors from his agency.

France, Germany and Britain have condemned unspecified “threats” against the IAEA chief.

Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper has recently claimed that documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.

On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parliament vote to halt cooperation with the IAEA reflected the “concern and anger of the Iranian public opinion.”

The 12-day war began when Israel launched a major bombing campaign on Iran and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, with Tehran responding with waves of missiles and drones launched at Israel.

On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

More than 900 people were killed in Iran, according to the judiciary.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

US President Donald Trump said the US attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, though the extent of the damage was not clear.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has admitted “serious” damage to nuclear sites.

But in a recent interview with CBS Evening News, he said: “One cannot obliterate the technology and science... through bombings.”


Turkish police seize 825 kg of heroin: interior minister

Turkish police seize 825 kg of heroin: interior minister
Updated 02 July 2025
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Turkish police seize 825 kg of heroin: interior minister

Turkish police seize 825 kg of heroin: interior minister

ISTANBUL: Police have seized 825 kilogrammes of heroin and arrested 30 people in a string of raids largely in southern Turkiye, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday.

Straddling Asia and Europe, Turkiye lies on several major smuggling routes and is the main entry point for heroin on the European market.

“In operations across seven provinces, centered in (the southern city of) Adana.. we seized 825 kilogrammes (1,818 pounds) of heroin and arrested 30 suspected drug traffickers,” he wrote on X.

In a simultaneous operation, police raided 38 different addresses in Adana, Hakkari, Hatay, Istanbul, Van, Diyarbakir, and Mersin, seizing unlicensed weapons and “a large quantity” of digital material, he said.

Heroin continues to be the most commonly used illicit opioid within the European Union and “increasingly relies on maritime routes and in particular the use of global container traffic and ferries” departing from Turkiye, Europol’s 2024 analysis of the EU drug market said.

The report said Turkish criminal networks continue to dominate the wholesale trafficking of heroin to the European market.