Israel orders Palestinians to flee Khan Younis, signaling return of troops to southern Gaza city

A tank manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Israel, July 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 02 July 2024
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Israel orders Palestinians to flee Khan Younis, signaling return of troops to southern Gaza city

  • Order suggested Khan Younis will be latest of Israel’s repeated raids into parts of Gaza
  • Since start of the war, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and West Bank

GAZA: The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault in the Gaza Strip’s second largest city.

The order suggested Khan Younis will be the latest of Israel’s repeated raids into parts of Gaza it has already invaded over the past eight months, pursuing Hamas militants as they regroup.

Much of Khan Younis was already destroyed in a long assault earlier this year, but large numbers of Palestinians have since moved back in to escape another Israeli offensive in Gaza’s southern-most city, Rafah.

The evacuation call covered the entire eastern half of Khan Younis and surrounding areas. Last week, the military ordered a similar evacuation from the north Gaza district of Shujaiya, where there has been intensive fighting since.

The order came as Israel released the director of Gaza’s main hospital after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command center. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured.

The decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia raised questions over Israel’s claims surrounding Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces have raided twice since the start of the nearly nine-month war with Hamas. Abu Selmia and other Palestinian health officials have denied the accusations.

His release triggered an uproar across Israel’s political spectrum. Government ministers and opposition leaders expressed outrage and insisted Abu Salmia played a role in Hamas’ alleged use of the hospital — though Israeli security services rarely unilaterally free prisoners if they have a suspicion of militant links.

The decision appeared to have been taken to free up space in overcrowded detention centers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an inquiry, his office said, though it added that security officials independently determine whom to release “based on their professional considerations.”

Abu Selmia was released back into Gaza along with 54 other Palestinian detainees, many of whom also alleged abuse. The allegations could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinians who have been held in Israeli custody.

“Our detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars,” Abu Selmia said at a news conference after his release. “There was almost daily torture.” He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs.

He said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held had also taken part in the abuse “in violation of all laws.” He said some detainees had limbs amputated because of poor medical care.

There was no immediate response from the prison service, which has previously denied similar accusations.

Israeli forces raided Shifa Hospital in November, alleging that Hamas had created an elaborate command and control center inside the facility. Abu Selmia and other staff denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering thousands of patients and displaced people who were sheltering there.

The military uncovered a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital leading to a few rooms, as well as other evidence that militants had been present inside the medical center, but the evidence fell short of what it had claimed before the raid.

Abu Selmia was detained on Nov. 22 while escorting a UN-led evacuation of patients from the hospital. He said his detention was “politically motivated,” adding that he had been brought to court at least three times but was never charged or allowed to meet with lawyers.

Israel has since raided other Gaza hospitals on similar allegations, forcing them to shut down or dramatically reduce services even as tens of thousands have been wounded in Israeli strikes or sickened in the harsh conditions of the war. The army raided Shifa a second time earlier this year, causing heavy destruction after saying that militants had regrouped there.

Hospitals can lose their protection under international law if combatants use them for military purposes, but any assaults on them must still be proportional to any military threat.

Amid the uproar over Abu Selmia’s release, the various Israeli state organs responsible for detentions scrambled to shift blame.

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister who controls the country’s police and prison service, said the releases constituted “security negligence” and blamed the Defense Ministry. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Abu Selmia’s release was another sign of the government’s “lawlessness and dysfunction.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office said the incarceration and release of prisoners is the responsibility of the prison service and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The prison service said the decision was made by the Shin Bet and the army, and released a document ordering his release that was signed by an army reserve general.

The Shin Bet said Abu Selmia had passed a risk assessment, “compared to other detainees.” It said the government had decided against its advice to release detainees determined to be less of a threat in order to free up space.

Since the start of the war, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, crowding military detention facilities and prisons. Many are being held without charge or trial in what is known as administrative detention.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 civilians and took another 250 hostage. In its campaign, Israel has killed at least 37,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or fighters.

Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, with many displaced multiple times. Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of public order have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, fueling widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine.


’If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza

Updated 4 sec ago
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’If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza

  • Gazan families forced to feed infants ground chickpeas, herbs
  • Little formula available, many mothers unable to breastfeed
GAZA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM: In a makeshift tent on a Gazan beach, three-month-old Muntaha’s grandmother grinds up chickpeas into the tiniest granules she can to form a paste to feed the infant, knowing it will cause her to cry in pain, in a desperate race to keep the baby from starving.
“If the baby could speak, she would scream at us, asking what we are putting into her stomach,” her aunt, Abir Hamouda said.
Muntaha grimaced and squirmed as her grandmother fed her the paste with a syringe.
Muntaha’s family is one of many in Gaza facing dire choices to try to feed babies, especially those below the age of six months who cannot process solid food.
Infant formula is scarce after a plummet in aid access to Gaza. Many women cannot breastfeed due to malnourishment, while other babies are separated from their mothers due to displacement, injury or, in Muntaha’s case, death.
Her family says the baby’s mother was hit by a bullet while pregnant, gave birth prematurely while unconscious in intensive care, and died a few weeks later. The director of the Shifa Hospital described such a case in a Facebook post on April 27, four days after Muntaha was born.
“I am terrified about the fate of the baby,” said her grandmother, Nemah Hamouda. “We named her after her mother...hoping she can survive and live long, but we are so afraid, we hear children and adults die every day of hunger.”
Muntaha now weighs about 3.5 kilograms, her family said, barely more than half of what a full-term baby her age would normally weigh. She suffers stomach problems like vomiting and diarrhea after feeding.
Health officials, aid workers and Gazan families told Reuters many families are feeding infants herbs and tea boiled in water, or grinding up bread or sesame. Humanitarian agencies also reported cases of parents boiling leaves in water, eating animal feed and grinding sand into flour.
Feeding children solids too early can disrupt their nutrition, cause stomach problems, and risk choking, paediatric health experts say.
“It’s a desperate move to compensate for the lack of food,” said UNICEF spokesperson Salim Oweis. “When mothers can’t breastfeed or provide proper infant formula they resort to grinding chickpeas, bread, rice, anything that they can get their hands on to feed their children... it is risking their health because these supplies are not made for infants to feed on.”
BABY BOTTLES WITHOUT MILK
Gaza’s spiralling humanitarian crisis prompted the main world hunger monitoring body on Tuesday to say a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed to avoid widespread death. Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world.
Gazan health authorities have reported more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total so far stands at 154, among them 89 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks.
With the international furor over Gaza’s ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday it was still not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid.
Israel and the US accuse militant group Hamas of stealing aid — which the militants deny — and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon, which the Israeli government denies.
Humanitarian agencies say there is almost no infant formula left in Gaza. The cans available in the market cost over $100 – impossible to afford for families like Muntaha’s, whose father has been jobless since the war closed his falafel business and displaced the family from their home.
In the paediatric ward of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, the infant formula supply is mostly depleted.
One mother showed how she poured thick tahini sesame paste into a bottle and mixed it with water.
“I am using this instead of milk, to compensate her for milk, but she won’t drink it,” said Azhar Imad, 31, the mother of four-month-old Joury.
“I also make her fenugreek, anize, caraway, any kind of herbs (mixed with water),” she said, panicked as she described how instead of nourishing her child, these attempts were making her sick.
Medical staff at the hospital spoke of helplessness, watching on as children’s health deteriorated with no way to safely feed them.
“Now, children are being fed either water or ground hard legumes, and this is harmful for children in Gaza,” said doctor Khalil Daqran.
“If the hunger continues ... within three or four days, if the child doesn’t get access to milk immediately, then they will die,” he said.

Damascus seeks ‘right relationship’ with Moscow, minister says

Updated 8 min 3 sec ago
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Damascus seeks ‘right relationship’ with Moscow, minister says

  • “There are many opportunities for a united strong Syria, we hope Russia stands with us on this pathway,” Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani told Sergei Lavrov in a joint news conference

DUBAI: Syria’s foreign minister told his Russian counterpart in Moscow that the new Islamist rulers in Damascus want “the right relationship” with Moscow, a close ally of toppled Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
“There are many opportunities for a united strong Syria, we hope Russia stands with us on this pathway,” Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani told Sergei Lavrov in a joint news conference.


Lebanon’s President Aoun urges political parties to give up arms

Updated 31 July 2025
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Lebanon’s President Aoun urges political parties to give up arms

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanese political parties need to seize the opportunity and hand over their weapons sooner rather than later, as Washington increases pressure on Hezbollah to give up its arms.
He added that the country would seek $1 billion annually for 10 years to support the army and security forces in Lebanon.


Arab nations call for peace, renewal of Arab Peace Initiative on final day of UN 2-state solution conference

Updated 31 July 2025
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Arab nations call for peace, renewal of Arab Peace Initiative on final day of UN 2-state solution conference

  • Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit decries ‘high price we are all paying for the system of apartheid and occupation to remain’ in Gaza, and says for Palestinians it is ‘a price paid in blood’
  • Omani representative accuses Israel of unilaterally ‘eroding’ prospects for peace in ‘defiance of the provisions of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy’

Arab nations issued a unified call to end the violence in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday, reiterating their strongest endorsement yet of the Arab Peace Initiative as the only viable framework for regional peace and stability.

“What we’re seeing today in Gaza, the withdrawal of stability and security in the region, is indeed the outcome of the ongoing occupation,” said a representative of the Arab League, delivering a statement on behalf of the organization’s secretary-general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

“This is the price being paid by Palestinians, a price paid in blood.”

He described the toll as “an extremely high price that we are all paying for the system of apartheid and occupation to remain on this land,” adding that the League remains committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, which was initially adopted in Beirut, 23 years ago.

“This vision hasn’t, however, been reciprocated. Rather, it has been countered by arrogance and nationalism based on religious sectarian views that will lead the region to an unknown future,” he said.

The comments came at the conclusion of the “High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution” at the UN headquarters in New York.

Oman echoed the sentiment, with its representative reaffirming that “comprehensive and lasting peace” must be grounded in the framework of international law, as outlined in the Arab Peace Initiative.

In a position similar to that adopted by other nations during the conference, the Omani representative accused Israel of unilaterally “eroding” the prospects for peace, in what he described as “defiance of the provisions of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy.”

He continued: “The nature of the current Israeli government’s policies, as the most extreme in decades, further complicates the landscape and directly hampers all effort to relaunch the peace process.”

The Gulf Cooperation Council reiterated its position of support for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, condemned the continuing Israeli aggression against Gaza, and demanded that it end.

The council’s representative said it also rejected Israeli settlement policies as a blatant violation, and called for full humanitarian access in Gaza and reconstruction of the territory to begin.

“True greatness is not based on power but on the ability to use power to serve justice,” he added. “It is time to turn this principle into (a) clear international position that recognizes (a) fully independent Palestinian state.”

The representative for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation joined the others in advocating for a two-state solution, and stressed the need for Israeli authorities to act in accordance with UN resolutions.

Israel is guilty of “systemic crimes including aggression, genocide, destruction, displacement, starvation and blockade on the Gaza Strip,” he added, in addition to “illegal policies of settlement expansion, annexation and ethnic cleansing.”

Moreover, Israel’s intention “to impose its so-called sovereignty over the West Bank, including the occupied city of Jerusalem … constitutes flagrant violations of international law and the relevant UN resolutions,” the representative said as he called for an end to all such actions.

The calls came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the conflict in Gaza has reached “breaking point.” International pressure for a ceasefire agreement continues to mount but Israel has resisted calls to halt its military operations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly moving ahead with plans to annex parts of Gaza if Hamas rejects a truce.

On Wednesday, sources said Israel had turned down the latest ceasefire proposal, citing its refusal to withdraw forces from key areas of the territory.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, described this week’s UN conference as “a political circus” against Israel.

“We’re seeing a detachment from reality, the spread of lies, and support for terrorism,” he wrote in a message posted on social media platform X.

The US special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, was expected to arrive in Tel Aviv on Thursday for talks with Israeli officials. His visit comes as the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warns that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza.

Iran’s representative at the UN also spoke on the final day of the conference, condemning a “policy of appeasement” from the international community toward Israel, and calling for concrete action.

“In light of its continued defiance of the UN Charter, the Israeli regime must face targeted sanctions and suspension of its UN membership to protect the integrity and credibility of the organization,” the he said.

He further urged member states to press the Security Council to admit Palestine as a full member of the UN and insisted that “this process must not be obstructed by the United States.” Palestine currently has observer status at the UN.

A follow-up summit to this week’s conference is planned to take place during the UN General Assembly in September.


UN expert on torture demands end to ‘lethal, inhumane, degrading’ starvation of civilians in Gaza

Updated 30 July 2025
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UN expert on torture demands end to ‘lethal, inhumane, degrading’ starvation of civilians in Gaza

  • Alice Jill Edwards says prolonged calorie deprivation is causing malnutrition, organ failure and death, particularly among vulnerable groups such as infants and pregnant women
  • ‘Constantly changing rules, militarized distributions, and daily and hourly uncertainty about when one is going to access these basic necessities is causing utter despair, stress and trauma’

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the growing number of starvation-related deaths among Palestinians in Gaza.

She described the starving of civilians as ‘lethal, inhumane and degrading,’ and called for the rapid and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the battered enclave.

“Depriving people of food, water and dignity has been a serious and recurring violation of this war and it must end,” she said, citing “shocking” reports of people being killed while queuing for food, as well as widespread hunger and malnutrition.

The risk of all-out famine in Gaza is escalating, she added, stressing that all parties to the conflict have legal obligations under international law to ensure civilians under their control have access to food and water, and to facilitate humanitarian operations.

“They must not steal, divert or willfully impede the distribution of aid,” Edwards said.

She detailed the “catastrophic physiological consequences” of prolonged calorie deprivation, including malnutrition, organ failure and death, particularly among vulnerable groups such as infants and pregnant women.

“The psychological impact of being deprived of food and water is inherently cruel,” she added.

“Constantly changing rules, militarized distributions and daily and hourly uncertainty about when one is going to access these basic necessities is causing utter despair, stress and trauma.”

She welcomed a recent announcement by Israel of humanitarian pauses in military operations to allow the World Food Programme to deliver aid throughout Gaza over a planned three-month period, but said “more must be done” to end the hostilities and establish long-term peace based on a two-state solution.

“No one should have to suffer the humiliation of being forced to beg for food, and especially not when there are ample supplies waiting to be provided,” she said.

Edwards also reiterated her call for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages, the release of arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and for independent investigations into allegations of torture, ill-treatment and other potential war crimes by all parties.

She said she has raised her concerns repeatedly with relevant authorities and continues to press for full accountability.

Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts who work on a voluntary basis, are not members of UN staff and are not paid for their work.