Tag: war on gaza

  • Pregnant woman raped and killed in front of family by Israeli soldiers: Palestinian media reports

    Pregnant woman raped and killed in front of family by Israeli soldiers: Palestinian media reports

    A number of journalists from Gaza took to social media to report that Israeli forces conducting operations inside Al-Shifa hospital are torturing and raping women present inside.

    Photojournalist and videographer Wissam Nasser from Gaza said that a man and his wife taking shelter inside the hospital along with their two children had an alleged heinous encounter with the Israeli forces. “The preganant wife was forcibly undressed by Israeli forces despite informing them of her pregnancy; they continued to kick her. Then they assaulted and raped her in front of her family and other men,” Wissam shared.

    He also shared a dark art work by the artist Ibrahim Ghunaim featuring a pregnant woman with tears of blood running down her eyes. He captioned it, “According to testimonies from inside Al shifa hospital, Israeli invading troops raped a Palestinian pregnant woman in front of her husband and other men then they killed her. This is happening situation the holy month of Ramadan while starving Palestinians are fasting. Absolutely shocking, disgusting and shows their evil nature‼‼”

    Another Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary took to Instagram stories and posted, “Women in Gaza are raped and tortured.”

    Various Palestinian media outlets have also confirmed the claims and presented eye-witness accounts.

    Middle East Eye reported a woman’s eye-witness account by Ms. Jamila al-Hissi as to what is happening inside Al-Sifa hospital. “They raped women, kidnapped women, executed women, and pulled dead bodies from under the rubble to unleash their dogs on them.” She further lamented, “Is there anything more horrifying than hearing women call for help, and when we try to reach them to provide assistance, they shoot at us.”

    Israeli forces have been attacking and laying siege to al-Shifa Hospital since Monday, March 18. The medical complex is the largest in the Gaza Strip, with some 30,000 people seeking refuge there prior to the current raid.

    Journalist Sami Alsultan shared a video testimony of a woman who was forcefully expelled from Al Shifa complex with her children while IDF took her husband, killed her husband’s uncle and grandfather.

    In another video shared by Middle East Eye, a woman named Nisreen was seen sharing how IDF barged into their home, stripped her naked and took all her belongings away.

    Doctor Aliyah Khan spoke to Middle East Monitor and shared testimonies from Canadian physicians serving in Gaza. They reported on a case where a woman was raped for two days until she lost the ability to speak. Another woman was stripped in front of her brother and husband. When they tried to cover her, they were killed by Israeli soldiers.

    Hind Khoudary in collaboration with Palestinian Feminists shared the disturbing surge of women victims of rape and torture in Gaza. It called out the deafening silence of Western feminists and mainstream media over the issue.

  • Penelope Cruz, Angelina Jolie shed light on famine in Gaza

    Penelope Cruz, Angelina Jolie shed light on famine in Gaza

    Global superstars Penelope Cruz and Angelina Jolie are raising their voice for the starving people of Gaza.

    Cruz, the Spanish actress famous for Vanilla Sky, shared a United Nations Instagram post about the imminent famine in Gaza and how people in the besieged strip are starving to death.

    Cruz has been working with Unicef and she has been among the Spanish actors who have been vocal about demanding a ceasefire in Gaza since December.

    Angelina Jolie also shared a Washington Post article on her Instagram story, stressing that “Famine may already be there in Gaza”.

    Jolie has openly expressed her “disappointment” and called out Israel for deliberately “bombing a trapped population”.

  • UN chief, at Gaza crossing, urges end to ‘nightmare’ of war

    UN chief, at Gaza crossing, urges end to ‘nightmare’ of war

    UN chief Antonio Guterres, on a visit to the doorstep of Gaza, on Saturday said the world has seen enough of the war’s horrors and appealed for a ceasefire to allow in more aid.

    ‘Palestinians in Gaza—children, women, men—remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare,’ he said on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing where truckloads of aid trickle into Gaza but the population is stalked by ‘hunger and starvation’.

    This handout pictured released by the United Nations press office shows UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meeting with a Palestinian child evacuated from the Gaza Strip receiving treatment at the general hospital in El-Arish in Egypt’s northeastern North Sinai province on March 23, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by Mark GARTEN / UNITED NATIONS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / UNITED NATIONS – MARK GARTEN” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / UNITED NATIONS – Mark Garten” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS /

    ‘I carry the voices of the vast majority of the world who have seen enough,’ Guterres said, deploring ‘communities obliterated, homes demolished, entire families and generations wiped out’.

    He reiterated that ‘nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas’ against Israel, triggering the war on October 7.

    ‘And nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,’ the United Nations secretary-general said.

    Guterres, speaking at a lectern in front of the imposing gates to the Gaza side of  Rafah, through which aid trucks pass, said the ‘heartbreak and heartlessness of it all’ were clear.

    ‘A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates. The long shadow of starvation on the other,’ which he called ‘a moral outrage.’

    Guterres emphasised ‘it is more than time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ and appealed to Israel for ‘total, unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza.’

    The UN chief, who makes an annual ‘solidarity mission’ to distressed Muslim communities during their holy fasting month, said that ‘in the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it is also time for the immediate release of all hostages’ captured in the October attacks and still held by militants in Gaza.

    Response from Israel

    Israel’s foreign minister said Saturday the United Nations had become an ‘anti-Israeli body’ under Antonio Guterres, after the UN chief called for a ceasefire on a visit to Gaza’s border.

    International outrage over the heavy civilian toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza has further worsened the long strained ties between Israel and the world body.

    ‘Under his (Guterres’s) leadership, the UN has become an anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror,’ Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on social media platform X.

    The top Israeli diplomat criticised Guterres, who Katz said ‘stood today on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing and blamed Israel for the humanitarian situation in Gaza’, claiming instead that Hamas militants ‘plunder’ aid.

    Katz, whose government has accused staff at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack that triggered the war, also said Guterres spoke ‘without calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages’.

    Vote at Security Council

    Meanwhile, a vote at the UN Security Council on a new text calling for an ‘immediate’ ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was postponed to Monday, diplomatic sources told AFP, after a separate, US-lead draft resolution was vetoed.

    The United States, Israel’s main ally and military backer, had put forward a resolution mentioning ‘the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire’ and condemning the October 7 attack by Hamas.

    Russia and China on Friday vetoed that resolution, which was also opposed by Arab states for stopping short of explicitly demanding Israel immediately end its campaign in Gaza.

    The new ceasefire text was meant to go to a vote on Saturday, but was pushed back to allow further discussions, the diplomatic sources said.

    The new, tougher draft resolution, seen by AFP, ‘demands an immediate ceasefire’ for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan that leads ‘to a permanent sustainable ceasefire’ respected by all sides.

    Eight of the council’s 10 non-permanent members have been working on the draft, which also calls for the ‘immediate and unconditional’ release of hostages seized by Hamas and the lifting of ‘all barriers’ to humanitarian aid flowing into the besieged Gaza Strip.

    ‘We as (the) Arab Group unanimously endorse and support the draft resolution,’ said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, who had denounced the US-led text as biased.

    But US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield indicated opposition, saying the resolution would jeopardize ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages—the same reason the United States gave before vetoing previous ceasefire resolutions.

    ‘In its current form, that text fails to support sensitive diplomacy in the region. Worse, it could actually give Hamas an excuse to walk away from the deal on the table,’ she said.

    Friday’s text did not explicitly use the word ‘call,’ but simply stated that a ceasefire was imperative, and linked to ongoing talks, led by Qatar with support from the United States and Egypt, to halt fighting in return for Hamas releasing hostages.

    ‘If the US is serious about a ceasefire, then please vote in favor of the other draft resolution, clearly calling for a ceasefire,’ China’s representative, Zhang Jun, said.

  • US Secretary of State hints at normalisation of Saudi-Israel ties while Kingdom stresses on establishment of Palestine

    US Secretary of State hints at normalisation of Saudi-Israel ties while Kingdom stresses on establishment of Palestine

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed on Thursday that the United States and Saudi Arabia have made “good progress” in talks on normalising ties between the kingdom and Israel. However, he did not provide a timeline for concluding the deal.

    “I believe we can reach an agreement, which would present a historic opportunity for the two nations, but also for the region as a whole,” Blinken said at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.

    Talks on normalisation had been put on ice after Oct 7 but conversations have resumed in recent months.

    While trying for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, the Biden administration has been working to secure a normalisation deal as well. However, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries want the creation of a Palestinian state to be part of any such deal with Israel.

    Saudi Arabia is also looking to sign a mutual defence pact with Washington and get U.S. support for its civil nuclear program. Blinken discussed the topics on Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah during an official visit.

    “We had a very good discussion about the work that we’ve been doing for many months now on normalisation, and that work is moving forward. We’re continuing to make good progress,” Blinken said but added that he could not offer a timeframe.

    Earlier a senior State Department official said Washington and Riyadh were down to a handful of bilateral issues and there was political will to address those gaps.

    A pact giving the world’s biggest oil exporter U.S. military protection in exchange for normalisation would reshape the Middle East by uniting two long-time foes and binding Riyadh to Washington at a time when China is making inroads in the region.

    For such a deal to advance, Israel needs to agree to a pathway for creation of an independent Palestinian state, a prospect that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.

    Washington sees any normalisation deal woven into post-war planning that would include Arab countries providing security guarantees for Israel in return for the creation of a Palestinian state under a reformed Palestinian Authority.

    Blinken did not elaborate how Washington would overcome Netanyahu’s objections to creation of a Palestinian state, but said the ongoing violence benefited Iran.

    “The perpetuation of this cycle only benefits Iran and the proxies that are working for it. So I think as that choice is clear, people will begin to really think about it and make decisions,” Blinken said.

    Until Oct 7, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had been saying they were moving steadily toward a deal that could have reshaped the Middle East.

    Five months of war in the densely populated Gaza enclave have triggered starvation and food shortages.

    The head of the World Health Organization said only opening more border crossings for trucks carrying aid could prevent famine in Gaza.

  • UN aid agency in Gaza hit by Israel, injuries reported

    UN aid agency in Gaza hit by Israel, injuries reported

    The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said one of its aid warehouses in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip was “hit” on Wednesday, wounding scores of people.

    “At least one UNRWA staff member was killed and another 22 were injured when Israeli forces hit a food distribution centre in the eastern part of Rafah” in southern Gaza, the agency said in a statement.

    The health ministry in Gaza Strip earlier had said four people were killed in the “bombing of the warehouse”.

    Wednesday’s incident comes amid mounting concern about worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where Israel has carried out military operations since October intended to eliminate the Hamas militant group.

    “Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

    He also said the UN had shared coordinates of the facility with the Israeli army on Tuesday.

    An UNRWA spokeswoman said the facility was used “to distribute much-needed food and other lifesaving items to displaced people in southern Gaza”.

    At least 165 UNRWA employees have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza, Wednesday’s UNRWA statement said.

    “More than 150 UNRWA facilities were hit, some totally destroyed, among them many schools,” it said.

      ‘How can they bombard us?’ 

     An AFP photographer saw victims of the strike on Wednesday arriving at Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, at least one of whom was identified by other people at the hospital as a UN employee.

    Witnesses said the strike compounded security fears in Rafah, which is overcrowded with 1.5 million mostly displaced people, further marring the normally festive Muslim fasting month of Ramazan which began on Monday.

    “It’s an UNRWA centre, expected to be secure,” said Rafah resident Sami Abu Salim.

    “Some came to work to distribute aid to the people in need of food during the holy month of Ramazan. Suddenly, they were struck by two missiles.”

    Hasan Abu Auda, displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, said people had come to the warehouse “to sustain themselves for their daily meals”.

    “It’s Ramazan today,” he said. “How can they bombard us during the month of Ramazan?”

    Israel’s aggressive military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 31,272 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

    Gaza’s dire food shortages after more than five months of war have resulted in 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children, the ministry says.

    Cumbersome Israeli security checks on all cargoes entering the territory slow down the delivery of aid, and some trucks are sent back when they are found to contain forbidden items, aid workers say.

    Israeli authorities say bottlenecks are caused by aid piling up on the Palestinian side as there are not enough trucks to distribute it.

  • Women’s Day: Palestinian Journalists that we need to know about

    Women’s Day: Palestinian Journalists that we need to know about

    Palestinian women in general and journalists, in particular, have set the bar with their resilience against what is now largely perceived as the most well-documented genocide of this century.

    This Women’s Day, the world paid tribute to their untiring efforts, yet it is important to mention here that it is not enough since the besieged strip has been wreaked for more than six months now.

    Palestinian journalists observed in real time the tragedy that women and children are experiencing due to the devastating war since October 7 last year.
    At least 63 women in Gaza are killed daily as a result of the Israeli war, with the majority being mothers, The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported on Friday.

    “On International Women’s Day, the women in Gaza continue to endure the consequences of this brutal war,” the agency shared. “At least 9,000 women have been killed, and many more are under the rubble,” the statement added.

    Hind Khoudary

    Hind Khoudary is one such face the world is now fully familiar with because of her on-ground reporting and the compassion she has shown over time. She was paid tribute to by her fellow journalist Ali Jadallah in an Instagram post where he praised her for her commitment to her profession and towards Gaza.

    However, he added, “As the ‘International Women’s Day’ is celebrated around the world on March 8th, Palestinian women start to work with the first hours of the day to provide for their families despite the difficulties experienced amid Israeli attacks.”

    Hind, 28-years-old, has been working in the media since 2017. In an interview with Anadolu, she pointed out that the current situation in the Gaza Strip affects all Palestinian women regardless of their professions.

    “While the world celebrates Women’s Day, Palestinian women are being displaced from their homes,” she said. “I am not just a journalist covering the war. Rather, I am a displaced person. I left my family and my husband and chose, despite the circumstances, to remain in Gaza and cover the war,” she added further.

    In one of her posts on Instagram, she shared how she doesn’t have clean clothes to wear anymore and how she struggles hard during her periods. “I am also wearing two pants above each other because I don’t have any joggers anymore. The last time I showered was ten days ago. On my period for the second time during the past 30 days and yet I am still standing despite all the cramps,” Hind wrote.

    Noor Hrazeen

    Noor is a TV presenter and a reporter who has been reporting about the ongoing situation in Gaza. She made a huge sacrifice by evacuating her children from Gaza just for them to be able to have food and water but she remained in Gaza to continue reporting about the havoc endured by Palestinians.

    In one of her posts, she wrote: “It’s hard to work in a location, where you know that there is dead bodies still stuck under the rubble. But it’s a story that should be told.”

    Roba Khaled

    Roba is a Palestinian journalist who has shown sheer commitment to her job even when her children were sick or when Israel was bombing buildings in real-time.

    Doaa Albaaz

    Doaa, 27, a photographer, reports the horrors befallen upon Gazans by the Israeli forces. “On International Women’s Day, we want to convey the image of women who are subjected to the most horrific massacres in Gaza,” she said in an interview with Anadolu.

    “During this war, the occupation targeted women, children, and innocent people,” she pointed out. “We lack everything, including privacy. There are no bathrooms, and we struggle to convey the real picture,” Baz asserted.

    Duaa Tuaima

    Duaa Tuaima is a photojournalist whose Instagram is a window that opens into the reality of the suffering in Gaza.

    She mostly documents the women and children of Gaza and how they are struggling to grapple with starvation and siege.

    Bisan Owda

    Bisan is another popular name. A storyteller and filmmaker by profession from northern Gaza, Bisan has been documenting the displacements, bombings, and genocide in Gaza from day one. Her vlogs and videos in collaboration with different platforms are raw and insightful. “Hi, this Is Bisan from Gaza and I am still alive” is the line she says at the beginning of every vlog and it is ironically sad and hopeful at the same time.

    In one of her videos, she featured an Israeli jet and said, “I grew up with this sound, it’s not new…”

    In another, she posted about living in fear since the war started. “For 150 days, I have been afraid of cement ceilings. I do not want to be crushed to death when a missile lands. I sleep in a tent, and I am like hundreds of thousands suffering cold at times, heat at times, and disease and hunger at other times,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

    Sumayya Wushah

    11-year-old war reporter Sumayya Wushah was featured in Al Jazeera’s videos as Gaza’s youngest journalist reporting about the destruction in a confident tone. She is inspired by Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al-Jazeera journalist who was killed by the Israeli army in 2022.

    The list could be longer. These journalists are inspiring women from all around the world for their strength and the cause they stand for.

  • On Women’s Day, the world did not forget Palestinian women

    On Women’s Day, the world did not forget Palestinian women

    Palestinian women took center-stage in internet discourse surrounding Women’s Day on Friday with artwork and rich tributes.

    Al-Jazeera wrote about the five most prominent women from Gaza. From doctors to activists, these are some of the women showing bravery amid Israel’s war on Gaza. These women include Bisan the journalist, Dr. Amira Al-Assouli who saved the life of a child from Israeli snipers by risking her own life, Nadina Abdullatif the child activist from Gaza, Deema Alswiti who caught the world’s attention after posting about her life in Gaza and Sara Alsaqqa, the first woman surgeon in Gaza who safely brought a child in the world while stuck in a room during Israeli bombing.

    Instagram digital art-related page Yael Jamina Illustration posted a beautiful art piece in “honour of the heroic women and girls of Palestine”.

    Palestinian-Greek athlete Samia Kallidis posted a heartfelt women’s day message for the women of Gaza and called out the world for the blatant hypocrisy.

    APAN, a Pro-Palestine Account on X, posted detailed profiles of Palestinian activists featuring Hind Khoudary, Ahed Tamimi, and Muna el’Kurd.

    Communist Pastors shared a women’s day poster with the caption, “The Palestinian woman: the guardian of the dream and the shield of the revolution.”

    A netizen shared a poster by award-winning artist Marc Rudin which was published by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1980.

    Along with these beautiful art pieces, women all around the world took to roads for peaceful marches in commemoration of Women’s Day and raised slogans in solidarity with the oppressed women of Gaza.

  • Prisoner in American jail donates all his wages for working for 136 hours to Gaza

    Prisoner in American jail donates all his wages for working for 136 hours to Gaza

    Hamza, a prisoner incarcerated in an American jail and working as a janitor, donated all of his earnings to the people suffering in Gaza. The story has been widely shared across social media.

    Filmmaker Justin Mashouf first shared on his socials that his incarcerated friend Hamza had asked him to help him by donating his wage money to help civilians in Gaza.

    “An incarcerated brother I am in correspondence with donated $17.74 for relief efforts in Gaza. This donation is the sum of 136 hours of his labor in the prison working as a porter/janitor,” Mashouf wrote.

    The selfless act left not just Mashouf but also the people on Twitter and Instagram stunned.

    As Mashouf shared Hamza’s prison pay stub on social media, users raised more than $102,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. This money was intended to go to the 56-year-old Hamza who has been incarcerated for nearly 40 years and is set to be paroled this month, reports The Washington Post.

    Mashouf first contacted Hamza in 2009, when he was working on his documentary “The Honest Struggle.”

    The Washington Post did not publish Hamza’s legal name — “Hamza” is a chosen name — because Mashouf said Hamza feared he would be risking his parole status by seeking attention.

    Legal records show that Hamza was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in 1986 and sentenced to 15 years to life. He pleaded guilty to the murder when he was a teenager, records show.

    Mashouf told the Washington Post that Hamza had been convicted of the murder of an uncle.

    “Hamza accidentally fired a gun at a loved one … leading to his imprisonment for over four decades,” says GoFundMe page.

    At the time of his conviction, the judge told Hamza that he would be released on adult parole. However, Hamza appealed against the denial of his parole in 2013.

    Records show that Hamza has appeared in front of the court multiple times but has always been denied parole.

    The GoFundMe page also laid out how Hamza converted to Islam in 1989 and how he would be spending his money once released: health care, housing, clothing, food, a job search and training. Hamza has already decided, however, that some of the donations meant for him will go to others in need, Mashouf said.

    After Mashouf told Hamza that the funds were in the thousands, Hamza asked him to disable donations.

    “He said whatever has already been donated is sufficient for him,” Mashouf said. “And that he didn’t want to distract people from those who were suffering more than him.”

    Moreover, in an update on the GoFundMe page, Hamza said he was eager to start his new life.

    “I look forward to the promise of life, happiness, struggles, and dreams, to soar and spread my wings, to be a man, a human being once again now that I know the preciousness and the incalculable value of Life,” he wrote.

    Mashouf said that Hamza is a qualified electrician but would need computer and technological training to get up to speed before he joins the workforce outside prison.

    Hamza will also be donating his March paycheck to civilians in Gaza, one that he hopes is his final check from prison.

    Prisoners in California make between 8-37 cents per hour for their labour. This is a part of forced labour permitted by the constitution. Prison labour provides $ 11 billion per year to the country’s revenue, reported AJ+ in an explainer.

  • Gaza needs food to be airdropped to prevent starvation

    Gaza needs food to be airdropped to prevent starvation

    The people in Gaza who have managed to escape death by Israeli strikes in a war that has been forced on them are now dying of hunger and starvation. Videos of bread made out of animal feed and kids collecting flour accidently spilled on the ground are making rounds on social media leading to the drive for the ceasefire taking momentum. As recently as February 20, the UN Food Agency put a pause on its deliveries in the North of Gaza until the conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions.

    Families in Gaza are forced to forage for scraps of food left by rats and eating leaves out of desperation to survive with nearly five months of war and rapidly declining aid supplies leaving all 1.1 million children in Gaza facing starvation, Save the Children said. 

    Hind Khoudary, the Palestinian Journalist in Gaza reporting from the ground, took to her Instagram to plead to the world to airdrop food in Gaza as people have started eating leaves and are making bread out of animal feed. “People are eating leaves and animal food. “I am calling the world and all the countries to Airdrop food to Gaza,” she said in an Instagram story.

    Ali Jadallah, a photojournalist from Gaza, shared how her mother, a dialysis patient, is suffering because of the food and health crisis in Gaza. Finding food in Gaza is the most difficult thing nowadays.

    Journalist Anas Ajmal reported how he has been searching for a meal but could not find one in days.

    “Gaza has become a place of death and despair,” stated the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths.

    Videos of hundreds of desperate and hungry Gazans heckling the UNRWA aid truck emerged from the besieged strip. Many reports from Gaza have already been warning the global authorities of impending famine and loss of lives due to hunger.

    Back in December, Human Rights Watch had accused the Israeli government of intentionally starving civilians in Gaza as part of its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime,” the New York-based group charged in a report.

    Additionally, The Times posted a report about the famine-stricken conditions of the people of Gaza where a mother revealed how her breasts no longer produce milk because of long periods of starvation and how her children are suffering immensely. Explaining the food crisis the article explained how Gazans are forced to eat rotten food and hunt cats to fulfill their needs as famine hits Gaza.

    More than a million people are displaced in Gaza but none is safe from hunger. It is rampant in Gaza, it is in the wasteland of al-Mawasi encampment in Gaza where handfuls of dirty flour are kneaded by mothers to make bread for their children.

    It is in the fires, stoked with plastic bottles, which produce nothing but choking black smoke. Children in Gaza no longer play but lie around, exhausted by hunger. It is in food that is rotten and makes you sick but is eaten just the same. Bissan shared in one of her videos how people have been having the only bread they have with the salt.

    The last nail in the coffin has duly been the suspension of the aid program of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, the agency provides services including schooling, primary healthcare, and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. It is important to note that since the onset of the war on Gaza, Israeli authorities, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have accused it of fuelling anti-Israeli incitement – allegations it denies. UNRWA says it has provided aid to desperate people in Gaza and used its facilities to shelter those fleeing Israeli attacks. Meanwhile, the situation is getting worse with time.

    Time recently shared in an article, the hurdles around the idea of food airdrops in Gaza. “Some experts warn that humanitarian airdrops are not as simple as they sound. Aside from the cost of conducting them (up to seven times more than land transport, according to the U.N.’s World Food Programme), airdrops tend to be less efficient and more hazardous than other methods of providing humanitarian relief,” the article read.

    The biggest hurdle in Gaza’s case is the lack of safety in terms of the ongoing airstrikes of Israel and the damage it has done to the land of Gaza. Michel Schaffner, the head of air operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross, told TIME in an email that for this operation the specified land needs to be secure, large, and clean enough to be free of obstacles and people. “Once the cargo is on the ground, there need to be arrangements in place as regards who will collect it, where it will be stored, and how it will be distributed. … We do not do airdrops without these measures in place,” Time quotes him.

    Even though Israeli aggression is again the biggest opposing factor in this proposed solution, it is important to note that it is not a permanent solution to this problem, a ceasefire is.

    An Arabic saying implies that if someone dies of hunger, the neighbour should be charged with murder yet the whole world is watching a huge population dying of hunger and there is no action regarding that.

  • Prince William calls for an end to war on Gaza

    Prince William calls for an end to war on Gaza

    The British Prince William has said that the “sheer scale of human suffering” had brought home the need for peace in an enclave “where too many have been killed”, reports Al Jazeera.

    In a rare, direct intervention for a member of the royal family, William, the heir to the British throne, said it was critical that aid gets through to those who need it in Gaza.

    “Sometimes, it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home,” he said in a statement.

    The 41-year-old visited the British Red Cross headquarters in London on Tuesday to hear about their work supporting people affected by war in the Middle East.

    “I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible,” he said. “There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. It’s critical that aid gets in and the hostages are released.”

    Previously, the heir apparent of the British throne, Prince William, was reportedly set to commence a number of royal engagements in order to “recognise the human suffering” as a result of Israeli operations on Gaza and in the Middle East.

    Kensington Palace has said that the future King will also take into consideration increasing anti-Semitism around the world.

    He is set to meet with humanitarian workers in the region while also visiting a synagogue to listen to the youth countering anti-Semitism.

    “The prince and princess were profoundly concerned by events that unfolded in late 2023 and continue to hold all the victims, their family and friends in their hearts and minds,” his office said.