Category: World

Israel to open Gaza humanitarian corridors as aid drops begin3 hours agoShareSaveRuth ComerfordBBC NewsShareSaveReutersPalestinians waiting for food from a charity kitchenIsrael has said it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza, following weeks of international pressure and a growing hunger crisis.
In a statement on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had allowed air drops of humanitarian aid to resume, the first of which consisted of seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food provided by international organisations.
The announcement came amid calls for Israel to let more aid into Gaza and amid warnings of mass starvation following months of limited supply to the territory's two million people.
Israel denied what it called “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.
The IDF said it had “begun a series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip”, and was “prepared to implement human..

Gaza aid site offered a 'women only' day. It didn't stop the killing5 hours agoShareSaveEmir NaderBBC News, JerusalemShareSaveBBCMary Sheikh al-Eid’s family arrived at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after learning she had been killedThe food distribution was announced in advance, like many before it, in a post on social media carrying an illustration of smiling Palestinians receiving boxes of aid.
This time, however, the invitation shared by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was different, featuring illustrations of only women.
“Tomorrow at our morning distribution at our location in the Saudi district, only women are welcome to come and receive a food box,” the GHF post said. “Men should avoid the site during this distribution.”
Mary Sheikh al-Eid wanted to feed her seven children. Her husband had been killed earlier in the war and the family had been surviving on lentil soup for three weeks, said Mary's sister Khawla, but the last week had been a struggle.
“..

'I witnessed war crimes' in Gaza, former worker at GHF aid site tells BBCA retired US special forces officer has revealed to the BBC why he resigned from his work with US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centres.
“I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians,” Anthony Aguilar told the BBC.
He added that in his entire career he has never witnessed such a level of “brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population”.
21 minutes agoMiddle EastIsrael-Gaza warIsraelGazaShareSave

Almost a third of people in Gaza not eating for days, UN food programme warns3 hours agoShareSaveMaia DaviesBBC NewsShareSaveReutersInternational concern has risen this week with warnings that starvation has gripped GazaAlmost one in three people in Gaza are going days without eating, the UN's food aid programme has warned.
“Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.
Warnings of starvation in Gaza have intensified this week. Nine more people died of malnutrition on Friday, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry – bringing the total such deaths since the war began to 122.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no restriction on aid getting into the territory and blames Hamas for any malnutrition.
An Israeli security official said on Friday that airdrops of aid into Gaza could be allowed in the coming days – something aid agencies have..

'I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy' – BBC's Gaza freelance journalists tell of struggle for food5 hours agoShareSaveYolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, JerusalemShareSaveAnadolu via Getty ImagesJournalists are facing the same dire circumstances as those they are coveringThree trusted freelance Palestinian journalists whom the BBC relies on for its Gaza coverage have shared how they are now struggling to feed their families and often go two days or more without eating.
All of the men have kept their cameras running, sending us vital footage, even on days when their close relatives have been killed, they have lost their homes, or have been fleeing from Israeli military advances with their families.
One was previously badly wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli bombing while on assignment.
But he says the current time is “the hardest time I have lived through since I was born. It's a huge crisis of suffering and deprivation.”
Global food security experts ..

One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, UN aid agency says5 hours agoShareSaveAoife Walsh and Paulin KolaBBC NewsShareSaveBBCThe UN says the hunger crisis in Gaza 'has never been so dire'One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished and cases are increasing every day, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) says.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini cited a colleague telling him: “People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.”
More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups have also warned of mass starvation – pressing for governments to take action.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no siege and blames Hamas for any cases of malnutrition.
The UN, however, has warned that the level of aid getting into Gaza is “a trickle” and the hunger crisis in the territory “has never been so dire”.
In his statement on Thursday, Lazzarini ..