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Aid situation 'remains catastrophic' - WHO says little improvement in amount going into Gaza since ceasefire
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took hold – and no observable reduction in hunger.
Speaking on Thursday, WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the aid situation in Gaza “remains catastrophic” and “there is not enough food” for those in the territory. He said:
The situation still remains catastrophic because what’s entering is not enough … there is no dent in hunger because there is not enough food.
On Wednesday, the UN’s top court said that Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and found that its restrictions on doing so over the past two years had put it in breach of its obligations.
In the advisory opinion by the international court of justice in The Hague, aid levels were found to have remained inadequate.
A week ago, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that it had brought about 560 tonnes of food a day on average into Gaza since the ceasefire began, but it was still below what was needed. Its spokesperson Abeer Etefa said:
We’re still below what we need, but we’re getting there … The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance.
During the war, Israel shut down entry and exit routes, largely blocking off food and medicine, which in turn caused a famine in parts of Gaza.
The UN said it would take time to reverse the famine in Gaza and urged the opening of all crossing points.
More on this story in a moment, but first here are some other main developments:
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In a joint statement carried by Saudi state media on Thursday, more than a dozen such states including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey condemned the Israeli parliament’s vote on West Bank annexation. Arab and Muslim countries, which the US has been courting to provide troops and money for a stabilisation force in Gaza – a key element of Trump’s ceasefire plan – have warned that annexation of the West Bank is a red line.
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The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”. Seperately, when asked on Thursday if he was concerned by the votes, US president Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: “Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank.”
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio, one of a string of top US officials to visit Israel in recent days, had warned before his arrival that the annexation moves were “threatening” to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, but he expressed confidence in the truce after meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday. “We feel confident and positive about the progress that’s being made. We’re clear-eyed about the challenges, too,” said Rubio.
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Netanyahu, standing next to Rubio after their meeting on Thursday, was quick to avoid any suggestion of tension with Washington, calling the secretary an “extraordinary friend of Israel” and saying that the back-to-back visits were part of a “circle of trust and partnership”.
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Gaza’s Nasser hospital said that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday in the Khan Younis area. Residents reported almost constant heavy gunfire and tank shelling in eastern areas of Khan Younis and also east of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory overnight into Thursday, reported Reuters.
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A human rights group has launched an attempt to mount a private prosecution alleging British citizens unlawfully went to fight for Israel. An application to a magistrates court for a summons against a named individual was lodged on Monday.
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Turkey's Erdoğan says US and others must press Israel to abide by Gaza ceasefire
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the United States and others must do more to push Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the possible use of sanctions or halting arms sales.
According to an official readout of his remarks to reporters on board a return flight from Oman, Erdoğan said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was abiding by the agreement. He added that Turkey remains ready to support the planned Gaza taskforce in any way needed.
Sirens that sounded in communities near Gaza early on Friday were determined to be a false identification, the Israeli military said in a statement, reports Reuters.
Earlier, the military had said that “details were under review” after the sirens sounded.
Palestine rights group seeks prosecution of UK citizens who fought for Israel
Patrick Wintour
A human rights group has launched an attempt to mount a private prosecution alleging British citizens unlawfully went to fight for Israel.
An application to a magistrates court for a summons against a named individual was lodged on Monday.
The highly unusual prosecution is being brought by the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP). The human rights group intends to argue in court that named Britons joined a foreign army at war with a state, Palestine, which the b was not fighting.
It claims that waging war with a foreign force is a breach of section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870. The act makes it an offence for any person to accept or agree a commission or engagement in the military service of any foreign state at war with another foreign state that is at peace with the UK government.
The ICJP has named one individual in the attempted prosecution but has gathered evidence against more than 10 British citizens.
To enhance the prospects of a successful prosecution and prevent the case being prejudiced, the ICJP is not naming the individuals they want to be arrested.
The ICJP accuses the Israel Defense Forces of conducting a war that is not confined to Hamas but is against all Palestinians and Palestine itself, a state now recognised by the UK.
The group says it needs to prove the defendant is a British subject, accepted a commission or engagement in the Israeli armed forces, that Israel was at war with Palestine, that Palestine is a foreign state and finally that Palestine was at peace with the UK.
Aid situation 'remains catastrophic' - WHO says little improvement in amount going into Gaza since ceasefire
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took hold – and no observable reduction in hunger.
Speaking on Thursday, WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the aid situation in Gaza “remains catastrophic” and “there is not enough food” for those in the territory. He said:
The situation still remains catastrophic because what’s entering is not enough … there is no dent in hunger because there is not enough food.
On Wednesday, the UN’s top court said that Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and found that its restrictions on doing so over the past two years had put it in breach of its obligations.
In the advisory opinion by the international court of justice in The Hague, aid levels were found to have remained inadequate.
A week ago, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that it had brought about 560 tonnes of food a day on average into Gaza since the ceasefire began, but it was still below what was needed. Its spokesperson Abeer Etefa said:
We’re still below what we need, but we’re getting there … The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance.
During the war, Israel shut down entry and exit routes, largely blocking off food and medicine, which in turn caused a famine in parts of Gaza.
The UN said it would take time to reverse the famine in Gaza and urged the opening of all crossing points.
More on this story in a moment, but first here are some other main developments:
-
In a joint statement carried by Saudi state media on Thursday, more than a dozen such states including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey condemned the Israeli parliament’s vote on West Bank annexation. Arab and Muslim countries, which the US has been courting to provide troops and money for a stabilisation force in Gaza – a key element of Trump’s ceasefire plan – have warned that annexation of the West Bank is a red line.
-
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”. Seperately, when asked on Thursday if he was concerned by the votes, US president Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: “Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank.”
-
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, one of a string of top US officials to visit Israel in recent days, had warned before his arrival that the annexation moves were “threatening” to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, but he expressed confidence in the truce after meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday. “We feel confident and positive about the progress that’s being made. We’re clear-eyed about the challenges, too,” said Rubio.
-
Netanyahu, standing next to Rubio after their meeting on Thursday, was quick to avoid any suggestion of tension with Washington, calling the secretary an “extraordinary friend of Israel” and saying that the back-to-back visits were part of a “circle of trust and partnership”.
-
Gaza’s Nasser hospital said that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday in the Khan Younis area. Residents reported almost constant heavy gunfire and tank shelling in eastern areas of Khan Younis and also east of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory overnight into Thursday, reported Reuters.
-
A human rights group has launched an attempt to mount a private prosecution alleging British citizens unlawfully went to fight for Israel. An application to a magistrates court for a summons against a named individual was lodged on Monday.
