KIARA ALFONSECA and WILL GRETSKY
Tue, May 14, 2024
Multiple people have been arrested in connection with an attack Monday on an aid convoy headed toward Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli protestors blocked aid trucks that were headed to Gaza from the West Bank. Humanitarian groups say civilians are facing a “full-blown famine” and a humanitarian crisis amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
MORE: Israel-Gaza live updates: UN court to hold hearings over Israel's Rafah attacks
Footage of the incident, captured by bystanders at the scene and shared online, appears to show protesters blocking and raiding the aid vehicles near Hebron that were passing through the West Bank from Jordan, destroying boxes of water, food and other aid bound for Gaza. Aid trucks can also be seen set ablaze and left burning on the road.
PHOTO: A view of trucks carrying aid to Gaza that were stopped after they were damaged by Israeli settlers near a checkpoint, May 14, 2024, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters)
PHOTO: Damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies are pictured on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank on May 13, 2024. (Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images)
The attack on the convoy is the culmination of weeks of demonstrators attempting to block aid trucks from reaching Gaza, with protesters claiming the aid will instead wind up in the hands of the terrorist group Hamas.
The White House condemned the destruction of the aid, calling it “completely and utterly unacceptable behavior.”
“It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these convoys coming from Jordan going to Gaza to deliver humanitarian assistance,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a press briefing on Monday. “We are looking at the tools that we have to respond to this and we are also raising our concerns at the highest level of the Israeli government.
Israeli law enforcement has publicly said only that an investigation into the aid convoy attack is ongoing.
MORE: Destruction in Gaza: Side-by-side aerial look at the Israel-Hamas war's devastating damage
PHOTO: Humanitarian aid supplies dumvped by Israeli settlers on a road near Tarqumiyah military checkpoint, May 13, 2024, in Hebron, West Bank. (Hamad/Anadolu via Getty Images)
PHOTO: A man stands before one of the damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank on May 13, 2024. (Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images)
Several aid organizations, including United Nations organizations, have warned that Gaza is experiencing "catastrophic" levels of hunger and need.
Immediately following Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in Israel, Israel implemented a blockade of Gaza and severely limited the amount of goods that travel into the territory. Since then, some Gaza border crossings have reopened, but relief workers say the aid getting through falls far short of what's needed.
Amnesty International is among the human rights organizations that have accused Israel of not providing enough authorization to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza, and that ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza make it difficult to deliver what little aid is authorized.
Israel denies the accusations, and counters that the U.N., its partners and other aid agencies have created logistical challenges, resulting in a bottleneck of aid intended for Gaza. Additionally, the Israeli government claimed Hamas steals aid meant for civilians. The U.N. and Hamas dispute the respective claims.
MORE: Gaza aid timeline: How the hunger crisis unfolded amid the Israel-Hamas war
PHOTO: Israeli right-wing activists look at damaged trailer trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the occupied West Bank, May 13, 2024. (Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images)
More than 180 aid workers from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and associated agencies have been killed while providing aid in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the U.N. agency.
In Gaza, more than 34,790 people have been killed and more than 78,000 have been injured since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 1,700 Israelis have been killed and more than 8,700 injured, according to Israeli officials.
ABC News' Mary Kekatos and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.
Britain slams attacks on aid convoys heading to Gaza as 'appalling' given the risk of famine
Nicholas Cecil
Tue, May 14, 2024
Britain slammed attacks on aid convoys heading to Gaza as “appalling” given the risk of famine in the besieged enclave.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron called on Israel to hold the perpetrators to account after several incidents.
He tweeted: “Attacks by extremists on aid convoys en route to Gaza are appalling.
“Gazans are at risk of famine and in desperate need of supplies.
“Israel must hold attackers to account and do more to allow aid in – I will be raising my concerns with the Israeli government.”
Israeli protesters blocked aid trucks headed for Gaza on Monday, strewing food packages on the road in the latest in a series of incidents that have come as Israel has pledged to allow uninterrupted humanitarian supplies into the besieged enclave.
Four protesters, including a minor, were arrested at the protest, at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli occupied West Bank, according to a statement from lawyers representing the protesters.
Videos circulated on social media showed protesters throwing supplies from the trucks onto the ground, with the contents of opened cartons lying spilled across the road.
Last week, four people were arrested in southern Israel after a similar protest by Israelis who object to delivering humanitarian supplies into an area controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, according to their lawyers.
“In light of incidents of disorderly conduct which occurred today, law enforcement has initiated an investigation culminating in the arrest of multiple suspects,” the Israeli police said in a statement.
“The investigation is actively ongoing.”
Israel has faced heavy international pressure to step up the flow of aid into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis threatening a population of more than two million people.
On Sunday, Israeli authorities announced the opening of a new crossing into northern Gaza and a temporary port, built by the United States, is close to opening.
Jordan said last Tuesday that Israeli settlers attacked a humanitarian aid convoy on its way to Erez crossing in northern Gaza and “tampered with its contents” in the second such incident in less than a week.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah said the convoy which goes through the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Jordan later managed to continue on its journey and reach its destination in war-devastated Gaza.
“Jordan holds Israel responsible for the attack by extremist settlers ... it constitutes a breach of its legal obligations as an occupying power,” said Mr Qudah.
Tue, May 14, 2024
Britain slammed attacks on aid convoys heading to Gaza as “appalling” given the risk of famine in the besieged enclave.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron called on Israel to hold the perpetrators to account after several incidents.
He tweeted: “Attacks by extremists on aid convoys en route to Gaza are appalling.
“Gazans are at risk of famine and in desperate need of supplies.
“Israel must hold attackers to account and do more to allow aid in – I will be raising my concerns with the Israeli government.”
Israeli protesters blocked aid trucks headed for Gaza on Monday, strewing food packages on the road in the latest in a series of incidents that have come as Israel has pledged to allow uninterrupted humanitarian supplies into the besieged enclave.
Four protesters, including a minor, were arrested at the protest, at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli occupied West Bank, according to a statement from lawyers representing the protesters.
Videos circulated on social media showed protesters throwing supplies from the trucks onto the ground, with the contents of opened cartons lying spilled across the road.
Last week, four people were arrested in southern Israel after a similar protest by Israelis who object to delivering humanitarian supplies into an area controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, according to their lawyers.
“In light of incidents of disorderly conduct which occurred today, law enforcement has initiated an investigation culminating in the arrest of multiple suspects,” the Israeli police said in a statement.
“The investigation is actively ongoing.”
Israel has faced heavy international pressure to step up the flow of aid into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis threatening a population of more than two million people.
On Sunday, Israeli authorities announced the opening of a new crossing into northern Gaza and a temporary port, built by the United States, is close to opening.
Jordan said last Tuesday that Israeli settlers attacked a humanitarian aid convoy on its way to Erez crossing in northern Gaza and “tampered with its contents” in the second such incident in less than a week.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah said the convoy which goes through the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Jordan later managed to continue on its journey and reach its destination in war-devastated Gaza.
“Jordan holds Israel responsible for the attack by extremist settlers ... it constitutes a breach of its legal obligations as an occupying power,” said Mr Qudah.
Palestinian truckers fear for safety after aid convoy for Gaza wrecked
Reuters
Tue, May 14, 2024
Palestinian truckers fear for safety after aid convoy for Gaza wrecked
Trucks carrying aid to Gaza stand damaged at checkpoint near Hebron
Reuters
Tue, May 14, 2024
Palestinian truckers fear for safety after aid convoy for Gaza wrecked
Trucks carrying aid to Gaza stand damaged at checkpoint near Hebron
HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian hauliers said on Tuesday they feared for the security of aid convoys to Gaza, a day after Israeli protesters wrecked trucks carrying humanitarian supplies bound for the enclave, which is facing a severe hunger crisis.
Footage circulated on social media showed at least one burning truck while other images showed trucks wrecked and stripped of their loads, which lay strewn over the road near Tarqumiya checkpoint outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
"Yesterday there was coordination for 70 trucks of aid to go the Gaza Strip," said Waseem Al-Jabari, Head of the Hebron Food Trade Association.
"While the trucks were uploaded with products at the crossing settlers attacked the trucks and they destroyed the products and set fire in trucks," he said, saying Israeli soldiers had stood by as the attack took place.
Monday's incident was claimed by a group calling itself Order 9, which said it had acted to stop supplies reaching Hamas and accusing the Israeli government of giving "gifts" to the Islamist group.
No comment was available from the Israeli military. The Israeli police said the incident, in which a number of people were arrested, was being investigated.
The violent protest drew condemnation from Washington, which has urged Israel to step up deliveries of aid into Gaza to alleviate a growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave, seven months since the start of the war.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron also condemned the "appalling" incident, saying Israel must call the attackers to account.
Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused the Israeli military and police of deliberately failing to intervene when settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
Adel Amer, a member of the West Bank-based hauliers' union, said around 15 trucks had been damaged by Israeli protestors who beat some drivers and caused about $2 million worth of damage.
"The drivers are now refusing to take goods to Gaza because they're afraid," he said. "It's a disaster here because of the settlers."
Even when the military was present, the convoys were still at risk, he said. "The army says we cannot do anything to the settlers."
(Reporting by Yosri Al Jamal; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Ros Russell)
Israel and Egypt trade blame over Gaza aid blocked at Rafah
Tue, May 14, 2024
DPA
Wed, May 15, 2024
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends the meeting of EU foreign and development ministers at the European Council building in Brussels. Borrell urges Israel to "immediately" end its military operation in Rafah, warning that continuing the assault will strain EU-Israel relations. -/European Council/dpa
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell urged Israel to "immediately" end its military operation in Rafah in a statement on Wednesday.
The EU foreign policy chief said the Israeli offensive in Gaza's southernmost city is disrupting deliveries of humanitarian aid and "leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering."
Borrell said the European Union called on Israel to "refrain from further exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza." He warned that continuing the assault will strain EU-Israel relations.
While the EU recognizes Israel's right to defend itself, "Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians," Borrell said.
Israel's allies, including its main backer the United States, have been warning Israel for weeks against a ground offensive into Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had been sheltering from fighting elsewhere in the coastal strip.
The Israeli army advanced on Rafah from the east just over a week ago and has since also taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt.
On Tuesday, Israeli troops advanced deeper into Rafah, according to eyewitnesses in the overcrowded city.
Tue, May 14, 2024
A drone picture of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip
By Maytaal Angel and Nayera Abdallah
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said on Tuesday that it was up to Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing and allow humanitarian relief into the Gaza Strip, prompting Cairo to denounce what it described as "desperate attempts" to shift blame for the blockage of aid.
The Rafah crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza has been a vital route for aid to the coastal territory, where a humanitarian crisis has deepened and some people are at risk of famine.
Since Israel seized control of the crossing on May 7 as it stepped up its military campaign around Rafah, aid has accumulated on the Egyptian side of the border.
"The key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends," Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz said in comments released by his office.
Katz said he had spoken with his British and German counterparts about "the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing", adding he would also speak with Italy's foreign minister later on Tuesday.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has governed Gaza, will not "control the Rafah crossing", Katz said, citing security concerns over which Israel "will not compromise".
The comments drew a swift and angry response from Egypt's foreign ministry, which said Israel was responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that Israel's military operations in Rafah were the main factor blocking aid.
"The foreign minister strongly denounced the desperate attempts of the Israeli side to hold Egypt responsible for the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.
"The foreign minister called on Israel to fulfil its legal responsibility as the occupying power, by allowing aid to enter through the land ports under its control."
Egypt has said that the crossing has remained open from its side throughout the conflict that began between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.
Cairo has been one of the mediators in stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. But its relationship with Israel has come under strain during the conflict, especially since the Israeli advance in Rafah.
The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid.
The U.N. warned prior to those closings that Gaza was on the brink of famine.
Israel launched its current Gaza offensive following an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who rampaged through Israeli communities near the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials.
(Reporting by Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem, Nayera Abdallah and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Maytaal Angel and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)
View comments (44)
Top EU diplomat urges Israel to end military operation in Rafah
By Maytaal Angel and Nayera Abdallah
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said on Tuesday that it was up to Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing and allow humanitarian relief into the Gaza Strip, prompting Cairo to denounce what it described as "desperate attempts" to shift blame for the blockage of aid.
The Rafah crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza has been a vital route for aid to the coastal territory, where a humanitarian crisis has deepened and some people are at risk of famine.
Since Israel seized control of the crossing on May 7 as it stepped up its military campaign around Rafah, aid has accumulated on the Egyptian side of the border.
"The key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends," Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz said in comments released by his office.
Katz said he had spoken with his British and German counterparts about "the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing", adding he would also speak with Italy's foreign minister later on Tuesday.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has governed Gaza, will not "control the Rafah crossing", Katz said, citing security concerns over which Israel "will not compromise".
The comments drew a swift and angry response from Egypt's foreign ministry, which said Israel was responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that Israel's military operations in Rafah were the main factor blocking aid.
"The foreign minister strongly denounced the desperate attempts of the Israeli side to hold Egypt responsible for the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.
"The foreign minister called on Israel to fulfil its legal responsibility as the occupying power, by allowing aid to enter through the land ports under its control."
Egypt has said that the crossing has remained open from its side throughout the conflict that began between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.
Cairo has been one of the mediators in stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. But its relationship with Israel has come under strain during the conflict, especially since the Israeli advance in Rafah.
The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid.
The U.N. warned prior to those closings that Gaza was on the brink of famine.
Israel launched its current Gaza offensive following an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who rampaged through Israeli communities near the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials.
(Reporting by Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem, Nayera Abdallah and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Maytaal Angel and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)
View comments (44)
Top EU diplomat urges Israel to end military operation in Rafah
DPA
Wed, May 15, 2024
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends the meeting of EU foreign and development ministers at the European Council building in Brussels. Borrell urges Israel to "immediately" end its military operation in Rafah, warning that continuing the assault will strain EU-Israel relations. -/European Council/dpa
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell urged Israel to "immediately" end its military operation in Rafah in a statement on Wednesday.
The EU foreign policy chief said the Israeli offensive in Gaza's southernmost city is disrupting deliveries of humanitarian aid and "leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering."
Borrell said the European Union called on Israel to "refrain from further exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza." He warned that continuing the assault will strain EU-Israel relations.
While the EU recognizes Israel's right to defend itself, "Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians," Borrell said.
Israel's allies, including its main backer the United States, have been warning Israel for weeks against a ground offensive into Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had been sheltering from fighting elsewhere in the coastal strip.
The Israeli army advanced on Rafah from the east just over a week ago and has since also taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt.
On Tuesday, Israeli troops advanced deeper into Rafah, according to eyewitnesses in the overcrowded city.
No comments:
Post a Comment