Category World News

Some of Israel’s steadiest supporters in the US Congress have been moved by the images of abused children leaving Gaza, which has influenced some of its most fervent supporters.

Over the past few days, some Democratic lawmakers have sharply criticized Israel and the GHF food distribution system, which is supported by the US and Israel, and which has resulted in the deaths of more than 1, 000 Palestinian aid seekers.

However, others made flimsy declarations that didn’t directly blame Israeli actions for aid entering Gaza.

The extremist Israeli government is using widespread starvation to orchestrate the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, according to progressive Senator Bernie Sanders in a statement released late on Friday. “This is the reality: 200, 000 Palestinians have already been killed or wounded, mostly women and children.

He claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was running an “extermination” campaign in Gaza.

The anger threatens to undermine Israel’s long-standing bipartisan support for Congress, which authorizes the billions in military aid that Washington annually pays to its staunch US ally.

However, so far, it doesn’t seem like there was much pressure to actually punish the Israeli government for its forced mass hunger operation in Gaza.

The US House of Representatives approved $500 million in missile defense funding for Israel just last week with a majority vote.

This is unable to continue.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen criticized Netanyahu and US President Trump on Saturday for agusing Gaza’s humanitarian aid organizations with mercenaries, which would have increased the number of fatalities and destruction.

In a social media post, Van Hollen wrote, “Every day, the horrors in Gaza reach new, unimaginable depths.”

The Trump administration has been promoting Hamas’ falsely blaming Hamas for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while denouncing US support for the GHF operation, which the UN and human rights organizations have called a “death trap” and “human slaughterhouses.”

Van Hollen remarked, “This cannot continue.”

According to John Garamendi, a member of Congress, Israel’s “dangerous and wilful failure to enable humanitarian aid” in Gaza amounts to genocide.

Only a select few progressive congressmembers have charged Israel with committing a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.

However, international experts and human rights organizations have come to the same conclusion about the Israeli military’s genocidal plot.

According to Garamendi, “Israel has the capacity and the means to provide adequate food to the Palestinians.” Prime Minister Netanyahu has the option to not feed Gaza, adding that they also have the obligation to deliver it under international law.

It must end. My response to Gaza’s hunger crisis. pic. twitter.com/QzeVD2wjCp

Numerous Israeli officials have publicly stated that they want to stop Gaza’s aid and force all Palestinians to leave, effectively encouraging ethic cleansing. Many people have suggested that the enclave is home to no innocent residents.

Amichai Eliyahu, the minister of Israeli heritage, made the apparent assertion earlier this week that his country is purposefully starving Gaza, claiming that “nation feeds its enemies.”

According to The Times of Israel, Eliyahu stated in a radio interview that “the government is racing ahead for Gaza to be completely eradicated.”

At least 127 Palestinians have died in the enclave from malnutrition, including five on Saturday, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

Wesley Bell, a leading critic of Israeli policies and the recipient of millions of dollars from pro-Israel groups, made a statement on Thursday opposing Israel’s actions.

“I’ve always backed and defended Israel’s right to exist. In a social media post, Bell claimed that this hasn’t changed.

I can’t stand by supporting this government’s actions, which include allowing children to starve and firing at civilians in search of food. This is not self-defense, though. It must end.

Summer Lee, a congresswoman, shot at aid seekers who were attempting to get food from GHF sites on Friday, claiming that Israel is preventing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“People are suffering from extreme starvation in the streets.” In a social media post, Lee remarked, “Horrors upon horrors.” The US must stop funding the genocide and famine that Israel produces.

statements that are ambiguous

Lee delivered the crisis with less force than the US lawmakers who addressed the issue.

Many people didn’t point the finger at Israel, while others began their mild critique of the US ally with Hamas’ customary condemnation.

UN agencies and aid organizations have been debating the claim that Hamas steals humanitarian aid, which Israeli military officials acknowledge they have no proof, but several congressmembers have since refuted it.

Congresswoman Grace Meng continued to make pro-Israel statements about the humanitarian situation while saying in a statement that “as a mother, my heart breaks to see children in Gaza starve.”

While Hamas continues to hold hostages, extort the aid system, and refuse ceasefire deals to stay in power and prolong the war, Meng said in a statement. “It is important to recognize that Israel has allowed the entry of over 1.8 million tons and over 96, 000 trucks into Gaza.

My full response to Gaza’s urgent need for peace and the humanitarian crisis. Twitter.com/dnNAR0DGc

Israel has allowed a small amount of aid to enter Gaza despite spending more than 22 months of the conflict, far below the population’s needs. Israel’s tightening of its blockade of the area has made the deadly GHF sites nearly the only food source for Palestinians since March.

Hamas also denies that ceasefire agreements are being rejected. Instead, the organization asserts that it is pursuing a permanent resolution of the conflict, while several Israeli officials have indicated that Israel will continue to conduct its military there despite a temporary truce.

In response to Israeli accusations that Hamas is preventing ceasefire negotiations and stealing the aid, Congressman Adam Smith called on Israel to take the “steps necessary to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

In a statement, Smith said, “I think we can both work immediately to alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza and continue to support Israel in their efforts to defend themselves against Hamas, Iran, and other countries in the region who continue to attack and destroy Israel.”

Senator Cory Booker, who called for a “strategie to strengthen Israel’s security,” also made a 172-word statement about the Gaza hunger crisis that only once mentioned the word “Israel.”

According to Booker, “it is our collective moral duty to make sure humanitarian aid gets to those who need it most quickly.”

criticizing Trump

Some Democrats retaliated against Trump, their political rival, without denouncing Israel at the same time.

In a statement released late on Friday that focused on Trump without specifically criticizing Israel, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries set the tone for that strategy.

Palestinian children and civilians are still battling in a war zone, according to Jeffries. The Trump administration has the power to end this humanitarian crisis, according to the statement. They must now take action.

Statement regarding Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. pic. twitter.com/SFPn3f8H89

Rep. Tim Kennedy’s remarks on Trump’s failure to fulfill his commitment to ending the Gaza war were further underscored by Tim Kennedy.

His strategic and moral failure, according to Kennedy, has caused the world’s worsening conditions, with fresh reports and images of Palestinians being systematically starved, in a statement.

Trump’s Republican Party has largely remained silent about Gaza’s worsening hunger.

However, Congressman Randy Fine, a close ally of the US president, made an appearance to support Israel’s Gaza hunger campaign while also calling it “Muslim terror propaganda.”

On the second day of his golfing trip to Scotland, where he owns and promotes two courses, Donald Trump claims to have spoken with the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand to put an end to their border fighting.

Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social network on Saturday that he had spoken with Cambodia’s prime minister about ending the war with Thailand. Trump, his son Eric, and US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens, both attended his Turnberry resort and exchanged pleasant words in a new post.

More than 130 people were hurt on both sides on Saturday, with 32 people dead. The countries’ coastal regions where they meet on the Gulf of Thailand, about 250 kilometers (160 miles) southwest of the main front lines, continued to host clashes, which are now in their third day.

Before fighting broke out along the nations’ rural border region, which was bordered by a ridge of hills dotted with wild jungle and agricultural land where locals raised rice and rubber, the tensions flared over long-contested ancient temple sites.

Five Thai soldiers were seriously injured on Thursday when a landmine explosion along the border returned after decades-long conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which centered on a contentious stretch of their shared border.

Trump stated on Saturday that “Thailand, like Cambodia, wants a quick ceasefire and PEACE.”

I’m going to send that message to Cambodia’s Prime Minister right away. Ceasefire, Peace, and Prosperity seem to be natural outcomes after speaking with both parties. We’ll see that soon”!

Trump also stated that he would hold off on entering any trade agreements with either country until the conflict is over.

He is a disgrace, even though he has Scottish roots.

Trump’s recent trip to Scotland, where his late mother was born, has caused protests both on the golf course where he plays and elsewhere in the UK.

In Edinburgh, the US Consulate’s main location, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Saturday. Trump was not welcomed, according to speakers who criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for breaking a recent trade deal to avoid heavy US tariffs on imported goods.

The majority of Scots believe that Trump is a disgrace despite his Scottish heritage, according to Mark Gorman, 63. Gorman, an advertising professional, said he came out “because I deeply despise Donald Trump and everything he stands for.”

As well as protests in other cities, pro-Ukraine groups loosely formed a “Stop Trump Coalition” and environmental activists who were staunch supporters of Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

According to June Osbourne, 52, a photographer and photo historian, “I think there are far too many countries that are feeling the pressure of Trump and that they feel they have to accept him.”

Amy White, 15, of Edinburgh, who was there with her parents, said, “I don’t think I could just stand by and not do anything.” We don’t negotiate with fascists, she said while holding a cardboard sign.

The president has been increasingly frustrated by the evidence that other demonstrators have shown signs of pictures with him and bsp, Jeffrey Epstein as the US media feeds the case, and backlash from his MAGA base due to the case’s files.

Scottish Parliamentarian Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds at a protest on Saturday in Aberdeen, “We stand in solidarity with everything that Trump and his politics stand for.”

Trump plans to talk trade with Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, despite the fact that golf is his primary focus.

One hundred twenty-seven people, 85 of them children, have died from hunger or malnutrition as a result of Israel’s siege of Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked all aid to Gaza in March, claiming that it was to pressure Hamas into accepting a ceasefire that Israel broke unilaterally later that month.

This week, the Israeli government has blamed the United Nations for the situation, even accusing its aid agency of working with Hamas to restrict food from getting to people.

This was not the first time Israel blocked aid from entering Gaza. In March 2024, Israel stopped UN aid convoys from reaching northern Gaza as it attempted to starve the population there into fleeing.

In September, 15 international aid organisations said Israel was blocking 83 percent of Gaza’s aid.

In both instances, Israel denied blocking aid, blaming either UN inefficiency or Hamas for aid not reaching people in areas it has claimed to control for much of the war.

So, what has Israel said, and does it accept that a man-made famine is under way in Gaza?

Here’s what we know.

So is there no aid system in Gaza now?

After receiving much criticism over the increased threat of famine that its siege had inflicted on Gaza, Israel, along with its US ally, backed the creation of the GHF in May.

The GHF was intended to replace the UN and international aid agencies, which have operated some 400 aid distribution points across Gaza, with four erratically operated distribution points in Gaza’s centre and south.

Since May, the Israeli military and private contractors, understood to be American, have killed more than 1,000 people trying to access food at GHF distribution points.

There are still some limited UN aid distribution operations, but they are so severely restricted that their effect cannot be felt.

Does Israel accept that there’s starvation in Gaza?

It does not.

On Friday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is responsible for coordinating aid into Gaza, contradicted the claims of numerous aid agencies, asserting that “there is no famine in the Gaza Strip”.

However, it said, there were “pockets” across Gaza where people had “issues of access to food”.

So Israel claims that there’s enough aid being distributed?

Not so much.

Israel claims that shortfalls are occurring because much of the aid lies “rotting in the sun” because the UN has not distributed it.

Israel’s military radio, Kan, recently reported that the Israeli army has burned or buried some 1,000 trucks’ worth of aid that it deemed spoiled or expired.

David Mencer, a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, told the BBC on Friday that the UN in Gaza is a “billion-dollar racket” and accused the UN of working with Hamas to “restrict … aid to its own people”.

Mercer did not provide any reason as to why the UN might do that, or any evidence to back his claims.

Is the UN working with Hamas?

Not according to the UN itself.

On Wednesday, addressing the UN Security Council, Israel’s ambassador, Danny Danon, accused UN aid chief, Tom Fletcher, as well as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, of somehow being affiliated with Hamas.

Danon provided no evidence.

Responding in writing the following day, Fletcher said, “I expect the Israeli authorities to immediately share any evidence that led them to make such claims.”

In January 2024, Israel accused another UN aid body, the UN Relief and Works Agency, of working with Hamas.

An independent review into Israel’s allegations concluded in April 2024 that it had provided no evidence to support its claim.

Is Hamas stealing aid?

Not according to Israel’s military and its principal ally, the US.

Citing unnamed Israeli military officials, The New York Times reported on Saturday that the UN aid operation was relatively reliable and less vulnerable to interference than others, adding that there was no evidence Hamas regularly stole from the UN.

An internal report by the US’s development agency, USAID, in late June also concluded that there was no evidence of the systematic looting of US-provided aid by Hamas.

So far, the only evidence of aid being systematically looted points to criminal gangs now partnering with Israel and the GHF.

So, why isn’t aid reaching people in Gaza?

Months of Israel’s siege have led to the effective breakdown of Gaza’s society, with food convoys at risk of being overwhelmed by starving, desperate crowds, the UN says.

To deliver aid to where it is needed, the UN would need the support of the Israeli military.

On Wednesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said half of the 16 food distribution requests submitted to the Israeli military had been refused.

“Bureaucratic … and other operational obstacles imposed by Israeli authorities; ongoing hostilities and access constraints within Gaza; and incidents of criminal looting, and more shooting incidents that have killed and injured people gathering to offload aid supplies along convoy routes” have limited efforts to deliver aid, Dujarric told reporters.

What is the outcome of that?

Starvation. As we noted above, 127 people, most of whom are children, have already died of starvation in Gaza.

Death through hunger occurs over three stages.

The first starts as early as a skipped meal; the second comes with any prolonged period of fasting when the body relies on stored fats for energy.

The third, and often fatal, stage is when all stored fats have been depleted and the body turns to bone and muscle as sources of energy.

It is, according to Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan, a British-Egyptian paediatrician and neurologist who has volunteered in Gaza, “a very cruel, slow death”.

Why have more children died than adults?

Because their bodies are using less to do more.

Children, especially infants and toddlers, have much less muscle and fat to draw on during famine, while their basic metabolism is working harder as they grow.

The outcome is that they have a much-reduced buffer when food intake stops.

What are the chances that Israel’s siege might end?

Nobody knows.

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has so far seemed immune to international outrage and internal dissent over its war on Gaza.

It dismisses the accusations of engaging in crimes against humanity and disregarding international law as “anti-Semitic” and “blood libel”.

In the minds of most analysts, the only power with the influence capable of restraining Israel in Gaza and the region is US President Donald Trump.

However, predicting how the notoriously mercurial US president may behave is generally regarded as a job beyond the abilities of most analysts.

In Gaza, we see death in every aspect of life. Death has become an inseparable companion, lingering in the streets, the skies, and even in our homes. It is no longer a shock – it is a grim daily reality which we have been forced to adapt to.

There are many ways to die in Gaza, although one does not have the luxury to choose.

You may be killed in a bombing, or be struck by a sniper’s bullet as you try to collect food to stave off hunger, or starvation itself may claim your life. The Health Ministry says 116 people have died because of malnutrition, many of them babies and children.

In Gaza, the simplest, most basic necessity can also be lethal. Water is one of them. Every aspect of it can be dangerous: providing it, seeking it, drinking it, swimming in it.

Since the start of the genocide, the Israeli army has relentlessly targeted Gaza’s water infrastructure. More than 85 percent of Gaza’s water and sanitation structures are inoperable – including pipelines, wells, and treatment facilities.

Israel has blocked the entry of water-related materials to the Strip, making repairs difficult. It has also targeted the warehouse of the water utility authority, destroying equipment and spare parts.

Worst of all, workers trying to make repairs or operate water infrastructure have been directly targeted and killed. Working in the water sector has now become a deadly job.

Most recently, on July 21, the Israeli occupation forces attacked a desalination plant in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing five people at the site. This was one of the few functioning water stations in the city.

The destruction of the water infrastructure in Gaza has forced us to go out in search of water on a daily basis. There are some war entrepreneurs who charge exorbitant amounts of money for delivering water to homes; the vast majority of people cannot afford such services.

So Palestinians are forced to walk long distances and wait in long queues, plastic jugs in hand, to fetch a daily ration of water.

The wait under the scorching sun is not just exhausting, but it can also turn deadly.

On July 13, 11 Palestinians – seven of them children – were killed and dozens more injured when an Israeli missile struck civilians as they queued to get water from water trucks in Nuseirat refugee camp, not far from my own home.

Sometimes, water trucks are not available, so people are forced to drink water that is unfit for human consumption from local wells. It is contaminated with bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants and can trigger outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

I myself felt victim to one. Months ago, after drinking from a local well, I contracted hepatitis A. My skin and the whites of my eyes turned a haunting shade of yellow. Waves of nausea left me unable to eat, and a persistent fever made every breath feel difficult. But the worst was the searing pain in my abdomen – a constant, twisting ache as if my insides were being wrung out by invisible hands. For weeks, I was bedridden, my body weak, my mind consumed with fear.

A visit to a clinic brought me no relief – just a prescription for a painkiller and a “salamtek” (get well). I had to fight the infection on my own.

I survived, but others are not so lucky. Hepatitis, like other infectious waterborne diseases running amok in Gaza, kills.

Amid the unbearable summer heat, one would think that at least the water of the sea could bring Palestinians some relief, but that too is deadly.

In recent weeks, the Israeli military has declared Gaza’s entire coastline a prohibited zone, effectively banning Palestinians from swimming, fishing, or even approaching the water. Anyone who gets near the sea is shot at.

Even before the ban, the Israeli army was attacking Palestinians who would try to get into the sea to fish and alleviate their families’ hunger. As of December 2024, some 200 fishermen had been killed, according to the UN; many more have died since then.

While we are banned from the only place that used to bring us relief from the heat, just a few kilometres north, Israelis freely enjoy the same Mediterranean waves, sunbathing and swimming in peace. They also enjoy long showers and the privilege of running water. They use the luxurious 247 litres (65 gallons) per day per person.

According to the World Health Organization, a person needs 100 litres (26 gallons) of water per day to cover their basic needs. People in Gaza now get between two and nine litres (0.5 – 2.3 gallons) per day.

The struggle for water is just one of the many battles Palestinians in Gaza fight daily. There is no food to feed one’s starving family, no electricity to power fans, and no medicine to treat the diseases that plague us. Every aspect of life here is a test of endurance. There is, quite literally, nothing to ease the weight of these brutal circumstances – no relief, no respite, not even the smallest comfort.

I still can’t comprehend how, in the 21st century, a world of more than 7 billion people, where global leaders talk about prosperity, dignity and rule of law, we are still deprived of the most basic human necessities.

In December 2024, Human Rights Watch openly declared that Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to a “genocide,” and it based this conclusion on establishing Israel’s “water deprivation as a deliberate act”. It pointed out that “thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have died as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, and disease as of August 2024”.

It has been a year since then. Countless people have died because of Israel’s weaponisation of water – numbers that are not included in the official death toll because the health authorities simply lack the capacity to track them.

The truth is out in the open. It is broadcast on international media. It is visible on social media. And yet, the world remains idle, refusing to take action and stop Israel.

To this world, I want to say: Your silence echoes louder than the bombs that fall on us every day. You must act now, or go down in history with your complicity in the slaughter and starvation of the Palestinian people.