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Following a US-brokered ceasefire agreement, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by Israel and the US, announced it is ending its contentious “mission” and closing aid distribution locations.

Israel and the US supported the GHF as an independent agency to administer aid in the Gaza Strip, which was under increasing international pressure earlier this year. Since March this year, Israel has completely stopped providing humanitarian aid to the Strip, claiming that UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is stealing donations from Hamas. UNRWA employees were also prohibited from entering the Strip from February because Israel did not provide any proof for this.

The UNRWA network previously established about 400 sites across the Strip, but the GHF, which were guarded by armed US private security contractors, established only four “mega-sites” to distribute food and other aid to Gaza’s estimated two million Palestinians.

Additionally, Israeli forces and some US contractors have frequently opened fire on Palestinians who have arrived for aid since the organization started operations in Gaza in May. Large crowds have gathered around the sites as a result of the site’s disorganization, and some have died in stampedes or suffocated.

More than 2, 000 aid seekers have been killed or crushed by gunfire, according to UN figures, despite GHF Executive Director John Acree declaring in a statement on Monday that the organization was the “only aid operation that reliably and safely provided free meals to Palestinian people in Gaza.”

This is how this year’s GHF “mission” to Gaza came to an end:

May 26 – Hours after GHF’s executive director, Jake Wood, resigned, citing concerns about the agency’s independence, it issued a statement announcing it would begin direct aid delivery inside the battered enclave. The UN and other aid organizations object to working with GHF, warning that gathering Palestinians at a few central aid locations would put people at risk and thwart other aid efforts.

GHF will start operating in Gaza on May 27. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured when Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of Palestinians trying to get food in the Rafah area in southern Gaza. Aid seekers are compelled to cross over fences and slog through crowds of people trying to get supplies that are needed. The chaos underscores the staggering level of hunger that is roiling Gaza, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who calls the arrest of thousands of Palestinians “heartbreaking”&nbsp. The incident is described as a “deliberate massacre and a full-fledged war crime,” according to Gazi’s government media office.

On May 29, Israeli forces fire on a Gaza aid station, killing 10 people and injuring dozens. Multiple explosions are reported close to another aid facility along the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip, shortly after. There haven’t been any reports of injuries in the explosions, and it’s unclear what caused them.

At least 20 people were hurt when Israeli forces opened fire on civilians waiting to collect food at a GHF distribution point in central Gaza on May 30.

More than 200 others are injured as a result of Israeli tanks killing at least 32 Palestinians waiting to receive food at two Gaza-based aid distribution centers on June 1.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for an independent investigation after Israeli forces fire on a Rafah aid distribution site after the killing and injuries of Palestinian aid seekers. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 90 Palestinians were injured and at least 27 were killed.

June 8: At least 13 Palestinians are killed and more than 150 are hurt when Israeli troops and US security personnel fire on Palestinians waiting for food near two Gaza aid distribution centers, one east of Rafah and the other near the Wadi Gaza Bridge. Israel is accused of using distribution centers as “human slaughterhouses,” according to the government media office in Gaza.

At least 21 Palestinians have been killed at a GHF aid distribution center in southern Gaza on July 16. According to witness accounts, Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, causing a stampede. At least 15 people were shot, while at least 15 died from suffocation. Mohammed Abedin, a survivor of the incident and age 24, claimed that they were “shot at like animals” on Al Jazeera.

July 22: According to the UN, more than 1, 000 Palestinians were killed while trying to access food in Gaza through GHF distribution points.

August 1 – Anthony Aguilar, a former GHF contractor, tells Al Jazeera about the brutal and unprofessional practices he first witnessed at Gaza’s aid distribution centers. This includes using heavy artillery to fire what the organization called “warning shots” at an unarmed population. He claimed that “they call that warning shots,” and that “I call it a war crime.”

August 2: At least 38 Palestinians are killed while visiting GHF distribution centers, despite Israel’s announcement on July 27 to start implementing “tactical pauses” in fighting to give Palestinians greater access to humanitarian aid.

August 5: Twenty-eight UN experts call for the dismantling of GHF, citing it as an “absolutely disturbing example” of aid exploitation for military purposes.

In response to international outcry, Israel allows some aid to be airdropped into Gaza by several nations, including Germany, Belgium, and Jordan, but a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was crushed to death by a falling pallet during an airdrop near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.

More than 2, 146 deaths have been reported in the vicinity of GHF-run sites and along aid convoy routes, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Following the announcement of a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on October 10, GHF confirms that its operations have been suspended.

On the UK-based ITV network, Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, a documentary airs on November 10. Some of the witnesses describe how GHF guards “open fire, even if they don’t see a concrete threat,” while others include testimony from Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza.

Nearly a year after a ceasefire was signed, the UN human rights office has called for a “prompt and impartial” investigation into Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson, cited an attack last week that claimed 11 children’s lives at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp.

He claimed in a statement on Tuesday that “all of the people killed in the Ein el-Hilweh strike were civilians,” raising “serious concerns that the Israeli military’s attack may have violated international humanitarian law principles on the conduct of hostilities.”

Since the ceasefire ended on November 27, 2024, Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon, including 127 civilians, according to the UN.

Israeli forces are stationed in five southern Lebanonian neighborhoods and continue conducting nearly daily airstrikes, which Israel claims target Hezbollah’s fighters and its infrastructure.

The most deadly strike since the ceasefire, according to Al-Kheetan, occurred last week near Sidon’s Ein el-Hilweh.

In an Israeli attack on the Ein El-Hilweh camp last week, at least 13 civilians were killed, including 11 children, and at least six civilians were hurt, he claimed. “Those accountable must be brought to justice,” he says, “There must be prompt and impartial investigations.”

He claimed that Israeli attacks have also harmed families in the south and prevented families from returning from their homes, roads, factories, and construction sites. He cited an Ansar cement and asphalt factory strike on November 16 that had destroyed numerous concrete mixers, cranes, and fuel tanks.

More than 64, 000 people are still displaced, according to the UN, the majority from southern Lebanon.

Al-Kheetan claimed that Israel had begun building a wall into Lebanese territory, causing the displacement of 4, 000 people and putting them at risk.

Reconstruction should be supported, not tampered with, he said, adding that “all internally displaced people must be able to go back to their homes.”

Beirut escalation

A senior Hezbollah commander was killed on Sunday when an Israeli attack in Beirut heightened the situation.

Haytham Ali Tabtabai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, was one of five fatalities and 28 injuries in the Dahiyeh attack, according to Hezbollah.

After the country’s capital was hit for the first time in months, according to experts, and days after Lebanon’s president announced that talks were being held following Israeli and American pressure to push up Hezbollah’s efforts, the attack marks a major escalation, according to experts.

Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials were killed in a terrorist attack by Israel in September 2024, severely weakened Hezbollah. The organization has only ever responded to Israeli attacks once since the ceasefire in November.

Al-Kheetan has urged “all parties” to observe the ceasefire “in good faith.”

The only way to shield civilians on both sides from the ravages of new hostilities is to pursue a genuine path toward a permanent cessation of hostilities. He further stressed that international human rights and humanitarian law must be upheld.

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which has resulted in more than 300 fatalities since the early October truce, Israel continues to wage a genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 69,733 people in its genocidal war against Gaza.

At least 1, 129 people were killed and more than 200 others were taken as captives in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which was led by the Palestinian-armed group Hamas, which led to Israel starting the genocidal war against Gaza.

In light of the Labour Party’s leadership and the country’s poor public finances, the United Kingdom’s annual budget is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

Despite keeping a number of pledges, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has the difficult task of keeping the public finances in order while maintaining a number of them, leaving her with little room for discretion in terms of taxes and spending.

Reeves will face what a leading think tank has called an “impossible trilemma,” leaving her with no choice but to compromise on her plans.

Why is the UK government facing such a challenge with this budget?

Years of struggle have been a result of the UK’s slow economic growth, high inflation, and national debt that is rapidly rising.

The Group of Seven (G7) nations’ economies have had the worst economic performance since COVID, with the UK having the worst performance after Germany.

According to government data, GDP increased by just 1.7 percent between the end of 2019 and the start of 2024, compared to 8.7 percent in the US, 5.1 percent in Canada, and 4.6 percent in Italy.

Even though Labour won the election in July last year with a landslide victory, economic conditions still remain challenging.

The UK is on track to become the G7’s best performer after the US, but growth slowed to a meager 0.1% in the quarter that ended in September despite a strong start to the year.

The interest rate on long-term government bonds increased in the UK, reaching its highest level in nearly 30 years in September, leading to a rise in borrowing costs.

To bridge the gap between tax revenues and spending, the UK government took out 17.4 billion pounds ($1 billion) in October alone.

Reeves’ self-imposed pledges have made the already challenging task of drafting her budget more challenging, as her Labour Party campaigned against spending cuts after years of austerity policies under the Conservatives.

Reeves’ “fiscal rules” require that the exchequer maintain a balance between daily spending and the reduction of the country’s debt by 2029-30, without increasing income taxes, VAT, or national insurance.

Reeves casts her budget as a one-time injection of pain needed to keep the government’s finances on an even keel, raising taxes by about 40 billion pounds ($52.66 billion) in the most recent year’s budget.

Reeves has once more found herself with a significant deficit between spending and revenues as a result of the rising cost of government borrowing.

Reeves would need to find another 41.2 billion pounds to meet her goals, according to a top think tank called the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, which estimated earlier this year. This would leave her with the “impossible trilemma” of higher taxes, decreased spending, or changed fiscal rules.

The fiscal “black hole” is estimated to be closer to 20 billion pounds ($26. 3 billion), including more recent assessments based on improved economic data.

According to Jasper Kenter, an economics professor at Aberystwyth University in Wales, “I do think it is a particularly challenging budget because the government is caught between their commitments to avoid severe cuts to public services, not raising taxes on working people, and self-imposed fiscal rules and a jittery bond market.”

They also have significant hangovers from the previous government, which abruptly cut national insurance taxes just before they left as a failed electoral stunt.

Reeves is expected to announce other revenue-raising measures, including a tax on properties worth more than $2. 6 million ($2.6 million) and a freeze on adjustments to the income tax thresholds, after backtracking on a tax increase that would have violated Labour’s manifesto pledge.

Labour’s popularity in the weeks leading up to the budget has fallen far behind the right-wing populist Reform UK.

Reeves, an economics professor at the University of Liverpool, claimed that the budget’s conflicting signals contributed to the UK’s economic problems.

According to Milas, “investors are unwilling to invest in the economy until they see what economic measures she will actually put in place.”

Consumers are concerned about what additional taxes they will have to pay, at least until they see what that means.

Why has the UK economy recently experienced a slump?

Some of the issues with the UK are caused by factors like falling birth rates and rising welfare costs, which are common in almost all developed economies.

The UK has a long history of low labor productivity growth, which is more significant than many of its peers.

The UK ranked fourth among the G7 countries in terms of labor productivity (GDP per hour worked) in 2023.

However, productivity has fallen in recent years, leaving it trailing behind its peers.

According to OECD data, the UK’s GDP per hour increased by only about 6% between 2007 and 2022, compared to 17% in the US, 12 percent in Japan, and 11 percent in Germany.

According to economists, austerity measures introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2007-2008 led to years of persistent underinvestment.

In contrast to the 23% of GDP in Japan, 23% in France, and 21% in the US, PwC’s analysis of World Bank data shows that the UK invested in the country between 2017 and 2021, compared to 23% of GDP in Japan, and 21% in France.

The post-financial crisis trend has been largely caused by Brexit, which has been blamed on.

According to the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, its exit from the bloc will result in a 4 percent drop in long-term productivity.

The UK must address long-term structural issues, according to Jonathan Daniel Portes, an economist at King’s College London, by implementing “pro-growth tax reform” and “reversing anti-growth policies on immigration and universities.”

No significant tax reform is anticipated, despite my expectation of significant tax increases. Portes described his expectations for the budget as “I don’t think it will make a big difference.”

The UK could benefit from experimenting with the tax system, according to Michael Ben-Gad, a professor of economics at City St George’s University of London. However, it won’t be able to avoid long-term welfare state reforms.

According to Ben-Gad, “Pay-as-you-go national pension plans were created to accommodate a growing population or at least one that was stable.”