Category World News

Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth,” according to the UN, as Israel continues to impede humanitarian aid from reaching the Strip, where the entire Palestinian population is famine-stricken, and Israeli troops relentlessly bomb the besieged enclave.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a spokesperson, reported on Friday that “catastrophic hunger” is currently affecting 2.3 million people in Gaza.

Laerk remarked that “Gaza” has a “drip-feeding system” and that the “limited number of truckloads coming in [is] drip-feeding food.”

According to him, “The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in a functioning straitjacket, making it one of the most obstructed aid operations in recent history and not just in the world today.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new, shadowy NGO supported by Israel and the United States, is in charge of what lack of aid is entering the region.

Sources at Gaza hospitals reported to Al Jazeera on Friday that 20 patients had been shot by Israeli soldiers as they fought a GHF aid distribution point to get food.

The third distribution site, which is situated close to Israel’s Netzarim Corridor bordering the territory, was established after two distribution points were established in Rafah, in the south of the country.

Around the clock, armed surveillance is carried out. “People are telling us that the GHF’s sites are a few meters from the Israeli military’s bases. According to Hani Mahmoud, a journalist for Al Jazeera from Gaza City, “they can see the tanks and they can see the armored vehicles.”

Earlier this week, ten people were killed while attempting to gain access to food distribution centers, with many of the victims seen being herded into cage-like lines in images. Palestinians must take the risk of Israeli fire and military fire if they try to aid their families in any way.

“There have also been reports of forced disappearances. Many families reported that many of their children, or at least one member of their families, vanished while trying to get food at the sites, Mahmoud said.

UN officials and the humanitarian community have publicly denounced the aid delivery plan, accusing it of supporting Israel’s war goals by forcibly displaced Palestinians under the guise of aid.

If Israel would grant access to aid and let the organizations with decades of experience manage the flow, critics claim that Gaza’s currently insufficient aid could be safely increased.

Doctors Without Borders Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear said, “Food is not being distributed where it’s needed most because this dangerous and reckless approach only targets areas where Israeli forces choose to amass civilians.” This means that the elderly and those with disabilities have essentially no chance of getting the food they so desperately need.

At least 20% of households in the region where there is a severe lack of food are declared famine. At famine-levels of deprivation, 30% of children experience acute malnutrition, and at least four out of every 10,000 children per day die from starvation or a malnutrition-linked disease. According to OCHA, Gaza is currently a country where at least one in five people are starving.

It’s “safe to say there is famine” in Gaza, according to UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri. According to Fakri, Israel is using aid “as bait to woo people out of the north and into militarized zones,” according to Fakiri.

When Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2, the humanitarian situation in Gaza had already become catastrophic. Israeli authorities announced they would allow the Strip’s population to receive only minimal food and medicine after growing international pressure. However, crucial supplies continue to go unreachable.

France’s threat of sanctions

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, emphasized the condemnation of Israel on Friday. If the Israeli government doesn’t address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Paris may “agree sanctions.”

Macron said during a visit to Singapore on Friday that the international community must not remain passive while Gaza’s Palestinians are dealing with an “unfathomable” hunger crisis.

We will have to “harden our collective position” if there is no action in the coming hours and days in accordance with the humanitarian situation, he continued, suggesting that France might consider imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers.

As the ceasefire is not yet known, there are daily deaths of Palestinians.

At least 30 people have been killed in attacks in Khan Younis, northern Jabalia, and southern Deir el-Balah since Friday morning when they were attacked.

In addition to expanding its military presence on the ground, the Israeli army has issued new forced displacement orders for five northern Gazan towns. Nearly 200, 000 people have been displaced in Gaza in the last two weeks as a result of Israel’s displacement orders, according to a UN official.

Meanwhile, there were no realyy hopes for the elusive truce. Hamas announced on Friday that it is currently reviewing a new US ceasefire proposal that Israel claims has approved but which, in its current form, will only lead to “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.

Israel “signed off” on the ceasefire proposal, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday, according to Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, who had given it to Hamas for consideration.

Trump asserted that he anticipates an announcement from his administration later on Friday, or perhaps tomorrow.

He told reporters from the Oval Office, “We have a chance of that.”

Elon Musk will no longer be a part of the government, according to Donald Trump, president of the United States.

Trump praised Musk for his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a program designed to reduce federal bureaucracy and spending, while speaking from the Oval Office on Friday.

Elon has worked tirelessly to lead the most extensive and profound government reform program in recent memory, according to Trump.

He attributed Musk to “a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington” and called his service “unmatched in modern history.”

The president, however, also assured reporters that DOGE would continue its work even after Musk left.

According to Trump, “DOGE is] helping to detect fraud, reduce waste, and modernize broken and out-of-date systems” under Elon’s guidance.

The two men’s joint appearance comes as they try to soften reports of a growing rift, particularly after Musk criticized Trump’s signature budget bill on CBS News. Additionally, it coincides with a report from the New York Times claiming that Musk has experienced alopecia and personal turmoil behind the scenes.

During his Oval Office visit, Musk declined to comment on the Times report. Additionally, he avoided making comments about rumors that his departure was related to Tesla’s stock prices falling.

He instead pointed out that without complying with stricter disclosure and ethics requirements, he cannot work for the Trump administration for more than 130 days.

He also made a point of promoting his work with DOGE and voicing his opposition to Trump’s policies on the left.

Musk, who was clad in a black T-shirt with the phrase “The Dogefather,” written in the style of the gangster film The Godfather, said, “This is not the end of DOGE, but rather the beginning.” “DoGE will only become stronger over time,” said the team’s manager.

Trump, however, made it clear that his friendship with the billionaire, who was a staunch supporter of his re-election campaign in 2024, would continue.

“Elon is not departing,” really. According to Trump, “he’s going to be back and forth.”

Uncertain accounting

Despite White House assertions about its efficacy, DOGE’s cost-savings rate has remained unclear.

The panel claimed on Friday that it had saved an estimated $ 175 billion in savings from “asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletions, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions.”

However, DOGE’s accuracy and method have been repeatedly questioned. Less than half of the claimed figure is actually added up using the only accounting that was made available to the public.

The actual amount is much lower, according to a Reuters report released on Friday. Using US Treasury summaries, Reuters discovered that only $ 9 billion in federal spending had been reduced, despite the fact that some savings may take longer to be reflected in the Treasury Department’s data.

Despite what Musk originally intended, all of those figures fall far short of Musk’s original goal of saving $2 trillion.

When questioned about the discrepancy on Friday, Musk reaffirmed that saving $1 trillion would continue to be a long-term goal.

He said, “I’m confident that we’ll see a trillion dollars of savings and a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction.”

However, some have questioned whether DOGE will maintain its vigor after Musk leaves.

With the implementation of sweeping changes to the federal government, Musk and DOGE have long drawn public criticism. Organizations like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have seen their funding and staffing cut since Trump began his second term as president in January.

Employees, contractors, labor organizations, and state officials have filed lawsuits to stop DOGE’s efforts, with varying degrees of success.

There are also rumors that Musk and members of Trump’s cabinet engaged in verbal altercations after Musk leaves.

Tesla dealership protests have spread all over the country as a result of Musk’s foray into politics. In the first three months of the year, Tesla’s profits dropped by 71 percent, with shareholders calling for Musk’s return to work.

When a reporter inquired whether Musk’s time in the government was “worth it,” he was cautious. He stated that DOGE had become viewed as a “boogeyman” and was at fault for any attempts to reform the federal government.

He reaffirmed his commitment to serving as the president’s “friend and adviser” and said it was worthwhile.

Israel’s new aid system is criticized by Arab states as illegal because it is alleged to be a weapon of Gaza’s hunger. According to UAE envoy Mohamed Abushahab, who spoke to 22 Arab League members at the UN, “Starvation is being used as a weapon of war.”