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Free Malaysia Today
13-06-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
Israel says Hamas ‘weaponising suffering in Gaza' as aid workers killed
Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Gaza. (AP pic) GAZA CITY : Israel charged Thursday that Hamas was 'weaponising suffering in Gaza' after a US and Israeli-backed charity accused the Palestinian group of killing five of its aid workers in the territory. The distribution of food and basic supplies in the blockaded and war-ravaged Gaza Strip has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory's deep hunger crisis. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city of Khan Younis was 'brutally attacked by Hamas' around 10pm Wednesday, killing at least five Palestinian aid workers. 'Hamas is weaponising suffering in Gaza, denying food, targeting lifesavers and forsaking its own people,' Israel's foreign ministry said on X. The GHF said 'There are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage.' Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. It said Israeli forces killed 31 people waiting for aid on Wednesday. The Israeli army did not respond to an AFP request for comment about the reported deaths. 'Died while waiting' An officially private effort with opaque funding, the GHF began operating on May 26 after Israel cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine. During its first week of operations, the GHF said it distributed more than seven million meals' worth of food, but its operations were widely criticised even before the deadly shootings near its sites. The UN and major aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality. Gaza medics have said hospitals are being inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food. At Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, the emergency department said it had received dozens of people who had been killed or wounded while waiting for aid, including 200 in a single day. 'Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks,' said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa's emergency department. But with few medical supplies and no operating theatres, 'many patients died while waiting for their turn,' he said. Convoys through Egypt? Meanwhile, two activist convoys travelling through North Africa are attempting to reach the Gaza border to highlight the blockaded territory's plight. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he expected Egyptian authorities 'to prevent the arrival of protesters at the Egypt-Israel border'. Egypt said while it backs efforts to put 'pressure on Israel' to lift its Gaza blockade, any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must obtain prior approval. With international and domestic pressure on the Israeli government mounting, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu survived the latest challenge to his right-wing coalition early Thursday. A bill to dissolve parliament, which could have led to a snap election, was narrowly defeated. The opposition had hoped to leverage dissatisfaction with Netanyahu over proposals to enlist ultra-Orthodox men into the army. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel said late on Wednesday that its forces had retrieved the bodies of two hostages from southern Gaza. Prior to the latest announcement, out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 were still held in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military has said are dead. Hamas's assault resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 55,104 people, the majority of them civilians. The UN considers the figures reliable.
BreakingNews.ie
12-06-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Dispute over identity of 12 reported killed by Hamas police force in Gaza
A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force says it has killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia after detaining them, but an Israel-supported aid group said the dead were its workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed on Thursday. Advertisement The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. The deaths were the latest sign of turmoil surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private contractor that Israel says will replace the UN in distributing food to Gaza's more than two million people. Palestinians with aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Over the past two weeks, dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in near daily shootings as they try to reach GHF centres, with witnesses saying Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire. On Wednesday, at least 13 people were killed and 170 wounded when Israeli forces fired towards a crowd of Palestinians near a GHF centre in central Gaza, according to the al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Advertisement The military said it fired warning shots overnight at a gathering that posed a threat, hundreds of metres from the aid site. Meanwhile, internet and phone lines were down across Gaza, according to telecom provider Paltel and the Palestinian telecoms authority. They said a key line had been severed during an Israeli operation and that the military would not allow technicians into the area to repair it. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said emergency services were cut off because of the outage, and civilians could not call ambulances. It said most UN agencies and aid groups could not reach their staff on the ground. Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza, making it difficult to confirm what happened in the killings early on Wednesday near the southern city of Khan Younis. Advertisement The GHF said Hamas attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen of its Palestinian aid workers on Thursday, killing at least eight and wounding others. It said it feared some had been abducted. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons and friends who were risking their lives every day to help others.' The Israeli military circulated the GHF statement but declined to provide its own account of what happened. OCHA said it could not confirm the circumstances of the killings but added: 'Civilians must never be attacked, let alone those trying to access or provide food amid mass starvation.' Advertisement The GHF said its staff at the centres include unarmed Palestinian employees. Many are armed international contractors, mainly Americans, guarding the centres. Fighters with the Abu Shabab group are deployed inside the Israeli military zones that surround the GHF centres, according to witnesses. Earlier this week, witnesses said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. GHF says it does not work with the Abu Shabab group. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians opposed to Hamas. Hamas has rejected the GHF system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who co-operate with the Israeli military. Advertisement The Sahm police unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting, released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group and a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces, issued a statement saying Abu Shabab fighters had clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the bodies in Sahm's images were the group's fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers.
LBCI
12-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel says Hamas 'weaponizing suffering in Gaza' after aid workers killed
Israel charged Thursday that Hamas was "weaponizing suffering in Gaza" after the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation accused the Palestinian militant group of killing five of its aid workers. "After threats, lies, and disruption, they turned to cold-blooded murder," the foreign ministry said on X. "Hamas is weaponizing suffering in Gaza -- denying food, targeting lifesavers and forsaking its people." AFP
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers
CAIRO — A unit of the Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday in the Gaza Strip . Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab , said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed.
Associated Press
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers
CAIRO (AP) — A unit of the Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday in the Gaza Strip. Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The Israeli military circulated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's statement on its social media accounts but declined to provide its own account of what happened. Aid initiative already marred by controversy and violence The aid group's operations in Gaza have already been marred by controversy and violence since they began last month, with scores of people killed in near-daily shootings as crowds headed toward the food distribution sites inside Israeli military zones. Witnesses have blamed the Israeli military, which has acknowledged firing only warning shots near people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner. Earlier this week, witnesses also said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the Israeli and U.S.-backed initiative, accusing them of militarizing humanitarian aid at a time when experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and renewed military campaign. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. Abu Shabab's militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the food distribution points set up by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. trucks. GHF has denied working with the Abu Shabab group. 'They were aid workers' In a statement released early Thursday, the foundation said Hamas had attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen 'local Palestinians working side-by-side with the U.S. GHF team to deliver critical aid' near the southern city of Khan Younis. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to help others.' It did not identify the men or say whether they were armed at the time. Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system, which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. U.N. officials say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs, and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to the aid sites, most of which are in the southernmost city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Hamas says it killed traitors Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The killings early Wednesday were carried out by the Hamas-run police's Sahm unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting. The unit released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident, said he was at the scene of the killings and that crowds were celebrating them, shouting 'God is greatest' and condemning those killed as traitors to the Palestinian cause and agents of Israel. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces and deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group, posted a statement online saying they clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the images shared by Sahm were of Abu Shabab fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers. Mounting lawlessness as Israel steps up military campaign Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed a complete ban on imports of food, fuel, medicine and other aid before easing the blockade in mid-May. The ongoing war and mounting desperation have plunged Gaza into chaos, with armed gangs looting aid convoys and selling the stolen food. The Hamas-run police force, which maintained a high degree of public security before the war, has largely gone underground as Israel has repeatedly targeted its forces with airstrikes. The military now controls more than half of the territory. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants. Israel's offensive has flattened large areas of Gaza and driven around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians from their homes. The territory is almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid because nearly all of its food production capabilities have been destroyed. ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
