UN says it is halting aid through main Gaza crossing because route is too dangerous

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/1100/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F0b%2F4ec6d7734fe3afa9820e39f478b1%2Fap24151474613757.jpg" class="img" alt="A truck with bundle of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip drive at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel, Thursday, May 30, 2024. " data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F0b%2F4ec6d7734fe3afa9820e39f478b1%2Fap24151474613757.jpg" data-format="jpeg"/> A truck with bundle of humanitarian help for the Gaza Strip drive on the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel, Thursday, Might 30, 2024. Tsafrir Abayov/AP/AP cover caption

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Tsafrir Abayov/AP/AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The U.N. company for Palestinian refugees mentioned Sunday it's halting help deliveries by the primary cargo crossing into Gaza due to the specter of armed gangs who've looted current convoys.

The choice may worsen the humanitarian disaster in Gaza because the chilly, wet winter units in, with a whole lot of hundreds of individuals dwelling in squalid tent camps and reliant on worldwide meals help. Specialists had been already warning of famine within the territory's north, which Israeli forces have nearly fully remoted since early October.

Philippe Lazzarini, the top of UNRWA, the primary help supplier in Gaza, mentioned the route resulting in the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel is just too harmful on the Gaza facet. Armed males looted practically 100 vehicles touring on the route in mid-November, and he mentioned gangs stole a smaller cargo on Saturday.

Israeli strikes kill no less than six folks, together with youngsters <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F34%2F0c13b48442beb5e6adfec6f4cb65%2Fap24335701152773.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F34%2F0c13b48442beb5e6adfec6f4cb65%2Fap24335701152773.jpg" class="img" alt="Shireen Daifallah, who was displaced with her children from northern Gaza, checks the fire next to their tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah. Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024." loading="lazy"/> Shireen Daifallah, who was displaced together with her youngsters from northern Gaza, checks the hearth subsequent to their tent at a camp for displaced folks in Deir al-Balah. Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP cover caption

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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed no less than six folks in a single day, together with two younger youngsters who died within the tent the place their household was sheltering, medical officers mentioned Sunday.

The strike within the Muwasi space, a sprawling tent camp housing a whole lot of hundreds of displaced folks, additionally wounded the kids's mom and their sibling, in line with the close by Nasser Hospital. An Related Press reporter on the hospital noticed the our bodies.

A separate strike within the southern metropolis of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, killed 4 males, in line with hospital information.

The Israeli navy mentioned it was not conscious of strikes in both location. Israel says it solely targets militants and tries to keep away from harming civilians, however its every day strikes throughout Gaza typically kill girls and youngsters.

In a separate growth, a projectile fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen set off air raid sirens in central Israel. The Israeli navy mentioned it intercepted the projectile earlier than it entered Israeli territory.

Former protection minister accuses Israel of conflict crimes <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F48%2Fad%2F4d7df15549d0ba8fc5cec3a16082%2Fap24335676336832.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F48%2Fad%2F4d7df15549d0ba8fc5cec3a16082%2Fap24335676336832.jpg" class="img" alt="People shout slogans during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Nov. 30, 2024.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)" loading="lazy"/> Folks shout slogans throughout a protest towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's authorities and name for the discharge of hostages held within the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Nov. 30, 2024.(AP Picture/Ohad Zwigenberg) Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/AP cover caption

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Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/AP A former high Israeli normal and protection minister has accused the federal government of ethnic cleaning in northern Gaza, the place Israeli forces have been waging the newest in a sequence of offensives towards Hamas since early October.

The military has sealed off the northern cities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, and the Jabaliya refugee camp, and allowed nearly no humanitarian help to enter. Tens of hundreds of individuals have fled, whereas the United Nations estimates as much as 75,000 stay and specialists have warned of famine.

Moshe Yaalon, who served as protection minister beneath Benjamin Netanyahu earlier than quitting in 2016 and rising as a fierce critic of the prime minister, mentioned the present far-right authorities is set to "occupy, to annex, to ethnically cleanse."

Pressed by an interviewer with a neighborhood information outlet on Saturday, he mentioned: "There is no such thing as a Beit Lahiya. No Beit Hanoun. (They're) working now in Jabaliya, and (they) are literally cleansing the territory of Arabs."

Yaalon doubled down on the remarks Sunday in an interview with Israeli radio, saying "conflict crimes are being dedicated right here."

Netanyahu's Likud occasion criticized his earlier remarks, accusing him of creating "false statements" which might be "a prize for the Worldwide Legal Court docket and the camp of Israel haters."

The ICC has issued arrest warrants towards Netanyahu, one other former protection minister, Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas commander, accusing them of crimes towards humanity. The Worldwide Court docket of Justice is investigating allegations of genocide towards Israel.

Israel rejects the allegations and says each courts are biased towards it.

No finish in sight to Gaza conflict regardless of ceasefire with Hezbollah The conflict in Gaza started when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 folks, largely civilians, and taking round folks 250 hostage. Some 100 captives are nonetheless being held inside Gaza, round two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, greater than half of them girls and youngsters, in line with Gaza's Well being Ministry, which doesn't say how most of the useless had been combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, with out offering proof.

The conflict has destroyed huge areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the inhabitants of two.3 million, typically a number of occasions. Tons of of hundreds have crammed into squalid tent camps, the place situations have worsened because the chilly, moist winter units in.

Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants final week that has largely held, however that settlement, brokered by america and France, didn't handle the continuing conflict in Gaza. Iran — which helps Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and armed teams in Syria and Iraq — has exchanged hearth with Israel twice this yr.

The USA, Qatar and Egypt have spent a lot of the previous yr attempting to dealer a ceasefire in Gaza and the discharge of the remaining hostages, however these efforts stalled as Israel rejected Hamas' demand for a whole withdrawal from the territory. The Biden administration has mentioned it is going to make one other push for a deal in its last weeks in workplace.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to finish the wars within the Center East, with out saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel and its insurance policies towards the Palestinians throughout his earlier time period.