International

Israel planned aid distribution will endanger lives in Gaza – UN agencies

Published

1 year ago

May 10, 2025

Israel planned aid distribution will endanger lives in Gaza – UN agencies

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: International aid agencies warned Friday that Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza, including a US-backed proposal, will only increase suffering and death in the devastated Palestinian territory, calling on Israel to lift its blockade on food and other supplies, now in its third month.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said the new US-devised aid system would be launched soon, urging the UN and other aid groups to participate. So far, the UN has rejected the new system, saying it “weaponizes aid,” threatens to cause mass displacement of Palestinians, violates principles of neutrality and simply won’t be able to provide the scale of aid needed.
In what has become a daily scene of desperation in Gaza, thousands of Palestinians crowded a charity kitchen in the southern city of Khan Younis, jostling and waving their pots to receive scoops of pasta. Such kitchens are virtually the only source of food left for the territory’s 2.3 million people, but dozens have shut down in recent days as food supplies run out under Israel’s blockade. Aid groups say more closures are imminent.
Raed al-Zaharna and his children walked away emptyhanded after the day’s meals ran out. “I’m thinking now, ‘What will I feed them?’ I can’t find anything,” he said.
Israel has blocked food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza since March 2, saying it’s trying to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages and disarming. It also shattered a ceasefire deal with Hamas, relaunching bombardment across Gaza and seizing large swaths of the territory. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.
Israel has said it won’t resume aid until it installs a new distribution mechanism, replacing the massive operation led by the UN and independent relief groups throughout the 19-month-old war. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of siphoning off aid, though it hasn’t presented evidence for its claims. The UN denies significant diversion takes place, saying it monitors distribution.
“Humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in Geneva. “There is a simple alternative. Lift the blockade, let humanitarian aid in, save lives.”

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US says a new system is coming
Huckabee said details of the new US-backed system would be announced in the coming days, with deliveries set to begin “very soon,” though he gave no time frame.
He depicted it as independent from Israel, which he said wouldn’t be involved in distribution. He said private companies would provide security, while Israel’s military would secure the perimeters from afar. He echoed Israel’s claims that it was necessary because Hamas was stealing aid.
“I will be the first to admit it will not be perfect, especially in the early days,” Huckabee said.
A new group supported by the US, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, has proposed implementing an aid distribution project along the lines of Israel’s demands, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The group is made up of American security contractors, former government officials, ex-military officers and humanitarian officials.
In its proposal, GHF said that it would initially set up four distribution sites, guarded by private security firms. Each would serve 300,000 people, covering only about half of Gaza’s population. Huckabee said that the system will be scaled up “as soon as it is possible.”
Aryeh Lightstone, a senior member of US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s team, was involved in briefing UN agencies and aid groups about the foundation in Geneva on Thursday, according to one person who attended, Joseph Belliveau, executive director of Medglobal, a medical humanitarian group operating in Gaza. He said that he and other attendees pressed back saying the new model shouldn’t replace the current, independent and neutral system led by the UN
Belleveau said that aid groups had been working for years “with strict due diligence processes … in a way that avoids diversion” of aid.
“What we need is to be just allowed . We need that blockade lifted,” he said.
The UN has rejected Israeli plans to control aid
Israel has given no details publicly about the new aid mechanism. The UN says that what Israel has outlined to it so far in private discussions violates humanitarian principles.
“As the Secretary-General has made clear, the UN will not engage in any arrangement that fails to uphold the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” the agency’s emergency aid office said in a statement Friday.
Elder, of UNICEF, said that the plan as presented in the GHF document appears “designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic.”

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Aid workers say Palestinians would be forced to move to the distribution hubs or walk for miles to reach them, triggering a forced displacement depopulating large parts of Gaza. Though hub locations haven’t been set, aid workers say that according to briefings they received, it appears none will be located in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are located.
Throughout the war, Israel has repeatedly called for Palestinians to leave the north, including Gaza City, saying it’s for their safety as troops battle Hamas militants.
Elder said that the plan would entrench forced displacement “for political and military purposes.” The most vulnerable, including children, older people and those suffering from illness, may not be able to get to the hubs, he said.
In a statement last month, 20 aid groups operating in Gaza said the plan would force Palestinians into “de facto internment conditions” in pockets around the hubs.
Israel has also told UN officials it wants to vet aid recipients, aid workers say, raising fears it could withhold aid from some for political or military reasons, though the GHF proposal says aid would be distributed according to need.
Elder also warned civilians will be endangered as they seek aid in militarized areas.
“More children are likely to suffer and risk death and injury as a consequence of this plan,” Elder said.
UN says new plan can’t match scale of aid need
Aid officials say the new system also simply won’t provide enough aid. Relief groups have operated hundreds of distribution points around Gaza distributing food, water, shelter supplies and other goods, even as they support medical centers, run shelters and implement other programs.
The operation has been led by UNRWA, the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel banned the agency last year, alleging its staff have been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA, which employs more than 10,000 people in Gaza, said that it acts quickly to remove anyone suspected of militant ties, and that Israel hasn’t given it evidence of its claims.
UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said the agency has “the largest reach” and ”it is very, very difficult to imagine any humanitarian operation without UNRWA.”
Ruth James, Oxfam regional humanitarian coordinator, said large networks are needed to get aid to everyone. “That takes time and expertise,” she said. “Any new system that comes in this quickly and without humanitarian expertise and trust from communities will not be able to do that.”
Huckabee called on UN agencies and aid groups to join the new mechanism.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, said Friday that UN concerns have not been addressed in multiple meetings with Israeli officials. He dismissed claims that theft of aid was significant in scale.
“The problem is the blockage of hundreds of aid trucks that should go into the Gaza Strip every single day. That is the root cause of the humanitarian crisis.”

Israel planned aid distribution will endanger lives in Gaza – UN agencies

ARAB NEWS

Health

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

Published

14 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Hamdalat Bisiriyu

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

Authorities launch a multi-agency public health campaign to expand free testing, treatment, and harm-reduction services

Fiji has announced a nationwide health response to address a significant rise in HIV cases and ensure that all residents can access essential medical care.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Dr. Atonio Lalabalavu shared the emergency declaration, explaining that national agencies are joining forces to provide rapid medical support, expand testing, and protect community well-being across the islands.

Official reports indicate that about one in every 60 adults in Fiji currently lives with HIV, following an increase in new infections over recent years. Health specialists explain that the virus spreads primarily through intimate sexual contact and shared needles among individuals using illicit substances.

Additionally, routine screenings revealed that two out of every 100 expecting mothers carry the virus, highlighting an urgent need for early maternal healthcare to protect newborns from infection.

To safeguard public health, authorities are delivering free daily treatments, distributing protective preventive medications, and setting up clean needle programs to stop infections before they start.

Furthermore, global partners, including Australia, New Zealand, India, and United Nations health bodies are providing financial resources and medical supplies to back the local effort.

By encouraging open community conversations and delivering accessible healthcare without judgment, health workers aim to ensure that everyone receives the care and dignity they deserve.

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

International

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

Published

14 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Trends Admin

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has declared that her country’s status as a nuclear weapons state is “absolute” and can never be reversed — dismissing international hopes for denuclearisation as the delusions of “idiots.”

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, Kim rejected the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference’s demand for North Korea’s “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” (CVID) as “familiar nonsense” . “The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state is absolute, which cannot be reversed by anything,” she said, using the acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea .

Kim, who serves as Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, compared the international community’s repeated calls for denuclearisation to “noise that is neither surprising nor new, heard constantly around this time every year like a sound ringing day and night from an answering machine” . She went on to assert that no amount of diplomatic pressure could alter Pyongyang’s position. “No matter how desperately the IAEA and the West may hold periodic meetings and talk about denuclearisation according to the fixed scenario, they can have no effect on the will and ability of the DPRK to take all necessary measures to defend the supreme interests of the state” . She added: “Those humans sitting together and chattering to try and change our state’s current status must clearly realise what a pathetic delusion and futile waste of effort it is” .

Kim’s statement came during the 70th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, where South Korea and European nations urged North Korea to fulfil its international obligations and abandon its nuclear programme . A South Korean Unification Ministry official said the ministry was “taking note” of Kim’s remarks, assessing them as an attempt to make clear to Washington that denuclearisation is off the table for any potential summit . The timing is particularly noteworthy given recent signals from US President Donald Trump about resuming dialogue with Kim Jong Un. In August 2026, Trump told reporters he expected to meet the North Korean leader later in the year, saying: “Yeah, I will be. I get along with him very well” . Trump also stated that Pyongyang possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, marking the first time he had publicly cited a specific figure for North Korea’s arsenal .

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The disclosure sparked a rare public discussion of intelligence assessments. South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers that Seoul typically estimates North Korea has 80 to 120 nuclear weapons — a figure higher than Trump’s claim . Ahn noted that the estimates held by South Korea and the United States “appear to be slightly different,” though he later clarified that he was citing a private research institute’s assessment rather than an official military figure . Both Seoul and Washington have maintained they do not recognise North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. “We can never officially acknowledge that,” Ahn said when asked whether Seoul accepts Pyongyang’s nuclear possession . Independent estimates vary. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has estimated that North Korea possessed approximately 60 nuclear warheads as of January 2026, with sufficient fissile material for roughly 30 more .

Ahead of the General Conference, the IAEA released its annual report detailing North Korea’s expanding nuclear capabilities. The agency observed that a new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon — identified as the site’s second enrichment facility — could accommodate up to 28 centrifuge cascades, the largest scale among North Korea’s known enrichment sites . The IAEA identified the facility by comparing satellite imagery with photographs of Kim Jong Un’s June 2026 visit to a “newly inaugurated nuclear materials production factory,” which state media reported at the time. The photographs indicated gas centrifuge cascades installed on both the upper and lower floors of the two-storey building . The report also noted indications that operations began in January 2026 at a uranium enrichment facility in Kangson, near Pyongyang, within an annex constructed in 2024 . IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the developments were a “cause for serious concern,” adding: “The continuation and further development of the DPRK’s nuclear programme are clear violations of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and are deeply regrettable” . The European Union, in a statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, condemned North Korea’s “unlawful and destabilising actions” and urged it to abandon all nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible manner” .

Kim’s remarks are consistent with North Korea’s long-standing position. Pyongyang has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons state, declaring its arsenal permanent and irreversible. The country has repeatedly rejected denuclearisation as a precondition for dialogue . North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in Vienna said last September that the country’s status as a nuclear weapons state had become irreversible and the IAEA had “no legal right … to interfere in the internal affairs of a nuclear weapons state which exists outside the NPT” . Analysts note that North Korea has set high barriers for any renewed summit with Washington, including major changes to US policy and acceptance of its nuclear status — conditions the Trump administration has shown no sign of meeting . The US State Department has maintained that Washington “remains committed to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea” . For now, Kim’s message was unambiguous: “No one and nothing can ever reverse the crucial changes in the strength and position of the DPRK and prevent them in the future, too” .

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

International

Gaza Building Collapse Kills 21, Including Eight Children

Published

15 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Trends Admin

Gaza Building Collapse Kills 21, Including Eight Children

At least 21 people have been killed, including eight children, after a war-damaged building collapsed in Gaza City overnight, rescuers and medics say. The tragedy has renewed concerns about the collapse risk facing hundreds of bomb-damaged structures across the Gaza Strip as winter approaches.

The six-storey residential building in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa area collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday. According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Ramiz Alakbarov, an estimated 100 people, including 50 children, were living in the building when it came down. The Gaza Civil Defence agency confirmed that rescuers extracted 21 bodies and rescued 20 unharmed individuals from the rubble on al-Sinaa Street in Tal al-Hawa. Dozens remain missing or injured underneath the debris.

Witnesses told the BBC that the building had been left tilting dangerously to one side after an Israeli strike more than a year ago. Displaced families had moved inside because they were desperate, with nowhere else to go. The building had been hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, leading to warnings for Gazans not to return, according to Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal. More than 10 families, totalling around 80 people, lived in the building, according to residents, with dozens of them being children. Sherif, whose sister was killed, said: “They couldn’t find a tent or somewhere to live. This was the last place they could turn to, despite the danger. They were aware that it would likely end in tragedy. A lack of resources drove them towards certain death.“

A woman living in a tent nearby, Umm Mohammed Bakrun, said she had been talking to her son when the building collapsed suddenly. “It felt like an earthquake. There was a loud sound and I couldn’t stand up. Stones rained down on us and when I looked outside I saw a lot of dust,” she told the BBC. “Within minutes, there were screams everywhere.” Another witness, Mansour Abu Mohammed, said the building collapsed “in a few seconds”. “Every day, a stone or a few stones would fall from it, but the people inside couldn’t find anywhere else to live. I used to live next door to it and you could see that it was tilting to one side.”

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UN and Egyptian teams joined the search for survivors, which was slow due to a lack of heavy machinery. Initially, rescuers from the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency had to use their bare hands. Egypt provided heavy machinery for the rescue operation, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were set to deliver relief items. The Palestinian Civil Defence said rescue teams had been working continuously since the collapse, but lacked even the most basic tools. “In the first moments after the collapse, we had to ask neighbours and displaced people nearby to bring hammers, shovels and other tools because of the severe shortage of equipment,” said Abdullah al-Majdalawi, director of public relations at Gaza’s Civil Defence. The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Gaza office, Alessandro Mrakic, told reporters at the scene that “the situation… is tragic because we don’t have the equipment and machinery that is needed”.

Mrakic warned that approximately 400 other war-damaged buildings across Gaza were at imminent risk of collapse, particularly as winter approaches. The Civil Defence agency has identified around 2,000 buildings across the territory at risk of collapse. “We need support, most importantly with machinery, equipment, among others. Our colleagues here don’t have [engine] oil and spare parts to continue to work with all the equipment that is still in Gaza.” The UN’s humanitarian relief coordinator, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he was “devastated” by the reports. “No-one should have to risk their life simply to find a safe place to shelter,” he said. He also urged Israeli authorities to approve deliveries to Gaza of heavy machinery for rescue operations, as well as tents, tarpaulins and other non-food items for displaced people ahead of the winter rains. Israel says its restrictions are meant to keep equipment out of the hands of Palestinian armed groups that could also have military uses.

An estimated 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN. More than 1.9 million people — about 90% of the territory’s population — have been displaced, many of them multiple times, and 1.2 million of them are currently living in tents or makeshift shelters. The UN has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite the ceasefire agreed last October, as Israeli air strikes and other attacks continue to hit populated areas, causing casualties and property damage and driving further displacement. According to Gaza’s health ministry, 1,369 Palestinians have been killed and 4,627 wounded since the fragile ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025. The total death toll since the war began has reached 73,783, with 174,738 injured.

On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes killed at least five Palestinians, including two children and a Hamas commander, according to health officials and Hamas sources. The Israeli military said it killed a Hamas commander in southern Gaza and another fighter in the north. In both cases, a child was also reportedly killed. Separately, the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said that a patient was killed by an Israeli drone at a health centre it supports in Jabalia in northern Gaza. A spokesperson for the Israeli military told the BBC it was not aware of such an incident.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Since then, more than 73,790 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. In a statement, the Gaza government media office under Hamas said it held “the Israeli occupation and the international community fully and directly responsible for this catastrophe befalling our Palestinian people“.