More than 9,000 children treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, says Unicef
The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel does not stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade – but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving.
“Everywhere you look, people are hungry … They point their fingers to their mouths showing that [they] need something to eat,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. “The worst has already arrived in Gaza.”
“Children are already dying from malnutrition and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don’t get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,” said Tess Ingram of Unicef.
Key events
The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages.
Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza’s most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said.
Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society president Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: “It’s a matter of time. It could be days.
“We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one-third,” he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations.
The PRCS is part of the world’s largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
France rejects Israeli comments accusing some European officials of antisemitic incitement, foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a weekly news conference, adding these comments were “unjustified” and outrageous”.
“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn always and without ambiguity all antisemitic acts,” he said.
Faisal Ali
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he has no interest in running again to be the country’s president, dispelling fears he would seek a third term under the current presidential system which would see he tenure as the Turkey’s leader enter its third decade.
Erdoğan was speaking about the need for a new constitution in Turkey and called on opposition parties to participate during a flight to Hungary, according to local media.
The last time Turkey’s constitution was changed from a ceremonial to executive presidency in 2017 Erdoğan said it re-set the clock on his terms. He had served as president since 2014 and was prime minister before that from 2003. His current term ends in 2028.
Erdoğan told reporters he didn’t had “no concern about being re-elected or running for office again” but wanted a new constitution “for our country”. He added: “Our concern is how we can increase the reputation of our country with the steps we will take.”
The statement comes as his most popular challenger, Ekrem Imamoglu, the Istanbul mayor, remains behind bars in pre-trial detention on corruption charges. The move, which the opposition CHP party says was politically motivated, triggered protests across the country for the last month.
More than 9,000 children treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, says Unicef
The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel does not stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade – but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving.
“Everywhere you look, people are hungry … They point their fingers to their mouths showing that [they] need something to eat,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. “The worst has already arrived in Gaza.”
“Children are already dying from malnutrition and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don’t get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,” said Tess Ingram of Unicef.
Israel’s ambassador to Paris was being summoned to the French foreign ministry on Thursday afternoon after Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at a delegation of diplomats the previous day, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The diplomats, including one from France, came under fire Wednesday while visiting Jenin, a city in the Israel-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said the visit had been approved but the soldiers fired warning shots when the delegation deviated from an approved route.
French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said the shots put diplomats in danger and were “unjustifiable and unacceptable.” The Israeli ambassador was summoned “to explain himself about this extremely serious incident,” the French foreign ministry said.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would hold the United States responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, after US media reported that Israel was preparing for a strike.
The report came even as Iran and the US were to meet in Rome on Friday for a fifth round of Omani-mediated nuclear talks.
“We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility,” Araghchi said in a letter to the United Nations published on Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime and will respond decisively to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Araghchi added. Iran does not recognise Israel and generally refers to it as the “Zionist regime”.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that Israel was making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
The nuclear talks, which began on 12 April, are the highest-level contact between the longtime foes since the US in 2018 pulled out of a landmark deal between Iran and world powers, during president Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Israel has been threatening to use force against Iranian nuclear sites since the talks began.
On Thursday, Ali Mohammad Naini, the spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned of a “devastating” response in case of an Israeli attack.
“If the delusional Zionist regime commits a foolish act and launches an attack, it will definitely receive a devastating and decisive response in its small and vulnerable geography,” said Naini, according to ISNA news agency.
Also on Thursday, a group of demonstrators gathered near the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant south of Tehran to voice their support for the country’s nuclear activities.
The crowd waved Iranian flags and chanted slogans such as “nuclear energy is our inalienable right” and “no compromise, no surrender, only confrontation with America”.
Reuters has a quick snap that the president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society has said that no aid has been distributed to Gaza yet today. Most trucks destined to enter today have been inspected at the Israeli-run Kerem Shalom checkpoint, but have not crossed over yet.
Al Jazeera is reporting that at least 51 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes and attacks since dawn.
Palestinian health minister claims there have been 29 ‘starvation-related’ deaths in Gaza
The Palestinian health minister said on Thursday that 29 children and elderly people had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more were at risk.
“In the last couple of days we lost 29 children,” Palestinian health minister Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters, describing them as “starvation-related deaths”. Reuters reports he later clarified that the total included elderly people as well as children.
Majed Abu Ramadan is a minister in the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah, rather than being part of the Hamas-led health authority in Gaza itself.
Asked to react to earlier comments by the UN aid chief to the BBC that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: “The number 14,000 is very realistic … may be even underestimating.”
My colleague in the US, Michael Sainato, has this report
Donald Trump, Republicans and Democrats have condemned antisemitism in the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC on Wednesday night.
The French government has instructed police and military officials to put “visible and dissuasive” security in place around Jewish sites after the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the instructions were issued on Thursday by interior minister Bruno Retailleau and published by his ministry.
The minister said security should be reinforced around Jewish sites including synagogues, schools, shops, media and cultural events after Wednesday’s shooting.
Earlier today Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar implicated that he thought rhetoric from France’s president Emmanuel Macron had been a “blood libel” and that there was a “direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder” from European leaders and officials.
UK’s Starmer and Lammy condemn Washington DC shooting
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC.
According to the PA news agency, Starmer said:
I thoroughly condemn the antisemitic attack outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.
Antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears.
My thoughts are with their colleagues, family and loved ones, and as always, I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.
Downing Street said the prime minister “stands in solidarity with the Jewish community here in the UK”, adding the government has offered its “full support to the Israeli embassy in London”.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson added:
As you know, we continue to provide around £18m a year in funding for protective security measures for Jewish community sites in the UK.
The government’s approach towards Israel’s actions in Gaza will not change as a result of the killings, the spokesperson indicated, but he added this “does not take away at all from the fact that antisemitism is an evil that must be stamped out wherever it appears”.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy also condemned the “appalling” incident. In a post on X, he said:
Horrified by the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in DC
We condemn this appalling, antisemitic crime.
Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and colleagues at this awful time.”
Here are some of the latest images coming in via the newswires:
Japan makes ‘severe protest’ to Israel over West Bank warning shots
Japan’s foreign ministry said it had made “a severe protest” to Israel over its military’s firing of warning shots at a diplomatic delegation including Japanese diplomats that were visiting a refugee camp in the Israel-occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
Vice-minister for foreignaffairs Takehiro Funakoshi summoned the Israeli ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, to request a full explanation and preventive measures, reports the Associated Press (AP). Fukakoshi told Gilad the incident was “deeply regrettable and should not have happened”.
Funakoshi also reiterated Japan’s strong concern over Israel’s attempted reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the expansion of military operations, urging it to allow a full and immediate resumption of aid into Gaza, the foreign ministry said.
Funakoshi also offered his condolences on the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC, stating that “terrorism is not tolerated anywhere in the world”.
