‘Let’s not waste time’ with US-backed Gaza aid plan: UN aid chief

‘Let’s not waste time’ with US-backed Gaza aid plan: UN aid chief
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher responds to questions during an interview at United Nations headquarters on May 14, 2025. (AP Photo)
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Updated 17 May 2025
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‘Let’s not waste time’ with US-backed Gaza aid plan: UN aid chief

‘Let’s not waste time’ with US-backed Gaza aid plan: UN aid chief
  • No aid has entered Gaza since March 2
  • US-backed aid group aims to start work by end of May

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday that time should not be wasted on an alternative US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Gaza, saying the UN has a proven plan and 160,000 pallets of relief ready to enter the Palestinian enclave now.
“To those proposing an alternative modality for aid distribution, let’s not waste time. We already have a plan,” he said in a statement as Israel blocked the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza for the 75th day in a row.
US President Donald Trump said earlier on Friday that “a lot of people are starving in Gaza.” A global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation — about a quarter of the population in the enclave.
Israel has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. Under the alternative heavily-criticized aid plan, a US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May.
The foundation intends to work with private US security and logistics firms to transport aid into Gaza to so-called secure hubs where it will be then distributed by aid groups, a source familiar with the plan has told Reuters. It is unclear how the foundation will be funded.
The UN has said it won’t work with the foundation because the distribution plan is not impartial, neutral or independent. Fletcher on Friday issued a briefing note on the UN plan to resume aid deliveries to Gaza, adding that nearly 9,000 trucks are ready to enter the enclave.
“We have the people. We have the distribution networks. We have the trust of the communities on the ground. And we have the aid itself – 160,000 pallets of it – ready to move. Now,” he said. “We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded aid delivery for civilians in need. Let us work.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has asked Israel to allow humanitarian deliveries by the UN and aid groups to resume now until its own infrastructure is fully operational, saying this is essential to “alleviate the ongoing humanitarian pressure.”
Israel has committed to the foundation to let aid deliveries resume imminently, said a source familiar with the plan. Israel’s UN mission in New York declined to comment on Friday.
The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.


Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor

Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor
Updated 55 min 43 sec ago
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Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor

Sweden to charge militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor
  • Prosecutors plan to charge the Swedish citizen with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria“

STOCKHOLM: Prosecutors said Thursday they plan to indict a convicted Swedish militant for his suspected involvement in the 2014 capture of a Jordanian pilot in Syria and burning him to death in a cage.

Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said in a statement it planned to charge a 32-year-old Swedish citizen on May 27 with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria.”

The man, Osama Krayem, has already been sentenced for his involvement in the 2015 attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels a year later.


Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
Updated 22 May 2025
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Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra

Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
  • In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August

BAGHDAD: Summer has come early for Iraq this year with temperatures hitting 49 degrees Celsius (topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, the national weather center said.

“It is the highest temperature recorded in Iraq this year,” weather center spokesperson Amer Al-Jabiri told AFP.

He said the early heat was in contrast to last year, when the temperature was “relatively good” in May and “it only began to rise in June.”

In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August, and sometimes reach these levels earlier.

On Sunday, two cadets died and others were admitted to hospital with heat stroke at a military academy in the southern province of Dhi Qar, authorities said.

The defense ministry said nine cadets “showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion due to sun exposure” while waiting to be assigned to battalions.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the deaths of the two cadets.

Iraq is one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, according to the United Nations. It has also seen a prolonged drought and frequent dust storms.


Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
Updated 35 min 14 sec ago
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Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza

Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
  • The army told residents that it was operating with intense force

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations” there.

A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.

It said that one “projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force.

It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.

Israel has ramped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas.

The territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli attacks had killed at least 19 people on Thursday.


Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
Updated 22 May 2025
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Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
  • Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Syria’s government must keep focused on its deal with the Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under which it is to integrate into the Syrian armed forces, pressing Damascus for its implementation.

Speaking to reporters on a flight from Budapest, he said Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and the United States had a committee to discuss the fate of Daesh militants in prison camps in northeast Syria, which have been run by the SDF for years.

Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group.

“We are especially following the YPG issue very, very closely. It is important for the Damascus administration not to take its attention away from this issue,” his office on Thursday cited him as saying. The YPG militia spearheads the SDF.

He added that Iraq should focus on the issue of the camps, as most women and children at the Al-Hol camp there were from Iraq and Syria, and that Iraq should repatriate its nationals.


Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says

Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says
Updated 22 May 2025
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Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says

Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says
  • Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area

Israel’s military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen and that sirens had sounded twice across the country including in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Thursday, as the Houthis stepped up attacks.
Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area.
Undeterred by Israeli strikes on Yemen, the Houthis said they would continue to fire at Israel even though they have agreed to a ceasefire with the United States to halt attacks on US ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa, and another last week targeting the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, most of which have been intercepted or have fallen short.
The group says it is acting in support of Gaza’s Palestinians.