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First few aid trucks have entered Gaza after nearly 3 months of Israel’s blockade

Update Displaced Palestinians gather to collect portions of cooked food at a charity distribution in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians gather to collect portions of cooked food at a charity distribution in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 19 May 2025

First few aid trucks have entered Gaza after nearly 3 months of Israel’s blockade

Displaced Palestinians gather to collect portions of cooked food at a charity distribution in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip
  • The UN called it a “welcome development” but said far more aid is needed
  • UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the first few trucks were a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed”

TEL AVIV: The first few aid trucks have entered Gaza following nearly three months of Israel’s complete blockade of food, medicine and other supplies, Israel and the United Nations said Monday, as Israel acknowledged pressure from allies.
Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered the territory of over 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT.
The UN called it a “welcome development” but said far more aid is needed. Food security experts last week warned of famine in Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March, some 600 aid trucks entered Gaza each day.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume limited, “basic” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support Israel’s renewed military offensive if there are “images of hunger” coming from the Palestinian territory.
The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the first few trucks were a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” He said an additional four UN trucks were cleared to enter Gaza. Those trucks may enter tomorrow, according to COGAT.
Fletcher added that given the chaotic situation on the ground, the UN expects the aid could be looted or stolen, which has been a growing problem as the blockade continued and resources became increasingly scarce. He urged Israel to open multiple crossings in northern and southern Gaza to permit a regular flow of aid.
Israel over the weekend launched a new wave of air and ground operations across Gaza, and the army ordered the evacuation of its second-largest city, Khan Younis, where Israel carried out a massive operation earlier in the 19-month war that left much of the area in ruins.
Israel says its offensive is a bid to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Hamas has said it will only release them in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Netanyahu said Monday that Israel plans on “taking control of all of Gaza,” as well as establishing a new system to distribute aid that circumvents Hamas. He has said Israel also will encourage what he describes as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza’s population to other countries — something that Palestinians have rejected.
Netanyahu warns of a ‘red line’ on Gaza
The Trump administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions and blames Hamas for deaths in Gaza, though in recent days it has expressed growing concern over the hunger crisis.
President Donald Trump — who skipped Israel on his trip to the region last week — voiced concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as did Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a video statement posted to social media, Netanyahu said Israel’s “greatest friends in the world” had told him, “We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger. We cannot stand that. We will not be able to support you.”
Netanyahu said the situation was approaching a “red line” and a “dangerous point,” but it was not clear if he was referring to the crisis in Gaza or the potential loss of support from allies.
The video statement appeared aimed at pacifying anger in Netanyahu’s nationalist base at the decision to resume aid. Two far-right governing partners have pressed Netanyahu not to allow aid into Gaza.
At least one of them, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, appeared to be on board with the latest plan.
“No more raids and going in and out, but conquering, cleansing and remaining until Hamas is destroyed,” he said. “We are destroying what is still left of the strip, simply because everything there is one big city of terror.”
Netanyahu says ‘minimal’ aid to be let in
Aid into Gaza would be “minimal,” Netanyahu said, and would act as a bridge toward the launch of a new aid system in Gaza. A US-backed organization will distribute assistance in hubs that will be secured by the Israeli military.
Israel says the plan is meant to prevent Hamas from accessing aid, which Israel says it uses to bolster its rule in Gaza.
UN agencies and aid groups have rejected the plan, saying it won’t reach enough people and would weaponize aid in contravention of humanitarian principles. They have refused to take part.
According to aid officials familiar with the plan, it will involve setting up distribution points mostly in southern Gaza, forcing many Palestinians to move south once again. The recent ceasefire saw hundreds of thousands return to homes in the north.
The war has displaced around 90 percent of its population, most of them multiple times.
Palestinians say an Israeli undercover raid killed a militant
Israeli special forces disguised as displaced Palestinians meanwhile launched a rare ground raid into Khan Younis early Monday, according to local residents.
The forces killed Ahmed Sarhan, a leader in the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, in a shootout, the group said. Palestinian witnesses said his wife and daughter were detained.
The forces drove in on a civilian vehicle and carried out the raid under cover from heavy airstrikes. At least five other people were killed, according to Nasser Hospital.
Also on Monday, an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp killed five people, including a woman and a girl, and wounded 18, mostly children, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
The Israeli military said it struck militants in what it described as a Hamas command center in Nuseirat.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.


UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come
Updated 15 sec ago

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come

UN warns severe danger from unexploded ordinance in Gaza will persist for years to come
  • UN Mine Action Service documents many cases of civilians injured by explosions as they return to war-ravaged areas amid ceasefire, including 5 children last week
  • The agency has recorded 328 incidents in Gaza since October 2023 in which people were hurt or killed by explosive devices, though the true number is likely much higher

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Mine Action Service has warned of the severe threat posed by unexploded ordnance in Gaza, as displaced communities and aid workers begin to return to areas ravaged by two years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
Luke David Irving, the chief of UNMAS in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, highlighted the ongoing dangers posed by these explosive remnants of war.
“As communities and humanitarian personnel now move through affected areas, the explosive risk is incredibly high,” said Irving, speaking in Jerusalem.
“We know from decades of experience that when many other conflicts end, explosive ordnance continue to maim and kill. Gaza is no exception.”
His team has documented many cases of injuries when people encountered unexploded ordnance, he added, including five children who were hurt last week, two of them seriously.
“It is one of hundreds of stories of people, often children, killed and suffering life-changing injuries at the hands of these dangerous items.”
Since October 2023, UNMAS has recorded 328 incidents in Gaza in which people were injured or killed by unexploded ordnance. However, the actual number is likely much higher.
“We expect that this figure is significantly underreported,” Irving said. “More, and many more, people have been injured or killed by ordnance littering Gaza over the past two years.”
UNMAS teams have so far identified 560 items of explosive ordnance in accessible parts of Gaza but warned the full extent of the contamination will remain unknown until more comprehensive surveys can be conducted.
“We expect to find many more items in the coming weeks as we can access more areas under the ceasefire,” Irving added.
The threat posted by unexploded devices is expected to persist for months and years to come, posing risks to residents as they return to their neighborhoods to salvage whatever belongings they can, and children play in affected zones.
Humanitarian workers also face significant danger as they venture into previously inaccessible locations, and Irving stressed the important need to remove explosive devices.
“Humanitarian mine action is indispensable to pave the way for aid delivery and any recovery and reconstruction,” he said.
UNMAS has already reached an estimated 460,000 people in Gaza in its efforts to help communities remain safe, through in-person risk-education campaigns in shelters, health centers and within areas affected by the conflict. Its workers have distributed more than 400,000 flyers, stickers and other awareness materials since March 2025. But much more remains to be done.
“We need to reach the entire population of Gaza with these messages to mitigate the risk,” Irving said.
UNMAS also carries out technical assessments of critical infrastructure, including roads, health centers, water facilities, bakeries and agricultural areas, to help ensure the safety of humanitarian operations. These assessments have also assisted with early recovery efforts, including the clearance of an estimated 50 to 60 million tonnes of debris potentially harboring explosive devices.
Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, UNMAS has received nearly 100 requests for explosives-clearance support, about 10 a day on average, as a result of which efforts are being made to bring more technical personnel into Gaza to scale up operations.
However, longer-term recovery will depend on securing approval for the widespread deployment of critical disposal equipment, Irving said.
“We ask that this equipment gets brought in for the wider sector, and this will enable the longer-term recovery of Gaza,” he added.
Irving thanked donors for their ongoing support for his agency, and emphasized the urgent need for the expansion of humanitarian explosives-clearance action as Gaza moves towards recovery.


Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution
Updated 21 October 2025

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution

Tunisian city on general strike over factory pollution
  • The plant, inaugurated in 1972, processes phosphate to make fertilizers
  • “Everything is closed in Gabes,” said Saoussen Nouisser, a local representative of Tunisia’s main labor union

GABES, Tunisia: Workers in the southern Tunisian city of Gabes launched a general strike on Tuesday following weeks of protest over a chemical factory residents blame for a spike in serious health issues.
Thousands have recently rallied in the city of some 400,000 inhabitants to demand the closure of a state-run phosphate processing plant which they say is behind a rise in gas poisonings after it ramped up production.
The plant, inaugurated in 1972, processes phosphate to make fertilizers, and some of the gases and waste it discharges into the open air and Mediterranean are radioactive and can cause cancer, researchers have found.
“Everything is closed in Gabes,” said Saoussen Nouisser, a local representative of Tunisia’s main labor union, UGTT, which called the general strike.
“We’re all angry at the catastrophic environmental situation in our marginalized city,” she told AFP.
Over 200 people have been hospitalized in recent weeks for respiratory distress and gas poisoning, according to authorities and NGOs.
Videos circulated online of children seemingly having breathing issues last week pushed thousands to rally in the coastal city.
Police have used tear gas to disperse the crowd at some demonstrations, with the city seeing clashes between residents and security forces sometimes at night.
Dozens were arrested over the weekend.
National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told local media that protesters have used “over 800 Molotov cocktails” targeting security forces, adding there were cases of “robbery and looting.”
In 2017, the Tunisian government promised to gradually shut down the factory, but earlier this year authorities said they would instead ramp up production at the plant.
President Kais Saied had long vowed to revive the sector hindered by unrest and underinvestment, calling phosphate a “pillar of the national economy.”
Authorities have said “urgent measures” were underway to address pollution in Gabes as the government called on Chinese companies to help manage the plant’s waste.
Equipment Minister Salah Zouari said they would help “control gas emissions” and “prevent the discharge of phosphogypsum into the sea.”
The solid waste contains radioactive elements, which also impact soil quality and groundwater.


Egyptian intelligence chief meets with Netanyahu for Gaza talks

Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
Updated 21 October 2025

Egyptian intelligence chief meets with Netanyahu for Gaza talks

Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad (C) is pictured on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Gaza.
  • Egyptian spy chief will also meet with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently in Israel
  • Rashad’s trip to Jerusalem comes more than a week into a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas

JERUSALEM: Egypt’s intelligence head Hassan Rashad met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday for talks aimed at reinforcing a fragile US-backed ceasefire in Gaza.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his professional team met with the head of Egyptian intelligence at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“During the meeting, they discussed advancing President Trump’s plan, Israel-Egypt relations, strengthening peace between the countries, as well as other regional issues,” the statement added, referring to a Gaza roadmap presented by US President Donald Trump that included the initial truce.
The Egyptian spy chief will also meet with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently in Israel, Egyptian state-linked news outlet Extra News reported.
Rashad’s trip to Jerusalem comes more than a week into a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, under a deal brokered in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
It coincides with a visit by US Vice President JD Vance, also to shore up the ceasefire. Vance is expected to meet special envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner and US military experts monitoring the truce.
According to Israeli media reports Vance will also meet Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem.


EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel
Updated 21 October 2025

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel

EU criticized after pausing sanctions on Israel
  • Bloc’s foreign policy chief: Context has changed after Trump peace plan
  • Ex-adviser: ‘This is exactly the moment when you need to keep the pressure on’

LONDON: Former European officials have criticized the EU for pausing sanctions against the Israeli government, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The pause came in response to US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts in the Middle East.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, after meeting the bloc’s foreign ministers on Monday, announced a pause on efforts to suspend preferential trade with Israel. Sanctions against figures responsible for driving the Gaza war were also paused.

Kallas said since last month, when the measures were proposed, the context has changed. Though “divergent views” were offered at the ministerial meeting, officials agreed that “we don’t move with the measures now, but we don’t take them off the table either because the situation is fragile,” she added.

Associate EU director at Human Rights Watch, Claudio Francavilla, said European governments are still protecting Israeli authorities from accountability.

Responding to the remarks by Kallas, he said: “What may have changed so far is the scale and the intensity of Israel’s atrocity crimes in Gaza; but its unlawful occupation and crimes of apartheid, forced displacement, torture and oppression of Palestinians continue unabated.”

Two former senior European figures also criticized the decision to pause the introduction of sanctions.

Former EU representative to the Palestinian territories, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, told The Guardian that Kallas has missed “the point” of legal accountability.

“Sanctions are not just a measure to induce or coerce a third party to change or adjust its behaviour,” he said.

“Restrictive measures are part of the tools the EU has given itself to react to breaches of both European and international law.”

In June, the bloc concluded that Israel had breached its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Lawyers have also said the EU must ensure Israeli compliance with the International Court of Justice’s non-binding opinion from 2024 that calls for the end of the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Last week, Burgsdorff co-organized the signing of a statement by 414 former top officials that urged immediate European action “against spoilers and extremists on both sides.”

The action should target those who have jeopardized “the establishment of a future Palestinian state,” the statement said.

The EU ditching its sanctions efforts against Israel would be the worst possible outcome, said Nathalie Tocci, a former adviser to two EU foreign policy high representatives.

“That is the last thing that we should be doing, because this is exactly the moment when you need to keep the pressure on,” she told The Guardian.

“Because we all know that it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion that this (Trump) plan will be implemented.

“I fear that … European governments and institutions will be … reverting back to the sort of old, familiar patterns.”

Substantial pro-Palestine protest movements in EU member states had spurred the bloc to take action against Israel.

At a summit on Thursday, European leaders are set to discuss the Gaza war, with a divide expected between traditional advocates of Palestine — Spain and Ireland — and pro-Israel governments such as those in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

EU officials are pushing for the bloc to be represented on Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza.

Burgsdorff said: “We need to work on a very robust UN mandate, a mandate which allows international partners to field soldiers, security forces to ensuring or to ensure the security in the Gaza Strip.”


Erdogan turns Trump’s Gaza deal into a power play for Turkiye

Erdogan turns Trump’s Gaza deal into a power play for Turkiye
Updated 21 October 2025

Erdogan turns Trump’s Gaza deal into a power play for Turkiye

Erdogan turns Trump’s Gaza deal into a power play for Turkiye
  • Erdogan’s signature on the Gaza document supercharged Turkiye’s push for a central role in the Middle East
  • Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, said Ankara’s success in delivering Hamas’s acceptance of Trump’s Gaza deal has given it new diplomatic leverage at home and abroad

ANKARA/DUBAI: Turkiye’s ties to Hamas, once a liability in Washington, have turned into a geopolitical asset. By persuading Hamas to accept Donald Trump’s Gaza deal, Ankara has reasserted itself on the Middle East chessboard, to the dismay of Israel and Arab rivals.
Initially resistant to the US president’s ultimatum — free the Israeli hostages or face continued devastation — Hamas leaders relented only when Turkiye, a country they view as a political patron, urged them to agree to the American plan.
Two regional sources and two Hamas officials told Reuters that Ankara’s message was unequivocal: The time had come to accept.
“This gentleman from a place called Turkiye is one of the most powerful in the world,” Trump said last week, referring to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, after the Palestinian militant group agreed to a ceasefire and hostage-release plan.
“He’s a reliable ally. He’s always there when I need him.”
Erdogan’s signature on the Gaza document supercharged Turkiye’s push for a central role in the Middle East, a status Erdogan has increasingly sought to reclaim, often invoking Ottoman-era ties and leadership.
Now, after the deal, Turkiye is seeking to reap dividends, including in bilateral issues with the US, the sources said.
Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM and a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, said Ankara’s success in delivering Hamas’s acceptance of Trump’s Gaza deal has given it new diplomatic leverage at home and abroad.
Turkiye, he said, is likely to use its renewed goodwill in Washington to push for progress on stalled F-35 fighter jet sales, an easing of US sanctions and US help in advancing Turkiye’s security goals in neighboring Syria.
“If those laudatory statements from Trump translate into lasting goodwill, Ankara could use that momentum to resolve some of the long-standing disagreements,” Ulgen told Reuters.

AT TRUMP-ERDOGAN MEETING, A REVAMP OF TIES BEGAN
The diplomatic recalibration between Ankara and Washington, officials said, began during Erdogan’s September visit to the White House, his first in six years.
The meeting addressed unresolved flashpoints, including Turkiye’s push to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, a move that angered Washington and also led to its removal from the F-35 program.
Syria was another key topic. Turkiye wants to pressure the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to merge into the Syrian army. Ankara views the SDF as a threat due to its ties to the PKK, which Turkiye designates a terrorist group.
That push appears to be gaining ground. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi confirmed a mechanism to merge with the Syrian army, an outcome Turkiye sees as a strategic win.
The Gaza deal follows other boosts to Turkish prestige. Trump praised Erdogan for hosting Russia-Ukraine talks earlier this year, and Ankara’s influence grew after Bashar Assad’s fall in Syria in 2024, where Turkiye backed opposition forces.
Turkiye’s ambition to reclaim a dominant Middle East role recalls for some skeptics the legacy of the Ottoman empire, which once ruled much of the region. Its collapse a century ago left modern Turkiye inward-looking as it built a secular republic and somewhat sidelined from regional diplomacy.
For years, Ankara was not part of high-level efforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a core source of regional instability. Turkiye’s support for Islamist movements — including political and diplomatic backing for Hamas, whose leaders it has hosted — strained ties with Israel and several regional states, and its perceived drift under Erdogan from NATO norms further distanced it from peacemaking.
But to break the deadlock in Gaza ceasefire talks, Trump turned to Erdogan, betting on the Turkish leader’s sway over Hamas. Turkish officials, led by spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, assured Hamas the ceasefire had regional and US backing, including Trump’s personal guarantee.
By enlisting Erdogan, Trump handed Ankara the role it craved as a dominant regional Sunni power. 
“Erdogan is a master in expanding his influence, seizing opportunities, taking advantage of events, turning them to his own interest and taking credit for them,” said Arab political commentator Ayman Abdel Nour. 
While Arab states shared an interest with Turkiye in ending the war, said Lebanese analyst Sarkis Naoum, the larger role given to Ankara was worrisome for them, recalling the history of Ottoman imperial rule over many countries in the region.
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry and MIT intelligence agency did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The US State Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
For Hamas, the main concern was that Israel might renege on the deal and resume military operations. Deep distrust nearly derailed the process, regional sources said.
“The only real guarantee,” a senior Hamas official told Reuters, “came from four parties: Turkiye, Qatar, Egypt, and the Americans. Trump personally gave his word. The US message was: ‘release the hostages, hand over the bodies, and I guarantee there will be no return to war.’”

CRUSHING PRESSURE ON HAMAS
Turkiye’s entry into the talks was initially vetoed by Israel, but Trump intervened, pressuring Israel to allow Ankara’s involvement, two diplomats said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s foreign ministry.
A senior Hamas official said Gaza’s military leaders accepted the truce not as surrender, but under the crushing pressure of relentless mediation, a collapsing humanitarian situation, and a war-weary public.
The deal won the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which killed 1,200 people, and triggered an Israeli offensive that has since left over 67,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health authorities.
Whether the Gaza deal will eventually open a way toward a Palestinian state remains unclear. Turkiye and Arab states including Qatar and Egypt say the plan lacks a roadmap toward a two-state solution, a historic Palestinian demand.
Asked about a potential Turkish troop deployment to Gaza in a post-war scenario and ways to ensure the enclave’s security, Erdogan said on October 8 the ceasefire talks were critical for discussing the issue in detail, but the priority was achieving a full ceasefire, aid deliveries and rebuilding Gaza.