����ֱ��

GENEVA: Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called on Friday for a controversial Israel- and US-backed relief effort in Gaza to be halted, branding it “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operating last month, “is degrading Palestinians by design, forcing them to choose between starvation or risking their lives for minimal supplies,” MSF said in a statement.
It said more than 500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip while seeking food in recent weeks.
Starting in March, Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza for more than two months, leading to warnings of that the entire population of the occupied Palestinian territory is at risk of famine.
The United Nations says Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal under international law.
The densely populated Gaza Strip has been largely flattened by Israeli bombing since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.
Israel began allowing food supplies to trickle in at the end of May, using GHF — backed by armed US contractors, with Israeli troops on the perimeter — to run operations.
The latter have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people desperate to get food.
There are also concerns about the neutrality of GHF, officially a private group with opaque funding.
The UN and major aid groups have refused to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals and that it violates basic humanitarian principles.
The Gaza health ministry says that since late May, nearly 550 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce food supplies.
“With over 500 people killed and nearly 4,000 wounded while seeking food, this scheme is slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid and must be immediately dismantled,” MSF said.
GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points.
On Tuesday, the United Nations condemned what it said was Israel’s “weaponization of food” in Gaza and called it a war crime.
MSF said the way GHF distributes food aid supplies “forces thousands of Palestinians, who have been starved by an over 100 day-long Israeli siege, to walk long distances to reach the four distribution sites and fight for scraps of food supplies.”
“These sites hinder women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities from accessing aid, and people are killed and wounded in the chaotic process,” it said.
Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza, said the four sites were all under the full control of Israeli forces, surrounded by watch points and barbed wire.
“If people arrive early and approach the checkpoints, they get shot. If they arrive on time but there is an overflow and they jump over the mounds and the wires, they get shot,” he said in the statement.
“If they arrive late, they shouldn’t be there because it is an ‘evacuated zone’ — they get shot.”
MSF said that its teams in Gaza were seeing patients every day who had been killed or wounded trying to get food at one of the sites.
It pointed to “a stark increase in the number of patients with gunshot wounds.”
MSF urged “the Israeli authorities and their allies to lift the siege on food, fuel, medical and humanitarian supplies and to revert to the pre-existing principled humanitarian system coordinated by the UN.”

BEIRUT: On Friday afternoon, a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted southern Lebanon, including a residential building in Nabatieh, located 77 km south of Beirut.

According to the Ministry of Health, the raids killed a woman, the owner of a shop located within the targeted building, and injured 11 others.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned the attacks, calling them “a blatant violation of national sovereignty and of the ceasefire agreement reached in November.

“They also threaten the stability we are striving to maintain.”

According to official and security sources, the Israeli army launched a wave of violent and extensive raids on the hills surrounding Nabatieh. This marks the second-largest assault on Nabatieh since the ceasefire.

The strikes appear to have targeted ammunition depots, as prolonged explosions were heard across the area.

More than 20 airstrikes were launched on Nabatieh within 15 minutes. This formed a ring of fire around its forests, valleys and hills, in particularly the Ali Al-Taher hills, Jarmaq, Al-Dabshah, Kfar Tebnit heights and Nabatieh Al-Fawqa.

As explosions echoed across southern Lebanon, a security source stated that “the missiles used in this attack were likely concussion missiles given the intensity of the blasts.”

Residents claimed that the targeted sites included Hezbollah warehouses and tunnels used by the group.

Dozens of homes in Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa and Kafr Rumman sustained damage, with windows shattered by the blasts. Rocks and debris from the strikes also blocked the Nabatieh-Khardali road.

The Israeli army carried out similar attacks in the area at the beginning of May.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that “Israeli warplanes targeted a site used by Hezbollah to operate fire control and defense systems in Jabal Shqif, southern Lebanon.”

He claimed: “The site was part of an underground project that had been put out of service following previous Israeli airstrikes on the area. The army observed attempts to restore the site, which is why the terrorist infrastructure in the area was struck.”

Israeli Army Radio reported that “extensive raids are once again targeting underground structures in southern Lebanon after restoration efforts were detected.”

The Israeli army insists on blocking any restoration efforts or the removal of debris from the destroyed border area.

Earlier this morning, an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade near two pickup trucks in the town of Ramyeh while the drivers were loading scrap metal. The drivers fled the scene, and no injuries were reported.

The ceasefire agreement faces a political deadlock because it is linked to several issues including the disarmament of Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River, Israel’s withdrawal from five occupied Lebanese hills, and the granting of social rights to Palestinian refugees.

In this context, former head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, a key political figure in Lebanon, revealed unexpectedly that “his party had handed its weapons over to the relevant authorities about three weeks ago.”

During a press conference on Wednesday evening, Jumblatt reiterated that he had informed President Joseph Aoun of his decision immediately after the latter’s election, “and of his intention to fill constitutional vacancies,” a declaration that sparked political debate on Friday.

Jumblatt announced that “the weapons that were stored at a compromised site were intended for use in acts of murder.” He explained that he “alerted the presidency and the competent agencies to take possession of this arsenal before any disaster occurred.

“The handover took place about three weeks ago, but I chose to remain discreet to preserve stability, as wars were raging in the east and west, and have now calmed down, thank God.”

Jumblatt revealed that the “weapons were gradually accumulated following the events of May 2008 between the sovereign forces and Hezbollah and its allies.”

All parties in Lebanon had surrendered their weapons after the signing of the Taif Agreement, with the exception of Hezbollah, which considered its arsenal at the time as “weapons of resistance against Israel.”

Jumblatt added: “There was great tension between the PSP and the other party (Hezbollah) which resulted in casualties on both sides. I made significant efforts with everyone and the state, and even with Hezbollah itself.

“We had contact with the party when necessary, and we were able to bring the issue to a halt. However, the weapons existed; some were purchased, and others were scattered in some areas.

“I worked to assemble the weapons in a central location, and I collected most of them, light and medium weapons, along with some 23-caliber machine guns and others. The weapons were handed over to the state.”

Jumblatt emphasized that “today, a new chapter has opened in the Middle East, and the previous means of confrontation are no longer viable.”

“All weapons must be under the authority of the state,” he added.

“Therefore, if there is a Lebanese party or Lebanese parties, or even non-Lebanese parties, that possess weapons, I hope that they will hand them over to the state in the proper form and manner.”

He also called for “the need to grant Palestinians in Lebanon their full rights to work and live with dignity, away from the policies of segregation and containment.”

“There are occupied border points and villages that have been completely destroyed,” Jumblatt said, rejecting any link between the handover of weapons and Israel’s withdrawal.

He emphasized “adherence to UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701 and the Taif Agreement.”

Regarding Shebaa Farms — an area still occupied by Israel, which Hezbollah considers its duty to liberate it — Jumblatt highlighted the international debate over whether the territory was part of Lebanon or Syria.

He highlighted Syria’s refusal to submit relevant documentation to the UN and recalled an “agreement reached in the Lebanese National Dialogue in 2006.

“The three of us, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and I, agreed to go to Syria to demarcate the borders of the Shebaa Farms.”

He added: “If the farms are Lebanese, we would proceed to the UN, and if not, we would go to the UN to determine the farms’ fate.

“The Shebaa Farms are Syrian, occupied by Israel and fall under the scope of Resolution 242. Mount Hermon remains under occupation, partly Syrian and partly Lebanese.”