cease-fire

UN Warns 14,000 Babies in Gaza Could Die in 48 Hours Without True Lift of Israeli Blockade

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Original article by Julia Conley republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

18-month-old Mayar El Arca is being treated at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza on May 17, 2025. (Photo: Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress,” said one humanitarian expert.

The United Nations estimated that the Netanyahu government’s continued starvation of more than 2 million Palestinians could kill up to 14,000 infants in the next two days without a serious influx of aid.

News outlets have reported since Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed five aid trucks carrying baby food and other nutritional aid into the besieged enclave—but humanitarian experts and workers have decried the arrival of the aid as “a trickle among a sea of need.”

Tom Fletcher, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs for the United Nations, said the tiny amount of aid was a “drop in the ocean” in a bombarded enclave where food security experts announced earlier this month that nearly a quarter of a million people are facing “extreme deprivation of food” and the entire population has “very high” levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.

While many medical workers have been killed in Israeli bombings, Fletcher told the BBC‘s Radio 4 “Today” program that teams have assessed that 14,000 infants are likely to die within 48 hours if food aid can’t reach them. The small amount of trucks allowed in through the Karem Abu Salem crossing Monday—a fraction of the 600 per day that provided food, medications, water, and other aid to Palestinians during the recent cease-fire—have yet to actually reach civilians.

On Tuesday, 100 more U.N. trucks were given clearance to enter Gaza. Fletcher said humanitarian workers fear potential looting of aid trucks due to the chaotic, desperate situation faced by Palestinians.

The current blockade began March 2, and international humanitarian groups operating in Gaza have exhausted their reserves of food aid over the past 79 days.

“For over 70 days Israel has been starving the people of Gaza, depriving them of food, water, medicine, and essential supplies while escalating its cruel and indiscriminate bombing campaign,” said Wassem Mushtaha, Gaza response lead for Oxfam. “Two million people are on the brink of famine, and they are not just starving, but also traumatized, sick, and displaced from their homes.”

“The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress, especially alongside the expansion of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip,” said Mushtaha. “It is not a turning point, but at best a narrow concession that seems to reflect mounting international pressure.”

The continued blockade on effectively all humanitarian aid prompted the United Kingdom, Canada, and France to issue a joint statement Monday saying that “the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable” and threatening “targeted sanctions.”

On Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that the government had suspended trade negotiations over Netanyahu’s blockade and plan to expand military operations across Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Tuesday that the country also supports a review of the European Union’s trade relationship with Gaza.

“The blind violence and the blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government have turned the enclave into a death trap, not to say a cemetery,” Barrot said. “This must stop… It is an absolute violation of all the rules of international law.”

The European leaders’ comments were a departure from many Western governments’ insistence since 2023 that Israel is operating in self-defense and that it is targeting Hamas in retaliation for the group’s attack on October 7, 2023. Humanitarian groups, rights experts, and progressive lawmakers have called on Western governments to end their support for Israel, which faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, said Tuesday that “what is urgently needed is for all crossings to be opened to allow a full and proper humanitarian response that allows real access, with safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law.”

“A token convoy does not equal progress, only sustained, accountable access through every crossing will end the impunity that keeps aid from flowing,” said Khalidi. “We must also see an end to the relentless bombing and attacks on Palestinian people, with an urgent and permanent cease-fire, alongside justice and accountability for all.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Continue ReadingUN Warns 14,000 Babies in Gaza Could Die in 48 Hours Without True Lift of Israeli Blockade

Pope Francis Dies at 88 After Final Appeal for Gaza Cease-Fire

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Original article by Common Dreams Staff republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Pope Francis delivered a Sunday Angelus blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square on January 12, 2025 in Vatican City.  (Photo: Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

“Will the millions who will mourn his death these coming days respect this wish of his? Will they care for Gazans and Palestinians the way he did?”

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, hours after he appeared at an Easter mass and appealed for an end to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

The pope’s Easter address, read aloud by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, decried the “terrible conflict” in Gaza that “continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.”

“I appeal to the warring parties: call a cease-fire, release the hostages, and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!” said the message from the pope, an outspoken opponent of military conflict and war profiteers, climate destruction, and runaway economic inequality.

“In the face of the cruelty of conflicts that involve defenceless civilians and attack schools, hospitals, and humanitarian workers, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that it is not targets that are struck, but persons, each possessed of a soul and human dignity,” the pope’s address continued.

News of Pope Francis’ death came after a bout with double pneumonia left him hospitalized for more than a month. The Vatican did not specify a cause of death in its announcement.

The Nation‘s John Nichols wrote Sunday that Pope Francis’ calls for peace have made him “arguably the most consistent high-profile defender of the humanity of the Palestinian people during a period when the Israeli assault on Gaza has been pursued with relentless violence.”

Nichols continued:

With a boldness and specificity that has often sparked controversy, this pope has challenged economic injustice, racism, environmental neglect, militarism, and the abuses of new technologies that increase inequality. He has faced his share of criticism, not just from conservatives who disapprove of his views but also from reformers who sincerely wish that he would do more to modernize the church. Yet, in a time of too much indifference and impunity, this pope has remained uniquely engaged with the embattled regions that political and media elites neglect or abandon.

That’s been especially true when it comes to Gaza, where Pope Francis has long argued for cease-fires, arms blockades, aid convoys, and a diplomatic urgency that recognizes that Palestinians and Israelis are “fraternal peoples [who] have the right to live in peace.”

In a tribute to Pope Francis, Palestinian theologian Munther Isaac wrote Monday that “he conveyed true compassion to Palestinians, most notably to those in Gaza during this genocide.”

“The pope left our world today, and the occupation and the wall remained. Even worse, he left our world while a genocide continues to unfold,” Isaac wrote, pointing to the pontiff’s call for a thorough international investigation of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

“Today I wonder: Will the millions who will mourn his death these coming days respect this wish of his?” Isaac asked. “Will they care for Gazans and Palestinians the way he did?”

Original article by Common Dreams Staff republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingPope Francis Dies at 88 After Final Appeal for Gaza Cease-Fire

Hamas Halts Hostage Release, Citing Deadly Israeli Cease-Fire Violations

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

The mother of 5-year-old Neda Muhammed al-Amudi, who was killed in the Israeli army’s January 27, 2025 attack on a horse carriage in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp—a violation of the cease-fire with Hamas—mourns over her body at Awda Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine. (Photo: Fadel A. A. Almaghari/Anadolu via Getty Images.

One group says that Israeli forces have killed at least 110 Palestinians since the cease-fire took effect last month. Among the victims are multiple children, including a 5-year-old girl.

Hamas on Monday announced the suspension of its next planned release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, accusing that country of violating the fragile cease-fire agreement it signed last month.

Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades—Hamas’ armed wing— said in a statement that hostages will “remain in place until the occupying entity complies with past obligations and compensates retroactively.”

“Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership monitored the enemy’s violations and their noncompliance with the terms of the agreement,” Obeida explained. “These violations include delaying the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the Gaza Strip, and failing to allow the entry of relief materials in all forms as agreed upon. Meanwhile, the resistance has fulfilled all its obligations.”

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Since the cease-fire took effect on January 19, Israeli forces have bombed and shot civilians in Gaza, killing at least 110 Palestinians, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Palestinian civilians killed over the past few weeks reportedly include multiple children—one of them a 5-year-old girl—and an elderly woman.

“Israel continues to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip by denying Palestinians the basic necessities for survival and imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” the group alleged on Friday.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor continued:

Since the cease-fire, only a handful of injured and ill Palestinians from Gaza have been permitted to travel abroad for treatment, leaving thousands at risk of death due to Israel’s ongoing denial of their right to receive treatment. In addition to ensuring a severe shortage of specialized medical personnel, generators, fuel, and oxygen stations, Israel has obstructed the rehabilitation of destroyed hospitals and blocked the entry of medical supplies, medications, and equipment.

Further, in addition to blocking equipment needed for maintenance and restoration, the ongoing and illegal restrictions by Israel are preventing the entry of temporary shelters, tents, and basic supplies for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians whose homes it has destroyed…

Israel is deliberately obstructing the restoration of essential infrastructure, including water and sewage systems, endangering civilian lives and worsening environmental and health crises.

This, after over 15 months of Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza left more than 170,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing in Gaza and around 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and international humanitarian agencies.

U.S. President Donald Trump—whose proposal for an American takeover and redevelopment of the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East” has sparked international condemnation—said Monday that the cease-fire should end, letting “all hell break loose,” if all the remaining 40 or so Israeli and international hostages are not released by noon on Saturday.

The Qassam Brigades on Monday reaffirmed Hamas’ “commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation adheres to them.”

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingHamas Halts Hostage Release, Citing Deadly Israeli Cease-Fire Violations

Trump National Security Pick Says Israel Has Green Light to Keep Attacking Gaza

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser pick, walks to a Senate hearing on January 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Journalist Jeremy Scahill noted that Mike Waltz’s comments echo “a plan Netanyahu has hinted at: Israel views this deal as only one phase to get the Israeli and U.S. hostages out.”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as national security adviser said late Wednesday that the incoming administration will support future Israeli attacks on Gaza even as Trump hailed the tenuous new cease-fire and hostage-release agreement as a signal “to the entire world that my administration would seek peace.”

In an appearance on Fox News late Wednesday after the agreement was announced, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) said that “we’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this: If they need to go back in [to Gaza], we’re with them.”

“Hamas is not going to continue as a military entity and it’s certainly not going to govern Gaza,” Waltz added.

The national security adviser nominee expressed a similar position in a podcast appearance prior to the announcement of the cease-fire deal, which is currently in jeopardy as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of reneging on the terms of the agreement—a claim Hamas has rejected.

Asked whether a cease-fire agreement would mean “the war is over,” Waltz said, “Hamas would like to believe that.”

“But we’ve been clear that Gaza has to be fully demilitarized, Hamas has to be destroyed to the point that it cannot reconstitute, and that Israel has every right to fully protect itself,” he added. “All of those objectives are still very much in place.”

“We need to get our people out,” Waltz continued, “and then we need to achieve those objectives in this war.”

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Drop Site‘s Jeremy Scahill noted that the approach Waltz laid out mirrors “a plan Netanyahu has hinted at: Israel views this deal as only one phase to get the Israeli and U.S. hostages out.”

Last month, Netanyahu said that Israeli forces would “return to fighting” once hostages are freed.

“There is no point in pretending otherwise,” said Netanyahu, “because returning to fighting is needed in order to complete the goals of the war.”

Under the first phase of the deal announced Wednesday, a six-week cease-fire would begin as soon as Sunday and 33 hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees. The second and third stages of the deal are contingent upon negotiations that will take place during the first.

The text also stipulates the “withdrawal of Israeli forces eastwards from densely populated areas along the borders of the Gaza Strip” and a reduction of Israeli troop presence in the Philadelphi corridor—an issue that has repeatedly emerged as a sticking point in cease-fire negotiations.

The agreement states that “the Israeli side will gradually reduce the forces in the corridor area during stage 1 based on the accompanying maps and the agreement between both sides.”

“After the last hostage release of stage one, on day 42, the Israeli forces will begin their withdrawal and complete it no later than day 50,” the text continues.

But Netanyahu’s office insisted Thursday that the same number of forces would remain in the corridor during the deal’s first phase—a position that critics said runs counter to the agreement.

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While Trump and his allies celebrated the announced agreement as a master stroke of dealmaking and aid groups voiced hope for some reprieve for devastated Palestinians in Gaza, Netanyahu’s spokesman told The New York Times in a text message that “there isn’t any deal at the moment.”

Israel’s cabinet was expected to vote on the deal Thursday, but Netanyahu delayed the meeting and accused Hamas of trying to “extort last-minute concessions.”

Hamas officials denied the charge, saying they are committed to the agreed-upon text.

Ruby Chen, the father of a 19-year-old Israeli-American soldier who was taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023, suggested Thursday that Netanyahu “might be looking to get out of” the deal as he faces backlash from far-right members of his coalition.

Citing unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported Thursday that “behind closed doors, Netanyahu has been promising his far-right allies that the war could resume after the first, 42-day phase of the cease-fire, when Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.”

Paul Pillar, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote Thursday that “there remains the possibility that a renewed war in Gaza will, beginning a few weeks from now, become a problem for Trump just as it was for Biden.”

“But two main factors will incline President Trump not to exert any pressure on the Israeli government to turn away from renewing its devastation and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip,” Pillar predicted. “One is Trump’s relationship with his domestic evangelical political base, with its unconditional support for most anything Israel does. The other is that his ally Netanyahu has done him a big favor with his handling of the ceasefire negotiations, and now Trump owes Netanyahu favors in return.”

According to one Israeli report, Trump offered Netanyahu a “gift bag” of concessions in exchange for accepting a pre-inauguration cease-fire deal, including sanctions relief for violent Israeli settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank.

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingTrump National Security Pick Says Israel Has Green Light to Keep Attacking Gaza

Cease-Fire Deal Reportedly Reached After 15 Months of Israeli Atrocities in Gaza

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

People watch a television along a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 15, 2025. (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

“The cease-fire alone will not end the ongoing genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said one Palestinian human rights organization.

This is a developing news story… Please check back for possible updates…

The U.S. and Qatar said Wednesday that negotiators have reached a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas after more than 15 months of incessant Israeli bombing that killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions, and left Gaza in ruins.

At a press conference, Qatar’s prime minister said the agreement is set to take effect on Sunday. U.S. President Joe Biden said that “it is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin.”

Shortly before the formal announcement from the U.S. and Qatar, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the deal has yet to be cemented.

“Due to the strong insistence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas folded on its last-minute demand to change the deployment of IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor,” the prime minister’s office said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “However, several items in the framework have yet to be finalized; we hope that the details will be finalized tonight.”

The reported deal, brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, would entail “a six-week initial cease-fire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel,” according to Reuters, which cited an unnamed official briefed on the negotiations.

Al Jazeera, also citing anonymous sources, provided an outline of the reported deal:

  • The Israeli military will withdraw to within 700 meters (2,297 feet) inside Gaza.
  • Israel will release about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences.
  • Palestinian groups will release 33 Israeli captives.
  • Israel will allow injured people in Gaza to travel to receive medical treatment.
  • Israel will open the Rafah crossing with Egypt seven days after the start of the first stage.
  • Israeli forces will begin to pull back from Gaza’s border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, to withdraw from it completely in later stages.

Following news of potentially decisive progress toward a cease-fire, The Associated Press reported that “large crowds of cheering people” took to the streets in southern Gaza to celebrate. Meanwhile, the outlet noted, hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside of the Israeli military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv “calling for a deal to be completed.”

Reporting from central Gaza, Al Jazeera‘s Hani Mahmoud said that “we’re seeing people in tears” after news of a possible agreement spread in the besieged enclave.

“We’re seeing mothers here, who live in tents near the hospital… hugging and kissing their children, thanking God that they have survived,” said Mahmoud.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who voiced support for Israel’s catastrophic assault on Gaza during his 2024 campaign, took to his social media platform Wednesday to declare, in all-caps: “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!”

Steve Witkoff, the incoming Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, joined members of Biden’s team in working to finalize the cease-fire agreement, which came as the official death toll from Israel’s assault climbed above 46,000—a figure that experts say is likely a significant undercount. The majority of the people killed in Israeli attacks have been women, children, or elderly.

Drop Site‘s Jeremy Scahill reported Tuesday that “the terms of the deal being negotiated are largely consistent with what was on the table last May when outgoing President Joe Biden first announced it.”

“Biden allowed Netanyahu to steamroll him for months—rewarding Israel with billions of dollars in arms transfers and political support after rejecting that cease-fire deal,” Scahill wrote. “Since that time, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed and maimed and an unknown number of Israeli captives killed, either by their captors or Israeli strikes. All the while, the administration and its backers repeatedly assured voters in the U.S. that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were working tirelessly to achieve a cease-fire deal.”

“What is required is for Israel to end all ongoing genocidal acts, open Gaza, and for the international community to ensure accountability for those responsible.”

The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Palestinian organization, said the apparent cease-fire agreement marks “a crucial step toward reducing the killing of Palestinians through deadly force.”

“However, the cease-fire alone will not end the ongoing genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” the group added. “What is required is for Israel to end all ongoing genocidal acts, open Gaza, and for the international community to ensure accountability for those responsible.”

Inger Ashing, CEO of the international humanitarian group Save the Children, said the cease-fire “must be permanent” and accompanied by urgent efforts to “end the siege and vastly increase the entry of aid.”

“For 15 months, about 1 million children in Gaza have been caught in a living nightmare with loss, trauma, and risks to their lives at every turn,” said Ashing. “If implemented, this pause will bring them vital reprieve from the bombs and bullets that have stalked them for more than a year. But it is not enough and the race is on to save children facing hunger and disease as the shadow of famine looms.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has vocally criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and U.S. military aid to the Israeli government, said Wednesday that a cease-fire is “long-overdue” and “both sides must honor the deal and implement it as quickly as possible.”

“The senseless killing must stop. The hostages must be released,” said Sanders. “The United Nations and other aid organizations must finally be allowed unfettered access to all areas of the Gaza Strip in order to provide the massive amounts of humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are struggling to survive, lacking food, water, and medical care in the middle of winter. Innocent lives hang in the balance.”

“This is just the first step to restoring peace,” the senator added. “The international community must insist that the cease-fire be sustained and formalized. A plan for rebuilding Gaza and establishing peaceful Palestinian governance of the area must be laid out. And there must be accountability for the many war crimes committed by both sides in this terrible conflict.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingCease-Fire Deal Reportedly Reached After 15 Months of Israeli Atrocities in Gaza