The German government said it has taken note of “limited initial progress” in the flow of aid into Gaza, but said the amount was “very insufficient” to meet the needs of people there. DW has the latest.
Palestine Red Crescent says Israeli military attacked headquarters in Khan Younis
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) humanitarian organization said Israeli forces attacked its headquarters in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The PRCS said the attack killed one staff member and injured three others. The PRCS posted a video of what it said was the Israeli attack on social media platform X, with the footage showing fire and an explosion inside a building.
The Israeli military has yet to comment.
Turkey delivers Azerbaijani gas to Syria via new pipeline
Turkey has begun delivering Azerbaijani natural gas to Syria.
The Turkey-Syria Natural Gas Pipeline, which goes through the southern Turkish border region of Kilis, was inaugurated in an event on Saturday, with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Syrian and Qatari officials in attendance.
Taking part in the Kilis inauguration ceremony, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar called the opening of the pipeline a “historic moment.” Bayraktar said that “in the initial phase, up to two billion cubic meters of natural gas per year could be exported to Syria.”
Bayraktar said gas deliveries will first be sent to Aleppo in northern Syria, and will later be extended to the city of Homs in the central part of the country.
Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir, who was at the launch event, hailed the gas pipeline as a “strategic step” that boosts energy security and will “positively impact the economy and living conditions.”
Syria’s Sunni Islamist-led interim government has close ties with Turkey, with Turkish investments playing a key role in rebuilding the country after the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar Assad. Turkey opposed Assad’s rule and backed rebels fighting against him during the Syrian civil war, which ignited in 2011.
Family of Israeli hostage accuse Hamas of tormenting him with hunger
The family of Evyatar David, an Israeli held hostage in Gaza, saw him for the first time after Hamas released a video of him, looking very frail.
The propaganda video has led to widespread anger, with families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas calling on the Israeli government to secure their release.
In one section of the video, Evyatar David is shown being forced to dig a hole in the ground that he says will be his grave.
David was kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, during the terrorist attack by Hamas in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
His family said in a statement that “Hamas is using our son as a live experiment in a vile hunger campaign. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen.”
The video is juxtaposed with pictures of starving Palestinian children.
In a UN statement on Tuesday, UN-backed food security experts said that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza,” with UN World Food Programme director of emergencies Ross Smith saying the situation was “unlike anything we have seen in this century.”
German military aircraft delivers more humanitarian aid into Gaza
Germany’s Bundeswehr armed forces delivered about 9.6 tons of aid into Gaza on Saturday, according to the DPA news agency.
An A400M military transport aircraft dropped 22 pallets of humanitarian aid containing food and medical supplies into Gaza, the report said.
The Israeli military said countries like France, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates delivered about 90 pallets of aid into Gaza on Saturday.
A United Nations-affiliated organization that tracks food security worldwide issued a dire warning earlier this week about the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip.
It confirmed that, based on data up to July 25, a “worse-case” famine scenario, was unfolding across Gaza.
Israeli authorities control the only three border crossings at the Strip and cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March.
Israeli authorities then reopened some aid centers in May, but with restrictions they said were designed to stop goods from being stolen by Hamas militants.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, Germany, the EU and others.
Malnutrition-related deaths spiked in Gaza in July, according to the World Health Organization.
Airdrops have been sharply criticized by some humanitarian groups as expensive, inefficient and dangerous.
US envoy Witkoff tells families of Israeli hostages he was working to bring their loved ones home
US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and vowed to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
“We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part,” Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages who had gathered at the square to stage a protest to call upon the Israeli government to secure a deal to release their loved ones from captivity.
Witkoff was cited as saying so, according to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He added “We will do what’s right for the Gazan people.”
Protesters had gathered at the square after videos of Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released by militant groups, sparking anger and outrage.
One video of an Israeli hostage was released by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Thursday. A second video was released by Hamas on Friday (see posts above). It is unclear when those videos were filmed.
Witkoff on Friday also visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza run by theUS-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The foundation has been widely criticized for failing to improve conditions in the besieged enclave.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-updates-germany-says-gaza-aid-insufficient/live-73509441
