Gaza | Pakistan

The United Nations warned on Friday that an Israeli plan to take control of 70 per cent of Gaza will increase suffering among children already hit by the impacts of severe overcrowding. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to take control of more territory in the Gaza Strip, flouting the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October. He said the military had controlled 50pc of the Palestinian territory under the terms of the ceasefire, then advanced to take over 60pc. “My directive is to move to… 70pc,” he said. The United Nations children’s agency Unicef warned that this would deepen the health crisis among children in the territory, suffering from acute lack of food, water and hygiene. Israel controls the flow of aid into the territory along with all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Even before Israel’s assault in Gaza that began in 2023, the territory was already very densely populated. Now “people have been crammed into a...

US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has no cash in its official Gaza reconstruction fund, despite member countries pledging billions of dollars, a source familiar with the board told AFP on Wednesday. Trump first conceived of the board to rebuild Gaza, where Israel and Hamas agreed to a US-backed ceasefire in October in a bid to halt two years of devastating war. But he quickly raised eyebrows by sending out wide invitations, including to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to countries far removed from traditional Middle East diplomacy. Since the board was set up, its fund — administered by the World Bank and endorsed by the United Nations — has received no money from donors, the source familiar with the Board of Peace told AFP. The source said money had not been deposited because the fund was designed for the reconstruction and development phase, which has not yet been reached. Israeli military operations in Gaza have continued despite the ceasefire, with at least 910 people killed since then, accor...

Trump proposed rebuilding Gaza after an October US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, in a strike the day before, after killing his predecessor in a similar attack this month. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday”. Hamas has not yet commented. “In the Prime Minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz claimed in a post on X. “We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be.” After announcing the strike on Tuesday, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement that Odeh had “served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad”. Haddad was killed by an Israeli strike on May 15. “Odeh was responsible for...

MADRID: Around two thousand protesters took to the streets of the Spanish city of Bilbao on Sunday to condemn the Basque police’s treatment of activists from a Gaza aid flotilla on their return from detention in Israel. When a relative of one of the six returning activists tried to approach them at Bilbao airport on Saturday, a police officer forcefully prevented him from doing so, leading to scuffles between both sides, images from state broadcaster TVE showed. Images showed police striking people with batons and pinning others to the ground while being jeered by onlookers. Before this, activists appeared to have blocked the exit for other passengers and police tried to move them. Four people were arrested for serious disobedience, resisting arrest and assaulting law enforcement officers, the Basque regional police force, the Ertzaintza, said in a statement on Sunday. Two of those arrested were activists who had just arrived from Turkiye, TVE reported. The police force also launched an investigation into the...

New Zealand activist Mousa Taher, who was part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla, which was attacked and intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, said he was subjected to humiliating treatment and torture after being detained. Activists from the flotilla spoke to Anadolu after arriving at Istanbul Airport aboard three Turkish Airlines flights. Taher said that after previously being detained by Israeli forces in Greece, he travelled first to Istanbul and then to Marmaris before once again setting sail toward Gaza. “The Israeli occupation forces really tortured me this time,” he said. Pointing to injuries on his face and leg, Taher said Israeli soldiers recognised him and addressed him by name because it was his second attempt to join the flotilla. He said that when Israeli forces intercepted the boat he had joined for the second time, they forced him and another activist to strip on board, while other passengers were not subjected to the same treatment. New Zealand activist...

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, following global outcry over their treatment in custody. Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said that “all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel”. “Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” he added. Earlier, the legal centre and rights groups representing the activists, Adalah, said all detained activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been released from Israel’s Ktziot prison ahead of deportation. Adalah said it had received “official confirmation” from the Israeli Prison Service and state officials that the detainees had been released. “The majority of the participants are being transferred to Ramon Airport to be flown out of the country,” the group said. One of the organisers of the Freedom Flotilla mission, Thiago Avila, in a post on X, said, “Zohar, one of our...

In a tent in southern Gaza, Najia Abu Lehia mourns not only her husband but also their failure to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah, or Haj, together before he died a year ago because of war and border closures. Before the Israeli invasion of 2023, at least 3,000 Gazan pilgrims made the Haj every year. The signing of a ceasefire in October that halted major fighting raised Palestinian hopes for renewed travel, but they have been dashed by continued heavy restrictions on movement. Palestinian Najia Abu Lehia sits with her grandchildren inside a tent at a camp for displaced people, as she speaks about her wish to perform Haj amid restrictions on May 18, 2026. —REUTERS “We registered and our names got selected for the Haj before the war. Then the war broke out here and it became a barrier,” said 64-year-old Abu Lehia, who now lives in a tent encampment in Khan Younis. “I am worried I’ll follow him (die) while I’m longing to perform the Haj. But God willing, we hope to perform the Haj despite the constraints, desp...

Israeli authorities have begun detaining hundreds of activists seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla at the southern port of Ashdod on Wednesday, a rights group said, after Israeli forces intercepted their vessels at sea. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkiye last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month. Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard the flotilla were en route to Israel, while rights group Adalah said some had already arrived at Ashdod port and were being held there. “Having set sail toward Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge the unlawful blockade, these civilian participants were forcefully abducted from international waters and taken into Israeli territory entirely against their will,” Adalah said. “These acts are a direct extension of Israel’s policies of collective punishment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.” The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed ...

Board only received a small fraction of the $17 billion pledged by members for Gaza

Saad Edhi, son of prominent social worker Faisal Edhi, was reportedly detained by Israeli forces on Monday along with other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla after at least 10 boats were intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean. The organisers of the flotilla said Israeli forces had intercepted 10 of their boats and that contact had been lost with a total 23 vessels in the eastern Mediterranean. Earlier on Monday, Israel’s foreign ministry posted on X ​that it “will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza”. In a video posted on Edhi’s official Facebook handle, Faisal said that at around 1pm today, “the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces near Cyprus and its members have been arrested, including Saad Edhi”. He also appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action following his son’s detention by Israeli forces. “They were arrested in international waters and Israeli forces have no right to do so. Israel has arrested them illegally and their whereabouts are unknown...

Saad Edhi, along with more than 500 activists from various countries participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, had departed from Marmaris, Turkiye, on a humanitarian mission to Gaza aimed at delivering relief assistance to Palestinians.

Israel deported on Sunday two foreign activists seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, in what a rights group representing them described as a “punitive attack” on a civilian mission. Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30. The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. “Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel” following an investigation, the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X on Sunday. Israel would “not allow any breach” of the blockade on Gaza, it added. Spain, Brazil and the United Nations had all called for the men’s swift release. On Wednesday, an Israeli court rejected an appeal contesting the pair’s detention. “From their abduction in international waters to thei...

Doctors Without Borders on Thursday accused Israel of having deliberately restricted food and aid in Gaza, creating a “manufactured malnutrition crisis” with particularly devastating impacts on infants and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The report also examined the harm done by the US- and Israeli-backed private organisation set up last year to largely replace UN distribution of aid in Gaza. The medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, based its case on an analysis of the situation between late 2024 and early 2026 at four health facilities it supports in the Gaza Strip. That analysis showed significantly higher levels of prematurity and mortality among infants born to malnourished mothers, and spikes in miscarriages, it said. MSF linked these outcomes with Israel’s blockade of essential goods and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities. “Insecurity, displacement, restrictions on aid, and limited access to food and medical care have had devastating consequences for maternal...

An Israeli court on Tuesday extended the detention of two foreign activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla by six days, a lawyer representing them said. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon for their second hearing, after being brought to Israel for questioning last week. The extension is to allow police more time to interrogate them, the pair’s lawyer said. The two, held in a prison in Ashkelon, were among dozens of activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece early on Thursday. The other detained activists were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. The representatives of Avila and Abu Keshek have accused Israeli authorities of abusing the two men, who have been on hunger strike for the past six days. The flotilla’s vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid...

Italian prosecutors have opened an unlawful detention investigation following a raid by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Italian media reported on Monday. The probe was opened following complaints received over the detention last week of Spanish citizen Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, who were on an Italian-flagged vessel. An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of the two activists who were taken to Israel for questioning. The two were on a flotilla of more than 50 vessels that left France, Spain and Italy, aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted in international waters off Greece on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists. Avila and Abu Keshek were taken to Israel for questioning, while the other activists were released. The Israeli operation was widely criticised, particularly by Italy and Spain. The Rome prosecutor’s office opened a similar investigation...

An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, who were brought to Israel for questioning, a rights group representing them said. The flotilla of more than 50 vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Greece early on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists — two of whom were taken to Israel for questioning. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon on Sunday. AFP footage showed the pair being escorted into the courtroom, with Avila walking with his hands behind his back and Abu Keshek’s feet in shackles. “The court extended their detention by two days,” Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, told AFP. Adalah said the state attorney had prese...

TEL AVIV: A US military-run body near Gaza that critics say failed in its mission to monitor the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and boost aid flows to besieged Palestinians is set to be shut by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The closing of the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) in Israel would mark the latest blow to President Trump’s Gaza peace plan, already undermined by repeated Israeli attacks since the October truce. Diplomats said the move, which has not been previously reported, underscores the difficulties facing US efforts to oversee the truce and coordinate on aid, as Israel seizes more Gaza territory and Hamas firms its grip in areas under its control. The move could add to unease among Washington’s allies, whom Trump encouraged to deploy personnel to the CMCC and commit funds for his Gaza rebuilding plan, effectively on hold since the US launched its joint war with Israel against Iran. Trump-led board denies Civil-Military Coordination Centre is shutting do...

More than 100 activists, including former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who were aboard aid ships bound for Gaza were released and taken to the Greek island of Crete on Friday, a day after Israeli forces seized their vessels in international waters near Greece. The activists were part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla, launched in recent months in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships set sail from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12. On Friday, an Israeli army ship transferred 168 members of the flotilla crew to Greek boats, which then took them to shore, where buses and an ambulance waited for them, organisers said and Reuters footage showed. Before communications were jammed, former senator Ahmad posted videos to social media platform X saying, “Flotilla under attack, Israeli terrorist army has captured 11 of our boats.” On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X that the former senator, “who was unlawfully det...

Pakistan and 10 other countries condemned on Friday in “strongest terms” the Israeli assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which they said was as a peaceful civilian humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. A joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Brazil, Jordan, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Maldives, South Africa and Libya said the Israeli attacks against the vessels and the unlawful detention of humanitarian activists in international waters constituted “flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law”. “The ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of the civilian activists and urge the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release. “The ministers also call on the international community to fulfil their moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for th...