![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaFears for Gazans as aid groups halt work over deadly Israeli strikePublished2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, EPAImage caption, Israel’s military said the strike on World Central Kitchen’s convoy was a “grave mistake” and vowed to protect aid workersBy David Gritten & Mahmoud Elnaggar BBC News and BBC ArabicMany Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will be wondering how they are going to feed their families after World Central Kitchen (WCK) paused its operations in response to the killing of seven of its aid workers in an Israeli air strike. Another US charity it works with, Anera, has also suspended work because of the escalating risks faced by its local staff and their families. Together, they were serving two million meals a week across the Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned that an estimated 1.1 million people – half the population – are facing catastrophic hunger because of Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order.WCK’s decision to pause its work also led to the “freezing” of a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus, which the charity helped set up last month to increase the trickle of aid getting into the north of Gaza and avert a looming famine.The WCK convoy was hit on Monday night as it travelled south along the Israeli-designated coastal aid route, just after they had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food from a barge at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.That barge was part of a four-vessel flotilla that sailed back to Cyprus with 240 tonnes of supplies that could not be brought ashore in the wake of the strike. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned that “what happened to World Central Kitchen threatens the entire aid system” and had left it “on the brink”.Image source, @chefjoseandresImage caption, Before the strike, World Central Kitchen was providing about 350,000 meals across Gaza each dayWCK accused the Israeli military of a “targeted attack” on vehicles clearly marked with the charity’s logo and whose movements had been co-ordinated with Israeli authorities. The victims were British, Polish, Australian and Palestinian, and also included a dual US-Canadian citizen.The military’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, described the strike as a “grave mistake” that had followed “misidentification at night”.He also vowed to take “immediate action” to ensure that more was done to protect aid workers, including the immediate establishment of a new “humanitarian command centre” to improve co-ordination. “Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza,” he stressed.However, aid groups say they are not sure such promises will lead to meaningful changes. They also assert that this was not an isolated incident, with 196 Palestinian aid workers reportedly killed since the war began in October.Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council and a former UN humanitarian chief, told the BBC that WCK was “among those who have the closest co-operation with the Israelis”, in terms of sharing information about their workers’ locations and planned movements.Before the strike, WCK was playing an increasingly prominent and important role in Gaza, with 400 Palestinian staff and 3,000 people working indirectly for it in its 68 community kitchens and distribution system. WCK has provided 12% of the 193,000 tonnes of aid from international organisations that had reached Gaza since October, according to data from Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body tasked with co-ordinating deliveries. However, UN agencies were responsible for 80% of the total. WCK’s founder, the chef José Andrés, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday that it was “analysing the situation and how to keep doing the work we do”.Anera – which was providing 150,000 meals a day in collaboration with WCK – said it understood the consequences pausing its own work would have on Palestinians, but that its Palestinian staff had for the first time deemed the risk to their safety and that of their families “intolerable”.It said the charity’s logistics co-ordinator and his son had been killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah in March, despite the fact that the co-ordinates of the shelter where they were staying had been provided to the Israeli military.”We’ve asked for explanation as to why that site was struck and we’ve received none,” Derek Madsen of Anera told the BBC. “These sites are known and so I think it is very difficult for us to understand how these strikes happen.”BBC VERIFY: What do we know so far?JEREMY BOWEN: The war is at a crossroadsWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Facing danger to feed millionsCharity founder ‘heartbroken’ over workers’ deathsANALYSIS: Deadly strike shows aid workers’ protection in crisis, agencies sayPROFILES: Who were the seven aid workers killed in Gaza?Project Hope, another US-based organisation, paused its work for three days in solidarity with WCK and to “reassess the security situation as we prioritise our staff members’ safety”. Arlan Fuller, director of emergency preparedness and response, said in a statement sent to the BBC that its employees were deeply concerned by the deaths of the WCK team, and that the strike has raised significant doubts about the effectiveness of co-ordination with the Israeli military.For the people of Gaza, the suspension of WCK’s operations “means more famine, more dead children, more epidemic disease because people are so malnourished”, Mr Egeland warned. At least 27 children are reported to have died as a result of malnutrition since October, according to the World Health Organization.Mr Egeland urged Israel to start by opening the Karni and Erez border crossings with northern Gaza to allow aid convoys to drive there directly. Most aid convoys are currently forced to start at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom and Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossings with the south of Gaza and then pass through what the UN calls “high-risk areas”, mainly due to shooting and shelling or the breakdown in civil order.Cogat says Israeli forces have co-ordinated the entry of more than 500 lorries into the north over the past two months via those routes as well as a new gate and military road that runs south of Gaza City.Israel has also facilitated the now-suspended maritime corridor set up by WCK as well as airdrops of aid by Western and Arab countries. The UN says both are helpful but cannot replace the large-scale delivery of aid by land. The first WCK aid ship was carrying 200 tonnes of aid and took several days to reach Gaza. By comparison, a lorry can carry about 20 tonnes and the nearest Israeli container port is only a 40km drive from northern Gaza.A C-130 transport plane meanwhile has a maximum payload of 21 tonnes, but only about 40 airdrops have taken place so far and they are considered expensive, ineffective and dangerous for people on the ground. The UN says 159 lorry loads of aid crossed into Gaza by land each day on average between 1 and 28 March, and that the pre-war average was 500 lorry loads, including fuel.Cogat says the pre-war average only included 70 food lorries and that 140 entered each day during March. It insists there is no limit to the amount of food and other humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza and accuses UN agencies of failing to distribute aid effectively.Image source, ReutersImage caption, The Open Arms. a Spanish charity vessel, returned to Cyprus on Wednesday after the maritime aid route was suspendedThere was no apparent drop-off in aid crossing into Gaza following the strike on the WCK convoy, with 217 lorries transferred via Israel and Egypt on Wednesday and 179 food packages being airdropped, according to Cogat. But Nate Mook, who was chief executive of WCK until 2022, warned that the longer-term consequences could be “devastating” for Gazans because “we probably have not seen the last of the aid organisations to pull out”.Zawar Ali of International Medical Corps told the BBC that it was reconsidering its safety protocols and whether to restrict its workers’ movements. It had already decided to relocate its field hospital from the north of Rafah to al-Mawasi, an area to the west which the Israeli military has declared “humanitarian zone” but has still carried out strikes on what it says are Hamas targets. Dr Bashar Murad, the executive director of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said many of its paramedics were refusing to evacuate wounded and sick people from the north to the south in their ambulances due to the lack of safety guarantees, despite their protection under international law and co-ordination efforts by international organisations.Aseel Baidoun of Medical Aid for Palestinians said it had not suspended operations after a strike in January damaged a residential compound in al-Mawasi that housed the British charity’s local team and their families, injuring several people. But now, she added: “We really are scared of the security [situation].””If a foreigner with international immunity is bombed and killed, then what will they do to us?” Mohammed Aborjela, a Palestinian online content creator who launched the Youth of Gaza initiative to deliver aid after the war began, told BBC.He said Palestinian aid workers faced higher risks and greater challenges than their international colleagues, but insisted it would not stop him and his colleagues continuing their work. “The danger of not providing aid is no less important than the danger of being killed,” he added.Natalia Anguera of Action Against Hunger also said it would try to continue working despite “more and more challenging” conditions. “Most of our staff are… Palestinians. They are suffering themselves, but they also have a very strong and clear commitment to their humanitarian mandate. They want to go on delivering,” she told the BBC. She said the international community needed to push strongly for a humanitarian ceasefire because it was the only way that aid organisations would be able to scale up their response to the level required.Mr Egeland also stressed the importance of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which he said was “bigger than the rest of us combined” but was being “systematically undermined by Israel”.Israel accuses UNRWA of supporting Hamas, which triggered the war when its gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October last year. The agency has denied this, but in January it sacked nine of the 12 employees accused in an Israeli document of playing a part in the attacks.UNRWA called for a “complete reversal in policies” from Israel in response to Monday’s strike, including lifting the ban on it delivering aid to northern Gaza.Related TopicsIsrael-Gaza warIsraelPalestinian territoriesMore on this storyAid worker’s family criticises selling Israel armsPublished2 days agoBiden ‘outraged’ over Israel strike on aid workersPublished4 days agoWhat we know about Israeli strike on aid convoyPublished1 day agoTop StoriesJeremy Bowen: Obstacles to peace seem larger than everPublished5 hours agoLive. Israelis demand hostage deal six months on from Hamas attacksPost Office bosses earned millions despite scandalPublished9 hours agoFeaturesThe eclipse’s 4-minute window into the Sun’s secretsThe Papers: ‘Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’Where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?7 lessons from my first series of University ChallengeThe singer-songwriters who are pop’s new breakout starsIndigenous deaths in custody haunt AustraliaSix months on, how close is Israel to eliminating Hamas?Path of darkness – scroll every mile of total eclipse’A game of Jenga’: Inside the perilous Baltimore bridge clean-upElsewhere on the BBCGet a job, pay the bills. Sounds simple, right?Fresh, surreal comedy from the mind of Lucia KeskinAttributioniPlayerThis family bonds over Race Across the WorldThese are the the things we love on the BBCAttributioniPlayerOne of the most talented bands to never make it…Why did trailblazers Microdisney fail to achieve the commercial success they deserved?AttributioniPlayerDid you know these scenes were filmed in… Glasgow?!Ali Plumb travels through the city’s silver screen sightsAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?2Bowen: Obstacles to peace seem larger than ever3Hardest Geezer: The man who ran the length of Africa4Post Office bosses earned millions despite scandal5Woman dies after stabbing in busy city centre6Nail technicians join forces to raise prices7’Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’8Large-scale police response to disorder in Glasgow97 lessons from my first series of University Challenge10Incinerator opposed by Barclay sees permit delayed](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/16C5D/production/_133077239_gettyimages-2121060867.jpg)
newsinsightplus.com
- .In
- 40km
- April 7, 2024
- 0 Comments
BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaFears for Gazans as aid groups halt work over deadly Israeli strikePublished2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, EPAImage caption, Israel’s military said the strike on World Central Kitchen’s convoy was a “grave mistake” and vowed to protect aid workersBy David Gritten & Mahmoud Elnaggar BBC News and BBC ArabicMany Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will be wondering how they are going to feed their families after World Central Kitchen (WCK) paused its operations in response to the killing of seven of its aid workers in an Israeli air strike. Another US charity it works with, Anera, has also suspended work because of the escalating risks faced by its local staff and their families. Together, they were serving two million meals a week across the Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned that an estimated 1.1 million people – half the population – are facing catastrophic hunger because of Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order.WCK’s decision to pause its work also led to the “freezing” of a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus, which the charity helped set up last month to increase the trickle of aid getting into the north of Gaza and avert a looming famine.The WCK convoy was hit on Monday night as it travelled south along the Israeli-designated coastal aid route, just after they had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food from a barge at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.That barge was part of a four-vessel flotilla that sailed back to Cyprus with 240 tonnes of supplies that could not be brought ashore in the wake of the strike. The Norwegian Refugee Council warned that “what happened to World Central Kitchen threatens the entire aid system” and had left it “on the brink”.Image source, @chefjoseandresImage caption, Before the strike, World Central Kitchen was providing about 350,000 meals across Gaza each dayWCK accused the Israeli military of a “targeted attack” on vehicles clearly marked with the charity’s logo and whose movements had been co-ordinated with Israeli authorities. The victims were British, Polish, Australian and Palestinian, and also included a dual US-Canadian citizen.The military’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, described the strike as a “grave mistake” that had followed “misidentification at night”.He also vowed to take “immediate action” to ensure that more was done to protect aid workers, including the immediate establishment of a new “humanitarian command centre” to improve co-ordination. “Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza,” he stressed.However, aid groups say they are not sure such promises will lead to meaningful changes. They also assert that this was not an isolated incident, with 196 Palestinian aid workers reportedly killed since the war began in October.Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council and a former UN humanitarian chief, told the BBC that WCK was “among those who have the closest co-operation with the Israelis”, in terms of sharing information about their workers’ locations and planned movements.Before the strike, WCK was playing an increasingly prominent and important role in Gaza, with 400 Palestinian staff and 3,000 people working indirectly for it in its 68 community kitchens and distribution system. WCK has provided 12% of the 193,000 tonnes of aid from international organisations that had reached Gaza since October, according to data from Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body tasked with co-ordinating deliveries. However, UN agencies were responsible for 80% of the total. WCK’s founder, the chef José Andrés, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday that it was “analysing the situation and how to keep doing the work we do”.Anera – which was providing 150,000 meals a day in collaboration with WCK – said it understood the consequences pausing its own work would have on Palestinians, but that its Palestinian staff had for the first time deemed the risk to their safety and that of their families “intolerable”.It said the charity’s logistics co-ordinator and his son had been killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah in March, despite the fact that the co-ordinates of the shelter where they were staying had been provided to the Israeli military.”We’ve asked for explanation as to why that site was struck and we’ve received none,” Derek Madsen of Anera told the BBC. “These sites are known and so I think it is very difficult for us to understand how these strikes happen.”BBC VERIFY: What do we know so far?JEREMY BOWEN: The war is at a crossroadsWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Facing danger to feed millionsCharity founder ‘heartbroken’ over workers’ deathsANALYSIS: Deadly strike shows aid workers’ protection in crisis, agencies sayPROFILES: Who were the seven aid workers killed in Gaza?Project Hope, another US-based organisation, paused its work for three days in solidarity with WCK and to “reassess the security situation as we prioritise our staff members’ safety”. Arlan Fuller, director of emergency preparedness and response, said in a statement sent to the BBC that its employees were deeply concerned by the deaths of the WCK team, and that the strike has raised significant doubts about the effectiveness of co-ordination with the Israeli military.For the people of Gaza, the suspension of WCK’s operations “means more famine, more dead children, more epidemic disease because people are so malnourished”, Mr Egeland warned. At least 27 children are reported to have died as a result of malnutrition since October, according to the World Health Organization.Mr Egeland urged Israel to start by opening the Karni and Erez border crossings with northern Gaza to allow aid convoys to drive there directly. Most aid convoys are currently forced to start at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom and Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossings with the south of Gaza and then pass through what the UN calls “high-risk areas”, mainly due to shooting and shelling or the breakdown in civil order.Cogat says Israeli forces have co-ordinated the entry of more than 500 lorries into the north over the past two months via those routes as well as a new gate and military road that runs south of Gaza City.Israel has also facilitated the now-suspended maritime corridor set up by WCK as well as airdrops of aid by Western and Arab countries. The UN says both are helpful but cannot replace the large-scale delivery of aid by land. The first WCK aid ship was carrying 200 tonnes of aid and took several days to reach Gaza. By comparison, a lorry can carry about 20 tonnes and the nearest Israeli container port is only a 40km drive from northern Gaza.A C-130 transport plane meanwhile has a maximum payload of 21 tonnes, but only about 40 airdrops have taken place so far and they are considered expensive, ineffective and dangerous for people on the ground. The UN says 159 lorry loads of aid crossed into Gaza by land each day on average between 1 and 28 March, and that the pre-war average was 500 lorry loads, including fuel.Cogat says the pre-war average only included 70 food lorries and that 140 entered each day during March. It insists there is no limit to the amount of food and other humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza and accuses UN agencies of failing to distribute aid effectively.Image source, ReutersImage caption, The Open Arms. a Spanish charity vessel, returned to Cyprus on Wednesday after the maritime aid route was suspendedThere was no apparent drop-off in aid crossing into Gaza following the strike on the WCK convoy, with 217 lorries transferred via Israel and Egypt on Wednesday and 179 food packages being airdropped, according to Cogat. But Nate Mook, who was chief executive of WCK until 2022, warned that the longer-term consequences could be “devastating” for Gazans because “we probably have not seen the last of the aid organisations to pull out”.Zawar Ali of International Medical Corps told the BBC that it was reconsidering its safety protocols and whether to restrict its workers’ movements. It had already decided to relocate its field hospital from the north of Rafah to al-Mawasi, an area to the west which the Israeli military has declared “humanitarian zone” but has still carried out strikes on what it says are Hamas targets. Dr Bashar Murad, the executive director of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said many of its paramedics were refusing to evacuate wounded and sick people from the north to the south in their ambulances due to the lack of safety guarantees, despite their protection under international law and co-ordination efforts by international organisations.Aseel Baidoun of Medical Aid for Palestinians said it had not suspended operations after a strike in January damaged a residential compound in al-Mawasi that housed the British charity’s local team and their families, injuring several people. But now, she added: “We really are scared of the security [situation].””If a foreigner with international immunity is bombed and killed, then what will they do to us?” Mohammed Aborjela, a Palestinian online content creator who launched the Youth of Gaza initiative to deliver aid after the war began, told BBC.He said Palestinian aid workers faced higher risks and greater challenges than their international colleagues, but insisted it would not stop him and his colleagues continuing their work. “The danger of not providing aid is no less important than the danger of being killed,” he added.Natalia Anguera of Action Against Hunger also said it would try to continue working despite “more and more challenging” conditions. “Most of our staff are… Palestinians. They are suffering themselves, but they also have a very strong and clear commitment to their humanitarian mandate. They want to go on delivering,” she told the BBC. She said the international community needed to push strongly for a humanitarian ceasefire because it was the only way that aid organisations would be able to scale up their response to the level required.Mr Egeland also stressed the importance of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which he said was “bigger than the rest of us combined” but was being “systematically undermined by Israel”.Israel accuses UNRWA of supporting Hamas, which triggered the war when its gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October last year. The agency has denied this, but in January it sacked nine of the 12 employees accused in an Israeli document of playing a part in the attacks.UNRWA called for a “complete reversal in policies” from Israel in response to Monday’s strike, including lifting the ban on it delivering aid to northern Gaza.Related TopicsIsrael-Gaza warIsraelPalestinian territoriesMore on this storyAid worker’s family criticises selling Israel armsPublished2 days agoBiden ‘outraged’ over Israel strike on aid workersPublished4 days agoWhat we know about Israeli strike on aid convoyPublished1 day agoTop StoriesJeremy Bowen: Obstacles to peace seem larger than everPublished5 hours agoLive. Israelis demand hostage deal six months on from Hamas attacksPost Office bosses earned millions despite scandalPublished9 hours agoFeaturesThe eclipse’s 4-minute window into the Sun’s secretsThe Papers: ‘Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’Where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?7 lessons from my first series of University ChallengeThe singer-songwriters who are pop’s new breakout starsIndigenous deaths in custody haunt AustraliaSix months on, how close is Israel to eliminating Hamas?Path of darkness – scroll every mile of total eclipse’A game of Jenga’: Inside the perilous Baltimore bridge clean-upElsewhere on the BBCGet a job, pay the bills. Sounds simple, right?Fresh, surreal comedy from the mind of Lucia KeskinAttributioniPlayerThis family bonds over Race Across the WorldThese are the the things we love on the BBCAttributioniPlayerOne of the most talented bands to never make it…Why did trailblazers Microdisney fail to achieve the commercial success they deserved?AttributioniPlayerDid you know these scenes were filmed in… Glasgow?!Ali Plumb travels through the city’s silver screen sightsAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?2Bowen: Obstacles to peace seem larger than ever3Hardest Geezer: The man who ran the length of Africa4Post Office bosses earned millions despite scandal5Woman dies after stabbing in busy city centre6Nail technicians join forces to raise prices7’Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’8Large-scale police response to disorder in Glasgow97 lessons from my first series of University Challenge10Incinerator opposed by Barclay sees permit delayed
[ad_1] Together, they were serving two million meals a week across the Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned that an estimated 1.1 million people – half the population –…
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaIsrael Gaza: US weapons to Israel a sign of thaw in strained tiesPublished41 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, EPAImage caption, Israel has insisted it will attack Rafah, dismissing international concern that it would cause untold suffering amongst a large number of peopleBy Yolande KnellBBC News, JerusalemDespite a week of tensions with Israel over its conduct of the Gaza War, Washington is reported to have authorised arms transfers to its ally worth billions of dollars. These include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000lb (900kg) bombs and 500 MK82 500lb bombs, as well as 25 F35A fighter jets, The Washington Post and Reuters news agency have said.The larger bombs have previously been linked to air strikes in Gaza causing mass casualties.Washington gives $3.8bn (£3bn) in annual military assistance to Israel.But the latest package comes as the Biden administration has been raising concerns about rising civilian deaths in Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory, which the UN says is on the verge of famine.The administration has also said it “cannot support” an anticipated large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Egypt border, where there are more than a million displaced people.The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs in Ramallah criticised the US for inconsistencies in its positions. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, it said: “demanding [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to stop killing civilians and supplying him with weapons is an unprecedented principled and moral contradiction”.Image source, ReutersImage caption, New talks on the release of Israeli hostages and a truce with Hamas are being heldNews of the arms transfers emerged on the same day that President Joe Biden spoke of “the path being felt by so many in the Arab-American community with the war in Gaza”.The arms transfers have also been strongly criticised by some senior members of the president’s Democratic party who have been calling for US military aid to be limited or conditional on changes in how Israel conducts military operations. The US State Department told the BBC that it was unable to confirm potential or pending US arms transfers before Congress was formally notified. Quoting Pentagon and State Department officials, the Washington Post reported that the extra warplanes being sent to Israel were initially approved as part of a larger package by Congress in 2008 and had been requested last year – in advance of the deadly 7 October attacks by Hamas which triggered the Gaza war.When Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant went to Washington last week, it was said he had taken a long list of US weapons his country wanted to receive in an expedited manner.Gaza starvation could amount to war crime, UN human rights chief tells BBCWhy are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?Stories of the hostages taken by Hamas from IsraelDuring the war Israel, though itself a major weapons exporter, has been heavily reliant on American air defences and munitions. Tens of thousands of bombs have been dropped on Gaza, with military experts saying the aerial campaign has been one of the most intense and destructive in recent history.Late last year, analysis of bomb craters from satellite imagery drew major US news outlets to conclude that Israel had routinely used its biggest 2000-pound (900kg) bombs.The New York Times quoted explosives experts who said that while bombs of that size were used by several Western militaries, they were almost never dropped by US forces in densely populated areas anymore.Meeting top US officials, Mr Gallant stressed the need to preserve his country’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East and prepare for a possible escalation in fighting with the powerful Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah. He also sought to ease tensions with his country’s most important ally, which had sunk to their lowest point of the Gaza war after the US abstained from a key UN Security Council vote on Monday. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reacted angrily when this allowed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to pass. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Aid worker in Gaza: People are ‘desperate, eating anything they can find’In the wake of the vote, White House spokesman John Kirby had rejected claims that the US had changed its position and denied that it was ready to start conditioning aid to Israel. “It’s not about trying to use some sort of power dynamics here with our good friend and ally, Israel. It’s about helping them defend themselves,” he told journalists. “We still have Israel’s back. As you and I are speaking, we are still providing tools, capabilities, and weapons systems so that Israel can defend itself against what we agree is still a viable threat [from] Hamas.”Since the new arms transfers were reportedly given the green light, there have been signs that relations between Israel and the US have eased. A high-level Israeli delegation is now expected to travel to Washington to discuss possible alternative plans for operations against Hamas in Rafah. The trip had previously been cancelled by Mr Netanyahu in response to the UN Security Council ceasefire vote. In another step likely to be welcomed by the US, Israel has also agreed to send senior intelligence officials back to Egypt and Qatar for renewed talks to try to release its hostages as part of a possible truce deal with Hamas.Related TopicsIsrael-Gaza warUnited StatesMore on this storyIsrael says UN resolution damaged Gaza truce talksPublished3 days agoUN rights expert accuses Israel of acts of genocidePublished3 days agoTop UN court orders Israel to allow aid into GazaPublished1 day agoWhat is famine and why are Gaza and Sudan at risk?Published1 day agoHow much aid is getting into Gaza and how?Published15 MarchTop StoriesJeffrey Donaldson: From the White House to Antrim police stationPublished2 hours agoMan arrested as hostage situation in Dutch bar endsPublished1 hour agoStabbed Iranian TV host’s station ‘faced threats’Published1 hour agoFeaturesWhy are electric car fires so hard to deal with?Seven bills going up and one going down in April’I drove 14 hours to see a Banksy for 10 minutes’AI photos show people with cancer their lost futureEwan McGregor ‘turned into his grandad’ in new roleThe Papers: DUP leader charged and ‘hefty’ water bill riseThe football pitch that doubles as an execution groundCanada’s drug experiment hits strong oppositionA view from inside ship that hit Baltimore bridge. VideoA view from inside ship that hit Baltimore bridgeElsewhere on the BBCAmbition, money and deceptionThe scandalous true story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, starring Amanda SeyfriedAttributioniPlayerGet a job, pay the bills. Sounds simple, right?Fresh, surreal comedy from the mind of Lucia KeskinAttributioniPlayerFrom Starman to film star…How did the silver screen inspire David Bowie?AttributioniPlayerCan new evidence solve aviation’s greatest mystery?Ten years after the Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared, new technology may explain whyAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Lizzo says she ‘quits’ after ‘lies’ against her2Man arrested as hostage situation in Dutch bar ends3From the White House to Antrim police station4Why are electric car fires so hard to deal with?5’Escorted through the airport like a criminal’6Seven bills going up and one going down in April7Stabbed Iranian TV host’s station ‘faced threats’8AI photos show people with cancer their lost future9Girl’s death sparks deadly mob violence in Mexico10Man in court over train stabbing attempted murder](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/65F9/production/_133050162_mediaitem133050161.jpg)
