Gazans tell BBC of air drop fears as aid agencies call plan 'grotesque distraction'
Summary
Gazans tell the BBC that Israeli plans to air drop aid have been "proven to be a failure" in the past, are "unsafe" and risk causing "serious harm"
This comes after Israel said foreign nations will be able to drop supplies into the Strip by air in the coming days and insisted there are no restrictions on aid delivery
One woman says air dropped aid has "provided some relief" in the past but warns "many lives were lost" because of the "dangers involved with retrieving" it
Aid agencies have condemned the plan, with one describing it as a "grotesque distraction". Others say some aid is better than nothing, writes BBC World Correspondent Joe Inwood
International news outlets rely on local reporters within Gaza, as Israel does not allow foreign media, including BBC News, to send journalists into the territory
Air drops - and who receives them - would be nearly impossible to regulate
Joe Inwood
World news correspondent
Earlier, I reported on the response from three aid agencies about Israel’s plan to allow aid air drops by third countries into Gaza.
They have highlighted issues, most notably around the potential risks of thousands of tonnes of food supplies being dropped onto the densely populated Gaza strip. Those were illustrated during a similar operation last year, says Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
‘Dodgy guys who dress just like him’: meet the team behind far-right activist Tommy Robinson
Sat 26 Jul 2025 06.00 BST
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon may appear to be a one-man band, but behind him is a colourful inner circle helping to pull the strings of the far right
The Tommy Robinson outriders were early to Epping. Wendell Daniel, a former Labour councillor who is now a film-maker for Robinson’s Urban Scoop video platform, turned his microphone to a young woman on the edge of the protests in the Essex town.
“Look into that,” he said pointing to the camera. “Talk to Tommy, tell him you want to see him coming down here.”
“Tommy,” she responded, “I think you should definitely come down because you will help out the situation so much more.”
Russia to crack down on what it deems 'extremist' content
In a fresh move to restrict free speech, Russia's parliament has approved legislation punishing those who browse what the state deems as "extremist" online content. How will this affect users?
On Friday, Russia's upper house approved a new censorship law that introduces fines for anyone caught searching for or accessing content officially labeled as "extremist." The law will take effect once signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sweeping legislation doesn't stop there — it also imposes penalties for promoting VPN services, the very tools many Russians rely on to bypass government censorship and access blocked information.
After Russia's lower house, the State Duma, endorsed the law on July 22, a small group of people protested outside Russia's parliament, for the first time in a long while. One of the signs read "For a Russia without censorship. Orwell wrote a dystopia, not a manual." Police quickly detained the man holding it.
No Proof Hamas Routinely Stole U.N. Aid, Israeli Military Officials Say
Israel has long restricted or completely blocked aid to Gaza on the argument that Hamas steals it to use as a weapon of control over the population.
For nearly two years, Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organizations. The government has used that claim as its main rationale for restricting food from entering Gaza.
But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter.
Thai-Cambodian border clashes kill at least 33 amid UN call for 'restraint'
Border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia continued for the third day on Saturday with the death toll from the conflict rising to at least 33. More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions and 35,000 have fled their homes in Cambodia. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the crisis on Friday.
Thailand and Cambodia clashed for a third day on Saturday, as the death toll from their bloodiest fighting in years rose to 33 and Phnom Penh called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
A long-running border dispute erupted into intense conflict involving jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, prompting the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Friday.
Cambodia’s defence ministry said 13 people were now confirmed killed in the fighting, including eight civilians and five soldiers, with 71 people wounded.
Malnutrition in Nigeria killed 652 children in past six months, MSF says
The charity says the deaths were caused due to funding cuts by international donors amid insecurity in northern Nigeria.
At least 652 children have died from malnutrition in the Nigerian state of Katsina in the first six months of 2025, according to Doctors Without Borders.
The charity, known by its French initials MSF, said in a statement on Friday that the deaths were caused by funding cuts from international donors, as Katsina, located in the country’s north, continued to suffer from violence and insecurity.
No comments:
Post a Comment