G20 demands more aid from Israel – looting in Gaza
Published: Tuesday, Nov 19th 2024, 05:50
Back to Live Feed
In view of the enormous suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip, the G20 states are calling on Israel to urgently expand humanitarian aid and strengthen the protection of the civilian population. In their joint final declaration, the "Group of 20" leading economic powers in Rio de Janeiro expressed their concern about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the escalation in Lebanon. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), more than 100 trucks were looted in one of the largest attacks on aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in recent months. Meanwhile, US mediator Amos Hochstein is expected in the Lebanese capital Beirut to hold talks on a possible ceasefire between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israel.
Aid workers warn of famine
After more than a year of war, the humanitarian situation in the densely populated and sealed-off Gaza Strip is catastrophic. Aid organizations accuse Israel of not allowing enough aid supplies into the coastal strip. There is a threat of famine, especially in the north of the region.
Israel rejects this and accuses the international aid organizations of not effectively distributing aid supplies in the Gaza Strip. Israel is also criticized internationally for the high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian figures, more than 43,800 people have died and more than 100,000 have been injured since the start of the war. However, the figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel accuses Hamas of abusing civilians as a shield.
Eyewitnesses: Hamas takes action against looters
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said in Geneva that desperate people in the town of Chan Junis in the south of the coastal strip had tried to storm an empty UNRWA warehouse because they thought the aid supplies had arrived there. But there was nothing left to distribute.
Apparently in reaction to the looting of the convoy on Saturday, armed members of the Islamist Hamas took massive action against looters, according to eyewitness reports. There were many dead and injured in the action around the towns of Chan Junis and Rafah in the south of the coastal strip, a reporter from the German Press Agency reported after telephone contact with informants on the ground. The Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry also confirmed the operation. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli army, which has been fighting Hamas since the Hamas massacre that left 1,200 dead in Israel in October 2023 and has strong units on the ground in the south of the coastal strip, did not intervene. Residents were surprised to see armed Hamas fighters on motorcycles riding through the streets undisturbed by the Israeli army and taking action against looters and thieves.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set the destruction of Hamas as the goal of the war. However, the terrorist organization is trying to maintain its power over the Gaza Strip despite military pressure from Israel. In addition, there are still around 100 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, many of whom are probably no longer alive.
Israel: Lebanese Hezbollah also hides behind civilians
Israel is also accusing Hezbollah of abusing civilians as shields, claiming that it has deliberately set up its command centers, weapons depots and, in some cases, rocket launching pads in residential areas. The air force again carried out attacks on the center of Beirut. The target was an apartment in the Zakak al-Balat district, as a reporter from the German Press Agency reported on location, citing eyewitness reports and security circles.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, five people were killed and 24 others injured in the attack. Israeli air strikes were also reported from other parts of the country. Israeli ground troops also continued to take action against the Hezbollah militia in the south of the country.
Dead and injured in Israel by Hezbollah rockets
Hezbollah also continued to fire rockets into Israel. A woman was killed when one of their rockets hit the northern Israeli town of Shefaram. According to the emergency services, ten other people were slightly injured in the town, which is mainly inhabited by Arab Israelis. Earlier in the day, two people had already been injured by rockets in other places in the north of the country.
In the evening, the sirens sounded in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv for the first time in almost two weeks. According to the army, a rocket from Lebanon was inbound and was fired. Debris injured five people and caused a fire in the city of Ramat Gan to the east of Tel Aviv. In total, more than 100 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon during the course of the day.
Hezbollah confirmed the attacks. It has been shelling Israel for more than a year - according to its own account, in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Around 60,000 people in northern Israel have fled their homes because of the shelling. Since the war began, 77 people have been killed there and more than 650 injured. In Lebanon, more than 3,000 people have died as a result of Israel's counter-attacks.
US mediator expected in Beirut
Meanwhile, Hezbollah is hinting at a willingness to negotiate with Israel. According to government circles in Lebanon, the militia sees a draft ceasefire with Israel presented by the USA as a basis for further negotiations. However, there is still a need for talks. US mediator Hochstein is expected in Beirut in the middle of the week.
According to media reports, Israel and Hezbollah will initially suspend their attacks for 60 days. The Israeli army is to leave Lebanon and Lebanese army soldiers are to be stationed on the border. After 60 days, Israel and Lebanon are also to hold negotiations on the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701. Its aim was to put an end to the fighting in the Lebanese-Israeli border area after the last war in 2006.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic