UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations chief on Tuesday denounced the “systematic” looting of humanitarian aid in Gaza, a day after the territory’s Hamas authorities said 20 people were killed in a security operation targeting such actions.
“Armed looting has become systematic and must end immediately. It is hindering life saving aid operations and further endangering the lives of our staff,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“However, the use of law enforcement operations must be lawful, necessary and proportionate.”
Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza in the early stages of the war last year, and the UN warned on November 9 that famine was looming in some areas due to a lack of aid.
Aid distribution in Gaza is complicated by shortages of fuel, war-damaged roads and looting, as well as fighting in densely populated areas and the repeated displacement of much of the territory’s 2.4 million people.
Several humanitarian officials have told AFP on condition of anonymity that almost half the aid that enters Gaza is looted, especially basic supplies.
On Monday, Gaza’s interior ministry said it had carried out a major operation targeting looters.
“More than 20 members of gangs involved in stealing aid trucks were killed in a security operation carried out by security forces in cooperation with tribal committees,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said the operation was “the beginning of a broad security campaign that has been long planned and will expand to include everyone involved in the theft of aid trucks.”
On Tuesday, the US-based Washington Post newspaper cited a UN memo as saying some of the gangs were receiving “passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from the Israel Defense Forces.
Dujarric said he was unaware of the memo, but that the allegation was “fairly alarming” if true.
“The idea that the Israeli forces may be allowing looters or not doing enough to prevent it is frankly, fairly alarming, given the responsibilities of Israel as the occupying power to ensure that humanitarian aid is distributed safely,” he said.
UN chief slams ‘systematic’ looting of Gaza humanitarian aid
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UN chief slams ‘systematic’ looting of Gaza humanitarian aid
- Aid distribution in Gaza is complicated by shortages of fuel, war-damaged roads and looting
- On Monday, Gaza’s interior ministry said it had carried out a major operation targeting looters
Cheers and weeping as Israelis watch Gaza hostages return
They watched as the three women — Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari — got out of a car in Gaza City and were handed over to Red Cross officials amid a surging crowd that was held back by armed men in camouflaged military gear, with green Hamas headbands.
“I’m excited, I was so nervous, that they would come safe and alive to their mothers’ hands. They were in the hands of terrorists for 471 days, three young women,” said Shay Dickmann, whose cousin was found slain by her Hamas captors in August.
The Israeli military shared video showing their families gathered in what appeared to be a military facility crying out in emotion as they watched footage of the handover to Israeli forces in Gaza before they were brought back into Israel.
Pictures shared by the families showed the three women embracing their mothers at a reception center, with Emily Damari beaming broadly and waving a bandaged hand missing two fingers at family on the other end of a mobile phone video call.
After a nerve-racking morning, waiting to hear whether Damari would be one of the three hostages freed on Sunday, her friends breathed a sigh of relief.
“We didn’t have any sign of life from her for a whole year and this is the first time we are seeing her, and we are seeing her walking on her two feet and we are just waiting here to hug her and say how much we love her,” said Guy Kleinberger.
They were later flown to a hospital in Tel Aviv in a helicopter that Israeli media reported was piloted by the head of the Israeli air force.
“Romi, Doron, Emily,” an entire nation embraces you,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING REMAINING HOSTAGES
The release of the three women, the first of 33 hostages due to be freed from Gaza under phase one of the deal, is in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The hostages were taken in one of the most traumatic episodes in Israel’s history, when Hamas gunmen attacked a string of communities around the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 civilians and soldiers and abducting 251 hostages — men, women, children and elderly.
But amid hope among many Israelis that the six-week ceasefire marks the beginning of the end to the war, there is deep unease about the uncertainty surrounding the remaining 94 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
“The ceasefire is something that I hope will work out,” said Tomer Mizrahi, in Sderot, a town in southern Israel within sight of Gaza that was attacked on Oct. 7. “But as I know Hamas, you cannot even trust them one percent.”
Images of Hamas police emerging on to the streets as the ceasefire took effect underscored how far Israel remains from its originally stated war aims of destroying the Islamist group that has ruled in Gaza since 2007.
“I’m torn,” said Dafna Sharabi from Beit Aryeh-Ofarim, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. “On the one hand there’s a ceasefire to strengthen the forces, to rest from all the madness, on the other, maybe it’s not the time,” she said.
“They should have been eliminated, wiped out,” she said. “My son was on reserve duty for a year over there ... and he sees all the Gazans returning, Hamas returning its forces to all the places he fought in.”
MEN OF MILITARY AGE NOT IN THE DEAL
After 15 months of war, Gaza lies largely in ruins. Israel’s campaign has killed almost 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry and displaced most of the two million people who live in the enclave.
But for many in Israel, the war will not be over while Hamas still stands and there have been a series of rallies opposing the ceasefire as a sell-out that abandons men of military age taken captive, who are not in the first batch of 33 hostages.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already resigned and his fellow hard-liner Bezalel Smotrich has also opposed the deal and said he has been reassured that it is not the end of the war.
The Israel Democracy Institute said its latest Israeli Voice Index, conducted just before the deal was agreed, found 57.5 percent of Israelis in favor of a comprehensive agreement that would see all hostages back in return for ending the war. Twelve percent supported a partial hostage release in return for a temporary ceasefire.
Amid the mix of emotions, for some, a sense of exhaustion outweighed any concerns about the future.
“We have been waiting for this for a long time. We wanted it to be an absolute victory, I hope we get that absolute victory,” said Shlomi Elkayam, who owns a business in Sderot. “There are pros and cons, but in the end we are tired of it all. We are tired and we want everyone here at home.”
UN races to feed one million Gazans after truce
- World Food Programme trying to reach a million people within the shortest possible time
- First WFP trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south and through the Zikim crossing in the north
ROME: The UN’s World Food Programme said Sunday it was moving full throttle to get food to as many Gazans as possible after border crossings reopened as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal.
“We’re trying to reach a million people within the shortest possible time,” the WFP’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told AFP, as the Rome-based UN agency’s trucks began rolling into the strip.
“We’re moving in with wheat flour, ready to eat meals, and we will be working all fronts trying to restock the bakeries,” Skau said, adding the agency would attempt to provide nutritional supplements to the most malnourished.
An initial 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas is meant to enable a surge of sorely needed humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory after 15 months of war.
“The agreement is for 600 trucks a day... All the crossings will be open,” Skau said.
The first WFP trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south and through the Zikim crossing in the north, the agency said in a statement, as it began trying to pull “the war-ravaged territory back from starvation.”
“We have 150 trucks lined up for every day for the next at least 20 days,” Skau said, adding that the WFP was “hopeful that the border crossings will be open and efficient.”
There needs to be “an environment inside (Gaza) that is secure enough for our teams to move around,” so that food “does not just get over the border but also gets into the hands of the people.”
“It seems so far that things have been working relatively well.... We need to now sustain that over several days over weeks,” he said.
Before the ceasefire came into effect, WFP was operating just five out of the 20 bakeries it partners with due to dwindling supplies of fuel and flour, as well as insecurity in northern Gaza.
“We’re hoping that we will be up and running on all those bakeries as soon as possible,” Skau said, stressing that it was “one of our top priorities” to get bread to “tens of thousands of people each day.”
“It also has a psychological effect to be able to put warm bread into the hands of the people.”
WFP also wants to “get the private sector and commercial goods in there as soon as possible,” he said.
That would mean the UN agency could replace ready meals with vouchers and cash for people to buy their own food “to bring back some dignity” and allow them “frankly to start rebuilding their lives.”
WFP said in a statement that it has enough food pre-positioned along the borders — and on its way to Gaza — to feed over a million people for three months.
Vast areas of Gaza have been devastated by Israel’s retaliatory assault on the territory after the October 7 Hamas attack last year sparked the war.
The attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 46,913 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
TikTok is restoring service in US, thanks Trump
- TikTok stopped working for US users late Saturday before law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect
- US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused
WASHINGTON: TikTok said on Sunday it was restoring its service after President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive the app’s access in the US when he returns to power on Monday.
The statement came after US users reported being able to access the Chinese-owned service’s website while the far more widely used TikTok app itself began coming back online for some users with just a few basic services.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok said in a statement that thanked Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties (for) providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
TikTok stopped working for US users late on Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday. US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused.
Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”
“I would like the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said the executive order would specify there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before his order.
Trump had earlier said he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” a message notified users of TikTok, which disappeared from Apple and Google app stores late on Saturday.
Even if temporary, the unprecedented shutdown of TikTok is set to have a wide-ranging impact on US-China relations, US politics, the social media marketplace and millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.
Trump saving TikTok represents a reversal in stance from his first term in office. In 2020, he aimed to ban the short-video app over concerns the company was sharing Americans’ personal info with the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has said he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 election.
In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok but then blessed a deal structured as a partnership rather than a divestment that would have included both Oracle and Walmart taking stakes in the new company.
Not everyone in Trump’s Republican Party agreed with efforts to get around the law and “Save TikTok.”
Republican senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the law has taken effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”
The US has never banned a major social media platform. The law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gives the incoming Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Other apps owned by ByteDance, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
MOVE TO ALTERNATIVES
Under the law passed last year and upheld on Friday by a unanimous US Supreme Court, the platform had until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent or shut down its US operation to resolve concerns it poses a threat to national security.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson said.
Uncertainty over the app’s future had sent users — mostly younger people — scrambling to alternatives including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta and Snap have seen their share prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.
‘HAIR ON FIRE’ MOMENT
Web searches for “VPN” spiked in the minutes after US users lost access to TikTok, according to Google Trends.
Users on Instagram fretted about whether they would still receive merchandise they had bought on TikTok Shop, the video platform’s e-commerce arm.
Marketing firms reliant on TikTok have rushed to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying that a solution would materialize to keep the app running.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.
Suitors including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also held talks about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company has denied that.
US search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid on Saturday to ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters. Perplexity would merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by combining the merged company with other partners, the person added.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60 percent owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20 percent each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
Hatton holds nerve to clinch Dubai title from Hillier
- English star makes a 7-footer to secure his eighth European tour title
DUBAI: Tyrrell Hatton held his nerve to clinch the Dubai Desert Classic on the final hole from Daniel Hillier on Sunday.
The pair walked up to the 18th tee with Hatton leading by two shots, but the pressure was on when New Zealander Hillier sunk a birdie putt.
Hatton was up to the challenge, making a 7-footer to secure his eighth European tour title by two shots and lift him top of the Race to Dubai rankings.
“A dream come true,” smiled Hatton who equalled Jon Rahm’s record of five Rolex Series wins. He had started the day one behind Hillier.
Outgoing champion Rory McIlroy went down fighting with a final-round surge, the Northern Irishman signing for a six-under to finish fourth, one shot adrift of third-placed Laurie Canter.
Elsewhere, Ernie Els won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship for his seventh PGA Tour Champions victory, closing with a 6-under 66 to beat Bernard Langer, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alex Cejka by two strokes.
The 67-year-old Langer missed a chance to win for the 19th straight season on the 50-and-over tour. The German star won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship last year for his record-extending 47th senior title.
Els finished at 18-under 198 at Hualalai Golf Course. Playing alongside Els and Cejka in the final group, Langer parred the final four holes in a 66. Jimenez closed with a 64, and Cejka shot 68. Langer and Jimenez have each won the event three times.
“I’ve been trying to get my hands on that trophy for five years now,” Els said. “Came close my very first time and finally got it through the line. But what a battle it was. I can’t imagine a more beautiful place to play golf and have basically a week’s holiday with a golf tournament. Wonderful week.”
Els and Langer broke out of a six-way tie for the lead with matching birdies on the par-5 14th, and Els moved ahead of Langer with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th.
Els saved par on par-4 16th with a 10-footer, then left a 25-foot birdie try an inch short on the par-3 17th. On the par-4 18th, after Langer’s long birdie try slid past, Els holed a 10-footer for the two-shot margin.
Els won three times last season. The 55-year-old South African is a four-time major champion, winning the US Open and British Open twice each.
“Getting it done under the gun, very tight race all day, all week really,” Els said. “I had to make some clutch putts. Even if you don’t believe in yourself as much, days like this when you make those putts like you used to, it gives you hope again.”
Defending champion Steven Alker and Jerry Kelly each shot 65 to tie for fifth at 15 under.
Steve Stricker tied for 19th at 10 under after a 69 in his first official PGA Tour Champions event since September.
Djokovic sets up Alcaraz clash, Sabalenka surges into quarters
- Double defending champion Sabalenka is on a collision course with in-form world No. 3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals in Melbourne if both win in the last eight
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic surged into an Australian Open quarterfinal clash against Carlos Alcaraz with a dominant straight-sets victory on Sunday while women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was a ruthless winner.
Double defending champion Sabalenka is on a collision course with in-form world No. 3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals in Melbourne if both win in the last eight.
On the hottest day of the tournament so far with temperatures hitting 34 degrees Celsius, Alcaraz went through when Britain’s Jack Draper retired injured.
The 37-year-old Djokovic then kept up his end of the bargain with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win over Czech 24th seed Jiri Lehecka in the prime-time match on Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic appears to be growing into the tournament in an ominous sign for his rivals, as he pursues a record-extending 11th Melbourne crown and historic 25th Grand Slam title.
He dropped a set in each of his opening two matches but has won the previous two in straight sets.
Djokovic and Alcaraz have played each other seven times with the Serb leading 4-3, including victory in their last clash in the Paris Olympics final.
But they have never played at Melbourne Park, where Djokovic has achieved his greatest success.
“When we are seeing him playing, he seems like he’s young again ... it’s unbelievable. He’s in a really good shape,” said Alcaraz, who has vowed to get a kangaroo tattoo if he wins the Australian Open for the first time.
The 21-year-old Spaniard, who has never gone beyond the quarterfinals in Melbourne, was leading 7-5, 6-1 when Draper pulled the plug.
Draper had come through all three of his previous matches in five sets, and all from 2-1 down, and it appeared to have taken its toll.
“It’s not the way I wanted to win, but obviously I’m happy to play another quarterfinal here in Australia,” said Alcaraz.
The 23-year-old Draper, whose rise has been held back by issues with his body, said his hip injury had been a “ticking time bomb” and he had “multiple areas really in pain.”
American 12th seed Tommy Paul destroyed Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the loss of just three games as he bids to match or better his semifinal appearance from 2023.
Paul will meet German second seed Alexander Zverev, who survived a mid-match wobble to oust France’s Ugo Humbert.
Zverev, who is zeroing in on a maiden Grand Slam title, won 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sabalenka blew away Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2 in a chilling warning to sweep into the quarterfinals.
The Belarusian was out on a roasting center court for only 62 minutes before registering an 18th consecutive win at Melbourne Park.
“I’m super happy to get through this difficult match in straight sets,” said Sabalenka, who faces Russian 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next.
Sabalenka struggled with her serve in colder conditions during the first week, but was untouchable as the mercury soared.
“The ball was flying like a rocket,” said Sabalenka.
A dangerous Gauff faces Spain’s 11th seed Paula Badosa after the American fought back to beat Belinda Bencic 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Gauff dropped a set for the first time in 2025 but extended her unbeaten streak to 13 matches going back to last year’s WTA Tour Finals.
“Two out of three sets at this stage of my career is not that physically hard for me,” said the 20-year-old Gauff, who is chasing a first Melbourne title.
“The off-season I just put in so much work physically so I’m not worried at all about recovering emotionally or mentally.”
Badosa declared she “loves” Gauff — but said that will not prevent her looking for “revenge.”
The pair have a 3-3 head-to-head record but Gauff won both their meetings in 2024, with each going to three sets.
The last time was in the semifinals of the WTA China Open in Beijing, where Gauff won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on her way to lifting the title.
