US-backed Gaza group suspends aid for a day over threats, Hamas vows to protect UN aid

Tahreer Abu Jazar, 36, right, prepares an Eid al-Adha meal for her family inside their tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Mawasi Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 08 June 2025
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US-backed Gaza group suspends aid for a day over threats, Hamas vows to protect UN aid

  • The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said later on Saturday that GHF operation has "utterly failed on all levels" and that Hamas was ready to help secure aid deliveries by a separate long-running U.N-led humanitarian operation

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: A controversial humanitarian organization backed by the United States and Israel did not distribute any food aid on Saturday, accusing Hamas of making threats that "made it impossible" to operate in the enclave, which the Palestinian militants denied.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private U.S. security and logistics firms to operate, said it was adapting operations to overcome the unspecified threats. It later said in a Facebook post that two sites would reopen on Sunday.
A Hamas official told Reuters he had no knowledge of such "alleged threats."
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said later on Saturday that GHF operation has "utterly failed on all levels" and that Hamas was ready to help secure aid deliveries by a separate long-running U.N-led humanitarian operation. Hamas also called on all Palestinians to protect humanitarian convoys.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hamas source says to deploy snipers to protect U.N. aid convoys

• US-backed aid group says to resume distribution on Sunday

• Nattapong Pinta among 251 abducted by Hamas in October 2023

• 55 Palestinians killed in latest Israeli airstrikes -Gaza medics

Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the U.N.-led operations, which the militants deny.
A Hamas source said the group's armed wing would deploy some snipers from Sunday near routes used by the U.N.-led aid operation to prevent armed gangs looting food shipments. The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel allowed limited U.N.-led operations to resume on May 19 after an 11-week blockade in the enclave of 2.3 million people, where experts have warned a famine looms. The U.N. has described the aid allowed into Gaza as "drop in the ocean."
Israel and the U.S. are urging the U.N. to work through the GHF, but the U.N. has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. The GHF began operations in Gaza on May 26 and said on Friday so far it has distributed nearly 9 million meals.
While the GHF has said there have been no incidents at its so-called secure distribution sites, Palestinians seeking aid have described disorder and access routes to the sites have been beset by chaos and deadly violence.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed near GHF sites between Sunday and Tuesday, Gaza health authorities said. Israel has said it is investigating the Monday and Tuesday incidents, but said it was not to blame for Sunday's violence.

HOSPITAL FUEL LOW
The GHF did not give out aid on Wednesday as it pressed Israel to boost civilian safety beyond its sites, then on Friday it paused some aid distribution "due to excessive crowding."
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to the U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
Israel makes the U.N. offload aid on the Palestinian side of the crossing, where it then has to be picked by the U.N. and aid groups in Gaza. The U.N. has accused Israel of regularly denying access requests and complained that its aid convoys have been looted by unidentified armed men and hungry civilians.
Israel has in recent weeks expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as U.S., Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered. Medics in Gaza said 55 people were killed in Israeli strikes across the enclave on Saturday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that Gaza's hospitals only had fuel for three more days and that Israel was denying access for international relief agencies to areas where fuel storages designated for hospitals are located.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military or COGAT, the Israeli defence agency that coordinates humanitarian matters with the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had uncovered "an underground tunnel route, including a command and control center from which senior Hamas commanders" operated beneath the European Hospital compound in southern Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day.
Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday the Israeli military had retrieved the body of a Thai agricultural worker held in Gaza since the October 2023 attack. Nattapong Pinta's body was held by the Mujahedeen Brigades militant group, and recovered from Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said.

 


Arab Coalition announces ‘limited’ airstrike targeting two ships that smuggled weapons to Yemen

Updated 48 min 26 sec ago
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Arab Coalition announces ‘limited’ airstrike targeting two ships that smuggled weapons to Yemen

  • Coalition urges evacuation of the Port of Mukalla, signaling that a major military operation to force an STC withdrawal could be imminent
  • Spokesman says the two ships transported weapons from the UAE port of Fujairah to Mukalla without getting permission from Coalition command

RIYADH: The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen on Tuesday said it conducted a “limited” airstrike targeting two ships that smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Coalition Forces spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said that two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the Port of Mukalla in Hadramaut without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition. 

“The crews of the two ships disabled the tracking systems of the two ships and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen (Hadramawt, Al-Mahra) with the aim of fueling the conflict. This is a clear violation of imposing a truce and reaching a peaceful solution, as well as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. (2216) of 2015 AD,” said the spokesman.

The coalition urged civilians and fishermen to evacuate the Port of Mukalla, signaling that a major military operation to force an STC withdrawal could be imminent.

Google map showing the location of Mukalla in southern Yemen

Al-Maliki said the Coalition Forces acted on a request by Rashad Al-Alimi, the president of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, “to take all necessary military measures to protect civilians in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra.”

Al-Alimi, the president of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, warned last week that unilateral actions by the STC were pushing the country toward a dangerous tipping point.

“Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons, which threaten security and stability, the Coalition Air Forces conducted a limited military operation this morning targeting weapons and combat vehicles unloaded from the two ships at the port of Al-Mukalla. This was done after documenting the unloading, and the military operation was carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules, ensuring no collateral damage occurred,”  spokesman Al-Maliki said on Tuesday.


READ MORE: Analysis: The risks of carving up Yemen


He affirmed the Coalition’s "continued commitment to de-escalation and enforcing calm in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, and to prevent any military support from any country to any Yemeni faction without coordination with the legitimate Yemeni government and the Coalition. This is aimed at ensuring the success of the Kingdom and the Coalition’s efforts to achieve security and stability and prevent the conflict from spreading.”

Disregarding previous agreements with the Coalition, the group calling itself Southern Transitional Council, or STC, launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman.

The UAE-backed STC forces captured the city of Seiyun, including its international airport and the presidential palace. They also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.

CaptioYemenis members of the Sabahiha tribes of Lahj, who live along the strip between the south and north of the country, gather during a rally in the coastal port city of Aden on December 14, 2025, to show their support for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which wants to revive an independent South Yemen. (AFP)

This prompted Saudi Arabia to issue a firm demand for the STC to withdraw and hand over the seized areas to the National Shield Forces, a Saudi-backed unit.

The coalition warned that any military movements undermining de-escalation efforts would be dealt with immediately to protect civilians, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

On Dec. 26, the UAE issued a statement welcoming Saudi Arabia’s efforts to support security and stability in Yemen.

The statement carried by state news agency WAM praised Saudi Arabia’s constructive role in advancing the interests of the Yemeni people and supporting their legitimate aspirations for stability and prosperity.