NICOSIA: France’s foreign minister said on Thursday a US and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a “bloodbath” and had to cease activity.
“I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop,” Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia.
A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted.
The UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US veterans. The GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys.
The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centers, and says its forces have now received better instructions. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of stealing aid — which the militants deny — and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon.
Barrot said France would carry out four humanitarian flights carrying 10 tons each of aid from Friday into Gaza in cooperation with Jordan.
Cyprus was briefly a staging point for about 22,000 tons of pre-screened aid sent to Gaza by sea in 2024 via a short-lived US-built landing jetty. Some 1,200 tons of aid is still on the island, awaiting delivery when conditions allow, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said.
GHF aid system in Gaza is a ‘scandal, and shameful’ says French foreign minister
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GHF aid system in Gaza is a ‘scandal, and shameful’ says French foreign minister
- UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF
More than 1,000 councilors in UK sign Palestine pledge
- Issue could prove decisive in local elections set for May, campaigners say
- Campaign pledges councilors to ‘uphold inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
LONDON: More than 1,000 local councilors in the UK have signed a pledge of solidarity with Palestine, in what could prove to be a crucial issue in upcoming elections, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Many Labour-run councils face the prospect of losing power in the local elections, set for May.
The issue of Palestine could play a decisive role in key sections of the electorate, campaigners have said.
The document, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and signed by 1,028 councilors so far, pledges signatories to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and prevent councils’ complicity in “Israel’s violations of international law,” including by divesting from pension funds invested in arms companies.
Zoe Garbett, a Hackney Green councilor who signed the pledge, told Sky News: “I think that this is really important to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to make sure that we can make ethical investments. They want to see their council representing them on a national level.”
She added: “We know that most people really want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to wars and conflicts all across the world, and they want to see their local representatives standing up for them.”
Of the signatories to the pledge, 245 councilors are from the Green Party, 338 from Labour, 104 Liberal Democrats, 38 from the Scottish National Party, 17 from Plaid Cymru, 12 from Your Party, three Conservatives and many independents.
Labour has faced significant pressure from its traditional voter base over the issue of Gaza, especially after Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared reluctant to call for a ceasefire.
Key London borough councils, dominated by Labour, have seen councilors sign up en masse to the pledge.
In Islington, a Labour stronghold, 59 percent of councilors signed the pledge, while 49 percent signed in Tower Hamlets.
Similar trends have taken place in Sheffield — where no party has overall council control — and Bradford.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “I think that so many Labour councilors have been so keen to sign the Palestine pledge as councilors because it puts on record that support for Palestine and distinguishes them from the position taken by the leader of the Labour Party.”
Alongside PSC, Britain’s most significant pro-Palestine group, the pledge is also supported by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, The Muslim Vote and the British Palestinian Committee.
PSC political organizer Dan Iley-Williamson said local councils in the UK “administer pension funds that invest more than £12 billion ($16 billion)” in weapons firms linked to Israel.
“The mass movement for Palestine — which has brought millions onto Britain’s streets — is not going away,” he added.
