President Donald Trump's administration is working on a “responsible” plan to ensure aid can enter Gaza without it ending up “in the hands of terrorists”, the White House said on Friday.
Israel, which has blocked the entry of all food and aid into Gaza since a ceasefire with Hamas collapsed two months ago, has accused militant groups of stealing assistance meant for civilians.
“This is something the administration is actively working and when we have a policy to announce on this definitively, we can certainly let you know,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to a question from The National.
Washington's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Israel would not be involved in food distribution under the new plan. Speaking during a briefing in Jerusalem, Mr Huckabee said the scheme is not dependent on the establishment of a ceasefire in the 19-month-old war.
His comments came a day after the US State Department announced that a new foundation would be launched to deliver food to Gaza.
The coastal enclave's 2.3 million Palestinian residents, most of whom have been displaced several times, are facing hunger, with Israel accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and scores taken hostage. Much of the coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble.
Under the new US-led initiative, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, four distribution centres would be charged with delivering essentials to serve up to 300,000 people, according to reports.
But the initiative, which envisions delivering aid under the watch of US private contractors and would rely on facial recognition, has been met with criticism.
It is a departure from the humanitarian approach to the delivery of aid to civilians under international law, and it would sideline the UN and other aid organisations that have been working on the ground in Gaza for decades.
Ms Leavitt said she “rejects” the characterisation that the approach “militarises” the distribution of aid.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs
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Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
Results:
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7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh 70,000 2,200m | Winner: AF Kafu, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 2,400m | Winner: Brass Ring, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
