Israel war live: UK makes new Gaza aid vow; Hamas posts disturbing video
Britain has announced additional humanitarian aid for Gazans in “desperate need for food and shelter”, as Hamas posted disturbing video of a US-Israeli hostage. Follow updates.
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Britain has announced it will provide an additional 19 million pounds (A$37 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza, after the UN stopped aid in the region because it was “too dangerous”.
Britain's international development minister Anneliese Dodds made the aid announcement on Monday, as she called for Israel to give greater access ahead of a key conference on the conflict.
“Gazans are in desperate need of food, and shelter with the onset of winter,” Ms Dodds said in a statement, as she headed for a three-day visit to the region, including an international conference in Cairo on Monday on the Gaza Strip’s aid needs.
“The Cairo conference will be an opportunity to get leading voices in one room and put forward real-world solutions to the humanitarian crisis,” she added.
“Israel must immediately act to ensure unimpeded aid access to Gaza.”
Aid organisations have accused Israel of preventing trucks from entering Gaza in large enough numbers to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn territory.
The new UK funding will be split into A$23.4 million for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and A$13.6m for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the statement said.
UNRWA announced Sunday it had halted the delivery of aid through the key Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza because of safety fears, saying the situation had become “impossible”.
Britain has committed to spending a total of 99 million pounds this year in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, the government said.
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HAMAS RELEASES ‘SHOCKING’ HOSTAGE PROPAGANDA VIDEO
Hamas posted chilling video featuring New Jersey native Edan Alexander, insinuating that both he, and the other remaining hostages captured by the terror group are in grave danger.
The 20-year-old Israeli soldier was shown in the three-and-a-half minute video, titled “Soon … Time is Running Out,” introducing himself and saying he’s been a Hamas prisoner for over 420 days, The Jerusalem Post reported.
He’s later shown covering his face and crying before delivering coerced messages in Hebrew to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump.
In the video, he accuses Mr Netanyahu of “neglecting” Israeli citizens and soldiers instead of “protecting them.
He also calls on Mr Trump to use “the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom.”
The New Jersey native was stationed near Gaza when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting at least another 250.
Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including Alexander and six other American citizens.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called the video “shocking,” saying in a statement the video is “definite proof that despite all the rumours — there are living hostages, and they are suffering greatly.”
“One year after the first and only deal, it’s clear to everyone: returning the hostages is only possible through a deal,” the statement said.
“After more than 420 days of continuous abuse, starvation, and darkness, the urgency of bringing home all 101 hostages cannot be overstated.”
The mother of Edan Alexander told NBC News she was both shaken and relieved to see her son in the video.
“To get this video it’s a huge relief for me to see that he’s still strong. It was amazing,” Yael Alexander said.
The video was posted on the Telegram channel of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett called the video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’ terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own.”
He said the White House has been in touch with Alexander’s family and that President Biden “will work around the clock to secure the release of our citizens including through diplomatic efforts and by increasing pressure on Hamas terrorists through sanctions, law enforcement actions, and other measures.”
‘NOT THERE YET’: US PUSHES FOR CEASEFIRE DEAL
The White House is working on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza but is “not there yet,” the US National Security Adviser told NBC, with fighting in the conflict raging on as regional leaders meet to discuss the crisis.
“We are working actively to try to make it happen. We are engaged deeply with the key players in the region, and there is activity even today,” said Jake Sullivan, according to a transcript released by the broadcaster.
“There will be further conversations and consultations, and our hope is that we can generate a ceasefire and hostage deal, but we’re not there yet,” he added.
Mr Sullivan’s comments came a day after Israel hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, days into a fragile ceasefire in its conflict with the Iran-backed group.
Addressing that conflict, Mr Sullivan lauded the ceasefire deal and said the US was working with Lebanon’s military to ensure it was implemented “effectively.”
“We need to protect it and ensure that it is fully implemented,” he told NBC. In an apparent reference to the Israeli strikes, Mr Sullivan said both parties “have the right, consistent with international law, to take action in self-defence if they’re facing imminent threats.”
Speaking in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there were “indications” progress could be made on a deal securing the release of hostages by Hamas in Gaza.
“There are signs we may see a greater degree of flexibility from Hamas as a result of circumstances that have developed, including the agreement with Lebanon,” he said.
“There is a desire to move forward on this. I hope it can progress. We are committed to the return of the hostages – it’s a responsibility we must uphold.”
UN STOPS AID TO GAZA: ‘TOO DANGEROUS’
The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees paused the delivery of aid through the key Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza because of security concerns, its chief said.
“We are pausing the delivery of aid through Kerem Shalom … The road out of this crossing has not been safe for months. On 16 November, a large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs. Yesterday, we tried to bring in a few food trucks on the same route. They were all taken,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X.
Mr Lazzarini listed how the humanitarian operation had become “unnecessarily impossible” due to “the ongoing siege, hurdles from Israeli authorities, political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid, lack of safety on aid routes and targeting of local police”.
He called on Israel to ensure aid flowed to Gaza and said the country “must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers”.
This follows an Israeli strike on Saturday that killed three contractors of the US charity World Central Kitchen, including one who Israel’s military said was involved in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The United Nations said last month that 333 aid workers had been killed since the start of the war in October of last year, 243 of them employees of UNRWA.
Mr Lazzarini reiterated his call for a ceasefire “that would also secure the delivery of safe and uninterrupted aid to people in need”.
‘WE ARE BEING DRAGGED’: EX-ARMY BOSS SAYS ISRAELIS WANT PEACE
Former Israeli Defence Force chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon launched an extraordinary tirade against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he says is acting contrary to the wishes of the majority of Jewish people in Gaza.
Mr Ya’alon, who is a frequent and vocal critic of Mr Netanyahu, made the comments on Israel’s Democrat TV on Saturday.
“The path we are being dragged down is occupation, annexation and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip,” Mr Ya’alon said.
“Transfer, call it what you want, and Jewish settlements.
“Now look at the polls. Seventy per cent — sometimes more and sometimes a little less — of the public in the State of Israel advocates a path that is Jewish, democratic, liberal, etc, and also with separation.
“Therefore, there must be no confusion here. The one who wants to confuse us is the one who is currently leading us to nothing less than destruction.”
ISRAEL STRIKES ‘MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE’ AT BORDER
The Israeli military claims to have struck “military infrastructure” at the Syria-Lebanon border being used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling in violation of their ceasefire agreement.
The air force launched a “strike on military infrastructure sites adjacent to border crossings between Syria and Lebanon that were actively used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon” the military said in a statement.
It said the smuggling happened “after the ceasefire agreement went into effect”.
The report came as the Israeli military also claimed to have intercepted a drone approaching the country from the east.
FEARS OVER IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Representatives from Iran, Britain, France and Germany had a discreet meeting on Friday touching on Tehran’s nuclear program, amid surging tensions even before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Following the talks in Geneva, shrouded in an unusual level of secrecy, the parties each took to social media to say the discussions had focused on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions, and other regional issues.
The sides had “agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in the near future”, the German foreign ministry and the high-level diplomats representing France, Britain and Iran said separately on X.
Providing a bit more detail, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, described Friday’s discussions as “candid”.
“Our preference is the path of dialogue and engagement,” he wrote. The stakes were laid bare in a warning from Britain’s foreign intelligence chief that Iran’s nuclear ambitions posed a major global security threat, despite its weakened position after setbacks dealt to its Islamist allies Hamas and Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“Iran’s allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows,” Secret Intelligence Service chief Richard Moore said in a speech in Paris. “But the regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us.”
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