Middle East latest: Israel says 15 trucks carrying aid have been allowed into northern Gaza

Israel says 15 trucks carrying aid have been allowed into northern Gaza, where aid groups have warned a month-long Israeli offensive could cause a famine.

The trucks entered Gaza on Wednesday with aid from the United Arab Emirates, the military agency handling aid deliveries to the area, COGAT, said. It said the assistance included food and water, as well as hygiene, shelter and medical supplies.

UN agencies did not immediately confirm the delivery of the aid.

Israeli forces have surrounded the northernmost areas of the Gaza Strip over the past month and say Hamas militants have regrouped there. Experts say Israel’s military campaign has caused a new wave of displaced civilians and warn about it famine threatens or maybe already happening there.

Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including mass forced displacements amounting to ethnic cleansing.

It says people have been killed during evacuations under Israeli orders in humanitarian zones designated by Israelwhere hundreds of thousands are packed together filthy tent camps.

Israel has also struck deeper into Lebanon since September as it escalates the war against Hezbollah.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, more than half of them women and children, Palestinian health officials say. The officials make no distinction between civilians and combatants.

The Israel-Hamas war started after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping 250 others. The Lebanese Hezbollah group began shooting at Israel on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Since then more than 3,200 people have died in Lebanon and more than 14,200 injured, the country’s Health Ministry reported. 76 people have been killed in Israel, including 31 soldiers.

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Here’s the latest:

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian state media reported explosions near the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs in what appeared to be Israeli airstrikes.

State news agency SANA said the country’s air defenses were activated against an “enemy target” south of Homs on Thursday. It provided no further details.

The agency later reported an explosion near Damascus, adding that the cause of the blasts was not immediately clear.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, targeting members of the Lebanese Hezbollah and officials of Iranian-backed groups.

JERUSALEM – Israel says 15 trucks full of aid have been allowed into northern Gaza, where aid groups have warned a month-long offensive could cause a famine.

The military body handling aid deliveries to the area, COGAT, said the 15 trucks entered Gaza on Wednesday with aid brought by sea from the United Arab Emirates. It said the assistance includes food and water, as well as hygiene, shelter and medical supplies.

UN agencies did not immediately confirm that the aid had been delivered to its destination in northern Gaza.

The UN says aid trucks have entered the north over the past week but have not reached their final destination due to Israeli restrictions on movement and hungry crowds taking supplies from the trucks.

Israel has been scrambling to boost aid to Gaza after a month-long period in which aid fell to its lowest level this year.

The US Biden administration last month warned Israel to increase aid, saying failure to do so could lead to a reduction in military support. The White House withdrew this weekciting some improvements and ruling out any reduction in arms deliveries, even after international aid groups said Israel was falling far short of US demands.

JERUSALEM – Human Rights Watch says Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including mass forced displacements amounting to ethnic cleansing.

A report released Thursday by the New York-based rights group said Israeli evacuation orders have often caused “severe harm” to civilians. People died during the evacuation in humanitarian zones designated by Israelwhere hundreds of thousands are packed together filthy tent camps.

“The Israeli government cannot claim to keep Palestinians safe if it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cut off food, water and sanitation,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The report states that the widespread, deliberate demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure in Gaza – some to build a new road bisecting the territory and establishing a buffer zone along Israel’s border – is likely to leave many Palestinians ‘forever will drive away’.

“Such actions by Israeli authorities amount to ethnic cleansing,” Human Rights Watch said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Human Rights Watch has called on governments to stop supplying weapons to Israel and to comply with a July advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which states: Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is illegal and must end.

The group says its researchers interviewed 39 displaced Palestinians in Gaza, reviewed evacuation orders issued by Israel during the war and analyzed satellite images and videos of attacks along evacuation routes and in “safe zones.”

Israel’s blistering campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health officials who make no distinction between civilians and fighters.

About 90% of the area’s population has fled their homes, and many have been displaced multiple times. The Israeli offensive has also damaged or destroyed approximately two-thirds of homes and other buildings in Gaza, according to UN assessments.

Israel says it is not deliberately targeting civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths, with the militants hiding among civilians and operating in residential areas.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military says it has carried out several days of attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The attacks also involved U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy aircraft, including the Navy’s F-35C stealth fighter jet, it said Thursday.

The military also released a video showing an attack by an MQ-9 Reaper drone on a mobile missile launcher placed on the back of what appeared to be a truck. A person standing next to the launcher is seen running away after the attack.

“This targeted operation was conducted in response to the Houthis’ repeated and unlawful attacks on international commercial shipping, as well as on US, coalition and merchant vessels in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden” , according to the central government of the US military. Commando said. “It was also intended to reduce the Houthi’s ability to threaten regional partners.”

The strikes took place on Saturday and Sunday.

The Houthis this week launched an attack targeting two US Navy destroyers that entered the Red Sea. The Americans said they “engaged and defeated” eight bomb-laden drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and four cruise missiles that the Houthis used to target the ships.

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