US confirms first aid trucks arrive via Gaza pier

By: Al IMRAN on May 18, 2024 / comment : 0 #newsukrine #news #neesup #newspapers #newsusa #newscana #newspro #newsmax, #newsupdate #newspapers #newsusa #newspro #newsuk #newscana, #newsupdate 12-24

US confirms first aid trucks arrive via Gaza pier

Lorries queued up near the beach waiting to take the aid into Gaza

The first shipment of humanitarian aid has arrived in Gaza via a temporary floating pier, the US military has confirmed.

US Central Command said aid trucks had begun moving ashore at about 09:00 local time (07:00 BST) on Friday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said 8,400 plastic shelters had been delivered. About 500 tonnes of British aid including tents, hygiene kits and forklift trucks is expected to reach Gaza via the pier, built by US armed forces, in the coming weeks.

However, Mr Sunak said the maritime route was "not the only answer" to the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

"We need to see more land routes open, including via the Rafah crossing, to ensure much more aid gets safely to civilians in desperate need of help."

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: "Gazans are at risk of famine and in desperate need of supplies - Israel must ensure land routes are open and that aid gets safely to where it is needed."

Both Mr Sunak and Lord Cameron reiterated calls for the Israelis to meet their commitment to allow at least 500 aid trucks a day into Gaza, where about 2.2 million people are in urgent need of food, shelter and other assistance.

Also on Friday, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said US aid was arriving in Cyprus. "It will be screened by Israeli authorities and loaded on to ships for delivery via the maritime corridor and would be loaded onto ships bound for Gaza," he told reporters.

He added that it was important that the Rafah crossing - which Israel seized last week - should "open immediately". Israel and Egypt blame each other for its closure.The pier is expected to provide access for 90 truckloads of aid at first, increasing to 150 once it is fully operational.

British personnel have been working with US counterparts aboard RFA Cardigan Bay to build and operate the pier.

The US began building the floating base weeks ago to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza as Israel continues its military campaign against Hamas.

Hundreds of tonnes of aid arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday where it was screened before being loaded on to ships for delivery to the pier.

Smaller US military vessels - capable of carrying between five and 15 lorries of aid - then transported it to the floating pier, which is several hundred metres long and fixed to the beach in Gaza.

The lorries travelled along the pier before dropping off the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.

Authorities said that the UN, primarily the World Food Programme, would be responsible for the onward distribution of aid.

The Israeli offensive began after Hamas gunmen burst into southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking 252 others back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 35,000 Palestinian have been killed since then, according to the Hama-run health ministry figures.

The aid will be collected from a floating base before being transported to Gaza

Mr Kirby also said that 17 US doctors who had been stuck in Gaza since Israel took control of the Rafah crossing had been able to leave.

They were evacuated on Friday through the Kerem Shalom crossing, US diplomats are quoted as saying. That crossing was also shut by Israel last week, but later reopened.

Deliveries to Gaza have considerably slowed down. Sending aid by land can be dangerous, with convoys at times looted by gangs and mobbed by desperate civilians.

In April, seven aid workers from the organisation World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli drone strike.

The UK government has confirmed that British personnel helped deliver enough provisions to feed 11,000 people.

Israeli tanks reach residential areas as IDF pushes further into Rafah

By: Al IMRAN on May 14, 2024 / comment : 0 #news, #news #newsupdate #newspaper, #news24, #news24 #newst #news up, #news24 #newst #newsup, #newsgaza, #newsukri #newsrassi, #newsupdate, #newsupdate 12-24

Israeli tanks reach residential areas as IDF pushes further into Rafah

Israeli tanks have advanced further into eastern Rafah, reaching some residential districts of the southern border city in Gaza.Witnesses reported seeing tanks crossing the strategically important Salah al-Din road into the Brazil and Jneina neighbourhoods.

“They are in the streets inside the built-up area and there are clashes,” one person told Reuters.

A UN official said the most advanced Israeli positions were about 2km from his office.

Hamas’s armed wing said it had destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a missile in the eastern al-Salam neighbourhood, killing some crew members and wounding others. The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the unconfirmed report.

In a roundup of its activities, the IDF said its forces had eliminated “several armed terrorist” cells in close-quarter fighting on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. In the east of the city, it said it had also destroyed militant cells and a launch post from where missiles were being fired at IDF troops.

Between 360,000 and 500,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in the past week after Israeli warnings to evacuate eastern and central neighbourhoods before assaults that look set to open a bloody new phase of the war.

In the north of the territory, where Israeli troops launched a series of operations over the weekend, there were reports of the most intense battles for many weeks, forcing another 100,000 to flee after receiving  from the Israeli military.instructions Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly urged against a ground incursion into Rafah, warning of a potential humanitarian catastrophe. The US recently blocked a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel that might have been used in the operation.In recent days, roads heading north and west have been choked with cars, trucks, trolleys and pony carts laden with people and their possessions moving towards an “expanded humanitarian zone” on the coast.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has so far rejected US pressure to hold off on a full-scale attack on the city, despite Washington’s threats to further restrict arms deliveries.

Medics reported heavy air activity over Rafah, with the constant sound of drones overflying streets as thousands of displaced people and residents continued to dismantle shelters, stalls and other makeshift structures.Witnesses reported that roads were much emptier than previous days in Rafah on Tuesday, though those heading west to the “expanded humanitarian zone” designated by the IDF were still very congested.The fighting has forced many big aid organisations to shut down or cut operations across Gaza, amid increasingly acute shortages of fuel, food and clean water.

Health officials said they had received a consignment of emergency fuel and that healthcare was being prioritised over other services, meaning the few remaining hospitals in Rafah have a enough fuel to maintain reduced services for about six days.Medical stocks in most facilities in Rafah were sufficient to last “a month”, UN officials said last week.

Dr James Smith, a British medic working in Gaza, said the Rafah crossing point was “completely unrecognisable”, with significant destruction following its seizure by the IDF last week. .Medical stocks in most facilities in Rafah were sufficient to last “a month”, UN officials said last week.

Dr James Smith, a British medic working in Gaza, said the Rafah crossing point was “completely unrecognisable”, with significant destruction following its seizure by the IDF last week. .De Domenico said the woman was found a short distance from the vehicle, which his colleagues have been unable to retrieve.

In a separate development on Tuesday, the international court of justicesaid it would hold hearings on Thursday and Friday to discuss emergency measures sought by South Africa over Israel’s attacks on Rafah.

The measures form part of a continuing case South Africa filed at the ICJ in December last year, accusing Israel of violating the genocide convention during its offensive against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has previously said it is acting in accordance with international law and has called the genocide case baseless.

READ MORE...... 

France prison van attack: Two French prison officers killed in ambush

By: Al IMRAN on May 14, 2024 / comment : 0 #news, #news #newsupdate #newspaper, #news24, #news24 #newst #news up, #news24 #newst #newsup, #newsgaza, #newsukri #newsrassi, #newsupdate, #newsupdate 12-24

France prison van attack: Two French prison officers killed in ambush

Two French prison officers have been killed in an ambush on a prison van near Rouen in Normandy.

Reports in French media say an inmate who was being transported in the van has escaped together with the attackers.

Several hundred police officers and gendarmes have reportedly been deployed to carry out a manhunt.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that "everything is being done to find the perpetrators".

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said three officers were seriously injured in the attack and are currently hospitalised.

French media have named the inmate as Mohamed A., born in 1994. French newspaper Le Figaro said he is nicknamed "La Mouche" - the Fly - and has several criminal convictions for drug offences and attempted homicide.

French outlet BFMTV reported that the inmate was being transported back to the jail in the town of Évreux after attending a court hearing this morning in Rouen.

The ambush took place around 11:00 (09:00 GMT) near a toll booth on the A154 motorway, which is now closed in both directions.

It was carried out by several individuals who approached the prison convoy in two vehicles, according to AFP. 

Unconfirmed reports in French media say the detainee and the attackers escaped in a car that was later found burnt out nearby.

Images posted on social media and used by some French outlets show what appears to be hooded gunmen approaching the convoy. The video has not been verified by the BBC.

Speaking to the media following a crisis unit meeting, Mr Dupond-Moretti said the accomplices had used "heavy weaponry" to attack the prison van.

"Two agents died. One leaves behind a wife and two children who were meant to celebrate their 21st birthday in two days. The other leaves a wife who is five months pregnant."

"Everything - and I mean everything - will be put in place to find the perpetrators of this vile crime," Mr Dupond-Moretti said, adding that the perpetrators were "people for whom life has no value" and that they would be found and punished "in a way that is proportionate to the crime".

SEE MORE.....

Check out the Sentimental Gift Travis Kelce Got Taylor Swift at the Kentucky Derby

By: Al IMRAN on May 14, 2024 / comment : 0 #news, #news #newsupdate #newspaper, #news24, #news24 #newst #news up, #news24 #newst #newsup, #newsupdate 12-24

Check out the Sentimental Gift Travis Kelce Got Taylor Swift at the Kentucky Derby

According to Page Six, Travis snagged Taylor a Derby Gold and Diamond Horseshoe Necklace engraved with "wishing you good luck" from S. R. Blackinton. The piece retails for $1,495 (though Travis was gifted it).Oh, and he also picked out a pair of sterling silver sippers!

“Our family has been making the trophy since 1975 and we caught word he would be there and since it was a big year for the both of them, we wanted to gift a few very special pieces,” co-owners Susanne Blackinton-Juaire and Skyla Blackinton told Page Six. “He was super kind and appreciative!”Taylor and Travis reunited in Paris for the last night of her Eras Tour, where Trav was seen dancing with Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid, doing heart-hands, and being extremely here for Tay's performances of "So High School" and "The Alchemy."TBD on how many more shows Travis will attend during the European leg of Taylor's tour before he has to get back to the States for NFL practice, but Taylor has a few days off before heading to Stockholm, Sweden, so stay tuned!

READ MORE....