27/09/2025

SATURDAY | SEPT 27, 2025

10

Relief diminishes as attacks on Gaza increase

Israeli strikes kill nine in Yemen

SANAA: Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least nine people and wounded more than 170 on Thursday, Yemen Houthis said, a day after the rebels launched a drone attack on southern Israel. Israeli forces hit several Houthi-linked targets in the rebel-held capital, Israeli officials said, warning of more attacks to come. Houthi media said the targets included a detention facility. The Israeli military later said “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted”. The Houthi Al-Masirah television channel, citing a security source, said Israel “targeted one of the (security and intelligence) service correctional facilities, which houses a number of prisoners and detainees”. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes“dealt a blow to numerous terror targets of the Houthi terror organisation in Sanaa”. They hit “several military camps, eliminated dozens of Houthi terror operatives and destroyed stockpiles of UAVs (drones) and weaponry”, he said. The Israeli military said the targets included the Houthi general staff headquarters, as well as other security and intelligence sites, including some used to store weapons and “plan and execute” attacks on Israel. It added that the rebel “military public relations headquarters” was also targeted. The Israeli strikes on Sanaa came moments before Al-Masirah began broadcasting rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi’s weekly pre-recorded speech. – AFP UN urges funding, support for UNRWA NEW YORK: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged funding and political support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees in the near east, reported Xinhua. “I appeal to you to provide the funding and political support UNRWA needs to build peace and stability for Palestinians and the region.“ He said generations of Palestine refugees have counted on UNRWA for education, health care and other essential services, and before October 2023, it provided schooling for half a million girls and boys across the region. Today, it delivers emergency food and cash assistance for 2.6 million people and its primary clinics handle 10.5 million visits per year. UNRWA is being forced to operate under extreme and rising pressure, with its staff being killed in Gaza, its premises destroyed and budget shortfalls, he said. Guterres urged UN member states to do all they can to support UNRWA by standing in solidarity, providing political support and countering the distortions that threaten one of the only lifelines many Palestine refugees have left, to ensure the agency has the resources to carry out its mandate. – Bernama-Xinhua moving to leave Europe to carry the burden of supporting Ukraine. Despite concerted lobbying by Europe and Ukraine, Trump has not imposed heavy new sanctions on Russia. Instead, he has imposed tariffs on products from India for buying Russian oil and discussed the possibility of similar action against China. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump’s tone remained largely unchanged on Russia. He voiced disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and said Moscow is doing poorly in the war in Ukraine. Lavrov held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. He is due to address the UN General Assembly today. – Reuters

NEW YORK: As hundreds of thousands of civilians flee the military offensive in Gaza, an equal number of Palestinians remain trapped amid collapsing relief efforts, United Nations (UN) humanitarians said on Thursday, reported Xinhua. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said intensified strikes on residential buildings and infrastructure continue to cause heavy casualties and lead to displacements. “This is threatening the continued operation of lifesaving services, including ambulances, health facilities, nutrition treatment support and community kitchens. “Civilians in Gaza and the north require large-scale, sustained humanitarian support, which depends on continued access and reliable safety guarantees for aid workers.” However, the UN office reported that all attempts on Thursday to coordinate its staff and partners access to or within the north were denied by Israeli authorities, except for a single mission that eventually was cancelled by the organisers. “This prevented the implementation of planned missions as critical as water trucking. “Over the past week, even missions that were approved by Israeli authorities often took hours to complete, with teams compelled to wait on dangerous or congested roads.”

o UN office continues to receive reports of people being killed or injured while seeking food or aid

annexation during a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, part of a 21-point plan presented by the Trump administration for ending the Israel-Hamas conflict, Politico reported. The latest plan comes as international pressure mounts on Israel. Leaders and senior officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan attended the meeting. “We are close to getting some kind of a deal done. We want to get the hostages back. We want them all back at one time,” said Trump. The Arab leaders asked for the following conditions to be met – Israel would not annex parts of the West Bank or Gaza, not occupy parts of Gaza, not build settlements in Gaza and would stop undermining the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and humanitarian aid to Gaza would immediately increase, said the report. – Bernama-Xinhua

Ocha said in southern Gaza, humanitarian teams collected supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing, delivering food, medical supplies and fuel to areas in urgent need while conducting field assessments to support further humanitarian planning. It said the world body continues to receive reports of people being killed or injured while seeking food or aid. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said between Sept 17 and Monday, 21 Palestinians were reportedly killed, including deaths near three militarised supply sites and along the Morag route south of Khan Younis. It added that since May 27, at least 2,340 people have been killed while seeking food or aid, more than half of whom were killed near militarised supply sites and the rest along convoy routes. In a separate development, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, a “red line” drawn by Arab leaders amid efforts to seek a ceasefire deal in Gaza, reported Xinhua. “I will not allow Israel to annex

It said following the closure of the Zikim border crossing on Sept 12, the denial rate of humanitarian movements to northern Gaza had risen to 40% by Monday, compared with 18% over the previous 11 days.

the West Bank. I will not allow it. It is not going to happen. It has been enough. It is time to stop now,” he said, adding that he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump promised Arab and Muslim leaders that he would not allow the

A Palestinian checking the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. – AFPPIC

Russia accuses Nato, EU of waging ‘real war’ NEW YORK: In a speech at the United Nations (UN) on Thursday, Russia’s top diplomat accused Nato and the European Union (EU) of using Ukraine to declare a “real war” against his country, which Britain dismissed as “false fantasy world distortions”. “Another clear example is the crisis in Ukraine provoked by the West, through which Nato and the EU have declared a real war on my country and are directly involved in it,“ said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Russian representative about the causes of the war would convince anyone.“ Russian forces occupy about 20% of Ukraine and the fighting rages in the east of the country. Europe’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas called on world powers to exert international pressure on the Kremlin. “There are no signs that Russia’s goal of subjugating Ukraine has changed.“ Ukraine and Europe publicly welcomed Trump’s rhetorical U-turn on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, in which he mocked the Russian military’s slow progress, saying he believed Kyiv could turn the tables on Russia and retake its occupied land. But some European diplomats have cautioned that Trump’s statements may indicate that he is

Lavrov, foreign minister for more than two decades, has made similar remarks in the past. He made no reference to Trump’s comments earlier this week, instead repeating Russia’s position that it was the West’s actions that provoked the war in Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called out Lavrov as he made to leave when she began her speech and condemned Russia’s“unprovoked war of aggression” against Ukraine. “No amount of false fantasy world distortions, misinformation and propaganda from the

He spoke at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers at the UN two days after US President Donald Trump signalled a harsher stance on Moscow, praising Ukraine’s war effort and saying Nato allies should shoot down Russian jets that enter their airspace. Tensions have mounted along Europe’s eastern flank, where Estonia has accused Moscow of sending three fighter jets into its airspace, a week after Nato jets shot down Russian drones in Polish airspace.