UN Halts Shipments Through Gaza        12/02 06:12

   

   DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees 
said Sunday it is halting aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into 
the war-ravaged Gaza Strip because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted 
convoys. It blamed the breakdown of law and order in large part on Israeli 
policies.

   In Israel, a former defense minister and fierce critic of Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu -- and a hard-liner on the Palestinians -- accused the 
government of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, where a military offensive 
continues.

   The U.N. agency's decision could worsen Gaza's humanitarian crisis as a 
second cold, rainy winter sets in, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians 
in squalid tent camps and reliant on international aid. Experts already warned 
of famine in the north, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated 
since early October.

   Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the main aid provider in Gaza, said 
the route leading to the Kerem Shalom crossing is too dangerous on the Gaza 
side. Armed men looted nearly 100 trucks on the route in mid-November.

   Kerem Shalom is the only crossing between Israel and Gaza that is designed 
for cargo shipments and has been the main artery for aid since the Rafah 
crossing with Egypt was shut in May. Last month, nearly two-thirds of aid 
entering Gaza came through Kerem Shalom, and in previous months it accounted 
for even more, according to Israeli figures.

   In an X post, Lazzarini largely blamed Israel for the breakdown of 
humanitarian operations in Gaza, citing "political decisions to restrict the 
amounts of aid," lack of safety on routes and Israel's targeting of the 
Hamas-run police force, which previously provided public security.

   "Yesterday we had assurances aid would be fine. We tried to move five trucks 
and they were all taken," Scott Anderson, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, 
told The Associated Press. "So we've kind of reached a point where it makes no 
sense to continue to try to move aid if it's just gonna be looted." When asked 
whether UNRWA has seen evidence supporting Israeli claims that Hamas has been 
behind aid looting, he emphasized that there's no systemic diversion of aid in 
Gaza.

   A spokesman for UNICEF, Ammar Ammar, confirmed the security situation was 
"unacceptable" and said it was evaluating its operations at the crossing.

   The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza said on X 
that it will continue to work with the international community to increase aid 
into Gaza through Kerem Shalom and other crossings, and said UNRWA coordinated 
less than 10% of the aid that entered Gaza in November.

   The Israeli military accuses UNRWA of having allowed Hamas to infiltrate its 
ranks -- allegations the agency denies -- and passed legislation to sever ties 
with it last month.

   Israeli strikes kill at least six people, including children

   Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least six people overnight, including two 
children, ages 6 and 8, in their family's tent, medical officials said Sunday.

   The strike in the Muwasi area, a sprawling coastal camp housing hundreds of 
thousands of displaced people, also wounded their mother and 8-month-old 
sister, according to nearby Nasser Hospital. An Associated Press reporter saw 
the bodies, which were buried in the sand.

   A separate strike in the southern city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, 
killed four men, according to hospital records.

   The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in either location. 
Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but 
its daily strikes across Gaza often kill women and children.

   Former defense minister accuses Israel of war crimes

   A former top Israeli general and defense minister accused the government of 
ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, where the army has sealed off the towns of 
Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp and allowed almost no 
humanitarian aid to enter.

   Moshe Yaalon, who served as defense minister under Netanyahu before quitting 
in 2016, said the current far-right government is determined to "occupy, to 
annex, to ethnically cleanse."

   Pressed by a local news outlet on Saturday, Yaalon said: "(They) are 
actually cleaning the territory of Arabs."

   He added Sunday in an interview with Israeli radio: "My issue is not with 
the soldiers of the Israeli army. On the contrary: I'm speaking on behalf of 
commanders who are active in northern Gaza and turned to me because they are 
troubled by what is happening there. They are being placed in life-threatening 
situations; they are being thrust into moral dilemmas."

   Netanyahu's Likud party criticized his earlier remarks, accusing him of 
making "false statements" that are "a prize for the International Criminal 
Court and the camp of Israel haters."

   The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, another former defense 
minister, Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas commander, accusing them of crimes against 
humanity. The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations of 
genocide against Israel.

   Israel rejects the allegations and says both courts are biased against it.

   Israel says Gaza ceasefire talks resume 'behind the scenes'

   The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel 
on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 
250 hostage. Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza, around two-thirds 
believed to be alive.

   Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians, more 
than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, 
which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has 
killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

   The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of 
the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

   Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants last week that 
has largely held, but that agreement did not address the war in Gaza.

   Gaza ceasefire efforts have stalled as Israel rejected Hamas' demand for a 
complete withdrawal from the territory. The Biden administration has said it 
will make another push for a deal.

   "There are negotiations taking place behind the scenes, and it can be done," 
Israel's mostly ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said Sunday after meeting 
with the mother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who appeared in a 
video released Saturday by Hamas.