WHO says aid situation in Gaza ‘remains catastrophic’ despite ceasefire – Middle East live

WHO’s director general says there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took holdThe World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took hold – and no observable reduction in hunger.Speaking on Thursday, WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the aid situation in Gaza “remains catastrophic” and “there is not enough food” for those in the territory. He said:The situation still remains catastrophic because what’s entering is not enough … there is no dent in hunger because there is not enough food.We’re still below what we need, but we’re getting there … The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance.In a joint statement carried by Saudi state media on Thursday, more than a dozen such states including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey condemned the Israeli parliament’s vote on West Bank annexation. Arab and Muslim countries, which the US has been courting to provide troops and money for a stabilisation force in Gaza – a key element of Trump’s ceasefire plan – have warned that annexation of the West Bank is a red line.The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”. Seperately, when asked on Thursday if he was concerned by the votes, US president Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: “Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank.”US secretary of state Marco Rubio, one of a string of top US officials to visit Israel in recent days, had warned before his arrival that the annexation moves were “threatening” to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, but he expressed confidence in the truce after meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday. “We feel confident and positive about the progress that’s being made. We’re clear-eyed about the challenges, too,” said Rubio.Netanyahu, standing next to Rubio after their meeting on Thursday, was quick to avoid any suggestion of tension with Washington, calling the secretary an “extraordinary friend of Israel” and saying that the back-to-back visits were part of a “circle of trust and partnership”.Gaza’s Nasser hospital said that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday in the Khan Younis area. Residents reported almost constant heavy gunfire and tank shelling in eastern areas of Khan Younis and also east of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian territory overnight into Thursday, reported Reuters.A human rights group has launched an attempt to mount a private prosecution alleging British citizens unlawfully went to fight for Israel. An application to a magistrates court for a summons against a named individual was lodged on Monday. Continue reading...