03:43
UN accuses Israeli citizens of damaging aid supplies
The United Nations has accused Israeli citizens of deliberately damaging aid supplies from Jordan destined for the Gaza Strip.
The convoy was carrying food parcels including sugar, rice, supplementary food and milk powder, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said on Friday.
A limited quantity of them had been unloaded and damaged by Israeli civilians during a trip through the West Bank on Thursday. ‘This incident will initially have no impact on further aid deliveries from Jordan. The trucks have now arrived in the Gaza Strip and will be distributed as planned.”
Haq again warned of an Israeli military offensive in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than 1.2 million Palestinian civilians are seeking protection from the fighting in other parts of the closed-off coastal area, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Referring to the UN Children’s Fund, the UN spokesperson drew particular attention to the plight of the approximately 600,000 children in the city, which borders Egypt. ‘Almost all of them are injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized or disabled.’ An offensive would mean a new catastrophe for them, he said. (Belga)
9:37 PM, Yesterday
Welcome to the live blog of Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May
This was the most important news about the crisis in the Middle East on Friday, May 3:
• Hamas is said to have seized the first aid shipment that reached the Gaza Strip via a reopened border crossing in the north. That’s what the US says.
• After attacking Western container ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, the Houthis are now also threatening attacks in the Mediterranean Sea.
• A Hamas delegation will travel to Cairo on Saturday for new ceasefire talks with Israel.
Read Friday’s entire live blog here.
Tags: Live Middle East accuses Israeli citizens damaging aid supplies
