@venetiamenzies.bsky.social
Journalist and photographer ๐ธ | Assistant Data Editor ๐บ๏ธ| The Times and Sunday Times ๐๏ธ
To read the full story head to @thetimes.com
With thanks to Cecilia Tombesi, Elena Siniscalco and Ellie Covington
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www.thetimes.com/article/8184...
Airdrops were permitted by Israel last week for the first time since November
MSF have called them dangerous - and Gazans have derided them as humiliating
But proponents argue they are necessary but should not replace overland routes that the Gazans need - right now
Yesterday Hamas released a video of starving hostage Evyatar David
While Israel and Hamas prioritise military wins over the needs of those going hungry - civilians and hostages continue to suffer
The GHF say they want to work with the UN to help them distribute their rotting aid
The UN say they do not need help but need Israel to lift restrictions on moving the aid
But even when their trucks can move, they are looted by armed gangs and hungry civilians
The IDF said โthorough examinations were conductedโ โinstructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learntโ + that the incidents are under review
โWe unequivocally condemn any harm inflicted upon civilians seeking aid, regardless of where the fire is coming from,โ said GHF
Even if patients survive, many fail to recover due to malnutrition
@msf.org surgeon Sarmad Tamimy said
โTheyโll end up going into wards without enough equipment... theyโll get horrible infections, theyโll keep on coming back to the theatre... then die a more miserable death"
Dr Goher Rahbour, an NHS gastrointestinal surgeon who volunteered with
@medicalaidpal.bsky.social said his patients spoke of being shot at by the IDF
He wondered how so many had been shot in both the head and the shoulder, later understanding they had been lying down taking cover
โIt is 2025, and people are dying because they need a bag of flour,โ said Mohammed Fadlalla who volunteered with
@msf.org
His patients described being โindiscriminately sprayed with bulletsโ by Israeli forces on their way to GHF sites
โItโs a game of chicken with your lifeโ
Scarcity of food is self-reinforcing: limited aid makes hunger rampant and theft highly profitable, meaning less food reaches those who need it
Crowds of desperate civilians overwhelming aid convoys can even be seen via satellite imagery
But more aid is being looted than ever before
Israel blames Hamas for looting
Hamas accuses Israel of โconsciously seeking to spread chaos and engineer famineโ
The UN says looting is due to desperation and that the only way to restore order is to flood Gaza with supplies
The GHF has four distribution sites, compared with over 400 that were run by the UN previously
Gazans must enter a militarised zone to reach them, with over 1,100 being killed in the process - the majority by the IDF
The GHF says they have asked Israel to expand operations
How did it get this bad?
From March to May, Israel blockaded all aid from reaching Gaza
In May, a new mechanism was set up which Israel says aimed to keep food out of Hamasโ hands, but looting is now worse than ever
More Gazans died of malnutrition in 11 days than in 21 months of war
Hunger is growing and while the powerful eat first, children and the hostages are starving
A visual explainer on the aid crisis and who blames who for the failure @thetimes.com ๐
www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
Read the full exclusive at @thetimes.com or pick up a copy of today's paper ๐๏ธ
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www.thetimes.com/article/e581...
Accused of being enabled by Israel, Egypt, the PA and the UAE, the group is at a critical juncture as a ceasefire looms and Hamas seeks to destroy them
Will Hamas succeed? Or will they receive protection and play a pivotal role in any post-war Gaza plans?
Shabab said his tribal relationships leave him well placed to manage the Rafah crossing in a post war Gaza
He said he believed his 'safe area' is included in Israel's plans to create a 'humanitarian city' on the ruins of Rafah, but that he hadn't received any direct assurance
Regional expert Mohannad Sabry said this relationship serves Egypt's interests
"If Egypt wants to continue to be the major financial player, they have to continue that kind of control and that kind of foot soldiers on the ground. Yasser Abu Shabab is their suitable option.โ
The most prominent wealthy member of the Tarabin tribe is Ibrahim al-Arjani, nicknamed the โKing of the Crossingโ who has long provided โsafe protectionโ for goods transported from the Sinai Peninsula to Gaza for a fee ๐
www.thetimes.com/article/gaza...
Shabab said it wasn't Israel but Tarabin tribe members - from Gaza, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf - that support and arm him
โNotable members of our family contributed money, and we used this money to buy products from the markets in Gaza and give it to needy peopleโ
Critics believe they are supported by Israel because the IDF don't attack them
Duhine said their "only guarantee for security" is that they don't attack Israel, who "only target Hamas"
โThe proof that Israel is not targeting civilians intentionally is our example"
Hamas has demanded their surrender
Duhine said Hamas will 'focus' on their elimination in a ceasefire and requested protection
โWe're trying to secure our areas and ourselves as much as possible and be ready for a ceasefire. But there is no real support for us to fight Hamas"
His deputy Ghassan Duhine, a former PA intelligence officer who denies alleged links to ISIS, said Israel is stopping people coming to Rafah to join their 'safe zone' but that many were willing
The group is recruiting volunteers, and said Hamas defectors had approached them
โWhen I saw our people were suffering from the fact Hamas was stealing aid and was bringing this war with Israel upon the Gazans, leaving our people struggling and displaced, the idea sparked to create a safe zone for our people where we donโt fightโ
20.07.2025 11:29 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Shabab said his vision is for a Gaza that is open to the world, has peace with its neighbours and is democratic
Before considering running in any elections, he wants to 'defeat terrorism'
โWe want our area to be a model of how Gaza can defeat terrorism and return to normalโ
Last month Netanyahu confirmed that his government had โactivatedโ clans in Gaza opposed to Hamas at the advice of security officials, but did not name Shabab
โWhatโs bad about it?โ he said. โItโs only good, and it only saves the lives of IDF soldiersโ
โHamas either accuses their opposers of being traitors working with Israel or being criminals. I am neither of theseโ said Shabab
โI was an ordinary construction worker before the war. I have no military training, I am just an ordinary Palestinian who cares about his own peopleโ
UN officials said that prior to the Jan ceasefire, Shabab's men routinely hijacked aid trucks while armed, in full view of IDF forces
Shabab denies this, saying his men distribute rather than loot aid, and that Hamas is the group stealing aid to fund their operations
Shabab, 35, emerged last year in opposition to Hamas, leading an armed militia of a few hundred men in areas of Gaza's strategic southeastern corner near the borders of Egypt and Israel
After Rafah's closure, this area near Kerem Shalom is at the centre of aid flows
๐จEXCLUSIVE: Gazan leader of the anti-Hamas militia Yasser Abu Shabab denies that he is an Israeli agent or gangster, and asks the international community for protection from Hamas
This is his response to accusations in his first extensive interview ๐งต
www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
To read the full investigation into the scale antidepressant long term use, head to @thetimes.com or pick up a copy of The Sunday Times today ๐๏ธ
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www.thetimes.com/article/c429...
