THE Hamas Movement has condemned the repeated targeting of civilians at food aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip, calling it a war crime and part of a broader campaign of genocide that has persisted for nearly 20 months.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Hamas described the deliberate killing of starving civilians near what it called ‘US-Israeli death traps’ as a systematic crime committed under the cover of humanitarian aid.
The Movement pointed to the killing of nearly 150 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, many of them targeted while attempting to access aid in Khan Younis and other areas.
‘These massacres are not accidental.
‘The Israeli occupation, with direct US support, is orchestrating a systematic campaign of violence and forced displacement, deliberately targeting wounded individuals, demolishing homes, and shrinking so-called “safe zones”,’ the statement read.
Hamas called on Arab and Islamic nations, along with the United Nations and its institutions, to break their silence and take urgent action to halt the genocide.
It also urged the international community to recognise UN agencies as the only legitimate and secure channels for humanitarian aid – free from Israeli control and manipulation.
The Movement emphasised that the current mechanism of distributing aid under occupation oversight has become part of a broader policy of starvation and subjugation.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Wednesday that 144 Palestinians were martyred and 560 wounded in the last 24 hours.
The total death toll since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, has now reached 55,637, with 129,880 wounded. Since May 18, 2025 alone, 5,334 people have been martyred and 17,839 injured.
UK involvement in Israel’s war against Iran could be ‘illegal’
RICHARD Hermer, Britain’s attorney general, warned Labour government ministers on Wednesday, that getting involved in Israel’s war against Iran ‘could be illegal beyond offering defensive support’, it has emerged.
Hermer, the government’s most senior legal officer, is understood to have raised concerns internally about the legality of joining a bombing campaign against Iran.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering whether to provide the US with military support if Trump decides to bomb Iran, and whether to approve the use of the Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean for the attack.
Hermer’s advice could limit the degree of UK support for the US.
Starmer chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Wednesday to discuss a range of scenarios and ongoing diplomatic efforts. Foreign secretary David Lammy met his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, in Washington DC yesterday as the US weighs up its options.
UK energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said Starmer would take any decisions with a ‘cool, calm head’ and be guided by international law.
Fahnbulleh stated: ‘Legal advice is for the prime minister … we have a prime minister who is a lawyer and a human rights lawyer, he will obviously do everything that is in accord with international law.’
The UK had not received a formal request from the US to use Diego Garcia in the south Indian Ocean or any of its other airbases to bomb Iran as of Wednesday night.
In practice, Diego Garcia is mainly used by the US, but the fact that it is ultimately a British base means that Starmer would have to approve its use for an attack on Iran.
The US is also thought likely to want to request the use of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for its air tankers, used to refuel B-2 bombers.
The UK has deployed 14 Typhoon jets at Akrotiri to protect its bases and forces and to help regional allies, such as Cyprus and Oman, if they come under attack.
Gaza residents sell savings to survive
GAZA residents sell their gold savings to survive the hunger war. In one of Gaza’s alleys, where life hangs by a thread, Umm Alaa sits in front of a jeweller’s shop.
She holds up a gold earring that has survived since her wedding day, gazes at it one last time, then hands it over to the jeweller. ‘This earring was meant for my daughter’s wedding day … but now it’s become a meal on an empty table. When bread becomes a dream, gold shrinks into nothing but a passage to survival.’
In the crowded streets of Gaza, filled with wandering souls from sunrise to sunset, people spend their heavy days among the rubble of bombed homes, digging into their empty pockets before finally resorting to selling their gold for a meagre price – just enough to get a bag of flour that could keep their children’s hunger at bay for a few days.
Veteran jeweller Mohammad Abu Al-Hassan says: ‘Scenes like this have become a daily occurrence over the past few months. I’m still not used to it.
‘I know when and why people in Gaza usually sell their gold – to build a home, fund their children’s university education, or cover treatment not available in Gaza.
‘That was before the war that devoured everything. Now, they sell gold just to eat!’
He adds, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. People come in with scraps of gold – some over 60 years old. They don’t haggle; they rush the sale as if they’re racing death. We’re witnessing a collective collapse.’
The jeweller, who owns a shop in the historic Al-Zawiya market, sighs and continues: ‘We too have run out of liquidity. Paper money is torn, traders reject it, and currencies are crumbling – just like people’s spirits.
‘The commission for cashing in gold has reached 45%. Gold has lost its real value – in fact, some pieces now barely fetch the price of a rice meal or a bit of flour.’
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