World
US-backed GHF group extends closure of Gaza aid sites for second day
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims aid distribution sites have been closed to carry out ‘maintenance’ work.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a shadowy organisation backed by the United States and Israel – will not immediately resume distributing aid in the war-torn territory after a full-day closure on Wednesday, saying that operations will restart when maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites is complete.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the GHF said its “distribution sites will not open as early as” Thursday morning and that it would “share information on opening times as soon as work is complete”.
The GHF also strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to “follow the routes” set by the Israeli military to “ensure safe passage”.
The Israeli military warned Palestinians on Wednesday not to approach GHF aid distribution sites while “reorganisation work” was under way, saying that access roads to those locations would be “considered combat zones”.
Israel’s military has not apparently issued any new directive regarding the safety of the GHF distribution sites as they remain closed for a second day.
The suspension of GHF’s distribution of food supplies in Gaza comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid for a fourth time near a GHF distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, early on Tuesday.
The Israeli attack killed at least 27 people and injured about 90 more, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
On Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of aid seekers near the same site in Rafah, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 150, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence agency. One person was also shot dead at another aid distribution site, south of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, on the same day.
Then, on Monday, three more people were killed and about 30 injured when Israeli forces again opened fire near the GHF’s Rafah distribution site.
‘Unprecedented’ mass casualty incidents
The Israeli military had denied reports its troops shot at civilians near or within the GHF aid distribution site on Sunday, saying its forces only fired warning shots at people who were not using “designated access routes”.
Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin then claimed that soldiers only fired towards people who “were approaching in a way that endangered” the troops.
The GHF, which began chaotic aid distribution operations on May 26, has also labelled reports of aid seekers being killed in large numbers “outright fabrications”, claiming it has yet to see evidence of an attack at or near its facilities.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that it received a “mass casualty influx of 179 cases” after Sunday’s attack, including 21 patients who were “declared dead upon arrival”. Women and children were among the casualties, the group said, with the majority suffering “gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.
The ICRC has also warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing an “unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents”.
Reports of aid seekers being killed by Israeli forces over recent days have led to international outrage, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were “deeply disturbing”, and called Israel’s new aid delivery measures “inhumane”.
Israel continues to push ahead with its wider assault on Gaza, with at least 48 people killed in attacks across the Strip on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Among the casualties were at least 18 people killed in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Khan Younis.
At least 54,418 Palestinians have been killed and 124,190 wounded since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, according to statistics from the enclave’s Health Ministry.
On Wednesday, the United States once again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding unhindered humanitarian aid access across Gaza and an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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