Israel Plans Gaza Seizure, Population Removal, and Overhaul of Food Distribution for 2 Million Residents
Critics condemn the plan as a fundamental breach of humanitarian principles
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the cabinet "decided on a forceful operation in Gaza," adding, "that was the recommendation of the Chief of Staff, to destroy Hamas. And along the way, he thinks it will help us rescue the hostages, and I agree with him." As part of the impending widening of the invasion of Gaza, the IDF plans to completely clear northern Gaza of civilians, sending them to southern Gaza, where the new humanitarian aid pilot program will start, a senior security source said on Monday. The announcement finally means effectively the implementation of the "General's Plan" which was widely discussed for much of 2024, but never implemented under a mix of pressure from the Biden administration and objections within the IDF itself. According to the plan - originated by former national security council chief Giora Eiland and then also adopted by a group of senior reservists officers who were upset that the war was not leading to a quick enough defeat of Hamas - if all civilians were cleared from northern Gaza, then the IDF could let loose completely against any remaining Hamas terrorists in the area. Under the Trump administration, Israel has had a freer hand regarding how it handles war tactics and humanitarian aid. The senior security source added that most of Gaza, other than certain set zones, would be cleared, and that northern Gaza, especially, would be mostly flattened as the IDF did in the Rafah area at the Morag Junction - Haaretz/Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post confirmed that the two companies expected to handle Gaza food aid distribution once Israel reopens the spigot to facilitate the aid are American companies: Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions. These are the same companies who, along with certain Egyptian officials, supervised the checking of vehicles seeking to pass through from southern to northern Gaza in January of this year after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas at the time went into effect. The companies’ personnel often have special forces or CIA backgrounds to be qualified for handling complex foreign missions. Although there is still no set date, the food aid is expected to be restarted in the coming weeks.
Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, says an Israeli plan to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave at hubs controlled by the Israeli army goes against long-established norms. “We cannot and will not do something which is fundamentally against humanitarian principles,” Egeland said. “The United Nations agencies, all other international humanitarian groups and NGOs have said no to be part of this idea coming from the Israeli cabinet and from the Israeli military.” Egeland said the Israeli government wanted to “militarise, manipulate, politicise the aid by allowing only aid to a few concentration hubs in the south, a scheme where people will be screened where it’s a completely inoperable system”. “That would force people to move to get aid, and it would continue the starvation of the civilian population. We will have no part in that. If one side in a bitter armed conflict tries to control, manipulate, ration aid among the civilians on the other side, it is against everything we stand for.” The Israeli plan comes as Israel’s blockade of all food deliveries enters its ninth week - Al Jazeera
“If one side in a bitter armed conflict tries to control, manipulate, ration aid among the civilians on the other side, it is against everything we stand for” - Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council,
Russia has reported that it repelled a drone attack on Moscow as the capital city prepares to host a major military parade with foreign leaders in attendance. Russia’s air defence systems intercepted “four drones flying towards Moscow”, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday. The attack appears intended to unsettle Moscow’s preparations for events marking the end of the Great Patriotic War, commonly known as World War II elsewhere, on May 9. President Vladimir Putin has called for a 72-hour ceasefire to mark the occasion starting on May 8. However, Ukraine has demanded instead a 30-day truce aimed at agreeing to a permanent ceasefire in the conflict that began when Russia invaded in February 2022. The attack did prompt a brief halt to air traffic at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. The Kremlin has branded Putin’s declaration of a three-day unilateral ceasefire a humanitarian gesture. Military operations will be paused during the truce, according to Russian authorities, as world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, are expected in Moscow. However, Russia has rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposal, accepted by the United States, which is trying to broker an end to the war - Al Jazeera
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that several foreign governments have approached Kyiv recently, seeking safety reassurances while their delegations are in Moscow for the Victory Day Parade, but that Ukraine cannot provide security assurances to foreign officials in Russia, warning that Moscow could stage provocations and later attempt to blame Ukraine. “Our position is very simple: we cannot take responsibility for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation. They are the ones providing your security, and we will not be offering any guarantees.”
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Marcel Ciolacu resigned as Romanian prime minister on Monday, a day after the ruling big tent coalition candidate Crin Antonescu failed to secure a spot in the presidential election runoff. Ciolacu already offered his resignation last December after not qualifying for the second round of the embattled, cancelled elections, which saw ultranationalist candidate Calin Georgescu come from nowhere to win the first round. On Sunday, the big tent coalition — which included Ciolacu’s centre-left PSD, liberal party PNL and the Hungarian minority party UDMR/RMDSZ — failed to inspire Romanians to back Antonescu in the first round of the presidential vote repeat after the unprecedented scandal of the annulled elections in December, caused significant upheaval within the bloc. The PSD's current crop of ministers has decided to leave the government together with Ciolacu, following accusations that they did not do enough to help Antonescu secure the top position - Euronews
One country far from Rome is emerging as a potentially significant factor in deciding the outcome of this week’s papal conclave: China. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the late Pope Francis’s right-hand man for more than a decade, has emerged among bookmakers as one of the early favourites to succeed his former boss. But Parolin’s signature achievement while running the Vatican — a 2018 deal between the Holy See and the Chinese Communist party — now looms large over his prospects. The 70-year-old Italian prelate engineered the deal, which was intended to resolve a decades-long stand-off and prevent a schism between underground churches in China loyal to the pope and an official church that obeyed Beijing. His compromise, negotiated over years, gave Beijing a formal say in the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. It was a step critics such as Hong Kong’s cardinal Joseph Zen see as a grave error of judgment that insulted the sacrifices made by China’s Catholics. Despite this, Vatican-watchers consider the mild-mannered Parolin — a veteran Vatican diplomat before Francis chose him to run the Holy See — as one of the leading figures in the papal succession contest. “He is a very strong candidate — the strongest right now,” said Iacopo Scaramuzzi, author of several books on Catholic church politics. Parolin may still struggle to eventually gain the two-thirds majority of the 133 votes required to secure the papacy. While he led bookmakers’ listings for weeks since Francis’s death, the odds have since moved in favour of Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines, putting the two cardinals neck and neck - FT
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday a 100 per cent tariff on all movies produced outside the country, which could impact B.C.’s multibillion-dollar film and television industry. Trump’s 4 p.m. post on his social network Truth Social stated “other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.” He said this was hurting Hollywood and in general the U.S. film production industry, making it a “National Security threat.” Film and television production in B.C. in 2023 was valued at $2.3 billion, down from $3.3 billion in 2022. This was due mostly to a 32 per cent drop in foreign production caused by the 2023 Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes. Vancouver is the third largest film and television production hub in North America after Los Angeles and New York. There were 26,000 persons employed in the industry in B.C. in 2023 - Vancouver Sun
More than 10,000 people were left stranded in Spain after cable thefts along a train route and a technical issue disrupted high-speed rail travel on Sunday and Monday, officials said. It was the latest ordeal for Spain, which is still reeling from a power outage last week, one of the worst in recent European history. The cause of the blackout remains unclear. Oscar Puente, the transport minister, called the thefts a “serious act of sabotage” in a social media post. Mr. Puente said that the Spanish national police force was investigating thefts at five locations on the line between Madrid and Seville. He said those were partly responsible for widespread travel interruptions on Sunday, which is observed as Mother’s Day in Spain.
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