Currently Online 
Australian PM challenges Netanyahu on ‘no starvation’ in Gaza
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed astonishment over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that “there is no starvation” in Gaza.
Albanese’s response came over a question from a Labor Party backbencher about when Australia would move to recognise Palestinian statehood.
“Those claims that there’s no starvation in Gaza are beyond comprehension,” said the Australian prime minister.
Albanese said Israel is “quite clearly” breaching international law by preventing the entry of aid into the besieged enclave. Israel’s war on Gaza has “stolen far too many innocent lives”, he added.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called Albanese’s remarks “a lie” and claimed it is “not withholding any aid”.
Technically true, there is no Israeli aid to withhold. They're blocking international aid...
Israel allows only 109 aid trucks into Gaza as airdrops fail
Israel allowed 109 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, but most were looted during escalating security chaos, the Government Media Office says.
“Today, 109 aid trucks entered Gaza, with the majority looted and robbed due to the security chaos systematically and deliberately imposed by the Israeli occupation,” it said in a statement.
The media office emphasised that Gaza requires at least 600 aid trucks and fuel daily to meet civilians’ basic needs as famine spreads.
Israel aims to “sabotage aid distribution and deprive civilians of assistance as part of engineering chaos and starvation”, it added.
Airdrop operations failed to reach those in need, the office said, noting that “four of six air drops landed in areas under Israeli military control or neighbourhoods where civilians had been ordered to evacuate”.
Anyone in these areas “faces direct targeting and killing”, making the airdrops “not only futile but also dangerous to the starving population”.
Red Crescent hospital overwhelmed as casualties mount in Gaza
The Palestine Red Crescent Society’s as-Saraya field hospital continues to receive casualties from the Zikim area, where large numbers of desperate Palestinians waited for aid in Gaza.
“So far, the hospital has received one martyr and more than 80 wounded amid a continued influx of wounded and significant pressure on medical staff,” the hospital said in a post on Facebook.
Footage from the hospital showed the dire situation, with patients crying in pain as they were brought in on stretchers while others clambered out of ambulances. One shot shows a child unconscious while another person is being bandaged.
The hospital, which officially opened today in Gaza City’s as-Saraya area, was established in February. It followed the closure of other hospitals after being attacked by Israeli forces.
