 "Israel pounds Gaza as hunger spreads, disease risk grows: Report")
Israeli tanks and warplanes pummelled southern Gaza on Tuesday, and the UN said aid distribution to Gazans facing growing hunger had largely halted because of the intensity of fight-ing in the Israel-Hamas war, now in its third month.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza's main city which Israel troops began storming last week, residents said tank shelling was now focused on the city centre. One said tanks were operating on Tuesday morning in the street where the house of Yahya Al-Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, is located.
An elderly Palestinian, Tawfik Abu Breika, said his residential block in Gaza Khan Younis was hit without warning by a fresh Israeli air strike on Tuesday that had brought down several buildings and caused casualties.
“The world’s conscience is dead, no humanity or any kind of morals,” Breika told Reuters as neighbours sifted through rubble. “This is the third month that we are facing death and destruction, ... This is ethnic cleansing, complete destruction of the Gaza Strip to displace the whole population.” Further south in Rafah, which borders Egypt, health officials said 22 people including children were killed in an Israeli air strike on houses overnight. Civil emergency workers were searching for more victims under the rubble.
Residents said the shelling of Rafah, where the Israeli army this month ordered people to head for their safety, was some of the heaviest in days.
Hunger is worsening in Gaza, with the UN World Food Programme saying half of Gaza’s population is starving.
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The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Tuesday limited aid distributions were taking place in the Rafah district, but “in the rest of the Gaza Strip, aid distribution has largely stopped over the past few days, due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads”.
Puma ends sponsorship of Israel’s national football team
Puma SE will end its sponsorship of Israel’s football federation after 2024 as the German company focuses on fewer and higher-profile partnerships.
The decision is unrelated to the war in Gaza that began in October and was made late last year as part of Puma’s new “fewer-bigger-better” strategy, the company said in an emailed statement. The brand has faced calls for boycotts in some markets over its support for Israel’s team.
Zara regrets ‘misunderstanding’ over ad campaign after Gaza boycott calls Fashion brand Zara said on Tuesday it regretted the “misunderstanding” over an ad campaign featuring statues wrapped in white that triggered calls for a boycott by some pro-Palestinian activists, and it had removed the images. People left tens of thousands of complaints about the campaign on Zara’s Instagram account.