May 1, 2024

News Collective

Complete New Zealand News World

News, hostage release and more

News, hostage release and more

It's morning in the Middle East. This is what you need to know

A ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza is on its way from Cyprus, according to the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which said it was the first sea shipment of humanitarian aid to the Strip.

The departure comes after the announcement that Cyprus, the European Union, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom are working to establish a sea corridor to deliver aid to Gaza.

World Central Kitchen said it plans to distribute supplies for about 500,000 meals once the ship arrives in Gaza, including rice, flour, beans, lentils and canned meat.

The United Nations welcomed news of the shipment, but stressed that it was “no substitute” for ground assistance to Gazans on the brink of famine.

A food convoy arrived in Gaza City on Tuesday, the first to successfully reach the northern part of the enclave since February 20, the United Nations World Food Program said.

Here's what you should know:

Negotiation status“We are not close to reaching an agreement at this time,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari told CNN. He said some officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “hold the keys to reaching an agreement right now,” and urged them to study the negotiations. CIA Director Bill Burns said there was “still a possibility” of reaching an agreement, but it was “a very difficult process.”

The number of bodiesThe Gaza Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that 31,184 people have been killed since October 7, and more than 72,000 others have been injured. CNN cannot independently confirm these numbers due to the lack of international media access to Gaza.

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Death of a dual nationalItay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen, was found dead on October 7, the Israeli military said on Tuesday. The Missing Families and Hostages Forum said he was serving on the Gaza border that day. The Israeli army said that his remains were transferred to Gaza after his death.

Police kill a childAn Israeli border police officer shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli police and hospital officials said. In a video obtained by CNN, the boy is seen holding a burning firecracker above his head before a single shot is heard.

Warning to the Palestinians: Al-Majd, a security website linked to Hamas, warned Palestinians that working with Israel – including facilitating the delivery of aid and food – would be considered cooperation with the enemy and an act of treason against the Palestinian people. Al-Majd Security is a Hamas intelligence agency, founded in the 1980s by Yahya Sinwar, the political leader of Hamas in Gaza, to monitor Palestinian entities that work directly with Israel.