After fleeing fear and death, Afghan evacuees start to hope as they wait to be flown to America
In an otherwise forgettable corner of western Germany, you drive round a corner and find yourself in America, complete with planes, jeeps and a lot of soldiers.
Ramstein Air Base is the biggest part of a cluster of American facilities. Together, they make up the biggest community of Americans outside the United States. This is the focus of the country’s air operations within Europe and, right now, it’s hectic.
The base has already dealt with more than 20,000 people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan. Many of them have already been flown on to the US, in order to start new lives – but plenty more are still on the base, waiting for their flight.
A huge section of the base has been turned into a tented village, where evacuees are given accommodation, food, drink, a hot shower and both safety and hope.
Afghans board buses at the air base. The buses will take them to planes that will, in turn, take them to the US
In Hanger 5, we meet Afghans who are now preparing to leave the base and board a flight to America. Rafi tells me that he would “definitely, definitely” have been killed if he stayed in Kabul.
“You know, all of my family members worked with the US Embassy, and they [the Taliban] blame us for that: ‘Why are your family members working with the US military? You are the criminal’. They say it is a crime to work with the US military and they would kill us.
“I have faced so many difficulties. So I’m glad that they’re going to take us to the United States. Our life is safe and there are no dangers for us.”
That theme, of fleeing death, is one that you hear again and again from the people in the hanger. One man, speaking in broken English, delivered with a smile, told me that he had worked with American advisers and that the Taliban were “really terrible… very, very dangerous for us”. His ambition now, he said, was to live in California.
As we move to leave, a man comes to say hello. His name is Hamid and alongside him is his daughter, Lima. We have only a couple of minutes to talk, but their story is remarkable.
Among the evacuees are Lima Samar (left) who was a presenter on the first all-female Afghan TV channel and her father Hamid Samar (right) who set up the station
In 2017, Hamid set up a television channel called Zan, which was almost exclusively staffed by women. Among its presenters was Lima. At the start of the month, she was one of Afghanistan’s few female news presenters; now, a few weeks later, she is a refugee.
“It is dangerous to live in Afghanistan with the Taliban,” she told me. “They didn’t allow girls to go school and they are too much scary persons.
“Afghanistan is too difficult for a woman. Some people are saying the Taliban are going to their houses and they are taking their daughters and marrying them. And they didn’t allow girls to go to school. It is scary.”
Hamid smiles stoically, reflecting on the television channel he launched, and has now lost. “It was a 20-year achievement, and we lost it in less than 24 hours. The new life with the new chapters might be stopped, but it’s very difficult. But, you know, we have hope and we have a vision to come back stronger.”
To talk to these Afghans is to be confronted by this curious combination of horror, fear and regret blended with optimism and relief. As we watched, buses carried hundreds of people from the hanger and off towards a waiting passenger jet, chartered from United Airlines, and soon to take all these Afghans towards their new home.
For American soldiers on the base, the workload is unrelenting
For them, the sense of rescue is evident. But for the American soldiers on this base, the workload is unrelenting. General Josh Olson is the overall commander of the facility. When we spoke, he looked tired and a little frustrated that, in his mind, his people haven’t received the plaudits they deserve.
“Part of the problem is the people’s understanding of what’s going on in the US is very different from the real world. It is a Herculean effort,” he said. “It’s absolutely amazing what our young airmen, our soldiers and our sailors are doing and what we’re asking them to do.
“It’s a heavy burden seeing those soldiers come off that medical evacuation aeroplane. It’s a heavy burden seeing little babies that are, you know, tired, that are crying, that are hungry, that are weary.
“And that’s a heavy burden because each and every single one of those are my responsibility. It is a joint effort of a magnitude that we don’t even understand.”
Israel has begun a pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza to address the worsening humanitarian situation.
The IDF said it would halt fighting in three areas, Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice, beginning today.
In a statement, the IDF said it would also establish secure routes to help the UN and aid agencies deliver food and other supplies.
Palestinians carry aid supplies. Pic: Reuters
Israel’s announcement of what it calls a “tactical pause” in fighting comes after it resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza.
While the IDF reiterated claims there is “no starvation” in Gaza, it said the airdrops would include “seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organisations”.
Reports suggest aid has already been dropped into Gaza, with some injured after fighting broke out.
Pic: IDF
In other developments, Bob Geldof has accused Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in the territory – telling Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the IDF is “dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers”.
He told Sky News: “This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
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Bob Geldof: ‘Israeli authorities are lying’
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March. It then reopened aid centres with new restrictions in May, but said the supply had to be controlled to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas militants.
On Saturday, reports referencing US government data said there was no evidence Hamas had stolen aid from UN agencies.
The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, described such reports as “fake news” and said Hamas thefts have been “well documented”.
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Malnourished girl: ‘The war changed me’
Airdrops ‘expensive and inefficient’
It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said as of Saturday, 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes, including 85 children.
They include a five-month-old girl who weighed less than when she was born, with a doctor at Nasser Hospital describing it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.
Health workers have also been weakened by hunger, with some putting themselves on IV drips so they can keep treating badly malnourished patients.
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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to airdrop aid into Gaza – but the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned this will not reverse “deepening starvation”.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini described the method as “expensive” and “inefficient”, adding: “It is a distraction and screensmoke. A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.
“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”
UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for permission to enter Gaza, he added.
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PM says UK will help drop aid to Gaza
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, and said the lack of food and water on the ground was “unconscionable”.
The UN also estimates Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food, the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has also previously disputed these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.
Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.
Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’
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Israel challenged on starvation in Gaza
Sir Trevor asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.
“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”
In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.
The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.
“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.
“This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
He added: “If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren’t so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name.”
Asked about the UK government’s reaction, Geldof said it was “not enough”.
“This is a distraction thing about ‘let’s recognise the state ‘ – absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it’s not going to make any material difference,” he said, referring to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine as a state.
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Gaza: ‘This is man-made starvation’
In the Sky News interview earlier this week, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.”
He also claimed that, since May, more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.
It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.
The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.
MSF then described the lack of food and water on the ground “unconscionable”.
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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.
It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.
“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”
Read more:
What does recognising a Palestinian state mean?
Surgeon claims IDF ‘deliberately’ shooting boys at Gaza aid points
Security shot at Palestinians at Gaza aid centre – ex-guard
The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
World
‘I still have hope’: Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he’ll be one of last freed
Yehuda searches through a downstairs room looking for a plastic bag containing the most precious of objects.
It’s a small, blackened Rubik’s Cube that belongs to Yehuda’s son Nimrod – one of 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
It was found in Nimrod’s burnt-out tank after the October 7th attacks.
“He likes PlayStation and Rubik’s Cube,” says Nimrod’s mother, Vicky.
“They found the Rubik’s Cube in the tank. It was complete but a little bit dark and they brought it back to us.”
Vicky Cohen
We spoke to Nimrod’s parents Yehuda and Vicky about the emotional rollercoaster hostage families in Israel are going through – as hope rises and fades of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“I still have hope that maybe I will see Nimrod again,” says Vicky.
“It almost breaks my heart because I still had expectation,” she says – in spite of the latest failure to find resolution in talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha.
“But I still have hope that maybe something good will happen,” she says.
Nimrod’s charred Rubik’s Cube
Vicky says: “We heard [during] the last weeks, President Trump saying we will hear about a ceasefire soon – next week – in a few days.
“We heard our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] say visiting Washington and meeting Trump was very successful – and heard members of the coalition talking about our prime minister eventually understanding he needs to end the war. But until now nothing.”
The delegation coming back to Israel doesn’t mean a total collapse of ceasefire talks, but US envoy Steve Witkoff said the response to the latest ceasefire proposals by Hamas showed “a lack of desire”.
And so the rollercoaster of emotion for the hostage families continues.
Middle East latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’
Nimrod
Nimrod’s father Yehuda Cohen said: “Of course it’s a disappointment but it’s not the first one. A long time ago I learned not to get my expectations up so the disappointment won’t be too deep.
“The solution is very simple – I’ve got it on my shirt – ceasefire and hostage deal. Meaning the only way to get all the hostages is ending the war.”
Nimrod’s father Yehuda
Yehuda shows us Nimrod’s bedroom at the family home. It’s exactly as it was when Nimrod left to return to his army duties a few days before the October 7 attacks.
Except in a corner, there’s a box of uniforms and personal possessions, including a wallet which Nimrod had left at his army outpost – all returned to the family by the IDF.
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The IDF handed Nimrod’s parents a box of his possessions left at his army outpost
It’s just like the bedroom of any other teenager – Nimrod was 19 when he was kidnapped. But two birthdays have passed since then. Nimrod is 21 now – a milestone spent in captivity a few weeks ago.
It’s believed there are 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza – all male – and that Hamas is holding the bodies of 27 more hostages who have been killed.
Read more from Sky News:
Israel resumes airdrops into Gaza
Bob Geldof accuses Israel of ‘lying’
25% of children malnourished, charity says
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Starvation in Gaza continues
But even if a deal is agreed, the first phase is expected to secure the release of only half of the living hostages – and Nimrod’s parents say their son, as a soldier, is not likely to be one of the 10.
Yehuda says: “A partial deal means that the probability my son will be on that list is close to zero. So he’s going to be one of the last ones to be released, and that’s why we have to fight.”
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