‘Enough is enough’: UN diplomats visit Rafah crossing amid concerns over dwindling Gaza aid
UN envoys from the security council have made a whirlwind trip to Egypt’s Rafah Crossing into Gaza in what is being seen as a urgent attempt to try to halt the war.
The trip went ahead under heavy security as there were further signs of a deterioration in law and order – with starving Gazans becoming more and more desperate to find food and water.
Camera teams inside the Gaza Strip filmed yet more frantic scenes, showing crowds scavenging around water bottles which appeared to have fallen off an aid truck.
Israel-Gaza latest: UN aid boss has ‘no words’ to describe scenes in Gaza
The truck was filmed moving at speed with a number of men, one armed, sitting on top of the aid as if they were guarding the cargo.
The UN trip to the border was hastily organised by the United Arab Emirates, the sole Arab representative on the Security Council, in the wake of the failure to agree on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
We were part of the entourage that accompanied the diplomats, which included representatives from Russia, China, Brazil, Albania, Japan, Slovenia and the UK- but did not include the US.
All 15 members of the security council were invited, including some of the incoming rotating non-permanent members.
The US and France were the only two of the five permanent members to not take up the invitation.
The diplomats had the chance to see the situation at Rafah first hand
In a heavily embargoed visit due to security concerns, the group was whisked around key areas, as well as the border crossing, to give them first-hand experience of the difficulties in delivering aid and the size of the problem facing agencies.
With the truce collapsing about a week ago, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza has dwindled to sometimes not more than 50 a day.
Nearly 90% of the 2.3 million citizens of Gaza are displaced, thousands are dead and wounded, and the number of operating hospitals reduced to a fraction compared to before the Hamas attack on Israel.
‘Israel not holding up aid’
But even as the trip went ahead, Israeli spokespeople insisted they were not to blame for the log-jam of aid trucks on the roads leading to the border crossing.
Eylon Levy, speaking on behalf of the Israeli government, said they’d opened a second crossing to ease aid delivery through Kareem Shalom – the only other Israeli border with Gaza in the south.
“There’s no hold up on the Israeli side,” Mr Levy insisted. He hinted the paucity of aid reaching Gazans was down to poor coordination by the organisational bodies responsible on the other side of the border.
“The problem is the bottleneck at the Rafah crossing, and the problem is that international agencies are not keeping pace. Israel is not placing any restrictions on humanitarian necessities in the Strip,” he added.
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Hamas stealing aid, claims Israel
Sky News has not been able to independently confirm whether the Kareem Shalom border is fully open or how it is operating.
The UAE’s UN ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh, said it is still only being used to scan and check aid trucks before they enter Gaza – but the trucks are then re-routed to the nearby Rafah crossing – which before the war was intended only as a pedestrian crossing.
She told Sky News: “There’s a lot of blame going round. There are over 17,000 dead Palestinians from this conflict from Israel’s attack on Gaza, and 60% of them, 70% of them, are woman and children – so there’s a dire situation on the ground in Gaza that we have to address.
Palestinian children queue to collect water in Rafah
The UAE ambassador says Kareem Shalom is still only being used to scan and check aid
“More broadly, on humanitarian aid, I think we need some kind of monitoring mechanism that is efficient,” she added.
“What we are seeing here, with trucks lining up the border on the way in, is not efficient on that scale. Kareem Shalom has to be opened and it should become a crossing point, as much as a scanning point for aid to go in.
“Palestinians are the future neighbours of the state of Israel. How you treat your neighbours is going to define what happens for decades to come and the kind of peace we want in the region.”
‘Let down by the UN’
The UN diplomats were driven in buses past lengthy lines of aid trucks parked up along the road leading to the border crossing, as well as parked in nearby Arish town, waiting to be checked before getting permission to go inside Gaza.
Accompanied by Egyptian police escorts and a van flying a prominent white flag, the convoy was also taken to Arish hospital to see injured and wounded Palestinians, as well as shown a Red Crescent warehouse stacked full of essentials including food, medicines, water purifiers and cold weather clothing.
When the group reached the Rafah crossing, Sarah Badr, a young woman from the World Youth Forum, interrupted the visit to urge them to use their influence to stop the war.
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Alex Crawford: ‘Streets’ of backed-up aid for Gaza
A Red Crescent warehouse full of aid
“When I visited the United Nations when I was much younger I was so proud because of the declaration of human rights and what it represented,” she said.
“We just want peace, peace on both sides.”
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Security council members who voted for a ceasefire were frustrated by the failure because of the US veto.
The ambassador for China, Zhang Jun, told Sky News: “This is really a tragic event, not just for the Palestinians, but for the whole world. We should not allow it to continue. It has been too long.”
Smoke could be side from over the Gaza side of the wall
‘We should not allow it to continue’, said China’s envoy
But like many of the other ambassadors, they vowed to continue the battle for a ceasefire and a lasting peace.
“This is clearly the will of the international community,” the UAE’s ambassador to the UN said. “And we have to look at a two-state solution and how to create peace in the region.”
The diplomatic group was also able to interact virtually via screens with doctors and patients at the new UAE field hospital inside Gaza in Rafah – and was taken to the opening of a new desalination plant that will pump fresh water to 300,000 people.
As the diplomatic group was being driven by the heavily fortified wall separating Egypt from Gaza, the ambassadors could see smoke from bombings on the other side and what appeared to be rocket fire – as well as Palestinians waving to them and standing on ridges on the Gaza side.
“Enough is enough,” Zhang Jun said.
It “cuts my heart” and is a “betrayal”.
This was the response of a Ukrainian soldier in a frontline combat regiment directly affected by Donald Trump’s decision to pause US military support to Ukraine.
Serhii, 45, maintains a unit of US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles that are defending an area of eastern Ukraine from attacking Russian forces.
The halt to American military aid – if sustained – means there will be no new ammunition and no ability to repair any of the vehicles when they are damaged – a constant risk.
Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates
On a recent mission by the 425th Storming Regiment “Skala”, three Bradleys went into battle towards the direction of the city of Pokrovsk, an area of heavy clashes.
Only two returned after the other was hit by the Russian side.
Troops said it would be for Ukraine to defend their land without US military support
“It’s going to be very hard,” Serhii said, standing next to a large Bradley, covered by a camouflage net and tucked under a line of trees in the Donetsk region.
“These vehicles are really good. You can fight back with them. And not just defend, you can even advance. It’s a shame we didn’t have this equipment two or three years ago.”
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Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine – what now?
The regiment has been using Bradleys for a number of months. Serhii is the lead mechanic.
The tracked vehicles, armed with a chain gun that can fire 200 rounds per minute, were first developed in the 1980s but have been fitted with modern reactive armour that means they can survive drone strikes, rocket attacks and the shrapnel from artillery rounds.
“The vehicle’s protection… is fantastic,” Serhii said, with clear admiration for the equipment compared with Soviet-era fighting vehicles that many Ukrainian troops have to use.
Soliders said the Bradley infantry vehicles are good for advancing, not just defence
He said the crew of one of his Bradleys was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades but was able to continue driving and was unharmed.
Serhii, who comes from the Donetsk region, said he felt betrayed by Mr Trump’s decision to halt such crucial support.
The US president ordered the move as he attempts to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Russia.
“Although I’m not a politician, it’s a betrayal for us, for the guys who are defending Ukraine,” the soldier said.
Inside a US-supplied Bradley vehicle
Asked how he felt when he heard the news about the US president’s decision, Serhii said: “The latest news cuts my heart, I can answer you that way. It cuts my heart… If politicians solve issues this way, just by halting weapons supply in one move, that’s criminal.”
He signalled it would be harder for Ukrainian troops to defend their land without the US military support – but they would still fight.
“Even without this weapon, we believe we will move forward,” he said.
“They [the Russians] have to retreat, no matter what. The guys didn’t take up arms here for nothing, and they stand together. Together, all of us, as one, will defeat this enemy.”
As for whether he had a message for Mr Trump, the soldier said: “Don’t stop military aid. Politics is politics, but the people, I believe, are the most important.
“It will be very hard for us without such equipment. This equipment is good; it allows us to show results. And we will keep showing them. We’ve shown them before and we will keep showing them. That’s how it is. Thank you.”
Fighting ‘for my motherland’
Soldier Sedoi said he is ‘tired’ of the war
Sky News watched as two crews prepared their fighting vehicles for a potential mission on Thursday evening.
Sedoi, 41, commands one of the Bradleys and operates the gun.
He said the American-supplied vehicle gives him confidence when he goes into battle – and was also likely a scary prospect for Russian troops to have to encounter.
“We make a lot of noise. Everything catches fire and burns… It’s a good vehicle,” he said.
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Will Kyiv fall without US support?
Sedoi said he did not have a reaction to the news about the halt to American military support, saying: “I don’t get involved in their politics.”
However, he signalled he did want an end to the war – even if it meant Russia keeping some of the land it has seized.
“Let it end, so people stop dying. Because a lot of people have died,” he said.
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Recently recovered from a shrapnel wound, Sedoi said he volunteered to fight after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale war more than three years ago because of Russia’s brutality.
“I’ve heard what they do when they enter villages, what they do with children and women… I don’t want them to go any further… That’s why I’m here.
“But, to be honest, I’m getting tired of it.”
Yet still he and his fellow soldiers battle on. Asked why he was fighting, the soldier said: “For my motherland.”
A warning by Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin to stop “pounding” Ukraine or else, appears to have fallen on deaf ears after another night of devastating Russian strikes.
The persistent pummelling of Ukrainian towns and cities also follows a decision by the US president to stop sharing American intelligence and weapons with Kyiv – a move that is directly hampering the Ukrainian military’s ability to defend their skies from the Russian onslaught.
In the deadliest attack overnight, at least 11 people were killed and 30 wounded, including five children, in the town of Dobropillia, about 15 miles from the frontline in the Donestsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates
The Ukrainian police service said a Russian ballistic missile, rockets and attack drones hit eight multi-storey buildings as well as a shopping centre and dozens of cars.
Firefighters work at the site of the strike. Pic: Reuters/State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Pic: Reuters/State Emergency Service of Ukraine
“Some buildings were burnt down almost completely,” the national police of Ukraine said in a post on its Telegram social media channel.
Another three civilians were killed and seven injured in a drone attack on the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country, according to a separate post by the interior ministry.
Just hours earlier, the US president posted a warning to the Kremlin on social media.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs on Russia until a cease fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” he wrote.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”
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Trump: ‘Ukraine difficult to deal with’
Kyiv will be watching closely to see whether Moscow’s continuing attacks will prompt Mr Trump to carry out his threat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been in crisis mode ever since Mr Trump returned to office and started attacking his record on the war, falsely calling him a dictator and even claiming – again erroneously – that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s invasion.
Sky News on the ground in Dobropillia 24hrs before strike
A Sky News team was in Dobropillia 24 hours before the attack – stopping off to grab food at a pizza restaurant that was close to the site of at least two of the incoming strikes.
The restaurant is on a road of shops, including a clothes store and a small grocery outlet.
The town, which used to be home to 28,000 residents before Russia’s full-scale war, feels far more battle-hardened than areas further away from the frontline.
Fighting has been raging for months between invading Russian forces and Ukrainian troops, just over a dozen miles away, around the city of Pokrovsk.
Despite the closeness of the war, however, many civilians, including children, still live in Dobropillia.
In the most significant blow, Washington has paused the sharing on intelligence with its Ukrainian partners, instantly making it far harder for Ukraine to have a clear picture on the movement of Russian forces and weapons, while also hampering the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to effectively conduct targeting attacks against Russian positions.
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A decision to stop the flow of military support to Ukraine will also have a huge impact on the country’s ability to keep defending itself.
The US has been Kyiv’s largest and most important supplier of arms, including the Patriot air defence system – the only piece of equipment in Ukraine’s arsenal that has the ability to take down ballistic missiles.
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