Gaza father grieves for children killed in Israeli airstrike on church building
As people take a break for the Easter holiday, in the Gaza Strip there is no respite from the 18-month-long war with Israel.
Gaza has a tiny Christian community of Greek Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Evangelicals, and Anglicans.
For Ramez al-Souri, the pain is unimaginable. His three children were killed by an Israeli airstrike, on an annex of Gaza’s Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church.
Palestinian health officials say the attack on 19 October 2023 killed 18 people inside the building.
“My home has changed completely because there are no smiles, no laughter, no joy,” Mr Al-Souri says.
“I lost my flower – my daughter Julie – and my boys Suhail and Majd. They were salt of the Earth.”
Shrouded in darkness
Julia was 12 years old, Suhial 14 and Majd 11.
It is a loss that never leaves Mr Al-Souri, and one shared by almost every family in Gaza.
Walking through the cemetery, he gently places a small bouquet of flowers on his children’s grave. Gunfire crackles in the distance. The neighbourhood is full of rubble and destruction.
“This Easter is no different than the last,” Mr Al-Souri says.
“We are tending to our wounds.
“We continue to hope for an end to this war and suffering, for the darkness over Gaza to finally lift.”
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No end in sight
But there is no sign of light for more than two million people trapped inside Gaza.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a special address to the nation on Saturday night and vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel has “no choice” but to keep fighting “for our very own existence until victory.”
Israel is calling for Hamas to disarm and to release 10 Israeli hostages in exchange for a 45-day ceasefire.
There are 59 hostages still inside Gaza. It is believed 24 of them are still alive.
Hamas has rejected the proposal. It argues Israel reneged on the first ceasefire deal by refusing to move to phase two of the agreement and withdraw Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
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A disaster on the ground
Since the ceasefire collapsed on 2 March, Israel’s bombing campaign has intensified.
Palestinian health officials say more than 1,700 people have been killed in the last month, and more than 90 people in the last 24 hours.
The humanitarian situation is a disaster. At the few remaining soup kitchens in Gaza, children scramble for food. They carry pots for their family and push forward trying to secure a bowl of lentils or rice.
Israel has blocked aid trucks from entering for the last seven weeks. It says it is to put pressure on Hamas.
But the pressure is being felt by civilians, creating what aid groups say is the most severe crisis Gaza has ever faced.
Israel has cut off vital supplies of food and medicine, but insists it is not using starvation as a weapon of war. It rejects any suggestion Gaza does not have enough food and accuses Hamas of stealing it.
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‘We’re craving food’
Seven members of the Al-Asheh family are displaced and live in a tent in Deir al-Balah.
Twelve-year-old Ahmed says before the war he didn’t like lentils, now it is all he eats.
“Before the war, we used to have fruits, chicken, vegetables, everything was available. We were never hungry,” Ahmed explains.
“Now, we’re craving food, chicken – anything. The only thing we can eat now is what the soup kitchen provides.”
Food is increasingly hard to come by in Gaza
It is clear that ceasefire talks are going nowhere, and Israel has tightened its blockade and deepened its war.
More than 400,000 Palestinians have recently been displaced yet again as Israel has expanded a buffer zone inside Gaza, levelling houses to create a “security zone”.
For Palestinians, this constitutes a “land grab”.
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‘A symbol of the world’s conscience’
Israel has also established another military corridor in southern Gaza, calling it Morag corridor.
The corridor is north of Rafah and has cut Gaza’s second-largest city off from the rest of the territory. Israel says it has now taken control of 30% of the Gaza Strip and insists it will not withdraw.
For Palestinians, the future has never looked more bleak. They are blockaded, displaced, struggling for food, water, basic sanitation and in constant search of safety.
“Gaza is calling on the world to stand by it,” Mr Al-Souri says.
“Gaza stands as a symbol of the world’s moral conscience.”
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
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USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
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Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
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In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
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The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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