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Humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza “at scale” by Israel to avoid a “generation of children that won’t have a chance in life,” the director of the UN’s World Food Programme has told Sky News.

In early March – before Israel resumed its military operations in the Gaza Strip – all aid was blocked from entering the region.

Despite limited aid now being distributed to Gaza through a US and Israeli-backed organisation, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire near one of the sites.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), has urged Israel to allow international aid to “get in and get in at scale”.

“We can’t wait for this,” she told The World with Yalda Hakim. “We need safe, unfettered, clear access all the way in and we’re not getting that right now.”

Ms McCain said people in Gaza were “starving, they’re hungry, they’re doing what they can do to feed their families”.

She added: “It’s very, very important that people realise that the only way to stave off malnutrition, catastrophic food insecurity and, of course, famine would be by complete and total access for organisations like mine.”

Ms McCain said the WFP team was “talking every day” to the Israeli government to try to resume aid deliveries.

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis on Monday. Pic: AP
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Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis on Monday. Pic: AP

“We’re not going to give up, we do believe that it’s not only necessary but it’s urgent that we get in and get in at scale,” she said.

“We’re looking at a generation of children that won’t have a chance in life because they haven’t had the proper nutrients.

“Right now, we’re looking at over 500,000 people within Gaza that are catastrophically food insecure.”

Ms McCain added: “I try and put myself in their situation: I’m a mother and grandmother, and I cannot imagine having my children ask me for food and me not being able to give it them.

“I don’t know what that does to a human spirit but I don’t want to see any more of that as a humanitarian aid worker.”

Ms McCain, the widow of the late US presidential candidate John McCain, said she believes in “principled, humanitarian distribution” of aid.

Asked if she thought Hamas was taking aid, she replied: “I have not seen anything like that. I have no way of knowing because I’ve not been there in person.”

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How Israel’s aid plan unravelled

Aid distribution centres in Gaza were closed on Wednesday after Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire near one of its sites.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – which is endorsed by Israel – said the centres would be shut “for renovations, organisation, and efficiency improvements”. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned nearby roads would be considered “combat zones”.

It came after 27 Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid to be distributed in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The IDF said it fired “near a few individual suspects” who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots, about half a kilometre from the aid distribution site of the GHF. It denied shooting at civilians at the aid centre.

Read more:
How Gaza’s aid rollout system collapsed into chaos
Israel ‘without doubt’ committed Gaza war crimes, says ex-Biden official

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That incident came two days after reports that 31 people were killed as they walked to a distribution centre run by the GHF in the Rafah area.

However the IDF said its forces “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false”.

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Praise and fury for Trump’s Gaza peace deal – but Hamas’s first reaction is telling

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Praise and fury for Trump's Gaza peace deal - but Hamas's first reaction is telling

When Benjamin Netanyahu lands back in Israel, he will be hit by a wall of opinions. Some people are full of praise for the deal he has helped to construct, others hate it. Nobody is indifferent.

Among those who are spitting fury are members of his own cabinet.

As it happened: Trump reveals Gaza plan

Netanyahu will attend a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, and he will be faced by the anger of his two most outspoken ministers – Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Both come from the uncompromising political far right; both think that compromise is a sign of weakness; both were utterly outraged at the idea of the prime minister apologising to Qatar for the attack on Doha.

Israeli forces have been carrying out an offensive in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
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Israeli forces have been carrying out an offensive in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

Ben-Gvir said that, far from being a source of shame, it had been “an important, just and supremely moral attack… Qatar is a state that supports terrorism, funds terrorism and incites terrorism”.

Smotrich, as if ever worried at being outdone, compared Netanyahu with Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis, saying his “grovelling apology” was a “disgrace”.

Can either of these men really keep serving in a cabinet with Netanyahu? And if not, how long before the government collapses?

That wouldn’t imperil the peace plan – if it survives – because it will have the support of enough opposition parties to be passed into law.

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Trump announces ‘Board of Peace’

But it would hasten a new general election, where Netanyahu would try to portray himself as the statesman who brought back the hostages (if he does) while his rivals would paint him as the man who let October 7 happen on his watch.

But in the short term, Netanyahu’s plan has plenty of fans in Israel. President Isaac Herzog applauded it and so did the forum representing the families of the hostages.

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Witkoff ‘hopeful’ on Gaza plan

Leaders from Arab countries have all said they welcome it, albeit they have, unanimously, given the credit to Donald Trump, rather than the Israeli prime minister.

But then the applause dwindles. From Hamas, the initial reaction was telling – the plan hadn’t even been sent to them before it was announced to the world. And without their buy-in, what does a deal look like? Can it even work?

They say they can’t sign up to anything that does not include Palestinian self-determination. Which this, pointedly, doesn’t.

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And remember – Hamas have the hostages. For all the implicit threats made by Trump about what would happen if Hamas don’t sign up to this deal, the return of the hostages is the point that most loudly resonates with the Israeli public.

If Hamas don’t like the deal, they won’t return the hostages.

Read more:
What we know about the plan – and what Sky correspondents think

Tony Blair will be an unwelcome inclusion for many on the Palestinian side
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Tony Blair will be an unwelcome inclusion for many on the Palestinian side

As for the governance of Gaza – there is precious little support among Palestinians for a Trump/Blair leadership team.

Tony Blair is a war criminal who should be in The Hague, not Gaza,” said Mustafa Barghouti, the veteran politician who has been on the Palestinian Legislative Council for nearly two decades.

And that’s an opinion I’ve heard echoed more than once.

There are more negotiations to come. “I’ll believe it when it happens,” one military figure said to me, wearily. “I’m more confident than before,” said another source, “but before I wasn’t confident at all.”

Nobody is getting too excited, too early, and there are hurdles to overcome and concessions to be made. But there is a chance that things might happen, and if they do, they might happen fast.

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What we know about the Gaza peace plan – and what Sky News correspondents make of it

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What we know about the Gaza peace plan – and what Sky News correspondents make of it

Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supports Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza – but what does it actually say, and will it work?

The document lays out what the Trump administration calls a “comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict”, consisting of 20 points.

Here are some of the key clauses and what our correspondents make of them…

Gaza ‘to be redeveloped for’ its people

The first two points say Gaza will become “a deradicalised terror-free zone” and “redeveloped for the benefit of” the enclave’s people – but the role they’ll have is unclear, says US correspondent Mark Stone.

“Beyond Hamas, there is no defined role for the Palestinians beyond vague assurances that they can take over once reform has taken place,” he explained.

Stone also highlighted that “a central part of the plan is missing – Hamas”.

“Like it or not, this plan cannot proceed without their buy-in,” he said. “And, as has always been the case, their agreement to this plan would amount to suicide for their movement.

“The bet by the Trump administration and by the Israeli government is that Hamas is now so diminished and exhausted as an organisation that they will be forced to accept it. But I remain unconvinced.”

Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supports the plan while Hamas said on Monday night it was yet to receive and study it in full. A broad spectrum of middle eastern countries have welcomed the initiative.

Tony Blair to be on the ‘Board of Peace’

The plan states that a temporary governing board will be put in charge of Gaza and just one person has so far been confirmed to join Donald Trump on what he’s calling the ‘Board of Peace’: Sir Tony Blair.

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Blair to be on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

Chief political correspondent Jon Craig says the appointment is “controversial but not a surprise”.

“Sir Tony Blair has been one of the key architects of this peace plan,” he said. “It’s a Blair blueprint to a large extent, he went to the White House to discuss it August.”

Sir Tony “gets on well” with Mr Netanyahu, he added. The former British PM’s experience in the Middle East goes back nearly 30 years and he was previously involved in talks with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the 1990s.

“From President Trump’s point of view, and indeed Benjamin Netanyahu’s, it makes sense because [Blair] is an experienced negotiator and go-between power broker in the Middle East,” Craig said.

All hostages to be released

The plan states that within 72 hours of the agreement being accepted, “all hostages, alive and deceased will be returned”.

A total of 48 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas and Israel believes about 20 of them are still alive.

Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire last month. Pic: AP
Image:
Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire last month. Pic: AP

Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons says securing their release is crucial for Mr Netanyahu.

“I think Netanyahu’s gamble is that he will be seen as a statesman,” he said, “if he can bring home the hostages and do that deal, stop the casualties being suffered by the Israeli military, [and] stop the increasing… anger over the number of people who are being killed by Israeli bombardments in Gaza.”

The draft agreement states that once the hostages have been released, Israel will release 1,950 Palestinian prisoners, including all women and children who were detained after 7 October 2023.

“For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans,” it adds.

What are the other key points?

Some of the other significant guarantees include a promise that nobody will be forced to leave the Strip, and that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.

The document also states that full aid” will “proceed without interference […] through the UN, its agencies, the Red Crescent and other international institutions”.

What happens if Hamas does not accept the plan?

Hamas has not been given a deadline to agree to the offer, says Mark Stone – adding that “there are hints already that they are not inclined to accept it in its current format”.

One Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mardawi, is already being quoted in Middle Eastern media outlets as saying: “We will not accept any proposal that does not include self-determination for the Palestinian people and protect them from massacres.”

“If that line holds then the Israelis will be unleashed,” Stone said, pointing out something Mr Trump said to Mr Netanyahu at Monday’s news conference.

“Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do,” he told him.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expands his powers in case US attacks

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expands his powers in case US attacks

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has signed a decree to give himself increased security powers should the US military enter the country.

The move, announced by the nation’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez on Monday, comes as tensions continue to escalate between the two countries.

Mr Maduro has publicly alleged US President Donald Trump and his administration are plotting to oust him.

The decree would allow Mr Maduro to mobilise armed forces throughout the country and give the military authority over public services and the oil industry.

It comes after the US deployed a fleet of warships through the Caribbean, which Washington says is to combat drug trafficking through the region.

The US has also, in recent weeks, struck several boats it claims were carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela, killing those on board.

The legality of this has been questioned by experts.

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‘Drug boat’ hit in strike by US military

Mr Maduro has privately attempted to reconcile with Mr Trump. He sent a letter to his counterpart earlier this month offering to engage in direct talks.

Claims that Venezuela played a big role in drug trafficking have been rejected my Mr Maduro, who says he wants the relationship with the US to be “historic and peaceful”.

However, US military officials are drawing up plans to target drug traffickers in Venezuela, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported on Friday.

Ms Rodriguez said: “What the US government, what warlord Marco Rubio is doing against Venezuela, is a threat.”

Read more from Sky News:
Putin’s defiant message on Ukraine war after Trump’s major reversal
Netanyahu issues fresh threat to Hamas if it rejects Trump’s peace plan

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Venezuela’s military has carried out training exercises with volunteer militia members in recent days.

Soldiers have been teaching members of the public to handle weapons for what leaders call a possible US incursion.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters news agency.

The powers granted to Mr Maduro would be valid for a 90-day period, with the option to renew for a further 90 days, according to the nation’s constitution.

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