{"id":54570,"date":"2025-08-09T04:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T04:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/54570\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T04:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T04:22:10","slug":"horrific-results-forecast-as-gaza-hunger-crisis-deepens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/54570\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Horrific results\u2019 forecast as Gaza hunger crisis deepens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great power rivalry<\/p>\n

Gaza: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly this week considering expanding the military campaign in Gaza and completely taking it over, as aid groups warned that recent increases of supplies were not enough to address the enclave\u2019s hunger crisis.<\/p>\n

Despite Israel\u2019s pauses in fighting and international airlifting of supplies, the United Nations and aid groups said food was not reaching many of those in need due to a lack of safe access, looting and violence near distribution centres. Gaza\u2019s Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday eight hunger-related deaths had been recorded in the previous 24 hours.<\/p>\n

James Elder, from UNICEF, told reporters this week: \u201cThere\u2019s a sense through the world\u2019s press that things are improving \u2026 But unless there is sustained humanitarian aid \u2026 there will be horrific results.\u201d<\/p>\n

UN data showed that of 2604 aid trucks entering Gaza since May 19, when a block on aid was lifted, 2310 were intercepted \u201ceither peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN officials said Israel has refused to allow aid trucks to travel on less crowded routes, resulting in widespread looting. Israel said the UN has refused to let Israel or private contractors provide security to convoys.<\/p>\n

Mona Qadoum, a 45-year-old mother of five in Gaza City, told The Washington Post she was surviving on cans of lentils she stored away months ago and has started to beg for food.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say aid trucks have entered Gaza, so why hasn\u2019t any of it been distributed?\u201d she said. \u201cOnly the looters and thieves have taken anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

As ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas stalled, Netanyahu reportedly proposed this week to order the military, which controls about 75 per cent of Gaza, to take over the rest of the enclave, including parts where much of the population is now concentrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, release our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,\u201d he said at a\u00a0military base.<\/p>\n

Asked about the plan, United States President Donald Trump told reporters he was focused on food distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the rest of it, I really can\u2019t say. That\u2019s going to be pretty much up to Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The neighbourhood<\/p>\n

Solomon Islands: A rift has emerged among Pacific island states over a push by China to exclude Taiwan from a regional summit next\u00a0month.<\/p>\n

China has reportedly been pressuring Solomon Islands to prevent Taiwanese officials from attending the yearly leaders meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, whose 18 members include Australia and New Zealand. Solomon Islands, which is hosting the meeting, has close relations with China and signed a secret security pact with Beijing in 2022.<\/p>\n

According to ABC News, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele plans to propose all partners of the forum be barred from attending the summit \u2013 a move that would exclude Taiwan as well as other partners such as China, the US, Japan and the European Union. Manele\u2019s aim would reportedly be to find a politically palatable way to exclude Taiwan, which has sent delegations to the forum as a \u201cdevelopment partner\u201d for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

China regularly seeks to block Taiwan\u2019s involvement in international forums and has pushed several Pacific countries to switch recognition from Taiwan to China in recent years, including Solomon Islands, Kiribati and\u00a0Nauru.<\/p>\n

The three remaining Pacific countries that recognise Taiwan \u2013 Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu \u2013 have warned they may withdraw from the forum if Taiwan is excluded from the summit.<\/p>\n

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told parliament on Monday that the forum\u2019s affairs should not be \u201cdictated\u201d by non-members such as China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the practice of interference in the affairs of the forum becomes the norm, then I question our nation\u2019s membership in the organisation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Palau\u2019s president, Surangel Whipps Jr, said excluding Taiwan could lead to a \u201cPIF split\u201d.<\/p>\n

Democracy in retreat<\/p>\n

El Salvador: The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who has described himself as the \u201cworld\u2019s coolest dictator\u201d, has been cleared to rule indefinitely after the parliament abolished term limits.<\/p>\n

Bukele, who is 44 years old, has overseen a popular but oppressive crackdown on criminal gangs. Safety has drastically improved and the murder rate has fallen to one homicide per 50,000 people from one per 2000 people. The strict measures involved mass arrests and jailing more than 2 per cent of adults in the country, which has 6.6 million residents.<\/p>\n

The legislature, which Bukele\u2019s New Ideas party controls, last week voted to end term limits and to increase the length of the president\u2019s term from five years to six.<\/p>\n

Ernesto Castro, one of 54 lawmakers who belong to Bukele\u2019s party, posted to X: \u201cWith these decisive measures, we are ensuring a stronger, fairer and more efficient democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Marcela Villatoro, one of three opposition lawmakers who voted against the measures, said: \u201cDemocracy in El Salvador has died. When democracy is lost, it takes years to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele was first elected in 2019 and won a landslide re-election in 2024. He made a deal with Donald Trump this year to accept hundreds of migrants deported from the United States and has increasingly curbed dissent, including harassing and detaining civil rights activists and journalists.<\/p>\n

The public response to the constitutional changes was relatively muted.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Lemus, who lives in the capital, San Salvador, told The New York Times: \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll feel differently if you ask me in 10 years, I\u00a0don\u2019t know. But for today, I have no problem with him being re-elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotlight: Murdoch\u2019s new US tabloid<\/p>\n

Rupert Murdoch plans to launch a new newspaper \u2013 the California Post \u2013 that will be a\u00a0West Coast counterpart of his staunchly pro-Trump tabloid, the New York Post.<\/p>\n

The newspaper, to be based in Los Angeles, will be edited by Nick Papps, who is the weekend editor of Melbourne\u2019s Herald Sun and was a LA correspondent from 2004 to 2006.<\/p>\n

Murdoch previously assigned Col Allan, a former editor of Sydney\u2019s Daily Telegraph, to edit the New York Post from 2001 to 2016.<\/p>\n

The new tabloid will seek to capitalise on the troubles facing the state\u2019s largest-circulation newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, which has experienced a circulation slump, staff cuts and losses of as much as US$50\u00a0million a year. The paper\u2019s current owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech entrepreneur, blocked it from endorsing Kamala Harris for president in last year\u2019s election \u2013 a move that prompted staff resignations and lost thousands of subscribers.<\/p>\n

Robert Thomson, the chief executive of News Corp, said in a statement the new tabloid will feature \u201cserious reporting and puckish wit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is the most populous state in the country,\u201d he said. \u201cYet many stories are not being told, and many viewpoints are not being represented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts said the tabloid\u2019s daily print offering will struggle to compete with the LA Times, which will still have a much larger and more experienced staff. But the publication will be free online \u2013 unlike the LA Times \u2013 and could attract substantial advertising revenue.<\/p>\n

The paper will launch in 2026, ahead of California\u2019s gubernatorial elections.<\/p>\n

Gavin Newsom, the outgoing Democratic governor and a frequent target of the New York Post, said in a post on X: \u201cRupert Murdoch is investing in California because even the New York Post can\u2019t deny our success.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

[email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n August 8, 2025 as “\u2018Horrific results\u2019 forecast as Gaza hunger crisis deepens”.<\/p>\n

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