CrossFireArarbia

‘My kite flew above the tent… I felt like it was lifting me away from all sadness’

CrossFireArabia
August 9, 2025

“My kite flew above the tent… I felt like it was lifting me away from all sadness” — eight-year-old Amatullah*.

In acute emergencies like the war in Gaza, Early Childhood Development (ECD) plays a critical role in protecting children’s well-being and sense of normalcy. Since the onset of the escalation, the IRC and local partners have launched a flexible, play-based ECD response to meet the urgent developmental and psychosocial needs of young children and their caregivers.

With over 650,000 children currently out of school across Gaza, access to safe, supportive environments for early learning is more critical than ever. Since January 2024, our ECD programming has reached more than 22,000 children, offering joyful and structured activities in shelters, mobile kindergartens, and community spaces.

“For the first time in a long while, I played like this… I forgot about the war for a bit.” — Sara Abu*

Under the UBS-funded initiative Hope Through Learning and Play, the program is implemented in Gaza by our local partner, Save Youth Future Society using adapted ECD content from Ahlan Simsim and Preschool Healing Classrooms. This partnership has supported over 4,400, specifically displaced children – navigate grief, express emotions, and reconnect through play.

Learn more about the crisis in Gaza.

*Pseudnym used for privacy

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC works in more than 40 countries and in 28 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future, and strengthen their communities.

Reliefweb

News

With Over 61,000 Killed Israel Unfettered by its Genocide

CrossFireArabia
August 9, 2025

At least 61,369 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

A ministry statement said that 39 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 491 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 152,850 in the Israeli onslaught.

“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

The ministry also noted that 21 Palestinians were killed and over 341 injured while trying to get humanitarian aid in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed while seeking aid to 1,743, with over 12,590 others wounded since May 27.

The ministry reported that 11 people, including children, have died in the past 24 hours due to famine and malnutrition. This brings the total death toll from starvation to 212, among them 98 children, as the humanitarian crisis in the enclave deepens.

The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 9,862 people and injured 40,809 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January according to Anadolu.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

News

Airdrop Box Kills Boy in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
August 9, 2025

This is the fourth reported killed in as many days as large boxes came crushing down, including that of an 11-year-old boy and a nurse

A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and several people were injured Saturday when an aid box dropped by air fell on them in central Gaza, marking the fourth such fatal accident in recent days, medical sources said.

The sources told Anadolu that Muhannad Eid died after being struck in the head by a box in the Al-Nuwairi Hill area, west of the Nuseirat refugee camp. He was taken to Al-Awda Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The exact number of injured was not immediately available.

Saturday’s tragedy follows three similar incidents since multiple countries began parachuting aid into Gaza on July 16, amid an Israeli blockade that has pushed the enclave into famine.

In the early hours of the same day, another Palestinian died from injuries sustained a day earlier when a box hit him in Gaza City’s Al-Yarmouk area. On Monday, a nurse was killed when a box crashed onto his tent in Al-Zawaida, while an 11-year-old boy died Wednesday in Khan Younis in the same way.

Palestinian officials and humanitarian groups say air-drops are far less effective than land deliveries and have caused chaos, damage, and deaths.

Israel has kept all Gaza crossings closed since March 2, blocking aid convoys despite hundreds of trucks waiting at the border. Only small amounts have been allowed in, far below the level needed to avert famine.

The World Food Program says one-third of Gaza’s population has gone several days without eating, calling the situation “unprecedented” in its levels of hunger and desperation. The UN estimates hundreds of aid trucks must enter daily to end the famine caused by the Israeli blockade and war.

Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its deadly war on Gaza, where more than 61,300 people have been killed since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

News

France Condemns Israel’s Plan to Occupy Gaza

CrossFireArabia
August 8, 2025

France, Friday, condemned in the “strongest terms” the Israeli government’s plan to occupy Gaza, reiterating its “firm opposition” to the scheme.

“France strongly condemns the plan adopted overnight by the Israeli government to once again extend its military operations to take control of Gaza City, with the aim of militarily controlling the entire Gaza Strip,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.

It reiterated France’s “firm opposition” to any plan to occupy the Gaza Strip and forcibly displace its population, underlining that such actions would lead to “serious violations of international law” and an “absolute deadlock.”

“They would undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to live in peace within a viable, sovereign, and contiguous state, and would pose a threat to regional stability,” the ministry said.

It further reaffirmed that France will continue to work for implementation of a two-state solution, stressing that the future of the Gaza Strip “must be part of a future Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority.”

“France will continue the work initiated in New York, together with its partners and the United Nations, to deploy a temporary international stabilization mission to ensure the security of both Israelis and Palestinians. It calls on its partners and all other states to join this collective effort,” it added, referring to a recent conference on a two-state solution.

On X, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also denounced the Israeli plan.

“France strongly condemns the Israeli government’s plan aimed at preparing for the complete occupation of Gaza. Such an operation would worsen an already catastrophic situation without enabling the release of Hamas hostages, its disarmament, or its surrender,” he wrote.

Opinion

Can Netanyahu Reshape The Middle East?

CrossFireArabia
August 8, 2025

By Mohammad Abu Rumman

What happened on October 7th was not merely a surprise, bloody attack for Israel—it marked a watershed moment that redefined its security doctrine and the limits of its regional project. It was a moment strikingly similar to what the events of September 11th represented for the United States. Immediately after the launch of the Al Aqsa Flood operation, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasted no time in drawing a direct comparison to 9/11.

This comparison was not just rhetorical or meant to rally emotions. It reflects a much deeper strategic vision. Netanyahu is using the shock of the attack to advance an old-new Israeli project: restructuring the region’s security and political landscape in a way that guarantees Israel near-absolute security in a demilitarised environment, free of any threats.

After the 9/11 attacks, US neoconservatives in the White House seized the moment to implement the “Project for the New American Century”—a vision developed by think tanks and figures like Paul Wolfowitz, William Kristol and Robert Kagan. Founded in 1997, the project aimed to reshape the global order and maintain American dominance, with Iraq, Syria, and Iran at the heart of its ambitions. September 11th became the ideal pretext to accelerate this vision through the invasion of Iraq and redrawing the map of the Middle East.

Today, Netanyahu is doing something strikingly similar. He sees the Al Aqsa Flood as a historic opportunity to accelerate his own regional vision—one that is no longer confined to Gaza but extends to southern Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Gaza again, and even the political dynamics in Turkey and several Arab states.

Those following Netanyahu’s rhetoric—and that of his ministers—can clearly see that Israel is no longer content with merely deterring its enemies. It now seeks to re-engineer the entire geopolitical landscape of the region. In southern Syria, Netanyahu stated clearly: “We will not allow any military forces threatening our borders to remain in southern Syria, and we will not return to the old equation.” Defence minister Yoav Gallant added that Israel will reshape the reality there to ensure its strategic security—which essentially means preventing the Syrian army from returning to its previous positions and enforcing a safe corridor between Sweida and the Golan Heights in line with Israeli interests.

In Lebanon, the objective has shifted from merely weakening Hizbollah to explicitly disarming the group entirely and eliminating its missile capabilities, which pose a direct threat to Israel.

In Gaza, the discussion is no longer about reconstruction or humanitarian relief. The conversation centers on the “day after”—meaning the complete removal of Hamas, disarmament of all resistance forces, and transforming Gaza into a powerless entity under full Israeli security control.

Even the proposed Palestinian state mentioned in the recent New York declaration is envisioned as a demilitarized one—to appease Netanyahu. Yet, he still won’t accept it. Israel has already moved past the idea of any sovereign Palestinian state. What’s “allowed”, according to current Israeli thinking, are fragmented cantons and voluntary or forced displacement of Palestinians.

As for Iran, Israel’s confrontation with Tehran is open-ended, aiming to reduce its missile capabilities and eliminate its strategic threat. It is also plausible that Israel’s strategic vision may extend to shaping the political scene in Turkey—possibly by pushing for a government more aligned with Israeli interests—and exerting pressure on certain Arab states, even those officially labeled as “friendly” to Tel Aviv.

This project is no longer tied to Netanyahu’s personal political survival. It has become close to a national consensus among Israeli institutions and political elites. Leaders like Yair Lapid or Naftali Bennett are unlikely to reverse course or return Israel to the pre-October 8th status quo.

What’s unfolding today isn’t a series of short-term security tactics. It’s a long-term strategic plan aimed at reshaping the regional balance of power and cementing Israel’s status as the undisputed regional superpower.

The author is a columnist for the Jordan Times