Israel’s new weapon of war: Humanitarian aid

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Israel’s new weapon of war: Humanitarian aid

The context: Let’s move quickly past the painfully obvious. At least 500,000 people—including 93,000 children—are on the brink of starvation. All 2.1 million face immediate risk of famine—all thanks to Israel’s months-long blockade. Starving a population is considered genocide—on par with slaughtering them en masse. But Israel claims this is necessary to hunt down and eliminate Hamas. Hey, needs must. Most recently, Tel Aviv said it allowed 93 aid trucks to enter Gaza—but none of the supplies actually reached its residents—who look like this (or this, if you want to see a clip):

Here’s a Financial Times chart that sums up the situation:

Enter, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: In the midst of this suffering, an unknown private aid group has come to the rescue. Here’s how the Washington Post describes the GHF:

The Delaware- and Switzerland-registered nonprofit is a private organization backed by the United States and Israel that uses armed private contractors to provide security at Israeli-designated corridors and distribution hubs, from which food packages are distributed to Gazans.

The Israelis insist the foundation is a US venture—but Washington has since distanced itself from it. And the Post investigation shows that Tel Aviv played a big role in setting it up.

About those aid centres: The UN has accused GHF of using aid as “bait”:

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder insisted that the Israeli proposal to create a handful of aid hubs exclusively in the south of the Strip would create an “impossible choice between displacement and death”.

The plan “contravenes basic humanitarian principles” and appears designed to “reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic”, he told journalists in Geneva. “It’s dangerous to ask civilians to go into militarized zones to collect rations…humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip”.

You can see the convenient location of these centres below:

Engineering scarcity: The UN says deliberately limiting the number of centres—four—also creates “engineered scarcity”—amping up the desperation. It also resulted in what happened in Rafah earlier this week. Thousands stormed the hub—and at least 50 people were injured. The UN says “most of those injured are due to gunshots”—fired by the Israeli troops stationed for “security.” IDF insists it did not carry out aerial fire, but “fired warning shots” outside the compound to establish “control over the situation” and allow distribution to continue. The American contractors chose to “retreat” amid the chaos.

It is worth looking at exactly what happened. First the Israelis penned the starving Gazans like cattle:

Inevitably, the residents broke through and the stampede ensued—as you can see in this Al Jazeera video. You could also call this “engineered mayhem”:

Quote to note: On May 25—ahead of the opening of the hubs—GHF chief Jake Wood resigned, stating that the new system is not consistent with “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” Former USAID official John Acree replaced him as interim chief. What’s really interesting: After Wood’s departure, there is no spokesperson for the GHF—just an email address:

[W]hen contacted by the Guardian, the group said it couldn’t provide a representative for an interview and did not immediately respond to inquiries about its current leadership, where it was registered or its links to US security contractors.

What’s happening now: There has been no respite from hunger or violence. Yesterday, ‘hordes of hungry people’ broke into a World Food Programme warehouse in central Gaza—two died and several more were injured. You can see the near-riot here. There were similar scenes at yet another GHF distribution hub—where stun grenades were used—but, hey, “the Israeli military denied involvement.” Must be those Hamas fairies.

A bit of maybe good news: Israel has accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire. Hamas says it is okay with the “general framework.” We don’t know much about the plan other than this from unnamed sources:

They say it calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March. Israeli forces would pull back to the positions they held during the ceasefire Israel ended that month.

The big picture: Here’s a Human Rights Watch explanation of what constitutes a war crime:

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war crime. Criminal intent does not require the attacker’s admission but can also be inferred from the totality of the circumstances of the military campaign.

Reading list: Washington Post (splainer gift link) has the overview on GHF, its murky background and distribution system. New York Times has the UN’s criticism of GHF. The Guardian reports on the US distancing itself from GHF. AP via The Hindu has more on the ceasefire proposal.

Trump’s beautiful dream: A ‘Golden Dome’ to protect America

The US prez says he’s building a “Golden Dome for America”—which happily is not a Trump Tower in the sky. It’s a blinged-out phrase for a state-of-the-art defence shield that will offer protection from ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles. It involves everything from on-the-ground interceptors to laser-toting satellites—or what the White House calls “space-based interceptors.” Woo-hoo! Talk about fancy.

Not a big fan: All of America’s enemies—including North Korea, China and Russia—who are calling it the “largest arms-buildup plan in history,” “deeply destabilizing” etc etc. Trump’s domestic critics have described it as “economically ruinous” and a handout to defense contractors… and tech companies, btw. Everyone from SpaceX to Palantir is lining up for a piece of this multibillion dollar pie. Just the down payment to kick it off will be $25 billion.

One small hitch: For all the steamy rhetoric, most of this tech hasn’t even been built. And no one knows what the final bill will look like. Estimates vary wildly from $175 billion to the trillions.

Point to note: Building space domes is hardly an original idea. It’s a long-standing Republican wet dream. The first proponent was Ronald Reagan who proposed a similar “Star Wars” project—which was gonna shoot down nukes from space. That was in the 1980s.

Why it matters: Whether the plan works or not, it is yet another step toward weaponising space. Question: How will we ever make it to Mars if we’re shooting lasers at each other right here?

For more: Wall Street Journal is the best on other countries’ responses to Trump’s latest extravagant idea and why it won’t come to fruition as per plan. Both are paywalled. TIME Magazine has a free roundup of reactions from the US’ rivals. Al Jazeera has the best explainer on the ‘Golden Dome’. The most amusing bit: Donald actually whipped out a golden dome as part of his announcement:

V&A East Storehouse: Go ahead, touch my art!

London’s brand new V&A East Storehouse houses 250,000 objects—from Roman frescoes to avant-garde fashion. And you can touch them all:

The wonder of the Storehouse is the way it makes you feel close to art, as if you owned it — which is as it should be with a national collection. There is abundance everywhere you look — Andalusian column capitals, a statue of Buddha, a giant Georgian doll’s house — mixed as randomly yet lovingly as objects in someone’s home. Their beauty is unleashed, free of captions, asking only to be enjoyed.

And unlike other museums—which hide 97% of their collections in storage—the Storehouse has thrown everything on display. They are not organized either—by time period or theme or location. Instead, it’s a bit of everything, everywhere, all at once—stage costumes cuddle up to swords next to biscuit tins. The effect is intentional: a sort of curated chaos that invites you to reach and make a connection.

On our bucket list: The scale of the objects ranges—like the Torrijas ceiling from a palace in a town near Toledo in central Spain:

To these gorgeous Japanese dolls:

And these ‘samosa packets’ created by Sofia Karim—inspired by Shaheen Bagh:

For more: You can get a sense of the space over on the museum’s website. Here’s an exhaustive list of objects at the warehouse. Monocle offers an essay with a small collection of images of objects. The Guardian has the best overview of the museum.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Anthropic CEO warns AI could slash half of entry-level white-collar jobs, sending US unemployment soaring up to 20%, “within the next one to five years.” College grads are already struggling to find jobs this year—and AI might be partly to blame, a new report reveals.
Getty CEO says fighting AI copyright battles is too costly—after pouring millions into one case, Getty can’t chase every infringement.

sports & entertainment

A former assistant to the rap mogul testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs repeatedly sexually assaulted her during the eight years she worked for him, and said she lived in fear of his violent outbursts
Smokey Robinson has filed a $500 million defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of sexual assault, calling their claims false and saying they are trying to extort money.
Ricky Ponting sees India’s T20 star Arshdeep Singh—who’s been excelling for years as a leading wicket-taker—making his Test debut in England next month.
RCB’s bowlers dominated as Punjab Kings crashed to 101 all out, with Hazlewood and Sharma taking three wickets each, while Phil Salt’s steady chase sealed a comfy win and booked RCB’s spot in the IPL final. A first title maybe awaits…
Hailey Bieber’s lifestyle brand Rhode just sold to e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion—she’ll stay on as chief creative officer.
At the Norway Chess, world champ Gukesh bounced back from two losses, said no to Nakamura’s draw offer and then made the tournament leader resign just after he turned 19 in India.
Broadway’s 2024-25 season smashed records, out-earning 2018-19 thanks to strong shows like ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ and ‘Othello’.
Prabhas’ ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’ was the most-watched film on mobile in India this March—sharing the spotlight with Netflix’s Tamil comedy-drama ‘Dragon’, as viewers flock to regional hits.

health & environment

Scientists have finally caught Mars’ atmosphere in the act—new data confirms it's been slowly ‘sputtering’ away, offering clues to how the Red Planet lost its water.
Dolphins may be saying more than just “hi”—a new study finds their signature whistles could carry extra info beyond identity.
NATO’s rearmament plans could pump out 200 million extra tonnes of emissions a year—researchers warn the military buildup may fuel the very climate crises that spark future wars.
Some glaciers are doomed to disappear—even if global warming stops now, new research warns ice will keep melting for centuries.

meanwhile, in the world

Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has the deets on why the Trump trade war isn’t over despite a court setback. A federal appeals court has already temporarily blocked the decision, keeping the duties in place for now.
A federal judge said Thursday she will keep Harvard open to international students for now, maintaining a temporary block on the government’s enrollment ban while the legal battle continues.
North Korea reportedly shipped 100+ missiles and 11,000 troops to Russia, fueling attacks on Ukraine and flouting UN sanctions, say the US and allies.
China has been accused of ‘indoctrinating’ Tibetan kids as young as four in state-run boarding schools—activists warn their culture is being erased.
CNN has the deets on the Vatican’s century-old stash of Indigenous artifacts—including sealskin kayaks and wampum belts—that critics say were looted, and leaders now want back.

meanwhile, in India

The Dharavi rehabilitation master plan proposes 72,000 rehabilitation units for eligible tenants, but with over 100,000 residents qualifying, many are questioning where the rest will go and whether the survey is accurate.
Lokpal cleared all three complaints against Madhabi Puri Buch in the Hindenburg case, giving the former SEBI chief and the regulator a big win. For more context on the case, read our Big Story.
Delhi High Court has ordered YouTuber Mohak Mangal to take down his video on ANI. For more details, read our curation here.
Karnataka Congress Muslim leaders quit amid outrage over Dakshina Kannada murders, accusing the government of letting BJP and RSS run wild.
The Print has a good read on India’s tourism twist—desi pilgrims splurge on choppers, while foreign tourists go budget backpacker.

Six things to see

One: On Wednesday, a huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off—burying the entire village of Blatten. The good news: All the 300 residents were evacuated 10 days in advance. The bad news: the entire village has been destroyed. Amazingly, the disaster was captured live. See it below. (CBC News)

Two: As with fashion, everyone comes back in vogue in politics. You just need to give it a bit of time. Even Stalin (yes, that guy). Last week, Moscow authorities proudly unveiled a grand sculpture of the man at a subway station—”a recreation of a monument that was unveiled in the same station in 1950, three years before Stalin died.” Y’know, the good old days. People are now praying to the statue—as you can see below. (CNN)

And here’s Stalin in his full glory:

Three: Say hello to the first gene-edited lamb in India. It has 30% more muscle mass thanks to “gene editing, and not through traditional crossbreeding”—which “represents a technological leap.” The lamb is cute—and more resilient to climate change. Indian Express has all the nerdy deets.

Four: A Chinese paraglider testing his new equipment at 3,000m was accidentally pulled up by a rare air current to 8,000m—which is “nearly the height of Mount Everest.” He was in the air for more than an hour at that altitude—where the temperature reached a reported -35°C—and lived to tell the story. But his licence has since been suspended for 6 months. The incident was caught on camera—see it below. (The Guardian)

Five: Harry Maguire was spotted playing street football with kids in front of the Taj Hotel near the Gateway of India. Along with teammates Diogo Dalot and Andre Onana, the former Manchester United captain landed in Mumbai for a sponsored event by Apollo Tyres. But the real headline? United’s finances are reportedly so strained that players are flying across the world right after a gruelling season—for some much-needed cash. Catch Harry Maguire and the kids below. (Free Press Journal)

Six: Keanu Reeves is a guardian angel in Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut ‘Good Fortune’. This is Ansari’s second attempt at a feature film as the previous one—‘Being Mortal’—was shelved in 2022 due to a misconduct complaint against the lead actor Bill Murray. The new movie also stars Seth Rogan, Keke Palmer and Sandra Oh and is slated for October 17. (Variety)