Japan snap election: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?
Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info Japanese voters head to the polls this weekend for a snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female prime minister in October last year. While she has only been in power for a few months, Takaichi is enormously popular in Japan and hopes to translate that goodwill into more seats for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the lower house of parliament. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Here’s what you need to know: When will the election take place, and who will participate? The upcoming vote will be held on Sunday, February 8, for all 465 seats in the House of Representatives. There are more than 1,200 candidates on the ballot, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK World. Parties include the LDP, the new Centrist Reform Alliance, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party and the Conservative Party of Japan, among others. There are approximately 105 million registered voters in Japan. More than 4.5 million have already taken part in early voting, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Monday. What are the key issues for this election? The rising cost of living is front and centre in this election. Consumer prices are on the rise while real wage growth is lagging behind inflation, so paycheques are not going as far as they once did. Japan also has a longstanding problem with slow economic growth. The economy only grew 1.1 percent last year, and it is on track to grow by just 0.7 percent in 2026, according to the IMF. The “goldilocks” rate of economic growth considered healthy for a developed nation is between 2 percent and 3 percent. Advertisement Parties are campaigning on varying strategies to tackle economic concerns, such as cutting Japan’s consumption tax or revising income tax rates. While the governing LDP wants to stimulate growth in the economy, some opposition parties are campaigning for greater welfare and others, like the Japan Innovation Party is pushing for deregulation. Another election concern for some parties is the role of foreigners in a rapidly ageing society. Foreign residents topped 2.5 million in 2025, and they tend to fill major employment gaps, but they are also changing the face of Japan’s once largely homogenous society – much to the chagrin of more conservative voters. The LDP is in favour of “selective” immigration by foreign workers to fill specific labour shortages. It has beefed up immigration regulations, however. What’s at stake in this election? The election will be a significant test for the governing LDP. The party has led Japan almost continuously since the end of World War II, but it has suffered serious setbacks at the polls in recent years because of a series of corruption scandals. The party is hoping for a comeback after losing its majority in both houses. Party members have been implicated in a long-running slush fund scandal over the alleged misuse of campaign funds, and the former prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, was the target of infighting. Takaichi won the post of prime minister in October through an internal leadership race within the LDP and made history as Japan’s first female prime minister. Takaichi has a very high approval rating in recent opinion polls, but she is still governing through a coalition with the Japan Innovation Party. A victory for the LDP now would shore up her position as prime minister. What’s on Takaichi’s agenda? A victory in the lower house would help Takaichi push forward with an agenda of economic reform and expanding Japan’s defences. She also wants to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution – something that has never been done before – citing security concerns like a potential conflict between China, the US and Taiwan. The US is a treaty ally of Japan, while Taiwan is both hugely popular with the Japanese public and geographically close to Japan’s outlying islands. In November, Takaichi angered China when she told Japanese legislators that if China were to use force against Taiwan, which China regards as part of its own territory, the move would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan and could warrant a military response from Tokyo. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza decimated transport and even made walking perilous
Gaza City – Every morning, university professor Hassan El-Nabih straps his briefcase and laptop to his bicycle and rides out in search of a place with electricity and an internet connection, hoping to reach his students online. Before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, a professor on a bicycle was not a common sight. Today, it has become a reality imposed by the war – a practical option, one of the only options, given damaged infrastructure and decimated public transport. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “My car was severely damaged in December 2023 while it was parked in the Shujayea neighbourhood [of Gaza City],” El-Nabih said. “I was visiting relatives when an Israeli air strike struck a nearby building … shattering both windscreens and crippling the engine. With my car unusable and fuel almost impossible to find, I had to adapt.” The genocidal war has severely damaged the besieged enclave’s transport infrastructure, with total losses estimated at roughly $2.5bn. A joint report by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations found that about 81 percent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged or destroyed, leaving many areas isolated and basic transport services largely suspended. Before the war, Gaza’s streets were buzzing with cars, motorcycles, buses and taxis, and even those without private vehicles could usually find a ride within minutes. That reality has changed dramatically after more than two years of relentless Israeli bombardment. Many streets are blocked by huge piles of rubble or considered too dangerous to use, making motorised transport difficult, and, in some places, impossible. Advertisement ‘Even walking is difficult’ Abu Mohammed Jundieh, 55, used to work as a driver using his own car, which he lost in the early days of the genocidal war. “That car was my source of income and my only way to get around,” he said, adding that owning a vehicle has now become a distant dream. “Prices are high, fuel is expensive, and even if you find transport, it’s hard to [pay],” he said. “Most of the cash we have is worn out, and drivers often refuse it.” “Sometimes I have to take much longer routes just to reach my destination,” Jundieh said, referring to the destroyed streets. “Even walking is difficult now.” There is also the ever-present threat of Israeli attack, in any type of movement by Palestinians in Gaza, or staying put. The few Palestinians, many with severe medical conditions, allowed to leave during Israel’s partial opening of the Rafah border crossing are having to do so on foot. No new bicycles for sale As its use increased, the bicycle’s status changed from a simple, affordable means of transport to a rare and expensive commodity. On Gaza City’s Jalaa Street, Abu Luay Haniyeh, 52, runs a small bicycle repair shop, its shelves filled with used parts and a few new ones and customers from all walks of life waiting to have their bicycles repaired. There are no new bicycles for sale. “Before the war, selling bicycles was my main business,” Abu Luay said. “Now, repairs are all I can offer.” “People come here every day asking for bicycles, but there’s nothing … Even when a bicycle is available, most people can’t afford it. “A bicycle that sold for less than $200 before the war now costs over $1,000,” he added. With cars and motorcycles largely unusable due to fuel shortages and damage, some residents have turned to hand-pulled carts or limited motorcycle use where fuel is available. For many, however, bicycles have become the most reliable and sometimes the only means of transport. A man carries a child while riding his bicycle along a damaged street in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City [File: Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo] Surviving displacement, finding a source of income Bicycles have also made an appearance in some service sectors, like delivery services. In a large tent on al-Shifa Street, west of Gaza City, is the headquarters of Hamama Delivery. Out front is a row of bicycles, while a few broken-down motorcycles stand off to the side. Abu Nasser al-Yazji, 45, Hamama Delivery’s manager, works from here. The company had been operating for more than 10 years before the war started, using cars and motorcycles to cover the entire Gaza Strip around the clock. Advertisement Today, the fuel shortage has made running vehicles impossible. “We had no choice but to switch entirely to bicycles,” al-Yazji said. “Most of our motorcycles were destroyed, and around 50 of our employees were killed during the war,” he continued. “But as unemployment increased, more people began looking for any kind of work, including delivery. That’s why our workforce actually grew.” Now, delivery drivers have adapted their bicycles by attaching plastic vegetable crates to them as carrier baskets. “We transport all kinds of orders … meals from restaurants, clothing from small shops, or whatever people need. We load everything into plastic crates attached to the bicycles,” al-Yazji said. Because the streets are unlit and difficult to navigate, the company had to cut its delivery hours, no longer able to operate around the clock. Now they deliver for only about 10 hours a day. Among those working with Hamama is Ahmad, 23, who was studying law before the war and is now running deliveries after being unable to continue his studies. “At the beginning, it was physically exhausting,” Ahmad said. “I never imagined I’d be so grateful for owning a bicycle. “In the first days of the war, my mother told me to buy one,” he continued. “She felt movement would soon become impossible.” “During displacement, there are no cars and no transport,” he said. “You move with a few bags, and the bicycle helps you carry them and stay with your family while you’re trying to reach a safer place.” What began as a way to survive displacement later became his only source of income. “Now, securing transport is almost impossible,” Ahmad said. “If you don’t have a bicycle, you’re nearly stuck.” Adblock
Bangladesh election: Who are the key players and parties?
An array of political parties and alliances will be vying for seats in the Bangladesh Parliament on February 12 in the country’s first election since the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. About 127 million registered voters are eligible to cast votes to elect 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad, the country’s parliament. The South Asian country has been in the hands of a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, when a student-led uprising ended Hasina’s long rule. Hasina ordered troops to crack down on protesters, killing 1,400 people. She has since been sentenced to death by a special tribunal in Bangladesh for the brutal crackdown, but remains in exile in India, and her Awami League party has been banned from political activity. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Besides the election on February 12, Bangladesh will also hold a referendum on the July National Charter 2025 – a document drafted following the student protests, setting the foundation for future governance of the country. The two biggest groups competing for parliamentary seats across the country’s 300 constituencies are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is leading a coalition of 10 parties, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JIB), which heads an 11-party alliance, including the National Citizen Party, a group formed by students who led the anti-Hasina movement in 2024. The Awami League, which dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades, has been barred from fielding candidates. Besides the two main blocs, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which broke away from the JIB-led alliance, and the Jatiya Party, a longtime ally of Hasina’s Awami League, are contesting independently. Advertisement Here is a look at the main political parties and their leaders vying for parliament seats this year, and the key players influencing the election. Bangladesh Nationalist Party Led by Tarique Rahman, the son of the late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the BNP is seen as one of the main contenders in the upcoming elections. The party was founded in 1978 by Ziaur Rahman, Tarique’s father and one of the leading military figures of the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971, on the principles of Bangladeshi nationalism. According to the BNP website, this is an “ideology that recognises the right of Bangladeshis from all walks of life, irrespective of their ethnicity, gender or race”. As a centre-right political party, the BNP has been a popular political force in the country for decades and has traditionally exchanged power with the Awami League. For four decades after Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981, his wife and Tarique’s father, Khaleda Zia, led the party. Khaleda served as the country’s first female prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. In that period, Jamaat was an ally of the BNP as they together fought against Hasina’s Awami League. After Hasina came back to power in 2009 – she had also ruled between 1996 and 2001 – the BNP faced the wrath of her government over corruption charges, and Khaleda was put under house arrest in 2018 in two related cases. She was acquitted of all charges after Hasina’s departure in 2024. Since Hasina’s ousting in 2024, the BNP has risen again as a political frontrunner. A December survey by the United States-based International Republican Institute indicated the BNP had the support of 33 percent of respondents. That was also the only month when the BNP — seeking to position itself as a liberal force ahead of the elections — broke its alliance with Jamaat. Polls show Jamaat just marginally behind the BNP in popular support. Tarique, 60, had been living in London, United Kingdom, since he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what he called politically motivated persecution. He arrived in Dhaka on December 25, 2025 to take over the BNP leadership ahead of his mother Khaleda’s death on December 30. “We will build a Bangladesh that a mother dreams of,” he said in December after returning to the country and calling on citizens from the hills and plains – Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians – to join him in creating a secure and inclusive nation. In election rallies, he has pledged to improve the country’s infrastructure, among other promises. Advertisement “If elected, the healthcare system will be improved, a flyover will be constructed in Sherpur, permanent embankments will be built in the river erosion areas of Dhunat, and the youth will be made self-reliant through the establishment of IT education institutions,” he said. According to Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan, lecturer in global studies and governance at the Independent University, Bangladesh, since Rahman’s return, the BNP has become more organised. “The party has basically revived with a newfound spirit in both its central and grassroots-level leadership,” he said. “Typical objections against BNP and affiliated party activists, like [allegations of] extortion … have also significantly declined. Top leaders of the central committee have also been comparatively cautious to avoid any statement that might create popular outrage. Significantly, the people are flocking in thousands to hear from Rahman at his electoral rally, even late at midnight,” he said. Rejwan added that it is widely believed that Rahman is the only man who can currently unite Bangladesh with an “inclusive vision”, unlike his Jamaat rivals, who have failed to address any clear stance or acknowledge what are seen by many as their restrictive policies towards women and religious minorities. Jamaat-e-Islami The party was founded in 1941 by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi during British rule in India. In 1971, during Bangladesh’s war of independence, Jamaat supported staying with Pakistan, and was banned after the country won its freedom. But in 1979, four years after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had fought for Bangladesh’s independence and is seen by many as the country’s founding father, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, who was the country’s president at the time, lifted the ban. Ziaur Rahman was also assassinated in 1981. Over the next two decades, Jamaat developed into a significant political force. It supported
Senior Russian officer shot in Moscow in apparent assassination attempt
An unidentified individual has shot Lieutenant General Alekseyev in the Russian capital before fleeing the scene, authorities say. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 2 mins info Published On 6 Feb 20266 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A senior Russian military official has been hospitalised after being shot several times in Moscow, according to state media quoting Russian officials. An unknown assailant carried out a gun attack on Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy chief of Russian military intelligence, in a residential building, Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee (ICR), said on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Alekseyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry. Petrenko told reporters that a criminal investigation has been opened for attempted murder, and illegal trafficking in firearms regarding the incident, according to the Interfax news agency. She said that the shooting attack took place in a building at Volokolamsk Highway in Moscow and the suspect fled the scene. “The victim was hospitalised in one of the city hospitals,” Petrenko said, adding that investigators and forensic experts are currently working at the scene of the incident, reviewing CCTV footage, and questioning witnesses. Alekseyev was one of the officials sent to negotiate with the late leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a rebellion against Moscow in 2023 and the was killed in a plane crash which many observers blamed on President Vladimir Putin. Series of assassinations Several senior Russian officers have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine four years ago, with Moscow blaming the attacks on Kyiv. In some cases, Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility. Advertisement The most recent officer to be killed was the head of the General Staff’s army training directorate, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who was killed by a bomb under his car on December 22. Last month a Russian court sentenced an Uzbek man to life in prison for the 2024 killing of the head of the Russian army’s radiological, chemical and biological defence forces. The general, Igor Kirillov, was killed when a booby-trapped scooter exploded as he left an apartment block in Moscow, in an attack Kyiv said it had orchestrated. Adblock test (Why?)
NBA roundup: Lakers stop 76ers despite Luka Doncic’s injury exit
Lakers beat 76ers 119-115 in NBA, as Spurs, Wizards, Raptors, Hornets, Magic, Hawks and Warriors also record victories. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 6 mins info Austin Reaves scored 35 points off the bench, LeBron James added 17 points with 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the loss of Luka Doncic to earn a 119-115 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura each scored 14 points as the Lakers won in their return from a 5-3 road trip. Doncic left the game late in the second quarter with left leg soreness after scoring 10 points. He will undergo an MRI, according to coach JJ Redick. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The Lakers came back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter and won after not taking their first lead until the fourth quarter. Joel Embiid scored 35 points and Tyrese Maxey added 26 points with 13 assists as the 76ers saw their season-high five-game winning streak come to an end. VJ Edgecombe produced 19 points and 10 rebounds. Spurs 135, Mavericks 123 Victor Wembanyama dominated with 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots to carry the visiting San Antonio past Dallas. Harrison Barnes had 19 points, Keldon Johnson 18 and De’Aaron Fox 17 for the Spurs, who have won three in a row. Mavericks star Cooper Flagg had 32 points and became the youngest player in NBA history with 30 or more points in four consecutive games. Naji Marshall also scored 32 as Dallas took its sixth straight loss. Wizards 126, Pistons 117 Will Riley led eight Washington players in double figures with 20 points as the undermanned Wizards surprised host Detroit. Riley added six rebounds and five assists for the Wizards, who had only 10 players available after trade deadline moves yet still won for the fourth time in six games. Sharife Cooper supplied a career-high 18 points. Advertisement Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Duncan Robinson had 21 points. Jalen Duren missed the second half due to right knee soreness. Another Detroit starter, Tobias Harris, sat out due to left hip soreness. Raptors 123, Bulls 107 Brandon Ingram scored 22 of his 33 points in the first half as Toronto defeated visiting Chicago, which completed seven trades before the deadline. The Bulls featured two new players in their starting lineup and three overall. Immanuel Quickley added 24 points for the Raptors, who have won two of three to open a five-game homestand. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Murray-Boyles each put up 17 points. Chicago’s new backcourt of Anfernee Simons and Jaden Ivey logged 22 and 13 points, respectively. Guerschon Yabusele had 15 points and 11 rebounds in his Bulls debut off the bench. Hornets 109, Rockets 99 Rookie Kon Knueppel scored 24 points, LaMelo Ball added 20, and visiting Charlotte extended its winning streak to eight games by defeating Houston. Miles Bridges added 18 points while Josh Green tallied 14 on 4-for-4 shooting for the Hornets, whose winning streak is the franchise’s longest since the 1998-99 season. Kevin Durant scored a game-high 31 points for the Rockets, who have split their past six games and dropped both contests of a home back-to-back. Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds. Magic 118, Nets 98 Jalen Suggs registered his first career triple-double as Orlando opened a four-game homestand with a win over Brooklyn. Suggs, in his fifth year with the Magic, finished with 15 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in just 29 minutes. Desmond Bane notched 23 points and Paolo Banchero added 22 for the Magic, who never trailed. Rookie Egor Demin made six 3-point attempts on the way to a career-high 26 points for the Nets, who dropped their ninth straight against Orlando. Rookie Nolan Traore matched his career high with 21 points. Hawks 121, Jazz 119 Jock Landale equalled his season high with 26 points in his Atlanta debut, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23, including the game-winning basket with 1.3 seconds left, as the Hawks beat visiting Utah. Landale was acquired by Atlanta from the Grizzlies on Wednesday, drove from Memphis to Atlanta for the Thursday morning shootaround and was in the starting lineup later that day. He shot 10-for-14 from the field, tied his season high with 11 rebounds, matched his career high with five assists and had a season-best four blocked shots. Advertisement Atlanta also got 22 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists from Jalen Johnson, his 10th triple-double of the season. Isaiah Collier totalled 25 points and 11 assists while Kyle Filipowski amassed 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz. Warriors 101, Suns 97 Pat Spencer produced career highs of 20 points and six 3-pointers, and Golden State scored the final 10 points to edge host Phoenix despite playing its second straight game without Stephen Curry (knee). Gui Santos contributed 18 points, and his breakaway layup with 28.7 seconds remaining put the Warriors up 99-97. After Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks missed a 3-point attempt, the Warriors came up with a loose ball, and De’Anthony Melton made a layup at the buzzer. Brooks scored 24 points, and Grayson Allen had 21 points and five 3-pointers for the Suns, who had won four of their previous five games. Adblock test (Why?)
Blast rocks mosque in Pakistan’s Islamabad
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Rescue teams reach the site after blast reported at a mosque in Tarlai Kalan during Friday prayers. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 1 min info Published On 6 Feb 20266 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A blast has been reported at a mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The explosion occurred at Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, during Friday prayers. Rescue teams have reached the site of the explosion. There was no immediate information on casualties, but there were fears of a high death toll. In November last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens. More to come … Adblock test (Why?)
UK ex-envoy’s ties to Epstein spark political storm
NewsFeed UK PM Keir Starmer says he regrets appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US after documents showed Mandelson maintained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, shared sensitive information, and received payments linked to Epstein. Police are investigating. Published On 5 Feb 20265 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
New Trump administration rule makes it easier to fire career civil servants
The Office of Personnel Management’s new rule would reclassify high ranking officials as at-will and they could be fired for ‘intentionally subverting Presidential directives’. By Reuters Published On 5 Feb 20265 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The administration of United States President Donald Trump has finalised its overhaul of the US government’s civil service system, according to a government statement, giving the president the power to hire and fire an estimated 50,000 career federal employees. The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Thursday is set to create a new category for high-ranking career employees involved in carrying out administration policies, the Wall Street Journal reported. Personnel in that category would be exempted from longstanding civil service protections that make federal workers difficult to fire. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list OPM officials said the rule is aimed in part at “disciplining” federal workers who stand in the way of Trump’s policies, the paper reported. It added that the new category applies to senior positions that are policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating in nature. “People can’t be conscientious objectors in the workforce in a way where it interferes with their ability to carry out their mission,” OPM’s director Scott Kupor said in an interview with the WSJ. “These positions will remain career jobs filled on a non-partisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals. This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives,” the more than 250-page directive from OPM claimed. The federal government has long been seen as a stable employer, with staff commonly spending decades working at US agencies. Trump and his team sought to change that at the start of his second term, as he argued that the federal government was bloated and inefficient. Advertisement In 2025, the White House made aggressive cuts to the federal workforce, with more than 300,000 people leaving the nation’s largest employer. The OPM did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Adblock test (Why?)
Starvation by design: How Israel turned food into a weapon of war in Gaza
In the first three months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in 2023, only four deaths were officially attributed to starvation by health officials in Gaza. By 2024, that number rose to 49. But it was in 2025 – the year the siege reached its suffocating zenith – that the death toll exploded, reaching 422 deaths in a single year. This represents a staggering 760 percent increase in starvation deaths in just 12 months. UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri told Al Jazeera in August 2025 that the global standard for famine analysis, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), tends to be “conservative”. “The reality on the ground was unequivocal. We raised the alarm when we started seeing the first children dying,” Fakhri explained, noting that the crisis met the strict technical criteria for famine. The Health Ministry in Gaza gave the breakdown of the victims: 40.63 percent were elderly (over 60), and 34.74 percent were children. In 2025 alone, cases among children under five spiked from 2,754 in January to 14,383 in August. Legal experts said that what occurred in Gaza wasn’t just “food insecurity”; it met the strict technical criteria for famine, a designation often delayed by political bureaucracy. “In the human rights community, we don’t wait as long … we don’t have to focus on measuring pain, suffering, and death,” Fakhri explained. “We raised the alarm when we started seeing the first children dying … because when a parent is holding their child in their arms, and that child is wasting away, that means an entire community is under attack.” Anatomy of a strategy Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory have accused consecutive Israeli governments of a decades-old policy to use food and aid as a weapon of war. Advertisement Suleiman Basharat, a Palestinian commentator and researcher on Israeli affairs, traces this strategy to the blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel in 2007. “It was based on the idea of starvation and narrowing daily life,” Basharat noted. This doctrine was infamously summarised in 2006 by Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, who said the goal was “to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger”, adding that the war marked a shift from “management” to “elimination”. Senior Israeli ministers made their intentions clear at the very start of the genocidal war on Gaza. Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had declared a complete siege against “human animals“. His remarks were quickly reinforced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who argued that blocking aid to Gaza was “justified and moral“, even if it meant starving millions. Israel’s moves to ramp up this policy were thorough. Before the war on Gaza began in 2023, the United Nations said 500 trucks carrying aid and food were needed to keep the people in Gaza sustained. But during the war, an average of 19 trucks a day were allowed in the Strip – a 96 percent reduction – which some Israeli media have referred to as the “calorie collapse”. The Calorie Collapse: Before the war, 500 trucks sustained Gaza daily. During the conflict, this dropped to an average of 19 trucks a day – a 96 percent reduction. The Thirst War: Water availability plummeted from 84 litres per person to just 3 litres during the siege. Scorched Earth: Israel systematically destroyed infrastructure for agricultural production. By August 2025, 90 percent of agricultural land was razed, 2,500 chicken farms were destroyed (killing 36 million birds), and the fishing port was obliterated. “If Israel wanted to do it, every child in Gaza could have breakfast tomorrow,” de Waal observed. “All they need to do is to open the gates”. [Al Jazeera] In addition to food, people in Gaza witnessed a sharp decrease in water releases from Israel. Rights group Oxfam said that, 100 days into the “ceasefire”, Gaza is still deliberately deprived of water as aid groups are forced to scavenge under an illegal blockade. Israel also employed a “scorched earth” policy, systematically destroying the infrastructure for agricultural production. By August 2025, estimates suggest that the Israeli army had destroyed 90 percent of agricultural land and 2,500 chicken farms. The army focused its campaign on areas near the security barrier in the north, south and east of the Gaza Strip. Advertisement The spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture, Mohammed Abu Odeh, has warned that the Israeli army’s destruction and control of the farmland will affect the chain of food and supply of vegetables for nearly two million people in the Strip. The illusion of aid Palestinian officials and analysts suggest Israel has had a strategy of blocking aid and, at times, manipulating how it is delivered. Political analyst Abdullah Aqrabawi told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israel and the US have tried to create their own aid-delivering system, such as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), but failed. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed at GHF sites trying to access food. “The United States came with a pier and contracted companies … and failed,” Aqrabawi said. He noted that these initiatives were attempts to “support criminal pockets” or specific families to distribute aid, “thereby isolating Hamas – the resistance”. Re-engineering society Analysts say that the starvation tactics were used, not just for military leverage, but also to create an “anti-resistance” sentiment in Gaza. “The goal is to break the Palestinian resistance by affecting the social base that embraces it,” Basharat explained. He argues that Israel aimed to “re-engineer the Palestinian human” into a being whose sole cognitive focus is basic survival, rendering them incapable of political thought. Analysts described a host of policies adopted by Israeli officials to push Palestinians out of Gaza, cloaking them in misleading terms, such as encouraging “voluntary migration“. Israeli affairs expert Mohannad Mustafa said this was a cynical euphemism for forced displacement. “You starve the people, destroy the infrastructure … and in the end, you ask them: ‘Do
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,442
[unable to retrieve full-text content] These are the key developments from day 1,442 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.