10/03/2025October 3, 2025Situation facing mothers and newborns ‘never been worse’ — UNICEF
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that mothers and newborn babies are facing dire conditions in Gaza, as the Nasser hospital in the south is becoming increasingly overwhelmed by patients who fled from northern Gaza.
“The situation for mothers and newborns in Gaza has never been worse. In Nasser hospital, we’re seeing hospital corridors lined with women who’ve just given birth,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza.
Elder described new mothers and newborn babies lying on the hospital floor and reported seeing three premature babies sharing a single supply of oxygen.
“They shared 20 minutes each. The other two children cry while the third child gets that oxygen for 20 minutes,” Elder said.
Elder said there was no safe space in the south of the Gaza Strip, and that designated safe zones were “places of death.”
“The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical,” Elder.
Palestinians have been repeatedly urged by Israel to move to a “humanitarian area” in Al-Mawasi, where aid is provided.
Elder said Al-Mawasi “is now one of the most densely populated places on Earth. It’s grotesquely overcrowded and has been stripped of the most basic essentials of survival.”
https://p.dw.com/p/51Skt
10/03/2025October 3, 2025Activists says all Global Sumud Flotilla vessels intercepted
Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said the Israeli military had intercepted the last boat that had been attempting to reach Gaza on Friday.
This comes a day after most of the vessels were stopped with Israeli security forces detaining about 450 activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.
In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli naval forces had “illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels — each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was making arrangements to deport the activists, journalists, lawmakers and lawyers who made up the convoy.
“Procedures are under way to wrap up the Hamas-Sumud provocation and to finalize the deportation of the participants in this sham,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
“Attached are photos of Greta Thunberg and other members of this provocation while arriving to Israel. All are safe and in good health,” the ministry said in a post on X.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Sot
10/03/2025October 3, 2025Trump gives Hamas new deadline, issues threat via social media
US President Donald Trump has set Sunday as the deadline for the militant group Hamas to accept a deal to end the war in Gaza or face “all hell.”
“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” Trump wrote on his Truth Media platform.
“Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,” Trump wrote.
The US president unveiled the plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Sra
Welcome to DW’s coverage of Gaza, Israel and the broader Middle East.
US President Donald Trump issued a Sunday deadline to the Hamas militant group to accept his proposal for peace or risk being “hunted down and killed.”
UNICEF reports that the situation for women and newborns in Gaza has “never been worse,” with a spokesman describing desperate scenes in hospital corridors.
Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.
https://p.dw.com/p/51SeE