Why Israel seems willing to defy the UN on demands to allow more aid into Gaza

Aid chiefs say restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on humanitarian relief are depriving displaced Gazans of food and medicine. (AFP)
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Updated 09 January 2024
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Why Israel seems willing to defy the UN on demands to allow more aid into Gaza

  • Without forcing Israel to accept a ceasefire, critics say the UN will fail to ease the suffering of Palestinians
  • Israel has consistently rejected claims it targets aid convoys and civilian infrastructure in Gaza

LONDON: Faced with mounting criticism over its handling of the humanitarian emergency in Gaza amid Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave and obstruction of aid deliveries, the UN has sought to step up its assistance.

However, short of forcing Israel to accept an immediate and lasting ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, critics say the UN’s latest moves will fail to ease the suffering of Gaza’s embattled civilian population.

Despite demanding that all parties “facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale,” the UN Security Council’s resolution of Dec. 22 has been branded woefully inadequate by many in the aid community.

Indeed, obstruction to aid deliveries has only continued, with the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees, suggesting that some 40 percent of Gazans are now at risk of famine.

Muhannad Ayyash, a professor of sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada, believes that as long as the US allows Israel to continue its military operation in Gaza, any kind of international pressure appears “meaningless.”

He told Arab News: “Israel is operating regardless of what the international community says because the US is fully supporting it.




A UN aid center and a camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. (MAXAR/AFP)

“Israel and the US are basically dismissing everyone and moving full throttle ahead in this genocide of Palestine.

“This was never a problem to be resolved with ‘more aid.’ This trickle of aid is part of the US discourse of simply trying to distract from the only real solution.”

For Ayyash and others, that “real solution” remains the enforcement of an immediate and lasting ceasefire, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying it is the only way to end the “nightmare.”

Israel mounted its assault on Gaza following the unprecedented Hamas attack of Oct. 7, which saw Palestinian fighters cross the border into Israel, killing 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and kidnapping some 240.

FASTFACTS

• The UN Security Council’s resolution of Dec. 22 has been branded woefully inadequate by the aid community.

• Some 40 percent of Gazans are now at risk of famine, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency.

Since then, Israeli forces have laid siege to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, with the stated aim of destroying the group’s leadership and freeing the hostages.

However, in the process, more than 22,500 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Furthermore, the suspected Israeli killing of Hamas deputy head Saleh Arouri and two commanders from its Al-Qassam Brigades in a blast in Beirut on Jan. 2 has added to fears that the Gaza war could morph into a wider regional conflict.

The destruction of homes and infrastructure in Gaza has displaced almost 2 million people and left the population vulnerable to disease, starvation and being killed in the crossfire, leading to a growing chorus of international condemnation.




UN Security Council’s resolution of Dec. 22 has been branded woefully inadequate by many in the aid community. (AFP)

There is now a growing consensus that the UNSC’s Dec. 22 resolution, adopted with 13 votes in favor and the US and Russia abstaining, has failed to achieve its central aim of facilitating the flow of aid.

Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, said Israeli troops have fired on aid convoys.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of the aid agencies working in Gaza, said the resolution has fallen “painfully short.”

Avril Benior, executive director of MSF-USA, said: “This resolution has been watered down to the point that its impact on the lives of civilians in Gaza will be nearly meaningless.”

The Dec. 22 resolution tasked the UN secretary-general with appointing a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator with responsibility for “facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying” in Gaza.

It also called for the “expeditious” establishment of a UN mechanism to accelerate aid consignments to Gaza through states that are not party to the conflict; to expedite, streamline and accelerate assistance; and to continue helping to ensure that aid reaches its civilian destination.

Posting recently on X, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, described the challenges of moving aid into Gaza.

He said restrictions imposed by the Israel Defense Force have resulted in a growing list of rejected items, with aid trucks contending with “three layers of inspection before even entering” crossings designed for pedestrians, not trucks.

Scott Paul, senior humanitarian policy adviser at Oxfam America, said even if aid flows improve, there is “no point” delivering assistance if the infrastructure required to use it is being destroyed.

The Israeli government has consistently rejected claims that it has targeted aid convoys and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy has even accused UNRWA on X of “covering up for Hamas and deflecting blame onto Israel.”

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities accused the UN of not doing enough to process humanitarian aid into Gaza, and charged that the world body is responsible for supplies not reaching the enclave fast enough.

“We have expanded our capabilities to conduct inspections for the aid delivered into Gaza. Kerem Shalom (border crossing) is to be opened, so the number of inspections will double. But the aid keeps waiting at the entrance of Rafah,” the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories wrote on X. “The UN must do better — the aid is there, and the people need it.”

By contrast, Ayyash said Israel has very deliberately obstructed the flow of aid, and has demolished civilian infrastructure as a means of permanently displacing the Palestinian population.

“Israel turned off the aid tap on Oct. 9 when it announced the ‘total siege’ of Gaza,” he told Arab News. “More than this, it has carried out this deliberate plan to destroy all life-sustaining infrastructure.




A truck carrying fuel decorated with a UN flag crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)

“It has bombed everything in Gaza, including its bakeries, markets, hospitals, water and sanitation infrastructure, fishing boats, farmlands, residential areas and so on.

“People are starving, thirsty, freezing when it’s cold, and suffering from illnesses, diseases and serious injuries without access to proper medical care or any medical care at all.”

Although some believe that Israel feels it can disregard international pressure thanks to the diplomatic cover and largesse provided by the US, others suspect that Israel is now also acting in open defiance of the US, which has urged Israel to respect the rules of engagement.

Indeed, after the perceived security failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to take place, the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to survive beyond the end of the war.

Netanyahu’s only option for political survival may hinge upon positioning himself as the only man strong enough to stand up to the US.

Yossi Mekelberg, professor of international relations and associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at international affairs think tank Chatham House, has questioned assertions of Israeli disregard for international censure, saying Netanyahu’s willingness to submit to US pressure is dependent to some extent on the way the message is delivered.

“It has to be explicit and credible in the sense that it makes clear that this is what Washington demands,” Mekelberg told Arab News.

Similarly, Amer Al-Sabaileh, a Jordanian university professor and geopolitical expert, believes there are several factors that Israel’s government and military leaders would be considering when it comes to balancing calls from the international community with their own needs.

Of “paramount” importance, he said, are Israel’s ongoing security considerations, noting that “as long as these persist, navigating the delivery of aid becomes intricate.”

Both Mekelberg and Al-Sabaileh also challenged assertions that the UNSC resolution is “meaningless,” with the latter saying it marks a “crucial step.”

Al-Sabaileh added: “It undoubtedly establishes a platform to activate humanitarian aid efforts under international oversight.




Consensus is growing that the UNSC’s Dec. 22 resolution has failed to achieve its central aim. (AFP)

“But definitely, the current situation in Gaza presents a significant challenge for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

“Ongoing Israeli operations targeting Hamas, its leaders, and remnants of its infrastructure maintain Israeli control and decision-making.”

In this “complex political landscape,” the delivery of aid is “highly challenging,” he said, with the IDF in the unenviable position of charting a “delicate balance between military operations and an imperative to ensure aid reaches the civilians who are profoundly suffering.”

He added: “This delineation is crucial for mitigating the impact of the crisis on innocent civilians and addressing the broader challenges facing the region.”

Acknowledging that Israel could “make it as easy or as difficult to let aid in” as it wanted, Mekelberg told Arab News that the UNSC resolution nonetheless “increased the pressure on Israel” despite lacking any enforcement mechanism beyond diplomatic negotiation.

For Ayyash, though, there is only one resolution that would change the situation on the ground.

“The immediate halt to the attack on Gaza and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip can resolve the humanitarian disaster,” he said. “Until the attack stops, a sufficient amount of aid won’t enter Gaza.”


WHO urges ‘urgent protection’ of key Gaza hospitals

Updated 06 June 2025
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WHO urges ‘urgent protection’ of key Gaza hospitals

  • The WHO said both hospitals are already operating “above their capacity,” with patients suffering life-threatening injuries arriving amid a “dire shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies”

GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Thursday called for the “urgent protection” of two of the last hospitals remaining in the Gaza Strip, warning that the territory’s health system is “collapsing.”
The WHO said the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital risk becoming “non-functional” because of restrictions on aid and access routes, further damaging a health system already battered by months of war.
“There are already no hospitals functioning in the north of Gaza. Nasser and Amal are the last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Younis, where currently most of the population is living,” the UN agency said in a statement on X.
“Without them, people will lose access to critical health services,” it said.
The WHO added that closure of the two hospitals would eliminate 490 beds and reduce Gaza’s hospital capacity to less than 1,400 beds — 40 percent below pre-war levels — for a population of two million people.
The WHO said the hospitals have not been told to evacuate but lie within or just outside an Israeli-declared evacuation zone announced on June 2.
Israeli authorities have told Gaza’s health ministry that access routes to the two hospitals will be blocked, the WHO said.
As a result, it will be “difficult, if not impossible” for medical staff and new patients to reach them, it said.
“If the situation further deteriorates, both hospitals are at high risk of becoming non-functional, due to movement restrictions, insecurity, and the inability of WHO and partners to resupply or transfer patients,” the organization said.
The WHO said both hospitals are already operating “above their capacity,” with patients suffering life-threatening injuries arriving amid a “dire shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies.”
It warned the closure of Nasser and Al-Amal would have dire consequences for patients in need of surgical care, intensive care, blood bank and transfusion services, cancer care and dialysis.
After nearly 20 months of war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Gaza is mired in one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises, with civilians enduring relentless bombardment, mass displacement and severe hunger.
 

 


Gaza aid logistics company funded by Chicago private equity firm 

Palestinian boys carry pots as the queue at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, June 4, 2025.
Updated 06 June 2025
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Gaza aid logistics company funded by Chicago private equity firm 

  • Israel blocked almost all aid into Gaza for 11 weeks until May 19, and has since only allowed limited deliveries in, mostly managed by the new GHF operation
  • SRS is run by a former CIA official named Phil Reilly, but its ownership has not previously been disclosed

WASHINGTON: A Chicago-based private equity firm - controlled by a member of the family that founded American publishing company Rand McNally - has an "economic interest" in the logistics company involved in a controversial new aid distribution operation in Gaza.
McNally Capital, founded in 2008 by Ward McNally, helped "support the establishment" of Safe Reach Solutions, a McNally Capital spokesperson told Reuters. SRS is a for-profit company established in Wyoming in November, state incorporation records show. It is in the spotlight for its involvement with the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which last week started distributing aid in the war-torn Palestinian enclave. The foundation paused work on Wednesday after a series of deadly shootings close to its operations and has suffered from the departure of senior personnel.

HIGHLIGHTS

• McNally Capital has economic interest in Safe Reach Solutions

• GHF aid distribution halted after deadly shootings near operations

• U.N. and aid groups refuse to work with GHF, citing lack of neutrality

"McNally Capital has provided administrative advice to SRS and worked in collaboration with multiple parties to enable SRS to carry out its mission," the spokesperson said. "While McNally Capital has an economic interest in SRS, the firm does not actively manage SRS or have a day-to-day operating role."
SRS is run by a former CIA official named Phil Reilly, but its ownership has not previously been disclosed. Reuters has not been able to establish who funds the newly created foundation.
The spokesperson did not provide details of the scale of the investment in SRS by McNally Capital, which says it has $380 million under management.
McNally Capital founder Ward McNally is the great great great grandson of the co-founder of Rand McNally. The McNally family sold the publishing company in 1997.
A spokesperson for SRS confirmed it worked with the foundation, also known as GHF, but did not answer specific questions about ownership.
GHF, which resumed aid distribution on Thursday, did not respond to a request for comment
While Israel and the United States have both said they don't finance the operation, they have pushed the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it, arguing that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
Israel blocked almost all aid into Gaza for 11 weeks until May 19, and has since only allowed limited deliveries in, mostly managed by the new GHF operation. This week GHF pressed Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites after Gazan health officials said at least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near one of the food distribution sites on Tuesday, the third consecutive day of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation.
The Israeli military said its forces on Tuesday had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they left a designated access route near the distribution center in Rafah. It said it was investigating what had happened.
The U.N and most other aid groups have refused to work with GHF because they say it is not neutral and that the distribution model militarizes aid and forces displacement.
The SRS spokesperson said in a statement that under Reilly's leadership, "SRS brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts in security, supply chain management, and humanitarian affairs."
McNally Capital has investments in defense contracting companies. Among the firms it acquired was Orbis Operations, a firm that specializes in hiring former CIA officers. Orbis did not return calls for comment. Reilly used to work for Orbis.

 


Without meat, families in Gaza struggle to celebrate Islam’s Eid Al-Adha holiday

Updated 06 June 2025
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Without meat, families in Gaza struggle to celebrate Islam’s Eid Al-Adha holiday

  • The UN says 96 percent of the livestock and 99 percent of the poultry are dead

MUWASI, Gaza Strip: With the Gaza Strip devastated by war and siege, Palestinians struggled Thursday to celebrate one of the most important Islamic holidays.
To mark Eid Al-Adha – Arabic for the Festival of Sacrifice — Muslims traditionally slaughter a sheep or cow and give away part of the meat to the poor as an act of charity. Then they have a big family meal with sweets. Children get gifts of new clothes.
But no fresh meat has entered Gaza for three months. Israel has blocked shipments of food and other aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. And nearly all the territory’s homegrown sheep, cattle and goats are dead after 20 months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives.
Some of the little livestock left was on sale at a makeshift pen set up in the vast tent camp of Muwasi in the southern part of Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
But no one could afford to buy. A few people came to look at the sheep and goats, along with a cow and a camel. Some kids laughed watching the animals and called out the prayers connected to the holiday.
“I can’t even buy bread. No meat, no vegetables,” said Abdel Rahman Madi. “The prices are astronomical.”
The Eid commemorates the test of faith of the Prophet Ibrahim – Abraham in the Bible – and his willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. The day is usually one of joy for children – and a day when businesses boom a bit as people buy up food and gifts.
But prices for everything have soared amid the blockade, which was only slightly eased two weeks ago. Meat and most fresh fruits and vegetables disappeared from the markets weeks ago.
At a street market in the nearby city of Khan Younis, some stalls had stuffed sheep toys and other holiday knickknacks and old clothes. But most people left without buying any gifts after seeing the prices.
“Before, there was an Eid atmosphere, the children were happy … Now with the blockade, there’s no flour, no clothes, no joy,” said Hala Abu Nqeira, a woman looking through the market. “We just go to find flour for our children. We go out every day looking for flour at a reasonable price, but we find it at unbelievable prices.”
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has almost entirely destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself. The UN says 96 percent of the livestock and 99 percent of the poultry are dead. More than 95 percent of Gaza’s prewar cropland is unusable, either too damaged or inaccessible inside Israeli military zones, according to a land survey published this week by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months. It eased the blockade two weeks ago to allow a trickle of aid trucks in for the UN to distribute. The trucks have brought in some food items, mainly flour. But the UN says it has struggled to delivery much of the incoming aid because of looting or Israeli military restrictions.
Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes, and most have had to move multiple times to escape Israeli offensives.
Rasha Abu Souleyma said she recently slipped back to her home in Rafah — from which her family had fled to take refuge in Khan Younis — to find some possessions she’d left behind.
She came back with some clothes, pink plastic sunglasses and bracelets that she gave to her two daughters as Eid gifts.
“I can’t buy them clothes or anything,” the 38-year-old said. “I used to bring meat in Eid so they would be happy, but now we can’t bring meat, and I can’t even feed the girls with bread.”
Near her, a group of children played on makeshift swings made of knotted and looped ropes.
Karima Nejelli, a displaced woman from Rafah, pointed out that people in Gaza had now marked both Eid Al-Adha and the other main Islamic holiday, Eid Al-Fitr, two times each under the war. “During these four Eids, we as Palestinians did not see any kind of joy, no sacrifice, no cookies, no buying Eid clothes or anything.”
 

 


Media groups urge Israel to allow Gaza access for foreign journalists

Updated 06 June 2025
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Media groups urge Israel to allow Gaza access for foreign journalists

  • An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called the restrictions “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare.”

NEW YORK: More than 130 news outlets and press freedom groups called Thursday for Israel to immediately lift a near-total ban on international media entering Gaza, while calling for greater protections for Palestinian journalists in the territory.
Israel has blocked most foreign correspondents from independently accessing Gaza since it began its war there following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by militant group Hamas.
An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called the restrictions “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare.”
Signees included AFP’s global news director Phil Chetwynd, The Associated Press executive editor Julie Pace, and the editor of Israeli newspaper Haaretz Aluf Benn.
The letter added that many Palestinian journalists — whom news outlets have relied on to report from inside Gaza — face a litany of threats.
“Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation,” it said.
“To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military. Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness.
“This is a direct attack on press freedom and the right to information.”
The letter added that it was a “pivotal moment” in Israel’s war — with renewed military actions and efforts to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.
This, it said, makes it “vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists to be able to report freely and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.”
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a separate statement that Israel must grant journalists access and allow them to work in Gaza “without fear for their lives.”
“When journalists are killed in such unprecedented numbers and independent international media is barred from entering, the world loses its ability to see clearly, to understand fully, and to respond effectively to what is happening,” she said.
Reporters Without Borders head Thibaut Bruttin said the media blockade on Gaza “is enabling the total destruction and erasure of the blockaded territory.”
“This is a methodical attempt to silence the facts, suppress the truth, and isolate the Palestinian press and population,” he said in a statement.
Thursday’s letter was issued the same day the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said three reporters were killed by a strike close to a hospital in Gaza City.
Israel’s military said the strike had targeted “an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center” in the yard of the hospital.


Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas

Updated 06 June 2025
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Netanyahu says Israel has ‘activated’ some Palestinian clans opposed to Hamas

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has “activated” some clans of Palestinians in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas, though it was not immediately clear what role they would play.
His comments on social media were the first public acknowledgment of Israel’s backing of armed Palestinian groups within Gaza, based around powerful clans or extended families.
Such clans often wield some control in corners of Gaza, and some have had clashes or tensions with Hamas in the past. Palestinians and aid workers have accused clans of carrying out criminal attacks and stealing aid from trucks. Several clans have issued public statements rejecting cooperation with the Israelis or denouncing looting.
An Israeli official said that one group that Netanyahu was referring to was the so-called Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a local clan leader in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
In recent weeks, the Abu Shabab group announced online that its fighters were helping protect shipments to the new, Israeli-backed food distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the Rafah area. But some Palestinians say the group has also been involved in attacking and looting aid convoys.
Netanyahu did not specify what support Israel was giving to the clans, or what specifically their role would be. His announcement came hours after a political opponent criticized him for arming unofficial groups of Palestinians in Gaza.
In a video posted to his X account, Netanyahu said the government made the move on the advice of “security officials,” in order to save lives of Israeli soldiers.
Though it was known in southern Gaza throughout the war, the Abu Shabab group emerged publicly the past month, posting pictures of its armed members, with helmets, flak jackets and automatic weapons. It declared itself a “nationalist force” protecting aid.
The Abu Shabab family renounced Yasser over his connections with the Israeli military in a recent statement, saying he and anyone who joined his group “are no longer linked” to the family.
The group’s media office said in response to emailed questions from the Associated Press that it operates in Israeli military-controlled areas for a “purely humanitarian” reason.
It described its ties with the Israel military as “humanitarian communication to facilitate the introduction of aid and ensure that it is not intercepted.”
“We are not proxies for anyone,” it said. “We have not received any military or logistical support from any foreign party.”
It said it has “secured the surroundings” of GHF centers in Rafah but was not involved in distribution of food.
It rejected accusations that the group had looted aid, calling them “exaggerations” and part of a “smear campaign.” But it also said, “our popular forces led by Yasser Abu Shabab only took the minimum amount of food and water necessary to secure their elements in the field,” without elaborating how, and from whom, they took the aid.
Abu Shabab and around 100 fighters have been active in eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, areas under Israeli military control, according to Nahed Sheheiber, head of the private transportation union in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups. He said they used to attack aid trucks driving on a military-designated route leading from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, the main entry point for aid.
“Our trucks were attacked many times by the Abu Shabab gang and the occupation forces stood idle. They did nothing,” Sheheiber said, referring to the Israeli military,
“The one who has looted aid is now the one who protects aid,” he said sarcastically.
An aid worker in Gaza said humanitarian groups tried last year to negotiate with Abu Shabab and other influential families to end their looting of convoys. Though they agreed, they soon reverted to hijacking trucks, the aid worker said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk the media.
The aid worker said he saw Abu Shabab’s men operating in Israeli-controlled areas near the military-held Morag Corridor in southern Gaza in late May. They were wearing new uniforms and carried what appeared to be new weapons, he said.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN humanitarian office OCHA for the occupied Palestinian territory, said Thursday that “criminal gangs operating under the watch of Israeli forces near Kerem Shalom would systematically attack and loot aid convoys. .... These gangs have by far been the biggest cause of aid loss in Gaza.”
The war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-linked militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has decimated Gaza, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left the territory on the brink of famine.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them women and children. The ministry, which is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages. Around a third are believed to be alive, though many fear they are in grave danger the longer the war goes on.