Gaza accuses Israel, US of lacing flour aid with opioids, calls it ‘soft weapon’ in war
Gaza: In a startling allegation amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, Gaza’s Government Media Office has claimed that humanitarian flour bags distributed in the region contain narcotics, specifically the opioid Oxycodone. The statement, issued Saturday, accused Israel and the United States of weaponizing humanitarian aid to deliberately inflict social harm on the besieged Palestinian population.
According to the Hamas-run authority, at least four civilians reported finding narcotic pills inside flour sacks provided through aid channels linked to US- and Israeli-supported distribution centres. It further alleged that in some cases, the opioids may have been ground and mixed directly into the flour, posing a grave threat to public health.
In a Telegram post quoted by Al Jazeera, Gaza’s Government Media Office stated: “We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within. It is part of a systematic policy that constitutes an extension of the genocide it is waging against our Palestinian people.”
The office accused Israel of deploying narcotics as a “soft weapon in a dirty war against civilians,” labelling it a war crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
The claims have triggered serious concerns about the integrity of humanitarian operations in Gaza. The involvement of US-run distribution networks has deepened the controversy, especially as Palestinians already argue that current aid meets less than 1% of Gaza’s basic needs.
The Israeli government has not issued an official response to these claims. However, Israeli media reports indicate that authorities plan to establish alternative aid routes in southern and central Gaza, bypassing UN-led efforts, a move criticized by the United Nations and global relief organizations.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that since May 27, Israeli forces have killed at least 549 Palestinians and injured over 4,000 near food trucks and aid centres. Since the start of the Israeli military offensive in October 2023, the total death toll in Gaza has surpassed 56,300—most of them women and children.
The growing list of war crime allegations includes ongoing investigations by international judicial bodies. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Simultaneously, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing a genocide case against Israel.
Gaza's statement concluded with an urgent appeal: “This is not just about humanitarian aid being corrupted. It is about a deliberate attack on the minds and bodies of our people. The world must take notice and act.”
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TMC MP Saket Gokhale slams Bihar electoral roll revision, claims 1.26 crore voters 'deleted'
New Delhi(PTI): Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Monday said 1.26 crore voters have been "deleted" from Bihar's electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and challenged the government to a debate on the issue in Parliament.
Sharing the Election Commission's SIR data in a post on X, Gokhale said the poll panel "conveniently" did not share any information regarding its claim of having found foreign nationals in Bihar.
As the month-long first phase of the SIR has concluded, the EC on Sunday said that enumeration forms from 7.24 crore or 91.69 per cent of voters of the state have been received.
It also said 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted from their previous addresses or were not found. It pointed out that seven lakh Bihar voters were found to have enrolled themselves at multiple places.
"ECI has deleted 1.26 crore voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list overnight," Gokhale, the TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said on X.
Calling the details revealed by the EC "bizarre", Gokhale pointed out that of a total of 7.90 crore voters, forms have been collected from only 91.69 per cent -- 7.24 crore voters.
"This means that forms were not collected from 65 lakh voters, and they will be deleted. About 22 lakh voters (2.83 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be deceased, about 36 lakh voters (4.59 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be untraceable, and about 7 lakh voters (0.89 per cent) claimed to be found as duplicate entries so half i.e. 3.5 lakh entries deleted," he said.
"ECI has conveniently not disclosed how many voters were found to be non-citizens of India. This is important because ECI had claimed that the SIR was being done to 'remove illegal immigrants'," Gokhale said.
EC sources had earlier said their field-level functionaries found "a large number of people" from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar during house-to-house visits made for the ongoing intensive review of the voters' list in Bihar.
Gokhale further said the names "deleted" were on the voters' list in the last Lok Sabha polls.
"A total of 1.26 crore voters in Bihar, whose names were on the Lok Sabha 2024 voter list just one year ago, have been deleted from the new voter list," he said.
"To give you a comparable idea, the number of deleted voters in Bihar during the current SIR is equal to the entire combined population of Uttarakhand plus Himachal Pradesh or the entire combined population of all 6 states of the North-East (excluding Assam)," he said.
He said EC needed to answer some questions "urgently".
"The voter list was revised by ECI before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. How on earth did 1.26 crore voters become ineligible in just one year?" he said.
"How many voters has the ECI been unable to reach for collecting their forms? Under the rules of SIR, those whose forms were not collected will be deleted. Therefore, what is the total number of voters whose names have been deleted only because their forms were not collected?" he questioned.
He said the EC has not collected documents along with the forms from all 7.24 crore voters.
"Does this mean that more voters will be deleted if their documents have not been collected with their forms?"
He reiterated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that the SIR exercise "is NRC by the back door".
"ECI had claimed 'removing foreigners from the voter list' as one of the reasons for conducting this SIR. Why has the ECI not disclosed how many actual 'foreigners' were found and deleted from the voter list during this SIR?" he said.
"It makes zero sense that 12 million people in Bihar have become 'ineligible' voters in just one year between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections till date... When 12 million people in a single state lose the right to vote overnight, it is a serious issue," he said.
He added that the opposition MPs have been pressing for a debate on the issue.
"Why is the Modi Govt so scared to have an open discussion on this in Parliament?" he added.
Meanwhile, the EC has asserted that no names will be deleted from draft rolls without following due process.
VERY IMPORTANT AND SHOCKING
— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) July 28, 2025
ECI has deleted 1.26 CRORE voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list OVERNIGHT
Last night, the ECI published details of ongoing "special intensive revision" of the electoral roll being conducted in Bihar. The deadline for collection of forms… pic.twitter.com/E7x2egYfCw
