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SvennoJ on 27 January 2024
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UNRWA coms director calls funding pulls ‘collective punishment’

Juliette Touma, in a post on X, says “Nine countries suspend funding to @UNRWA in [the] middle of a war as humanitarian needs for people in #Gaza deepen It is indeed a stain on humanity”.

Germany was the latest country to pull funding for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency today, after Israel alleged yesterday that several of the organisation’s Palestinian staff of participating in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.

The western 'axis of evil' raised its hand: USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Australia

UNRWA chief decries ‘shocking’ aid suspensions

Philippe Lazzarini has spoken out against the “shocking” decision of several Western nations to suspend aid for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, amid Israeli allegations that several employees may have taken part in the October 7 attacks, during a time of crucial need for displaced Palestinians.

Israel has long criticised and sought to dismantle the agency. UNRWA has launched an investigation into the allegations and fired the employees under review.

“UNRWA lifesaving assistance is about to end following countries decisions to cut their funding to the Agency. Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing,” Lazzarini said in a social media post on Saturday.

“I am shocked such decisions are taken based on alleged behavior of a few individuals and as the war continues, needs are deepening & famine looms. Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us.”

UN defends UNRWA from Israeli criticism

Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq has defended the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency after Israel’s foreign minister called for the organisation to be “replaced” and called on more countries to suspend funding.

“We are not responding to rhetoric,” Haq said on Saturday. “UNRWA overall had had a strong record, which we have repeatedly underscored.”



Gaza Government Media Offices says Israel kills another journalist killed in Gaza

The office says that Iyad Ahmed al-Rawag, broadcaster and program presenter on Sawt Al-Aqsa Radio, died in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza “The number of journalist martyrs has risen to (120 journalists) since the start of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip,” the office said in a statement.

IFJ to take Israel to court if journalists are targeted

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has pledged to prosecute Israeli officials if they do not comply with the International Court of Justice’s orders in regards to targeting journalists. In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, IFJ noted that “the death toll now represents around ten per cent of journalists in the enclave”.

It added that the death rate for journalists is around three times that of health workers – “it is impossible to believe that this is a matter of chance”, it said.

“Our hope would be that humanity and a desire to promote a free media is sufficient to persuade you to take these steps. If this does not happen, however, we will have no hesitation in initiating action in the international courts against politicians and IDF commanders and encouraging our 187 affiliates to do the same where their domestic jurisdictions allow.”

Israeli tanks, snipers, just outside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis

Palestinian activist Salim Abu Ras posted video that we verified to his Instagram account, showing an Israeli tank stationed next to al-Amal Hospital, the headquarter of the Palestine Red Crescent. Abu Ras said that Israeli snipers stationed outside the hospital prevent anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.

Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals, Khan Younis’s largest, have been siege by Israeli forces for the last several days after the focus of its ground operations was turned to the south Gaza City.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2nDwestne_

95 percent of medical staff have evacuated Nasser Hospital: Doctor

Ahmed al-Moghrabi, head of plastic surgery and bones department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, has given Al Jazeera the latest update regarding the Israeli siege on the hospital. Here are some his key points:

  • Only eight surgeons and some nursing staff remain at Nasser Hospital. Nintey-five percent of medical staff have already evacuated to Rafah due to continuous bombing and gunshots.
  • Hundreds of patients need care and surgery, but I stopped doing elective surgeries in my department because there is not enough staff. I’m only doing top, urgent cases.
  • The hospital has been five days under a siege; nothing can enter the hospital in terms of medical supplies, water or food. We don’t know for how long we can go on in such circumstances.
  • I’m also a consultant at MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and am in contact with them, but they can’t come to the hospital to evacuate me. It is very dangerous; these tanks will fire, shoot at anybody.
  • I’m afraid for the scarcity of food. By next week, I won’t be able to afford a proper amount of food for my children.
  • Israeli forces are about 200-300 metres (656-984 feet) from the hospital; they are not far away. All the time we can hear the rolling of tanks.
  • A few days ago, when they started invading areas around the hospital, they would shoot, bomb anything in front of them; they don’t care. They bomb houses, they bomb and shoot everywhere; it’s chaos.
  • We are waiting for leaders of the world to take any action to stop this war, or at least implement a ceasefire. Someone should stop Israel and Netanyahu from committing crimes and genocide against us.

Gaza Health Ministry: Water system at Nasser Hospital damaged in Israeli attacks

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the ministry, says in a statement that “water tanks in the Nasser Medical Complex were damaged and malfunctioned as a result of shrapnel and Israeli drone fire”. The damage has led to water leaking into buildings and into the hospital’s intensive care unit. It has also led to a water shortage in the dialysis center, he added.





Netanyahu doubles down on criticism of Qatar

The Israeli prime minister tells reporters that Qatar hosts and funds Hamas, and that it should use this position to put pressure on the Palestinian group to bring about the release of the Israeli captives still held in Gaza.

Several senior Hamas members reside in Qatar, and Qatar has played a key mediator role throughout the duration of Israel’s war on Gaza, brokering a deal earlier this month that saw medical supplies enter the Strip, and a deal late last year that saw the return of a number of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

When asked about leaked closed-door remarks in which he criticised Qatar’s mediator role, deeming it “problematic”, Netanyahu told reporters: “I take back nothing”.

Smotrich says Gaza will be placed under military administration

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that Gaza will be ruled by a military administration that will also oversee civil matters, undercutting US statements that Gaza must not be occupied by Israeli authorities following the end of the war. “There will be a military administration of Gaza and it will also be responsible for civilian matters,” Smotrich said in a television interview with an Israeli broadcaster.

The far-right minister also said that protests in Israel demanding the government prioritise the return of the remaining captives, even if it means a deal with Hamas, are hurting the war effort. “I’m telling the truth, it’s not popular either, there is a way to try to bring them back, but anyone who claims that they can all be returned tomorrow is not telling the truth,” he said.


CNN video shows Palestinian detainees blindfolded and barefoot in Israel near Gaza border


Palestinian men, who were detained by Israeli forces in Gaza, sitting and kneeling in southern Israel near the Gaza border on January 27

More than two dozen men are sitting and kneeling on the wet, cold ground near the Israel-Gaza border – blindfolded and barefoot, their hands bound behind their backs. Israeli soldiers, their faces obscured by balaclavas, are standing guard.  This was the scene CNN found in southern Israel near the Gaza border on Saturday morning, filming rare footage of Palestinian men detained by Israeli forces in Gaza and brought across the border to Israel.

Some of the men appear to be physically exhausted, with their heads falling and swaying as they attempt to remain kneeling. One detainee is laying on the ground before an Israeli soldier arrives to rouse him, propping him back up. The men are barefoot and appear to be wearing nothing more than disposable white coveralls, despite the 10-degree Celsius temperature (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Israeli military said the men are “suspected of terrorist activity and were arrested in Gaza and transferred to Israel for further interrogation.”

“As part of the IDF activity in the combat area in Gaza, individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity are being detained and questioned. It is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry. The suspects are given jumpsuits, and are provided with clothes upon arrival to the detention facility,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Relevant suspects are taken for further questioning within Israel. Individuals who are found not to be taking part in terrorist activities are released back into Gaza, as soon as possible.”

The IDF said the men filmed on Saturday had been brought into Israel from Gaza and were about to be transferred to a “heated bus” when CNN filmed the scene, and maintained that detainees are treated in accordance with international law. A bus was waiting nearby, but CNN could not confirm when the men were put onto the bus, as an Israeli soldier at the scene ordered CNN to leave the premises within minutes.

Detained Palestinians: The Israeli military has detained hundreds – if not thousands – of Palestinian boys and men (and in some cases, women) in Gaza as its ground forces swept through the enclave, often transferring them to detention sites in Israel and holding them for days without charge. Many of those detained have been identified as civilians by friends and relatives after images of their detention surfaced online.

Many detainees have alleged abuse at the hands of Israeli forces, including several Palestinian boys and men who told CNN in December they were detained for five days before being ultimately released without charge, emerging with bruised and swollen wrists. At the time, the Israeli military said: "The individuals detained are treated in accordance with international law" and that "the IDF strives to treat any detainee with dignity. Any incident in which the guidelines were not followed will be looked into.”