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SvennoJ on 29 January 2024
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Some of these reports are just too horrible to even imagine, stuff of nightmares

7-year-old trapped in car in central Gaza after it was fired on, Palestine Red Crescent Society says

From CNN's Kareem Khadder

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says that a 7-year-old girl has been trapped by Israeli tanks in central Gaza inside her family's vehicle for several hours after it was fired upon — killing all her family. The PRCS said the girl is the only person alive in the vehicle after it was targeted by Israeli forces earlier Monday. It said her father and four siblings were killed.

“Our teams continue to communicate with the girl to calm her down,” the PRCS said.

The PRCS told CNN the vehicle had been targeted close to a gas station in a neighborhood of central Gaza. Ambulances were unable to reach the area, as the Israeli military considered it a closed military zone, and was targeting anyone attempting to move in the area, the PRCS said.



War continues to escalate in the North

Hezbollah claims 10 attacks on Israeli military targets and IDF strikes back

Hezbollah said it launched 10 attacks on Israeli military targets in northern Israel on Monday — more than double the daily attacks it announced throughout the past week. The Israeli military said it responded by striking the “sources of fire, as well as additional areas in Lebanon.”

Multiple towns in the eastern, western and central sectors of the Lebanese border with Israel were hit by Israeli artillery fire, including the outskirts Marwahin, Kafr Kela, Eita al-Shaab, Dhoheira and Alma Al-Shaab, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said.

Israeli fighter jets also hit the outskirts of Yaroun town in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, according to both NNA and the Israeli military, which said the jets carried out “precise strikes on two Hezbollah military sites” where fighters of the Iran-backed paramilitary groups were identified.

Hezbollah said it targeted the Risha and Hadab Yarin sites using al-Burkan missiles, which can carry a payload of up to 500 kilograms (more than 1,100 lbs), soon after midnight. It also claims to have fired a Falaq missile, which reportedly carries 50 kilograms (110 lbs) of explosives up to 10 kilometers (6 miles), in targeting Jal al-alam and the Barranit Barracks.

Suspension of UN agency aid could be a "death sentence," displaced Palestinians in central Gaza warn

As several Western countries, like the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, announce a pause in funding for the main UN aid agency in Gaza, Palestinians living in dire conditions warn it could be a "death sentence."

"This decision means killing us, killing the human being. This is a death sentence. This is the only thing we live on, and you want to cut it?" Suhaila Nofal, a displaced civilian, saif, pleading for mercy “on Gaza and its people.” 

At least half of the top government donors to UNRWA, the UN Palestine relief agency, have announced they will suspend funding to the organization after Israel alleged that some of its staff members were involved in the October 7 attack.

Who halted funds: 10 out of 20 of UNRWA’s top government donors in 2022 are among those who have announced they are halting funds. The United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, France and Japan.

Decision pending: The European Commission said Monday it will determine upcoming funding decisions following an investigation into the allegations, adding that no additional funding was due to UNRWA until the end of February. 

Who will continue funding: Four out of 20 top UNRWA donors — Norway, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Spain — announced they were continuing payments to the agency.

Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Kuwait and Qatar are the remaining five out of the list of the twenty largest donors to UNRWA. They have not announced whether they will halt or continue their funding.

Another Palestinian, Um Mohammad Al Khabbaz, pointed to his living conditions.

"Look at how we live – under the rain and amidst the fire. Our children are ill, and we are displaced. We have no life," he said. "There is no safety in the schools. They are all dirty and there is no water. This is in addition to the people we have lost." 

"What's left for the people if they stop the aid? People will die,” he added. 

Politician draws contrast between West’s treatment of UNRWA versus Israel

Sami Abou Shahadeh, a former Palestinian member of the Knesset, has noted that Gazans are being punished for the alleged participation of 12 UNRWA employees in the October 7 attacks – while 12 Israeli ministers, who are calling for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, have not been met with any kind of global outrage or pushback.

“There is plausible evidence that Israel has been committing the crime of genocide as investigated by the International Court of Justice. The same countries keep their relations with Tel Aviv intact, including military aid,” he said in a post on X. “Does anyone have any doubts why the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Germany are seen as part of the problem for the Global South?”

Israel's offensive against UNWRA getting more open

Israel's foreign minister cancels all meetings with UNRWA and calls on chief of agency to resign

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday called for the chief of UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinians, to resign following allegations brought by Israel that 12 of the UN agency’s employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. “I have just canceled the meetings of UNRWA head, [Philippe Lazzarini], with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel on Wednesday,” Katz wrote on X.

“Lazzarini should draw conclusions and resign. Supporters of terrorism are not welcome here,” he added. Katz already called on the United Nations “to take immediate personal actions” against UNRWA’s leadership on Saturday.

Lazzarini on Saturday said that the highest investigative authority of the UN had already taken action and an independent review by external experts is forthcoming. He added that UNRWA had taken “immediate action” by terminating contracts of employees suspected of having been involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack.

UNRWA says cannot assist Gaza after February if funding doesn’t resume

A string of countries – including the US, Germany and Britain – have paused funding to the aid agency in the wake of allegations that 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.

“If the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February,” a spokesperson for the agency said.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 29 January 2024