9,000 women have been killed in Gaza: Palestinian minister to UN
Palestinian Minister of Women’s Affairs Amal Hamad has called on “all the women of the world to stand by Palestinian women” as she spoke to journalists during the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
“I am from Gaza and our people in Gaza are subjected to genocide, ethnic cleansing and an unprecedented war of starvation and thirst,” she said. “All the necessities of life have been destroyed by Israel’s war machine.” “Pressure should be exerted on Israel to reach a ceasefire urgently” so that people in Gaza can receive “urgent relief” during Ramadan, she added.
Hamad also spoke at a side event on women in Gaza, with Palestine’s mission to the UN sharing a video showing delegates responding with applause and chants of “Free, free Palestine”.
Today at the #CSW68 side event “Arab League Breaking chains: Women’s Quest for Life in Gaza” women from around the world showed their support for Palestinian women & Palestinian Minister of Women’s Affairs, Dr. Amal Hamad. #Palestine is a feminist issue & a cause of all women. pic.twitter.com/2crOGjBqWg
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) March 12, 2024
Israel’s FM says UN chief has brought organisation to ‘all-time low’
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz has slammed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for holding “a distressing bias” against Israeli victims of sexual assault.
In a letter sent to the UN chief before a Security Council session on Monday called to discuss Hamas’s use of sexual violence around the October 7 attacks, Katz said that Guterres’s office “would have responded in a much more vigorous way” if the victims weren’t Jewish or Israeli.
“The indifference displayed toward the report on Hamas’ sexual violence – crafted with bravery – is deplorable,” he wrote. “Your tenure at the UN is set to be remembered for diminishing the organization’s stature to an all-time low, allowing it to become an epicenter of antisemitism and anti-Israel incitement.”
Does he even believe it himself? What bias, the UN has wanted an independent investigation since the start. The bias is against systematic torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including sexual torture, which has been going on for decades.
Guterres will be remembered for standing up to the world's biggest bullies, Israel and the US.
‘Israel to face Hamas resistance for years’: US intelligence report
A US intelligence report says a captive release deal is the most practical way to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, but raises doubts as to whether Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu can stay in power or achieve his aim of destroying Hamas.
“Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war,” according to the report. “A different, more moderate government is a possibility.”
“Israel will probably face lingering armed resistance from Hamas for years to come, and the military will struggle to neutralise Hamas’s underground infrastructure, which allows insurgents to hide, regain strength and surprise Israeli forces,” it added.
According to Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, the report encompasses findings by 18 different US intelligence agencies. “The conclusion from all these agencies is that despite what the Israeli prime minister has claimed, the war Israel is waging against Gaza is not going to be a short one,” Halkett says.
“The risk of escalation is very high. This is something that is going to continue even as Netanyahu tells his population this is something that is finite and could be finished in the near term.”
