UN’s Sigrid Kaag – Is starvation an Israeli weapon in Gaza?
More than 200 days into Israel’s war on Gaza, the number of Palestinians killed has surpassed 34,000 while more than 77,000 others have been wounded.
Amid the destruction and ongoing violence, the UN has appointed Sigrid Kaag as its senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza. With her experience navigating the EU’s varied positions on the conflict, Kaag leads crucial relief efforts.
As the world waits for a ceasefire and an end to the violence, the question arises: “What will ‘the day after’ look like for Gaza, once the war is over?”
US Congress needs to look into State Department’s inaction on Israeli abuses, says lawmaker
Katie Porter, a congresswoman from the state of California, has questioned why Blinken has failed to take action against Israel despite State Department officials raising concerns over possible Israeli rights violations in Gaza.
Her comments to MSNBC came amid reports that officials at the State Department told Blinken they do not find Israeli assurances of using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international law to be “credible or reliable”.
Congress “needs to be asking what happened here”, said Porter.
“After all of this extended process, after Israel was given a chance to address violations, to hold people accountable, when it goes up to the secretary with the recommendation from all of these different departments at the State Department that aid must stop – the law is clear here – what is not clear, is what has happened at the State Department and who, if anyone, besides Secretary Blinken may be implicated in this decision.”
UN agency estimates 37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza
The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimates that 37 million tonnes of debris litter the streets of Gaza, which will take more than a decade to clear up. The debris includes up to 10,000 unexploded ammunition, according to Federico Dessi, Humanity and Inclusion’s Middle East director.
Dessi said the NGO works on the assumption that there have been something between 50,000 and 100,000 bombs dropped on Gaza in the past six months.
“From 9 to 14 percent of these bombs did not go off – so potentially we are talking about up to 10,000 or a bit more of unexploded bombs, shells and mortars in Gaza,” Dessi told Al Jazeera.
Essay Pro