Israel admits deaths of Palestinians inside its prisons
Since October, 36 Palestinian prisoners have died in the country’s military-run detention centres, the Israeli army is quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency.
The military said some of the prisoners had “previous illnesses or injuries caused to them as a result of the ongoing hostilities” without elaborating.
According to autopsy reports for five of the detainees, two bore signs of physical trauma, such as broken ribs, while the death of a third “could have been avoided if there had been greater care for his medical needs”.
The reports were provided to the AP by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, an Israeli rights organisation whose doctors observed the autopsies.
Palestinian prisoner rights groups say the numbers of those who die in detention are much higher because Israeli authorities have not identified or given information on the whereabouts of dozens of detainees from Gaza. The groups also say more than 10,000 people are currently being held in Israeli prisons.
Red Cross urges adherence to Geneva Conventions, 75 years on
The Geneva Conventions were written 75 years ago to guarantee the protection of people caught in war. But the Red Cross says they are being widely ignored today – everywhere from Gaza and Ukraine to Syria, Sudan, Myanmar and the DRC.
West’s ‘silence’ encourages Israel to commit crimes in Gaza: Iran’s president
Iran’s newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that the US and some Western countries have encouraged Israel to continue its crimes with their “indifference and support”, reports Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency.
Pezeshkian made his comments during a phone call with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“The new Iranian president called for a more active role by the Vatican to immediately stop the crimes of the Zionist regime [Israel] in Gaza, lift the blockade on the besieged enclave and supply humanitarian aid to the people through humanitarian organisations,” the news agency said.
Aid workers in Gaza call for ceasefire, decry killing of women and children
The scale of devastation in Gaza should not “numb us”, instead it should “ignite our resolve to seek justice and peace”, Tarneem Hammad, advocacy and communications manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), urges.
“Forty thousand lives lost in Gaza … No more,” Hammad told Al Jazeera.
“Do you know what it means to lose 40,000 of your people? It means that 40,000 women, children, young people, adults, and elderly people will no longer be there,” Fikr Shalltoot, MAP’s Gaza director, told Al Jazeera.
“The children will never grow up, they will never go to school or university. Women will not give birth and will not be there to hold their children … It means that 40,000 families are grieving, and their hearts are broken,” she said.
“People are losing trust in the international community. They are angry and disappointed and believe that the world has failed them and let them down,” she added.
Israeli forces kill teenager near occupied West Bank’s Qalqilya
Israeli soldiers shot and killed 18-year-old Tareq Ziad Abdulraheem Daoud near the town of Azoun, east of Qalqilya, the Palestinian health ministry says. The Palestinian news agency Wafa earlier reported that Israeli soldiers stormed the town from its northern entrance.
