At least 22 people killed in Bureij school attack: Gaza Gov’t Media Office
The Gaza Government Media Office says 52 Palestinians also have been injured in the Israeli attacks on the school-turned-shelter in the refugee camp.
“The number of displacement centres bombed has reached 234 so far in flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” the office said in a statement.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the horrific massacre against civilians and the US administration’s alignment with the occupation.”
The office also called for international action to pressure Israel to end what it called a “war of extermination” against Palestinians in Gaza.
Palestinians inspect the site of the Israeli attacks on a UN school sheltering displaced families in the Bureij camp in central Gaza
Aid ‘simply not available’ for large numbers of people in Gaza: UN
Speaking to reporters, Farhan Haq, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says humanitarian operations “are on the verge of shutting down” as fewer UN member states pressure Israel to allow aid access.
He noted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs earlier said Israeli authorities continue to deny access to fuel reserves in some areas, including Rafah.
“For large portions of the population, the sort of things that we’ve been providing for the last year and a half are simply not available any more, either because of lack of food, lack of fuel or lack of facilities that are undamaged.”
Haq warned “more and more of our operations are shutting down.”
State Department: Palestinian affairs office to be subsumed into US embassy in Israel
The move means there will no longer be a distinct unit that deals with Palestinian affairs and has direct contact with Washington.
The US had for decades maintained a consulate – first in occupied East Jerusalem, then in West Jerusalem – that handled relations and was distinct from the US embassy in Tel Aviv. The consulate signalled to many the longstanding US support for a two-state solution.
But in 2019 during his first term, Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, closed the consulate and created the Palestinian Affairs Unit, which was under the control of the US embassy in Israel.
In 2022, US President Joe Biden’s administration renamed the unit the Palestinian Affairs Office and re-established its direct contact with Washington.
The latest move means contacts between the unit and Washington will again need approval from top officials at the US embassy in Israel, The New York Times reported.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce played down the wider significance of Tuesday’s announcement, saying it reverted to policy back to where it was during Trump’s first term.
Policy that led to Oct 7 and the current genocide....
