Tens of thousands march in Brussels, calling for end to Gaza war
There’s a massive crowd here in central Brussels. Tens of thousands of people have gathered to protest against the situation in Gaza.
Most of these protesters are wearing red jackets, to send a strong message to the international community that a red line has been crossed, that the war has to come to an end.
They are angry, frustrated and they say the EU has not done what it should have to end the war. That’s why this march will continue to the headquarters of the European Commission, where people will gather and hold up red cards condemning the international community for its failure to help innocent civilians.
I’ve been asking people whether the decision by the Belgian government to conditionally recognise Palestine as a state has answered some of their own demands. They said no – it was a morally flawed decision by the government to say it would recognise Palestine under certain conditions.
They will continue their rally today, hoping to build pressure on the Belgian government to impose sanctions on Israeli entities and officials, and to hold the Israeli government accountable for the genocide taking place.
Yemen’s Houthis vow to escalate attacks against Israel
A spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthis has called on airlines to leave Israeli airports, saying the group plans to escalate attacks, hours after its drones hit the passenger hall of Ramon airport near the southern city of Eilat.
“Air carriers must leave the airports of occupied Palestine because they have become unsafe,” the statement said. “We affirm the escalation of our operations and will not back down from our support for Gaza, regardless of the consequences.”
Referring to its earlier attack, the group claimed that one drone had directly hit the Ramon airport, two others struck two military targets in the Negev desert, while a fourth hit a target in the southern city of Ashkelon.
Loss of children in Gaza is ‘absolutely shocking and preventable’
Rachel Cummings, humanitarian director for Save the Children in Gaza, says the number of children killed in the enclave is “shocking”.
“This is a preventable death within Gaza. It is absolutely shocking. … The impact is not only on the population of Gaza with 2 percent of all children being killed since the beginning of the war, but the personal impact on mothers, fathers and families is unfathomable,” Cummings told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah.
“Women and mothers are sharing with us how painful it is every day to keep going. They keep going for the remainder of their children and for their families.
“But the loss of a child in such a brutal way, … they had no opportunity to say goodbye. They had no opportunity to share one last hug or to tell them one last time that they loved them,” Cummings said.
Her comments come after Save the Children reported that one child has been killed every hour during the 23 months of the war on Gaza. At least 1,000 of them were babies.
