UN’s Albanese says Israel and backers should pay for rebuilding Gaza
The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territory says the cost of rebuilding Gaza should be paid not only by Israel, but also by the US, Germany, Italy and the UK, as they are the main arms suppliers to Israel.
Speaking at an event organised by the London-based think tank ODI Global, Albanese said the support the UK provides to Israel through its military bases in Cyprus should be investigated for its connection to the attacks in Gaza, stressing the need for a comprehensive probe into “the UK’s complicity in the genocide”.
She said many of Israel’s practices were inherited from the UK’s colonial presence in Palestine, adding that administrative detention and torture systems are a reflection of the practices the UK employed with Palestinians.
Albanese also talked about the US sanctions against her, saying that they seriously affect her personal and professional life. She said that under the US legal system, she was treated like a criminal and cannot travel to the US.
EU Commission says killing of Gaza civilians ‘indefensible’
European Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni has told reporters that the situation in Gaza is unsustainable and that “civilians can never be a target.”
Asked about whether the EU is demanding accountability for war crimes in Gaza – similar to its calls for accountability in Ukraine – El Anouni said decisions on whether genocide or war crimes have been committed are for competent national and international courts to make.
“The killing of civilians in Gaza has been indefensible,” he said.
Another European Commission spokesperson, Eva Hrncirova, said aid trucks are still blocked on the borders of Gaza.
“We continue our dialogue with Israel, with the Israeli authorities. We keep insisting, and we keep explaining to Israel what the needs of our humanitarian partners are,” Hrncirova said.
She added that while “the situation has improved a bit after the ceasefire” came into effect in October, “still, people are suffering.”
A displaced Palestinian woman picks up muddied belongings at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, December 11
Tens of thousands have no access to medical care in northern Gaza: WHO official
Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, says tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya area do not have access to health services.
Peeperkorn said about 40,000 people have returned to Beit Lahiya since the ceasefire agreement came into effect but added “there’s no functioning health services there – in North Gaza – today”.
He explained that the Indonesian and al-Awda Hospitals, which previously served people in northern Gaza, are located beyond the so-called yellow line, in an area under Israeli military control. Beit Lahiya’s Kamal Adwan Hospital is also no longer functioning.
“We have tried several missions to reach Kamal Adwan to set up a primary healthcare facility where we would work with our partners, but it has been unfortunately, up until now, denied,” Peeperkorn told reporters during a UN briefing in New York.
- About 50 percent of the 650 drugs on Gaza’s “essential medicines” list are nearly at zero stock, meaning there are no drugs left or a supply of fewer than three months remaining.
- Gaza hospitals are operating without key medical equipment, such as CT and MRI machines and ultrasound equipment.
- “If you want to talk about recovery and rehabilitation and reconstruction, you need to get those supplies in – and there’s no reason why it’s not happening,” Peeperkorn says.
- The heavy rain and winds brought by Storm Byron have “deepened the suffering of already displaced families”, he said, noting that “shelter conditions are still deplorable”.
- Debris and rubbish run through the streets of Gaza City and in coastal areas as the sewage system is overwhelmed, which has led to an increase in acute respiratory diseases.
- He says 1,092 Palestinians died while awaiting medical evacuation between July last year and November 28 this year, but the figure is likely an undercount. “More than 18,500 patients, including 4,096 children, in Gaza are still in need of medical evacuation.”
