Sunday, August 25, 2024

Gaza

The United Nations notes:


Posting on X, Tor Wennesland said he had met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa following “intense exchanges” between the Israeli military – which said it had carried out large-scale pre-emptive strikes – and the militant group Hezbollah based in southern Lebanon which said it had carried out an attack which has now been “completed and accomplished.”

In a statement released later in the day the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply concerned over the "significant increase in exchanges".

"These actions put both the Lebanese and Israeli populations at risk as well as threatening regional security and stability", the statement released by his Spokesperson continued, calling for "immediate de-escalation".

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been attempting to broker a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and militant group Hamas in the Egyptian capital Cairo, with Hamas reportedly agreeing to send a delegation this weekend to be briefed on progress, without directly participating.

 

Still no cease-fire.  And ALJAZEERA reports, "Patients and displaced Palestinians are fleeing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital – the last functioning medical facility in central Gaza – after Israel issued more evacuation orders for the city of Deir el-Balah."  Fleeing but to where?  Freddie Clayton (NBC NEWS) reports:


Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being squeezed into ever smaller patches of land as Israeli military-designated humanitarian areas shrink to just 11% of the enclave’s territory, according to the United Nations, following a flurry of evacuation notices as Israel continues its military campaign across Gaza.

In August alone, the Israel Defense Forces issued 12 evacuation orders, according to the U.N., with an additional order Saturday afternoon, forcing as many as 250,000 people to move again in search of safety. At the beginning of the year, 33% of Gaza was an IDF-designated humanitarian zone.

Using satellite imagery analysis, the U.N. said the evacuation notices have resulted in population movements toward Muwasi, a former fishing village on Gaza's Mediterranean coast that has since turned into a crowded tent camp, as well as toward Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

The U.N. estimates that most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are now confined to an area of roughly 15 square miles — about two-thirds the size of Manhattan — causing crowded conditions and a critical lack of basic services, like clean water.


Meanwhile, polio vaccines are arriving in the region but can't be dispersed properly without a cease-fire.  Gaza also faces the issue of malnutrition.  THE NEW ARAB notes:


Nearly 15,000 children in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition since early this year, according to the United Nations.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA has said that 239,580 children were checked since mid-January, leading to 14,750 diagnoses of malnutrition affecting children aged between six months to just under five years, including 3,288 cases of severe acute malnutrition.

"So far, we have counted nearly 5,000 children. And symptoms of malnutrition apply in one-third of cases," said Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya.

He added that a quarter of these cases "were not sent for intensive care" since they "were classified as malnutrition with complications".


Gaza remains under assault. Day 323 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 40,334 with 93,356 wounded."   Early on, Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) pointed out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."    Months ago, United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of of acute food insecurity or worse."   Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

  



April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons.  In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."


The following sites updated:



 

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