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CRY FREEDOM.net
formerly known as
Women's Liberation Front
MORE INSIGHT MORE LIFE
Welcome to cryfreedom.net,
formerly known as Womens
Liberation Front.
A website
that hopes to draw and keeps your attention for both the global 21th. century 3rd. feminist revolution as well
as especially for the Zan, Zendegi, Azadi uprising in Iran and the
struggles of our sisters in other parts of the Middle East. This online magazine
that started December 2019 will
be published every week. Thank you for your time and interest.
Gino d'Artali
indept investigative
journalist
radical feminist and women's rights activist
'WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM'
You are now at the section on what is happening in the rest of the Middle
east
(Updates
Sept. 2, 2024)
Click here for the
Iran 'Woman, Life, Freedom' section Updated August
30, 2024
For the 'Women's Arab Spring 1.2' Revolt
news
click here
Updated Sept. 2, 2024
CLICK HERE ON HOW TO READ
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SPECIAL
REPORTS PALESTINE
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA - FREE PALESTINE
Sept
wk1 P2 --
Sept wk1 --
August wk4 P3 -- August
wk4 P2 -- August
wk 4 -- August
wk3 P3 -- August
wk3 bis2 -- August
wk3bis -- Click here for an overview by week in 2024
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi
figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da
qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so
called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.
Al Jazeera - Sept 2, 2024
<<Polio and Israel's attrition genocide in Gaza
The re-emergence of polio in Gaza is yet another sign of Israel’s
genocidal strategies at work.
Nicola Perugini Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the
University of Edinburgh
In August, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced Gaza’s first proven
case of polio infection in 25 years. The virus had infected a
10-month-old baby in Deir el-Balah, leaving him paralysed. While only
one case has been confirmed so far, this does not mean it is the only
one or that the spread of the virus is limited. While polio can cause
paralysis and even death, many of those who are infected with the virus
do not show any symptoms. That is why testing and medical evaluation are
needed to properly determine the scale of the breakout. But that is
nearly impossible in Gaza, given Israel's wholesale destruction of its
healthcare sector. We do know that the type 2 poliovirus (cVDPV) was
identified in six sewage samples, collected from two different sites in
Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah in July. After these findings were made
public, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus
warned that it is "just a matter of time before [the virus] reaches the
thousands of children who have been left unprotected".
Israel rejected calls by the United Nations for a ceasefire and agreed
to localised "humanitarian pauses" for just a few days. In parallel, it
intensified its bombing of Gaza and mass expulsions of civilians.
Between 19 and 24 August, the Israeli army issued the highest number of
evacuation orders in one week since October 7, leading the UN to
temporarily halt humanitarian operations. Nevertheless, a vaccination
campaign was officially launched on Sunday. The rollout started in the
central Gaza Strip - Deir el-Balah governorate - and in the coming days
is supposed to be extended to Khan Younis in the southern Strip and then
the northern governorates, where Israel has been severely limiting aid
and mobility. It is unclear if the UN will reach its target of
vaccinating 640,000 children given the difficult conditions of
operation, the dramatic number of displaced people, the Israeli
restriction on fuel supplies needed to run generators and fridges to
store the vaccines and Israel’s refusal to fully stop fighting. For the
vaccine to be effective, two doses need to be administered at least one
month apart. There is still no guarantee that conditions will be in
place for the second stage of the vaccination drive. Unfortunately, a
polio outbreak is not the only health emergency Palestinians in Gaza are
facing. Other dangerous infectious diseases, including hepatitis and
meningitis, are also spreading across the Strip. More than 995,000 cases
of acute respiratory infections and 577,000 cases of acute watery
diarrhoea have also been registered in Gaza since October. In addition,
hundreds of thousands of chronically ill people are not getting the
adequate care they need, which leads to many preventable deaths that are
not recorded in the official Gaza death toll.
All of this is a reflection of Israel's attrition genocide: that is, the
destruction of the conditions of survival of Palestinians as a group
through techniques of killing less visible than the horrific
livestreamed violence we have been witnessing for the last 11 months.
To borrow from Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who introduced the
notion of genocide in 1944, the "endangering of health" and the creation
of conditions of life "inimical to health" constitute one of the main
techniques of genocide. Over the past 11 months, Israel has all but
obliterated Gaza's health system. Recent data published by the WHO
Global Health Cluster speak for itself: in the first 300 days of the
war, 32 out of 36 hospitals were damaged, 20 (out of 36) hospitals and
70 primary healthcare centres (out of 119) are not functioning. Some 492
attacks on healthcare were reported, which resulted in the death of 747
people. The Israeli army has also systematically destroyed the water and
sewage system in Gaza. According to an Oxfam report published in July,
people in Gaza are left with only 4.74 litres of water per person per
day for all uses, including drinking, cooking, and washing. This means a
94 percent reduction in the amount of water available before October,
and a level significantly below the internationally accepted minimum
standard of 15 litres of water per person per day for basic survival in
emergencies. Simultaneously, Israel has destroyed 70 percent of all
sewage pumps and 100 percent of wastewater treatment plants since
October. The destruction and obstruction of Gaza's water and sanitation
infrastructures have had catastrophic effects on public health,
certainly causing a significant number of indirect deaths.
Prominent public health reports have projected terrifying scenarios when
it comes to deaths caused by the spread of infectious diseases in Gaza.
According to a London School of Hygiene and Johns Hopkins University
study, thousands of Palestinians may have died in the last six months
due to infectious diseases. Israel's narrative to justify these deaths
is that they are the result of a tragic humanitarian crisis provoked by
Palestinians. But they were not unintended, as more honest statements of
Israeli officials have revealed. In November 2023, former head of
Israel’s National Security Council Giora Eiland and current adviser to
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on Yedioth Aharonoth that "the
international community warns us of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and
of severe epidemics. We must not shy away from this, as difficult as
that may be", adding that "after all, severe epidemics in the south of
the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among
army soldiers". Netanyahu's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, tweeted
that he agreed with "every word" written by Eiland in his column. In
other words, infectious diseases are among the genocide-by-attrition
tools considered by the Israeli leadership. This is not a completely new
story. Israel has already subjected Palestinians to systematic policies
of slow death and disablement, with the highest peaks during the two
Intifadas. But since October 7, these policies have reached an
unprecedented level and they meet two key standards of the Genocide
Convention. First, by obliterating the healthcare sector and obstructing
the distribution of healthcare supplies and services, Israel is ensuring
that Palestinians in Gaza face serious bodily and mental harm. Second,
by destroying almost entirely the water and sewage system and creating a
debilitating environment, the Israeli military has inflicted on Gaza
Palestinians conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part.
This is how Israel pursues attrition genocide in Gaza.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not
necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.>>
Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/9/2/polio-and-israels-attrition-genocide-in
Al Jazeera - Sept 2, 2024
<<Al Jazeera crew warned off by Israeli forces during live report
See the moment Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Kheiry had to end a live
report on Israel’s assault on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, after its
forces issued a warning to the crew.>>
View video here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/9/2/al-jazeera-crew-warned-off-by-israeli-forces-during-live-report
Al Jazeera - Sept 2, 2024 - By Usaid Siddiqui, Ylenia Gostoli and
Zaheena Rasheed
<<Israel's war on Gaza live: Israeli workers strike, demand truce deal
Israeli forces continued to pound the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of
Palestinians, including 11 people sheltering at a school in northern
Gaza City and four travelling in a car near central Deir el-Balah.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv and
other cities in Israel, demanding a ceasefire deal after the bodies of
six more captives were recovered from Gaza. The country is also set for
a general strike.>>
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/2/israeli-war-on-gaza-live-israel-bombs-school-killing-11-palestinians
Al Jazeera - Sept 1, 2024 - By Toka Omar
<<Amid Israel's war on Gaza, cyclist Alaa al-Dali fights for a shot at
glory
Al-Dali and his Gaza Sunbirds cycling group have not only had to
overcome a war, but also personal adversity and disability for a chance
to compete internationally.
In March 2018, Gaza's champion cyclist Alaa al-Dali was six months away
from realising his goal of representing Palestine at the Asian Games in
Indonesia. A few days later, an Israeli sniper shot al-Dali in the leg
when he participated in the Great March of Return, a massive wave of
protests on the Israel-Gaza border organised by Palestinians living in
the Gaza Strip against the expropriation of their land. The bullet ended
up shattering 22 centimetres of bone in al-Dali's right leg and crushing
his lifelong dream to cycle at the Olympics. Even as an able-bodied
athlete, it was nearly impossible for al-Dali to partake in
international competitions. Israeli authorities had blocked his
applications to leave the besieged Gaza Strip. To protest the ban, the
then 21-year-old al-Dali turned up at the march in a helmet and full
cycling gear.
He left without the lower half of his right leg.
Al-Dali's fate was a disturbingly common one - 81 percent of Israeli
gunshots at the 2018 march targeted the legs of demonstrators, a United
Nations report found. As a result, 122 Palestinians had their legs
amputated. Alaa al-Dali's dream of competing for Palestine at the Asian
Games was shattered by Israeli forces when they shot at him during his
peaceful demonstration in the Great March of Return in 2018.
The Gaza Sunbirds take flight
The Israeli violence and the resulting amputation did little to deter
al-Dali from cycling. Instead, he formed the Gaza Sunbirds - a para-cycling
team made up of athletes who lost their limbs at the 2018 protests and
in other Israeli attacks. His team of 20 cyclists is a testament to the
resilience of the athletes who have been painfully distanced from their
sport by Israeli violence.
Amid Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, the para-cyclists came together for a
different cause.
The Gaza Sunbirds have used their international recognition to garner
donations for those affected by the war and their cycles for delivering
aid through the rubble-laden streets of their homeland.
So far, the group's international fundraising campaign has raised more
than $300,000. They have used the money to distribute 72 tonnes of food,
offer shelter for 225 people, provide more than 7,000 hot meals, and
give $25,000 in stipends to people with disabilities in Gaza. The
Sunbirds have also partnered with the Palestinian NGO Sharek Youth Forum
to build a displacement camp - a 25-tent compound with food supplied by
the World Central Kitchen.
"During the war, cars were not readily available, but our bikes allowed
us to navigate even the destroyed streets," al-Dali told Al Jazeera,
highlighting the extent of infrastructure damage in the Gaza Strip.
"Cycling takes us where we need to go, unlike the limitations we face as
amputees."
Cycling as a form of resistance
Despite the months-long war, al-Dali refused to give up on his dreams.
The 26-year-old continued to train for a long-awaited chance at
redemption at the Paris Paralympic Games 2024. "It has been my dream to
take part in the Olympics since before my amputation," al-Dali said.
"This is our first step towards success as Palestinian athletes. It's
our right to participate in international competitions." Qualifying for
the Paralympics is tough, but nearly impossible for athletes from Gaza.
It requires racking up points by regularly ranking high at competitions
held around the world. However, Israel's blockade prevents Gaza-based
athletes from leaving the enclave without special permission, which is
usually rejected. And that was the case for the Sunbirds before the war
began in October. "We have tried to send our athletes to races for the
last two years, but we couldn't due to visa issues, the siege, and our
inability to travel," Karim Ali, team manager of the National Cycling
Federation of Palestine (NCFP) and co-founder of the Gaza Sunbirds, told
Al Jazeera. In April, al-Dali was evacuated to Egypt. It offered him a
glimmer of hope of attending the year's remaining para-cycling
competitions and qualifying for Paris. His wife and three young children
were unable to leave Gaza. As al-Dali raced in qualifying competitions
in Belgium, Italy, and Kazakhstan, grim news kept rolling in from back
home. Originally from Rafah, his family has been displaced multiple
times. They face shortages of food and clean water. Recently, two of his
children fell ill due to the toxins released by munitions, according to
doctors in Gaza. "The rockets being fired at Gaza are causing
devastation and spreading viruses in the air. The destruction is
immense," said al-Dali. "I can't forget about the war or the horrors
facing our families." The nearly 11-month-long war has also affected the
other Sunbirds, who have dropped out of competitions in order to focus
on seeking asylum outside Gaza. "My house in Gaza was destroyed and I
fled seven times. My business got destroyed and I was living in a tent
for months," said Mohammed Abu Asfour, a 24-year-old Sunbirds para-cyclist
who also lost his leg during the Great March of Return. "After I left, I
feared for my family back in Gaza, especially with the attack on Rafah
and the border closure," said Abu Asfour. "What I've been through in the
last few months took its toll on me."
Paris Paralympics heartbreak
As the Paralympics drew closer, al-Dali was the only Sunbird vying for a
spot at the games. Even then, al-Dali said he never had a straight path
to qualifying for the Olympics. Owing to Israel's blockade, he missed
too many international competitions. His only hope was to apply for
what's called a bipartite slot, which grants an exemption to athletes
for reasons of inclusivity and diversity, even if they may not meet the
qualifying standards.
"Other countries have been participating and collecting points for two
years now," said al-Dali. "So even if we had finished first [in the
qualifying races], we wouldn't get the required points." Recently,
disappointment struck again, when he learned that the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) rejected his application for a bipartite
slot. "I was hoping to represent Palestine and lift its flag," said
al-Dali, who was training in Malaysia when he got the devastating news.
"They should have considered the conditions of war we are in and
accepted my application." An official from the IPC told Al Jazeera that
they received "a record number of bipartite slot applications" for the
Paris games. "It was decided not to award Alaa al-Dali a slot as there
were other athletes in the same class applying for slots who had more
competitive qualification times", the official said. For the cycling
champion from Gaza, receiving the news was an "extremely difficult
moment".
"It was an indescribable feeling of sadness, sorrow, and frustration,"
said al-Dali.
There is a silver lining, though. In June, al-Dali finished with scores
high enough at the Asian Para-cycling Road Championships in Kazakhstan
to qualify for the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World
Championships in Zurich - the second biggest para-cycling event of the
year. "In the last month, we have been working on a professional
training programme using brand new instruments to take our training to
the next level. I finally feel major improvements," al-Dali said with
newfound hope.
"The bike is a part of me - it's everything I have."
This article was published in collaboration with Egab.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2024/9/1/gaza-sunbirds-para-cycling-team-alaa-al-daly-paris-paralympic-games-2024
Al Jazeera - Sept 1, 2024
<<Israel lays siege to Jenin as it stops food and water, blocks
ambulances
Israeli reinforcements enter the besieged part of the occupied West Bank
as assault on refugee camp enters its fifth day.
The Israeli siege of the West Bank city of Jenin has left Palestinians
with no food, water or electricity, with medical charity Doctors Without
Borders, known by its French initials MSF, accusing Israeli forces of
obstructing access to health facilities and targeting ambulances. "All
basic necessities" including bread inside the refugee camp "no longer
exist", Taher al-Saadi, a resident of Jenin who managed to escape, told
Al Jazeera. Fayza Abu Jaafar, another resident who fled Jenin, said the
situation is "very hard" for children still trapped in the area, as they
are "terrified" of the destruction carried out by Israeli forces. The
Israeli military brought in reinforcements on Sunday after demolishing
shops and bulldozing streets, while preventing tens of thousands of
Palestinian civilians from accessing humanitarian aid, in a step
described as a "war crime". Israel has also been accused of war crimes
during its ongoing military offensive in Gaza. According to the Jenin
municipality, the Israeli army has bulldozed nearly 70 percent of the
city's streets and 20km (12.4 miles) of its water and sewage networks
since it launched its raids on Wednesday, August 28. As a result, 80
percent of the Jenin refugee camp, home to 20,000 people, is left
without water access, the Jenin municipality said. At least 24
Palestinians have been killed in a five-day Israeli assault that Al
Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim said was "the most destructive raid
we've seen" in decades. "We are hearing exchange of fire and loud
explosions," Ibrahim reported. "The main streets of Jenin have also been
destroyed and bulldozers are digging up the area." "This is a reminder
of what it means to be a Palestinian under military occupation. You have
no control over your town, no control over your streets. You don't know
if you’re going to get home safely or even if your home is going to be
spared," Ibrahim said while reporting from the outskirts of Jenin. Kamal
Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, has described the situation so far as
similar to the 2002 Israeli destruction in which the camp was
"flattened" and dozens were left dead.
'Clear war crime'
Aside from the extensive damage to public utilities and infrastructure,
Israeli troops have also raided numerous homes and damaged and "looted"
private properties, while subjecting residents to interrogations and
"harsh treatment", the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Among
those who were subjected to interrogation and beating was a trained
volunteer from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the group said in a
statement, adding that Israeli forces have surrounded Khalil Suleiman
Hospital, forcing its team to suspend dialysis care to patients in Jenin.
"Israel must respect its obligations as an occupying power in the
occupied West Bank," MSF said.
Israel has killed at least 675 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
since October 7. During the same period, more than 10,300 Palestinians
have been arrested and detained by Israeli forces. Israel's intensifying
campaign in the occupied West Bank comes as its bombardment of Gaza has
killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and destroyed large parts the
besieged enclave. In an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday, Kenneth
Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, said that what Israel did
in Gaza over the last 11 months is now being carried out in the occupied
West Bank. "This has really become a flat-out war," said Roth, who is
now a visiting fellow at the Princeton School of Public and
International Affairs. "One of the basic rules is that Israel has to
allow access to humanitarian aid. It cannot just cut off food, water,
electricity and medical care there, as we've heard it is doing. It has a
duty to allow these into the civilian population," Roth added.
He said that Israel cannot use the presence of fighters in the occupied
West Bank as an excuse "to starve civilians".
"Rather than fighting the militants, which Israel has a right to do, it
is fighting the entire population. And that is a clear war crime."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/1/lack-of-food-and-water-ambulances-blocked-as-israel-lays-siege-to-jenin
Le Monde - August 31, 2024 - By Ghazal Golshiri
<<Child hunger reaches unprecedented levels in Gaza
Unlike the children who died in the bombardments, there is no official
count of those who died of malnutrition or dehydration. However, doctors
are reporting a growing number of very young victims. Hatim Alhaddad, a
1-day-old newborn, died on June 14 due to respiratory issues compounded
by malnutrition. Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Salem, 15 days old, died on March
2 from famine edema, which is characterized by facial swelling. Mira
Muhammad Bakr Al Shawa, 15 days old, passed away on March 3, also due to
respiratory difficulties worsened by malnutrition. Youssef Sami Al-Tiramisi,
25 days old, died on February 6 due to malnutrition. The heartbreaking
toll is far from over. Since the start of the war launched by Israel
against Gaza on October 7, 2023, following the deadly Hamas attack on
Israeli territory, the pediatric department of Kamal Adwan Hospital,
located in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, has recorded
the deaths of 37 children from malnutrition and dehydration. At the time
of their deaths, all the above-mentioned newborns weighed less than the
average. Abdulrahman Salem weighed 1.3 kilos. Hussam Abu Safiya, a
doctor at the same hospital, sees around 30 children a day "with
symptoms of malnutrition and severe dehydration," explained the
Gaza-based physician, contacted via WhatsApp. "In May, I examined a
7-year-old girl. Her mother told me that her child hadn't eaten or drunk
anything for five days. I couldn't save her. She died after three days
in hospital."
Skin and bones
At Nasser Hospital, located further south in the Gaza Strip, in Khan
Younis, three children have died since May, due to malnutrition. "A
6-year-old boy and two girls, one aged 1 year and the other 6 months,"
explained Ahmed Al-Farra, a doctor from Gaza. "The 6-month-old was
called Toline. She was hospitalized several times, but the last time, on
August 23, we couldn't save her." In the photos of her alive that Al-Farra
sent to Le Monde, the little girl, crying, was only skin and bones. In
the pediatric ward of Nasser Hospital, nine children are hospitalized,
suffering from a lack of food and drinking water, sometimes coupled with
other health problems. The hospital's children's intensive care unit,
which mainly treats those injured in the bombardments, no longer has the
capacity to care for the others, those suffering from malnutrition. "We
have tried to allocate a small space for these children in the adult
intensive care unit. But there are often no beds available there
either," deplored Al-Farra.
Contacted by Le Monde, UNICEF sounded the alarm: "More than 50,000
children in the Gaza Strip require immediate medical treatment for acute
malnutrition." The UN organization and its partners have identified a
total of 8,811 children suffering from famine.>>
Read more here:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/09/01/child-hunger-reaches-unprecedented-levels-in-gaza_6724376_4.html
Al Jazeera - August 31, 2024
<<UNRWA head accuses Israel of buying Google ads to block donations to
agency
Commissioner-general says Israeli government has undertaken a defamation
campaign against the UN agency. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)
has accused the Israeli government of "buying ads on Google to block
users from giving donations" to the agency. UNRWA Commissioner-General
Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that Israel's attempts to defame
the agency both harm its reputation and put the lives of its staff at
risk. "These deliberate efforts to spread misinformation should stop +
be investigated," Lazzarini wrote on Saturday, calling for more
regulations for companies, including social media platforms, to combat
disinformation and hate speech. "The spread of misinformation &
disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza," he
wrote. Israel has campaigned for years against UNRWA, the main
organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the occupied
Palestinian territory and providing services for Palestinian refugees in
other countries since 1949, claiming it has connections with
<terrorists> and lobbying for its closure. Last month, the UN denounced
an Israeli government spokesperson after he described Lazzarini as a
<terrorist sympathiser>. David Mencer had taken aim at Lazzarini in a
videotaped speech, claiming the agency had been deeply infiltrated by
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The UN said the comments were
"reprehensible" and warned that they jeopardise Lazzarini's safety.
Earlier this year, Israel alleged that some of the agency's staff
participated in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, leading more
than a dozen international donors to suspend support. A UN-authorised
independent review found that Israel had not provided credible evidence
for its accusations and most donors have since reinstated funding.
Israeli attacks in Gaza have frequently targeted UNRWA facilities,
killing 212 of its staff members and hitting at least 70 percent of its
schools, according to the organisation.
At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in Israel's
war on Gaza, according to according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At
least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel,
according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/31/unrwa-head-accuses-israel-of-buying-google-ads-to-block-donations-to-agency
France 24 - August 31, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<Israeli strikes kill almost 50 in Gaza as WHO rolls out polio vaccine
campaign
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday began its campaign to
vaccinate around 640,000 children in Gaza against polio amid renewed
Israeli strikes that killed at least 48 people in the enclave. Israel on
Thursday had agreed to daily eight-hour pauses in its military
operations in specific areas of Gaza to allow the vaccinations to
proceed. Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 48 people in the
Gaza Strip, Palestinian health authorities said, as clashes took place
in central and southern areas of the enclave ahead of the planned start
of a polio vaccination campaign.
The United Nations is due to start vaccinating some 640,000 children in
the territory against polio, relying on daily eight-hour pauses in
fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in specific areas of
the besieged enclave. Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, Gaza's deputy minister of
health, said vaccination teams would try to get to as many areas as
possible to ensure wide coverage but he said only a comprehensive
ceasefire could guarantee enough children are reached. "If the
international community truly wants this campaign to succeed, it should
call for a ceasefire, knowing that this virus does not stop, and can
reach anywhere," he told reporters at Nasser Hospital in the southern
city of Khan Younis. On Saturday, medics administered vaccines on some
of the children at Nasser Hospital wards in a symbolic move before the
official campaign begins. The campaign follows confirmation last week
that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first
such case in the territory in 25 years.
WHO officials say at least 90% of the children need to be vaccinated
twice with four weeks between doses for the campaign to succeed, but it
faces huge challenges in Gaza, which has been largely destroyed by
nearly 11 months of war. On Saturday, as more than 2,000 medical and
community workers prepared for the start of the campaign, medics in
Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, medics
said separate Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people, including nine
members of the same family. More than 30 other people were killed in a
series of strikes in other areas of Gaza, medics said. Residents and
militant sources said fighters from Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and other
groups fought against Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Zeitoun
neighborhood, where tanks have been operating for days, and in Rafah,
near the border with Egypt. The Israeli military said in a statement it
continued to operate in the central and southern Gaza Strip. It said
troops killed militants and dismantled military infrastructure in Gaza
City, while they located weapons and killed gunmen in Tel Al-Sultan in
western Rafah.
In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, families returned to their
areas after the army ended a 22-day offensive it said was aimed at
preventing Hamas from regrouping. Footage showed large areas were
flattened, and buildings and infrastructure were destroyed. Medics said
they recovered at least nine bodies from the area where the army
operated.
The latest episode in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was
triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200
and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since
killed more than 40,600 Palestinians, according to the local health
ministry. Nearly the entire Gaza population of 2.3 million has been
displaced and the enclave has a hunger crisis. Israel faces genocide
allegations at the World Court that it denies.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel forces pushed on with a military
operation in the city of Jenin. Drones and helicopters circled overhead
while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city.
(Reuters)>>
Source incl. videos:
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240831-israeli-strikes-kill-dozens-gaza-who-polio-vaccine-campaign-world-health-organization
Le Monde - August 30, 2024
<<Israeli air strike on Gaza kills four in aid convoy, says US-based aid
group
Anera claims an Israeli air strike targeted a lead vehicle in its aid
convoy, killing four non-staff community members, while the Israeli
military asserts the strike was aimed at armed assailants. A US-based
aid group said on Friday, August 30, that an Israeli air strike killed
four people accompanying its convoy in Gaza the day before, while the
Israeli military said it had struck armed assailants. "An Israeli air
strike yesterday killed four Palestinians in the lead vehicle of an
Anera aid convoy carrying food and fuel to the Emirati Red Crescent
Hospital," Anera said in a statement. It identified the dead as "four
community members with experience in previous missions and engagement in
community security", noting that they were not Anera staff. They
"stepped forward and requested to take command of the leading vehicle,
citing concern that the route was unsafe and at risk of being looted",
the Anera statement said. "The four community members were neither
vetted nor coordinated in advance, and Israeli authorities allege that
the lead car was carrying numerous weapons. The Israeli air strike was
carried out without any prior warning or communication."
A statement from the Israeli military, which did not give a death toll,
said the strike occurred after <a number of armed assailants seized
control of the vehicle". It also said <the presence of armed individuals
was not coordinated> before the convoy departed. <After ruling out
potential harm to the trucks, as well as a clear identification of
weapons, a strike was carried out targeting the armed individuals. The
truck arrived at its planned destination,> the military said.
Anera said none of its staff were harmed in the strike "though one Anera
employee, who was in the second vehicle, witnessed the incident at close
range."
The ongoing war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7
attack on southern Israel, has led to a major humanitarian crisis in the
besieged territory while putting aid workers at risk.
The World Food Programme said Wednesday it was pausing the movement of
its staff in Gaza "until further notice" after one of its vehicles was
struck by gunfire at an Israeli military checkpoint.
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/30/israeli-air-strike-on-gaza-kills-four-in-aid-convoy-says-us-based-aid-group_6723901_4.html
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