Israel & Hamas War - Not a political thread - Reports of hundreds dead on day one - October 7, 2023 - Moving beyond to Lebanon? Sept. 17, 2024 - Now Iran too, October 1, 2024 - Syria & Russia, October 3, 2024

[sharon sanders]

Syria & Russia -


Iran Military Adviser In Syria Dies Days After Israeli Strike: Media

By AFP - Agence France Presse
October 3, 2024

https://www.barrons.com/news/iran-military-adviser-in-syria-dies-days-after-israeli-strike-media-a2b1c9ce?refsec=topics_afp-news

---------------------------------------------------

35 views | Oct 03, 2024, 03:25:00 PM | TOI.in

Russian Airbase Under Attack: Israeli Missiles Blow Up Massive Weapons Depot In Syria

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/russian-airbase-under-attack-israeli-missiles-blow-up-massive-weapons-depot-in-syria/videoshow/113903881.cms

---------------------------------

Here we go.....

[Pathfinder]

WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 1 November 2024

1 November 2024
...
Now to Gaza.

This week, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed two bills banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – or UNRWA – from operating in Gaza.

UNRWA is one of the largest providers of essential health services in Gaza, providing critical health and humanitarian support for over seven decades.

Every day, it provides thousands of medical consultations and vaccinates hundreds of children.

Many humanitarian partners rely on UNRWA’s logistical networks to get supplies into Gaza and onward to where they are needed.

The UNRWA staff that WHO works with are dedicated health and humanitarian professionals who work tirelessly for their communities under unimaginable circumstances.

Israel’s decision to restrict UNRWA’s operations contravenes Israel’s obligations and responsibilities and jeopardizes the lives and health of all who depend on these essential services.

This ban will not make Israel safer, it will only deepen the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the risk of disease outbreaks.

Let me be clear: There is simply no alternative to UNRWA.

Tomorrow, the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign is set to begin in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, after it was postponed last week due to intense bombardment, mass evacuation orders, and lack of access or assurance of humanitarian pauses.

The humanitarian pause necessary to conduct the campaign has been assured, but the area of the pause has been substantially reduced, and is now limited to just Gaza City.

The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children under 10 years old, but achieving that target is now unlikely, as conditions in northern Gaza get worse every day.

In the past two weeks, WHO has conducted 6 missions to northern Gaza to bring medical supplies and food for hospital staff and patients when permitted, and fuel to keep the generators working.

In recent days, following intense fighting, a siege and a raid, Kamal Adwan hospital has been reduced from a hospital helping hundreds of patients with dozens of health workers, to a shell of itself.

WHO helped to move the most critical patients to Nasser and Shifa hospitals, where they can receive a higher level of care. Now a few dozen patients remain at Kamal Adwan, with a handful of staff to care for them.

An attack and subsequent fire on one of the floors of the hospital has destroyed some of the supplies we delivered. We are trying to reach hospital staff for more information.
...

https://www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing---1-november-2024

-----------------------------------

Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee – Stop the assault on Palestinians in Gaza and on those trying to help them

1 November 2024 Statement NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME Reading time: 3 min (808 words)

We the leaders of 15 United Nations and humanitarian organizations urge, yet again, all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians, and call on the State of Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help.

The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic. The area has been under siege for almost a month, denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue. Just in the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and thousands have once again been forcibly displaced.

Hospitals have been almost entirely cut off from supplies and have come under attack, killing patients, destroying vital equipment, and disrupting life-saving services. Health workers and patients have been taken into custody. Fighting has also reportedly taken place inside hospitals.

Dozens of schools serving as shelters have been bombed or forcibly evacuated. Tents sheltering displaced families have been shelled, and people have been burned alive.

Rescue teams have been deliberately attacked and thwarted in their attempts to pull people buried under the rubble of their homes.

The needs of women and girls are overwhelming and growing every day. We have lost contact with those we support and those who provide lifesaving essential services for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence.

And we have received reports of civilians being targeted while trying to seek safety, and of men and boys being arrested and taken to unknown locations for detention.

Livestock are also dying, crop lands have been destroyed, trees burned to the ground, and agrifood systems infrastructure has been decimated.

The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.

Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need.

In a further blow to the humanitarian response, the polio vaccination campaign has been delayed due to the fighting, putting the lives of children in the region at risk.

And this week, the Israeli Parliament adopted legislation that would ban UNRWA and revoke its privileges and immunities. If implemented, such measures would be a catastrophe for the humanitarian response in Gaza, diametrically opposed to the United Nations Charter, with potential dire impacts on the human rights of the millions of Palestinians depending on UNRWA’s assistance, and in violation of Israel’s obligations under international law.

Let us be very clear: There is no alternative to UNRWA.

The blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop.

International humanitarian law, including the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions, must be respected. IHL obligations do not depend on reciprocity. No violation by one party ever releases the other from its legal obligations.

Attacks against civilians and what remains of civilian infrastructure in Gaza must stop.

Humanitarian relief must be facilitated, and we urge all parties to provide unimpeded access to affected people. Additionally, commercial goods must be allowed to enter Gaza.

The wounded and sick must receive the care they need. Medical personnel and hospitals must be spared. Hospitals should not turn into battlegrounds.

Unlawfully detained Palestinians must be released.

Israel must comply with the provisional orders and determinations of the International Court of Justice.

Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups must release the hostages immediately and unconditionally and must abide by international humanitarian law.

Member States must use their leverage to ensure respect for international law. This includes withholding arms transfers where there is a clear risk that such arms will be used in violation of international law.

The entire region is on the edge of a precipice. An immediate cessation of hostilities and a sustained, unconditional ceasefire are long overdue.

Signatories:

Ms. Joyce Msuya, Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Ms. Nimo Hassan, MBE, Chair, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
Mr. Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Ms. Abby Maxman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam
Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)
Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)

https://www.who.int/news/item/01-11-2024-statement-by-principals-of-the-inter-agency-standing-committee---stop-the-assault-on-palestinians-in-gaza-and-on-those-trying-to-help-them

[Pathfinder]

Israel Foreign Ministry

@IsraelMFA


The Director General of the @IsraelMFA Jacob Blitshtein has notified @antonioguterres and the @UN that Israel is withdrawing from the agreement regulating
@UNRWA operations in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, citing the organization’s involvement in terrorism. Many other organizations continue to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza, and we will continue to work with them.




4:27 AM · Nov 4, 2024

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Pathfinder]

Gaza: No evacuation order given before hospital strike, says WHO


© WHO

Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza pictured following intense Israeli military operations on 25 October.

Facebook Twitter Print Email

6 December 2024 Peace and Security

One of the last partially functional health centres in besieged northern Gaza was hit several times overnight into Friday, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

“All night, there was heavy bombing around the Kamal Adwan Hospital”, said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the UN health’s agency Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Speaking from the enclave to journalists in Geneva via video, he reported that an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank was seen outside the hospital at around 4am on Friday, while people were told to move out the health centre.

“There was no official evacuation order,” he maintained, but instead, rumours and panic.

“People started to climb the wall to escape, and this panic attracted IDF fire. There are reports of deaths and arrests.”

Emergency team thwarted

The veteran UN humanitarian worker explained that very few aid deliveries and emergency health teams have reached Kamal Adwan Hospital since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in Gaza's far north in early October. This has left the facility without critical reserves, including fuel.

After seven weeks of unsuccessful attempts and denied requests for access, an international Emergency Medical Team (EMT) with basic supplies was finally deployed to Kamal Adwan “less than a week ago”, only to be told to leave again seven days later, explained Dr. Peeperkorn.

The team comprised two surgeons, two emergency nurses, one gynaecologist and one logistician. “They are just there, and within one week they are gone again. This is not only for me incomprehensible but also incredibly, incredibly sad,” said the senior WHO medic, who added that no surgeons remain at Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Missions denied or impeded

Since October 2023, 58 per cent of the 273 WHO-led missions inside Gaza have been either denied, cancelled or impeded.

This has added to the urgent but extremely difficult task of evacuating patients who need specialist medical support outside the enclave.

Since 7 Oct 2023 and the start of the war sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel, 5,325 patients have been evacuated from Gaza. Evacuation crisis


Almost 5,000 travelled via the Rafah crossing before it was closed last 7 May, including 4,000 children. The UN health agency estimates that at least 12,000 patients across Gaza still need medical evacuation to survive.

At least 44,612 Palestinians have been killed and 105,834 wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian health authorities. The majority of those killed were women and children.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1157886

[Mary Wilson]

Kamal Adwan Hospital out of service following a raid yesterday and repeated attacks since October

News and Press Release
Source: WHO
Posted 28 Dec 2024
Originally published 28 Dec 2024

WHO is appalled by yesterday’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, which put the last major health facility in North Gaza out of service. The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk.

Initial reports indicate that some areas of the hospital were burnt and severely damaged during the raid, including the laboratory, surgical unit, engineering and maintenance department, operations theatre, and the medical store. Earlier in the day, twelve patients and a female health staff were reportedly forced to evacuate to destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital where it is not possible to provide any care, while the majority of the staff, stable patients and companions were moved to a nearby location. Additionally, some people were reportedly stripped and forced to walk toward southern Gaza. Over the last two months, the area around the hospital has remained highly volatile and attacks on the hospitals and on health workers have occurred almost daily. This week, bombardments in its vicinity reportedly killed 50 people, including five health workers from Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Kamal Adwan is now empty. Yesterday evening, the remaining 15 critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred to Indonesian Hospital, which lacks the necessary equipment and supplies to provide adequate care. The movement and treatment of these critical patients under such conditions pose grave risks to their survival. WHO is deeply concerned for their wellbeing, as well as for the Kamal Adwan Hospital director who has been reportedly detained during the raid. WHO lost contact with him since the raid began.

An urgent WHO mission to Indonesian Hospital is being planned for tomorrow to safely move patients to southern Gaza for continued care. ...

https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/kamal-adwan-hospital-out-service-following-raid-yesterday-and-repeated-attacks-october?utm_source=rw-subscriptions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=headlines

[Mary Wilson]

11.02 EST Three hostages now in Israeli territory, IDF says

Israel’s military says the three hostages are now in Israeli territory.

“A short while ago, accompanied by IDF and ISA forces, the released hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the IDF said.

“The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.” Share
Updated at 11.03 EST

LIVE Updates
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher released by Hamas and have crossed border into Israel

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jan/19/israel-gaza-ceasefire-live-news-updates