CrossFireArabia
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres terms the situation in Gaza as a “crisis of humanity.”
He highlights the massive loss of life, extensive damage to hospitals and schools, and repeated forced displacement, repeating this is a “crisis of humanity”.
CrossFireArabia
More than 990 Palestinian medics were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, 2023, Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan said Saturday.
Abu Ramadan said more than 300 health care workers were arrested, and hospitals destroyed and/or rendered inoperable in Israeli strikes.
He adde the incessant Israeli bombardment forced 130 ambulances out of service.
Five Health Ministry personnel were killed early Saturday in an attack on the agency’s storage facilities in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The Minister described the bombing of health care personnel and facilities as part of “a broader pattern of violence by the occupation.”
He urged the international community and health organizations “to exert pressure on the occupation authorities to immediately stop the aggression, open border crossings for medical supplies, and allow critically ill patients and wounded individuals to seek treatment,” according to the Anadolu Turkish news agency.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,400 victims, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 95,700 injured, according to local health authorities
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
CrossFireArabia
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, criticized Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office, linking it to the network’s vital coverage of the war in Gaza and repression in the West Bank.
He noted that Al Jazeera has been a key source of information on Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, echoed Roth’s sentiments by reposting his message, adding, “No witnesses allowed.”
CrossFireArabia
With heavy guns, Israeli soldiers barged into Al Jazeera office in Ramallah and ordered it shut down. The raid was in the early hours of the morning, Sunday.
Troops raided the office with one soldier reading read out an order to Al Jazeera Bureau Chief Waleed Al Omari.
The soldier said: “This is an order from the court to close the Al Jazeera office for a period of 45 days and I ask you to take all your belongings and cameras and leave this office now.”
Al Omari then asked to see the order and read it out on TV live amidst a force of Israeli soldiers. It stated this is: “…an order concerning the closure of the office of the Al Jazeera Channel for a period of 45 days, and this is a military order issued by the leader of the central region of the Israel army.”
Al Omari added: “It orders us to leave now and immediately this headquarter and take our personal belongings including the cameras…”
The action of the closure by the Israel army soon become trending on the social media with a tweet from the Quds News Network stating “Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the center of Ramallah after closing Al Jazeera office and confiscating its live footage equipment.
Full report was made of the closure on Al Jazeera English with Al Omari saying the Israeli military’s closure order accused the network of “incitement to and support of terrorism”.
The report added: Al Jazeera’s Jivara Budeiri said Israeli forces fired tear gas in the vicinity of the Al Jazeera bureau and the Manara Roundabout in the heart of the occupied West Bank city. She added that Israeli soldiers confiscated their cameras. Budeiri said she feared the military may try to destroy Al Jazeera’s archives, which are stored in the office.
Israel always wanted to shutdown Al Jazeera particularly after its coverage of the war on Gaza following 7 October, 2023. Last May the Benjamin Netanyahu government made a decision to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in Israel and shutdown its office in East Jerusalem.
This was a decision that was condemned by the Al Jazeera management but to no avail.
The recent decision on Al Jazeera Ramallah office is being called as a “deafening scandal” by the Government Media Office in Gaza and has called in all international organizations to condemn the latest move.
Ever since the Gaza slaughter Israel has killed 173 journalists mainly in the enclave to prevent reporting on the Israeli army’s atrocities that resulted in the killing of 41,400 people, mostly women and children and injury of 95,700 people.
CrossFireArabia
About 4,000 demonstrators marched through central Rome on Saturday, calling for an end to “genocide” against Palestinians.
The crowd protested Israel’s actions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon.
The protest saw participants carrying Palestinian flags and banners reading “Stop the genocide,” while chanting slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Murderer Netanyahu.”
Demonstrators also criticized Italy’s government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, accusing Rome of complicity in Israel’s actions.
“It’s been nearly a year of this genocide, and now it seems they want to destroy not just Gaza, but the entire West Bank, all of Palestine, and even Lebanon,” said Michela, who was attenting the demonstration according to Anadolu, the Turkish news agency.
Another participant, Sara, emphasized the need to continue protesting, vowing to do so as long as necessary as she asserted that a “free Palestine is a right.”
