Heba
Najah FM Radio announces:
The death of Dr. Saeed Habash from Balata camp, known in Nablus as “the doctor of the poor,” who was known for his humanity, generosity and service to his community.
CrossFireArabia
The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education officially announced, Wednesday, it is postponing the start of the 2026/2027 academic year in the Gaza Strip by 10 days compared to the start date in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Minister of Education’s Amjad Barham stated in a radio interview this morning that teachers in the Gaza Strip will begin work on September 16, while students will start on September 19. The decision was made “due to technical reasons within the Strip,” he added. The Ministry of Education justified the postponement by stating it is “taking into account the exceptional circumstances and the difficult educational reality resulting from the destruction of educational facilities and the ongoing repercussions of the war in Gaza,” accordong to Sanad.
marwan
CROSSFIREARABIA – The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission stated, Tuesday, there has been a sharp increase in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in the first seven months of 2026 registering 63 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. The Commission added 4113 attacks took place as of the end of July whereas in 2025, 2524 were registered an increase of 1589 attacks. It added the attacks spiked in last June and July registering at 748 and 798 for these months.
marwan
From Amira Amira
On this day in August 1968, one of the most famous cases of attempted abortion of a pregnant prisoner in an Israeli detention center occurred. The story, widely reported in the press, involved the Palestinian activist and former prisoner, Abla Shafiq Taha, from Hebron, sister of the martyr Ali Taha, commander of the Sabena operation in 1972. She was assaulted by a group of Israeli women detained in the same cell, on the orders of the interrogators, to pressure her into confessing. The beating and kicking took place while guards watched. This crime occurred in the Al-Maskubiya prison in Jerusalem. Several women were present during the trial, including Fadwa Tuqan. She was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison and then deported to Jordan with her husband. Deportation did not deter her from continuing her activism. She continued her grassroots work in the Al-Wehdat refugee camp and later became a member of the Palestinian National Council in 1977.
CrossFireArabia
Among tent cities pitched on the rubble of destroyed homes in Gaza, children are, by one measure, finally getting enough to eat. By another, however, many of them may never fully recover, according to a new study by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released on Monday.
According to the new UNICEF survey, 12.2 per cent – one in eight children – were chronically malnourished, or stunted, reflecting the cumulative toll of more than two years of war even as humanitarian aid had scaled up since the October 2025 ceasefire.
For the latter group, the damage may be permanent: stunting can affect a child’s brain development, learning ability and future health for the rest of their lives.
“Acute malnutrition can improve within weeks,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. “The wider damage does not.”
In August 2025, a UN-backed measure of food insecurity, IPC, confirmed famine in Gaza.
At the time, humanitarian access had been severely restricted since the war began in 2023, and 17,000 children were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment that month at hospitals in Gaza.
Since the October ceasefire, Israel eased restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, which has helped prevent mass starvation. The same figure dropped to 3,000 by March 2026, but it hasn’t been enough to protect children’s long-term growth and development.
Nearly one in 10 women of reproductive age were themselves malnourished, according to the survey. These mothers are at risk of having low birth weight babies and unwittingly passing on their nutrient deprivation to their children.
Additionally, the survey found that rates of breastfeeding remained high, but only between 20 and 30 per cent of toddlers ate a sufficiently diverse diet, according to multiple measures.
“Behind these numbers are children who are not getting the diverse, nutritious food they need to grow and stay healthy,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
Children who become ill in Gaza often cannot access treatment, especially for diarrhoea, the survey found, and vaccination rates fall short of the crucial herd immunity threshold.
UNICEF’s survey measured nearly 1,335 children and interviewed more than 2,000 households, making it representative of the Gazan population living in accessible areas.
“We continue to call for sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, including for fuel, continued funding for nutrition, health, water and sanitation services and open commercial markets, so that children and families can get the food and essential services they need to prevent further deterioration,” Mr. Dujarric said.
UNICEF warned that the situation remains fragile as sustained humanitarian access is pivotal.
The findings illustrate what UN agencies have warned for years: humanitarian aid works in the short term to address crises, but any disruption to aid, new displacement or disease outbreak could push acute malnutrition rates back up very quickly.
Despite gains, the underlying drivers of long-term health, including poor diet diversity, sick mothers, recurring childhood illness, incomplete vaccination and deworming, remain.
“Children need safe water, health care, and diverse and nutritious food, not only enough calories to survive,” Mr. Beigbeder said.
A report released by UNICEF alongside the survey results recommended:
