Dr Abu Safiya Set For Release
CrossFireArabia- February 19, 2025
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya maybe released from prison, Saturday.
Palestinians Condemn Fiji’s Decision to Open Embassy in Occupied Jerusalem
- CrossFireArabia
- February 19, 2025
Palestine has strongly condemned the recent decision of the Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to open a Fiji Embassy in occupied Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Hamas has called such a move as a violation of international law and other relevant UN resolutions.
In separate statements, Tuesday, they urged the Fijian government to reverse its decision.
The Fijian decision is “an act of aggression against the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” and it impedes “prospects for peace based on the principle of the two-state solution,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry according to Anadolu.
Hamas called the decision as “a blatant assault on the rights of our Palestinian people to their land and a clear violation of international law and UN resolutions, which recognize Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory.”
On Tuesday, the Fijian Foreign Ministry announced on its official website that the country’s Cabinet has approved the establishment of an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.
If the decision is not reversed which it seems likely judging from close relationship between Rabuka and Israel, Fiji will become the seventh country to have an embassy in Jerusalem after the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also affirmed it would take the necessary diplomatic, legal, and political steps to prosecute the countries that opened or relocated their embassies to Jerusalem according to the Wafa news agency.
Gaza: After 500 Days The Horrors Must Stop
- CrossFireArabia
- February 18, 2025
Palestinians in Gaza are suffering daily new horrors despite the ceasefire, Islamic Relief says as the world marks 500 days of the escalation.
Hundreds of thousands of families remain homeless, forced to live in tents or temporary shelters, as more than 92% of homes have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks and reconstruction has not yet begun. Families are still digging the bodies of loved from beneath 50 million tonnes of rubble that used to be homes, schools and health clinics, and neighbourhoods are now strewn with unexploded ordnance that have blown up and killed young children as they play or walk home.
The scale of destruction is unprecedented. Entire neighbourhoods and public services have been obliterated, and livelihoods shattered, and almost everyone left grieving. Israel’s attacks have systematically targeted every aspect of Gaza’s infrastructure and social fabric in a deliberate campaign to render Gaza unliveable.
Since the ceasefire there has been a big increase in aid allowed into Gaza, but it remains a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming needs. Although more food is now entering, there is still a desperate shortage of tents, medicine, fuel and heavy machinery for clearing rubble and repairing the damaged roads. Gaza remains under Israel’s illegal blockade that has been in place for almost 18 years, through which Israel controls the movement of all goods and people in and out of the territory and which has turned Gaza into the world’s largest open-air prison camp.
Islamic Relief has been able to scale up its work in Gaza since the ceasefire, reaching thousands more families all over the Strip. Since October 2023 Islamic Relief and partners have delivered aid including over 67 million hot cooked meals as well as supplying water, psychosocial support and physical rehabilitation for wounded children.
Yet, the ceasefire remains dangerously fragile and is being further undermined by rising Israeli attacks in the West Bank and growing threats to force Palestinians out of Gaza, which would amount to ethnic cleansing and must be opposed. International governments must not allow the ceasefire to collapse and must do all they can to ensure it becomes permanent.
The surge in Israeli attacks in the West Bank have caused the highest levels of displacement there in decades, with 40,000 Palestinians forced from their homes over the last few weeks amid deadly and indiscriminate bombardment, ground offensives and tightening restrictions on civilian movement.
International governments must ensure there is accountability for the horrors and crimes of the past 500 days. As Israel continues to violate international law through its ongoing occupation and attacks on civilians, we continue to call on governments to end the impunity and take concrete action including ending arms sales that continue to fuel further violations of international law.
Islamic Relief believes the ceasefire in Gaza must lead to a lasting peace, where all people can live in safety and dignity, with their fundamental human rights upheld. We believe this will only be possible when there is an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. International governments must immediately outline how they will abide by the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 ruling that Israel’s illegal occupation must be ended as soon as possible.
Roadmap: Gaza Needs $53 Billion to be Rebuilt
- CrossFireArabia
- February 18, 2025
Reconstruction and recovery needs in Gaza are estimated to require $53 billion, according to the Gaza & West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) released Tuesday. The report analyzes damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy based on data from October 2023-October 2024.
- Rapid Damage and Needs Assessments follow a globally recognized methodology that has been applied in multiple contexts to inform recovery and reconstruction planning.
- With on-ground access restrictions and the rapid pace at which the situation is evolving in Gaza, the IRDNA provides an interim estimate of the impacts and needs.
- Damages to physical structures alone are estimated at about $30 billion.
- Housing was by far the hardest hit sector, accounting for 53% of total damages, followed by commerce and industry at 20%.
- Extensive damage to lifeline infrastructure such as health, water and transport is estimated at over 15% of the total damages.
- Economic losses from reduced productivity, foregone revenues, and operating costs are estimated at $19 billion, with health, education and commerce bearing the biggest toll.
- Some sectors face higher recovery needs than the value of the physical destruction sustained, such as the funding needed for the management of the between 41 to 47 million tons of rubble and debris.
Almost all sectors in Gaza have experienced a total halt in economic production. Prices in Gaza have soared over 300% in one year, with food prices alone up by 450%. Gaza’s economy is projected to have contracted by 83% in 2024, dropping its overall contribution to the economy to 3%, despite being home to 40% of the population in the Palestinian territories. The West Bank’s economy is also struggling and is projected to have shrunk by 16% in 2024.
The report, jointly produced by the World Bank Group, the United Nations and the European Union, puts forward a roadmap for sequencing recovery efforts along with their associated costs in the short and medium term. It underscores the importance of a closely coordinated multisectoral response involving all stakeholders. The report further notes that the speed, scale and scope of recovery and reconstruction will be shaped by factors such as governance arrangements, entry to and mobility within the Gaza Strip for people and goods, law and order, and safety and security.
