CrossFireArabia- December 31, 2024
Gaza’s civil defense is responding to hundreds of distress calls from displaced residents after heavy rainfall flooded their tents, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation in the region.
Baathist Maysaa Sabrine Appointed as Syria’s Central Bank Chief
- CrossFireArabia
- December 30, 2024
Syria’s new interim government is moving full-blast ahead on women’s right. It has just appointed, Monday Maysaa Sabrine as the new governor of the country’s Central Bank. This is the second woman appointment in the new administration of Ahmed Al Sharaa, seen as an Islamist extremist turned liberal.
She becomes the first woman to hold such a top position in the bank’s seven decade history and is expected to lead Syria into the modern age in a post-Baathist government.
But there is a hitch and apparently that doesn’t seem to be much bothering the new government in Damascus for Sabrine has served under the old Baathist regime as deputy governor of the Central Bank for the last six years and holds a degree in accounting.
Thus it would seem the new government is looking for meritocracy than ideological or political affiliation for Sabrine is will versed in the country’s fiscal system having also served on the board of directors of the Syria securities exchange.
Her appointment is trending on the social media as she is the second woman after Aisha Al Dibs who was made head of the Women Affairs Section in the interim administration, an appointment designed to allay the fears of the West who still see this government as an Islamist extremist one.
Therefore the appointment of Sabrine has created much talk among the social media buffs related to those who supported the move and those against it as she was part-and-parcel of the former Baath regime.
But those in favor believe the woman has a wide ranging economic experience that would be essential for the current administration. So maybe practicalities has over-ridden the ideological garb.
Gaza Genocide: Death Toll Spikes to Over 45,000
- CrossFireArabia
- December 30, 2024
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced, Monday, the death toll from the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinians has risen to 45,541 dead and 108,338 wounded since October 7, 2023.
The ministry stated in its daily statistical statement the Israeli army “committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, with 27 martyrs and 149 wounded arriving to hospitals in the past 24 hours.”
It reported “the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 45,541 martyrs and 108,338 wounded since October 7, 2023.”
The ministry indicated there are victims under the rubble of destroyed homes and on the roads, but the civil defense and ambulance crews are unable to reach them due to the repeated Israeli targeting.
The Israeli genocide since 7 October, 2023 with American support has caused the loss of more than 11,000 Palestinians, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly.
Israel continues its massacres, ignoring two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on 21 November against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
Tel Aviv has turned Gaza into the largest prison in the world, besieging it for the 18th year, and the war of extermination has forced about two million of its citizens, numbering about 2.3 million Palestinians, to flee in tragic conditions with a deliberate severe shortage of food, water and medicine.
For decades, Israel has occupied lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders before the 1967 war as reported in Anadolu.
Six Babies Freeze to Death in Gaza
- CrossFireArabia
- December 30, 2024
Seven Palestinians, including six babies and a nurse, have died from the extreme cold in war-torn Gaza Strip over the past few nights, according to the Government Media Office. The death toll is expected to rise due to the dire conditions faced by displaced people.
In a statement issued, Monday, the Office said, “The death toll from extreme cold and frost waves among the displaced in tents, whose homes were destroyed by the Israeli occupation, has risen to seven, and the number is expected to increase due to the dire conditions.”
“We have repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by the approaching weather fronts, the winter season, and the cold waves, which coincide with the tragic reality faced by our Palestinian people,” the Office added.
“They are enduring killing, genocide, and the destruction of homes and vital infrastructure and forced displacement.”
“It is expected that heavy rains will continue to fall, along with ongoing frost waves and cold weather in the coming days, posing a great risk and a real threat to the lives of the displaced who are enduring tragic suffering.”
The Office said the “Israeli occupation has forced them to flee to dilapidated tents that do not protect them from the winter cold or severe frost waves.”
Frozen to Death
Six Palestinian babies have frozen to death in Gaza over the past few nights, including three who died of hypothermia in the so-called “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi, and 20-day-old twins born one month prematurely.
Palestinian nurse Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who was among the crews working at the European Gaza Hospital, also died on Friday because of “extreme” weather conditions, according to the Health Ministry.
The Ministry said, “His body was found inside his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.”
“This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that displaced citizens are experiencing, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in tents,” the Ministry added.
Dilapidated Tents
The deaths highlight the dire conditions in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crammed into makeshift tents, fleeing Israeli shelling from various parts of the strip.
Gaza’s Government Media Office stated on Saturday that 110,000 out of 135,000 tents used by displaced Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip are now out of service and have “completely deteriorated”.
The Office accused the Israeli military of “causing a tragic humanitarian crisis” that is once again putting the lives of thousands of civilians at risk as the freezing winter sets in.
“This catastrophic humanitarian situation is a direct result of the genocide committed by the ‘Israeli’ occupation army, which has completely destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes of these citizens, forcing them to resort to living in tents that lack the minimum requirements for a decent life,” the statement said according to the Quds News Network.
