News Archives - Page 198 of 405

Israel Drops 100,000 Tons of Explosives on Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 22, 2025

After more than 15 months of the bloody Israeli genocide, the Gaza Strip appears as if it has just emerged from a devastating earthquake due to the massive destruction of buildings, facilities and streets.

The destruction of infrastructure, including homes, buildings, facilities, streets, water and sewage networks, stands unprecedented in modern history.

Around 100,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza during the lsraeli aggression. pic.twitter.com/h4McpHxsiR
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 22, 2025

This destruction, halted for the time being by a ceasefire agreement that went into effect between Hamas and Israel last Sunday morning, days after it was reached through US, Qatar and Egypt mediation has left a stark and harsh humanitarian reality.

Gaza Government Media Office figures released Tuesday, states the Israeli army dropped over 100,000 tons of explosives on the Strip causing the destruction of about 88 percent of the infrastructure, homes, water and sewage networks, electricity and the economy.

The cost of the initial direct losses from this war of extermination exceeds $38 billion.

The first phase of the agreement is scheduled to last for 42 days, during which negotiations will be held to start a second and then a third phase.

Between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2024, the Israeli genocide left more than 157,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. This is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

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30,000 Orphans…

CrossFireArabia
January 22, 2025

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Gaza Celebrates!

CrossFireArabia
January 22, 2025

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Rebuilding Gaza is a Massive Task

CrossFireArabia
January 21, 2025

The rebuilding process in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of Israeli bombardment will “take an awful lot of time” despite the promised surge in humanitarian deliveries, a UN official in Gaza has warned.

“We’re not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, infrastructure. We’ve got individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” Sam Rose, acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, told the BBC.

“We’re expecting a major uptick in the volume of aid that’s coming in, and of course it’s far easier for us to go and collect that aid because many of the problems that we have faced so far in the war go away when the fighting stops,” Rose said.

Sam Rose, @UNRWA Senior Deputy Field Director, speaks from Khan Younis, #Gaza, about the mood among the people following the ceasefire and hostage release deal that took effect on Sunday pic.twitter.com/9S6c2yvKXD
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) January 21, 2025

But he also stressed that “we have to get away from thinking of people’s needs in Gaza as a function of the volume of aid”.

“Every person in Gaza has been traumatised by what’s gone on. Everyone has lost something. Most of those homes are now destroyed, most of the roads are now destroyed,” he added. “It’s going to be a long, long process of rehabilitation and rebuilding.”

The World Health Organization’s regional director, Hanan Balkhy, meanwhile said it had a 60-day plan to get Gaza’s health system back on its feet to meet the population’s urgent needs and prioritize care for the thousands of people with life-changing injuries.

The plan includes repairing Gaza’s hospitals – half of which are out of service and the others are only partially functional – setting up temporary clinics in the hardest-hit areas, addressing malnutrition and controlling disease outbreaks.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has also been displaced multiple times, 60% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated 1.84 million people across Gaza were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and that 133,000 people were facing catastrophic levels, which can lead to starvation and death.

The following month, an IPC committee warned that there was a strong likelihood that famine was “imminent” in some areas of northern Gaza.

Before the ceasefire, the UN said the besieged northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun had been largely cut off from food assistance since the Israeli military launched a ground offensive and siege in October according to the Quds News Network.

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Trump: Gaza is a ‘Huge Demolition Site’ That Can be ‘Rebuilt’

CrossFireArabia
January 21, 2025

US President Donald Trump said he is not confident that the ceasefire agreement on Gaza would continue. He stressed the Strip was subjected to massive destruction but did not rule out taking part in the reconstruction of the 364-kilometer-enclave.

Trump spoke to reporters on Monday from the Oval Office while signing executive orders on the first day of his second term, and said in response to a question about the possibility of continuing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, “I’m not confident. This is not our war, this is their war.”

Speaking to reporters, Monday, from the Oval Office while signing executive orders on the first day of his second term as US president, Trump said in response to a question about the possibility of continuing the Gaza ceasefire: “I’m not confident. This is not our war, this is their war.”

While claiming that Hamas was “weakened” after the Israeli war on the Strip for 15 months, he added: “As to the future regarding the rule of Gaza, that depends on several things, and I still cannot imagine that. Most of those who ruled there were killed, and there are those who rule in a brutal way.”

Trump pointed out Gaza was subjected to massive destruction. He described it as a “huge demolition site” but must be rebuilt in a different way, indicating his administration may contribute to the reconstruction of the Strip.

https://twitter.com/BeckettUnite/status/1881602162784104472

“There are some beautiful things you can do there. The coast is amazing, the weather and the location are great. There are some beautiful things you can do in Gaza. There are some beautiful things you can do in Gaza,” he said.

In his inauguration speech, Trump said that he wants to be a peacemaker: “My proudest legacy is to be a peacemaker and a unifier. That’s what I want to be and that’s what I want to do. And I’m so happy that the day before I took office for a second term, the hostages in the Middle East are coming home.”

The Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect at 8:30 am last Sunday, ending 471 days of genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation army on the Strip, which left more than 158,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Trump says he’s not confident Gaza’s ceasefire will last: it’s not our war, he says citing its beautiful location — in a ‘real estate’ theft sort of way pic.twitter.com/bNuECGoY03
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) January 21, 2025

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, announced last Wednesday evening the success of the efforts of the mediators (Doha, Cairo and Washington) in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The agreement consists of three stages, each lasting 42 days, and includes a cessation of military operations, the withdrawal of the occupation army from populated areas in Gaza, the opening of the Rafah crossing and enhancing the entry of aid through it, and the exchange of prisoners according to Quds Press.