EU Chief Condemns IRCC Office Shelling in Gaza

Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, says the European Union  condemns the shelling of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) office in Gaza by Israel.

The shelling led to dozens of casualties. Borrell called for an independent investigation to hold those responsible for the shelling.

He said that protection of civilians is an obligation under the Geneva Conventions adding the ICRC must be able to carry out all it Geneva Conventions duties in safety, including humanitarian protection, assistance to the victims and access to safety.  

In a statement by the ICRC office is stated that “heavy-caliber projectiles landed within meters of the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Friday, afternoon.”

It added “the strike damaged the structure of the ICRC office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, including many “of our Palestinian colleagues.”

The statement went on: “This incident caused a mass casualty influx at the nearby Red Cross Field Hospital. The hospital was receiving 22 killed, 45 injured and reports of additional casualties.”

The ICRC have called this as a “grave security incident” as “one of several in recent days”, adding that “previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structure.”   

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76% of Gaza Schools in Ruin

Over three-quarters of schools in the Gaza Strip need to be rebuilt or restored before they can be used for teaching, maintains UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, Friday according to Anadolu.

“In Gaza, over 76% of schools need reconstructing or require major rehabilitation to be functional again,” UNRWA quoted a statement by the Global Education Cluster as saying.

Established in 2017, the Global Education Cluster is a coordinating mechanism between aid organizations working in the field of education in the cases of internal displacement caused by conflicts. It is co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

UNRWA added that despite the ongoing war on Gaza, its teams “continue to reach children with play and learning activities,” stressing that “education is a fundamental human right” and reiterating the need for a cease-fire in the enclave reports the Turkish news agency.

Most schools in the Palestinian enclave have been turned into shelters for hundreds of thousands of people seeking refuge from the ongoing Israeli bombardment, with many completely destroyed or badly damaged in the onslaught that has continued since Oct. 7 last year.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since the 7 Octtober, 2023 attack by Hamas.

The Palestinian death toll from relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last October has exceeded 37,400, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave.

More than 85,600 people have also been injured in the onslaught, the ministry added.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6 concludes Anadolu.

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Armenia Recognizes Palestinian State

The republic of Armenia is the latest country to recognize the independent state of Palestine.

“Always being a support of two-state solution in Israeli-Palestinian conflict Armenia made a decision to recognize the independent state of Palestine,” wrote the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vohan Kostanyan on his X account.

This recognition follows similar declarations last month by Slovenia, Spain, Norway and Ireland further bolstering international support for Palestinian statehood, reported Wafa.

The official recognition by Armenia raises the number of countries that recognize Palestinian statehood to 149 out of 193 member states of the UN General Assembly added the Palestinian news agency.

“The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing military conflict is one of the primary issues on the international political agenda that requires resolution,” said the MFA in a statement.

“The Republic of Armenia categorically rejects the targeting of civilian infrastructures, violence against the civilian population and the hostage-taking and capture of civilians during the armed conflict and joins the demands of the international community for their release without preconditions,” it added.

In response to the recognition, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summond the Armenian Ambassador to Israel for a “stern reprimand, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The ministry said Armenia earlier supported the UN General Assembly resolutions calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since last October as reported in Anadolu.

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Salim Al Shara Joins 152 Journalists Killed by Israel

The Israeli war on journalists in the Gaza Strip continues unabated. Salim Al Sharafa, a broadcaster for Al Aqsa Satellite TV becomes journalist no 152 to have been killed by the relentless Israeli bombing on the enclave.

His name is trending on the social media. Since the war begun soon after 7 October, Israel has consistently targeted journalists, TV anchors and media workers throughout the Gaza Strip.

The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed the killing of Al Sharafa.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the war in Gaza has become “the deadliest for journalists” since it began documenting journalist killings worldwide in 1992, according to Anadolu.

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Sidoti: ‘The Israeli Army is One of The Most Criminal Armies in The World’

Chris Sidoti is a of the members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. The Committee headed by Navi Pillay, was presenting its findings to the UN Council, Wednesday, 19 June, 2024 and looked on the legality of the Israeli army’s conduct in Gaza. He said:

“…You mention the Israeli army is the most moral army in the world. I mean this is something that is said repeatedly by the current prime minister of Israel, [Benjamin] Netanyahu. On one recent occasion, he walked it back a bit and he said one of the most moral armies in the world.”

Now I don’t have the expertise and I don’t have the authority to make assessments of morality. Netanyahu may, but I don’t.

…I don’t know whether its’s one of the most moral armies in the world or not but what I do have expertise in, and what I do have an authority to do is make assessments of criminal conduct.

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/6/19/the-israeli-army-is-one-of-the-most-criminal-in-the-world-says-un-expert

And we’ve done that in relation to the recent events and you can see that in the report. And the only conclusion you can draw is that the Israeli army is one of the most criminal armies in the world,” he concluded.

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