CrossFireArabia
In front of my destroyed home in Gaza
This bright morning, filled with hope, I stood before my ruined house and shouted with all my heart: I swear to you, we will rebuild it stronger than ever. I swear to you, our homeland will bloom again. I swear to you, the sun of freedom is on its way.
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CrossFireArabia
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the intensifying Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, warning that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced already amid an “alarming wave” of violence and destruction.
Since the start of the offensive on 21 January, Israeli forces have killed at least 44 Palestinians, including five children and two women, in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas governorates, and four refugee camps in those areas, according to OHCHR.
Many of those killed were unarmed and posed no imminent threat, said the UN rights office, calling the killings “part of an expanding pattern of Israel’s unlawful use of force in the West Bank where there are no active hostilities.”
OHCHR also highlighted an unprecedented scale of mass displacement not seen in decades in the occupied West Bank.
It cited reports from displaced residents of a pattern where they were led out of their homes by Israeli security forces and drones under the threat of violence.
“They are then forced out of their towns with snipers positioned on rooftops around them and houses in their neighbourhoods used as posts by Israeli security forces,” the office said.
Testimonies collected by OHCHR describe Israeli forces threatening residents who were told they would never be allowed to return. One woman, who fled barefoot carrying her two young children, said she was denied permission to retrieve heart medication for her baby.
In Jenin refugee camp, bulldozed roads were photographed with new street signs reportedly now written in Hebrew.
“In this regard, we reiterate that any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited and amounts to a crime under international law,” OHCHR stated.
The office stressed that displaced Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes and called for immediate, transparent investigations into the killings.
“Military commanders and other superiors may be held responsible for the crimes committed by their subordinates if they fail to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish unlawful killings,” it stated.
OHCHR also reiterated Israel’s obligations under international law, including ending its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible and evacuating all West Bank settlements immediately.
“In the meantime, as the occupying power, Israel must ensure the protection of Palestinians, the provision of basic services and needs, and the respect of Palestinians’ full range of human rights,” the office said.
© WFP
WFP aid trucks cross into Gaza via the Zikim and Kerem Shalom border crossings.
Meanwhile in Gaza, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday it had reached more than 860,000 men, women and children with food parcels, hot meals, bread and cash assistance since the start of the fragile ceasefire.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at a regular news briefing in New York that over 19,000 metric tonnes of WFP food have entered Gaza.
The agency has also distributed nutrition packs to some 85,000 people, including children under five, and pregnant and breastfeeding women, and provided more than 90,000 people with cash assistance in the past two weeks.
“Efforts are also underway to establish more food distribution points, especially in North Gaza, to reduce travel distances, transport costs and protection risks for families,” Mr. Dujarric said.
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) distributed 100,000 litres of fuel to hospitals in Gaza City on Friday, having delivered about 5,000 litres of fuel to Al Awda Hospital, in North Gaza governorate the day before.
In southern Gaza, education partners in Rafah are preparing for the reopening of at least a dozen schools as displaced families return to their home areas, Mr. Dujarric said.
“As you know, schools across the Strip had been used as shelters for Palestinians displaced during 15 months of hostilities. In Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, partners are providing cleaning materials to restart learning activities,” he added.
CrossFireArabia
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Saturday handed over three Israeli hostages in two locations in the Gaza Strip to the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of the ongoing prisoner exchange deal.
According to an Anadolu correspondent, two Israeli hostages – Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas – were handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The third Israeli captive, Samuel Siegel, who also holds US citizenship, was handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in the Gaza City seaport by the Al-Qassam Brigades.
The Palestinian group confirmed handing over the three Israeli captives, including a US-Israeli dual national, in Gaza in exchange for the release of a new batch of the “heroic prisoners from occupation’s prisons.”
Hamas also said that despite harsh conditions in Gaza, the Al-Qassam Brigades offered required health care to captives.
Separately, the Israeli army confirmed that the three hostages were handed over to the army by the Red Cross, and were taken to Israel.
According to an Anadolu correspondent, the transfer took place amid significant presence of Palestinians.
Members of Al-Qassam Brigades were also heavily deployed in the area to oversee the transfer, the correspondent added.
The Red Cross vehicles, which arrived in Khan Younis and Gaza City earlier in the day, facilitated the handover as per the terms agreed for today’s exchange.
This marks the latest stage in the multi-phase swap deal between Hamas and Israel which has seen the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages and soldiers.
The exchange process has been taking place under international mediation efforts.
Following their release, the Israeli side is expected to release later in the day 183 Palestinians from Israeli jails, including 111 arrested by the Israeli army in Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023, according to an earlier statement by the Hamas-run Prisoners’ Information Office.
CrossFireArabia
Heavy rains have inundated over 1,542 tents housing displaced civilians in the Gaza Strip in the past two days amid Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave, the Civil Defense Service said on Wednesday.
“Hundreds of tents were flooded with rainwater at a level exceeding 30 centimeters,” the agency said in a statement.
“Many people were reported to be shivering from the cold as their belongings were damaged by the rainwater,” it added.
The service said torrential rains have swept away 497 tents in Gaza City, 210 in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, 170 in Rafah and 665 in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The Gaza Strip has been hit by a cold wave and torrential rains since Sunday, bringing more misery to the territory’s 2.3 million population.
Local health authorities said Monday that at least seven people, including six babies, froze to death due to the winter cold in the enclave, according to Anadolu.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 45,500 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, reducing the enclave to rubble.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
CrossFireArabia
Activist Anas Samhan writes a reflection on the relentless tragedies of war, encapsulating the unyielding suffering endured by countless displaced people in the Gaza Strip. He paints a harrowing picture of destruction, hunger, killing, and hard conditions of seasons. Samhan’s words underscore the diverse, unimaginable ways people face death in such circumstances.
