(UN News)* —Monday ’s vote by the Israeli Knesset banning the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) contradicts principles of the UN Charter, violates Israel’s obligations under international law, and sets a dangerous precedent, the head of the Agency, Philippe Lazzarini has warned. The UN chief pledged later he would take the issue to the General Assembly.
“This is the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine refugees,” Mr. Lazzarini said in a post on X, following reports of the long-anticipated vote being taken by Knesset members, passing by a margin on 92-10.
25 Oct 2024 – Western publics are being subjected to a campaign of psychological warfare, where genocide is classed as ‘self-defence’ and opposition to it ‘terrorism.’
Israel knew that, if it could stop foreign correspondents from reporting directly from Gaza, those journalists would end up covering events in ways far more to its liking.
They would hedge every report of a new Israeli atrocity – if they covered them at all – with a “Hamas claims” or “Gaza family members allege”.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 2024 (IPS)* – As it continues to leave a mounting trail of death and destruction in Gaza, Israel has come under severe attack from the international community, including the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, Western allies, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and scores of human rights experts.
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haiti today marks another grim milestone, as the number of people facing acute hunger has now reached half of the country’s population, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis (30 September 2024).
(UN News)* —The UN’s top humanitarian official warned on Saturday [] that the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying, calling for an immediate stop to “blatant disregard for basic humanity” by Israeli forces.
UN | Aftermath of an Israeli strike at a site where displaced civilians were sheltering in northern Gaza. (file)
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“What Israeli forces are doing in besieged north Gaza cannot be allowed to continue,” said Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
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Hospitals have been hit, health workers detained and first responders prevented from rescuing people trapped under the rubble, she noted. “Shelters have been emptied and burned down…families have been separated, and men and boys taken away by the truckload,” she added.
Fighting Cholera: Prevention efforts for displaced families in Yemen
Awareness session with Ali, a displaced person in Amran governorate, Kharef camp. Photo: NRC.
20 October 2024 — Over 18.6 million Yemenis, more than half of the total population, currently need humanitarian assistance. Many are living in collective sites or camps for displaced people.
In such locations, cholera, a potentially fatal disease, poses a significant threat. Lack of access to clean water, proper latrines and health education all contribute to the spread of this disease.
The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of children and their families.
UNICEF/UNI652312/Choufany
23 October 2024 (UNICEF)* — “We could see the rockets above us. We saw them while we were running,” Zeinab says as she recalls the moments after she fled from her aunt’s home. “We saw them and just kept running.”
Zeinab is one of the more than 1 million people in Lebanon who have been displaced by the catastrophic escalation of hostilities.
EAST JERUSALEM/AMMAN/GENEVA, 23 October 2024 (UNICEF/WHO)* – Due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza, the Polio Technical Committee for Gaza, including the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and partners have been compelled to postpone the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign, which was set to begin today.
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This final phase of the ongoing campaign aimed to vaccinate 119,279 children across northern Gaza.
(UN News)* — More than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing “extremely critical” levels of hunger, with 70 per cent of crop fields destroyed and livelihoods decimated during the ongoing Israeli military offensive, a UN-backed food security assessment released on Thursday [] has revealed.
Figures from the global IPC food security initiative show that 133,000 people – or 6 per cent of the enclave’s population – are already experiencing Phase 5 or “catastrophic” food insecurity.
During the first seven months of the war, Israel is estimated to have dropped more than 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, far surpassing that of Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined during World War II.
Based on reported and estimated mortality, it appears clear that the Palestinian death toll in Gaza is among the highest civilian mortality rates of the 21st century. Credit: WHO
PORTLAND, USA, Oct 17 2024 (IPS)* – Following the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants, Israel’s response has led to unprecedented high mortality levels in the Gaza Strip.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 