LOURDES, France: A top Catholic cleric from Iraq said his country has “lost all confidence” despite the rout of Daesh, and needs an economic and cultural “Marshall Plan.”
“It’s much deeper than simply giving money,” Yousef Thomas Mirkis told AFP after addressing a meeting of French bishops in the southwestern French pilgrimage town of Lourdes.
Mirkis, the Chaldean archbishop of the northern diocese of Kirkuk, said the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 had “opened a Pandora’s box, and today we see the consequences of the destabilization of the entire region.”
Iraq will long struggle with “many difficulties,” said Mirkis. “We know that sectarianism has failed, American-style democracy has failed. The only thing that will succeed is a rebirth arising from the grassroots.”
He said that if young people under 30, who make up some 60 percent of the population, “do not rise to the occasion, nothing can be done.”
The 68-year-old cleric, who received some of his training in France, thanked the French Catholic Church in a speech on Tuesday for its support to hundreds of Iraqi students who fled to Kirkuk from areas that fell to Daesh during a sweeping 2014 offensive, especially the militants’ Iraqi bastion Mosul.
He urged the bishops to further their support for Iraq, saying: “One could think of a new Marshall Plan. The survival of our communities depends at least in part on economics, which demands a comprehensive approach in the short, medium and long term.”
Mirkis noted that Iraq has lost more than half of its Christian population in recent years. Today, they number fewer than 350,000.
“One of the world’s oldest Christian communities is disappearing in Iraq before our eyes amid widespread indifference,” he said.
Chaldean Christians are the most numerous in Iraq. Before the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, they numbered more than 1 million, including more than 600,000 in Baghdad.
The prelate said Daesh at its peak had many people in its thrall, even if they were “not won over to the ideology.”
He added: “The media talk about the defeat of Daesh (an Arabic acronym for IS)... but there is the mentality that Daesh created.”
The human, socioeconomic and political situation “must be taken into consideration,” he said.
“You cannot ignore the (need for) stability in a country that has lost all confidence in the future, so there’s really a lot of work to do,” added Mirkis, who is also archbishop of Sulaimaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The “yes” vote in an independence referendum in September in the Kurdish region — opposed not just by Baghdad but also Iran, Turkey and the Kurds’ Western allies — impeded the return of Christians to Mosul and nearby Qaraqosh, he said.
Mirkis said investing in students in Iraq was cheaper than providing scholarships in France, adding: “Emigration is not the answer, it’s an uprooting, a loss of identity.”
He added: “A Marshall Plan is much, much better than spending €2,000 ($2,300) to put a student through a year of university.”
Mirkis said Iraqi universities “need the experience of a country like France, which also once needed to rebuild its country” — in the aftermath of World War II.
Kirkuk archbishop urges ‘Marshall Plan’ for Iraq
Kirkuk archbishop urges ‘Marshall Plan’ for Iraq
’Living in a cage’: West Bank checkpoints proliferate after Gaza truce
- According to the Palestinian Wall Resistance Commission, 146 iron gates were erected around the West Bank after the Gaza war began
TAYBEH, Palestinian Territories: Father Bashar Basiel moved freely in and out of his parish in the occupied West Bank until Israeli troops installed gates at the entrance of his village Taybeh overnight, just hours after a ceasefire began in Gaza.
“We woke up and we were surprised to see that we have the iron gates in our entrance of Taybeh, on the roads that are going to Jericho, to Jerusalem, to Nablus,” said Basiel, a Catholic priest in the Christian village north of Ramallah.
All over the West Bank, commuters have been finding that their journey to work takes much longer since the Gaza ceasefire started.
“We have not lived such a difficult situation (in terms of movement) since the Second Intifada,” Basiel told AFP in reference to a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.
He said he was used to the checkpoints, which are dotted along the separation barrier that cuts through much of the West Bank and at the entrances to Palestinian towns and cities.
But while waiting times got longer in the aftermath of the October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war, now it has become almost impossible to move between cities and villages in the West Bank.
Left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli authorities ordered the military to operate dozens of checkpoints around the West Bank during the first 42 days of the ceasefire.
According to the Palestinian Wall Resistance Commission, 146 iron gates were erected around the West Bank after the Gaza war began, 17 of them in January alone, bringing the total number of roadblocks in the Palestinian territory to 898.
“Checkpoints are still checkpoints, but the difference now is that they’ve enclosed us with gates. That’s the big change,” said Anas Ahmad, who found himself stuck in traffic for hours on his way home after a usually open road near the university town of Birzeit was closed.
Hundreds of drivers were left idling on the road out of the city as they waited for the Israeli soldiers to allow them through.
The orange metal gates Ahmad was referring to are a lighter version of full checkpoints, which usually feature a gate and concrete shelters for soldiers checking drivers’ IDs or searching their vehicles.
“The moment the truce was signed, everything changed 180 degrees. The Israeli government is making the Palestinian people pay the price,” said Ahmad, a policeman who works in Ramallah.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani did not comment on whether there had been an increase in the number of checkpoints but said the military used them to arrest wanted Palestinian militants.
“We make sure that the terrorists do not get away but the civilians have a chance to get out or go wherever they want and have their freedom of movement,” he said in a media briefing on Wednesday.
Basiel said that now, when the gates are closed, “I have to wait, or I have to take another way” into Taybeh, a quiet village known for its brewery.
He said that on Monday people waited in their cars from 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 am while each vehicle entering the village was meticulously checked.
Another Ramallah area resident, who preferred not to be named for security reasons, compared his new environment to that of a caged animal.
“It’s like rabbits living in a cage. In the morning they can go out, do things, then in the evening they have to go home to the cage,” he said.
Shadi Zahod, a government employee who commutes daily between Salfit and Ramallah, felt similarly constrained.
“It’s as if they’re sending us a message: stay trapped in your town, don’t go anywhere,” he told AFP.
“Since the truce, we’ve been paying the price in every Palestinian city,” he said, as his wait at a checkpoint in Birzeit dragged into a third hour.
Before approving the Gaza ceasefire, Israel’s security cabinet reportedly added to its war goals the “strengthening of security” in the West Bank.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel “is merely shifting its focus from Gaza to other areas it controls in the West Bank.”
A 2019 academic paper by Jerusalem’s Applied Research Institute estimated that at the time Palestinians lost 60 million work hours per year to restrictions.
But for Basiel, the worst impact is an inability to plan even a day ahead.
“The worst thing that we are facing now, is that we don’t have any vision for the near future, even tomorrow.”
‘Killed, maimed, frozen to death’: UN Security Council meets to discuss plight of Gaza’s kids
- UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher tells council members of urgent need for donations to meet $4bn funding target for 2025
- The growing struggles of civilians in the West Bank must also not be ignored, he adds
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s humanitarian chief on Thursday called for urgent action to protect children in Gaza and ensure their well-being amid the fragile ceasefire and ongoing humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Speaking during a meeting of the Security Council to discuss “the plight of children in the Gaza Strip,” Tom Fletcher emphasized the scale of suffering among Palestinian youngsters there as he urged the international community to ensure the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas holds, and to scale up deliveries of humanitarian aid.
Fletcher said the ceasefire deal, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US, has brought a temporary reprieve for civilians, and is allowing Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians to be reunited with their families.
The truce has also enabled a surge in the amount of life-saving humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, providing a glimmer of hope for the millions of residents suffering as a result of the conflict.
“We can save more lives if all parties continue to honor the deal,” Fletcher said, thanking the mediators for their tireless efforts to facilitate the agreement and address the operational challenges in its implementation.
The 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have taken a profound toll on the children in the territory, the suffering of whom reached catastrophic proportions during that time, he added.
Fletcher painted a harrowing picture of the devastating effects of the conflict on the children of Gaza. Thousands lost their lives, an estimated 17,000 have been left without their families, and many more were injured or are suffering from malnutrition and psychological trauma.
He gave examples of the cruel conditions under which young people have been forced to lived, cited instances of unborn children perishing with their mothers, and detailed the desperate plight of more than 150,000 pregnant women and new mothers who are in urgent need of healthcare.
“The children of Gaza have been killed, starved, maimed, orphaned and separated from their families,” Fletcher said as he condemned the violence and deprivation. “A generation has been traumatized.”
Aside from the physical harm, children have endured deep psychological scars, with UNICEF estimating that 1 million youngsters are in need of mental health support for anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
“Many have faced sexual violence,” Fletcher said. “Girls, who have endured the additional indignity of no access to menstrual care, have been left exposed and vulnerable.”
The war has had devastating effects on education as well, with schools destroyed and many children denied access to learning, he added.
But despite the overwhelming challenges, the international humanitarian community has made significant strides in the days since the ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, Fletcher said.
He highlighted the increased flow of aid into Gaza, including food, medical supplies and fuel, which has enabled critical services to resume or continue operating.
With the UN Relief and Works Agency at the forefront of the efforts, humanitarian agencies have scaled up their operations, delivering emergency shelter to protect people from the winter weather, food and life-saving medical care.
“We are getting supplies to designated emergency shelters and distribution centers across the Gaza Strip,” Fletcher said.
“We are delivering food parcels, distributing fuel to ensure that healthcare and water systems can function, and reopening bakeries to help meet basic nutritional needs.”
While these efforts are vital, Fletcher stressed that they will only be able continue with sustained funding and unimpeded access.
He appealed to UN member states to help replenish humanitarian stockpiles and called for greater involvement of the private sector to meet the needs of the 2 million residents of Gaza.
Fletcher stressed the urgent need for donations to help meet the $4.07 billion target of the UN’s 2025 Flash Appeal, to help address the needs of 3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank. Almost 90 percent of the total is needed for the humanitarian response in Gaza alone.
But while much of the international attention has focused on the Strip, Fletcher also warned the Security Council about the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, where violence and displacement have reached unprecedented levels since October 2023.
He described attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages, and ongoing military operations, particularly in Jenin, that have displaced thousands and caused significant damage to infrastructure.
“The situation in the West Bank must not be ignored,” Fletcher said. “We need to ensure that humanitarian aid and protection reach those in need, and that international law is respected.”
He once again urged council members to ensure the ceasefire holds, and that the flow of aid continues to those in need, in both Gaza and the West Bank. He called for the protection of Palestinian civilians, the release of all hostages and detainees, and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers.
“The children of Gaza are not collateral damage,” Fletcher said. “They are as deserving as children everywhere of security, education and hope. We must be there for them now, when they need us most.”
Gaza hostage families conflicted over those not on release list
TEL AVIV: The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are trapped in limbo, two days before the second prisoner exchange of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, with many having relatives both on the list to be freed and those who aren’t.
Among them is Silvia Cunio, an Argentine-Israeli from the Nir Oz kibbutz community. She has two sons in captivity, one of whom was taken along with his partner Arbel Yehud.
She is on the list — but the Cunio brothers, David and Ariel, are not.
They are among the 91 hostages taken captive during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and still held in the Gaza Strip. Of that number, 34 are dead according to the Israeli military.
The ceasefire’s 42-day first phase began on Sunday with the release of three women hostages. A total of 33 captives are to be exchanged during the initial phase in return for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Standing in front of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Cunio demanded that the ceasefire deal continue beyond the first phase to completion so she could see her sons again.
“I came here to say that I continue to fight for my children... to demand that they stop the war and don’t stop fighting for my children,” she said, wearing a T-shirt with their image on it.
Cunio presented herself as an untrammelled optimist, saying that her sons “will come back in good health. That is my hope and it is what keeps me going.”
Whenever she appears on TV, Cunio addresses her sons directly, just in case they might hear her.
“David, my darling, Ariel... I am here, I am fighting, I am doing everything I can. We love you. Be strong. We are here waiting for you.”
Another hostage relative, Sharon Sharabi, has two brothers Eli and Yossi in Gaza. Eli is presumed alive. The Israeli military said early last year that Yossi was dead.
As a man over 50, Eli Sharabi is on the list of 33 to be freed, alongside women, children and hostages who are ill or injured. The release of the remaining 61 people taken by Palestinian militants is dependent on further negotiations.
“As far as we know, Eli is alive. We have not received any statement from the security forces or the (military) confirming that Eli is no longer alive. So we want to maintain this optimism and pray that we will see him on his feet very soon,” said Sharabi.
Moved by the possibility, he allowed himself to imagine a reunion between his nearly octogenarian mother and his brother.
Yet, within moments, anxiety intruded.
If his brother Eli returns, Sharon Sharabi will have to tell him that his wife and two daughters were killed on October 7, 2023, and that their brother Yossi died in captivity.
Yossi and Eli were taken captive from Beeri, a kibbutz community where Eli’s wife and teenage daughters were found dead in their home.
Itzik Horn, 72, also an Argentine-Israeli, has similar contrasting emotions. He hopes for the release of his son Yair, 46, who is on the list of 33 because of his diabetes.
But there is also the pain of his other son, Eitan, 38, remaining in Gaza.
“They cut me in half. This is an impossible situation. One son might be released, and the other one isn’t,” Horn said.
Eitan was visiting his older brother in Nir Oz on October 7, when militants took the two of them hostage.
The kibbutz, less than three kilometers (two miles) from the Gaza border, was hit extremely hard during the Hamas attack. More than 30 people were killed in Nir Oz and 70 taken hostage, with 25 still in the Gaza Strip.
Horn was angry, insisting that “everyone has to return, including the bodies.”
He admitted that dark humor helped him cope with the pain.
“Yair inherited his diabetes from me and he was always mad at me (for it). Now, if he’s freed first because of his illness, he’ll be able to thank me,” he joked.
Asked what he would do if, after the first phase of the ceasefire the war resumed, Horn said: “I’m going to burn the country down... because that’s like signing their death sentence.”
UN says 653 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 653 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the fifth day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
OCHA cited information received from Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement — the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Gazans prepare tent camps for families returning to north
GAZA CITY: Palestinians in northern Gaza prepared tent encampments for displaced families on Thursday, two days before they were expected to return to their home areas under the timeline of a ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas.
On open ground surrounded by blown-out buildings, a group of men began putting up rows of white tents to receive families who are planning to return north on Saturday when Hamas is due to release a second batch of hostages in return for dozens of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expected to head back to the northern Gaza Strip will return to homes in ruins after a 15-month Israeli military offensive that has laid waste to the enclave and killed more than 47,000 Gazans.
In October, Israeli forces returned to areas of the north in a major anti-Hamas operation focused on the Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City and Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya towns, clearing the area of its inhabitants and razing most of its buildings.
“Is this the tent that we dreamed of? This will have to fit 10 people. This tent is for my children who are coming from the south. Really, is this adequate space?” asked Wael Jundiya as he prepared a tent for his children, who will return from where they had been sheltering in the Mawasi coastal area of the south.
“On Saturday, people will come from the south and flood Gaza (City). Where will they go? This camp will fit 100, 200 people. There will be 1.5 million coming from the south,” Jundiya told Reuters.
Hamas published a statement on Thursday saying the return of the displaced families would begin after Saturday’s exchange was complete and once Israeli forces had pulled out from the coastal road to the north.
At least four hostages are expected to be handed over to Israel on Saturday.
Highlighting concerns by many Palestinians over how strong the phased ceasefire is, an Israeli tank shelling killed two Gazans in Rafah in the south of the enclave, the local civil emergency service said.
