MISRATA, Libya/BEIRUT: Over a month ago, Asmahan Balauon, a member of Libya’s eastern-based parliament, requested that it should establish a climate change committee.
She was told a date would be set to discuss the issue — but her efforts were overtaken by the fatal floods that struck the city of Derna this month after heavy rains caused the collapse of two dilapidated dams, unleashing a torrent of destruction.
“Unfortunately, our attention to... laws and elections and these things was a hindrance,” said Balauon, who is based in the coastal city of Benghazi.
Storm Daniel moved far faster than the conflict-torn nation’s politicians, triggering flooding that overwhelmed infrastructure and swept away parts of Derna, destroying hundreds of buildings.
The UN has confirmed more than 4,000 deaths from the disaster, while over 8,500 people remain unaccounted for.
A further 40,000 were displaced across northeast Libya, including at least 30,000 residents inside Derna, the UN said.
Scientists working with World Weather Attribution, a research collaboration that examines the role of global warming in specific weather events, said climate change made the heavy rainfall that led to Libya’s floods up to 50 times more likely and caused up to 50 percent more rain during that period of the year.
They also blamed other factors including building in flood plains, the poor condition of infrastructure, and years of armed conflict.
Libya’s situation echoes that of other turbulent countries like Afghanistan and large parts of Africa’s Sahel region, which face growing climate-related threats while grappling with political instability and weak governance, making it harder to access funding for measures to protect people and assets.
Back in 2007, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel peace prize laureate, described this situation as “adaptation apartheid.”
“Leaving the world’s poor to sink or swim with their own meagre resources in the face of the threat posed by climate change is morally wrong,” he wrote in a UN report. “Unfortunately... this is precisely what is happening.”
That observation about the lack of finance for vulnerable people on the frontlines of a warming world — repeated many times since by a growing chorus of climate justice activists — appears to have changed little on the ground.
Ciaran Donnelly, a senior vice president for international programs at the International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian agency, pointed to “an emerging kind of tiered system.”
He identified about 15 countries simultaneously suffering from climate volatility and conflict-driven political fragility, including Yemen and Somalia.
Much of the donor cash available for building resilience to more extreme weather and rising seas depends on having an effective government to receive the money — a requirement that risks excluding politically unstable states, he said.
“Countries... where you have this kind of weak public sector, just won’t be able to access (climate funding) and they’ll get further behind,” Donnelly said. “It really becomes a kind of self-reinforcing, vicious cycle.”
Climate change — while all but absent from the political narrative in Libya — has had a pronounced effect on the life of Walid Fathi, a 34-year-old government employee living in Al Bayda, a city west of Derna.
The floods swept away the back wall of his home and killed his neighbors, a family of seven.
What meagre savings he can muster from his salary will go toward fixing his house. He now lives in uncertainty and fear, afraid of the weather and what winter might bring.
“We do not know what to do,” he said. “We are afraid — we do not have anywhere to go.”
Neither the internationally recognized government in Tripoli nor the eastern authorities that have controlled Derna since the Libyan National Army (LNA) ousted jihadists from the city in 2019 had attempted to repair long-known weaknesses in the dams or tried to evacuate people before the forecast storm hit.
In addition, people living in different parts of the city were given different instructions by the authorities, said local families. Those living by the shore were told to evacuate, while others in the center were told to stay put, they noted.
The LNA under Khalifa Haftar is the dominant player in the eastern half of Libya, a nation that has been divided since a NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Mohamed Manfour, commander of an airport near Al-Bayda in the east, blamed the flood disaster on the international community and on governments ruling the two halves of the country.
“There are mistakes in the infrastructure, mistakes in the construction and architecture, mistakes in the lack of maintenance of dams,” he said in a phone interview.
In the hours after the catastrophe, LNA chief Haftar said on local television that the flood-hit area was suffering “difficult and painful moments,” adding he had issued orders for necessary support to be provided.
Tim Eaton, a senior research fellow on the Middle East and North Africa with Chatham House, a London-based think-tank, said the focus of many who have managed to gain power in Libya “has been staying in power,” rather than working to protect the population from external threats like climate change.
“You are definitely not going to be able to do these things and access these (climate) funds if nobody is really thinking about them and it’s not part of the political discourse,” he added.
Earlier this month, the head of the World Meteorological Organization said casualties could have been avoided in Libya’s floods if the divided country had a functional weather service.
Over in the west, at the Meteorological Center in the capital Tripoli, the number of people with technical expertise in climate change “can be counted on your fingers,” spokesperson Mohieddine Bin Ramadan told Context.
The center, which falls under the transportation ministry, lacks radars that can accurately measure rainfall across the country. Bin Ramadan said the public administration is corrupt — and bureaucracy often delays orders for months and years.
“If the government does not take care of the center, then we cannot keep up with climate change,” he said. “We are missing a lot of things; it is not easy.”
The transportation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The same issue affects climate services and infrastructure in other places around the world.
Depending on how they are managed and funded, they can either expose people to the impacts of climate change — as in Libya — or help protect them if well-maintained and planned to stand up to future climate risks.
Most of the Earth’s dams were built in the 1960s and 1970s, said Caitlin Grady, an engineering professor at George Washington University in the United States, adding that many are now reaching the end of their lifespan, threatening disaster.
“We’re still going to have extreme rainfall events all over the world,” she said, adding “I would expect this to keep happening in multiple locations unless something changes in our fight” against climate change and for climate adaptation.
Libya flood deaths expose climate chasm in conflict-hit states
https://arab.news/w45mv
Libya flood deaths expose climate chasm in conflict-hit states
- Scientists: climate change made the heavy rainfall that led to Libya’s floods up to 50 times more likely and caused up to 50 percent more rain during that period of the year
Looting cripples food supply in Gaza despite Israeli pledge to tackle gangs, sources say
- IDF has taken only limited actions against the handful of gangs operating in parts of Gaza under Israeli control, according to three officials
GAZA: Israel has failed to crack down on armed gangs attacking food convoys in Gaza, despite a pledge to do so in mid-October to help ward off famine in the Palestinian enclave, according to three UN and US officials familiar with the matter. The commitment, made behind closed doors, seemed like a breakthrough because, since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the international community has struggled to enlist Israel’s support to improve the dire humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged territory, the three senior officials said.
But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has remained focused on its fight against Hamas and taken only limited actions against the handful of gangs operating in parts of Gaza under Israeli control, according to the three officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred questions on the pledge and relief operations in Gaza to the military. An IDF spokesperson declined to comment on what was agreed in October and what has been done to curb looting.
“Israel has taken significant steps to allow the maximum possible scope of aid to Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
Now, UN and US officials say gang violence has spiraled out of control, crippling supply lines on which most of Gaza’s 2.1 million civilians rely for survival.
In October, $9.5 million worth of food and other goods – nearly a quarter of all the humanitarian aid sent to Gaza that month – was lost because of attacks and looting, according to a previously unreported tally of incidents compiled by UN relief agencies with charity organizations.
The assessment of looting in November is still underway, but preliminary data shows that it was far worse, two people familiar with the matter said. In mid-November, a 109-truck convoy chartered by UN agencies came under attack minutes after it was ordered by the IDF to leave a border crossing in southern Gaza during the night, several hours ahead of the agreed schedule, according to five people familiar with the incident, including two who were present.
Stationed nearby, the IDF did not intervene, the five people said. The IDF spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.
Georgios Petropoulos, a coordinator at the UN’s emergency-response arm, OCHA, said that aid agencies were unable to resolve the problem of lawlessness there by themselves.
“It’s just gotten too big for humanitarians to solve,” he told reporters upon returning from Gaza on Thursday.
The US Department of State declined to comment on Israel’s October commitment, but said that looting remained the primary obstacle to aid delivery.
“We continue to press Israel on the need for bolstered security to ensure convoys with critical humanitarian assistance reach Palestinian civilians throughout Gaza,” a spokesperson said.
HUMANITARIAN NADIR
Fourteen months into Israel’s war against Hamas, the international relief machine is in disarray: UN agencies and charities say the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached one of its worst points because they cannot deliver and distribute enough food and medical supplies to Gaza’s population. A new round of ceasefire talks this month has rekindled hope that Hamas would release Israeli hostages it has held captive since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year, and that solutions can be found to boost humanitarian aid.
For now, however, relief operations are hobbled by a disagreement between Israel and much of the international community over who is responsible for feeding civilians in Gaza and maintaining order in the tiny territory.
The UN and the United States have repeatedly called on Israel to comply with international humanitarian laws, and provide security and assistance to Gaza civilians. But Israeli authorities say their only duty is to facilitate the transfer of food and medical supplies, and that they regularly do much more out of goodwill.
The stalemate has made organizing and coordinating relief operations immensely difficult, said Jamie McGoldrick, who was the UN Humanitarian chief for the Occupied Palestinian Territory from December to April.
To gauge the depth of the hunger crisis, US officials said they watch the percentage of Gaza’s population to whom UN relief agencies could provide food assistance each month.
In November, it was 29 percent, up from 24 percent in October, but a sharp fall from a wartime peak of more than 70 percent in April, according to UN data.
Mohammad Abdel-Dayem, owner of the Zadna 2 bakery in central Gaza, said he and his 60 employees have been out of business for a month, unable to provide bread to the 50,000 people they normally serve.
“We’re not receiving any flour because of looting,” he told Reuters by phone last week.
The IDF spokesperson challenged the claim that some bakeries are not receiving flour.
But a daily World Food Programme review of bakery operations seen by Reuters showed that 15 of the 19 bread factories the UN agency supports in Gaza were out of operation as of Dec. 21, and that Zadna 2 has been closed since Nov. 23 due to a lack of flour.
Some of the stolen food makes its way to the market, Abdel-Dayem said, but at prohibitive prices that only very few people can afford. Relief workers said they also face difficulties in accessing northern Gaza, where the IDF resumed combat against Hamas in October. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 civilians remain stranded there, with little food and medical assistance.
The IDF spokesperson said a dedicated humanitarian response has been formulated for the area. Aside from fighting in the north, more than a dozen UN and US officials traced the deterioration of humanitarian conditions inside Gaza in the past three months to a decision by Israeli authorities in early October to ban commercial food shipments by businesses.
Those shipments accounted for nearly all the fresh food and more than half of all goods going into Gaza between May and September, according to Israeli military data.
Their abrupt suspension caused a sharp drop in supply and made attacking aid trucks an increasingly lucrative proposition, the UN and US officials said.
In October, 40 percent of aid collected from the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza was looted, according to the tally of incidents seen by Reuters.
Israeli authorities have opened a new crossing, Kissufim, but gangs have also attacked convoys along that route, the UN said.
The gangs are formed along tribal and family lines, and include some criminal elements freed from prisons in Gaza during the Israeli offensive, according to relief and transport workers in Gaza.
The UN and the United States have pressed Israel to restore commercial shipments, saying that flooding Gaza with food would drive down prices and discourage looters, but Israeli authorities have not agreed to do so.
Depleted trucks
Early in the war, the UN sought to rely on unarmed Gaza policemen to secure convoys, but Israel was opening fire on them, saying it could not tolerate any force tied to Hamas.
Visiting the Kerem Shalom crossing in late November, an Israeli officer said it was the responsibility of the UN to distribute aid to Gazans once Israel allowed food across the border.
Waiving at piles of food, Col. Abdullah Halabi – clad in a bullet-proof vest and ballistic helmet – told reporters it was aid “waiting to be picked up by international organizations.”
But OCHA’s Petropoulos said gang violence makes this nearly impossible.
He and other relief workers said they were stunned by the attack on the 109-truck convoy on Nov. 16 about four miles from the crossing.
Gunmen from several gangs surrounded the convoy and forced drivers to follow them to nearby compounds where they stole flour and food kits from 98 trucks, according to the five people familiar with the matter.
Drivers and their depleted trucks were released in the morning, they said.
Morocco proposes family law reforms to improve women’s rights
- Draft code proposes more than 100 amendments, notably allowing women to stipulate opposition to polygamy in a marriage contract
RABAT: Morocco aims to grant women more rights over child custody and guardianship as well as a veto over polygamous marriage, in the first review of its family code in 20 years, the justice and Islamic affairs ministers said on Tuesday.
Women’s rights campaigners have been pushing for a revision of regulations governing the rights of women and children within the family in Morocco.
The draft code proposes more than 100 amendments, notably allowing women to stipulate opposition to polygamy in a marriage contract, justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi told reporters.
In the absence of such opposition, a husband can take a second wife under certain circumstances such as the first wife’s infertility, he said, putting more restrictions on polygamy.
It also aims to simplify and shorten divorce procedures, considers chid custody a shared right between spouses and gives either spouse the right to retain the marital home in the event of the other’s death, he said.
Divorced women will be allowed to retain child custody upon remarriage and the code will restrict exceptions for underage marriage to 17 years, maintaining the legal marriage age of 18. While the revised code does not abolish the Islamic-based inheritance rule which grants a man twice the share of a woman, it allows individuals to gift any of their assets to their female heirs, Ouahbi said. But inheritances between spouses from different religions can only occur through wills or gifts. Moroccan women’s rights defenders, who have pushed particularly for equal inheritance laws, could not be reached for immediate comment.
King Mohammed VI, the country’s supreme religious authority, said on Monday that the amended code, which has to be submitted to parliament for approval, should be underpinned by “the principles of justice, equality, solidarity and harmony” with Islamic precepts and universal values to protect the Moroccan family.
Security deployed as wartime Bethlehem readies for another somber Christmas
- Missing for a second consecutive year were the decorations, bustling tourists and crowds of pilgrims that were staples of Christmases past
BETHLEHEM: Palestinian security forces deployed around the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday, as the faithful prepared for another solemn Christmas overshadowed by the war in Gaza.
An unusual calm enveloped Manger Square, the heart of the Palestinian city dominated by the revered church that marks the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.
The white-walled compound and its surrounding plaza were empty, save for a few vendors selling coffee and corn and a significant contingent of journalists, an AFP reporter saw.
Missing for a second consecutive year were the decorations, bustling tourists and crowds of pilgrims that were staples of Christmases past, reflecting the somber mood as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip drags on.
The fighting in Gaza — which is separated from the occupied West Bank by a swath of Israeli territory — erupted after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
Traditionally, a grand Christmas tree would light up Manger Square, but local authorities opted against elaborate celebrations for a second year.
“This year we limited our joy,” Bethlehem mayor Anton Salman told AFP.
“We want to focus on the Palestinian reality and show the world that Palestine is still suffering from the Israeli occupation, still suffering from the injustice.”
Prayers, including the church’s famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch, but the festivities will be of a more strictly religious nature than the festive celebrations the city once held.
Despite the gloomy mood, some Christians in the Holy Land — who number about 185,000 in Israel and 47,000 in the Palestinian territories — are finding refuge in prayer.
“Christmas is a feast of faith... We’re going to pray and ask God to end our suffering,” Salman said.
Vendors in front of the local municipality building, the Bethlehem Peace Center, waited for customers in vain behind pots full of steaming coffee.
Mohammad Awad, 57, has been selling coffee for more than 25 years at the foot of the Mosque of Omar, whose elegant minaret stands directly opposite the Church of the Nativity.
“Business was good before the war, but now there’s no one,” the vendor lamented. “I hope the war in Gaza will end soon and that tourists will return.”
While most streets were quiet, a handful of visitors could still be seen in the area.
“On one hand, it’s sad that there are so few people,” said Christiana von der Tann, a German who came with her husband to spend the holidays with her daughter, a journalist in Tel Aviv.
“But then you can access the Church of the Nativity as you can freely go inside... That’s the advantage.
“But it’s very sad for the people here, it’s very sad they can’t sell their goods. They’ve got a really hard time.”
Violence across the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza broke out, but Bethlehem has remained largely quiet, even though the fighting has taken a toll on the now predominantly Muslim city.
Foreign tourists, on whom Bethlehem’s economy almost entirely relies, stopped coming due to the war. And an increase in restrictions on movement in the form of Israeli checkpoints is also preventing many Palestinians from visiting.
“Last night, there was a rocket attack in Tel Aviv and it was a little scary,” said Tann.
“We had to go to a shelter room. That was a special experience. You don’t forget that you are in a country at war.”
Lebanese Christians celebrate Christmas, hoping for election of president in 16 days
- Maronite Patriarch calls for return to ‘active positive neutrality’ for sake of country
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi emphasized in his Christmas message to the Lebanese on Tuesday the importance of “not giving in to despair or hopelessness, no matter how severe the circumstances or challenges may be.”
Speaking on the eve of the most significant date in the Christian calendar, Al-Rahi said: “There is no salvation for Lebanon except through returning to the culture of active positive neutrality, which aligns with the nature of its political system. This would ensure Lebanon has one army, not two; one policy, not two. Lebanon would not enter wars, conflicts, or alliances, but instead maintain its sovereignty and defend its land against any aggressor through its own capabilities, without interfering in the affairs of other countries.”
Al-Rahi’s address this year came in the wake of a destructive war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah that left thousands in Lebanon dead and wounded. The ceasefire agreement, now in its 28th day, continues to face repeated violations by Israeli forces, however.
Meanwhile, the reconstruction of damaged areas in Beirut, its southern suburb, the south of Lebanon, and Bekaa remains dependent on the availability of funds — whether from the state or Hezbollah, which is still reeling from losses on several fronts.
Israel continues its unilateral war against southern Lebanon, exploiting the 60-day withdrawal period from the border area by conducting demolitions and explosions in villages.
Al-Rahi reiterated that neutrality “enables Lebanon to play its effective role as a place of meeting and dialogue between cultures and religions, and as a defender of peace and understanding in the region.”
On Tuesday, Beirut and other regions of the country witnessed high congestion in the streets and stores. Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport also saw increased activity with thousands of expatriates returning to spend the holiday season with their families.
Lebanese citizens are looking forward hopefully to Jan. 9, the date set for a parliamentary session to elect a president — the Maronite position that has been vacant for two years and two months due to political disagreements between Hezbollah and its allies on one side and the party’s opponents on the other.
Al-Rahi expressed his optimism about the election of a president “after a shameful vacuum that contradicts the constitution, and without any justification other than the lack of self-confidence among the nation’s MPs, waiting for the name to come from abroad. This is a great injustice.”
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri extended his congratulations to the Lebanese people, particularly to the Christian community, on the occasion. In a statement, he urged everyone “to approach all our issues with a Christmas spirit characterized by compassion, love, humility, tolerance, reconciliation, and openness.” Berri also met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss the developments in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry, through Lebanon’s permanent mission to the UN in New York, has submitted a complaint to the Security Council, protesting Israel’s repeated violations of the declaration of a cessation of hostilities and related obligations concerning enhanced security arrangements for the implementation of Resolution 1701, commonly referred to as the ceasefire arrangements.
The complaint lists more than 816 Israeli incursions, both terrestrial and aerial, occurring between Nov. 27 and Dec. 22.
Lebanon stated in its complaint that “Israeli violations, including shelling of Lebanese border villages, booby-trapping of homes, destruction of residential areas, and obstruction of roads, undermine efforts for de-escalation and avoidance of military escalation.
“These actions pose a serious threat to international efforts aimed at achieving security and stability in the region and complicate Lebanon’s efforts to implement the provisions of Resolution 1701, while also hindering the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.”
The complaint also stressed Lebanon’s “commitment to international resolutions and the implementation of the cessation of hostilities arrangements,” noting that it “has fully complied with international calls to calm the situation, and continues to show the utmost restraint and cooperation in order to avoid falling back into the hell of war.”
Lebanon called on “the countries sponsoring the cessation of hostilities arrangements to take a firm and clear position regarding Israel’s violations, and to take action to ensure that Israel respect its obligations under the declaration of cessation of hostilities and relevant international resolutions.”
It also requested the “enhancement of support for UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army to ensure the protection of its sovereignty and create the security conditions necessary for the restoration of stability and the return to normal life in the south.”
Italian army chief Lt. General Luciano Portolano arrived in Beirut to spend Christmas Eve with his country’s unit in UNIFIL.
He met with his Lebanese counterpart Gen. Joseph Aoun. Lebanon’s Army Command said their discussions focused on “ways to enhance cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries and the coordination between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL.”
Sudan’s war is ‘deepening and widening’ a famine crisis, hunger monitoring report says
- Sudan has been roiled by a 20-month war that has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people
CAIRO: Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has wrecked the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger-monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said it detected famine in five areas, including in Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam, in North Darfur province, where famine was found for the first time in August.
“This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict and poor humanitarian access,” an IPC report said.
As well as in the Zamzam camp, which hosts more than 400,000 people, famine was also detected in two other camps for displaced people, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam in North Darfur, and the Western Nuba Mountains, IPC’s report said.
Five other areas in North Darfur are projected “with reasonable evidence” to experience famine in the next six months, including el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, it said. Seventeen areas in the Nuba Mountains and the northern and southern areas of Darfur are at risk of famine, it added.
The report said some areas in Khartoum and the east-central province of Gezira “may be experiencing” famine-like conditions. It said experts were unable to confirm whether famine threshold has been surpassed due to lack of data.
Ahead of the IPC’s report, Sudan’s government said it had suspended its participation in the global system, according to a senior United Nations official with knowledge of the move.
In a letter dated Dec. 23, Agriculture Minister Abu Baker Al-Beshri accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity,” said the UN official, who spoke in condition of anonymity.
Sudan has been roiled by a 20-month war that has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30 percent of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.
The war began in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading to other urban areas and the western Darfur region. The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to to the UN and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
There is widespread hunger, with food in markets now scarce and prices have spiked. Aid groups also say they’re struggling to reach the most vulnerable as warring parties limit access, especially in North Darfur province.
Dervla Cleary, a senior emergency and rehabilitation officer at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said 638,000 people are experiencing famine.
“The situation in Sudan is just awful. It is unacceptable in a world like today,” she said. “We need the violence to stop so people can access food, water, health, nutrition and agriculture.”
According to the IPC report, a total of 24.6 million Sudanese — half of the population — faces high levels of acute food insecurity.
Sudan is the third country where famine was declared in the past 15 years, along with South Sudan and Somalia, where a 2011 major famine was estimated to have killed a quarter of a million people — half of them children under 5 years old.
The IPC comprises more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, and governments that use its monitoring as a global reference for analysis of food and nutrition crises.
The organization has also warned that large parts of Gaza’s Palestinian population face the threat of famine.
