RAFAH: Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Monday more than 5,000 people have been killed in the battered Palestinian enclave since Israel launched its withering bombing campaign just over two weeks ago.
Alarm has surged about the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel struck back following the October 7 Hamas attacks which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people who were shot, stabbed or burnt by the Islamist militants.
Israel also says the militants seized 222 hostages in the worst attack in the nation’s 75-year history.
With the military saying it had conducted more than 300 new strikes within 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll had surged over 5,000, including more than 2,000 children, in figures AFP has not been able to independently verify.
Thousands of buildings have been levelled and more than a million people displaced in the besieged territory that has been largely deprived of water, food and other basic supplies.
Twenty trucks carrying desperately needed aid arrived in Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Monday, the UN humanitarian agency said, the third convoy in as many days.
Washington vowed a “continued flow” of relief goods into Gaza, which the UN says is facing “catastrophic” conditions and needs to receive 100 trucks of aid per day.
Overnight, Gaza’s Hamas-controlled government said “more than 60” people died in Israeli bombardments, including 17 in a single strike on a house in Gaza’s north and another 10 in the morning.
And with thousands more wounded, Gaza’s health ministry called on citizens “to immediately go to hospitals and blood banks to donate blood.”
The Israeli military said it had hit “over 320 military targets” including “tunnels containing Hamas terrorists, dozens of operational command centers” and other militant outposts.
It also said it thwarted a cross-border Hamas drone attack on Monday, shooting down two UAVs that were crossing at the Nir Oz and Ein HaBesor communities near southern Gaza.
In a post on social media, Hamas confirmed the drones had sought to attack Israeli military positions.
Overnight, the army said a 19-year-old Israeli soldier had been killed and three others wounded during an operation on the outskirts of Gaza “to dismantle terror infrastructure... and locate missing persons and bodies.”
Meanwhile in southern Gaza, children killed in an Israeli air strike on the town of Khan Yunis were laid to rest in a makeshift grave on Monday as anguished family members looked on.
And at a packed UN school in the town, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter, staffers tried to distract traumatized youngsters by organizing games, including one with a colorful silk parachute.
Figures from the Hamas government say more than 181,000 housing units have been damaged, of which 20,000 had been totally destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.
Around the world, Israel’s friends and foes alike have warned against the Gaza war spilling over into a full-scale regional conflagration, with fears focused on its northern border where there have been increasing cross-border incidents with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Netanyahu on Sunday issued a stark warning to Hezbollah against opening a second front in the north, while Washington also fired a warning shot across the bows of any actors looking to inflame the conflict, saying it wouldn’t hesitate to act in the event of any “escalation.”
But the pace of evacuations has increased on both sides of the border, with the UN saying nearly 20,000 people had fled villages in south Lebanon due to the ongoing unrest.
At least 41 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally — mostly combatants but also at least four civilians, including a Reuters journalist. And four people have been killed in Israel, including three soldiers and a civilian.
Israel has also ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from a string of communities near its northern border but not everyone has left, with some refusing to go such as 62-year-old peach farmer Moshe Dadoush.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. But I have to stay here and take care of my trees. If I don’t, there will be no fruit this year,” he told AFP.
“I wouldn’t leave for one simple reason: it’s here where I grew up. I have nowhere else to go but this country.”
At the weekend, Israel said it was stepping up its raids on Gaza and has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border ahead of a widely-expected ground invasion.
It has said its aim is to destroy Hamas, but has offered little detail about what would follow.
“One thing is clear: the Gaza Strip will not be ruled by Hamas once this war is over,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told AFP.
But Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday accused Western nations of giving Israel a “license to kill,” saying Israeli plans for a ground invasion would mean “more crimes, atrocities and forced displacement.”
“We condemn the statements that constitute a license to kill and give Israel political cover to commit massacres and spread destruction in Gaza,” he said.
US President Joe Biden and other leaders including Britain’s Rishi Sunak and Germany’s Olaf Scholz have visited Israel in recent days and affirmed its “right to defend” itself while urging it to keep within international humanitarian law.
Sunak on Monday said Britain was sending an additional £20 million ($24 million) of aid to help Gaza civilians affected by the war, and France’s Emmanuel Macron was due in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for talks with Netanyahu.
Hamas says more than 5,000 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza
https://arab.news/rdhbc
Hamas says more than 5,000 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Between 200 and 300 people have been killed each day in the besieged territory
- Thousands of buildings have been levelled and more than a million displaced
Some Syria sanctions ‘could be lifted quickly’: French top diplomat
PARIS: Some sanctions against Syria “could be lifted quickly” following last month’s fall of Bashar Assad, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday.
“There are sanctions targeting Bashar Assad and the executioners of his regime, there is clearly no intention to lift these sanctions. Then there are others which currently hinder access to humanitarian aid, which prevent the country’s recovery and these could be lifted quickly,” Barrot told France Inter radio station.
Lebanon to extradite son of late Muslim cleric Al-Qaradawi to UAE, PM’s office says
- The UAE and Egypt have both filed requests for his extradition
CAIRO: Lebanon is set to extradite the son of late senior Muslim cleric Youssef Al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates after the country’s caretaker cabinet approved the move on Tuesday, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.
Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-Turkish poet, was detained in Lebanon on Dec. 28 after returning from Syria, according to his lawyer Mohammad Sablouh and human rights group Amnesty International.
Youssef was stopped by Lebanese authorities on the basis of an Egyptian court ruling against him that dates back to 2016.
The arrest was made based on an Interpol notice issued by the Arab Interior Ministers Council based on the 2016 court ruling to imprison Youssef for three years on charges of spreading false news.
The UAE and Egypt have both filed requests for his extradition.
Qaradawi’s lawyer said he would file an urgent appeal to block his extradition on Wednesday morning but feared his client might be flown out of the country before then.
UN calls for $370m in new humanitarian aid for Lebanon
- Following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, Israel in September stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United Nations joined the Lebanese government on Tuesday to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.
That appeal raised approximately $250 million, according to the UN.
Following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, Israel in September stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon.
After two months of warring, in which Hezbollah’s influential chief Hassan Nasrallah and multiple other leaders were killed, a ceasefire deal was reached that went into effect in late November.
“While the cessation of hostilities offers hope, over 125,000 people remain displaced, and hundreds of thousands more face immense challenges rebuilding their lives,” Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, said in a statement Tuesday.
The additional funding “is urgently required to sustain life-saving efforts and prevent further deterioration of an already dire situation,” he added.
The appeal is primarily aimed to assist an estimated one million Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict, funding a three-month period of emergency efforts through March 2025.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon began on November 27, more than 800,000 displaced people in Lebanon have been able to return home, according to UN figures.
Qatar and Turkiye dispatch two power ships to generate electricity for Syria
- The vessels, which have power plants installed, are expected to increase the amount of electricity generated in the country by about 50 percent
- Syria’s energy infrastructure was badly damaged during the decade-long civil war, with most areas receiving power for only two or three hours a day
LONDON: Qatar and Turkiye sent two power-generating ships to Syria on Tuesday to help address the energy crisis in the country caused by insufficient electricity supplies.
Khaled Abu Di, the director of Syria’s Public Establishment for Transmission and Distribution of Electricity, said the floating power plants are capable of generating a total of 800 megawatts a day, which would increase the amount of electricity generated in the country by about 50 percent, state news agency SANA reported.
Syria’s energy infrastructure was badly damaged during more than a decade of civil war in the country that culminated in the fall of the ruling Assad regime in December. The deterioration resulted in severe power shortages, with many areas receiving electricity for only two or three hours a day.
Abu Di said efforts are underway to secure transmission lines to deliver the electricity generated by the ships. He added that his team is also working to repair dozens of damaged conversion plants and connection lines to get the national grid up and running again.
How Israeli law permitting child detention imperils the rights of Palestinian minors
- Under legislation passed in November by the Knesset, Israeli authorities are permitted to imprison Palestinians under the age of 14
- Rights monitors say Israel has detained some 460 children since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack triggered the Gaza war
DUBAI: Frightened, alone, and often injured during arrest, Palestinian children routinely find themselves vulnerable to abuses and deprived of basic rights after they are taken into Israeli custody, according to human rights monitors.
Under legislation passed in November by the Knesset, Israeli authorities are now permitted to detain Palestinians under the age of 14 — a measure that rights groups claim is motivated by revenge rather than security needs.
The bill, proposed by a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and approved by 53-33 votes, allows judges to sentence minors between the ages of 12 and 14 to prison terms if convicted of terrorist murder, manslaughter, or attempted murder.
According to the law, which was passed as a temporary measure lasting for five years, convicted minors can be held in closed facilities until they turn 14, after which they can be transferred to regular prisons.
An identical law, which was passed in 2016 following a series of attacks carried out by teenagers and other minors, expired in 2020.
According to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Israel imprisoned more than 460 children between the months of October 2023 and January 2024.
INNUMBERS
460
Children imprisoned by Israel between October 2023 and January 2024, according to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
16
Israeli courts have long defined the term ‘Palestinian child’ as a person under the age of 16, rather than the internationally recognized age of 18.
The Israeli parliament also passed a law in November that allows for the deportation of the family members of those convicted of attacks on Israeli citizens.
Furthermore, it allows for the deportation of the family members of those who had advance knowledge and either failed to report the matter to the police or “expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism.”
Relatives of those who published “praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organization” can also be deported.
“This is a historic and important day for all citizens of Israel,” Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said in a statement welcoming the bill, which he said “sends a clear message the State of Israel will not allow the families of the terrorists to continue enjoying life as if nothing had happened.
“From today onwards, every father, mother, child, brother, sister or spouse who identifies with and supports their family member who harmed the citizens of Israel will be deported.”
Both Israel’s Justice Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office raised concerns about the legislation, which stipulates that those being expelled would be sent to Gaza or other destinations for 7-15 years for citizens or 10-20 years for legal residents.
Some opposition members of the Knesset suggested at the time that the legislation is targeted specifically at Palestinian citizens of Israel, saying the law is unlikely to apply to Jewish Israelis convicted of terrorism offenses.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations have branded both new laws unconstitutional.
Hadeel Abu Salih, an attorney working for Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, sent a letter to the Israeli parliament claiming the legislation was motivated by revenge and retribution.
Abu Salih also said the legislation contradicts the principles of Israel’s Youth Law, which stresses rehabilitation over punitive measures for minors.
The Legal Center released a statement saying that “through these laws, Israel further entrenches its two-tiered legal system, with one set of laws for Jewish Israelis under criminal law and another, with inferior rights, for Palestinians under the pretext of counterterrorism.
“By embedding apartheid-like policies into the law, the Knesset further institutionalized systematic oppression, in contravention of both international law and basic human and constitutional rights.”
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Israeli forces have significantly increased the rate of arrests of Palestinian children, both in Gaza and the West Bank.
Between October and November 2023 alone, 254 minors were reportedly arrested by Israeli forces. Some of these detainees have since been released.
The bulk of the arrest operations appear to take place in towns, camps, and other areas with points of contact with Israeli checkpoints. Although the precise charges leveled against these minors are unknown, the most common offense is throwing stones.
In some cases, rights monitors say children under the age of 10 are taken in order to pressure their relatives to surrender themselves to Israeli authorities.
Palestinian children released from Israeli detention often describe traumatic experiences, recounting harsh measures enforced by guards and the prison administration, including allegations of physical and psychological torture during interrogation.
Testimonies shared with Save the Children include severe beatings in the presence of their relatives, being shot at, having their legs restrained, and being blindfolded during transfers between detention centers.
Several claim that food and water were also withheld for long periods of time as a form of punishment. Some have even alleged sexual abuse. Monitors say minors are routinely denied their right to legal aid and at times the presence of a family member during their interrogations.
As a result of these abuses, minors are allegedly coerced into signing false confessions and into signing documents without understanding their content. Children are also rarely granted bail before standing trial.
The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society have expressed concern about the ongoing detention of children and the alleged abuses.
Both say the behavior of Israeli prison administrations and conditions inside overcrowded facilities have become worse since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Monitors say the detention centers holding minors do not meet the minimum humanitarian standards. A large number of detained children are reportedly sharing cells and are deprived of an education, medical assistance, and personal items such as books and clothing.
Israeli courts have long defined the term “Palestinian child” as a person under the age of 16, rather than the internationally recognized age of 18 as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Israeli authorities have previously denied the maltreatment of detainees.
Responding to separate claims by the UN in March last year about the alleged mistreatment of adults captured in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces told the BBC: “The mistreatment of detainees during their time in detention or whilst under interrogation violates IDF values and contravenes IDF and is therefore absolutely prohibited.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for Palestine, accused the international community of failing to address the detention of Palestinian children, saying minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point.”
On World Children’s Day, marked by the UN on Nov. 20, the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs released a statement saying that around 270 Palestinian children were being held in Israeli jails.
“The occupation continues to detain no less than 270 children, who are mainly held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons, in addition to camps established by the occupation army after the Gaza war,” the commission said.
“Systematic crimes are being committed by the prison administration against the jailed children, in addition to beatings, torture, and daily abuses.”
According to Palestinian rights monitors, more than 11,700 people from the West Bank have been detained since October 2023. This does not include those from the Gaza Strip, where the number of arrests is thought to be far higher.
Similarly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority urged the international community on World Children’s Day to pressure Israel to honor its commitments to global treaties, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It stressed the need to ensure Palestinian children are not excluded from international charters that call for special protections for children against violence and detention.
The ministry also condemned the law undertaken by the Knesset to detain children under the age of 14 years, calling it a dangerous escalation that further undermines Palestinian children’s rights.
Despite international and local human rights organizations calling for the abolition of the Knesset’s child detention laws, the Israeli government insists the law will remain in place for the next five years.
