Author: Steven Sahiounie

The chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, described Israeli claims about the presence of a building belonging to Qatar inside the al-Shifa Hospital as “baseless” and “untrue”. In a statement released by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said Israel was using the allegations as an “excuse … to attack hospitals”, among other violations that it has committed, affecting civilians, as well as city infrastructure. The committee’s headquarters, al-Emadi said, which is situated near Gaza’s port, is some three kilometres (1.8 miles) away from the al-Shifa medical complex. Source: AlJazeera

Martin Griffins is currently giving his latest update on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Griffiths said 41,000 housing units have been destroyed since October 7, accounting for 45 percent all units in the bombarded territory. “The nature and scale of civilian harm is characteristic of the use of explosive weapons with wide area of effect in a densely populated area,” he said. Referencing the “horrendous” situation on the ground, Griffiths added, “In many respects international humanitarian law appears to have been turned on its head.” Source: AlJazeera

At least four Palestinians were shot and injured, including one seriously, during confrontations that broke out this evening with Israeli forces in the town of Kafr Dan to the west of Jenin as well as at the western entrance of the city. WAFA correspondent said confrontations broke out in the town of Kafr Dan to the west of Jenin following a military incursion as well as at the western entrance of the city of Jenin, during which forces attacked residents with live fire, tear gas canisters, and stun grenades, shooting and injuring at least four youths. Medical sources at Ibn…

Ashraf al-Qudra, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, who is inside the al-Shifa Hospital, says Israeli forces have turned the facility into a “military base for its operations”. He said army vehicles are not moving from the vicinity of the complex “at all”, as large numbers of Israeli soldiers have been sweeping through the basement and the ground floor of the hospital, including the special surgical unit. “Every now and then there are sounds of sporadic gunfire inside the complex, whether it’s from snipers or from the [army] vehicles,” he told Al Jazeera. “The reality here is cruel and…

The executive director of the WFP, Cindy McCain warns that the people of Gaza are facing starvation, as the amount of food coming into Gaza is “woefully inadequate”. In a statement on Thursday, the executive director of the WFP, Cindy McCain warned that the people of Gaza are face to face with starvation as water and food are “practically non-existent”. “With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation,” she said, adding that the amount of food coming into Gaza is “woefully inadequate” like bread which is now “scarce…

In an impassioned address to the UN General Assembly, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the crisis an “acid test for the United Nations and for its member states”. “This organisation was established to foster peace in our world. If you as member states of the United Nations will not or cannot stop this bloodshed, then we must ask, ‘What is the United Nations for?’” he said. “Resolutions are not enough,” he added. “You must act and you must act now.” Here’s Tedros’s overview of the deteriorating healthcare situation in Gaza: “There are no words to describe the horror.…

Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed, reporting from southern Gaza, says numerous Israeli army attacks occured across the Gaza Strip today, including three in the south of the strip where Israeli forces told Palestinian civilians to move to for “safety”. In Rafah, southern Gaza, Israeli attacks left seven people dead, and the targeting of a residential home killed nine people, she said. At a local market in the centre of Khan Younis, a “number of citizens were killed” and dozens others wounded, she added. Source: AlJazeera

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said he congratulated Cameron on his recent appointment as British foreign secretary. Cohen also said the pair agreed that Cameron would visit Israel in the coming days to continue their discussion on efforts to release captives held in Gaza and disrupt funding for Hamas. Source: AlJazeera

The president of the General Assembly kicked off this meeting by describing it as a catastrophic situation, a humanitarian catastrophe. Griffiths laid out some practical steps that he thinks can help the United Nations deal with the situation, [such as] setting up distribution hubs in the Gaza Strip. Money – always a concern for the United Nations, severely under-funded – when you consider that half of the housing stock of Gaza almost … now destroyed. So you have almost half of the population uprooted and no place to go back to once this ends. It also brings them to the…

The German government is deploying 1,500 police in anticipation of protests against Erdogan. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Berlin today, marking Erdogan’s first visit to Germany in three years, The Financial Times reported. The timing of the meeting adds an extra layer of sensitivity as it unfolds against the backdrop of the Israeli aggression against Gaza: with the two NATO member states sympathizing with opposing sides. Erdogan’s recent remarks condemning “Israel” and accusing the occupation of “fascism”, with Scholz describing the claims as “absurd”, have strained diplomatic relations between the two states. Furthermore, the Turkish President’s strong language, labeling those…