CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday denounced Israel’s siege of Gaza following the shock attack by Palestinian militants on Israel, demanding that aid be “immediately” allowed to enter the blockaded enclave.
Israel has imposed a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water supply, food, electricity and other essential supplies, after Saturday’s massive assault by Hamas militants that has killed hundreds on both sides.
On Wednesday, as Israel kept up its bombardment of targets in the crowded and impoverished coastal enclave for a fifth day, the only power plant in Gaza shut down.
The Palestinian enclave’s electricity authority made the announcement saying the plant had run out of fuel.
Meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers discussed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and demanded Israel lift its siege of Gaza.
They also called for the “immediate” dispatch of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to the impoverished and densely populated coastal enclave.
The Arab foreign ministers also urged Israel to reconsider its “unjust decision to cut electricity supply and water to Gaza.”
Five days of relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israel in retaliation for the brutal assault on Israeli communities across the border have left the tiny territory in tatters.
Air strikes have struck residential buildings, mosques, factories and shops, said Salama Marouf of the Gaza government’s media office.
Medical supplies, including oxygen, were running low at Gaza’s overwhelmed Al-Shifa hospital, said emergency room physician Mohammed Ghonim.
Israel has reported a “staggering” 1,200 deaths since Saturday’s onslaught by the militants while Gaza officials speak of more than 1,000 people killed in Israel air and artillery strikes.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the planet, with 2.3 million people living on a 362-square-kilometer strip of land.
It has been under Israeli blockade since 2007 when Hamas took control of the territory from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
The only entrance to Gaza not controlled by Israel is Rafah on the Egyptian border.
Rafah has been bombarded by Israel three times this week.
Arab League slams Israel siege of Gaza, demands aid for Gazans
https://arab.news/vhdtw
Arab League slams Israel siege of Gaza, demands aid for Gazans
- The Arab foreign ministers urged Israel to reconsider its “unjust decision to cut electricity supply and water to Gaza”
Dozens killed, 8,000 displaced as fighting escalates in Sudan’s North Darfur, UN says
- At least 19 civilians killed during ground assault in Jirjir area of North Darfur; 10 civilians killed and 9 injured in a drone attack on Sinja, capital of Sennar State
- UN calls on all involved in conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and enable humanitarian access
NEW YORK CITY: Dozens of civilians, at least, have been killed and thousands displaced as fighting intensifies across Sudan, including North Darfur, the UN said on Tuesday as it warned of worsening humanitarian and nutritional crises.
Local reports suggested at least 19 civilians were killed during a ground assault on Monday in the Jirjir area of North Darfur, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
In a separate incident, 10 civilians were killed and nine injured in a drone attack on Sinja, the capital of Sennar State, according to the Sudan Doctors Network.
The UN is alarmed by the continuing harm to civilians and the growing numbers of displaced people as fighting spreads to several parts of the country, Dujarric said.
“The violence continues to drive people from their homes, and it must stop,” he added.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 8,000 people were displaced on Friday from villages near Kernoi in North Darfur. Some fled to other parts of the state, others crossed the border into Chad seeking refuge, further straining already fragile humanitarian conditions, Dujarric said.
The displacements are unfolding alongside a worsening nutritional emergency in North Darfur, he added. A survey carried out last month by UNICEF and its partners in areas around Tina, Um Baru and Kernoi revealed acute levels of malnutrition far exceeding the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent. It found the highest rate of acute malnutrition, 53 percent, was in Um Baru.
Dujarric again called on all parties involved in the conflict to take immediate action to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and enable rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.
He urged donors to urgently scale up funding to help provide deliveries of life-saving aid, and warned that the continuing fighting and displacement risks worsening what is already one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world.
The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, will visit Sudan from Jan. 14 to 18. He will hold talks with authorities in Port Sudan, as well as representatives of civil society groups and the UN Country Team.
He will also visit Northern State, including Al-Afad gathering site to meet people displaced by the conflict from Darfur and Kordofan, as well as humanitarian partners working there.
