GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The faithful walked slowly in a procession past the stone facade of Gaza’s only Catholic church on Palm Sunday, gathering to pray for peace as war raged around them.
Holy Family Church’s tranquil courtyard, filled with dozens of children and older people, belied the humanitarian crisis happening beyond its gates in Gaza City.
Inside the church, worshippers in their dress clothes lined the wooden pews decorated with palm fronds for the service marking the start of Easter week.
“Our celebration of Palm Sunday is an opportunity for hope, goodness and peace for us and for the entire world,” said a young man speaking from the pulpit.
“In order to renew our hearts and make them full of love, giving and peace,” he said, dressed in an ankle-length red robe.
Solemn-looking altar boys in the front row listened quietly, while parishioners with drawn faces after months of war filled the other rows.
The church in northern Gaza is a short drive from Al-Shifa hospital and its neighborhood, where heavy combat has raged between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters.
A recent UN-backed assessment said Gaza’s northern area would fall into famine by May unless there was urgent action.
Heavy combat has made it particularly difficult to get emergency food aid to the some 300,000 the UN estimates are still in the area.
“This year, we don’t have the heart to celebrate,” Nabila Saleh, a sister at the Holy Family church told AFP.
“It’s true that we decorated, but we don’t feel the joy of other years.”
The Gaza war was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run territory said the total death toll during almost six months of war now stood at 32,226 — most of them women and children.
Though Holy Family’s facade, courtyard and worship area inside the church are mostly intact, the site has been deeply affected by the fighting.
Christian families from Gaza have found refuge inside and in December the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem reported two Christian women were killed by Israeli fire at the church.
The Israeli army said it had “no reports of a hit on the church,” stressing it “does not target civilians, no matter their religion.”
Far from Gaza, Palestinian Christians marked Palm Sunday in Jerusalem with the fate of the people trapped by war weighing heavily upon them.
Thousands walked from Bethphage Church into the Old City, recreating Jesus’s arrival during which crowds laid palm fronds at his feet.
“It is very sad,” said worshipper Hanan Nasrallah, 62. “Hopefully God will bring peace to everybody and next year hopefully everybody will celebrate together.”
Palestinian Christians also criticized tightened movement restrictions on those in the occupied West Bank, which they said prevented many from joining on the festivities in Jerusalem.
“Many of my friends from the West Bank, they weren’t able to come,” said 30-year-old Palestinian Hanna Tams, a dancer and choreographer.
“The Israeli authorities are not giving them permission,” he said, calling it “really heartbreaking.”
“I wish people in Gaza all the best and I wish they were safe and I wish they were here with us,” he added.
Gaza Christians ask for peace on Palm Sunday
https://arab.news/rv2pv
Gaza Christians ask for peace on Palm Sunday
- Far from Gaza, Palestinian Christians marked Palm Sunday in Jerusalem with the fate of the people trapped by war weighing heavily upon them
Doctors treat Sharjah school teacher with rare nerve disease
DUBAI: Doctors in a Sharjah hospital helped a 46-year-old resident undergo treatment for a debilitating nerve disease that prevented her from walking.
Annie Cherian, a school teacher from India and living in Sharjah, experienced weakness in her limbs six months ago and her condition quickly worsened, making daily life tasks like brushing her hair or even walking increasingly difficult.
On April 3 Cherian sought help from doctors at Aster Hospitals in Sharjah and within two days received a CIDP diagnosis, a condition that affects approximately 1-2 people in 100,000 annually according to the CIDP Foundation International.
CIDP, or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, is a rare autoimmune nerve disease that attacks the covering of the nerve cells and leads to loss of physical strength and sensation in the arms and legs. It can be caused by a virus or infection that enters the body.
Usually CIDP is treated with steroids, but as Cherian is also a diabetic, this option was not viable as it might worsen her diabetes, explained Dr. Rajesh Chaudhary, specialist neurologist at Aster Hospital Sharjah.
With the help of Chaudhary and his medical team, Cherian underwent an intravenous treatment which lasted five days.
The treatment involved introducing antibodies through the vein, which helps existing antibodies in the body to strengthen and fight off infections and diseases, Chaudhary explained.
“Without proper treatment, a patient’s quality of life becomes very poor and they struggle to do mundane everyday tasks,” said Chaudhary.
Other symptoms of CIDP include problems walking, lack of strength, tingling and pain in the limbs, he said.
Cherian responded well to the treatment and regained strength in her limbs, and is now able to perform everyday tasks unassisted.
Chaudhary said Cherian is expected to lead a normal life after the treatment and will most likely not experience weakness or fatigue in her limbs again.
“I am so grateful for the medical team who helped me recover remarkably and restore my strength, but also made me aware of autoimmune disease’s impact and the importance of timely medical intervention,” said Cherian.
Israeli forces push into Gaza from north and south
- Some of the most intense fighting for weeks now taking place on both the northern and southern edges of Gaza
- Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians again take flight and aid groups warn humanitarian crisis could worsen
CAIRO: Israeli forces pushed deep into the ruins of Gaza’s northern edge on Monday to recapture an area where they had claimed to have defeated Hamas months ago, while at the opposite end of the enclave tanks and troops pushed across a highway into Rafah.
With some of the most intense fighting for weeks now taking place on both the northern and southern edges of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have again taken flight, and aid groups warn that a humanitarian crisis could sharply worsen.
Israel described its latest return to the north, where it pulled out most of its troops five months ago, as part of a “mop-up” stage of the war to prevent fighters from returning, and said such operations had always been part of its plan. Palestinians say the need to keep fighting amid the ruins of previous battles is proof Israel’s military objectives are unattainable.
In sprawling Jabalia, the biggest of Gaza’s eight camps built 75 years ago to house Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, tanks pushed toward the heart of the district. Residents said tank shells were landing at the center of the camp and air strikes had destroyed clusters of houses.
Thick clouds of black smoke from explosions could be seen rising over northern Gaza from the Israeli border on Sunday.
Israeli troops are seeking to wipe out Hamas, which has said it is committed to Israel’s destruction. The militant group burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials who fear many more bodies are lost under the rubble. The fighting has laid waste to the coastal enclave and caused a deep humanitarian crisis, with the Gaza health ministry warning in a statement on Monday that the medical system is on the verge of collapse due to a shortage of fuel to power generators and ambulances.
Palestinian health officials on Monday said they had so far recovered 20 bodies of Palestinians killed in the overnight air strikes on Jabalia, while dozens were injured.
At the opposite end of Gaza in Rafah, against the border fence with Egypt, Israel stepped up aerial and ground bombardments on the eastern areas of the city, killing people in an air strike on a house in the Brazil neighborhood.
Israel ordered residents out of the east of the city last week, and extended that order to central areas in recent days, sending hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are already displaced, fleeing for new shelters.
Residents said Israeli air and ground bombardments were intensifying and tanks had cut off the main north-south Salahuddin Road that divides the eastern part of the city from the central area.
“The tanks cut the Saladuddin road east of the city, the forces are now in the southeast side, building up near the built-up area, the situation is dreadful and the sounds of explosions never stopped,” said Bassam, 57, from the Shaboura neighborhood in Rafah.
“People continue to leave Rafah, even far away near the western areas as no place looks safe now and also because people do not want to escape at the last minute should tanks make sudden incursions and moving out becomes too late,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, estimated that about 360,000 people had fled the southern city since the Israeli military gave its first evacuation order a week ago.
BOMB SHIPMENT ON HOLD
The assault on Rafah has caused one of the biggest splits in generations between Israel and its main ally the United States, which put some deliveries of weapons on hold for the first time since the war began. Washington has said Israel must not assault Rafah without a plan in place to protect civilians there, which it has yet to see.
Jack Lew, the US ambassador to Israel, signalled on Sunday that the Rafah incursion was still on a scale that Washington considers acceptable.
“The president was clear in the interview he gave the other evening that what Israel has done so far hasn’t crossed over into the area where our disagreements lie,” Lew told Israel’s Channel 12 TV, without elaborating on what that area entails.
“I’m hoping we don’t end up with real disagreement.”
Israeli forces push into Gaza from north and south
- Israel describesd its latest return to the north as part of a ‘mop-up’ stage of the war to prevent fighters from returning
CAIRO: Israeli forces pushed deep into the ruins of Gaza’s northern edge on Monday to recapture an area where they had claimed to have defeated Hamas months ago, while at the opposite end of the enclave tanks and troops pushed across a highway into Rafah.
With some of the most intense fighting for weeks now taking place on both the northern and southern edges of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have again taken flight, and aid groups warn that a humanitarian crisis could sharply worsen.
Israel described its latest return to the north, where it pulled out most of its troops five months ago, as part of a “mop-up” stage of the war to prevent fighters from returning, and said such operations had always been part of its plan. Palestinians say the need to keep fighting amid the ruins of previous battles is proof Israel’s military objectives are unattainable.
In sprawling Jabalia, the biggest of Gaza’s eight camps built 75 years ago to house Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, tanks pushed toward the heart of the district. Residents said tank shells were landing at the center of the camp and air strikes had destroyed clusters of houses.
Thick clouds of black smoke from explosions could be seen rising over northern Gaza from the Israeli border on Sunday.
Israeli troops are seeking to wipe out Hamas, which has said it is committed to Israel’s destruction. The militant group burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials who fear many more bodies are lost under the rubble. The fighting has laid waste to the coastal enclave and caused a deep humanitarian crisis, with the Gaza health ministry warning in a statement on Monday that the medical system is on the verge of collapse due to a shortage of fuel to power generators and ambulances.
Palestinian health officials on Monday said they had so far recovered 20 bodies of Palestinians killed in the overnight air strikes on Jabalia, while dozens were injured.
At the opposite end of Gaza in Rafah, against the border fence with Egypt, Israel stepped up aerial and ground bombardments on the eastern areas of the city, killing people in an air strike on a house in the Brazil neighborhood.
Israel ordered residents out of the east of the city last week, and extended that order to central areas in recent days, sending hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are already displaced, fleeing for new shelters.
Residents said Israeli air and ground bombardments were intensifying and tanks had cut off the main north-south Salahuddin Road that divides the eastern part of the city from the central area.
“The tanks cut the Saladuddin road east of the city, the forces are now in the southeast side, building up near the built-up area, the situation is dreadful and the sounds of explosions never stopped,” said Bassam, 57, from the Shaboura neighborhood in Rafah.
“People continue to leave Rafah, even far away near the western areas as no place looks safe now and also because people do not want to escape at the last minute should tanks make sudden incursions and moving out becomes too late,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, estimated that about 360,000 people had fled the southern city since the Israeli military gave its first evacuation order a week ago.
BOMB SHIPMENT ON HOLD
The assault on Rafah has caused one of the biggest splits in generations between Israel and its main ally the United States, which put some deliveries of weapons on hold for the first time since the war began. Washington has said Israel must not assault Rafah without a plan in place to protect civilians there, which it has yet to see.
Jack Lew, the US ambassador to Israel, signalled on Sunday that the Rafah incursion was still on a scale that Washington considers acceptable.
“The president was clear in the interview he gave the other evening that what Israel has done so far hasn’t crossed over into the area where our disagreements lie,” Lew told Israel’s Channel 12 TV, without elaborating on what that area entails.
“I’m hoping we don’t end up with real disagreement.”
Brief CVs of Kuwait’s newly-formed government
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s government has released the profiles of its new cabinet members, who were installed in office on Sunday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah:
Born in 1952, Sheikh Ahmad completed his primary studies at Sharqiya School and High School in Lebanon. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus on Finance (Banking and Investment) from the University of Illinois, US, obtained in 1976. He began his career at Kuwait's Finance Center until 1978, then moved to the Central Bank of Kuwait until 1987. From 1987 to 1998, he served as the Chairman of the Board for Burgan Bank. In July 1999, he was appointed as Minister of Finance and Minister of Communications. Over the years, he held various ministerial positions including Minister of Planning, Minister of State for Administrative Affairs, Minister of Health, Minister of Oil, and Minister of Information. In September 2021, he was appointed as head of the Diwan of His Highness the Crown Prince.
First Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and Interior Minister Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah:
Born in 1959, Fahad graduated from the Kuwaiti military academy and previously served as an Amiri Guard officer. He held positions in the previous cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and Acting Interior Minister.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Shereeda Abdullah Al-Mousherji:
Born in 1952, Shereeda holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Kuwait University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Harvard University. He served in various roles including Assistant Secretary-General for Administrative, Financial, and Technical Affairs in the National Assembly and Minister of Transportation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Oil Minister, Dr. Imad Mohammad Abdulaziz Al-Atiqi:
Born in 1956, Dr. Al-Atiqi holds a PhD in chemical engineering and previously served in academic roles at Kuwait University.
Minister of Information and Culture, Abdulrahman Bdah Al-Mutairi:
He holds a BA degree in Psychology with a minor in Political Science from Kuwait University. He previously served as Minister of Information, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and Director General of Public Youth Authority.
Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi:
He holds a PhD in Pediatrics from the Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization, a PhD in Medicine from the Arab Gulf University, and a BA in basic sciences. He previously served as Minister of Health in previous cabinets.
Minister of Social Affairs, Labor, Family Affairs, and Childhood, and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Dr. Amthal Hadi Al-Huwailah:
She holds a Doctorate degree in cognitive psychology and previously served as an Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology.
Finance Minister and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs, Dr. Anwar Ali Abdullah Al-Mudhaf:
He holds a PhD in business management and has been the chairman of Kuwait's Al-Ahli United Bank since 2014.
Minister of Electricity and Water, Renewable Energy, and Minister of State Housing Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Abdulaziz Bushehri:
He holds a doctorate in economics and has held various positions including Director at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and Director of the Department of Studies and Capital Markets Development at the Capital Markets Authority.
Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Wasmi:
He is an Associate Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law at Kuwait University and holds degrees in Law from Kuwait University and London Metropolitan University.
Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Minister of State for Communication Affairs, Omar Saud Al-Omar:
Born in 1966, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and has held several administrative positions including CEO of Zain Kuwait.
Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Adel Mohammad Abdullah Al-Adwani:
He previously served as a professor in Kuwait University's faculty of Administrative Sciences.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Yahya:
Born in 1966, he holds a bachelor's degree in business management and previously served as Kuwait's ambassador to several Latin American countries.
Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipality Affairs, Dr. Nora Mohammad Khaled Al-Mashaan:
She previously served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Kuwait University.
Frankly Speaking: Where will Gazans go after Rafah’s invasion?
- Arab League general secretary says Israel wishes to see Palestinians disappear from occupied territories
- Israel has killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, including women and children, in Gaza since October 7 last year
DUBAI: If Arab countries really cared about Gaza, they would throw open their borders to Palestinian refugees. That is a claim made repeatedly by Israel since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7 last year sparked the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
According to Ambassador Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary-general to the Arab League, this argument is deeply flawed — ignoring the fact that Arab nations already host millions of Palestinian refugees.
Furthermore, Zaki believes this argument ignores the stark reality that once the people of Gaza are displaced, the Israeli government is unlikely to permit their return — opting instead to seize the land for the state of Israel.
“If we really want the truth, the Israeli wish is to see that the Palestinian population would disappear from the Occupied Territories,” Zaki told Katie Jensen, host of the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking.”
He added: “From the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, they would love for the Palestinians just to vanish. We all know that, because we know that they want the land. They want to grab the territory. They want to annex the territory to their state.”
In a wide-ranging interview, in which he discussed the forthcoming Arab League summit in Bahrain on May 16, efforts to halt Israel’s assault on Rafah, and the diminishing prospects for a two-state solution, Zaki said previous mass displacements would not be repeated.
“The Palestinians have learned from the mistakes of the past — from the 1948 war and 1967 war — that once they move out of their territory, the territory is confiscated by Israel, taken under control by Israel. And it seems to be such an uphill battle to get it back,” he said.
“The hope of getting back territory is ever so pale. So, what we are doing is, we are assisting the Palestinians to hold on to their territory, to hold on to their land, and not to move out of the land, because they know the consequences of moving out.”
Zaki was equally vehement in his rejection of the Israeli suggestion that the Arab states had failed to offer sanctuary to Palestinian refugees.
“They (the Israelis) can criticize us all they want,” he said. “We have Palestinians living in all Arab countries, some in refugee camps — very, very few — but most living like the normal citizens of these countries.
“In Egypt and in the Gulf countries, in Jordan, in North Africa, all Arab countries, you have Palestinians living.
“Normally, that is a criticism that we are willing to take, because we know that whatever is said in this regard means only to evacuate the territory for the benefit of the Israelis who want to grab it.”
Since the war in Gaza began seven months ago, the Arab League has been actively involved in trying to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, to arrange for sufficient aid to enter the enclave, and to keep the goal of Palestinian statehood on the agenda.
Zaki said the Arab League and its “heavyweight members” — including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan — had continued to promote the Arab Peace Initiative, first unveiled 20 years ago, and were working to stop the “killing madness” continuing.
“But nothing has been successful so far,” he said. “Even the only resolution that the UN Security Council was able to adopt in order to stop the war, to cease the fire, was not implemented. It’s been adopted since, what, one month now? Nothing. As if there is nothing.”
Zaki believes Israel has been allowed to act with impunity owing to the protection and largesse of the US.
“Israel is basically a country that is pampered by the US, pampered by many of its allies, accomplices, so-called friends in the West,” he said.
“They condone what it is doing and they cannot stop it. They cannot stop this madness. Unfortunately, they gave it a carte blanche since the beginning and this is where we are.
“Seven months in this war — this criminal war — and nothing is happening. They are not capable of reigning in this country, this government of extremists.”
Asked whether the Arab League itself shares part of the blame for failing to bring an end to the conflict, Zaki laid responsibility entirely on Washington.
“Why would we — how could we — blame the Arab League?” he said. “The Arab League is not an accomplice in this. The Arab League is not giving bombs to Israel. The Arab League is not giving ammunition to Israel. The Arab League is not funding the Israeli aggression.
“The Arab League is a regional organization, a respectable regional organization, that is seeking peace, that is talking politics. It’s a diplomatic organization. We are willing to engage with whomever is seeking peace as well on the other side.
“Why do we say the US and the West? Because it is the US that’s funding Israel. It keeps transferring money to Israel, aid to Israel, munitions, bombs, weapons, whatever — you name it.”
Israel’s months-long bombardment and strangulation of aid flows has devastated Gaza’s infrastructure. Zaki believes Israel has deliberately sought to make Gaza inhospitable to compel the Palestinian population to abandon their land and accept refugee status abroad.
“The Israelis, in the nasty, very nasty, war against the Palestinians in Gaza, what they’re trying to do is not only to kill Palestinians … they did something which is much more nasty, actually: They have destroyed the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip,” he said.
“They’ve destroyed the health infrastructure, the education infrastructure, the water infrastructure, the electricity infrastructure. This is mean and malignant, and they want to make it a point for the Palestinians who remain in the Gaza Strip — most of the inhabitants — to find this place uninhabitable.
“When the war ends, all the Palestinians would look around and see that this has become totally uninhabitable, so they would want to leave. But surprise to them, I would tell you from now — and mark my words — that is not going to happen.
“They’re going to reconstruct their state, their country. They’re going to reconstruct Gaza, and the Arabs are going to help them. You bet on that. And the international community has enough decent people, enough peace-loving people, who believe in Palestinian rights and who will help them rebuild their country after all the crimes that Israel has committed there.”
Furthermore, Israel has threatened to take over the Philadelphi Corridor — a narrow strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border, established under the Philadelphi Accord in 2005 and which authorized Egypt to deploy 750 border guards to police its side of the border.
If Israel were to seize control of the Philadelphi Corridor, it could undermine the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai in exchange for peace with Egypt and created the current border that bisects Rafah.
“They are playing with fire, and I think they know that,” said Zaki, himself an Egyptian diplomat.
“Those who are taking decisions on the Israeli side are taking a big risk. I do not think that, in their right mind, they would want to see an undermining of the main pillar of peace in the region, which is the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty of 1979.”
Preparations are underway for the 33rd Arab League summit, during which the leaders of the 22 member states will discuss common challenges facing the region.
With multiple conflicts blighting the Middle East and North Africa, Zaki said there would be “a hefty agenda” this year. “Obviously the issue of the war on Gaza is going to be left, right and center in all of this,” he said.
“Sudan is a big issue for us. The war on Sudan has not receded. It’s been going on for more than a year. It’s unfortunate. We need to address that. The situation in Libya. The situation with Yemen is still a problem. Syria is still an issue for us.
“And, we have a set of other socioeconomic resolutions that are prepared for the leaders to adopt in their meetings. So we do have quite a hefty agenda for our summit this year.”
High on that agenda will no doubt be the prospects of reviving the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“There is no alternative to that solution,” said Zaki. “The Palestinians should have their own state. They should have their own independent contiguous state. Nothing should stand in their way and nothing, really, should justify assisting Israel in diluting this solution.”
But, given the destruction in Gaza, the ongoing spread of settlements in the West Bank, and the deep hostility felt on both sides, some might argue the region is moving further away from the two-state solution.
“No, we’re not moving further away,” said Zaki. “I think the world — which has pretty much paid lip service to this two-state solution for a couple of decades now — is now realizing that, well, lip service is not useful anymore, and we should really engage in active steps, like many European leaders have been saying, active steps.
“Even US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that several months ago. We should all engage in active steps to make true the Palestinian state — to make it come about and to make it a reality.
“This is going to happen in the UN; one step closer, one step closer to Palestinian statehood. And things are going to move in this direction.
“The Israelis will have to resist that as they want to, and as they refuse to engage in peace talks, and they refuse to agree on Palestinian statehood. But it’s not up to them.
“We are trying to convince the rest of the world, especially the Western world, that Palestinian statehood should not be subject to an Israeli veto. Because if we do give the Israelis the veto over this, I think they will never agree on it. And a Palestinian state will never see the light of day.”
