RAFAH: Italian parliamentarians protested on Sunday in front of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.
“Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre,” Cecilia Strada, an Italian member of the European parliament, told AFP.
The group — including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs — held signs reading “Stop genocide now,” “End illegal occupation” and “Stop arming Israel.”
“There should be a complete embargo on weapons to and from Israel and a stop to trade with illegal settlements,” Strada said.
The protesters laid toys on the ground in solidarity with Gaza’s children, who the UN warns face “a growing risk of starvation, illness and death” more than two months into a total Israeli aid blockade.
At least 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, according to the United Nations.
Israel has faced mounting pressure to lift its aid blockade, as UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.
It resumed its offensive on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
On Saturday Israel announced an expanded military campaign, killing dozens of people in new strikes.
“We hear the bombs right now,” Walter Massa, president of Italian non-profit organization Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana, told AFP near the crossing.
“The Israeli army continues to do what it believes is right in the face of an international community that does not intervene, and in Gaza, beyond the Rafah crossing border, people continue to die,” he said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday said he was “alarmed” at the escalation and called for “a permanent ceasefire, now.”
Italy’s government on Saturday reiterated its calls to Israel to stop attacking Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.”
“We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said.
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,339.
Italian MPs protest at Egypt’s Gaza border against war
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Italian MPs protest at Egypt’s Gaza border against war
- The group — including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs — held signs reading “Stop genocide now”
Syria nears anniversary of Assad’s fall amid renewed ‘deeply troubling’ abuses, UN warns
- Early steps by interim leadership ‘encouraging but only the beginning’ of long process of accountability, human rights chief says
- Concern that rising hate speech, both online and on the streets, has intensified violence against Alawite, Druze, Christian, Bedouin communities
NEW YORK: Syria is days away from marking the first anniversary of the fall of President Bashar Assad’s regime, but the country’s interim authorities face mounting criticism over continuing abuses and a fragile security environment, the UN human rights chief said.
In a statement on Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said early steps by the interim leadership, including the creation of national commissions for transitional justice and missing persons, and investigative bodies examining violence in coastal areas and in Suweida, were “encouraging but only the beginning” of a long process of accountability.
Trials for suspects linked to last year’s coastal violence have begun, and a draft law on transitional justice has been announced. But Turk said the human rights situation remains deeply troubling.
According to the UN, hundreds of people have been killed over the past year in summary executions, arbitrary killings, and abductions. Victims include members of minority communities and individuals accused of ties to the former government. Deaths were attributed to gunfire, stabbings, blunt-force attacks, shelling, hand grenades and explosive remnants of war.
The UN said perpetrators include security forces under the interim authorities, armed groups aligned with them, remnants of the former government’s forces, local militias, and unidentified armed actors.
Investigators also documented reports of sexual violence, arbitrary detention, looting, destruction of homes, forced evictions, and property confiscations, along with restrictions on free expression and peaceful assembly.
Turk warned that rising hate speech, both online and on the streets, had intensified violence against Alawite, Druze, Christian, and Bedouin communities.
The past year has also seen repeated Israeli military operations inside Syrian territory, including incursions and the occupation of additional areas. The UN said it had received reports of civilian casualties in a recent Israeli strike near Damascus, along with arrests and home searches carried out during military actions.
Turk expressed concern that former armed groups have been integrated into new security forces without adequate human rights checks, raising the risk of repeat violations.
“Proper vetting and comprehensive security sector reform are essential to prevent individuals responsible for serious abuses from entering the security forces,” he said.
He urged Syria’s interim authorities to ensure independent and transparent investigations into all violations, past and present, and to hold those responsible to account.
“Accountability, justice, peace, and the security of all Syrians are absolute prerequisites for a successful transition,” Turk said, adding that victims must have access to remedies and reparation.
The UN Human Rights Office said its Damascus program is supporting efforts to advance inclusive transitional justice and strengthen the rule of law as Syria navigates a post-Assad transition.
