JUBA: South Sudan on Wednesday said that Israel’s deputy foreign minister had visited for talks, after reports of plans to relocate Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he would permit Palestinians from Gaza to emigrate voluntarily and that his government was talking to a number of potential host countries.
South Sudan, which is said to be one of the host countries, announced that Sharren Haskel had visited, in what it called “the highest-level engagement from an Israeli official to South Sudan thus far.”
According to a statement, Foreign Minister Semaya Kumba held “a fruitful bilateral dialogue” with Haskel that touched on “the evolving circumstances within the State of Israel,” without elaborating.
“Both parties expressed a resolute commitment to advancing stronger bilateral and multilateral cooperation moving forward,” it added.
A previous statement from the government in Juba refuted media reports that it was in discussion with Israel about relocating Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan, calling the claims “baseless.”
The potential arrival of Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan has sparked intense controversy both on social media and on the streets of the capital.
“We don’t accept this because these are criminals they are bringing to us. Also we don’t have land that can accommodate the Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan,” Juba resident James Lomederi told AFP.
Another local, who asked not to be identified, said: “We will welcome them with open arms. Our borders need heavy deployment of troops, and they will help us fight anyone who wants to annex our land into their territory.”
Impoverished South Sudan has been plagued by insecurity and instability since its independence in 2011.
This year, the country saw months of clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing First Vice President Riek Machar.
The arrest of Machar in March fueled fears of a return to civil war, nearly seven years after the end of bloody fighting between supporters of the two men that led to around 400,000 deaths between 2013 and 2018.
South Sudan hosts Israeli deputy FM but denies Gaza relocation reports
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South Sudan hosts Israeli deputy FM but denies Gaza relocation reports
- The government in Juba refuted media reports that it was in discussion with Israel about relocating Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan
- Impoverished South Sudan has been plagued by insecurity and instability since its independence in 2011
Gaza families struggle to recover from days of torrential rains that killed 12 people
- The downpour, which dumped more than 150 milliliters (9 inches) of rain on some parts of Gaza over the past week, turned dirt lanes to mud and flooded tents in camps for displaced people
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Palestinians in Gaza struggled to recover Tuesday from torrential rains that battered the enclave for days, flooding camps for the displaced, collapsing buildings already badly damaged in the two-year war and leaving at least 12 dead, including a two-week-old baby.
The downpour, which dumped more than 150 milliliters (9 inches) of rain on some parts of Gaza over the past week, turned dirt lanes to mud and flooded tents in camps for displaced people.
The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said Tuesday the two-week-old died of hypothermia as a result of the weather. The baby was brought to the hospital a few days ago and was transferred to intensive care but died on Monday.
In Gaza City, a man died Tuesday after a home already damaged during Israeli strikes, collapsed because of the heavy rainfall, according to Shifa Hospital.
Members of the Al-Hosari family said 30 people lived in the building, but just nine were home when it collapsed. The man who was killed was a worker who had come to fix the walls, they said. Five people were injured.
The Health Ministry said the remaining 10 people were killed last week, also from buildings collapsing from the rain and heavy winds.
Emergency workers warned people not to congregate in damaged buildings due to concerns of collapse, though so much of the territory has been reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. In July, the United Nations Satellite Center estimated that almost 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
“When we hear the news that there is a storm, our whole lives change, we start thinking about where to stay, to go, where to put our mattresses and blankets, and where to keep our children safe and warm,” said Mohammed Gharableh, a father displaced from the southern city of Rafah.
“During every storm like this, water penetrates our tents, and our mattresses and blankets get soaked,” he added.
In Israel, areas near Gaza received between 60 mm to 160 mm (2 to 6 inches) of rain in the past week, according to the Israel Meteorological Service, which in some cases is more than twice the average amount of rain for this time of year.
Aid groups say despite two months of a ceasefire, not enough shelter material has been getting into Gaza to help Palestinians deal with the winter. Recently released Israeli military figures suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2 million people have been displaced, and most people live in vast tent camps stretching along the coast, or set up among the shells of damaged buildings. The buildings lack adequate flooding infrastructure and people use cesspits dug near tents as toilets.
The Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, said close to 270,000 tents and tarps have entered Gaza over the past few months as well as winter items, shelter equipment, and sanitation supplies.
But some aid groups disputed the figures and said more supplies, especially winter items, are desperately needed.
Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, last week said it has tracked just 68,000 tents that have entered Gaza via the UN, non-governmental organizations, and various countries. Many of the tents aren’t properly insulated for winter, it says.
