Gaza’s girls cut off their hair for lack of combs/node/2567271/middle-east
Gaza’s girls cut off their hair for lack of combs
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A medic checks the blood pressure of a Palestinian woman at a tent set up by Lobna Al-Azaiza, a Palestinian pediatrician providing free medical services to displaced Palestinians, near Al-Azaiza’s house, which was destroyed in an Israeli strike, in Deir Al-Balah on Aug. 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Lobna Al-Azaiza, a Palestinian pediatrician providing free medical services to displaced Palestinians, examines a girl in a tent near her house, which was destroyed in an Israeli strike in Deir Al-Balah on Aug. 12, 2024. (Reuters)
The tent clinic she set up with a small team began by treating children, but has by necessity become a practice for whole families
Even the medication that is available is often unaffordable; a tube of simple burn ointment can now cost $53
Updated 13 August 2024
Reuters
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza: When girls complain to Gaza paediatrician Lobna Al-Azaiza that they have no comb, she tells them to cut off their hair.
It’s not just combs. Israel’s blockade of the territory, ravaged by 10 months of war, means there is little or no shampoo, soap, period products or household cleaning materials.
Waste collection and sewage treatment have also collapsed, and it’s easy to see why contagious diseases that thrive on overcrowding and lack of cleanliness — such as scabies or fungal infections — are on the rise.
“In the past period, the most common disease we have seen was skin rashes, skin diseases, which have many causes, including the overcrowding in the camps, the increased heat inside the tents, the sweating among children, and the lack of sufficient water for bathing,” the doctor said.
Azaiza used to work at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia until Israeli tanks separated the north of the besieged enclave from the south.
Like most of Gaza’s medics, she has adapted and continues to treat patients, walking to work past her own ruined house, demolished by an Israeli strike.
The tent clinic she set up with a small team began by treating children, but has by necessity become a practice for whole families, most of whom have also been ordered or bombed out of their homes, like the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Even the medication that is available is often unaffordable; a tube of simple burn ointment can now cost 200 shekels ($53).
International aid deliveries have been dramatically reduced since Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.
Israel denies responsibility for delays in getting urgent humanitarian aid in, saying that the UN and others are responsible for its distribution inside the enclave.
Azaiza has little doubt where the immediate solution lies:
“The border crossing must be opened so that we can bring in medications, as most of the current ones are ineffective: zero effect, there is no effect on the skin diseases that we see.”
Palestinians’ UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and the West Bank in 6 months
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press on Monday that International Court of Justice rulings “should be accepted and should be implemented”
Updated 44 sec ago
AP
UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinians have circulated a draft UN resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months.
The proposed General Assembly resolution, which was obtained by The Associated Press, follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In the sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force. It also said Israeli settlement building must stop.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon denounced the resolution and described it as a “reward for terrorism.” He called for the resolution to be rejected.
“Let it be clear: Nothing will stop Israel or deter it from its mission to bring home the hostages and eliminate Hamas,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press on Monday that International Court of Justice rulings “should be accepted and should be implemented.” As for the General Assembly resolution, he said, it’s up to the 193 UN member nations to make a decision.
The draft UN resolution comes as Israel’s military assault on Gaza enters the 11th month after being triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs.
The proposal, if adopted by the 193-member General Assembly, would not be legally binding but the extent of its support would reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council.
A council diplomat said the Palestinians are aiming for a vote before world leaders of the General Assembly start their annual high-level meetings on Sept. 22. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions on the draft resolution have been private.
The proposal demands that Israel comply with international law, including by immediately withdrawing all military forces from the Palestinian territories.
The draft resolution not only demands an end to all new settlement activity but the evacuation of all settlers and the dismantling of the separation barrier Israel constructed in the West Bank.
And it calls for all Palestinians displaced during Israel’s occupation to be allowed “to return to their original place of residence” and that Israel make reparations “for the damage caused” to all people in the territories.
Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed, the future of which should be decided in negotiations, while it has moved people there in settlements to solidify its hold. It has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that isn’t internationally recognized. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintained a blockade of the territory after Hamas took power in 2007.
Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,900 Palestinians have been killed there. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Meanwhile, settler violence in West Bank has reached new highs, and Israeli military raids on West Bank cities and towns have grown more devastating, killing 692 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis within the territory also have increased.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council last month that he planned to introduce a General Assembly resolution in September to enshrine the ICJ ruling. “We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. “The time for waiting is over.”
The proposed resolution includes other demands, including for Israel to be held accountable for any violations of international law, sanctions against those responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories, and for countries to halt arms exports to Israel if they’re suspected of being used in the territories.
Successful ‘polio pause’ prompts renewed calls for permanent Gaza ceasefire
Destruction of water and sanitation services caused the highly infectious virus to re-emerge
With most primary roads destroyed, families and aid agencies faced perilous journeys to vaccination sites
Updated 28 min 9 sec ago
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: The UN’s polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has been deemed a success, even though it was conducted in “the most dangerous and difficult (place) on the planet.” However, Palestinian civilians remain at significant risk of injury, illness and death amid the ongoing conflict.
A pause in the fighting between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in and around the vaccination sites has been critical for the immunization campaign. However, elsewhere in the war-torn territory, the fighting continued.
On Sept. 7, just as medical teams were wrapping up the second phase of the vaccination campaign, Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed scores of people — including children.
A man inspects the damage following an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City on September 7, 2024. (AFP)
The vaccination campaign was launched in Gaza after an 11-month-old baby was diagnosed with the viral disease in August, marking the first case in the Strip for 25 years, raising fears it could spread to neighboring countries.
Adele Khodr, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at UNICEF, described the three-phase campaign as one of “the most dangerous and difficult vaccination campaigns on the planet.”
“Even with a polio pause, the vaccination campaign faces grave danger and immeasurable obstacles, including damaged roads and health infrastructure, displaced populations, looting and disrupted supply routes,” she said in a statement on Sept. 4.
“Children have suffered enough,” she added, warning that the reemergence of the virus is now “threatening other children in the region.”
A child has their finger marked after receiving a vaccination for polio at a makeshift camp in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 5, 2024. (AFP)
Polio, which spreads through contact with the feces, saliva or nasal mucus of an infected individual, attacks nerves in the spinal cord and the brain stem, leading to partial or total paralysis within hours.
It can also immobilize chest muscles, causing trouble breathing, even leading to death.
Wild poliovirus cases have fallen by more than 99 percent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries, to six reported cases in 2021.
Of the three strains of wild poliovirus, Type 2 was eradicated in 1999 and Type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, endemic Type 1 remained in just two countries — Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Children stand next to raw sewage at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 19, 2024. (AFP)
In Gaza, overcrowding, a lack of clean water and hygiene materials, a deteriorating health system, and the destruction of sanitation plants have all contributed to the reemergence of Type 2 in the water supply.
According to UNICEF, the first phase of the polio vaccination program, which ran from Sept. 1 to 3 in central Gaza, reached more than 189,000 children under the age of 10.
The second phase was carried out in southern Gaza, particularly in Khan Younis and Rafah, from Sept. 5 to 8, targeting approximately 340,000 children under 10.
The third phase, which was launched on Sept. 9, is scheduled to run until Sept. 11, targeting some 150,000 children in the north.
IN NUMBERS
680K Children in Gaza targeted under the UN’s polio vaccination campaign.
92% Primary roads damaged or destroyed, obstructing vaccine distribution.
70% Water and sanitation plants damaged or destroyed, contributing to outbreak.
(Source: UN, World Bank)
Coinciding with the vaccine’s rollout on Sept. 1, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on the social media platform X that “ultimately, the best vaccine for these children is peace.”
However, the area-specific truces that allowed the rollout to take place have done little to provide the children of Gaza with hope of a lasting end to the violence.
While vaccination sites have not been targeted, Gazan families, wearied by 11 months of war and worsening humanitarian conditions, had to make the perilous journey with their children to these locations amid the ongoing bombardment.
Lack of clean water and hygiene materials, a deteriorating health system, and the destruction of sanitation plants have all contributed to the reemergence of polio in Gaza. (AFP)
Khodr praised the families for turning out “in high numbers” at vaccination sites, “despite relentless attacks on schools and sites sheltering uprooted children, exhausting displacement orders forcing families to relocate time and again, and widespread hunger levels that have at points pushed parts of Gaza to the brink of famine.”
Not only has the journey to vaccination units been long and exhausting for Gazan families, but also for humanitarian teams delivering and administering the vaccines.
With 92 percent of Gaza’s primary roads damaged or destroyed, according to the World Bank, civilians and medical workers were all forced to use a single route — Al-Bahar Street.
“Unfortunately, only one road in Gaza remains operational, and it’s Al-Bahar Street,” Fady Abed, the Gaza communications officer for the medical NGO MedGlobal, told Arab News.
“This is the sole road servicing about 1.9 million displaced people in Al-Mawasi, western Khan Younis, Rafah and Deir Al-Balah.”
Palestinian residents walk along a road now dirt, past destroyed and razed buildings east of Gaza City on July 11, 2024. (AFP)
An April report by the World Bank and the UN highlighted that severe damage to road networks and the communications infrastructure has hampered the delivery of much-needed basic humanitarian aid to people across Gaza.
When he spoke with Arab News on Sept. 5, Abed of MedGlobal had just returned to Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza from working in Khan Younis.
Describing the logistical challenges his team has been facing, he said the journey between Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, normally no more than 15 minutes, now takes over an hour.
Abed also said transportation has been a major challenge due to fuel shortages. “There is no fuel for cars,” he said. “Drivers have resorted to mixing vegetable oil with diesel to keep vehicles running, which results in harmful smoke emissions.
“To vaccinate your child, you risk them suffocating from vehicle fumes.”
MedGlobal’s team delivering polio vaccines in Khan Younis on Sep. 5. (Supplied)
And since the vaccine must be kept cold at all times, MedGlobal could only carry as many doses as they expected to administer. Abed said his team “avoided carrying large quantities of the vaccine to prevent it from spoiling after being kept outside coolers for too long.
“At one point, the number of children arriving at the vaccination unit exceeded the available doses. Members of our team had to make the long, arduous journey back and forth to replenish the supply while families waited.
“This was frustrating for both our team and the families, who were exhausted yet eager to have their children vaccinated.”
Israel mounted its Gaza operation in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, which saw 1,200 killed and 250 taken hostage. At least 40,900 Palestinians have been killed and more than 94,450 injured since the conflict began, according to Gaza’s health authority.
Palestinian children receive malnourishment treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on May 30, 2024. (AFP)
Around 90 percent of the population has been displaced at least once, fleeing from one Israeli-designated “safe zone” to another.
The Israeli bombardment has devastated much of Gaza’s infrastructure, bringing the health sector and sanitation services to their knees and causing the resurgence and spread of multiple infectious diseases.
According to UN figures, the conflict has damaged or destroyed 70 percent of Gaza’s water and sanitation plants.
Palestinian children queue at a water distribution point in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2024. (AFP)
In late July, Gaza’s health authority declared the enclave a “polio epidemic zone,” attributing the resurgence of the virus to the damage caused by Israel’s bombing campaign.
UNICEF’s Khodr called on the warring parties to continue to respect the polio pauses. Achieving at least 90 percent vaccination coverage in Gaza would stop the virus from spreading, she said.
“Preparing for this ambitious campaign and securing these pauses was not easy but it demonstrates that it is possible to allow supplies into the Strip, silence the strikes and protect civilians.”
Effective UN Security Council measures needed to stop Israeli attacks on civilians, PM Mikati says
Al-Fajr Forces join Hezbollah in attacks on northern Israel
Updated 09 September 2024
NAJIA HOUSSARI
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati convened with ambassadors from Western nations and representatives of international organizations on Monday to discuss recent events in southern Lebanon, including Israeli aggression against its Civil Defense workers.
Mikati emphasized the necessity for the UN Security Council to adopt more effective and decisive measures in addressing violations and attacks by Israel on Lebanese civilians.
He also asserted that “the response from the Security Council must be prompt and robust, aimed at safeguarding innocent civilians and the Civil Defense personnel who are striving diligently to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population.”
Mikati urged “the Security Council to assume its responsibility in upholding international law and security by holding accountable those responsible for targeting Lebanese civilians.”
He reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to peace and stability and the protection of its people, and added that international cooperation and support were crucial for achieving lasting stability in the region.
The prime minister’s comments came as Al-Fajr Forces — the military wing of the Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiyah movement — joined the military escalation involving the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
The group’s move heightened tensions on Monday along the southern front in Lebanon.
Explosions were reported on the Israeli side after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israeli military positions, while the Israeli army intensified its airstrikes on southern towns.
The recent escalation of confrontations has signaled a return to the precarious situation which had existed prior to Aug. 25.
An Israeli attack on the town of Froun in Lebanon resulted in the deaths of three Civil Defense paramedics, Qassem Bazi, Mohammed Hashim, and Abbas Hamoud, while two others sustained serious injuries.
Israeli army radio announced that Hezbollah had targeted northern Israel with three waves of rocket fire, resulting in damage to a building in Kiryat Shmona, and added that the group had “launched about 100 rockets towards northern Israel in the past 24 hours.”
Hezbollah announced on Monday that it had targeted “the Ma’ayan Baruch site with missile fire, achieving a direct hit.”
Sirens were activated in the Manara settlement in Upper Galilee, as well as in Kiryat Shmona and its surrounding areas.
The Israeli military reported “the detection of two drones that infiltrated from Lebanon, with one of them landing in Nahariya.”
The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority said that “a multi-story building in Nahariya, located approximately 14 km from the Lebanese border, sustained a direct hit.”
Rescue teams assessed the damage and conducted searches.
Shahar Toledano, whose apartment was hit by the drone, reportedly told Israeli media: “I was sitting with my insurance agent. Suddenly, we heard one siren go off and then one after the other. We rushed into the bunker, and heard a very loud boom.
“The windows were blown away, and shrapnel went everywhere. We are used to the sound of explosions, but not such explosions.”
A siren went off in Arab Al-Aramsha, located near the border with Lebanon, while Hezbollah confirmed that it had “targeted the headquarters of the Golani Brigade and Egoz Unit 621 in the Shagra barracks north of Acre with suicide drones.”
In addition, Al-Fajr Forces later announced that it had “targeted and directly hit Beit Hillel sites near Kiryat Shmona with rockets.”
Hezbollah went on to announce that it had “intercepted an Israeli warplane, bombed the new Western Brigade Command headquarters in the south of the Yaara barracks, and targeted Israel’s Al-Marj military site with artillery shells.”
In the later hours of Monday, Hezbollah claimed a series of new operations had targeted “the surveillance equipment at Al-Ramtha site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills, Habushit and Jal Al-Alam.”
US urges Israel to conclude probe into killing of American activist in West Bank
WAFA said the incident took place during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, village near Nablus that has seen attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers
Updated 09 September 2024
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The United States called on Israel on Monday to complete a full inquiry into the killing of an American Turkish woman last week in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, saying it believes Israel has begun such a probe.
Turkish and Palestinian officials said on Friday that Israeli troops shot 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who had been taking part in a protest against settlement expansion.
“Our understanding is that our partners in Israel are looking into the circumstances of what happened, and we expect them to make their findings public, and expect that whatever those findings are, expect them to be thorough and transparent,” US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a news briefing.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby later said Israel was understood to be “moving swiftly on this investigation” and was expected to present its findings and conclusions in the coming days.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said the incident took place during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village near Nablus that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers.
Israel’s military said it was looking into reports that a female foreign national “was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.”
Patel and Kirby did not provide further information on the circumstances of the killing and said Washington would withhold judgment until Israel presents its findings.
Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Eygi’s death, saying in a post on social media that Turkiye “will continue to work in every platform to halt Israel’s policy of occupation and genocide.” Israel denies its actions in occupied Palestinian territories amount to genocide.
A rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the settler movement.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state.
Israel has built settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
Iran rejects Western accusations of arms exports to Russia
Updated 09 September 2024
AFP
TEHRAN: Iran rejected Western accusations on Monday that it sent arms to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
The EU said its allies had shared intelligence that Iran supplied Russia with ballistic missiles. It warned new sanctions could be imposed on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed.
“We strongly reject the claims of Iran’s role in exporting arms to one side of the war,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a news conference.
Russia and Iran are both under international sanctions that restrict trade, but they have forged strong ties in various sectors, including military cooperation.
US media outlets reported last week that Washington believed Iran had transferred the weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, citing anonymous sources.
“We are aware of the credible information provided by allies on the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said.
“We are looking further into it with our member states and if confirmed, this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Stano added that “the EU leaders’ unanimous position has always been clear. The EU will respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners, including with new and significant restrictive measures against Iran.”
The Kremlin did not issue a denial on Monday when asked specifically about the Wall Street Journal report that Iran had sent missiles.
“We have seen this report, it is not every time that this kind of information is true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive areas.”
The US has said any deliveries would invoke a “severe” response and damage Tehran’s efforts to improve relations with the West following the election of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as president.
Faced with punishing Western sanctions, Moscow has turned to Iran and North Korea for weapons supplies to keep its war machine going in Ukraine.
Ukraine says it has been attacked with Iranian-designed Shahed drones on an almost daily basis from Russia, and has found fragments of North Korean missiles on its territory.
The reported delivery of missiles to Russia comes as the Kremlin has once again stepped up its bombing campaign against Ukraine’s key infrastructure ahead of winter.
Meanwhile, Latvia’s armed forces said on Monday the Russian drone that crashed on the Baltic state’s territory was an Iranian-designed Shahed equipped with explosives.
Riga had earlier announced that investigators were looking into a drone that had crashed in the eastern part of the country on Saturday.
Latvia has had tense relations with Moscow following independence, and ties have further deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.