Palestinians use clay pots to keep water cool in electricity-short Gaza

Palestinians use clay pots to keep water cool in electricity-short Gaza
People line up to fill containers with water at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 19, 2024, amid the continuing conflict between Israel and Hamas group. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 20 August 2024
Follow

Palestinians use clay pots to keep water cool in electricity-short Gaza

Palestinians use clay pots to keep water cool in electricity-short Gaza

GAZA CITY: The need to keep water cool in Gaza, where electricity is in short supply and 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, has spurred a resurgence in the traditional Palestinian craft of pottery.
“People are now replacing fridges and cold water in refrigerators with clay pots,” said Bahjat Sabri Attallah, the owner of a pottery factory.
He told Reuters that the industry has seen increased demand amid the destruction wrought by the Israeli military offensive.
But the war has also presented hardships for the potters who today turn the wheels using their feet and shape the clay by hand.
They did not always work this way.
“Whereas we previously worked with clay on (electrical) machines, today we shape clay on machines using our feet instead,” Attallah said.
Wood now powers the factory’s kiln, which previously ran on fuel, he added.
However, food shortages mean the need for pots for cooking is no longer so great.
“Today we have no meat or vegetables, therefore there is no demand for these items,” Attallah explained.
Amid the sweltering summer heat, shopkeeper Mahmoud Khidr said he was keeping drinking water cool by storing it in a clay pot like the ones at the factory.
“Now we have gone back to the old days,” he said.
Aside from the difficulties of finding and storing water, Palestinians face a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food and fuel and the spread of diseases like polio.
The war in Gaza started when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The death toll of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military campaign has exceeded 40,000, according to Gaza authorities.
Standing in his shop, his clay pot perched atop a refrigerator, Khidr said: “We are suffering from everything.” 


Syrian president to visit Jordan on Wednesday, say Jordanian sources

Syrian president to visit Jordan on Wednesday, say Jordanian sources
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Syrian president to visit Jordan on Wednesday, say Jordanian sources

Syrian president to visit Jordan on Wednesday, say Jordanian sources

AMMAN: Syrian transitional leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa will visit Jordan on Wednesday and meet King Abdullah to discuss boosting ties between the two neighbors, two Jordanian officials said. 

On Sunday, Al-Sharaa received an invitation on Sunday to attend an Egyptian-hosted Arab League meeting on Gaza, the Syrian presidency said.
“The president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr.Ahmed Al-Sharaa, received an official invitation from the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt... to participate in the extraordinary Arab League summit” on March 4 in Cairo, the presidency statement said.


EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch

EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch
Updated 24 February 2025
Follow

EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch

EU must condemn Israeli atrocities at top-level meeting: Human Rights Watch
  • ‘There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity and acts of genocide’
  • ‘Unless the EU drastically changes course, it will provide a blank check for further abuses’

LONDON: EU officials must condemn Israeli atrocities and violations of international law at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting on Monday, Human Rights Watch has urged.

The meeting will be led by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Kallas will be joined by EU foreign ministers. Together, they should “signal an end to the bloc’s reluctance to acknowledge and address Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity — including apartheid — and acts of genocide,” HRW said.

Last February, Spain and Ireland requested a suspension to the EU-Israel Association Agreement due to Israel’s grave abuses of its human rights obligations. The request has yet to be answered by the EU.

The Association Council is the EU’s top-level bilateral meeting with Israel, held as part of the agreement.

The last meeting took place in October 2022 following a 10-year pause initiated by Israel over discontent with the EU’s condemnation of settlement-building in the Occupied Territories.

Claudio Francavilla, associate EU director at HRW, said: “There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity, including apartheid, and acts of genocide, and whose sitting prime minister is wanted for atrocity crimes by the International Criminal Court.

“The only purpose of this Association Council meeting should be to call out those crimes and to announce long overdue measures in response.”

More than 100 civil society organizations, including HRW, urged the EU in a letter to center discussions with Saar on the potential suspension of the agreement.

Article 2 names human rights and democratic principles as “essential elements” which, if violated, can lead to the suspension of the treaty.

HRW has documented extensive abuses by Israel during the conflict in Gaza, including war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.  

The EU has yet to adopt any “concrete measure to press Israeli authorities” to halt these abuses, HRW warned. Any move by the bloc requires unanimous approval by its 27 members.

Several EU foreign ministers have criticized the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The EU approved two rounds of sanctions against Israeli settlers who had committed abuses in the West Bank, but fell short of punishing the authorities who have enabled them, HRW said.

EU states also continue to export weapons to Israel despite the risk of complicity in war crimes.

A smear campaign led by Israel also saw the EU and its member states pause, and in some cases fully end, support for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides vital services to Palestinian refugees.

Francavilla said: “Europe’s reluctance to condemn and address Israel’s atrocity crimes has fueled them and given rise to well-grounded accusations of EU double standards.

“Unless the EU drastically changes course, it will provide a blank check for further abuses and continue to undermine the EU’s stated commitment to human rights and the rules-based international order.”


Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says

Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says
Updated 24 February 2025
Follow

Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says

Iraqi Kurdistan can start oil flows within days on Turkish approval, minister says
  • Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed with the federal oil ministry to restart Kurdish crude exports based on available volumes
  • A speedy resumption of exports from semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports

BAGHDAD: Iraq is waiting for Turkiye’s approval to restart the oil flows from the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the Iraqi oil minister said on Monday, adding that Kurdish oil exports will hopefully be ready in two days.
Asked if resuming Kurdish oil exports will affect Iraq’s OPEC compliance, Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters that Baghdad is committed to the OPEC+ decisions and exported volumes under the control of the Iraqi oil ministry.
Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed with the federal oil ministry to restart Kurdish crude exports based on available volumes, Kurdistan’s regional government said on Sunday.
The pipeline was halted by Turkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018.
US President Donald Trump’s administration is putting pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, sources have told Reuters. An Iraqi official later denied pressure or the threat of sanctions.
A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
Asked if the northern oil exports through neighboring Turkiye’s Ceyhan port will include crude oil produced from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields, Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters: “Production from Kirkuk fields will be for local use.”


EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors

EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors
Updated 24 February 2025
Follow

EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors

EU suspends sanctions on key Syria economic sectors
  • Sanctions relief in bid to help the country’s reconstruction after the fall of Bashar Assad

BRUSSELS: European Union countries on Monday suspended a range of sanctions against Syria with immediate effect, including restrictions related to energy, banking, transport and reconstruction.

The EU has a range of sanctions in place targeting both individuals and economic sectors in Syria.

European leaders began rethinking their approach after insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) ousted former President Bashar Assad as president in December.

Meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed to suspend restrictions on the energy sector that covered oil, gas and electricity, and sanctions on the transport sector.

They have also lifted asset freezes for five banks, eased restrictions on the Syrian central bank and indefinitely extended an exemption to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid.

EU states maintained a range of other sanctions related to the Assad authorities, including those on arms trading, dual-use goods with both military and civilian uses, software for surveillance and the international trade of Syrian cultural heritage goods.

They said they would continue to monitor the situation in Syria to ensure that the suspensions remained appropriate.


UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank

UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank
Updated 24 February 2025
Follow

UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank

UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ at Israeli settler violence in West Bank
  • Israel earlier announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory

GENEVA: The UN chief voiced alarm Monday at rising violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and calls for annexation after Israel announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Antonio Guterres told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.