New secretary-general of International Civil Defence Organization elected
The head of the international relations department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel Arguj Kalantarli, was unanimously elected to the post.
Kalantarli delivered a speech, highlighting the 'humanitarian catastrophe on an unimaginable scale' in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, noting Palestine is a member state of the ICDO.
'Food, water, medicine, shelter, these are no longer just basic rights, ' he said. Palestinians' 'loved ones are slipping through our fingers', he added.
Another short excerpt from my speech at the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the ICDO General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan (July 10, 2025), including remarks on the humanitarian crisis in Palestine and Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YWiZQ6V1hT
— Arguj Kalantarli (@ArgujKalantarli) July 11, 2025
The ICDO is an intergovernmental organisation which contributes to the development of systems by countries to help protect populations, property and the environment from natural or man-made disasters and conflicts.
Candidates from four member states of the organisation – Azerbaijan, Serbia, Burkina Faso, and Tunisia – were in the running for the position.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli attacks kill 40 across Gaza as military escalates Gaza City assault
Israel's military has intensified its attacks on Gaza City with air strikes on heavily populated areas, as it pushes ahead with the initial stage of an operation to seize the enclave's main urban centre that could forcibly displace close to one million Palestinians. Among the victims of the Israeli assault on Gaza City on Thursday were six people, including four children, killed in the southern Sabra neighbourhood, a source at the nearby al-Ahli Hospital told Al Jazeera. Israeli attacks kill 40 across Gaza as military escalates Gaza City assault Footage from the scene of one of the attacks east of Sheikh Radwan showed the bodies of the dead and badly wounded strewn across the street amid flames and wreckage from the attack. The victims in Gaza City were among at least 40 Palestinians killed across the territory since dawn, hospital sources in Gaza told Al Jazeera, eight of whom were reportedly seeking aid. Among the other victims were five Palestinians killed by an Israeli drone strike northwest of Khan Younis, and at least three killed by Israeli forces near an aid centre north of Rafah, sources told Al Jazeera. In the north of the enclave, four people were killed and 10 injured in Israeli shelling of Jabalia al-Balad, emergency sources told Al Jazeera, while in central Gaza, five people, including two children, were killed while waiting for aid near the so-called Netzarim axis, a source at Al-Awda Hospital said. In Gaza City, where Israeli troops are posted on the outskirts, thousands of Palestinians continued to flee their homes in a bid to escape the escalating offensive, amid heavy shelling of densely populated neighbourhoods like Sabra and Tuffah. 'We are facing a bitter, bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else; as long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,' Rabah Abu Elias, a 67-year-old father of seven, told the Reuters news agency. 'In the news, they speak about a possible truce. On the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn't an easy decision to make.' Nowhere is safe Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said that for those fleeing the Israeli offensive on Gaza City, there were no safe havens in the enclave, as places that had been supposedly deemed safe by the Israeli military had repeatedly been targeted. 'They feel they have been hunted without any safe place to go to,' he said. Abu Azzoum was nearby when a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah was struck in an Israeli bombardment on Thursday, close to the city's al-Aqsa Hospital. Footage he captured at the site of the attack showed chaotic scenes, as huge plumes of smoke rose from the attacked area. 'It's only 9am … and the Israeli military is already scaling up attacks in Gaza,' he said. Israel's military has said it will call up 60,000 reservists as it pursues the operation to seize Gaza City, despite widespread international condemnation, some domestic opposition, and warnings that the offensive will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of people to concentration zones in southern Gaza. Close to one million Palestinians are believed to be in Gaza City, where Israeli tanks have been pushing closer to the city's centre this week. 'The intensification of hostilities in Gaza means more killing, more displacement, more destruction and more panic,' Christian Cardon, chief spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Al Jazeera. 'Gaza is a closed space, from which nobody can escape … and where access to healthcare, food and safe water is dwindling,' he said. 'This is intolerable.' The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said at a briefing in Geneva that child malnutrition in Gaza City had risen sixfold since March. 'We have a population that is extremely weak that will be confronted with a new major military operation,' he said. 'Many will simply not have the strength to undergo a new displacement.' Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Thursday that there had been two more deaths in the territory due to malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition during the war to 271, including 112 children. It said that a total of 70 people had been killed and 356 wounded by Israeli fire in the enclave in the same period, based on the numbers brought to hospitals in Gaza, while still more victims remained trapped beneath rubble. 'Beginning of ethnic cleansing' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing ahead with the Gaza City offensive despite renewed efforts to reach a ceasefire, including the latest ceasefire proposal that Hamas has responded positively to. The decision to push ahead with the operation shows the Israeli government has 'no intention to put an end to the war', Gideon Levy, columnist for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Al Jazeera. 'There is no other way to explain it,' he said. 'There is a Hamas offer on the table and Israel hasn't even discussed it yet. 'So, either they [Israel] want to put more pressure on Hamas, which I'm not sure is very probable, or they're really serious about reconquering Gaza City, pushing all the people to the south and then offering them to leave the Gaza Strip. 'That's the beginning of an ethnic cleansing of Gaza,' he said. Al Jazeera's Rory Challands said the operation had been 'demanded' by Netanyahu despite military opposition. 'His generals didn't really want it. They pushed back, saying it was a trap for the military, that the military was tired after nearly two years of fighting, and wasn't ready for it. But Netanyahu wanted it.' He said there was a risk for Israel that the army would fail 'because the army is not ready for it, and the reservists won't turn up or they'll turn up late, and it just doesn't have the capability to pursue this operation'. Israeli public opinion was also swinging against the war, he said, noting, 'We understand that a majority of Israelis now want the war to finish.'
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
The Silencing of Anas al-Sharif
A haunting look at the targeted killing of journalist Anas al-Sharif and the war on truth in Gaza. This is the story of Anas al-Sharif, Al Jazeera Arabic's correspondent in northern Gaza, who risked everything to document the war unfolding around him. Born and raised under blockade, Anas grew up surrounded by conflict but chose not to turn away. Instead, he became a journalist, determined to show the world the human cost of war. As bombs rained down and entire neighbourhoods were erased, Anas remained on the front line, reporting with unwavering courage. He captured starvation, the destruction, and the relentless targeting of civilians and journalists alike. But in a place where truth is dangerous, Anas became a target himself. This is the story of a man who gave his voice to Gaza until he was silenced. Credits: Executive producer: Farid Barsoum Producer: Zainab Walji Gaza Team: MediaTown Video editor: Dima Gharbawi Shaibani
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
What to know as Israel begins its planned offensive to seize Gaza City
What to know as Israel begins its planned offensive to seize Gaza City NewsFeed Israeli troops have begun advancing on Gaza City as part of the military's plan to besiege and occupy the area. Despite a global outcry, the Netanyahu government is pressing forward with the assault. Soraya Lennie explains what we know. Video Duration 01 minutes 19 seconds 01:19 Video Duration 01 minutes 01 seconds 01:01 Video Duration 00 minutes 53 seconds 00:53 Video Duration 02 minutes 03 seconds 02:03 Video Duration 00 minutes 51 seconds 00:51 Video Duration 01 minutes 19 seconds 01:19 Video Duration 00 minutes 45 seconds 00:45
