West Bank seeing largest displacement
The military operation "has been the longest since ... the second Intifada", in the early 2000s, said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. "It is impacting several refugee camps in the area, and it is causing the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967," she told reporters in Geneva via video from Jordan, referring to the six-day Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
The UN rights office meanwhile warned that mass forced displacement by an occupation force could amount to "ethnic cleansing". Since Israel's military launched its operation "Iron Wall" in the north of the West Bank in January, rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said that "about 30,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced". — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Israel hits Syria army HQ; over 300 dead in Sweida
SWEIDA: Israel said it bombed Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland where a monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people. Syrian government forces entered the majority-Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a ceasefire agreed with Druze community leaders after clashes with local Bedouin tribes left more than 100 people dead. However, witnesses reported that the government forces joined with the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city. The fighting marks the most serious outbreak of violence in Syria since government forces battled Druze fighters in Sweida province and near Damascus in April and May leaving more than 100 people dead. The Islamist-led authorities have had strained relations with Syria's patchwork of religious and ethnic minorities since they toppled longtime leader Bashar al Assad in December. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called on Damascus to "leave the Druze in Sweida alone". "As we have made clear and warned, Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarisation policy we have decided on," he said in a statement. Syrian forces should withdraw, he added, and promised no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened, saying Israel would "raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood". Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said it had hit Syria's military headquarters in Damascus. "A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck the entrance of the Syrian regime's military headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria," it said in a statement. Syrian state television reported that two people were wounded in central Damascus, without giving a more precise location. - 'Existential battle' - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of forces of the Islamist-led government near territory it controls. Israel said it was sending more troops to the armistice line between the occupied Golan Heights and Syrian-controlled territory. "In accordance with the situational assessment, the (Israeli military) has decided to reinforce its forces in the area of the Syrian border," a statement said. The head of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, called the situation "an existential battle for the Druze community". According to the Observatory, witnesses and Druze armed groups, government forces took part in fighting alongside the Bedouin against the Druze. Sporadic gunfire continued to ring out in the city on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent reported. Columns of smoke were seen rising from several areas amid the sound of shelling. The correspondent counted the bodies of around 30 combatants, some in plain clothes and some in military uniform. The Suwayda 24 news website reported "intense shelling with heavy artillery and mortars" . The Syrian defence ministry accused "outlaw groups" of attacking its forces inside the city, saying they are now "continuing to respond to the sources of fire". - Death toll nears 250 - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 248 people had been killed in Sweida province since the violence erupted on Sunday. The Britain-based watchdog said 28 civilians were among 92 Druze killed, 21 of them "in summary executions by government forces". At least 138 Syrian security personnel were killed, along with 18 allied Bedouin fighters, it added. The Bedouin and the Druze have been at loggerheads for decades. The latest violence erupted after the kidnapping of a Druze vegetable merchant triggered tit-for-tat abductions, the Observatory said. Since they toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria's Islamist authorities have been accused repeatedly of trampling over the rights of the country's religious and ethnic minorities. Israel has presented itself as a defender of the Druze, although some analysts have said that is just a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping government forces as far from the border as possible. — AFP
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
20 Gazans killed in aid point crush
GAZA CITY: At least 20 people were killed in a chaotic crush at an aid centre in southern Gaza on Wednesday, with the site's operator blaming "agitators" within the crowd and the territory's civil defence agency attributing the panic to Israeli gunfire. It was the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) first acknowledgement of deaths at one of its aid centres after weeks of chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Palestinians being killed nearby while waiting to collect rations. The latest deaths came as Hamas accused Israel of wanting to retain long-term military control of Gaza — a key sticking point in ongoing negotiations aiming to seal a deal for a 60-day ceasefire, the release of hostages and the unfettered flow of much-needed aid. A Palestinian source close to the negotiations said there had been "no progress so far" in the indirect talks, which are now in their second week in Doha. In Khan Yunis, the GHF said it understood that 19 of those killed on Wednesday "were trampled and one was stabbed amid a chaotic and dangerous surge". It said the crush was "driven by agitators", adding: "We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd -- armed and affiliated with Hamas -- deliberately fomented the unrest". Gaza's civil defence agency confirmed at least 20 people were killed in the incident, but blamed it on fire from Israeli troops. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that thousands had gathered at the scene when "Israeli forces opened fire and used (tear) gas, causing panic and a stampede after aid centre guards closed the main gates in front of the hungry crowd". The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AFP footage showed lifeless bodies being taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, with some placed on the floor and others on already-bloodied beds. "They fired stun grenades at us and sprayed us with pepper spray," said Abdullah Alian, who witnessed the crush. "When they saw people starting to die on the ground and people on top of each other suffocating, they opened the gate and people started climbing on top of each other." Paramedic Ziad Farhat said that after 21 months of devastating war, "there are not enough hospitals for the injured or the martyrs, and there is not enough land for the cemeteries". "Enough of what is happening, enough of the tragedies that we are living," he said. The GHF, an officially private effort, began operations on May 26 after Israel had blocked supplies from entering the Gaza Strip for more than two months, sparking warnings of imminent famine. On Tuesday, the UN said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 "in the vicinity of GHF sites", since late May. — AFP
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Meeting looks at enhancing Oman's performance in Global Innovation Index
MUSCAT: The National Team in charge of enhancing the performance of the Sultanate of Oman in the Global Innovation Index held its twenty-first meeting under the chairmanship of Dr Saif bin Abdullah al Haddabi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for Research and Innovation, Head of the National Team for the Global Innovation Index. The meeting reviewed the outcomes and recommendations of a working session on the International Policy Indicators Simulation System for policymakers in the Arab region. Organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the session discussed the mechanisms of simulation and methodologies on analysing the indicators proposed during the session. The protocols included means to measure gaps and formulate scenarios on enhancing Oman's performance in the Global Innovation Index. The meeting also reviewed the progress made in preparing a medium-term plan and procedural steps to support the team tasked with policies and initiatives and the data management team. The Global Innovation Index team stems from the National Competitiveness Committee. It is entrusted with improving the Sultanate of Oman's performance in the Global Innovation Index by implementing an integrated approach to unify national efforts and engage stakeholders in the national innovation system. - ONA
