Brickbat: Freedom of Religion
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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Turned back from Gaza, aid shipments sit in warehouses, on roadsides
Responding to international outrage sparked by images of starving Gazans, Israel on July 27 announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. But aid agencies say only a fraction of what's sent gets in. Boxes ofGaza-bound aid turned back by Israel on Sunday laid atop a truck and flatbed trailer parked meters from its border with Egypt, as frustrated drivers and UN officials criticized delays in sending food and medicine to the enclave. Seven aid officials and three truckers interviewed by Reuters listed a host of obstacles, ranging from rejections of shipments for minor packing and paperwork issues to heavy scrutiny over possible dual military use for a range of goods, as well as short working hours at the Israeli border crossing. The supplies seen by Reuters on Monday on the stalled truck and trailer outside Egypt's Rafah border crossing carried blue logos of the World Health Organization and labels describing contents like topical medications and suction devices to clean wounds. A WHO employee working at the border said the cargo was blocked for carrying "illegal medicines." Reuters could not independently verify why the trucks were not allowed to enter Gaza and the IDF who is in charge of coordinating aid did not respond to a question about why they were not let into the enclave. Reuters visited Egypt's border with Gaza on Monday on a trip organized by the Elders, a group of former world leaders set up by late South African president Nelson Mandela that backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some Elders members have been highly critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza, including former Irish president Mary Robinson and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who joined the border trip. Responding to international outrage sparked by images of starving Gazans, Israel on July 27 announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. But aid agencies say only a fraction of what they send is getting in. Israel strongly denies limiting aid supplies. Speaking to reporters at the Rafah crossing, Clark expressed shock at the amount of aid turned back at the border. 'To see this crossing, which should be a place where people interact with each other, where people can come and go, where people aren't under blockade, where people who are ill can leave to come out – to see it just silent for the people, it's absolutely shocking for us,' Clark said. 'Bureaucratic hurdles, delays' Approvals and clearance procedures that got a shipment through the Rafah border crossing "within a few days" of arrival in Egypt during a ceasefire earlier in the war now took "minimum one month,' according to the WHO employee at the border. On Monday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 1,334 trucks had entered Gaza through all land crossings, including from Egypt, since the Israeli measures announced on July 27, but this was far short of the 9,000 that would have gone in if 600 trucks had entered per day. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population. Reuters could not independently confirm the reasons for the delays described in this article or the specific figures supplied by those interviewed. Asked for its response to allegations of curbs on aid flows, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, COGAT, said Israel invests 'considerable efforts' in aid distribution. It said about 300 trucks had been transferred daily in "recent weeks," mostly carrying food, via all land crossings. "Despite the claims made, the State of Israel allows and facilitates the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip without any quantitative limit on the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip,' COGAT said. The agency did not address specific questions about aid shipment volumes. In mid-July, Israel introduced a requirement that shipments of humanitarian aid arriving from Egypt undergo customs clearance. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel's move led to "additional bureaucratic hurdles, delays, and costs for humanitarian organizations." UN agencies were exempted from customs clearance from Egypt from July 27 to Aug. 3, OCHA said in a report on August 6. While not officially extended, the exemption still appeared to be in place, it said. Other international NGOs could be exempted only on a case-by-case basis and only for health items. Israel has disputed the Hamas run Gaza health ministry figures, which do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, and says at least a third of the fatalities are terrorists. On Monday, COGAT said a review by its medical experts found the number of deaths reported by the Gaza health ministry due to malnutrition was inflated and most of those "allegedly dying from malnutrition" had pre-existing conditions. A warehouse of rejected goods Drivers coming from Egypt cannot go directly to the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, which had been operated by the Hamas-run border authority but is now closed. Instead, they route to the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, about three km (two miles) to the south, where shipments undergo checks. Kamel Atteiya Mohamed, an Egyptian truck driver, estimated that of the 200 or 300 trucks trying to get through this route every day, only 30 to 50 make it. "They tell you, for example, that the pallet doesn't have a sticker, the pallet is tilted, or the pallet is open from the top. This is no reason for us to return it,' he told Reuters. He said that while the Egyptian crossing was open day and night, drivers often arrived at Kerem Shalom only to find it closed, as it does not normally operate beyond weekday business hours. 'Every day it's like this,' he said. 'Honestly, we're fed up.' While COGAT did not address specific questions about the driver's remarks and allegations of inflexible working hours, it said that "hundreds of truckloads of aid still await collection by the UN and international organizations" on the Palestinian side of the border crossings. A logistics site set up by the Egyptian Red Crescent near El Arish town, 40 km (25 miles) from the border, where shipments coming from Egypt to Gaza are loaded, has a tarp tent warehouse devoted to goods turned back from the border. A Reuters reporter saw rows of white oxygen tanks, as well as wheelchairs, car tires and cartons labeled as containing generators and first-aid kits and with logos of aid groups from countries such as Luxembourg and Kuwait, among others. Reuters was not able to verify when the items at the Red Crescent site were turned back or on what grounds. Aid workers describe such rejections as routine. Speaking at the meeting with the Elders that Reuters attended, one World Food Programme worker said that only 73 of the 400 trucks the agency had sent since July 27 had made it in. UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has not been allowed to send aid into Gaza since March. The OCHA August 6 report said no shelter materials had been allowed to enter Gaza since March 2 and those available on the local market were "prohibitively expensive and limited in quantity." The WHO employee who works on the border said the truck and trailer seen by Reuters were among three trucks that had been turned back on Sunday. A manifest given for their cargo, seen by Reuters, included urine drainage bags, iodine, plasters and sutures. Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Israel's Energy Influence Expands Even During Gaza War
Nearly two years after the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and the resulting Gaza war that has further isolated Israel diplomatically, the Jewish State announced the largest export deal in its history. NewMed Energy, in connection with Leviathan Partners, announced that it had signed a $35 billion deal to export natural gas from Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas field to Egypt. The off taker will be Blue Ocean Energy, who will import that gas into Egypt until approximately 2040. The transaction, which will involve the drilling of new wells and the connection of new pipelines to Egypt, deepens the ties between the two nations that border Gaza at a time of extreme stress between them. In fact, the Gaza war has infuriated many in Egypt, but Egypt has so far refused to accept any Gaza refugees or allow more aid to flow from Egypt into Gaza. Regardless of the feelings of many Egyptians, its ruler, General Al-Sisi, understands that his country needs energy. The cheapest and easiest place to find it is in the Leviathan Field. As a result, political considerations like the future of Gaza give way to the everyday needs of the Egyptian people, who struggle to advance, if not simply survive, without a reliable energy supply. The deal involves the sale of approximately 130 bcm of natural gas to Egypt over the next 15 years, which is approximately equal to two years of supply for the Arab nation. To accomplish this, NewMed will increase its sale of gas to Egypt from 4.5 bcm to 6.5 bcm later this year or early next year, a move that will save Egypt an enormous amount of money. A political aspect of the deal is that it shows the centrality of energy in the Middle Eastern region, something of which Lebanon is sure to take note. In 2022, Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement on developing the offshore Karish gas field in Israeli waters and the adjacent Qana gas field in Lebanese waters. While Hezbollah has threatened to torpedo that deal and some Israelis have discussed terminating it as well due to Hezbollah's shelling of northern Israel following October 7, the agreement remains. Now, as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been openly discussing disarming Hezbollah, natural gas remains available to Lebanon on which to rebuild its shattered economy. To summarize, despite massive political support in the West, the Palestinians remain extremely isolated in their home region. Egypt's move further amplifies how mere rhetorical support for the Gazans only goes so far. As much as Israeli military pressure may eventually wear down Hamas, it may ultimately be Arab economic needs that finally force Hamas to reevaluate its position of seeming to be willing to "fight to the bitter end,' no matter the cost.
4 days ago
Saved from militants, Timbuktu's famed manuscripts return home after 13 years in Mali's capital
BAMAKO, Mali -- The Malian military government on Monday started returning home the historic manuscripts of Timbuktu, which were spirited out of their fabled northern city when it was occupied by al-Qaida-linked militants more than a decade ago. Islamic radicals destroyed more than 4,000 manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th century, after they seized Timbuktu in 2012, according to the findings of a United Nations expert mission. They also destroyed nine mausoleums and a mosque's door — all but one of the buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The majority of the documents dating back to the 13th century — more than 27,000 — were saved by the devotion of the Timbuktu library's Malian custodians, who carried them out of the occupied city in rice sacks, on donkey carts, by motorcycle, by boat and four-wheel drive vehicles. The first batch of the manuscripts were brought to Timbuktu by plane from the capital of Bamako, authorities said, adding that the return was necessary to protect them from the threats of Bamako's humidity. The shipment consisted of more than 200 crates and weighed some 5.5 tons. The rest would be shipped in the coming days, officials said. About 706 kilometers (439 miles) from Bamako, Timbuktu sits on the edge of the Sahara desert and has a dry climate. For years, the local municipal and religious authorities have asked for the return of the manuscripts. Diahara Touré, Timbuktu's deputy mayor, said the famous documents are important to the local people as they "reflect our civilization and spiritual and intellectual heritage.' 'This is the first stage" of the return, said Bilal Mahamane Traoré, a local official. In February, the military government made a commitment to return the manuscripts, according to Bouréma Kansaye, the Malian Minister of Higher Education. He described them as as a 'legacy that bears witness to the intellectual greatness and crossroads of civilization' of the city of Timbuktu — 'a bridge between the past and the future.' 'We now have a responsibility to protect, digitize, study, and promote these treasures so that they continue to enlighten Mali, Africa, and the world,' Kansaye said during Monday's return ceremony. The manuscripts, which UNESCO has designated as part of the World Cultural Heritage, cover a myriad subjects, from Islamic theology and jurisprudence, astronomy, medicine, mathematics, history, and geography. They are a testimony to the rich cultural heritage of the Mali and Songhai empires in West Africa. Mali, along with neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, has long battled an insurgency by armed militants, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following two military coups, the ruling junta expelled French troops and instead turned to Russia for security assistance. Still, 13 years after the occupation of Timbuktu, the security situation in Mali remains precarious and analysts say it has worsened in recent months. Although the city is back under government control, militants continue attacking its surroundings, including as recently as last month.
