Latest news with #Farajallah
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
British Palestinians demand UK action as Gaza relatives face starvation
Basem Farajallah speaks with his sister in Gaza every day. She is diabetic and surviving on scraps of bread. He has 80 family members still alive in Gaza - but 40 others have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, including 25 who were wiped out in a single strike. Farajallah emphasised that he is not alone. He is the co-founder of the UK Gaza Community, a group of some 350 British Palestinians with relatives in Gaza. For the last 18 months, they have been forced to watch them disappear under the rubble of their homes under relentless Israeli bombardment. Now, they are watching them starve amid Israel's ongoing blockade on the territory. Since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, the group has been fruitlessly pushing to bring their families to the UK, launching a petition that garnered over 100,000 signatures demanding the government create a Ukraine-style visa scheme to reunite them. While UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pronounced Israel's blockade on Gaza 'intolerable', Farajallah said they have been 'neglected' by the government, which has rejected their calls for the creation of the scheme. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'For us, its like torture,' Farajallah told Middle East Eye. 'We are not talking about huge numbers, when we created our list of the family members we wanted to bring to the UK, it was less than 2000 people'. Farajallah spoke alongside a panel of British Palestinians and their families, patched in from Gaza via Zoom calls, at a conference on Thursday calling on the UK government to impose sanctions and a total arms embargo on Israel. 'Nearly every member of the community here in the UK has close family members in Gaza, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters' Farajallah said. 'For the last 600 days, we have lived in constant fear, checking with our families every day, not a single day passed without fear.' 'Today, after 600 days of uncertainty, we know one thing for sure, if this starvation continues, our families will not survive, not for weeks, but days'. 'I'm losing myself' Ali Mousa, a 30-year-old British Palestinian who lives in Manchester, struggles to stay in contact with his sister Hend, a teacher at an Unrwa school in Gaza. Internet and power outages mean calls are sporadic. In the periods of silence, he fears she could have been killed in a strike or have collapsed from hunger. Hend, a 29-year-old mother of three who addressed the conference via a patchy Zoom call, said she was at her home near Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, expecting imminent forced expulsion orders. 'If this happens, where will my family and I go?' she said. She described how her three-year-old asks her every morning if they will have breakfast. 'Unfortunately, my answer is always no,' Hend said. Gaza: US-backed aid group suspends food distribution for a second day Read More » As a school teacher, Hend said she is also confronted with her students' suffering on a daily basis. She conducts her classes with students sat on the floor, which she also uses as a blackboard. In one of her classes, a student lost consciousness because he hadn't eaten for two days. When another student didn't complete an online test, Hend contacted the boy's mother to ask what had happened. The mother replied that he had been killed. 'I feel like I'm losing myself,' she said. Wafaa Shamallakh, 38, an Arabic interpreter who works for Kingston Council and whose siblings are in southern Gaza, described how her husband-in-law and her 15-year-old nephew were forced to walk over an hour just to reach an aid distribution point. 'Hundreds of thousands of people had come there from the north and south of Gaza, desperate to find a bag of flour, a little sugar, maybe some pasta,' Shamallakh said. Drones flew overhead, firing at them. 'They came back empty handed; no food, no flour, nothing. They had to run for their lives'. 'This is what it means to survive in Gaza,' Shamallakh said. 'Beyond anything I've seen' Dr Rossel Mohrij, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who volunteered at Gaza's Nasser Hospital in December 2024, described amputating limbs with blunt instruments and without sterile dressing. 'We used cling film to dress wounds, vinegar for infection,' she told the conference. The doctor recalled being inundated with casualties following an air strike targeting a nearby school where displaced families were sheltering. 'It was beyond anything I've seen, I will carry it with me forever,' Mohrij told the conference. 'A flood of the dead, dying, the dismembered. Children too stunned to cry, staring at their missing body parts'. She described standing at the bed of a child, who had been stuck under the rubble and presented late with severe burns to his legs. 'They were so severe, the blood supply to his legs was restricted'. 'Me, some other visiting surgeons, some local surgeons, stood at his feet, debating how to make his death less excruciating,' she said. "A flood of the dead, dying, the dismembered. Children too stunned to cry, staring at their missing body parts," - Dr Rossel Mohrij, plastic and reconstructive surgeon 'He did not understand our words but I guess he felt our despair. He quietly covered his face with a white cloth to block the world out. He died the next morning'. For Farajallah, and many other British Palestinians, Starmer's pledges to ensure the flow of aid to Gaza and to secure a ceasefire are no more than a 'political show'. Despite Starmer's condemnation of Israel's attacks on Palestinian aid seekers over the past week, the government is so far resisting calls for a total arms embargo and recognition of Palestine. At the conference, the voices from Gaza were shaking with grief, but were also defiant. They were not asking for pity, but for action. 'Let this be not another press conference where we beg for basic humanity. Let this be a turning point where Britain stops whispering about international law and starts upholding it. Because the people of Gaza are not waiting for your sympathy,' Shamallakh said. Mousa turned to his sister, Hend, saying, 'I want to speak directly to you. We are here for you, and we will never leave you, even if your whole world does'.
Al Manar
24-04-2025
- Health
- Al Manar
Gaza: Israeli Aggression Claim 13 Lives Amid Critical Medicine Shortages
Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 13 civilians since dawn on Thursday, as the humanitarian crisis deepens in the Gaza Strip. Medical sources confirm that the ongoing bombardment has inflicted widespread casualties, with several areas being targeted throughout the day. Among the victims were three individuals martyred when Israeli shelling struck a tent housing displaced persons from the Farajallah family in the al-Sawariha area, west of al-Nuseirat. Additional fatalities were reported in Khan Yunis, where two more were martyred in a similar attack on a tent, and a freed prisoner, Ali al-Sarafiti, along with his wife and four children, lost their lives in an airstrike on their home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. A Palestinian mother lost consciousness from the shock, while her children screamed in fear after a nearby house was bombed in Khan Younis refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip. — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) April 23, 2025 The Israeli aggression has not spared other regions, with strikes reported in Jabalia and Rafah, causing further injuries and destruction. This renewed aggression follows a ceasefire agreement that had been in place for approximately 60 days, which was brokered by American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators. In a grim update, Marwan al-Hams, director of field hospitals in Gaza, reported that the death toll has surpassed 52,000 since the onset of Israeli aggression. He highlighted that over 43% of those suffering from kidney failure have died due to a lack of medical treatment, as the healthcare sector grapples with severe shortages of essential medicines. Palestinian children were injured in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia, north of Gaza. — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) April 24, 2025 Furthermore, the Israeli occupation has blocked the entry of polio vaccines for the 40th consecutive day, jeopardizing the health of 602,000 children in Gaza who are at risk of permanent paralysis without vaccination. The Ministry of Health warns that the ongoing blockade and lack of proper nutrition and clean water pose additional health complications for the population. In light of the situation, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed its deep concern about the worsening cash crisis in the Gaza Strip as a result of the crimes of the Israeli occupation, which aims to dismantle the foundations of civilian life by destroying the banking infrastructure and closing bank branches and ATMs. The Observatory warned that these practices impose coercive living conditions that lead to the slow and systematic destruction of the population. They constitute an internationally prohibited crime of genocide, a violation of international humanitarian law, and a direct attack on the basic rights of Palestinians, including the rights to life, dignity, food, health, housing, and work. With a piece of bread made from infested flour and a sprinkle of red pepper, Haya and her sister try to ease the hunger of yet another day in Gaza — under a suffocating blockade and a ban on aid, where food is scarce and survival grows harder. برغيف من طحين مُسوّس ورشة فلفل… — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) April 23, 2025 The statement added that since the beginning of its aggression in October 2023, Israel has been preventing the entry of any cash, accompanied by targeting bank headquarters and destroying ATMs, forcing most of them to close and causing a stifling economic and humanitarian crisis, forcing residents to resort to the black market at exorbitant prices to regain their livelihoods.
Ammon
24-04-2025
- Ammon
Gaza: Several Palestinians killed in Israeli bombing of several areas
Ammon News - 13 Palestinians were killed and others were injured in Israeli shelling of several areas in the Gaza Strip since dawn on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, northwest of Gaza City, six members of one family—a father, mother, and their four children—were killed when the Israeli occupation bombed their central Gaza, three citizens were killed and others were injured when the occupation bombed a tent housing displaced persons belonging to the Farajallah family in the al-Sawarah area, west of Khan Yunis, a man and his wife were killed when the occupation bombed the home of the al-Najjar family in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of the city. Two children were also killed and others were injured when a tent housing displaced persons was bombed in the al-Attar area of Khan to medical sources, more than 17,000 children have been killed since the beginning of the occupation's aggression on the Gaza death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 51,305, and the number of injuries to 117,096 since the start of the aggression on October 7, 2023. WAFA
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Forget flight-shaming – travelling by plane beats the train, says airline chief
The boss of Britain's biggest regional airline criticised rail travel as a poor alternative to flying even on relatively short journeys within the Farajallah, the chief executive of Loganair, said suggestions that people should be encouraged to take trains instead of planes were misguided, because rail travel was slow and relatively expensive even for trips between major Farajallah spoke after Loganair announced a 35-minute flight from Manchester to Southampton that he predicted would prove a popular alternative to both rail and comes after the Government's official adviser on climate change said last month that 'restricting some domestic flights' might need to be considered as a potential 'lever' towards hitting net Climate Change Committee indicated that restrictions could be introduced on the 31pc or more of such flights with a rail alternative of under five hours, while noting that domestic flying accounts for just 4pc of Britain's overall aviation Farajallah said: 'I fundamentally disagree with all of these arguments. People should be encouraged to fly these distances if they want to. There is a demand to fly and it's the most convenient and easiest way to travel.'People also underestimate how expensive the railway actually is when you really add it all up, including travel to and from the train station.' While Manchester and Southampton are only 181 miles apart as the crow flies, the National Rail website indicates that the fastest direct journey by train takes four hours 14 minutes – almost five times longer than it will take to go by plane. The cheapest single ticket for a Manchester service arriving in Southampton before midday costs £55, £4 less than Loganair plans to charge when its flights start in the same route takes four hours seven minutes to cover 225 miles via the M6, M42, M40, A43 and M3, according to the RAC. Loganair already serves Southampton from Edinburgh and Farajallah said arguments against flying ignore the fact that taking the plane is often the only option for those wanting to travel out and back the same day and still get things done. He said: 'People can go from the south coast to Manchester for a day's work comfortably and stress free.' The chief executive said the market for the flights will include holidaymakers boarding cruise ships in Southampton, people doing business in the Northwest, and long-distance travellers flying out of Manchester with airlines including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish said: 'I don't think many people want to spend several hours on a train before they get into an international airport to fly long-haul. I just don't think that's appealing in any sense.' Loganair will also launch flights from Manchester to Exeter, a journey Mr Farajallah said otherwise requires 'a not very pleasant journey by car' or 'complex changes' by rail. The Glasgow-based airline will station two new 70-seat ATR 72 turboprops in Southampton, with the city becoming its 10th aircraft base – alongside six locations in Scotland plus Newcastle, Londonderry and the Isle of Farajallah said the new flights should be profitable despite Labour's planned rise in air passenger duty (APD).The departure tax has double the impact on domestic flights, since it is levied on both outbound and return said: 'We are staunchly against any tax that prevents people from choosing aviation as an option.'APD is one of those things you have to suck up, but we do so very reluctantly because we believe that we are an enabler of growth.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Forget flight-shaming – travelling by plane beats the train, says airline chief
The boss of Britain's biggest regional airline criticised rail travel as a poor alternative to flying even on relatively short journeys within the UK. Luke Farajallah, the chief executive of Loganair, said suggestions that people should be encouraged to take trains instead of planes were misguided, because rail travel was slow and relatively expensive even for trips between major cities. Mr Farajallah spoke after Loganair announced a 35-minute flight from Manchester to Southampton that he predicted would prove a popular alternative to both rail and road. It comes after the Government's official adviser on climate change said last month that 'restricting some domestic flights' might need to be considered as a potential 'lever' towards hitting net zero. The Climate Change Committee indicated that restrictions could be introduced on the 31pc or more of such flights with a rail alternative of under five hours, while noting that domestic flying accounts for just 4pc of Britain's overall aviation emissions. Mr Farajallah said: 'I fundamentally disagree with all of these arguments. People should be encouraged to fly these distances if they want to. There is a demand to fly and it's the most convenient and easiest way to travel. 'People also underestimate how expensive the railway actually is when you really add it all up, including travel to and from the train station.' While Manchester and Southampton are only 181 miles apart as the crow flies, the National Rail website indicates that the fastest direct journey by train takes four hours 14 minutes – almost five times longer than it will take to go by plane. The cheapest single ticket for a Manchester service arriving in Southampton before midday costs £55, £4 less than Loganair plans to charge when its flights start in October. Driving the same route takes four hours seven minutes to cover 225 miles via the M6, M42, M40, A43 and M3, according to the RAC. Loganair already serves Southampton from Edinburgh and Newcastle. Mr Farajallah said arguments against flying ignore the fact that taking the plane is often the only option for those wanting to travel out and back the same day and still get things done. He said: 'People can go from the south coast to Manchester for a day's work comfortably and stress free.' The chief executive said the market for the flights will include holidaymakers boarding cruise ships in Southampton, people doing business in the Northwest, and long-distance travellers flying out of Manchester with airlines including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. He said: 'I don't think many people want to spend several hours on a train before they get into an international airport to fly long-haul. I just don't think that's appealing in any sense.' Loganair will also launch flights from Manchester to Exeter, a journey Mr Farajallah said otherwise requires 'a not very pleasant journey by car' or 'complex changes' by rail. The Glasgow-based airline will station two new 70-seat ATR 72 turboprops in Southampton, with the city becoming its 10th aircraft base – alongside six locations in Scotland plus Newcastle, Londonderry and the Isle of Man. Mr Farajallah said the new flights should be profitable despite Labour's planned rise in air passenger duty (APD). The departure tax has double the impact on domestic flights, since it is levied on both outbound and return services. He said: 'We are staunchly against any tax that prevents people from choosing aviation as an option. 'APD is one of those things you have to suck up, but we do so very reluctantly because we believe that we are an enabler of growth.'
