Latest news with #FarhanHaq
Days of Palestine
24-05-2025
- Health
- Days of Palestine
94% of Gaza's Hospitals Damaged, Health System Near Collapse
The United Nations reported on Friday that Gaza's healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, with at least 94% of hospitals either damaged or destroyed amid Israel's ongoing military campaign. Half of Gaza's hospitals are now completely non-operational, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as cited by UN spokesperson Farhan Haq during a press briefing. 'The intensification of hostilities has brought Gaza's already weakened health system to a breaking point,' Haq warned. In just the past week, four major hospitals in Gaza were forced to suspend operations due to direct attacks or evacuation orders. WHO also documented 28 separate attacks on health facilities in Gaza in the past seven days alone — a staggering figure that represents four times the average daily rate of such assaults since October 2023. 'This means that 4% of nearly 700 attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October occurred just this week,' Haq said. On the humanitarian front, Haq confirmed that the UN moved another batch of approximately 100 truckloads of aid to the Kerem Shalom crossing on Thursday, with around 35 trucks picked up on the Palestinian side and taken further into Gaza. However, insecurity remains high as 15 truckloads of food aid intended for bakeries were looted overnight. 'Hunger, deprivation, and anxiety over whether food aid is coming in are all contributing to rising insecurity,' he added, urging Israeli authorities to allow 'far greater volumes of assistance – faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes.' Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that settler violence has intensified. An entire Bedouin community near Ramallah was forced to dismantle their homes and flee. Between May 13 and 19 alone, OCHA recorded at least 28 settler attacks causing injuries and property damage. The growing destruction of healthcare infrastructure, coupled with surging food insecurity and settler violence, underscores the deepening humanitarian catastrophe across the Palestinian territories. Shortlink for this post:
See - Sada Elbalad
16-05-2025
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
UN Rejects to Partner with US-backed Humanitarian Organization to Distribute Aid in Gaza
Taarek Refaat A UN spokesperson said Thursday that the organization will not participate in a newly established US-backed body distributing aid in Gaza, arguing that its mechanism does not adhere to the principles of neutrality and independence. Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said in a statement, "I have made it clear that we engage in aid operations that are consistent with our core principles. We have repeatedly stated that this distribution plan is not consistent with our core principles, including the principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence, and we will not participate in it." read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War
Saba Yemen
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
UN: We will not participate in US plan to distribute aid in Gaza
New York - Saba: The United Nations said it will not participate in the body recently established with US support, which intends to distribute aid in Gaza, considering that its mechanism does not adhere to the principles of neutrality and independence pursued by the United Nations. UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in media statements Thursday evening that the United Nations is committed to providing aid in Gaza, but in accordance with its fundamental principles, and that it will not participate in an aid distribution process that does not comply with those principles. The UN spokesman explained that the body established by the United States will play a role that perpetuates the process of forced displacement and increases pressure on both the population and the displaced. The Zionist enemy has imposed a comprehensive ban on the entry of goods and aid into the Gaza Strip for more than two months. The United Nations stated that this has led to the destruction of the lives of 2.2 million Palestinians and the near-total destruction of the basic infrastructure on which civilians depend for their survival in the Strip. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN rejects US-backed Gaza aid plan, citing lack of neutrality
The United Nations has said it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, as Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries. 'This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,' deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily criticised aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher described as a 'fig leaf for further violence and displacement' of Palestinians in Gaza. Speaking to reporters in Antalya, Turkiye, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday acknowledged the criticisms and said Washington was open to any alternative plan to get aid to civilians 'without Hamas being able to steal it'. 'We're not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and I know that there's opportunities here to provide aid for them,' Rubio said after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday. 'There are criticisms of that plan. We're open to an alternative if someone has a better one,' he said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Thursday that the UN 'has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip'.Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and has blocked the delivery of all humanitarian assistance to Gaza since March 2, demanding Hamas release all remaining captives. A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative released on Monday said the Gaza Strip 'is still confronted with a critical risk of famine' after more than a year and a half of devastating war, with the vast majority of its approximately 2.1 million people at severe risk. In a bid to address some concerns, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has asked Israel to expand an initial limited number of so-called secure aid distribution sites in Gaza's south to the north within 30 days. It has also asked Israel to let the UN and others resume aid deliveries now until it is set up. 'I'm not familiar with those requests, maybe when they went into Jerusalem, but I will tell you that we appreciate the effort of the United States,' Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday. 'We will not fund those efforts. We will facilitate them. We will enable them,' he said. 'We will not be the ones giving the aid … It will be run by the fund itself, led by the US.' Israel and the US have urged the UN and aid groups to cooperate and work with the foundation. It is unclear how the foundation will be funded. A Department of State spokesperson said no US government funding would go to the foundation. A fact sheet on the foundation, circulating among the aid community last week, listed respected former UN World Food Programme chief David Beasley as a potential adviser. However, a source familiar with the effort said Beasley was not currently involved.
Gulf Today
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
UN will not take part in US-backed aid operation in Gaza
The United Nations said on Thursday it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, while Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries. "This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this," deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday. Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said that the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, under an Israeli blockade since March 2, was the "minimum requirement" for negotiations. "The minimum requirement for a conducive and constructive negotiation environment is compelling (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's government to open the crossings and allow the entry of humanitarian aid," Naim said in a statement. "The US administration, under President Trump, has the capacity to enforce this humanitarian obligation." Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticised distribution plan, but has asked Israel to let the United Nations and others resume deliveries now until it is set up. The foundation has also asked Israel to expand an initial limited number of so-called secure aid distribution sites in Gaza's south to the enclave's north within 30 days. "I'm not familiar with those requests, maybe when they went into Jerusalem, but I will tell you that we appreciate the effort of the United States," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday. "We will not fund those efforts. We will facilitate them. We will enable them," he said. "Some of them will have to cross through territory that we operate." No humanitarian assistance has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation — a quarter of the population in the enclave where Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 2023. Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Jabalia refugee cam, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday. Reuters In a separate development, the United Nations' humanitarian chief has defended using the term "genocide" to describe what aid workers are trying to prevent in Gaza, saying the world should not make the same mistakes seen in past violations of international law, when it wasn't "called out soon enough." Tom Fletcher, in an interview with The Associated Press, said his forceful speech this week to the UN Security Council was meant to highlight what he views as the "eroding" of a rules-based order in Israel's bombardment of Gaza and monthslong blockade of lifesaving aid. He also blasted a new US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Palestinians amid the 19-month-long war as "dehumanising." "I'm not a lawyer. I'm a humanitarian. My job is to get the aid in, to get the attention of the world, to help create the conditions to get that aid in and save as many lives as possible before it's too late," Fletcher said. "But I also want to make sure that we aren't making the mistake that was made with previous massive breaches of international law, where it hasn't been called out soon enough," he added. Fletcher is the first UN official to use the term "genocide" concerning Israel's war in Gaza, a charge that Israel vehemently denies and that many in the international community have been hesitant to make even as criticism of Israel has come to a head in recent weeks. Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat, has spent the last several weeks in meetings with Israeli officials, lobbying for them to allow back into Gaza food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies that have been blocked since March. It's worsened a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, with experts saying this week that nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation and 1 million others can barely get enough food. Many in the aid community, including Fletcher, believe it is meant to supplant the distribution system now run by the UN and other international aid agencies. "What I have heard is a system that to me feels very dehumanizing," Fletcher said, noting that people would be "moved out of their own locations, deliberately displaced into holding pens, expected to show ID and so on in a very dehumanising way that isn't based on humanitarian need." He said UN lawyers and nonprofit partners have warned that if the U.N. were to agree to this proposal, "we would be undermining our humanitarian principles" and opening the door for other occupying powers to determine who gets aid and how it is distributed. Agencies
