Latest news with #RizekAbdeljawad
Barnama
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
UN Security Council Urges Israel To Lift Gaza Aid Blockade Amid Famine Warnings
Palestinians receive free food at a food distribution center in Gaza City, on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council has called on Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, where food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, Xinhua reported. Addressing an emergency meeting held on Tuesday on Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly amid an Israeli blockade that has prevented the entry of food, medicine, water and shelter materials for more than 10 weeks. "We have life-saving supplies ready, now, at the borders ... We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians, and not to Hamas. But Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," he told the security council. bootstrap slideshow According to Fletcher, some 70 per cent of Gaza's territory is either under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in shrinking areas without basic necessities. "Every single one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faces the risk of famine. One in five faces starvation," he said, quoting a report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO). Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, with at least 2,720 Palestinians killed since then. Concerns over Gaza's humanitarian crisis have deepened following Israel's recent declaration that it plans to intensify its ongoing military campaign. Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, noted that nearly half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. He urged Israel to uphold international humanitarian law and lift the blockade to allow unhindered access to food, medicine and other critical supplies.
Barnama
29-04-2025
- Health
- Barnama
Kidney Patients In Gaza Struggle To Get Treatment As Health System Gutted By War
A Palestinian checks the damage at a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) GAZA, April 29 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- On a rusty hospital bed in Gaza City, Issa Abu Laban was enduring a shortened dialysis session with outdated machines and dwindling medication. "My body can't clear its toxins," the 53-year-old said. "I feel death surrounding me." Abu Laban is one of hundreds of kidney patients in Gaza now facing life-threatening complications. Gaza's fragile health system -- already weakened by years of blockade -- has been pushed to the brink since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7, 2023. Hospitals are overwhelmed, with staff being exhausted and essential supplies critically scarce. bootstrap slideshow The crisis has deepened after humanitarian aid and medicine were prevented from entering the enclave on March 2, when the first phase of a ceasefire expired. Two weeks later, on March 18, renewed Israeli military operations triggered fresh mass displacement, putting further strain on the few hospitals still functioning. "Because of the Israeli blockade and war, none of the food, water, or other humanitarian aid is entering Gaza," Abu Mohammed Ajour, a 62-year-old kidney patient, told Xinhua. Now living in a temporary shelter, Ajour often goes without clean drinking water. "Bottled water is so expensive. I cannot afford it," he said. "But without clean water, my condition gets worse. It is not just the war that is killing us. It is thirst, poverty, and neglect," he said. Children are especially vulnerable in this health crisis. Seven-year-old Yousef al-Rantisi, pale and visibly exhausted, clutched a soft toy as he was undergoing dialysis. "I feel weak and cold. I just want the pain to stop," he whispered.
Barnama
22-04-2025
- Health
- Barnama
UN: Israel Blocking All Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza For 50 Consecutive Days
Palestinians fleeing from the Shuja'iyya neighborhood are seen in Gaza City, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) HAMILTON, April 22 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The United Nations (UN) on Monday marked 50 days since Israel imposed a complete blockade on humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, warning of a rapidly deteriorating situation that is endangering the lives of civilians, Anadolu Ajansi reported. "Today marks 50 days since the Israeli authorities have completely blocked incoming supplies of any kind into the Gaza Strip," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference. Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric said: "Since early March, not a single truck carrying food, fuel, medicine or any other essentials has been allowed in, no matter how critical they are for people's survival." bootstrap slideshow Warning over the "dangerously low" food stocks in the enclave, Dujarric said: "Rations have been cut. Critical medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies are all running low." "Ambulances have had to scale back life-saving services because there's almost no fuel to power these ambulances. Cooking gas has disappeared from markets. Bakeries have been forced to shut down," he said. He warned that "the impact of the full block—of this continued blocking—of humanitarian aid is devastating. Children and adults alike are going hungry. Access to health care is falling apart," adding that "attacks on civilians, including emergency teams and aid workers, have surged again." Following Israel's internal probe into an airstrike that killed aid workers in Rafah, Dujarric said: "Based on those findings, it is clear that too many civilians, including aid workers, have been killed in Gaza." "There needs to be accountability—serious accountability—for all those who've committed them," he stressed, noting that a UN investigation would require a specific mandate. On the ceasefire talks, Dujarric said: "All we can hope for is for an agreement to be reached to ensure that humanitarian aid once again flows freely and unhindered into Gaza."
