Latest news with #Zeitoun
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel bombs Gaza City as part of takeover plan
Israel bombs Gaza City as part of takeover plan NewsFeed Heavy Israeli air strikes have hit a home in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, where shrapnel from another attack wounded a child. Israel's military is intensifying its bombardment following its plan to take over Gaza City and forcibly displace Palestinians south. Video Duration 02 minutes 25 seconds 02:25 Video Duration 01 minutes 21 seconds 01:21 Video Duration 01 minutes 59 seconds 01:59 Video Duration 00 minutes 39 seconds 00:39 Video Duration 00 minutes 57 seconds 00:57 Video Duration 01 minutes 11 seconds 01:11 Video Duration 02 minutes 06 seconds 02:06
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel targets emergency workers trying to help people trapped in Gaza City
Palestinian residents of Gaza City have come under relentless Israeli bombardment as the military prepares for a major offensive to seize and ethnically cleanse the area, barring emergency workers from reaching people trapped in the residential Zeitoun neighbourhood. Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army had been firing at emergency vehicles trying to reach the wounded in Zeitoun on Friday, as Israeli quadcopters dropped leaflets threatening a forced displacement. Residents were told to leave sections of the eastern neighbourhood, where hundreds of homes have recently been destroyed. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said Israel had been deploying 'heavy artillery, drones and fighter jets', with four neighbourhoods of Gaza City 'reporting relentless bombardment shaking the ground day and night' as the military advanced its plans. It was, he said, 'a full dismantling of civilian life to ensure that people will never be allowed back into this area'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing to seize Gaza's largest urban hub and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to concentration zones, despite a wave of criticism from families of captives held in Gaza and their supporters, the Israeli security establishment, and a multitude of nations and organisations around the world. As the military closed in on Gaza City, it also continued attacks on other parts of the enclave, killing 44 people, including 16 aid seekers desperately seeking sustenance for their families, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera. Attacks included strikes on two hospitals, underscoring daily Palestinian pleas that no place in the besieged and bombarded enclave is safe. One person was killed at al-Shifa in Gaza City, which has been bombed and burned multiple times over the war. And at least two were killed at Deir el-Balah's Al-Aqsa Hospital in an explosion preceded by a swarm of Israeli drones hovering over the hospital. 'Human remains 46 days under the rubble' Amid the reports of further Israeli killing, Al Jazeera Arabic reported that a woman in the devastated Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City retrieved the body of her brother and some remains of her father from the rubble of a bombed house. The woman said that the bodies had been trapped along with 31 others since an air strike that had taken place 46 days earlier – the timeline indicating the attack occurred at the end of June. With no equipment to retrieve them under Israel's harshly punitive blockade, it had been impossible to find them. 'What we are facing is too much. Too much torture and oppression. Torture, tiredness, and pain,' she said. Starvation and dehydration as temperatures soar In parallel, aid seekers continued to be targeted near humanitarian distribution sites run by the GHF, with medical sources reporting 16 were killed on Friday. The United Nations human rights office said at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May – a jump of several hundred since its last published figures at the beginning of August. Of the 1,760, 994 were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 766 along the routes of supply convoys. Most of the killings were committed by the Israeli military, the agency said in a statement. United States security contractors have also fired on aid seekers. Meanwhile, as reports emerged that another child had died of Israeli-induced starvation in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said nearly one in five young children in Gaza City were now deemed to be malnourished. The starvation death toll has now reached 240, including 107 children, according to the Health Ministry. The UN has said Gaza requires the equivalent of at least 600 trucks of aid entering daily to fight off the effects of man-made starvation caused by months of total Israeli blockade. The Israeli army entity in charge of managing aid – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories – claimed that it allowed 310 aid trucks to enter Gaza on Thursday. It said that more than 290 were collected and distributed by the UN and other international organisations. International and Palestinian groups are reporting only one-sixth of the necessary 600 trucks a day are actually entering the territory where Israeli-backed gangs are engaged in looting. As people battle extreme hunger, they are also enduring severe dehydration in the current heatwave, with record temperatures surpassing 40C (or 104F), and are resorting to drinking contaminated water. 'It causes stomach cramps for adults and children, without exception,' Hosni Shaheen, whose family was displaced from Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. 'You don't feel safe when your children drink it'.
Canberra Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Canberra Times
Families in Gaza drink water that makes them sick
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Your exclusive preview of David Pope's latest cartoon. Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. Don't miss updates on news about the Public Service. As it happens Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. More from Defence By July, it had surged to 44 per cent, raising the risk of severe dehydration, according to UNICEF, the UN children's agency. In February, acute watery diarrhoea accounted for less than 20 per cent of reported illnesses in Gaza. "If you're forced to drink salty, brackish water, it just does your kidneys in, and then you're on dialysis for decades." "Untreated sewage mixes with drinking water, and you drink that or wash your food with it, then you're drinking microbes and can get dysentery," Zeitoun said. The effects of drinking unclean water don't always appear right away, said Mark Zeitoun, director general of the Geneva Water Hub, a policy institute. Now people have to drink it. The well water has historically been brackish, but still serviceable for cleaning, bathing, or farming, according to Palestinian water officials and aid groups. Palestinians are relying more heavily on groundwater, which today makes up more than half of Gaza's supply. Every source has been jeopardised. Some was pulled from high-saline wells, and some imported in bottles. Some came from desalination plants. Some was piped in by Mekorot, Israel's national water utility. Before the war, the coastal enclave's more than two million residents got their water from a patchwork of sources. The few people still possessing rooftop tanks can't muster enough water to clean them, so what flows from their taps is yellow and unsafe, said Bushra Khalidi, an official with Oxfam, an aid group working in Gaza. "Outside the tents it is hot and inside the tents, it is hot, so we are forced to drink this water wherever we go," he said. Mahmoud al-Dibs, a father displaced from Gaza City to Muwasi, dumped water over his head from a flimsy plastic bag — one of the vessels used to carry water in the camps. Thirst is only growing as a heat wave bears down, with humidity and temperatures in Gaza soaring on Friday to 35 degrees. UNRWA — the UN agency for Palestinian refugees — said Thursday that its health centres now see an average of 10,300 patients a week with infectious diseases, mostly diarrhoea from contaminated water. Wells are mostly inaccessible or destroyed, aid groups and the local utility say. Gaza's aquifers became polluted by sewage and the wreckage of bombed buildings. Limits on fuel imports and electricity have hampered the operation of desalination plants, while infrastructure bottlenecks and pipeline damage choked delivery to a dribble. Over the 22 months since Israel launched its offensive, Gaza's water access has been progressively strained. Gaza's aquifers became polluted by sewage and the wreckage of bombed buildings. (AP PHOTO) When water fails to arrive, Odeh said, she and her son fill bottles from the sea. Some reuse what they can and save a couple of cloudy inches in their jerrycans for whatever tomorrow brings — or doesn't. Each drop is rationed for drinking, cooking, cleaning or washing. Sweat-soaked and dust-covered, parents and children chase down water trucks that come every two or three days, filling bottles, canisters and buckets and then hauling them home, sometimes on donkey-drawn carts. Such scenes have become the grim routine in Muwasi, a sprawling displacement camp in central Gaza where hundreds of thousands endure scorching summer heat. Every drop of water in Gaza is rationed for drinking, cooking, cleaning or washing. (AP PHOTO) "It causes diseases for us and our children." "We are forced to give it to our children because we have no alternative," said Odeh, who was driven from her home in Khan Younis. What's left she adds to a jerrycan for later. She fills small bottles for her son and daughter and pours a sip into a teacup for herself. Thirst supersedes the fear of illness. From its colour alone, she knows full well it's likely contaminated. She wipes the sweat from her brow and strategises how much to portion out to her two small children. All other regional websites in your area The digital version of Today's Paper All articles from our website & app Login or signup to continue reading Subscribe now for unlimited access. After waking early to stand in line for an hour under the August heat, Rana Odeh returns to her tent with her jug of murky water. A heatwave in Gaza is increasing water demand and there is a rise in dehydration cases. Photo: AP PHOTO Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. Login or create a free account to save this to My Saved List Login or create a free account to save this to My Saved List Login or create a free account to save this to My Saved List
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Israeli forces step up Gaza City bombardment as Egypt hosts Hamas
Israeli forces demolished houses in eastern areas of Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people in aerial and tank fire, local health authorities said, as the Palestinian militant group Hamas told mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks. Residents and medics said eight people were killed when Israeli tank shelling hit a house in Zeitoun neighborhood, while a man was killed in an airstrike on a building in the nearby Shejaia suburb. Two other people were killed in tank shelling in Tuffah, a third Gaza City suburb. Local health authorities said they had received desperate calls from families trapped in the Zeitoun area, including from people saying they were wounded, and that ambulance vehicles could not reach them. 'The explosions are almost non-stop in eastern Gaza areas, mainly Zeitoun and Shejaia. The occupation (Israel) is erasing homes there, as we hear from some friends who live nearby,' said Ismail, 40, from Gaza City. 'At night, we pray for our safety as the sounds of explosions get louder and closer. We hope Egypt can secure a ceasefire deal before we are all dead,' he told Reuters via a chat app. More than 22 months into Israel's military offensive in Gaza, residents have also been grappling with a worsening hunger crisis. Four more people died of starvation and malnutrition in the territory in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Thursday. That took the total to 239, including 106 children, since the war began, it said. Israel disputes malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in Gaza, which Hamas took control of in 2007. Israel's planned seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. In an effort to avert the planned military escalation, Egypt has been trying to revive a push for a ceasefire in Gaza, hosting a Hamas delegation led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya. He told mediators in Cairo on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to resume ceasefire talks to achieve a temporary truce, and was open to discussing a comprehensive agreement that would end the war, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said. The latest round of indirect talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July with Israel and Hamas trading blame over the lack of progress on a US proposal for a 60-day truce and hostage release deal. Gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues, including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
CairoScene
7 days ago
- Business
- CairoScene
Beyond the Natural Stone of the Grand Egyptian Museum
This is how Cairo-based Hossam Zeitoun Contractors coated the highly anticipated museum with natural beauty. Originally Published on Sep 13, 2023 The Grand Egyptian Museum's (GEM) opening is Egypt's most anticipated event of the year, if not the decade. The largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation has the world on the edge of its cosmic seat to view the incomprehensible wealth of Egyptian heritage under one roof. Much like the artefacts contained within, the museum's slanted ceiling was made of locally-sourced natural stone - although in this case, it has been sliced with (quite literally) cutting-edge technology by Cairo-based marble manufacturers Hossam Zeitoun Natural Stone Contractors. Also known as Marble Art Egypt and El Sarh, Hossam Zeitoun Contractors is managed by architect Hossam and engineer Faten Zeitoun. With two manufacturing plants, the marble manufacturers offer custom fabrication and installation in Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as Italy, Greece, Singapore, USA and China, amongst others. 'Our aim is to create an everlasting culture of natural stone appreciation,' Mariam Zeitoun, Creative Director and Managing Partner, tells SceneHome. 'The world of natural stone is vast and wondrous. We take pride in constantly adapting to meet technological advances that help produce a wonderful stone-clad world.' Dedicated to natural stone design, supply and installation since 1979, Hossam Zeitoun has been developing state-of-the-art solutions in the industry, both locally and globally. Hossam Zeitoun sources their materials from all over the globe, from Argentina and Italy to the Philippines. But when it came to the Grand Egyptian Museum, they went back to the roots. 'This is a monument of Egyptian heritage. We were keen on using locally sourced materials to ensure authenticity and sustainability,' Zeitoun says, pointing to the materials used to clad the stiletto (slanted ceiling) that hovers over the museum, as well as the Temple Garden pavement, ripple benches, retaining walls, restaurant flooring and facade cladding. Approximately 25,000 sqm of surfaces were covered with their natural stone. The Grand Egyptian Museum was, understandably, highly sought after by the world's most prominent marble manufacturers. 'We were officially chosen after presenting a technique developed in-house called 'Slim Panelling',' Zeitoun says. The state-of-the-art technology slices the blocks into slabs of stone as thin as 5-6mm, fused to sandwich panels. 'It saves cost and is extremely efficient in creating the effect desired by the architects in the main facade,' she adds, referring to the Heneghan Peng Architects design. Initially, the design's facades were completely onyx backlit. This was narrowed down to a more simplified solution; only the pyramid-shaped entrances were to have the feature, with Egyptian limestone cladding the rest of the facade. The same technique was used for the challenging stiletto ceiling. Slim stone panels are ultra-thin and light sheets of natural stone; a fusion between thin stone slabs and durable reinforcement panels. The panels used in GEM possess an unmatched stiffness-density ratio when used in sandwich construction. The result is an efficient, consistent, lightweight structure. 'They assist in envisioning designers' creations into reality, making stone more reliable and flexible,' Zeitoun says. 'The stiletto ceiling, which is slanted and hovers over the museum, requires lightweight tiles that are perfectly fixed.' Hossam Zeitoun managed to reduce marble thickness to a minimum, achieving a light weight which was reinforced with aluminum honeycomb to ensure its durability. 'We strive to look for nature's beautiful harvests and bring them home,' Zeitoun says. Amber onyx was used for the backlit pyramid-shaped entrances. Egyptian limestone, also known as Trieste limestone, was used on the facade, while Egyptian granite was used for the monument pedestals. 'Amber onyx and alabaster have always been used in ancient Egyptian artifacts. The gold colour of the stone reflects warmth and richness, glowing vibrantly when backlit as the sun sets,' Zeitoun says, describing the feature that allows the museum to appear as a landmark from a distance. Floorings and claddings are made of the famous Trieste limestone, sourced from various Egyptian quarries. 'The beige colour helps it blend with the surrounding environment. Earthy colours reflect Egyptian colour palettes, blending with the Great Pyramids of Giza, which are seen from the museum,' Zeitoun explains. 'Seeing how in awe everyone feels of the museum's grandeur is very satisfying. It's a proud moment to realise that we've taken part in accomplishing a valuable addition to modern and ancient Egyptian heritage.' Hossam Zeitoun has made it common practice to participate in national projects that often attract global attention to Egypt's wealth of heritage. From their contributions to international airports such as Luxor International Airport and Cairo International Airport to the New Administrative Capital's Opera House and the Marriott Zamalek Gardens and the renovation of Moez St. But those are stories for another day. Photography Credit: Nour El Refai
