Van Hollen Says Netanyahu Spreading 'Flat Out Lies' About UNRWA
The Maryland senator defended the organization on CBS and said there was no evidence that it was a "proxy for Hamas."
OLIVIA ROSANE
Mar 17, 2024
U.S. Senator for Maryland Chris Van Hollen continued his defense of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and its work in Gaza in an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
"The claim that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and others are making that somehow UNRWA is a proxy for Hamas are just flat out lies, that's a flat out lie," he told journalist Margaret Brennan.
The U.S. was one of many Western countries that paused funding for UNRWA after the agency announced in January that it had fired 12 staffers over Israeli allegations that they had been involved in Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel. However, some countries including Canada, Sweden, the European Union, and Australia have since restored funding. A report has also emerged that Israel tortured UNRWA staffers into falsely confessing to involvement in the Hamas attack.
"Netanyahu has wanted to get rid of UNRWA because he had seen them as a means to continue the hopes of the Palestinian people for a homeland of their own."
Van Hollen's remarks on Sunday come days after he argued for the restoration of UNRWA funds on the floor of the U.S. Senate and criticized Republican legislators who wanted to permanently end funds for the organization that supports some 6 million Palestinian refugees in countries across the Middle East, including around 2 million in Gaza.
During his speech, he pointed out that the Netanyahu government had not shared the underlying evidence that UNRWA staffers participated in October 7 with either UNRWA itself or the U.S. government. He also urged his colleagues to read a classified Director of National Intelligence report on Netanyahu's claims of UNRWA complicity with Hamas.
On "Face the Nation," Van Hollen said that the person in charge of operations on the ground in UNRWA was a 20-year U.S. Army veteran.
"You can be sure he is not in cahoots with Hamas," the senator told Brennan.
He also repeated claims that Netanyahu has wanted to eliminate UNRWA entirely since at least 2017.
"Netanyahu has wanted to get rid of UNRWA because he had seen them as a means to continue the hopes of the Palestinian people for a homeland of their own," Van Hollen said, adding that the right-wing Israeli leader's "primary objective" was preventing the formation of a Palestinian state.
However, the dismantling of UNRWA would be especially catastrophic amid Israel's ongoing bombardment and invasion of Gaza, which has killed more than 31,000 people and put the survivors at risk of famine. No other organization has the infrastructure in place to distribute the necessary aid.
"If you cut off funding for UNRWA in Gaza entirely, it means more people will starve, more people won't get the medial assistance they need, and so it would be a huge mistake," Van Hollen said.
He also said that only 14 of the agency's 13,000-strong staff in Gaza had been accused of participating in the October 7 attack.
"We should investigate it, we should hold all those people accountable, but for goodness' sake, let's not hold 2 million innocent Palestinian civilians who are dying of starvation... accountable for the bad acts of 14 people."
Van Hollen also repeated his call for President Joe Biden to condition the sale of offensive military weapons to Israel on the country obeying international law and allowing aid into Gaza. While Israel sent the U.S. a letter saying it was in compliance with the law, "the day it was signed, clearly the Netanyahu government is not in compliance, because we see that they're continuing to restrict humanitarian assistance," he told Brennan.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/van-h ... lies-unrwa
美国参议员，联合国总部，世界厨房，欧盟外长均认为以色列是职业liar
此博文来自论坛版块：军事天地（Military）
参议院多数党领袖舒默在周四的一次重要讲话中说以色列总理内塔尼亚胡“已经迷失了方向”，并呼吁以色列举行选举，以选出一个新政府。
https://cn.wsj.com/articles/%E8%88%92%E ... C-641d747b
统治加萨走廊（Gaza Strip）的巴勒斯坦伊斯兰主义组织哈玛斯（Hamas）去年10月7日对以色列发动闪电攻击后，以色列今年1月指控12名UNRWA员工涉入这场攻击，此后这个联合国机构便一直处于争议焦点。
加拿大国际发展部长霍森（Ahmed Hussen）今天告诉媒体记者：「我宣布加拿大将恢复资助UNRWA。...因为当地人道情况严峻。」
霍森并指出，在七大工业国集团（G7）当中，加拿大是首个恢复资助UNRWA的国家。
美国、英国、德国和日本等约15国1月底暂停资助UNRWA，造成其资金来源减少4亿5000万美元（约新台币142亿元），超过去年所获资金的一半。
在以色列提出指控后，联合国将还活着的UNRWA相关员工开除，并展开内部调查。联合国秘书长古特瑞斯（Antonio Guterres）也成立一独立小组来评量UNRWA及其中立性。
霍森今天透露，加拿大已经阅读过相关调查的临时报告，「内容令我们放心」。
霍森另宣布，加拿大将与约旦及联合国的世界粮食计划署（World Food Programme）合作，对加萨进行物资空投，以提供当地民众亟需的粮食和其他必需品。
他警告说：「我们看到加萨部分地区有出现大规模饥荒的严重风险，特别在北部地区。」
2024年5月17日
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联合国人权事务主管对以色列和加沙正在发展的局势发表评论
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联合国人权事务主管敦促各国化解以色列和巴勒斯坦被占领土的“火药桶”局势，因为无法估量的痛苦和大量的死亡人数正在持续增加
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巴勒斯坦被占领土和以色列局势最新事态
日内瓦（2024年5月17日）——今天，联合国专家对一些国家仍未恢复对联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处（近东救济工程处）的资助表示失望，数周前的一项独立审查已表明，针对该机构的偏袒指控缺乏证据。
联合国专家表示：“自2023年10月以色列对加沙发动军事袭击以来，相关指控不断增加，联合国秘书长下令进行的独立审查表明，大量近东救济工程处工作人员与‘恐怖组织’有联系的说法仍然没有事实根据。”
专家们欢迎审查得出的结论，即近东救济工程处拥有非常完善的保持中立方针，以及解决中立问题的有效控制机制。
联合国专家指出：“这表明，近东救济工程处在关键时刻再次成为政治目标，这让人们严重质疑对近东救济工程处和该机构所服务的加沙巴勒斯坦人所受损害的问责情况。”专家回顾称，在过去几个月中，包括独立专家在内的其他联合国人道主义机构和人权机构及其机制的正直性和公正性受到了言语和其他方面的攻击。
联合国专家表示，在“数名工作人员涉嫌参与10月7日袭击以色列事件”这一荒谬指控出现之后，各国决定暂停向近东救济工程处提供资金，这已经严重限制了该机构在加沙的业务活动。没有任何其他实体有能力提供如此大规模和大范围的援助，以满足加沙220万民众的迫切需求。
联合国专家指出：“我们支持欧盟的呼吁，要求那些暂停供资的国际捐助方恢复对近东救济工程处的供资。”各国应立即全面恢复供资。
联合国专家表示：“我们认可近东救济工程处在前所未有的巨大风险下执行任务的决心。自2023年10月7日以来，已有189名近东救济工程处工作人员在以色列的轰炸中丧生，这是自1945年联合国成立以来，联合国工作人员在冲突中丧生人数最多的一次。”
近东救济工程处的多处设施已经成为以色列军方袭击、围困和摧毁的目标，这显然违反了联合国房舍不可侵犯的原则。联合国专家指出：“对于加沙数百万正在忍受饥荒和面临难以想象的人道主义状况的巴勒斯坦人来说，在这个生死存亡的时刻，联合国的行动和设施必须得到保护。”
联合国专家警告称，仅在拉法地区就有170万人在境内流离失所，其中大部分是妇女和60万儿童，他们需要粮食援助、住所、医疗保健、教育、水、环境卫生和个人卫生。
联合国专家表示：“一旦近东救济工程处的资助得到最充分的恢复，就必须充分承认和保护近东救济工程处作为联合国大会附属机构的地位，因为其体现了联合国对巴勒斯坦问题的永久责任，并在巴勒斯坦难民生活的许多领域发挥着关键作用。”
专家名单： 1967年以来被占领的巴勒斯坦领土人权状况特别报告员弗兰切斯卡·阿尔巴内塞（Francesca Albanese）；歧视妇女和女童问题工作组主席多萝西·埃斯特拉达·塔纳克（Dorothy Estrada Tanck），副主席劳拉·尼林金迪（Laura Nyirinkindi），成员克劳迪娅·弗洛雷斯（Claudia Flores）、伊凡娜·克尔斯蒂奇（Ivana Krstić）、陆海娜（Haina Lu）；土著人民权利特别报告员何塞·弗朗西斯科·卡利·察伊（Jose Francisco Calí Tzay）；寻求真相、正义、赔偿和保证不再发生问题特别报告员伯纳德·杜海姆（Bernard Duhaime）；当代形式种族主义、种族歧视、仇外心理和相关不容忍行为特别报告员阿什维尼·K.P.（Ashwini K.P.）；和平集会自由权和结社自由权特别报告员吉娜·罗梅罗（Gina Romero）；促进民主和公平的国际秩序独立专家乔治·卡特鲁加洛斯（George Katrougalos）；享有安全饮用水和卫生设施的人权问题特别报告员佩德罗·阿罗霍-阿古多（Pedro Arrojo-Agudo）；气候变化背景下促进和保护人权特别报告员埃莉萨·莫尔杰拉（Elisa Morgera）；少数群体问题特别报告员尼古拉斯·勒夫拉（Nicolas Levrat）；受教育权特别报告员法丽达·沙希德（Farida Shaheed）；人权维护者处境特别报告员玛丽·劳勒（Mary Lawlor）；人人有权享有能达到的最高标准身心健康特别报告员特拉伦·莫福肯（Tlaleng Mofokeng）； 法官和律师独立性特别报告员玛格丽特·萨特思韦特（Margaret Satterthwaite）；人权与国际团结独立专家塞西莉亚·巴耶（Cecilia M. Bailliet）；文化权利领域特别报告员亚历山德拉·尚塔基（Alexandra Xanthaki）；极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员奥利维耶·德许特（Olivier de Schutter）；老年人享有所有人权问题独立专家克劳迪娅·马勒（Claudia Mahler）； 国家外债和其他有关国际金融义务对充分享有所有人权尤其是经济、社会及文化权利的影响问题独立专家阿提亚·瓦里斯（Attiya Waris）；反恐中注意促进与保护人权和基本自由特别报告员本·索尔（Ben Saul）；境内流离失所者人权特别报告员葆拉·加维里亚·贝坦库尔（Paula Gaviria Betancur）；食物权特别报告员迈克尔·法赫利（Michael Fakhri）；当代形式奴隶制包括其原因和后果问题特别报告员小保方智也（Tomoya Obokata）；暴力侵害妇女及其原因和后果问题特别报告员雷姆·萨利姆（Reem Alsalem）； 意见和表达自由权特别报告员艾琳·汗（Irene Khan）。特别报告员是被称为人权理事会特别程序的一部分。特别程序是联合国人权系统中最大的独立专家机构，是人权理事会独立实况调查和监测机制的总称，旨在处理世界各地的具体国别状况或专题问题。特别程序的专家们自愿任职，他们不是联合国的工作人员，工作也没有薪酬。他们独立于任何政府或组织，以个人身份行使职责。
更多信息和媒体问询，请联系：hrc-sr-opt@un.org
与其他联合国独立专家有关的媒体问询，请联系：达里沙·因德拉古普塔（Dharisha Indraguptha）dharisha.indraguptha@un.org或约翰·纽兰德（John Newland）john.newland@un.org
2024年4月23日2024年4月23日
以色列指控部分联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济与工程处（UNRWA）援助人员是“恐怖分子”，促成对该机构中立性的独立审查。审查小组表示，以色列没有提供证据支持这一指控。
https://p.dw.com/p/4f5i1
UNRWA从1949年开始援救巴勒斯坦难民。它在加沙中部的大楼
UNRWA从1949年开始援救巴勒斯坦难民。它在加沙中部的大楼图像来源: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/picture alliance
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（德国之声中文网）一个独立审查小组周一（4月22日）呼吁“立即改进”联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济与工程处（UNRWA）的工作，以确保其中立性。
在以色列声称12名近东救济工程处援助人员可能参与了10月7日对以色列南部的恐怖袭击后，联合国下令进行这次独立审查。
负责审查的法国外交官科隆纳（Catherine Colonna）说，联合国秘书长古特雷斯指派该小组特别评估近东救济工程处的中立性，而不是对这12名工作人员的指控。
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对近东救济工程处的审查结果如何？
这份长达54页的审查报告指出了近东救济工程处在执行“强有力的”程序以“确保遵守中立的人道主义原则”的过程中存在“与中立有关的问题”。
报告还列举了工作人员公开发表政治言论、学校教科书中的“问题内容”以及工作人员工会的政治化等问题。
审查报告指出，“大多数涉嫌违反中立原则的行为都与社交媒体上的帖子有关”，并指出，这些帖子往往是在影响到这些人的同事或家人的暴力事件发生后发布的。
报告指出，近东救济工程处在使学校摆脱有偏见的教科书方面取得了进展。不过，仍有近4%的教科书含有将以色列称为“犹太复国主义占领”或将耶路撒冷称为巴勒斯坦首都的内容。
小组提出了改善中立性的建议，包括通过与捐助方的接触、工作人员和行为的中立性、教育的中立性以及治理。
联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济与工程处主任专员拉扎里尼（Philippe Lazzarini）表示，他将接受该小组的建议，但他警告说，以色列“蓄意和协调一致的行动”是为了瓦解该组织。
加沙人的困境：从与世隔绝到命悬一线
03:57
以色列“尚未提供证据”支持指控
本次调查的负责人科隆纳说，以色列没有提供证据支持其指控。“以色列公开声称，近东救济工程处有大量雇员是恐怖组织成员。然而，以色列尚未提供这方面的支持证据。”科隆纳在纽约对记者说。
今年3月，以色列声称近东救济工程处在加沙的约450名工作人员是“恐怖分子”。
审查小组说，自2011年以来，以色列定期收到近东救济工程处工作人员名单，在这些名单上有数万人，以色列此前没有对此表示过任何担忧。近东救济工程处约有3.2万名员工，其中1.3万人在加沙。
以色列如何回应这份审查报告？
以色列外交部呼吁捐助国放弃近东救济工程处。以色列外交部发言人马莫施泰因（Oren Marmorstein）说：“科隆纳的报告忽视了问题的严重性，只提供了表面上的解决方案，无法解决哈马斯对近东救济工程处的大规模渗透。”
他说：“近东救济工程处与加沙的问题不是几个坏苹果，而是一棵腐烂的毒树，其根基就是哈马斯。” 他认为，“这不是真正彻底的审查。这是在回避问题，而不是正面解决问题。”
在加沙执政的伊斯兰激进组织哈马斯被以色列、欧盟、美国和几个阿拉伯国家列为恐怖组织。
DW记者亲临德法空军执行加沙空投任务
03:52
以色列的指控导致大规模捐助中断
以色列的指控导致国际捐助方迅速限制了对近东救济工程处约4.5亿美元（4.22亿欧元）的资助。该审查小组称近东救济工程处“对巴勒斯坦人的人类和经济发展是不可替代和不可或缺的”。
尽管美国和英国等一些国家继续和近东救济工程处保持距离，但大多数国家已恢复捐款。
美国是近东救济工程处最大的捐赠国，每年捐赠3亿至4亿美元，但美国已通过立法，至少在2025年3月前暂停向近东救济工程处提供资金。
近东救济工程处成立于1949年，旨在援助在1948年战争中逃离或被驱逐的巴勒斯坦人。它目前为近600万巴勒斯坦难民提供服务。
（法新社、美联社、路透社）
# 加沙人道主义, 联合国, 近东工程处
April 22, 2024
5:02 pm
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据路透，联合国周一发布了一份关于近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处（UNRWA）中立性的审查报告，报告称，以色列指控该机构数百名工作人员是恐怖组织成员，但至今尚未提供相关证据。
在以色列指控12名近东救济工程处工作人员参与了哈马斯领导的10月7日引发加沙战争的袭击后，联合国于今年2月任命法国前外长凯瑟琳·科隆纳领导对近东救济工程处确保中立性和应对违规指控能力的审查。
联合国内部调查人员正在单独调查以色列对这12名近东救济工程处工作人员的指控。联合国上周表示，联合国内部监督事务厅（OIOS）已经 “就此与以色列当局进行了多次会晤和合作”。
近东救济工程处为加沙、约旦河西岸、黎巴嫩和叙利亚的数百万巴勒斯坦人提供教育、卫生和援助。审查报告称，近东救济工程处每年与巴勒斯坦权力机构、以色列、约旦、黎巴嫩和叙利亚共享工作人员名单。
审查报告称，自2011年以来，以色列从未根据这些工作人员名单向近东救济工程处提出任何关切。然后在2024年3月，”以色列公开声称，近东救济工程处的大量员工是恐怖组织的成员”。
审查报告称，”然而，以色列尚未提供这方面的佐证”。
以色列在 3 月份加大了指控力度，称超过 450 名近东救济工程处员工是加沙恐怖组织的军事人员。联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处在其业务范围内雇佣了3.2万名员工，其中1.3万人在加沙。
本周一，以色列外交部发言人奥伦·马尔默施泰因，又指责超过2135名近东救济工程处工作人员是哈马斯或杰哈德的成员。他坚持说，科隆纳对近东救济工程处的审查是不充分的，是 “回避问题、不正面解决问题的努力”。
他说，”科隆纳报告忽视了问题的严重性，只提供了表面上的解决方案，并没有解决哈马斯对近东救济工程处的巨大渗透范围。”
他没有说是否要提交证据支持自己的指控，而且呼吁捐助者不要向加沙的近东救济工程处捐款，而是资助飞地的其他人道主义组织。
科隆纳告诉记者，在审查期间，她与以色列保持着良好的关系，但对以色列的反应并不感到惊讶。她说，她曾呼吁以色列 “请接受我们的建议，无论我们建议什么，如果实施，都会带来好处”。
当被问及马尔默施泰因的评论时，近东救济工程处通讯主任朱丽叶·图玛说： “我们鼓励拥有此类信息的成员国，与正在进行的调查分享这些信息。”
联合国秘书长古特雷斯的发言人说，他已经接受了这些建议，并呼吁所有国家积极支持近东救济工程处，因为这个组织是 “地区巴勒斯坦难民的生命线”。
以色列对近东救济工程处十几名工作人员的指控，导致16个国家暂停或中止向近东救济工程处提供4.5亿美元的资金，这对一个自以色列发动进攻以来一直在努力应对席卷加沙的人道主义危机的机构来说是一个重大打击。
近东救济工程处说，其中10个国家已恢复资助，但美国、英国、意大利、荷兰、奥地利和立陶宛尚未恢复。
联合国发言人说，近东救济工程处目前有足够的资金支付6月份之前的运作费用。
在以色列对近东救济工程处工作人员提出指控后，近东救济工程处最大的捐助国、每年提供3亿至4亿美元资金的美国暂停了资助，随后美国国会暂停了至少到2025年3月的捐款。
这个机构成立于1949年，旨在照顾巴勒斯坦难民。以色列总理内塔尼亚胡（Benjamin Netanyahu）曾呼吁关闭近东救济工程处，称这是试图保留巴勒斯坦难民问题。
据以色列统计，10月7日哈马斯战士攻击以色列城镇，造成1200人死亡，另有253人被绑架，随后以色列对加沙发动了攻击。据加沙卫生当局称，以色列在加沙已杀害了34000多人，其中多数是女性和未成年人，据信还有更多死者被压在废墟下面，加沙已经基本上被以色列摧毁。
近东救济工程处说，已经终止了被以色列指控参与10月7日袭击的12名工作人员中10人的合同，另外两人已经死亡。
科隆纳审查报告指出，与其他类似的联合国组织或援助团体相比，近东救济工程处在中立问题上 “采取了更为成熟的方法”。不过审查发现，”尽管有这一强有力的框架，但与中立有关的问题依然存在”。
报告称，这些问题包括一些工作人员公开表达政治观点，近东救济工程处的一些学校使用内容有问题的教科书，以及政治化的工作人员工会威胁近东救济工程处管理层并扰乱运作。
审查报告说，在加沙，近东救济工程处面临的中立性挑战包括业务规模大，大多数人员都是当地招聘的，同时也接受近东救济工程处的服务。
近东救济工程处负责人菲利普·拉扎里尼周一表示，近东救济工程处正在制定一项行动计划，以落实科隆纳审查报告中提出的建议。
他说：”这份报告中的建议，将进一步加强我们在巴勒斯坦人民历史上最困难时刻的努力和应对措施。”
巴勒斯坦外交部表示，”加强近东救济工程处已经很高的公正、人道和中立标准 “的建议非常重要，并呼吁暂停资助的捐助者 “紧急重新考虑他们的决定”。
美国8名参议员联名致信总统拜登，呼吁他“停止向以色列供应武器”。
13.03.2024 ~ 28.05.2024
美国8名参议员联名致信总统 呼吁“停止向以色列供应武器”
佛蒙特州独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯以及美国参议院7名民主党参议员签署的信中强调，以色列政府阻止人道主义援助抵达加沙，这根本违反了相关国际协议。
针对相关法律规定美国向第三国军售“不能支持阻止人道主义援助的国家”，参议员们为此呼吁立即停止向以色列提供武器。
参议员们还强调，美国政府向本杰明·内塔尼亚胡政府运送武器不符合美国法律，并表示应向加沙提供紧急人道主义援助。
美国参议员在信中还写道，“联邦法律是明确的；加沙危机的紧迫性是显而易见的，内塔尼亚胡总理显然一再无视美国在这一问题上的关切。因此，需要采取紧急行动来改变这一政策”。
美国佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯表示，以色列在袭击加沙打击哈马斯时未能区分平民的做法是不对的。
23.11.2023 ~ 25.05.2024
美国参议员桑德斯抨击以色列的做法
美国佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯表示，以色列在袭击加沙打击哈马斯时未能区分平民的做法是不对的。
桑德斯在《纽约时报》的专栏中写道，“以色列不能仅为了消灭哈马斯这一个目标而轰炸整个地区”。 他批评特拉维夫政府针对加沙发动的行动。
这位民主党参议员表示，以色列的做法是否成功“仍然存在很多未知数”。
桑德斯说：“近年来，以色列没有采取任何行动来给和平解决带来希望。以色列继续封锁加沙，加深约旦河西岸有辱人格的占领做法，并在很大程度上忽视巴勒斯坦人令人震惊的生活条件。”
这位美国参议员评估说，美国应该“利用其提供的数十亿美元资金作为杠杆”来指导以色列的政策，而不是“礼貌地询问”。
桑德斯说：“虽然美国是以色列的朋友，但以色列必须明确表示，这种友谊是有条件的，我们不能参与违反国际法和我们自身道德感的行为。”
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2024-04-07 10:38
188 次阅读(111 来自论坛) / 1 条评论
“This doesn’t seem a war against terror. This doesn’t seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself,” he continued.
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https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... -humanity/
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José Andrés: Israel committing ‘war against humanity’
BY MIRANDA NAZZARO - 04/07/24 7:30 AM ET
Jose Andres, Founder and Chief Feeding Officer, World Central Kitchen speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki
Celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés argued Israel is committing a “war against humanity itself,” after an Israeli drone strike last week killed seven aid workers with his charity group, World Central Kitchen.
“This is not anymore about the seven men and women of World Central Kitchen that perished on this unfortunate event. This is happening for way too long. It’s been six months of targeting anything that seems moves,” Andrés said in an interview airing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“This doesn’t seem a war against terror. This doesn’t seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself,” he continued.
He said he was thankful to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for quickly investigating the incident but believes a deeper, more independent probe is necessary.
“I will say something — so complicated — the investigation should be much more deeper,” Andrés said. “And I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself.”
Six workers with the World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian driver were killed last Monday as they were leaving a warehouse in Central Gaza. Their deaths sparked immediate scrutiny over Israel’s wartime campaign in Gaza and the level of precautions taken to avoid civilian and humanitarian workers’ deaths.
Days later, the Israeli military released a preliminary investigation that found the military mistakenly thought a convoy carrying the workers, who had communicated their movements to the military, were armed Hamas fighters. It dismissed two officers and reprimanded others.
“The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures,” the Israeli military said last week.
Andrés argued the IDF cannot just immediately point to Hamas.
“Every time something happens, we cannot just be bringing Hamas into the equation,” he said.
The war between Israel and Hamas — a U.S.-designated terrorist organization — has raged on for nearly six months following the group’s surprise incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Hamas’s attacks killed more than 1,100 people in Israel, while around 250 others were taken hostage.
About 100 of these hostages were returned in a weeklong cease-fire late last year, and an estimated 100 others are believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Israel quickly launched a military campaign in October to destroy Hamas and more than 32,700 people have been killed in Gaza since early October.
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2024-03-29 0:52
413 次阅读(247 来自论坛) / 1 条评论
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war’s toll on Palestinian children
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-aqsa-ma ... 2151144613
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war with Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still fighting for her life with part of her face blown off by the same strike.
An unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed out in pain for his parents, not knowing that they were killed in the strike. Beside him was his sister, but he didn’t recognize her because burns covered almost her entire body.
Doctors perform surgery on a patient at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Sunday, March 17, 2024. An international team of doctors has been working the past two weeks at the facility amid shortages of supplies. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Doctors perform surgery on a patient at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Sunday, March 17, 2024. An international team of doctors has been working the past two weeks at the facility amid shortages of supplies. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
These gut-wrenching casualties were described to The Associated Press by Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive-care doctor from Jordan, following a 10-hour overnight shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah.
Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks out about the war’s devastating effects, was part of a team that recently finished a two-week stint there.
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AP AUDIO: Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war’s toll on Palestinian children.
AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on a visit by an international team of doctors to a hospital in Gaza.
“I spend most of my time here resuscitating children,” Haj-Hassan said after a recent shift. “What does that tell you about every other hospital in the Gaza Strip?”
A different team of international doctors working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs in January stayed at a nearby guesthouse. But because of a recent surge of Israeli Israel strikes nearby, Haj-Hassan and her co-workers stayed in the hospital itself.
Pediatrician Tanya Haj-Hassan, examines wounded Gazan children at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Pediatrician Tanya Haj-Hassan, examines wounded Gazan children at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
That gave them a painfully vivid look at the strain the hospital has come under as the number of patients keeps rising, said Arvind Das, the team leader in Gaza for the International Rescue Committee. His organization and Medical Aid for Palestinians organized the visit by Haj-Hassan and others.
Mustafa Abu Qassim, a nurse from Jordan who was part of the visiting team, said he was shocked by the overcrowding.
“When we look for patients, there are no rooms,” he said. “They are in the corridors on a bed, a mattress, or on a blanket on the floor.”
Before the war, the hospital had a capacity of around 160 beds, according to the World Health Organization. Now there are some 800 patients, yet many of the hospital’s 120 staff members are no longer able to come to work.
“It’s just miserable,” he said.
Thousands of people driven from their homes by the war are also living in the hospital grounds, hoping it will be safe. Hospitals have special protections under international law, though those protections can be removed if combatants use them for military purposes.
Israel has alleged that hospitals serve as command centers, weapons storage facilities and hideouts for Hamas, but has presented little visual evidence. Hamas has denied the allegations. Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, for the past week.
Israeli troops have not raided or besieged Al-Aqsa Martyrs but have attacked surrounding areas, sometimes striking close to the hospital. In January, many doctors, patients, and displaced Palestinians fled the hospital after a flurry of strikes.
Doctors perform surgery on a patient at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Doctors perform surgery on a patient at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 75,000 more in the territory of 2.3 million people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the ministry says about two-thirds of those killed have been women and children.
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Roughly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are 17 or younger, the U.N.’s agency for children estimates.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for non-combatants’ deaths and injuries because the militants in Gaza operate from within civilian areas. It says over one-third of the dead are Hamas militants, though it has not backed up the claim with evidence.
The war was triggered on Oct. 7 by Hamas and other militants who attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. The Israeli government believes around 100 hostages being held in Gaza are still alive.
In the early stages of the war, Israel severely limited the entry of food, fuel and medical supplies into Gaza. While the flow of aid has increased — and Israel says there are no longer any limits — the international community has called on Israel to let in more.
Aid groups say complicated inspection procedures at the border, continued fighting, and a breakdown in public order have caused massive slowdowns in convoys. Israel accuses the U.N. of disorganization.
Pediatrician Tanya Haj-Hassan, left, examines wounded children at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The result has been catastrophic, with hospital staff struggling to cope with a shortage of spare parts to maintain medical equipment. Al-Aqsa Martyrs has also been short on anesthetics, meaning surgeries and other procedures are frequently performed without painkillers.
Haj-Hassan says there is only one way to end Gaza’s health care crisis.
“They need the war to stop,” she said.
“We see our history in the eyes of the Palestinians, a story of displacement, deprivation, a denied national identity, forced migration, discrimination, and now hunger.”
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2024-03-26 21:04
402 次阅读(190 来自论坛) / 3 条评论
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-ea ... cx1w%3D%3D
UN expert says Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, calls for arms embargo
By Emma Farge
March 26, 202411:47 AM EDTUpdated 3 hours ago
Albanese UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories attends a side event in Geneva
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights
Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Summary
UN expert calls on nations to implement Israel sanctions
Many countries voice support for finding
Israel, United States did not attend session
GENEVA, March 26 (Reuters) - A United Nations expert told the global body's Human Rights Council on Tuesday that she believed that Israel's military campaign in Gaza since Oct. 7 amounted to genocide and called on countries to immediately impose sanctions and an arms embargo.
Israel, which did not attend the session, rejected her findings.
"It is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of and to present my findings," Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, told the U.N. rights body in Geneva, presenting a report called "The Anatomy of a Genocide".
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"I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met," she said, citing more than 30,000 Palestinians killed among other acts.
"I implore member states to abide by their obligations, which start with imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel and so ensure that the future does not continue to repeat itself," she said, prompting a burst of applause.
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The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".
Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said the use of the word genocide was "outrageous" and said the war was against Islamist group Hamas and not Palestinian civilians. It was triggered when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 253 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
"Instead of seeking the truth, this Special Rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality," it said.
Gulf nations such as Qatar, as well as African countries including Algeria and Mauritania, voiced support for Albanese's findings and alarm at the humanitarian situation.
The seats for Israel's ally the United States were left empty. Washington has previously accused the council of a chronic anti-Israel bias.
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Albanese, an Italian lawyer, is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises. Her views do not reflect those of the global body as a whole.
In the past, her comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict have drawn scrutiny, including from a U.S. ambassador in Geneva who said she has a history of using "antisemitic tropes"., opens new tab
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此博文来自论坛版块：军事天地（Military）
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2024-03-19 22:03
409 次阅读(118 来自论坛) / 0 条评论
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-ea ... 024-03-18/
EU's Borrell says Israel is provoking famine in Gaza
Reuters
March 18, 20249:17 AM EDTUpdated 2 days ago
BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, an accusation Israel's foreign minister rejected.
"In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels.
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages, in Rafah
Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine."
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz in a response urged Borrell to "stop attacking Israel and recognize our right to self-defense against Hamas' crimes".
Katz in a post on X said Israel allowed "extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help", but that help was "violently disturbed" by Hamas militants with "collaboration" by the U.N.'s aid agency UNRWA.