Gaza fisherman braves Israeli navy fire to support his family

Israeli helicopter flies over Palestinian fishermen near Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
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Israeli helicopter flies over Palestinian fishermen near Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
Gaza fisherman braves Israeli navy fire to support his family
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Palestinians gather as fishermen remove fish from their net on a beach, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 26, 2024. (REUTERS)
Palestinian children inspect the debris of a building in the central Gaza Strip following Israeli bombardment on Friday. (AFP)
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Palestinian children inspect the debris of a building in the central Gaza Strip following Israeli bombardment on Friday. (AFP)
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Updated 30 March 2024
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Gaza fisherman braves Israeli navy fire to support his family

Israeli helicopter flies over Palestinian fishermen near Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
  • At least 32,623 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground offensive into Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there

GAZA: Before the Gaza war, Palestinian fisherman Jalal Qaraan navigated his small boat for long distances for a good catch. These days, he says, merely casting his nets could be deadly if he draws the wrath of the Israeli navy.
Israeli airstrikes and shelling have reduced large swaths of the densely populated coastal Gaza Strip to rubble and killed more than 32,000 Palestinians as the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas rages.
There are also plenty of dangers at sea for fishermen like Qaraan, who must support his family.
“When we attempt to go out ... we are besieged with gunfire, bombarded with shells, sound bombs. It’s always a risk. Entering the water is a risk,” he said as he pulled his boat to shore after catching a few fish.
“There is not a day that goes by without them coming at us. It’s all fear and terror, but despite this, I go in to be able to provide a secure living for my children.”
The Israeli military was not immediately available for comment.
Qaraan is especially eager to work the seas during Ramadan when families enjoy large meals together after fasting. But festivities are hard to come by these days.
At least 32,623 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground offensive into Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.
Thousands more are believed to be lying dead under rubble, and more than 80 percent of the 2.3 million population have been displaced, many of them at risk of famine.
The war began when militants broke through the border on Oct. 7 and rampaged through nearby communities, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Judges at the International Court of Justice on Thursday unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza.
The court said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life and famine and starvation are spreading.
“As for the fishing, there is no quantity. Today in Ramadan, I’m fasting, risking my life to get one or two kilos of fish to eat or to sell them to buy household necessities,” said Qaraan, preparing his fishing net.
Other Gazans are feeling the effects of the fishing crisis.
As she prepared to break the fast, Umm Al-Zein, one of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans, said her children craved fish.
“Palestine is known for its great fish and seafood, but due to the war, fish is not available. Unfortunately, we have not eaten fish since before Oct. 7,” she said.

 


Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

People sit at a coffee shop in the old city of Syria's capital Damascus on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
People sit at a coffee shop in the old city of Syria's capital Damascus on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 07 December 2024
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Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

People sit at a coffee shop in the old city of Syria's capital Damascus on December 6, 2024. (AFP)
  • Security measures — already strict before the offensive — have been beefed up, with extra car searches, particularly on vehicles coming from outside the capital, according to residents

DAMASCUS: Like many others in the Syrian capital Damascus, student Shadi chose to stay home so he could keep up with the pace of events since militants launched a shock offensive last week.
“I had no wish to go out and everyone chose to stay in to follow the news surrounded by their loved ones,” said Shadi, who did not wish to give his full name.
As the militants have taken city after city in quick succession, many Syrians have been wracked by uncertainty, fearing a revival of the worst days of Syria’s grinding civil war now in its 14th year.
“We don’t understand anything anymore. In just one week, the twists and turns have been so overwhelming that they are beyond all comprehension,” the young man said.
“The worry is contagious but we have to keep our cool,” he said, never once taking his eyes off the alerts on his mobile phone.
Syrian militants, led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), launched the shock offensive on November 27, sweeping from their stronghold in the northwest to capture swathes of northern and central Syria including the major cities of Aleppo and Hama.
Government forces have launched a counteroffensive seeking to repel the militants but at the cost of relaxing their grip on other parts of the country, notably the east where Kurdish-led forces have taken over.
“Whenever rumors spread, people rush to buy various products, bread, rice, sugar and detergents,” said Amine, 56, who runs a grocery store in the Sheikh Saad neighborhood of the capital.
“Today, I bought twice from my wholesaler to keep up with demand.”

The offensive has already sent food prices skyrocketing by 30 percent in Damascus, according to residents.
The Syrian pound is trading at an all-time low of 19,000 to the dollar, down from 15,000 before the militants launched their offensive on Wednesday of last week.
Security measures — already strict before the offensive — have been beefed up, with extra car searches, particularly on vehicles coming from outside the capital, according to residents.
Concerns have been further driven by the spread of disinformation and rumors.
The Syrian defense ministry has denounced “fabricated” videos, including of explosions at the headquarters of the general staff, calling on citizens not to fall prey to “lies” that “aim to sow chaos and panic among civilians.”
In the usually lively neighborhood of Bab Sharqi, restaurants and cafes are near-deserted in the evening, with some even closing up early due to the absence of customers.
Damascus University has delayed end-of-term exams and the Syrian football federation has postponed matches until further notice.
State news agency SANA reported that at Friday prayers, imams called on the faithful “not to panic... and to stand as one behind the Syrian Arab Army to defend the homeland.”
Georgina, 32, said she had “heard a lot of rumors.”
“I went to Old Damascus and saw a normal situation,” she said, adding that nonetheless “everyone was keeping an eye on the news.”
Meanwhile, some radio stations have switched from variety programming to non-stop news segments.
On state television, programs host analysts and witnesses on the ground, including those denying “rumors” of fresh territorial losses to the advancing militants.

 


US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’
Updated 07 December 2024
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US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

WASHINGTON: US citizens in Syria should immediately leave the country “while commercial options remain available,” the State Department said Friday, as militant forces continue their offensive against President Bashar Assad’s troops.
“The security situation continues to be volatile and unpredictable with active clashes between armed groups throughout the country. The Department urges US citizens to depart Syria now while commercial options remain available,” the department said in a security alert posted on social media.

 


Syrian government loses control of southern city of Daraa: monitor

Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
Updated 07 December 2024
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Syrian government loses control of southern city of Daraa: monitor

Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
  • Earlier Friday, local factions seized the Nassib-Jaber border crossing with Jordan, the Observatory said, with Jordan closing its side of the crossing, Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said

BEIRUT, Lebanon: The Syrian government lost control Friday of the symbolic southern city of Daraa and most of the eponymous province, which was the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising, a war monitor said.
“Local factions have taken control of more areas in Daraa province, including Daraa city... They now control more than 90 percent of the province, as government forces successively pulled out,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In Daraa province, only the Sanamayn area is still in government hands, Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the British-based monitor with a network of sources in Syria, told AFP.
Earlier Friday, local factions seized the Nassib-Jaber border crossing with Jordan, the Observatory said, with Jordan closing its side of the crossing, Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said.
Daraa province was the cradle of the 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s rule, but it returned to government control in 2018 under a ceasefire deal brokered by Assad ally Russia. It was a militant bastion at the height of the civil war in the early 2010s.
Former militants there who accepted the 2018 deal were able to keep their light weapons.
Daraa province has been plagued by unrest in recent years, with frequent attacks, armed clashes and assassinations, some claimed by the Daesh group.

 


UK to join US-Bahrain Middle East security agreement

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
Updated 07 December 2024
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UK to join US-Bahrain Middle East security agreement

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
  • Bahrain's foreign minister says agreement brings together countries wanting to deliver "stability and prosperity"
  • Pact will by signed on Saturday during Manama Dialogue conference

LONDON: The UK is set to join a security pact between Bahrain and the US designed to build “long-term stability in the Middle East.”

The UK government said it would sign a deal to join the US-Bahrain Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement on Saturday in Manama.

The original agreement between the US and Bahrain, which have long-standing security ties, was signed in September last year.

At the time the State Department said it would “enhance cooperation across a wide range of areas, from defense and security to emerging technology, trade, and investment.”

Bahrain’s foreign minister confirmed on Friday that the UK had been invited to be a partner in the agreement, Reuters reported.

“The comprehensive security integration and prosperity agreement is designed not as a bilateral arrangement, but as the beginning of a multilateral framework that aims to bring together countries with an equal interest in delivering stability and prosperity,” Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani told the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.

Hamish Falconer, the UK’s minister for Middle East and North Africa, will travel to Bahrain on Saturday to sign the agreement with officials from Bahrain and the US.

He said the pact was a “joint commitment to be at the forefront of global efforts to promote the rule of law and contribute to regional stability and prosperity.”

Falconer added: “The Middle East is subject to instability and the risks of escalation and miscalculation are high. It is more important than ever for the UK to join efforts to build long-term regional security in the region, alongside key partners Bahrain and (the) US.”

Both the UK and the US have major naval bases in Bahrain, home to America’s Fifth Fleet. Bahrain has supported American and British efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which has been targeted by attacks from Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen for more than a year.

By entering the agreement the UK will bolster its strong security and economic cooperation with Bahrain, the British government said.

The first UK Bahrain Strategic Investment Partnership agreed in 2023 has provided over £1 billion of investment in the UK, the announcement added

The security agreement comes as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to deepen relations with Arab Gulf states.

The emir of Qatar this week took part in a two-day state visit to Britain, during which the two countries signed an agreement for Qatar to invest £1 billion in British climate technologies.


Ailing kids wait months for Israeli permission to leave Gaza for treatment

Palestinians wait for food on Friday at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. (AP)
Palestinians wait for food on Friday at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. (AP)
Updated 07 December 2024
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Ailing kids wait months for Israeli permission to leave Gaza for treatment

Palestinians wait for food on Friday at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. (AP)
  • Osaid Shaheen, who is nearly 2, now faces having his eyes removed after Israel rejected his evacuation for treatment of cancer in his retinas

DEIR AL-BALAH: The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished, and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October.
Islam Al-Rayahen’s family had asked Israeli authorities six times over the past months for permission to evacuate him from Gaza for a desperately needed stem cell transplant, Bollen said.
She said the request was refused six times for unexplained security reasons.
Islam died three days after she saw him, Bollen said.
Thousands of patients in Gaza are waiting for Israeli permission for urgently needed medical evacuation from Gaza for treatment of war wounds or chronic diseases they cannot get after the destruction of much of the territory’s health care system by Israel’s 15-month military campaign.

HIGHLIGHTS

• WHO says 14,000 patients of all ages need medical evacuation from Gaza.

• The territory’s Health Ministry puts the number higher, at 22,000, including 7,000 patients in extreme need who could die soon without treatment.

Among them are at least 2,500 children who UNICEF says must be transported immediately.
“They cannot afford to wait. These children will die. They are dying in waiting, and I find it striking that the world is letting that happen,” Bollen said.
The Israeli military often takes months to respond to medical evacuation requests, and the number of evacuations has plunged in recent months. In some cases, the military rejects either the patient or, in the case of children, the caregivers accompanying them on vague security grounds or with no explanation.
The Israeli decisions appear to be “arbitrary and are not made on criteria nor logic,” said Moeen Mahmood, the Jordan country director for Doctors Without Borders.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of humanitarian affairs for Palestinians, said in a statement that it “makes every effort to approve the departure of children and their families for medical treatments, subject to a security check.”
It did not respond when asked for details about Islam’s case.
A military official said Israel’s internal intelligence service reviews whether the patient or their escort has what he called “a connection to terrorism.”
If one is found, they are refused.
Osaid Shaheen, who is nearly 2, now faces having his eyes removed after Israel rejected his evacuation for treatment of cancer in his retinas.
The toddler was diagnosed with cancer in April after his mother, Sondos Abu Libda, noticed his left eyelid was droopy.
The World Health Organization requested his evacuation through the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza, but the crossing was shut down in May when Israeli troops took it over in an offensive, Abu Libda said.
WHO applied again, this time for Osaid to leave through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, now the only route for evacuees to travel.  During the long wait, the cancer spread to the child’s other eye and reached stage 4.
Abu Libda was told Osaid was rejected on security grounds in November, and there was no further explanation.
She was stunned, she said. “I did not expect that a child could get a security rejection.”
Doctors have given the boy three doses of chemotherapy. But with supplies short in Gaza, they’re struggling to get more. If they can’t, they will have to remove Osaid’s eyes, or cancer will spread to other parts of his body, Abu Libda said.
“He’s just a child. How will he live his life without seeing? How will he play? How will he see his future, and how will his life turn out?” Abu Libda asked, standing outside the house where her family is sheltering in the Beni Suheil district of southern Gaza.
Nearby, little Osaid — who so far still has his sight — toddled around in the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli forces, smiling as he played with chunks of debris.
When asked about his case, COGAT did not reply.
WHO says 14,000 patients of all ages need medical evacuation from Gaza.
The territory’s Health Ministry puts the number higher, at 22,000, including 7,000 patients in extreme need who could die soon without treatment, according to Mohammed Abu Salmeya, a ministry official in charge of evacuation referrals.
Since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, 5,230 patients have been evacuated, said Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson.
Since May, when the Rafah crossing shut down, the rate has slowed, with only 342 patients evacuated, she said, an average of less than two a day. Before the war, when Israeli permission was also necessary, around 100 patients a day were transferred out of Gaza, according to WHO.
More than 44,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 105,000 wounded by Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives, launched in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
The casualty toll, by Gaza’s Health Ministry, does not distinguish combatants from civilians — but more than half are women and children.
Gaza’s health system has been decimated, with only 17 of the territory’s original 36 hospitals functioning — and those only partially.
They struggle with the waves of war wounded on top of patients with other conditions.
Carrying out specialized surgeries or treatments in Gaza is difficult or impossible, with equipment destroyed, some specialist doctors killed or arrested, and medical supplies limited.
Gaza’s only dedicated cancer hospital was seized by Israeli troops early in the war, heavily damaged, and has been shut down.
Doctors without Borders said in August it sought to evacuate 32 children along with their caregivers, but only six were allowed to leave. In November, it applied for eight others, including a 2-year-old with leg amputations, but Israeli authorities blocked evacuation, it said
The military official said five of the eight requests in November were approved, but the caregivers trying to travel with the children were rejected on security grounds.
The official said Doctors Without Borders would have to resubmit the requests with alternate escorts.
The official didn’t say why the other three children weren’t approved.
The rejected caregivers were the children’s mothers and grandmothers, said Mahmoud, the Doctor’s Without Borders official, who said no explanation was given for the security concern.
Children long waiting for permission face dire consequences if they don’t get treatment.
Nima Al-Askari said doctors told her that 4-year-old Qusay could become paralyzed if her son doesn’t get surgery in the next two or three months for a heart defect that constricts his aorta.
“Should I wait until my son becomes paralyzed?” Al-Askari said.
“Everyone is telling me to wait until he gets evacuated. ... This is my only son. I can’t see him in a wheelchair.”
Asma Saed said she has been waiting for three months to hear whether her 2-year-old son, Al-Hassan, can travel for treatment for kidney failure. In the meantime, they are living in a squalid tent camp in Khan Younis, with little clean water or food.
She said her son doesn’t sleep, screaming all night.
“I wish I could see him like any child in the world who can move, walk, and play,” she said.
“He’s a child. He can’t express his pain.”