Arab League chief praises UN Special Rapporteur Albanese for stand on Palestine

Special Arab League chief praises UN Special Rapporteur Albanese for stand on Palestine
Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with Francesca Albanese in Cairo. (X/@arableague_gs)
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Updated 22 April 2024
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Arab League chief praises UN Special Rapporteur Albanese for stand on Palestine

Arab League chief praises UN Special Rapporteur Albanese for stand on Palestine
  • Aboul Gheit met Albanese at the headquarters of the Arab League General Secretariat in Cairo
  • Discussion centered on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, given continued Israeli violations against the civilian population

CAIRO: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese discussed the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

Aboul Gheit met Albanese at the headquarters of the Arab League General Secretariat in Cairo.

The discussion centered on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, given continued Israeli violations against the civilian population over the past several months.

Albanese is the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gamal Roshdy, the secretary-general’s spokesperson, conveyed Aboul Gheit’s commendation for the special rapporteur’s work and her courageous stance as a global conscience amid the “silence and indifference of many nations toward the atrocities committed by the occupying forces, which constitute acts of genocide.”

Roshdy quoted Aboul Gheit as affirming during the meeting that Israeli crimes could not be justified as mistakes or collateral damage from military operations.

“They are deliberate acts aimed at collectively punishing the population and depriving Palestinians of their fundamental right to live on their land.”

Aboul Gheit expressed his solidarity with Albanese in the face of incitement campaigns and accusations of antisemitism against her.

He said that the motives behind these campaigns were clear, highlighting Israel’s efforts to silence any independent voices that exposed the reality of the civilian massacre unfolding in the Gaza Strip. 

He said that Israel engaged in character assassination against individuals who revealed its falsehoods and deception to global public opinion.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Albanese discussed the condition of human rights and Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories on Sunday.

Shoukry received Albanese in Cairo, where they called for an immediate end to Israeli attacks on Gaza in compliance with international laws and demanded the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.


Flooding, landslides kill 27 in Yemeni village

Flooding, landslides kill 27 in Yemeni village
Updated 31 August 2024
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Flooding, landslides kill 27 in Yemeni village

Flooding, landslides kill 27 in Yemeni village
  • Since late July, severe rains have affected several areas of Yemen, notably the central highlands and western provinces

AL-MUKALLA: Torrential rains caused a landslide in Al-Jaref village in Dhamar province on Friday night, killing at least 27 people and leaving two missing, local media said on Saturday. This was the second deadly landslide in Yemen in less than a week.

Houthi media reported that the landslide also damaged or destroyed 23 houses in the hillside village.

Locals said that at least two dozen individuals were trapped inside two homes as a landslide caused by the collapse of a hilltop dam swept them away.

The bodies of at least 10 people were discovered in Dhamar hours after the landslide.

Elsewhere, local authorities in the district of Melhan in the northern province of Mahweet say communities in flood-affected areas remain isolated, putting inhabitants in danger of starvation if food supplies run out.

According to the UN Population Fund, landslides caused by the collapse of three dams ripped through several highland villages in Melhan on Tuesday night, leaving 41 people missing, affecting 1,020 families, destroying 40 homes, and partially damaging 230 others.

Local authorities say that the floods swept away some roads and obstructed others, making it impossible for even donkeys to access the stranded communities.

Abdul Kareem Adham, a member of Melhan local council, said on Facebook that people were “surviving on biscuits” as food supplies run low in the Al-Qibla area.

Since late July, severe rains have affected several areas of Yemen, notably the central highlands and western provinces, causing massive floods that have swept away houses and their inhabitants, submerged residential areas, and devastated roads, water pipelines, and other infrastructure.

In an update released on Friday, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that, over the last month, floods in Yemen have killed 97 people, wounded many more, affected more than 56,000 households in 20 Yemeni districts, and displaced over 1,000 families. The provinces of Hodeidah, Hajjah, and Marib have been most adversely affected.

Local estimates suggest the number of fatalities from floods and lightning strikes since late July stands at more than 120, with 84 in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah alone.

Residents of Hodeidah said that the flooding had altered the path of watercourses and had reached residential areas on the city’s outskirts.

Meanwhile, an explosion swept through a gas station in the southern city of Aden on Friday night, killing two and injuring at least 17 others, local officials said.

Salah Al-Akel, deputy governor of Aden, told Arab News that flames erupted at a gas station when a gas truck was emptying its cargo, triggering an explosion that killed two people, including a worker and an unidentified person, and injured 17, five of whom are still in hospital.

He said municipal officials had blocked gas stations in the city and will carry out safety inspections before allowing them to reopen.

“We decided to permit the sale of gas at fuel stations, but that the gas-only stations that have recently proliferated around the city would be closed, owing to a lack of safety rules,” Al-Akel said.


‘Humanitarian pause’ for polio vaccines in Gaza not good enough, says UK-based aid agency

‘Humanitarian pause’ for polio vaccines in Gaza not good enough, says UK-based aid agency
Updated 31 August 2024
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‘Humanitarian pause’ for polio vaccines in Gaza not good enough, says UK-based aid agency

‘Humanitarian pause’ for polio vaccines in Gaza not good enough, says UK-based aid agency
  • The campaign, which involves two doses, aims to cover more than 640,000 children under 10

LONDON: A temporary pause in fighting in Gaza for a polio vaccination roll-out must lead to a permanent ceasefire for it to be beneficial, a UK aid agency has said.

A health official in the enclave said a polio vaccination campaign had begun on Saturday after the war-torn territory recorded its first case of the disease in a quarter of a century.

Local health officials along with the UN and nongovernmental organizations “are starting today the polio vaccination campaign in the central region,” Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the Gaza health ministry, said.

Action For Humanity, one of the leading aid agencies working in Gaza, called for the agreed humanitarian pause to be made permanent, otherwise it would prove to be counterproductive.

“Whilst we at Action For Humanity welcome the temporary halt in violence in order for polio vaccinations to be distributed, it is not even nearly enough,” Othman Moqbel, Action For Humanity’s CEO, said.

“In reality, a temporary humanitarian pause is no humanitarian pause at all. Only a permanent pause will serve the spiraling needs of the people of Gaza.

“And it has been shown it can be done. If this war can be stopped to stop children dying from polio, why can the war not be stopped to stop children dying from war?” he added.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to facilitate vaccinations.

The campaign, which involves two doses, aims to cover more than 640,000 children under 10.


Tunisia groups urge inclusion of rejected candidates in poll

Tunisia groups urge inclusion of rejected candidates in poll
Updated 31 August 2024
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Tunisia groups urge inclusion of rejected candidates in poll

Tunisia groups urge inclusion of rejected candidates in poll

TUNIS: A petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups was published on Saturday urging that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the October 6 presidential election.
Signed by 26 groups including Legal Agenda, Lawyers Without Borders and the Tunisian Human Rights League, it welcomed an administrative court decision this week to reinstate three candidates who had been disqualified.
They are Imed Daimi, who was an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.
The three were among 14 candidates barred by the Tunisian election authority, ISIE, from standing in the election.
If they do take part, they will join former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel in challenging incumbent President Kais Saied, whom critics accuse of authoritarianism.
Saied was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021.
A number of his political opponents and critics are currently in jail or being prosecuted.
Saturday’s petition was also signed by more than 180 civil society figures including Wahid Ferchichi, dean of the public law faculty at Carthage University.
It called the administrative court “the only competent authority to adjudicate disputes related to presidential election candidacies.”
The petition referred to statements by ISIE head Farouk Bouasker, who on Thursday indicated that the authority will soon meet to finalize the list of candidates, “taking into consideration judicial judgments already pronounced.”
This has been interpreted as suggesting the ISIE may reject new candidacies if they are the subject of legal proceedings or have convictions.
The administrative court’s rulings on appeals “are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever,” the petition said.
It called on the electoral authority to “respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”
Last week, Human Rights Watch said Tunisian authorities “have prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates” for October’s vote.
HRW said that the North African country was “gearing up for a presidential election amid increased repression of dissent and free speech, without crucial checks and balances on President Saied’s power.”


Yemen’s Houthis suspected of firing missiles at a container ship as an oil tanker burns

Yemen’s Houthis suspected of firing missiles at a container ship as an oil tanker burns
Updated 31 August 2024
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Yemen’s Houthis suspected of firing missiles at a container ship as an oil tanker burns

Yemen’s Houthis suspected of firing missiles at a container ship as an oil tanker burns
  • The attack Friday saw two missiles “exploding in close proximity to the vessel” some 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Aden
  • All crew are safe

SANAA: Two missiles suspected to have been fired by Yemen’s Houthis targeted a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden late Friday, splashing down nearby without causing any damage, authorities said.
The attack comes after the Houthis repeatedly assaulted and then boarded a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the nearby Red Sea, planting explosives on it they later detonated. That attack, the worst in weeks, risked a major oil spill as the militia’s campaign disrupts the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.
The attack Friday saw two missiles “exploding in close proximity to the vessel” some 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
The ship “reports all crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call,” the UKMTO said. “Investigations are ongoing.”
The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the US Navy, on Saturday identified the vessel targeted as the Liberian-flagged container ship Groton. The Groton came under attack Aug. 3 as well in a similar Houthi assault off Aden that included two missiles fired at the vessel, with one causing minor damage.
The ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel,” the center said.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack Friday. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.
The militia maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command said Saturday it destroyed two drones over Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.


Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza
Updated 31 August 2024
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Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza
  • Health ministry officials in the enclave along with the UN and NGOs “are starting today the polio vaccination campaign in the central region”
  • After beginning in central Gaza, vaccines are set to be administered in southern Gaza and then in northern Gaza

GAZA: A health official said a polio vaccination campaign had begun in Gaza on Saturday after the war-torn territory recorded its first case of the disease in a quarter of a century.
Local health officials along with the UN and NGOs “are starting today the polio vaccination campaign in the central region,” Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the Gaza health ministry, told AFP.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to facilitate vaccinations, though officials had earlier said the campaign was expected to start on Sunday.
After beginning in central Gaza, vaccines are set to be administered in southern Gaza and then in northern Gaza.
The campaign, which involves two doses, aims to cover more than 640,000 children under 10.
Michael Ryan, WHO deputy director-general, told the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered in Gaza, with another 400,000 still to arrive
The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said earlier this month that tests in Jordan had confirmed polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza.
Poliovirus is highly infectious, and most often spread through sewage and contaminated water — an increasingly common problem in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war drags on.
The disease mainly affects children under the age of five. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal.
Bakr Deeb told AFP on Saturday that he brought his three children — all under 10 — to a vaccination point despite some initial doubts about its safety.
“I was hesitant at first and very afraid of the safety of this vaccination,” he said.
“After the assurances of its safety, and with all the families going to the vaccination points, I decided to go with my children as well, to protect them.”
Abed, the health official, stressed on Saturday that the vaccine was “100 percent safe.”
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
Incessant Israeli bombardment has also caused a major humanitarian crisis and devastated the health system.