Providing assistance to the center of concerns; UNRWA staff killed

UN for Palestinian refugees The agency (UNRWA) announced on Wednesday that one of its staff members was killed in a bomb attack on a warehouse in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, as the international community seeks to diversify delivery channels for humanitarian aid. In an enclave threatened by famine.

“At least one UNRWA staff member was killed and twenty-two wounded in an Israeli attack on a food distribution center in East Rafah”., the company announced in a press release. The Health Ministry of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, for its part, reported four deaths. “Bomb Attack” From the warehouse.

Since the start of the war, at least 165 members of the UN organization have been killed and more than 140 of its facilities, including several schools, have been affected, the agency recalled in a press release.

“Today's attack on one of the remaining functioning UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes at a time of widespread malnutrition and even famine in some areas.”Philippe Lazzarini, the organization's director, condemned in a press release. “Every day, we provide our contact details to the conflicting parties. The Israeli army received the coordinates of the center yesterday [mardi] »He adds.

The Israeli military, for its part, says it has “Destroyed Terrorist” Named as Mohammed Abu Hasna of Hamas, his name appears on a list of victims established by the Ministry of Health. “Hasna was a combat support officer in the military wing of Hamas. He also got involved [le détournement] Humanitarian aid and its distribution to Hamas terrorists »Army writes in a press release.

And children were killed “In four months” In the Gaza Strip more than four years of war worldwide, UNRWA says

More children have been killed in Gaza in the four-month war with Israel than in four years of conflict worldwide, the UN says. The head of the agency had earlier, at X, been furious at estimating the numbers. ” Dizzy “. According to the organization, between 2019 and 2022, 12,193 children were killed in conflicts worldwide. According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, 12,300 children died there between October and the end of February.

In twenty-four hours, at least 88 people were killed in Israeli bombings, which particularly affected the south of the Gaza Strip, destroyed and besieged by Israel since October 9, the ministry said. In the sixth month of the war, sparked by a bloody attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, the death toll stands at 31,272, mostly civilians, and the U.N. “Widespread Famine”.

Protecting civilians is the “number one priority,” says Anthony Blinken

“We expect the Israeli government to prioritize this issue. Protecting civilians, getting people the help they need, and doing what is necessary to protect the country and counter the threat posed by Hamas, must be the top priority.US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters.

With no ceasefire on the horizon and ground aid trickling under Israeli control, many countries and the European Union (EU) have decided to move by sea and air.

The first boat carrying 200 tons of food left the Cyprus port of Larnaca for Gaza on Tuesday, using a corridor set up by the European Union and several other countries. According to the VesselFinder website, the boat, owned by the Spanish NGO Open Arms, was operating at a very slow speed and was about 260 kilometers off Gaza on Wednesday.

Cyprus, about 370 kilometers from the Palestinian Territory, reported a second ship, “very important”, was in the making. Four U.S. military boats left the U.S. with about a hundred soldiers and equipment to build a ship and ship in Gaza. The journey should take about thirty days and the installation will be ready “within sixty days”According to US officials.

Amnesty International condemns the inaction of the international community

There is a plan “A sign of the disempowerment and weakness of the international community”Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard made the ruling during a press conference in Madrid on Wednesday. “International community must be ready to hold Israel accountable”she said.

For about ten days, many Arab and Western countries, including the United States, have been dropping daily food and medical aid, especially in the north, where the situation is particularly desperate, but these measures cannot change the land route. , UN .

“As we study alternatives to delivering aid by sea or air, we must remember that the usual land route is closed and starving people are used as a weapon of war.”said Joseph Borrell, head of European diplomacy.

According to the Hamas Health Ministry, at least twenty-seven people, mostly children, have died of malnutrition and dehydration in the Gaza Strip, already under a total Israeli blockade since Hamas took over the territory in 2007.

The Israeli military announced “Pilot Project” On Tuesday, six aid trucks from the World Food Program (WFP) were allowed to enter the northern Gaza Strip directly, but WFP estimates that 300 are needed per day to meet the needs of 2.4 million people.

Since the start of the war, aid has flowed into Gaza through two terminals on Israel's southern border. Despite international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to continue his offensive against Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the European Union and the United States.

Hamas member killed in Lebanon

“Israel will win this war at any cost. And, to win it, Israel must destroy the last Hamas battalions in Rafah.There are 1.5 million Palestinians in the crowd, most of whom are displaced, he reaffirmed.

Faced with the protagonists' intransigence, mediating nations — the United States, Qatar, Egypt — have been unable to reach a ceasefire deal with the expected release of hostages during Ramadan, which began this week. “We are no closer to an agreement”Qatar said.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, there is no respite for violence. On Wednesday, Hamas announced that Hadi Mustafa, a member of its armed wing, and another person had been killed in an Israeli attack on a car in southern Lebanon. Two suspected members of Hamas' armed wing were killed Wednesday morning in an Israeli strike in Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, according to corroborating sources.