The communications network in #Gaza is down because there is NO fuel.
This makes it impossible to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys.
Daily Archives: 16. November 2023
Gaza: Lack of fuel threatening to shut down ‘entire’ humanitarian operation
In a wide-ranging briefing to journalists in Geneva, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini reiterated calls for a ceasefire and addressed misinformation targeting the agency, including claims that aid is being diverted.
He said he has also received reports of UN schools being used “for military purposes”.
During the briefing, Mr. Lazzarini said he had received reports that Gaza was under a communications blackout due to the lack of fuel.
He repeated his earlier warning that UNRWA is running out of fuel, thus putting lifesaving support to 2.2 million in Gaza at risk. Everything from aid delivery, to water supply, to even accessing cash from ATM machines will be impacted. (…)
While the agency received a “tiny shipment” of fuel – half a truck – on Wednesday, he said “it was delivered with conditionalities”. The fuel can only be used for trucks collecting goods arriving at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, meaning that water desalination plants, sewage pumping systems or bakeries will go without.
“As from yesterday 70 per cent of the population just in the south has no access anymore to clean water, and as of today, we have raw sewage starting to flow in the streets,” he said.
LIVE : I received REPORTS that several @UNRWA schools (in the north) have been used for military purposes, including REPORTS of a recent discovery of weapons in schools (in the north) AND the positioning of Israeli Forces tanks in at least two @UN schools (in the north of Gaza).
Pedro Sánchez, the political survivor who keeps resisting against all odds
He faces almost no internal criticism and on Friday he will take office for the third time as prime minister of Spain, after having managed to win an investiture vote inside parliament with 179 votes, more than the previous ones, and with broad cross-party support. If we add all the parties that have backed him — PSOE, Sumar, Catalan Republican Left (ERC), Junts, Bildu, Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Galicia Nationalist Bloc (BNG), Canaries Coalition (CC) — there are 12.6 million votes behind the new progressive government.
A Bar Ilan University poll of Jewish Israelis finds that less than ?% believe PM Netanyahu is a reliable source of information about the war with Hamas. Among right-wing voters, ?.?% trust him. (Don‘t even ask about Muslims, Druze and Christians.)
Charter Chapter VII: Action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression
Article 42
Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of members of the Renewed United Nations, when peaceful solutions to the conflict, leading to freedom, personal responsibility, self-determination, increased prosperity and further implemenations of fundamental rights and freedoms for the population of the territory are simultaneously proposed or put into effect.
As of today, Israel is now openly defying a legally binding UN Security Council resolution that even the US did not oppose. When Saddam Hussein violated such a resolution we responded by invading his country and deposing him.
The @UN Security Council’s resolution is disconnected from reality and is meaningless. Regardless of what the Council decides, …
Israel will continue acting according to int’l law while the Hamas terrorists will not even read the resolution at all, let alone abide by it. It is unfortunate that the Council continues to ignore, not condemn, or even mention the massacre that Hamas carried out on October 7, which led to the war in Gaza. It is truly shameful!
U.N. Security Council Calls for Dayslong Humanitarian Pauses in Gaza
The resolution put forth by Malta passed after weeks of division and inaction over the Israel-Gaza war. It stopped short of calling for a cease-fire, and it did not spell out the number of days for a humanitarian pause, instead calling for “a sufficient number of days” for “the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access.”
The resolution is legally binding and called for all parties to comply with international laws of conflict that demand that civilians, especially children, be protected. It also called for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas.
The White House says it remains “convinced of the soundness” of intelligence it says shows Hamas using Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command node, but again declined to provide any further details of what led to that assessment. (CNN)
„Back in 1983, when Israel still ruled Gaza, they built a secure underground operating room & tunnel network beneath Shifa hospital.“ This is why Israel is so certain it exists. But why did Israel build a military HQ under Gaza‘s largest hospital?
Al-Shifa Hospital: Architecture and Expansion
The hospital underwent a major Israeli renovation and expansion.[21][22] The project was designed by Israeli architects Gershon Tzapor and Benjamin Edelson in their Tel-Aviv office, both well experienced in the construction of high standard hospitals.[21] The project was done in the 1980s as part of a project to improve the living conditions of Gaza residents.[23]
This project came as part of the Israeli idea of mutual existence between Jews and Arabs. The project intended to house 900 beds in the entire campus, a 50 dunam area. The Israeli additions were considered to be in the same standard as those hospital wings in Israeli hospitals such as Tel HaShomer.[21] The architecture of the hospital came to reflect the modernist and post modernist trends in Israeli architecture.[21] In particular was the similarity of the project to existing Israeli hospitals such as the facades of the Bezalel building in Jerusalem.[22] Similarly to other Israeli projects, the building was built with sharpened diagonal staircases, akin to projects by Israeli architects Dan Eitan, Shlomit Nadler and others at the time.[22]
The architects also designed and built a large array of underground infrastructure, which the IDF later pointed to as part of the underground Hamas command in 2014 and in the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[21][10][8][22] In particular, in 1983, the Israelis built „a secure underground operating room and tunnel network“ beneath Building 2 of the hospital.[
Biden hails productive talks with Xi as agreements reached on fentanyl and military communication
Biden said he and Xi had each agreed to pick up the phone and talk during periods of disagreement, and called the talks “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had.”
Yet departing the summit following a news conference, Biden said he still considered Xi a dictator, despite the progress they’d achieved over the course of their meeting.