U.N Special Rapporteur: Rafah is the last line of Palestinian existence in Gaza
People trapped in Rafah face “relentless anguish,” the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories has said, as she condemned the possibility of Palestinians sheltering in the southern city being evacuated into the Sinai desert.
Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese described the possibility of deportations into countries such as Egypt as “another Nakba,” and called the southern border city of Rafah “the last line of Palestinian existence in Gaza.”
The Nakba, Arabic “catastrophe” refers to the forced expulsion in 1948 of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians from the land that became the state of Israel.
Nasser Hospital is ‘not functional anymore,’ WHO warns
TEL AVIV — Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis is “not functional anymore” amid ongoing raids at the facility, the World Health Organization has warned.
A WHO team was blocked yesterday and the day before from being able enter the hospital to assess the conditions of patients being treated at the facility, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X today. He said the team had visited the facility to deliver fuel alongside other partners, but were not allowed to enter.
Ghebreyesus said there were around 200 patients still inside the hospital, with at least 20 needing to be “urgently referred” to other hospitals to receive health care. “Medical referral is every patient’s right,” he said, adding: “The cost of delays will be paid by patients’ lives.”
The Israel Defense Forces launched their dayslong raid at the hospital on Thursday, saying intelligence indicated that Hamas had held hostages there. The IDF said around 100 people were detained, with the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza saying medical workers were among them.
The health ministry said at least five patients at the hospital had died due to a lack of oxygen and power outages during the raid. NBC News was not immediately able to independently verify the deaths.
ICJ to hold hearings on legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands
Six days of hearings are scheduled at the International Court of Justice from Monday, examining whether Israel’s 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state is illegal. Though the case occurs against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, it focuses instead on Israel’s open-ended occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Palestinian representatives, will argue that Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing large swaths of occupied land, has violated the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and has imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, the head of the U.N. organizations department in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry. “They’ve had to consider the word genocide in the South Africa case,” he said, referring to a separate case before the court. “Now we want them to consider apartheid.”
Israel is not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement. It is likely to justify the open-ended occupation on security grounds in the absence of a peace deal, according to experts.
Counting on Egypt to absorb displaced Palestinians is unacceptable, President el-Sissi says
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi today reiterated the nation’s stance against Israel’s displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the possibility that they will be resettled in his adjacent country.
He did so during a call today with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Ahmed Fahmy, el-Sissi’s spokesperson, said in a statement. The two leaders spoke about efforts to revive a cease-fire, exchange captives and end humanitarian suffering.
The leaders see a two-state solution as best outcome for the war, the office of Egypt’s president said in today’s statement. Macron made headlines when he said this week that French recognition of a Palestinian state is not a ‘’taboo’’ for his country.
Israel arrests ‘large number’ of staff members at Nasser Hospital complex, Palestinian Health Ministry says
Israel has arrested a “large number” of administrative employees and crews at the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Younis as they were on duty, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said today.
Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza’s main medical facility, has been besieged by Israel for weeks. Intense fighting in and around Khan Younis over the last three weeks “is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure,” according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Around 10,000 people are…
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