Senegal February 2024, When a statesman steps down in Africa

Gaza: ‘One door’ insufficient as aid lifeline for 2.2 million people |

At least 200 truckloads each day are needed and despite the “outstanding” efforts of national and international partners, UN humanitarians are stuck having to bring all supplies through a single choke point on Gaza’s southern frontier with Egypt, built as a pedestrian crossing, said Jamie McGoldrick.

The veteran UN aid official spoke exclusively to UN News on Saturday, in his first interview since becoming the interim Resident Coordinator in the Palestinian Occupied Territory late last month.

The Irish national served in the same role, where he is also UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, between 2018 and 2020.

Prior to that, he was the UN’s Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Yemen at the height of the brutal civil conflict there which began in 2015. He has also worked with the International Red Cross.

Mr. McGoldrick recently returned from Gaza, and spoke to Ezzat El-Ferri from Jerusalem, where the UN Special Coordinator’s office (UNSCO) is headquartered, with other offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza Strip.

The interview had been edited for length and clarity:

UN News: You just came back from Gaza, and you’ve been in this role before. You’ve described the situation there as dire in previous years. What was your initial reaction when you first entered Gaza during this war?

Jamie McGoldrick: Well, clearly, the situation has changed dramatically since I was last there. The thing that strikes you most is the numbers. As soon as you arrive through Rafah, what hits you straight away is the immensity of the people who are displaced: every street, every pavement.

They also have these makeshift tents built onto the side of buildings encroaching on the roads. It’s very hard to move around. The place is really, really packed.

The second thing I think is the fact that this crowded nature causes the lack of services that people have. Because this has happened so quickly, that number of people coming to the south (of Gaza). They reckon 1.7 or 1.8 million people in Rafah, which used to have a population of around 250,000.

People have taken up space in hospitals, taken up space in UNRWA schools…and you go to these places, and you see the conditions people live in, the squalor, the crowded nature, the makeshift nature of it.

No one had the time to plan anything. People ran from where they came from: the middle area, the north area, and they came with very little. They’ve had to try and set up a place for themselves in a very difficult, chaotic environment. And the fact that it’s the winter there as well. So, all of that makes it very, very difficult.

It has overwhelmed us because we have a very limited role there for this type of work, and we’ve had to try and scale up, trying to address the needs. And even when I was there eight days ago – I came back just two days ago – the difference in that time was the fact that the crowds still keep coming…The desperation is getting deeper, the human suffering is more intensified.

People clamour for food in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

But more importantly we would need to do more to scale up, to get more people, get more access, bring in more material. But it is a mammoth task.

UN News: I’m sure you also met colleagues that were there when you were in this role previously. What experiences have they shared with you?

Jamie McGoldrick: The first one is that of human dimension: people tell you what they’ve left behind. Some tell you they’ve left their houses which have been destroyed, and others tell you of the family members that died. You know, the life they’ve once had is gone and probably gone for such a long time.

There’s a degree of shock and a degree of despair. And I think there’s a sort of hopelessness there as well, because they don’t see any answers to what it is that they face ahead. It’s amazing also that there is resilience and the steadfastness of some of these colleagues who have been in that situation, who have come to the south fleeing as a displaced person, but still standing up to do work.

It’s quite incredible that the people in Gaza have that spirit…and they still keep going on. The fact that there’s been 146 UN colleagues killed. Others have lost parts of the families, yet they still deliver.

It’s not as though you were running away to safety, because where you are right now is unsafe. Where you are right now is getting more and more cramped and crowded. And it’s not as though you’ve arrived somewhere as a displaced person and that’s it. There’s more to come…

UN News: Like you just said, UN humanitarians have been raising their voice about the challenges of being able to get aid into Gaza at scale. On the ground, what does that mean for the population? How much of their needs are being met right now?

Jamie McGoldrick: Before this started, what you had was around 500 trucks per day coming in as commercial transport. And the UN served those who were unfortunate, not able to buy those things commercially. We, the humanitarians, need to have about 200 trucks in a day. And that all covered the population – the humanitarian and the commercial [goods].

What you have now is that the commercial [sector] has stopped. So, the people who were being served by the commercial sector are now squeezing what’s in the humanitarian sector and everybody’s in need. What we’ve got is a situation where the key issues for us are better shelter, more food supplies, better water, sanitation, sewage and the health needs.

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Protection concerns all round

At the same time, there’s a lot of protection concerns: gender-based violence, child protection issues as there are a lot of unaccompanied children.

And then also, we need to ourselves, as humanitarians, the ability to do that work. That means protection for us as well. Which means having good communication systems, having the ability to move around. And deconfliction in terms of our humanitarian movements [so they] are actually safeguarded.

And unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. There’s been a number of incidents. We are trying to bring in more trucks. Yesterday, we had 200 trucks, the most we’ve ever had to crossing into Rafah. There’s nothing coming in from the north. It’s all coming in from the south. We’re trying to save the population, but we know there’s probably all of the population of 2.2 million need some assistance of some kind.

And we are right now facing an uphill struggle to just address the needs of those who we reach. We need to reach far farther, far deeper and far for other places like the north. But there’s ongoing conflict and military operations prevent us from either moving in some of the central zones. So, we’re kind of stuck where we are, and it’s very hard to move convoys, the convoys going north to serve those 250,000 – 300,000 estimated population there.

Two children sit in the rubble of what is left of their house in Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip.

We don’t have the ability to do that quickly. There’s only one road. It’s the coast road, because the major road in the middle is actually under military operations at the moment. So, we’re squeezing all of our efforts to the north while we’re trying to struggle to save the south. We have to scale up and the commercial supplies have to start again.

We also have to get more support from donors who have been very willing to let us buy more trucks, rent more trucks, to bring aid in. But it is the struggle that we face. And those four key sectors I just mentioned to you are where the lifesaving will take place.

UN News: We’ve heard several UN officials saying that we need commercial shipments to start coming back into Gaza. But if the economy is in shambles and there’s military activity going on, how can people go on about commerce and go on about their lives, a normal economy?

Jamie McGoldrick: What we would like to do eventually is that, if the commercial sector starts up again, we can actually start supplying the shops that are closed because there’s nothing in them. All the stocks have gone. We have to replenish those stocks.

And once we have that up to a certain scale, we can then start to use cash cards, cash voucher systems.

‘Long, long struggle’ just to keep aid flowing

But we’re a long way off that right now. We’ve got a long, long struggle of just keeping the supply of humanitarian assistance, especially food and medical supplies in there.

Because if we don’t do that, these things, these items are going to be very rife for the black market, and we’ll start to see this exploitation taking place. We’ve already seen that happening.

UN News: Some Israeli officials have said that the only thing hindering the entry of aid into Gaza is the limitations of the UN. How would you respond to them?

It’s a difficult environment because we’ve been able to do limited aid distributions and the Rafah Governorate, where half of the population is now estimated to be, and the rest of the Gaza Strip, it’s been largely stopped due to the intensity of the hostilities and the restrictions on our movements: we’ve had only five out of 24 planned convoys for food and medicine have been allowed to go to the north, for example.

Reliance ‘on one crossing point’

We are trying to increase our operations. Our operations have been sort of hampered by the insistence of the government of Israel to use a pedestrian crossing in Rafah to bring truckloads of supplies. And while it’s working well, we can’t rely on all of Gaza – 2.2 million people – on one crossing point. We have to open up elsewhere.

Aid convoys enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing. (file)

The humanitarian operations are kept on a very light availability of fuel. This is a lifeline for the operations of the hospitals to keep the oxygenation, to keep the various parts of the actual hospitals working, the desalination plants to keep drinking water going there.

The ongoing humanitarian operation, I’ve got to say, is absolutely outstanding. The work that’s been done by our national colleagues there, supported by the internationals.

So, we are really struggling. I don’t think it’s because we are against getting more in, or [that] we are not taking up our challenges.

We are at this 100 per cent-plus, but there are restrictions in there…It has to be so that that we can actually bring in what we need and more and more places where there are populations – and not serving 2.2 million through one door – and that’s something that has to change.

UN News: With the situation in Gaza right now, sometimes the West Bank can fall off the radar. Do you have any updates on the situation there?

Jamie McGoldrick: I think we all see the situation in the West Bank. There have been flashpoints in the West Bank since early last year and then since 7 October, the tragic issue, I think that’s accelerated. And we’ve seen over 300 Palestinians have been killed and some 80 children have been killed.

We’ve seen from OCHA and the report’s it’s done that there’s an increase obviously in settler violence against Palestinians. And I think that’s something that we see as a constant trend. There were around 200,000 work permits in Israel but that’s now been suspended…I think that many of them probably lost their jobs now.

No revenue transfer from Israel

And there’s all the civil servants that were there and they’re now getting reduced wages because the actual Palestinian Authority is struggling, because the transfer of revenues from Israel hasn’t happened for some time.

The humanitarian community, many parts of it, are inside, part of the West Bank…We’re trying to address the crises that comes up. It’s very, very hard to keep those two things going at the same time, the concentration on Gaza but then not trying to forget the size of the ongoing problem, that’s happening in the West Bank.

UN News: 57 years now of occupation, the issue is over 75 years old. People are really starting to lose hope in the peace process. So, what can be done to restore that hope and revitalize the office of the Special Coordinator [for the Middle East Peace Process], to reach a settlement?

The Special Coordinator’s office is still full on trying to address all of these crises which are interlinked, which is the humanitarian linked with the governance challenges, so that’s something that will have to happen.

More pressure needed to free hostages

But I think at the same time, we have to push harder and strengthen the negotiations on the immediate, unconditional release of hostages by Hamas. That has to happen.

We have to scale up assistance going into Gaza, taking into account Israel’s own internal security concerns, and we have to increase the humanitarian crossings to allow aid into Gaza, such as Kerem Shalom in addition to Rafah. But we also have to look at northern crossing points.

Jamie McGoldrick – Interim Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian Territory meeting Palestinian Red Crescent Representatives in Rafah, Southern Gaza

We have to restore these basic services, medical, humanitarian, which have been impacted by this conflict and then start to build new ones to resume the lifesaving operations.

And we have to allow more injured patients and those people to get treatment outside Gaza, because Gaza is devoid of the full range of services required for people who have been caught up in this crisis. We have to allow more and more services into those areas.

‘At some time, we have to get back to the peace process’

I think the peace process can’t be understood or considered at this time. We’re almost 100 days of war – how is it going to end and if and when it does, how can the parties, the different parts of the Palestinian parties come together, and how can then the Palestinians and the Israelis sit round the negotiating table, given the depths of what’s happened in that time?

So, I think that there’s a lot of healing to go through and there’s a lot of circumspection to go through, a lot of understanding what all this means. But at some time, we have to get back to that peace process, some way of pulling out an understanding of how people are going to live together.

UN News: That was exactly going to be my last question to you. How is it possible that after all of this, parties can actually sit back down at the table? How can we explain this to the layperson who doesn’t know?

Jamie McGoldrick: I think peace is more normal than war. I think that’s the fundamental and I think that all people want to live in peace and have a life. They want to have a future. The want their dreams, they want to be able to know what’s coming next. They want to be able to socialize and have families, and you can’t have that in the situation where you’ve got this conflict and you’ve got this insecurity, and I think that has to disappear.

Understanding, appreciation, accommodation

And then you can start the mending process, the healing process. You have to then think for yourself, how do you link to your neighbour? How do you link to the people that you are going to have to live side by side with? And it’s an understanding and appreciation, an accommodation.

And we see it in many, many conflicts around the world. And unfortunately, this one is one of the most longstanding and the most deep rooted.

War against Hamas in Gaza is act of self-defence, Israel tells world court

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United Nations News

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14 January 2024

War against Hamas in Gaza is act of self-defence, Israel tells world court

On the second and final day of preliminary hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel’s legal team insisted that the twin military objectives were to eradicate the existential threat posed by Hamas militants and to free some 136 hostages still held in the war-shattered enclave.

“Israel is in a war of defence against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people” in the aftermath of Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October, Israel co-agent Tal Becker told judges in The Hague.

There had been “tragic” and “heartbreaking” civilian suffering “in this war, like in all wars”, Mr. Becker said, as he read out the last anguished text messages sent by the father of one Israeli farming family, burned to death in their home by presumed Hamas fighters who “tortured children in front of parents and parents in front of children”.

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Defence ‘obligations’

Mr. Becker also rejected South Africa’s petition to the court under the provisions of the Genocide Convention to issue “provisional measures” to order Israel to immediately suspend its military campaign in Gaza.

This amounted “to an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligations to the defence of its citizens, to the hostages and to over 110,000 displaced Israelis unable to safely return to their homes”, he said.

The issue of justified self-defence featured prominently in Israel’s presentation.

When a State is attacked, it has the right to defend itself and its citizens, Israel’s legal team insisted, before underscoring the deep trauma resulting from the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants who rampaged across southern Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people and taking around 250 captive.

“There is no genocidal intent here; this is no genocide,” said Israel counsel Malcolm Shaw. Hamas atrocities “do not justify violations of the law in reply – still less genocide – but they do justify…the exercise of the legitimate and inherent right of a State to defend itself as enshrined in the UN Charter“.

‘Weaponizing genocide’

Rejecting South Africa’s “profoundly distorted” description of the war in Gaza, Israel’s legal team accused that country’s legal team of attempting to “weaponize” the term genocide, which it insisted was a better description of Hamas’s “annihilationist language” about “cleansing” Palestine of Jews.

The armed group which controls Gaza had diverted billions of dollars of aid and turned the Strip into “perhaps the most sophisticated terrorist stronghold in the history of urban warfare” embedded in communities, the court heard.

“Urban warfare will always result in tragic deaths, harm and damage, but in Gaza these undesired outcomes are exacerbated because they are the desired outcomes of Hamas,” said Galit Raguan, for Israel.

Asserting that “every single hospital” searched by Israeli Defense Forces had found evidence of military use by Hamas, the Israel legal counsel also alleged that weapons had been found hidden inside a hospital incubator.

The world court also heard how the Israeli military had demonstrated “the precise opposite” of any possible genocidal intent by restricting its targeting to military personnel or objectives “in accordance with international humanitarian law in a proportionate manner in each case”.

Israel’s efforts “to mitigate harm” during military operations and to alleviate suffering through humanitarian activities had gone “relatively unnoticed” amid the “unprecedented and extensive” use of telephone calls and leafletting to warn populations of impending conflict, the Israel legal team noted.

Next steps in the case

Now that initial representations from both South Africa and Israel have concluded at the ICJ, one of the justices’ first tasks is to assess whether there are sufficient grounds to approve the South African application for provisional measures against Israel, to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention”.

These measures are expected in weeks, legal commentators have said.

They are designed “to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide”, according to an earlier ICJ press release.

If this results in a ceasefire call which is not implemented, the matter would then need to be taken up by the UN Security Council, which could then agree on a resolution aimed at enforcing an end to hostilities.

Next month, the world court is also due to consider a separate case concerning Israel and Palestine, requested by the UN General Assembly in a resolution adopted on 30 December 2022, before the current conflict.

In that resolution, the General Assembly requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the legal consequences of “Israeli practices and affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.

The procedure will involve a public hearing on 19 February 2024, after the court takes receipt of written reports from numerous States.

Aerogel Can Become the Key to Future Terahertz Technologies

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14 January 2024

Aerogel Can Become the Key to Future Terahertz Technologies

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High-frequency terahertz waves have great potential for a number of applications including next-generation medical imaging and communication. Aerogels could be a nice addition to this.

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have shown, in a study published in the journal Advanced Science, that the transmission of terahertz light through an aerogel made of cellulose and a conducting polymer can be tuned. This is an important step to unlock more applications for terahertz waves

Conducting polymer-cellulose aerogel and optic measuring set-up. Image credit: Thor Balkhed/Linköping University

The terahertz range covers wavelengths that lie between microwaves and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum. It has a very high frequency.

Thanks to this, many researchers believe that the terahertz range has great potential for use in space exploration, security technology and communication systems, among other things. In medical imaging, it can also be an interesting substitute for X-ray examinations as the waves can pass through most non-conductive materials without damaging any tissue.

However, there are several technological barriers to overcome before terahertz signals can be widely used. For example, it is difficult to create terahertz radiation in an efficient way and materials that can receive and adjust the transmission of terahertz waves are needed.

Adjustable filter

Researchers at Linköping University have now developed a material whose absorption of terahertz signals can be turned on and off through a redox reaction. The material is an aerogel, which is one of the world’s lightest solid materials.

“It’s like an adjustable filter for terahertz light. In one state, the electromagnetic signal will not be absorbed and in the other state it can. That property can be useful for long-range signals from space or radar signals,” says Shangzhi Chen, postdoc at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, LOE, at Linköping University.

The Linköping researchers used a conducting polymer, PEDOT:PSS, and cellulose to create their aerogel. They also designed the aerogel with outdoor applications in mind. It is both water-repellent (hydrophobic) and can be naturally defrosted via heating by sunlight.

Large modulation range

Conducting polymers have many advantages over other materials used to create tunable materials. Among other things, they are biocompatible, durable, and have a great ability to be tuned. The tunability comes from the ability to change the charge density in the material. The great advantages of cellulose are the relatively low production cost compared to other similar materials and that it is a renewable material which is key for sustainable applications.

“The transmission of terahertz waves in a broad frequency range could be regulated between around 13 % and 91 %, which is a very large modulation range,” says Chaoyang Kuang, postdoc at LOE.

The study was funded by, among others, the Swedish Research Council, the Foundation for Strategic Research, the Foundation for Internationalization of Higher Education and Research, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Wallenberg Wood Science Centre, and through the Swedish government’s strategic initiative in new functional materials, AFM, at Linköping University.

Article: Switchable Broadband Terahertz Absorbers Based on Conducting Polymer-Cellulose Aerogels; Chaoyang Kuang, Shangzhi Chen, Min Luo, Qilun Zhang, Xiao Sun, Shaobo Han, Qingqing Wang, Vallery Stanishev, Vanya Darakchieva, Reverant Crispin, Mats Fahlman, Dan Zhao, Qiye Wen, Magnus P. Jonsson; Advanced Science, published online November 23, 2023. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202305898

Facts: The terahertz range covers the wavelengths that lie between microwaves and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum. The waves have a width of between 0.1 and 1 millimetre and the frequency is at least 0.3 terahertz and at most 30 terahertz. 1 terahertz means that 1000 billion waves are sent or received in one second.

Written by Anders Törneholm

Source: Linköping University

Heightened tensions in the Red Sea: A complex context between the conflict in Yemen and the war in Gaza

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Lahcen Hammouch

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14 January 2024

The rise in tensions in the Red Sea, marked by numerous attacks on merchant shipping carried out by Yemeni rebels supported by Iran, adds a new complex dimension to regional dynamics. The Houthis say they are targeting ships linked to Israel as a sign of solidarity with Gaza, intensifying tensions.

Recent US-British strikes on military sites in the hands of the Houthis, including in Sanaa, revive fears of a regional spillover of the war in Gaza triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7. These strikes reactivate concerns of a broader conflict, intertwining the situations in Yemen and Gaza.

The Houthis, also called Ansar Allah, are a Zaidi rebel group, a branch of Shiism, which has taken control of large areas of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Their ideology is anchored in a mixture of religious, political and social demands, highlighting the defense of the rights of the Zaidis and opposing Saudi influence in the region.

In response to the airstrikes, the Houthi Supreme Political Council declared that all US-UK interests are now legitimate targets for Yemeni armed forces, further highlighting the interconnectedness of conflicts in the region and raising questions about possible repercussions beyond the immediate theater of hostilities.

The complexity of the geopolitical landscape is heightened by the close links between conflicts in the Red Sea, Yemen and Gaza, creating an interconnected web of regional tensions. Rapid developments on these multiple fronts highlight the need for a sensitive approach to mitigate potential risks of destabilization in this part of the world.

In this context, the earlier war waged by the Arab Coalition in Yemen a few years ago takes on new relevance. Despite the coalition’s efforts to weaken the Houthis, the latter maintained their hold over vast territories, illustrating the resilience of their movement. This continued resistance raises questions about the capacity of the international community to sustainably influence the balance of power in a region marked by persistent conflicts.

The implications of these complex and interconnected developments extend beyond regional borders, requiring careful international coordination and diplomacy to prevent further escalation and foster stability in this geopolitically sensitive area.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

Metsola in Lithuania: Freedom Prize awarded to the European Parliament

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13 January 2024

Metsola in Lithuania: Freedom Prize awarded to the European Parliament | News — © European Parliament

At the award ceremony today in Vilnius, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola thanked the Seimas, the Lithuanian Parliament, for its decision to honour the European Parliament with the 2023 Freedom Prize.

President Metsola said in her keynote speech marking the Day of Defenders of Freedom:

“This award does the European Parliament a great honour. It will inspire us to continue our support of democracy. It will inspire us to stand up for Europe. Lithuania knows only too well what is at stake. Why we need Europe to stand up for our freedoms and our values. Why we must stand firmly for Ukraine. Why Europe must be the light that the world sees.”

On 23 November 2023, the Seimas awarded the European Parliament and Petras Plumpa, political prisoner and participant in the Lithuanian unarmed anti-Soviet resistance, with the 2023 Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania.

The European Parliament received the Prize for its current efforts to consolidate democracy and human rights, for defending the right of nations to sovereignty, for its unrelenting efforts towards historical justice, for supporting the cause of Lithuania’s freedom and the aspiration of the Soviet-occupied Baltic States towards independence, for the diplomatic assistance to Lithuania that restored its independence, and for its contribution to EU integration. As far back as 1983, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the Soviet Union’s occupation of the Baltic States.

President Metsola´s visit to Lithuania kicked off a series of visits to Member States to ‘Get out the vote’ in the run up to the European elections on 6-9 June. During her visits, the President meets with the country’s leadership, and holds town hall discussions with young people and civil society representatives to highlight the importance of election participation and strengthening democracy.

You can find the full speech of President Metsola here.

President Metsola awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

On Friday 12 January 2024, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas to the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola “for her leadership and personal will to effectively consolidate strong support of the majority of the European Parliament’s political groups on key issues relevant to the European Union’s and Lithuania’s political agenda”.

President Metsola wholeheartedly thanked President Nauseda and the people of Lithuania for the prestigious award:

“It serves as a constant reminder of our duty to defend democracy, freedom and our common European values.”

Background

The Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania is awarded every year on 13 January, the Day of the Defenders of Freedom, to mark the events of 13 January 1991, when Soviet troops stormed the Lithuanian Parliament, the TV Tower, and the Lithuanian Radio and Television building, killing 11 peaceful citizens and injuring hundreds of others.

The Freedom Prize was established in 2011 to honour individuals and organisations for their achievements in and contribution to the defence of human rights, development of democracy, and promotion of international cooperation for the cause of self-determination and sovereignty of the nations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Gaza crisis: aid agencies warn of ‘tragic, avoidable surge’ in child deaths

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United Nations News

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13 January 2024

Gaza crisis: aid agencies warn of ‘tragic, avoidable surge’ in child deaths

“About 160 children are killed every day; that’s one every 10 minutes,” said UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, echoing concerns from the UN Children’s Fund about the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the enclave.

“If youngsters continue to have restricted access to water and sanitation in Gaza, we will see a tragic yet entirely avoidable surge in the number of children dying,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told journalists in Geneva, who noted that more than 5,350 Palestinian children had reportedly been killed, according to the enclave’s health authorities.

“The death toll among children is sickening,” Mr. Elder said. “Grief is becoming embedded in Gaza. So this then is a stark warning: without sufficient fuel, without sufficient water, conditions for children will plummet.”

The UNICEF spokesperson added that at least 30 Israeli children are still being held hostage “somewhere in this hellscape”, before appealing for their immediate release, to spare them “their fear (and) the torment” their families have endured.

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Hospital evacuation planned

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO’s Mr. Lindmeier explained that “every 10 minutes, two children are injured”, while youngsters and their families caught up in the conflict have been dying “in terrifying circumstances”.

According to the UN health agency, around 180 babies are born every day in the war-shattered enclave. More than 20 of them need specialized care, just like the infants from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where 31 premature and low-birthweight babies in intensive care were evacuated over the weekend. The original number of infants was 33 but two died “because of the lack of care available to them,” Mr. Lindmeier said.

Highlighting the dire situation all over Gaza where “less than half” of the enclave’s hospitals and clinics now function “in any capacity”, the WHO official said that plans were continuing to evacuate the remaining 200 patients and 50 health workers from Al-Shifa hospital, as a desperate, last resort.

Facing ‘certain death’

“When these people – the doctors, the nurses, the patients – are asking to be evacuated, that’s really the last resort,” he said, adding that it meant “that the situation on the ground has grown so dire that the only other alternative is facing what they think certain death”.

The WHO spokesperson explained that such evacuations were extremely complicated and dangerous, requiring coordination with Israeli Defense Forces and with Hamas “to get to a safer place inside Gaza”.

The evacuation teams will “need time, they need preparation, they need specialized equipment, they need safe passage”, Mr. Lindmeier said.

Almost no water, fuel, food

According to the UN health agency, Gaza is now home to thousands of injured and critically ill people. There has been a sharp increase in diseases such as diarrhoea, and respiratory infections, along with “almost no water, fuel, food, electricity, or medical supplies”.

Some 72,000 cases of upper respiratory infections have been reported in displacement shelters with close to 49,000 cases of diarrhoea and over half of these among children under age five. This compares with a pre-war monthly average of 2,000 cases in 2021, 2022

Arrival of medical staff and equipment

Speaking later in New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said around 40 trucks carrying medical equipment, alongside 180 doctors and nurses, entered Gaza on Monday for the establishment of a second Jordanian field hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The facility will have 150 beds.

He also reported that the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, came under attack on Monday. Twelve people were reportedly killed, including patients and their companions, and many others were injured.

This marked the fifth time the hospital has been hit since the start of hostilities last month.

“Hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law and all parties to the conflict must ensure their protection. Hospitals must not be used to shield military objectives from attack,” he said.

The UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, further reported that nearly 93,000 displaced people are sheltering in 156 of its facilities across all five governorates in the Gaza Strip, including in the north.

UN at the ready

Meanwhile, international media have been reporting on the possibility of a deal between Israel and Hamas that would involve a hostage exchange and a cessation of fighting for four or five days.

Asked about UN humanitarian response in the event of a possible ceasefire, Mr. Haq said it was “a little bit premature” to talk about the issue.

“But certainly, what we are doing is trying to make sure that we are ready, so if there is any pause in fighting, which is what we’ve been asking for, we would be able to deliver humanitarian aid more effectively,” he said.

WHO staff member killed

The World Health Organization (WHO) mourned the death of a staff member who was killed in Gaza on Tuesday.

Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj, 29, worked as a patient administrator at the Limb Reconstruction Centre, a critical part of the WHO Trauma and Emergency Team, and had been with the UN agency since December 2019.

Ms. Alhaj had evacuated from Gaza City to her parents’ house in the south, which was bombed on Tuesday.

She was killed alongside her husband, six-month old son, and two of her brothers. Reportedly, over 50 family and community members sheltering in the same house also died.

“She was a wonderful person with a radiant smile, cheerful, positive, respectful. She was a true team player. Her work was crucial, and she had been requested to take on even more responsibilities to support the Gaza sub-office and team,” said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory.

He expressed deepest condolences to her mother and father, a long-serving medical specialist in Gaza, as well as to her family and many friends.

WHO noted that the humanitarian community and the UN have suffered losses since the start of the conflict. Two doctors from the medical charity MSF were also killed on Tuesday while UNRWA has lost 108 colleagues to date.

“The death of Dima and her family is another example of the senseless loss in this conflict,” said WHO. “We plead again with all those who hold in their hands the power to end this conflict to do so.”

Back to Gas: Teslas Too Expensive for Hertz, Other EVs Too

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12 January 2024

Back to Gas: Teslas Too Expensive for Hertz, Other EVs Too

Rental giant Hertz is divesting approximately 20,000 electric vehicles, including Teslas, from its U.S. fleet, opting for gas-fueled cars instead.

Tesla car being charged in an underground parking lot. Image credit: Upgraded Points via Unsplash, free license

This move comes around two years after entering a deal with Tesla to provide its vehicles for rent. This move signifies a downturn in demand for electric vehicles (EVs), experts say.

Hertz has decided to shift its focus to gas-powered vehicles, citing increased expenses associated with collision and damage for EVs. Despite initially aiming to transition 25% of its fleet to electric by the end of 2024, the company has reassessed its strategy.

CEO Stephen Scherr last year highlighted challenges arising from elevated expenses for its EVs, particularly Teslas. To mitigate issues, Hertz even restricted torque and speed on the EVs, making them available to experienced users on the platform to enhance adaptability after certain users experienced front-end collisions.

The company’s shares, which also include vehicles from Swedish EV maker Polestar among others, experienced a decline of approximately 4%. Concurrently, Tesla’s stock saw a decrease of about 3%.

Hertz anticipates incurring approximately $245 million in charges attributed to depreciation expenses resulting from the EV sale in the fourth quarter of 2023.

While consumers appreciate the driving experience and per-mile fuel savings of an EV, there are other “hidden costs to EV ownership.” Hertz acknowledged in a regulatory filing on Thursday that expenses related to collision and damage, primarily associated with EVs, remained elevated in the quarter.

The company, which initially aimed to acquire 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 and 65,000 units from Polestar over five years, has shifted its focus towards enhancing profitability for the remainder of its electric vehicle (EV) fleet.

Hertz’s used car website indicates the sale of certain Tesla Model 3 vehicles for approximately $20,000, nearly half the cost of the least expensive variant of the compact sedan.

The inventory includes over 700 EVs available for purchase, featuring models such as BMW’s i3, Chevrolet’s Bolt, and Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y SUVs.

Written by Vytautas Valinskas

Revealing the Invisible Plot: Social Action of Minority Religious Denominations in Spain

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12 January 2024

brown tree — Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

In a comprehensive analysis of the social action of minority religious denominations in Spain, academics Sebastián Mora Rosado, Guillermo Fernández Maillo, José Antonio López-Ruiz and Agustín Blanco Martín, publish their revealing findings in volume 3, number 2 of “Cuestiones de Pluralismo” for the second half of 2023.

The article highlights that European society has undergone a profound transformation in its religious experience, despite the predictions of the sociologies of secularisation that predicted its demise. In this context, Spain faces unique challenges, marked by a persistent tendency to make religious diversity invisible. According to Díez de Velasco (2013), there is a deep-rooted perception that links religious diversity with foreignness and Catholicity with Spanishness.

The study, supported by the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, addresses the lack of public knowledge about the social action of non-Catholic religious denominations in Spain. Although some partial studies have been carried out, the research is presented as a pioneering initiative by providing a more complete vision of this social reality.

Within the framework of the research, the participation of confessions such as Buddhist, Evangelical, Bahá’í Faith, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of Scientology, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Sikh is highlighted. The approach encompasses both quantitative and qualitative analyses to ‘map’ the social action of these faiths, examining resources, perceptions and intrinsic values.

One of the key findings is the low visibility of these social actions compared to other countries that have delved into similar analyses. The findings reveal that, in general terms, these denominations carry out their social work at the local level, with small structures and a strong involvement of volunteers. In addition, funding comes mainly from their own resources, with limited support from the public or private sector.

The article also highlights the complexity of the relationship between these denominations and public administrations. Although some denominations want specific recognition as religious entities in the field of social action, this could pose challenges in terms of secularism and freedom of conscience, as well as contradicting principles of equality in the allocation of public services.

The study underlines the importance of organised social action, focusing on basic assistance programmes and social promotion actions. It also highlights the peculiarity of the internal support that these denominations provide to their own followers, while at the same time maintaining an open commitment to those who do not share their beliefs.

One issue that hovers over the study is the perception that these social actions might be motivated by proselytising. However, focus group participants emphasise the separation between social action and proselytising, advocating the importance of attending to spiritual needs without engaging in invasive practices.

Finally, the authors conclude by pointing out the need to reverse the invisibilisation of these religious confessions and to encourage their collaboration with other public and third-sector social action entities. They consider that social action can be the privileged space to show the public and social dimension of these religious traditions, thus contributing to the construction of a post-secular, plural and democratic society. The task, although challenging, is perceived as essential to building a society where religious diversity is a real “reservoir of meaning” for citizenship.

Seamless Sojourns in Europe, Unlocking the Secrets of the Schengen Area

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12 January 2024