AMIZMIZ, Morocco: Hundreds of protesters on Tuesday took to the streets of a city near the epicenter of a devastating earthquake that hit Morocco last month to express anger and frustration after weeks of waiting for emergency assistance.
Flanked by honking cars and motorcycles, demonstrators in the High Atlas town of Amizmiz chanted against the government as law enforcement tried to contain the crowds. The protest followed a worker’s strike and torrential weekend storms that exacerbated hardship for residents living in tents near the remains of their former homes.
“Amizmiz is down!,” men yelled in Tachelhit, Morocco’s most widely spoken Indigenous language.
Entire neighborhoods were leveled by the Sept. 8 quake, forcing thousands to relocate to temporary shelters. In Amizmiz and the surrounding villages of Morocco’s Al Haouz province, nearly everyone lost a family member or friend.
Tuesday’s protest was initially organized by a group called Amizmiz Earthquake Victims’ Coordination to draw attention to “negligence by local and regional officials” and to denounce how some residents had been excluded from emergency aid.
“The state of the camps is catastrophic,” Mohamed Belhassan, the coordinator of the group told the Moroccan news site Hespress.
The group, however, called off its planned march after meeting with local authorities who ultimately pledged to address their concerns. Despite the organizers’ cancelation, hundreds still took to the streets to protest the conditions.
Protesters waved Moroccan flags and directed their anger toward the way local authorities have failed to provide the emergency assistance announced by Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet. They chanted “Long Live the King” but implored him to visit Amizmiz to check on how local authorities were carrying out his decrees. They protested about a need for dignity and justice, decrying years of marginalization.
In the earthquake’s aftermath, Morocco convened a commission and formed a special recovery fund. The government announced earlier this month that it had begun disbursing initial monthly payments of 2,500 Moroccan dirhams ($242) and planned to later provide up to 140,000 dirhams ($13,600) to rebuild destroyed homes.
Residents of Amizmiz told The Associated Press earlier this month that although many had given authorities their contact information, most households had not yet received emergency cash assistance. In Amizmiz, which had 14,299 residents according to Morocco’s most recent census, many worry about shelter as winter in the Atlas Mountains approaches.
A trailer-based banking unit began operating in the town square in the aftermath of the earthquake. Local officials collected phone numbers to send banking codes to allow residents get their cash. For many, the subsequent delays were the final straw, Belhassan told Hespress.
The Amizmiz protest over delays in aid comes after Morocco faced criticism for accepting limited aid from only four foreign governments several days after the earthquake killed a reported 2,901 people. Officials said the decision was intended to prevent clogged roads and chaos in days critical for emergency response. Search and rescue crews unable to reach the country expressed frustration for not getting the green light from the Moroccan government.
Anger boils in Morocco’s earthquake zone as protesters demand promised emergency aid
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Anger boils in Morocco’s earthquake zone as protesters demand promised emergency aid
- Search and rescue crews unable to reach the country expressed frustration for not getting the green light from the Moroccan government
British lawmakers praise Jordan’s role in regional peace efforts
- Politicians stress value of Jordanian-British relations, necessity of strategic partnership
- “Jordan plays an important role in consolidating stability in the Middle East,” said MP Hamilton
DUBAI: British lawmakers have applauded Jordan’s role in maintaining regional stability and providing aid to the Gaza Strip.
The comments came in an interview with the Jordan News Agency’s correspondent in London.
The visit was at the invitation of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and was headed by MP Zuhair Khashman of the Jordanian delegation.
British politicians stressed the value of Jordanian-British relations and the necessity of their strategic partnership.
“Jordan plays an important role in consolidating stability in the Middle East,” said MP Fabian Hamilton, chairman of the BGIPU.
Hamilton added that there were three key reasons for its role in helping to stabilize the Middle East: its vital geographical location, its political stability, and the leadership of King Abdullah II.
Baroness Gloria Hooper, a member of the House of Lords, said a two-state solution in the region was essential to securing lasting peace. She also made note of the UK’s public opinion on the war in Gaza.
She added: “Despite growing pressure in Parliament on the British government to take more measures to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, we need to increase and redouble these efforts.”
MP Alistair Carmichael, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Jordan Group, said: “The situation in Gaza is continuously deteriorating, making support for Jordanian humanitarian efforts a top priority.”
MP Bambos Charalambous said that “the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza cannot be dealt with by individual efforts or through a single country alone, but through broad international partnerships.”
Gaza, Sudan most at risk as global starvation approaches 300m: Report
- Populations of both face ‘starvation, death, destitution and high rates of acute malnutrition’
- War, aid cuts, climate among issues causing food shortages in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia
LONDON: Almost 300 million people face death from starvation, with the most at risk in war-torn Gaza and Sudan, the latest Global Report on Food Crises has warned.
The report said 295.3 million people have been identified as facing “high levels of acute food insecurity” after a sixth consecutive year of the global number growing, with people in South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan also noted as being at particular risk.
Cuts to humanitarian aid budgets and escalating conflicts were highlighted as having pushed as many as 13.7 million people into chronic food insecurity over the past 12 months.
The report noted that the number of people most at risk of food shortages as defined by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification had more than doubled in that period, and that 95 percent of those were in Gaza and Sudan.
It added that the populations of both face “starvation, death, destitution and high rates of acute malnutrition.”
More than half of Gaza’s approximately 2.1 million people face “catastrophe,” while Sudan has as many as 24 million people suffering food insecurity. Famine has been officially declared in the African country.
“Intensifying conflict, increasing geopolitical tensions, global economic uncertainty and profound funding cuts are deepening acute food insecurity,” the GRFC said.
“Following the closure of all crossings into the Gaza Strip in early March, and the collapse of the two-month ceasefire, food access has been severely restricted.”
The GRFC said 19 other countries are suffering from worsening food security “aggravated” by drought, highlighting Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kenya.
War is also increasing several other countries’ food security, especially Nigeria and Myanmar.
UN peacekeepers attacked by civilians in Lebanon, no casualties reported
- The troops used non-lethal force to protect themselves and those present, according to UNIFIL
- The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were notified and arrived shortly after the incident
DUBAI: A large group of civilians wielding metal rods and axes attacked a patrol of UN troops in southern Lebanon on Friday, causing damage to UN vehicles but no injuries, a United Nations peacekeeping force said.
The UN troops used non-lethal force to protect themselves and those present, according to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), adding the patrol had been on a routine operation between the villages of Jmayjmeh and Khirbat Silim.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were notified and arrived shortly after the incident, escorting the patrol back to base.
UNIFIL said the patrol had been pre-planned and coordinated with the LAF.
The UN peacekeeping mission stressed that its mandate, under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, guarantees freedom of movement in its area of operations with or without LAF accompaniment.
On Wednesday, UNIFIL said that direct fire from the Israeli army had hit the perimeter of one of its peacekeeping positions in south Lebanon. UNIFIL said the incident on Tuesday was the first of its kind since Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November.
British doctor releases footage of aftermath of Israeli strike on Gaza hospital
- Dr. Tom Potokar, consultant plastic surgeon, took video after 6 bombs killed 28 people at European Gaza Hospital
- ‘It’s a direct hit on the hospital … Shrapnel everywhere … Absolute mayhem’
LONDON: A British doctor in Gaza has released footage showing the devastation caused by an Israeli airstrike on the European Gaza Hospital near the southern city of Khan Younis on Thursday.
Dr. Tom Potokar, a consultant plastic surgeon, shared the video with the BBC, documenting the aftermath of an attack by Israel on the facility. Six bombs were dropped on the hospital, killing 28 people.
Potokar, who has traveled to Gaza 16 times to provide vital treatment to Palestinians trapped in the enclave, described the footage as a “snapshot” of his experience working at the hospital.
In the video, he described an “absolutely massive strike … right in front of the emergency room,” as people ran and lay on the ground outside the hospital.
“Shrapnel everywhere. Devastation right in the forecourt of the hospital. Absolutely terrible,” he said in the footage.
In further scenes described as “absolute mayhem,” Potokar walked through the corridors of the hospital as medics, patients and other civilians tried to respond to the attack.
“It’s a direct hit on the hospital,” he said, as screams echoed in the background and smoke billowed through the building.
Standing outside an operating theater, Potokar then turned the camera on himself to survey the damage, and said the facility was “too dangerous” to take people to be operated on, and staff were leaving to find shelter. He later reported that the hospital had been entirely evacuated.
Potokar told the BBC: “We’ve been treating patients with huge open wounds, some even with maggots in, infected, multiple amputations, children down to the age of two with significant nerve injuries, traumatic brain injuries.”
At least 114 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Thursday, according to local authorities.
King of Jordan and US vice president discuss regional peace efforts
AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II and US Vice President JD Vance discussed current developments in the Middle East and emphasized the strategic partnership between their two countries during a phone call on Thursday, Petra, the Jordan News Agency, reported.
The king reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid, and an end to hostilities in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
He also highlighted the vital role the United States has in the drive to achieve a lasting peace in the region through a two-state solution.
