Gaza in anarchy, says UN

Gaza in anarchy, says UN
Palestinian and Israeli peace activists demonstrate against the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Beit Jala Nov. 29, 2024.(AP)
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Updated 29 November 2024
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Gaza in anarchy, says UN

Gaza in anarchy, says UN
  • Palestinians are suffering “on a scale that has to be seen to be truly grasped,” Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said
  • “This time I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger,” Sunghay told a media briefing in Geneva

GENEVA: The Gaza Strip has descended into anarchy, with hunger soaring, looting rampant and rising numbers of rapes in shelters as public order falls apart, the United Nations said on Friday.
Palestinians are suffering “on a scale that has to be seen to be truly grasped,” Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, said after concluding his latest visit to the devastated Palestinian territory.
“This time I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger,” Sunghay told a media briefing in Geneva, via video-link from Amman.
“The breakdown of public order and safety is exacerbating the situation with rampant looting and fighting over scarce resources.
“The anarchy in Gaza we warned about months ago is here,” he said, calling the situation entirely predictable, foreseeable and preventable.
Sunghay said young women, many displaced multiple times, had stressed the lack of any safe spaces or privacy in their makeshift tents.
“Others said that cases of gender-based violence and rape, abuse of children and other violence within the community has increased in shelters as a consequence of the war and the breakdown of law enforcement and public order,” he said.
Sunghay described the situation in Gaza City as “horrendous,” with thousands of displaced people sheltering in “inhumane conditions with severe food shortages and terrible sanitary conditions.”
He recounted seeing, for the first time, dozens of women and children in the beseiged enclave now scavenging in giant landfills.
The level of destruction in Gaza “just gets worse and worse,” he added.
“The common plea by everyone I met was for this to stop. To bring this to an end. Enough.”
He said the UN was being blocked from taking any aid to the 70,000 people still thought to be living in northern Gaza, due to “repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities.”
“It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in — and it is not.”
UN Human Rights Office spokesman Jeremy Laurence called for an immediate ceasefire.
“The killing must end,” he said.
“The hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. Those arbitrarily detained must be released,” he added.
“And every effort must be made to urgently provide the full quantities of food, medicine and other vital assistance desperately needed in Gaza.”
Fighters from Palestinian group Hamas launched an attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed 44,363 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.


Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control

Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control
Updated 58 min 18 sec ago
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Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control

Lebanon PM steps up efforts on weapons control
  • Lebanese officials drafting response to US disarmament proposal
  • PM Nawaf Salam says country cannot stay on the sidelines of historic regional shifts

BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday said that his government is intensifying its efforts to confine weapons solely to state institutions and to extend its authority across all areas of the country as part of a broader push to advance the implementation of a ceasefire.

Salam’s comments come as Lebanese officials are drafting a response to Washington’s proposal to disarm Hezbollah, which was presented by the US envoy to Syria and Lebanon, Tom Barrack, during a visit to Beirut last month.

The proposal centers on achieving full disarmament by the end of the year, strengthening Lebanese-Syrian relations, implementing financial reforms, and establishing a UN-supervised mechanism to secure the release of prisoners held by Israel during the recent war on Hezbollah.

Barrack is scheduled to visit Beirut on Monday to discuss the response.

During his address to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Salam confirmed control over Rafik Hariri International Airport and its access roads as part of security measures aimed at combating smuggling and enhancing public safety.

However, he added that Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory is integral to the country’s stability, emphasizing Lebanon’s efforts to intensify political and diplomatic pressure to enforce Resolution 1701, secure the return of displaced citizens to their villages, and advance the reconstruction of areas devastated by last year’s war with Israel.

To date, a $250 million loan has been secured from the World Bank to fund the immediate reconstruction phase, pending parliamentary approval, said Salam.

In parallel, Lebanon is partnering with UN agencies to implement over $350 million worth of projects in the south — spanning education, health, shelter, and food security — as part of a four-year support plan.

Salam said that Lebanon will also host an international reconstruction conference in the coming months to mobilize support under the leadership of the government.

“Reconstruction is not solely a matter of engineering or finance, but a comprehensive political, economic, and social process,” he said.

“The cumulative crises facing Lebanon leave no room for delay or denial. True salvation requires meaningful reform that builds a modern state, one that restores the trust of its citizens and earns the confidence of the international community.”

Salam highlighted the role of regional countries in supporting Lebanon’s reconstruction, describing President Joseph Aoun’s visits to Arab states as “concrete steps toward revitalizing Lebanon’s relations with its Arab neighbors and reasserting its role within the framework of regional cooperation.”

He added: “The region is undergoing a historic transformation, and Lebanon cannot afford to stand on the sidelines. There can be no progress outside the Arab fold, and no future without a partnership founded on mutual respect and shared interests.”

The prime minister also noted the direct coordination with Syria to reinforce border security, curb smuggling activities, and ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees.

“We look forward to meaningful contributions that will help restore what has been lost and strengthen the country’s path to recovery.”

A tripartite committee composed of representatives from the offices of Salam, Aoun, and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri recently held a series of meetings to draft a preliminary framework to serve as the executive response to the US disarmament proposal.

A political source familiar with the committee’s discussions told Arab News: “The atmosphere is constructive, and a preliminary draft of Lebanon’s response will be finalized by Monday, ahead of US envoy Barrack’s arrival in Beirut.”

The source said that Berri is tasked with communicating Hezbollah’s stance on the US demands.

“It is unlikely that Lebanon’s response will be any less stubborn than Israel’s. Lebanon cannot be expected to make all the compromises, while Israel ignores every ceasefire agreement,” the source said.

This includes Israel’s failure to withdraw from the five key Lebanese points it occupies, its daily attacks on southern and northern Lebanon, and refusal to release prisoners.

According to sources, Hezbollah refuses to be bound by any timeframe to disarm.

“It views Lebanon’s current treatment as a form of imposed guardianship, especially while Israel continues to pose an existential threat. The US is required to provide written guarantees of Israel’s full commitment to the agreement,” sources said.

Hezbollah confirmed that it has handed over the area south of the Litani River to the Lebanese Army, which then seized hundreds of weapons depots.

However, the situation regarding weapons north of the river is subject to different conditions, which the military group said is being handled through internal dialogue that began with Aoun several months ago.

Mohieddine Al-Shahimi, a professor of international law, told Arab News that the US proposal to Lebanon is nothing new.

“US envoy Barrack is simply laying out a roadmap for Lebanon to implement all the international resolutions it has previously failed to carry out, starting with the Taif accord and extending to the ceasefire agreement.”

The agreement, brokered by the US and France, aims to implement Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, exclusive control of weapons by the state, deployment of the Lebanese Army south of the Litani River, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty over its territory.

“The agreement is being implemented gradually and depends on the state’s efforts, placing full responsibility on its shoulders. Only after this will Israel fulfill its obligations under the agreement,” Al-Shahimi said.

Al-Shahimi believes that Hezbollah is deliberately stalling.

“The party is waiting to see how American-Iranian relations unfold, while ignoring that Israel has grown more aggressive, and that Syria is very different from what it once was. Hezbollah is creating false hopes of guarantees. This strategy puts Lebanon dangerously close to the edge and plays directly into Iran’s hands.”

The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened by its war with Israel last year, with more than 70 percent of its military arsenal destroyed and many of its front-line fighters killed.

“Hezbollah knows that the situation has changed both locally and internationally, and its old tactics no longer work,” said Al-Shahimi.

“Iran, in turn, is draining Hezbollah, as it created the weapons to defend its own interests, but it does not see itself as responsible for defending Hezbollah. Perhaps Hezbollah, through its deliberate denial, is trying to gain internal leverage.”

Hezbollah has accused Israel of violating the Nov. 27 truce 3,799 times, including 1,916 airspace breaches and 112 maritime violations, resulting in 159 deaths and 433 injuries.


Israel says it is serious about reaching ceasefire, cites positive signs

Israel says it is serious about reaching ceasefire, cites positive signs
Updated 02 July 2025
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Israel says it is serious about reaching ceasefire, cites positive signs

Israel says it is serious about reaching ceasefire, cites positive signs
  • Saar said: “We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire”
  • “Our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible“

TALLINN: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday that his country was serious about reaching a deal with the Palestinian Hamas group to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages held there to Israel.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas after what he called a “long and productive” meeting of his representatives with Israeli officials.

At a press conference in the Estonian capital Tallinn, Saar said: “We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire. We said yes to (US) special envoy (Steve) Witkoff’s proposals.

“There are some positive signs. I don’t want to say more than that right now. But our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible,” said Saar, who spoke after holding talks with Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

“But it must be clear: Hamas is not only responsible for initiating this war on October 7 (2023). It is responsible also for its continuation. Pressure must be applied on Hamas. The international community must now back the American initiatives. It must shatter any illusions that Hamas may have,” he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas said it was studying new ceasefire offers it received from the mediators Egypt and Qatar but stressed it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.


Ancient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia

Ancient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia
Updated 02 July 2025
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Ancient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia

Ancient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia
  • Four-fifths of the genome showed links to North Africa and the region around Egypt
  • The skeleton was found in an Egyptian tomb complex at the archaeological site of Nuwayrat

WASHINGTON: Ancient DNA has revealed a genetic link between the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a remarkably well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago.

Four-fifths of the genome showed links to North Africa and the region around Egypt. But a fifth of the genome showed links to the area in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization flourished.

“The finding is highly significant” because it “is the first direct evidence of what has been hinted at” in prior work,” said Daniel Antoine, curator of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum.

Earlier archaeological evidence has shown trade links between Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as similarities in pottery-making techniques and pictorial writing systems. While resemblances in dental structures suggested possible ancestral links, the new study clarifies the genetic ties.

The Nile River is “likely to have acted as an ancient superhighway, facilitating the movement of not only cultures and ideas, but people,” said Antoine, who was not involved in the study.

The skeleton was found in an Egyptian tomb complex at the archaeological site of Nuwayrat, inside a chamber carved out from a rocky hillside. An analysis of wear and tear on the skeleton — and the presence of arthritis in specific joints — indicates the man was likely in his 60s and may have worked as a potter, said co-author and bioarchaeologist Joel Irish of Liverpool John Moores University.

The man lived just before or near the start of ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified as one state, leading to a period of relative political stability and cultural innovation — including the construction of the Giza pyramids.

“This is the time that centralized power allowed the formation of ancient Egypt as we know it,” said co-author Linus Girdland-Flink, a paleogeneticist at the University of Aberdeen.

At approximately the same time, Sumerian city-states took root in Mesopotamia and cuneiform emerged as a writing system.

Researchers said analysis of other ancient DNA samples is needed to obtain a clearer picture of the extent and timing of movements between the two cultural centers.


Civilian killings in South Sudan hit highest level since 2020: UN

Civilian killings in South Sudan hit highest level since 2020: UN
Updated 02 July 2025
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Civilian killings in South Sudan hit highest level since 2020: UN

Civilian killings in South Sudan hit highest level since 2020: UN
  • UNMISS said that between January and March of this year, 739 civilians were killed
  • 679 injured, 149 abducted and 40 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence

NAIROBI: The number of civilians killed in South Sudan has soared to the highest in almost five years, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The unstable east African nation has seen a drastic uptick in violence since simmering rivalry between President Salva Kiir and his vice president Riek Machar boiled over into open hostilities.

The detention in March of Machar in the capital Juba further escalated tensions, with international NGOs working in the country reporting attacks on medical facilities and the targeting of civilians.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said that between January and March of this year, 739 civilians were killed, 679 injured, 149 abducted and 40 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence.

In a statement, it said that compared to the previous quarter this toll marked a “110 percent increase in civilians killed (352 to 739).”

The overall figure of victims was “the highest number in any three-month period since 2020.”

The majority of the victims were recorded in Warrap State, where President Kiir declared a state of emergency in June. Most of the killings were linked to community-based militias or civil defense groups.

However, UNMISS said “conventional parties and other armed groups” accounted for 15 percent of victims, “marking a concerning increase of 27 percent (from 152 to 193).”

The UN has repeatedly warned of the deteriorating situation in the impoverished country, which is still recovering from a five-year civil war between forces allied to Kiir and Machar that was only ended by a fragile 2018 peace agreement.

That agreement has looked increasingly irrelevant, with UN rights chief Volker Turk calling on all parties in May to “urgently pull back from the brink” and uphold the deal.

The escalation of violence risks further worsening the already terrible humanitarian situation and widespread violations of human rights in the world’s youngest country, he said at the time.


Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch

Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch
Updated 02 July 2025
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Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch

Swiss move to dissolve Gaza aid delivery group’s Geneva branch
  • “The ESA may order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period,” ESA said
  • GHF had not fulfilled certain legal requirements

GENEVA: Switzerland on Wednesday initiated proceedings to dissolve the Geneva branch of the controversial, U.S- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid group, citing legal shortcomings in its establishment.

The GHF began handing out food packages in the Gaza Strip at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid deliveries that has drawn UN criticism over a perceived lack of neutrality in Gaza’s war as well as the killings of hundreds of Palestinians in mass shootings near its distribution hubs.

The GHF is registered in the US state of Delaware and had registered an affiliate in Geneva on February 12. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Swiss move to shut down its Geneva office.

“The ESA may order the dissolution of the foundation if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period,” the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) said in a creditors notice published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce on Wednesday.

The ESA told Reuters the GHF had not fulfilled certain legal requirements including having the correct number of board members, a postal address or a Swiss bank account.

“GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland...and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered (branch),” the ESA said in a statement.

Last week, Geneva authorities issued a separate legal notice to the GHF to remedy within 30 days “deficiencies in the organization” or face potential action.

More than 500 people have been killed near GHF distribution hubs in Gaza or along access roads guarded by Israeli forces since the GHF started operating, according to Palestinian medical authorities in the territory.

Israel’s military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been harmed near the distribution centers and its forces had been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned.”

The GHF has said that it has delivered more than 52 million meals to needy Palestinians in five weeks and that other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.”

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies in Gaza after a nearly two-year war by Israel against militant group Hamas that has displaced most of the enclave’s two million inhabitants and left much of it in rubble.