Tag: HUMANITARIAN AID

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US to Airdrop Food & Supplies into Gaza; Ramadan Truce Hopes Fade

Expressing hope for a potential deal by Ramadan, President Biden also acknowledged the possibility that an agreement “may not get there,

President Joe Biden announced the initiation of US airdrops of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, stating that they will commence “very soon,” CNN reported.

The decision comes in the wake of Biden’s commitment to airdrop food aid to the people of Gaza, with a determination to deploy every available resource to ensure additional supplies reach the region.

During discussions in the Oval Office, Biden provided a mixed assessment of the ongoing hostage talks between Israel and Hamas. Expressing hope for a potential deal by Ramadan, he also acknowledged the possibility that an agreement “may not get there,” as reported by CNN.

Responding to queries about a potential ceasefire by Monday, a date previously suggested by Biden, he conceded that achieving such an outcome seemed unlikely at the moment.

“It looks like we’re still — it’s not there yet. I think we’ll get there, but it’s not there yet. And it may not get there now,” Biden remarked, offering a realistic view of the challenges involved in brokering an agreement between Israel and Hamas. He maintained optimism, stating, “It’s not over til it’s over.”

President Biden emphasised ongoing efforts to secure a deal for the release of hostages, urging an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He revealed ongoing negotiations aiming for a six-week pause in fighting, coupled with facilitating aid surges to Gaza.

During the meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Biden stressed the importance of adding more trucks and routes to ensure the efficient delivery of aid to the people in Gaza.

“We’re going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need, no excuses,” Biden asserted.

The recent tragedy in Gaza, where at least 115 people were killed and 760 injured as Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian civilians waiting for food, has intensified calls for an independent inquiry, according to CNN.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry, described it as one of the single deadliest incidents since the commencement of Israel’s war against Hamas on October 7.

The United Nations has joined the chorus, demanding an independent investigation into the incident. Various nations, including France, have backed this appeal. The White House echoed the call, stating its belief that Israel should investigate the deaths and expressing confidence in Israel’s commitment to a thorough inquiry.

“We’ve asked the government of Israel to investigate, and it’s our assessment that they’re taking this seriously and they are looking into what occurred, so as to avoid tragedies like this from happening again,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby during a news briefing.

Kirby highlighted Israel’s history of investigating incidents and their openness about mistakes. However, no specific timeline was provided for the completion of the investigation, CNN reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: UN Team Visits Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

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31 Humanitarian Workers Lost in Gaza, 7 in Airstrike

The UN body said that the Hamas-controlled enclave has been “under full electricity blackout for the sixth consecutive day”….reports Asian Lite News

The UN has said that the number of humanitarian staff killed while on duty in Gaza has increased to 31 after seven Civil Defence officials died in an Israeli airtsrike in the last 24 hours.

On Monday, “seven Civil Defence members were killed during an airstrike, bringing the total number of humanitarian staff killed while on duty to 31”, the Office for the Coordination of Humantitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation update.

The UN body said that the Hamas-controlled enclave has been “under full electricity blackout for the sixth consecutive day”.

“Hospitals are on the brink of collapse as their fuel reserves used to operate backup generators have been almost totally depleted, endangering the lives of thousands of patients,” the update said

On Sunday, the Israeli authorities resumed partial water supply to the eastern Khan Younis area, providing less than 4 per cent of the water consumed in the Gaza Strip before the latest conflict erupted on October 7.

Meanwhile, the Unicef-led WASH Cluster stated that the population “is at imminent risk of death or infectious disease outbreak if water and fuel are are not immediately allowed to enter the Strip”. 

The OCHA also warned that the overall number of internally displaced people (IDPs) since the beginning of the ongoing conflict might have reached 1 million, including nearly 333,000 IDPs staying in UN Relief Works Agency designated emergency shelters in central and southern Gaza alone.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza as of Tuesday morning stood at 2,778, with 9,938 injured persons.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 47 entire families have been killed, amounting to about 500 people.

According to official Israeli sources, at least 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in the Jewish nation, while 4,121 others were injured, the vast majority on October 7 when Hamas launched its massive surprise assault.

The fatality toll is over three-fold the cumulative number of Israelis killed since OCHA began recording casualties in 2005 (nearly 400).

ALSO READ: Could Israel’s Gaza Conflict Spark Regime Changes In Iran, Syria?

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UK plans to allocate $99.5 Mn humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

To avert a humanitarian crisis, the UK has doubled its aid to Afghanistan and the region to roughly $380 million (286 million pounds) this year…reports Asian Lite News.

The government is planning to allocate 99.5 million humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss plans to allocate another batch of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, in the amount of 75 million pounds, the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office informs.

The foreign office specified on Saturday that out of the total aid package, 34 million pounds will go to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Truss welcomed the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers on Saturday in Liverpool, where they discussed global conflicts and regional crises, including Afghanistan, reported Sputnik.

The UK foreign secretary called for the broadening of international cooperation in order to prevent humanitarian catastrophes and avoid high risks of migration.

To avert a humanitarian crisis, the UK has doubled its aid to Afghanistan and the region to roughly $380 million (286 million pounds) this year.

In September, the UK sent 30 million pounds in assistance to countries neighbouring Afghanistan. Another 50 million pounds were allocated in October.

Earlier this month, Truss discussed Afghanistan and related humanitarian issues with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Stockholm.

World Bank’s help arrives

The Afghan central bank has announced that the third batch of cash assistance from the World Bank has arrived as part of the global lender’s humanitarian pledges to the war-torn nation, the media reported on Monday.

In a statement on Sunday, the De Afghanistan Bank said the assistance worth $19.2 million was was given to the Kabul-based Afghanistan International Bank (AIB), which is the largest bank in the country and the only one with international transfer to all other nations, Khaama Press reported.

The cash assistance comes at a time when the local currency (Afghani) is in its unprecedentedly lowest value. On Sunday, one US dollar amounted to 114 Afghanis.

The Khaama Press said that the fresh batch of cash will help stabilise the Afghani.

On Friday, the World Bank allowed $280 million to be transferred to Afghanistan so that it be used in health and food sectors by World Food Programme and the Unicef.

The next day, the US State Department announced that they have made a regulation based on which people will be allowed to transfer money to Afghanistan, as well as lift sanctions on all those who are involved in the transfer.

MoneyGram and Western Union are the only means of money transfer to Afghanistan that resumed their operations in September.

Since the August 15 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and the formation of the Taliban-led caretaker government on September 7, the country’s humanitarian situation has worsened.

In response, world governments cut off Afghanistan’s access to international funding and froze the central bank’s roughly $10 billion in assets held abroad, in a bid to stop Taliban from accessing that money.

According to UN estimates, some 23 million people are in desperate need of food, the $20 billion economy could shrink by $4 billion or more and 97 per cent of the 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty.

ALSO READ-Russia’s humanitarian aid lands in Kabul