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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the West Bank is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis since 1967.The Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) quoted UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini as saying that, one year after the start of the Israeli military operation dubbed “Iron Wall,” 33,000 people remain forcibly displaced from Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank.In a post on X platform, Lazzarini stated that the occupied West Bank is witnessing its most severe humanitarian crisis since 1967 as a result of Israeli attacks on refugee camps and the forced displacement of tens of thousands of residents. He added that Israeli occupation forces continue to demolish large areas of the camps, further diminishing the prospects for recovery in these communities.He noted that UNRWA teams are working on the ground to assist recently displaced Palestinian refugees who have been pushed deeper into poverty, amid a lack of viable alternatives for accessing healthcare, education, and social services. Lazzarini stressed that while UNRWA continues to operate, sustaining its work requires ongoing political and financial support from member states. Related Story Source link
Saudi Arabia officially announced Friday that it will host the World Economic Forum International Meeting on Cooperation and Growth, in Jeddah on 22–23 April. The announcement was made at the conclusion of the 56th WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, where Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al Ibrahim outlined details of the Kingdom’s first regular high-level international forum, initially announced at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Al Ibrahim highlighted the importance of continuing international dialogue to accelerate global growth and invited participants to contribute actively, noting that the Jeddah meeting will build on momentum from the WEF special meeting hosted in Riyadh in 2024. Source link
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians who, according to medics, were killed by Israeli strikes on Wednesday, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central…
The UAE’s president has accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, the foreign ministry said yesterday, the body meant to oversee post-war reconstruction in Gaza. “Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, has accepted the invitation from the US to join the Board of Peace,” the ministry said in a statement. Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said: “The UAE’s decision reflects the importance of fully implementing President Donald J Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which is critical for the realisation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” Source link
Israel demolished structures inside the UN Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem compound yesterday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law.Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed several large buildings and other smaller structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) compound, where dozens of agency staff once worked. UNRWA, which Israeli authorities accuse of bias, has not used the building since the start of last year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and cease its operations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s action yesterday.“The secretary-general urges the government of Israel to immediately cease the demolition of the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound, and to return and restore the compound and other UNRWA premises to the United Nations without delay,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters. A spokesperson for UNRWA, Jonathan Fowler, said Israeli forces entered the compound around 7am (0500GMT), forced out the compound’s security guards and then brought in bulldozers to begin demolishing buildings inside. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini condemned the demolition in a statement on X, calling it “a new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law”.He said it was the latest in a series of Israeli actions against UNRWA, including a raid on a medical clinic this month and a plan to cut power and water to UNRWA facilities in the coming weeks. Some former UNRWA staff said the structures demolished yesterday had been used to store aid for the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.“The destruction by the Israeli occupation is another message to the world that Israel is the only country that can demolish international law and get away with it,” said Hakam Shahwan, former UNRWA chief of staff in East Jerusalem. Israel’s parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video on social media standing in front of the UNRWA compound as a bulldozer began to tear it down. In his statement, Lazzarini said that Israel had conducted “a large-scale disinformation campaign” against UNRWA.Israel’s Jerusalem municipality raided the compound last year, saying UNRWA had failed to pay property taxes after multiple warnings. UNRWA said the agency had no debts to the municipality.Meanwhile, Palestinian officials and civil institutions yesterday called out the takeover of the UNRWA premises by the Israeli occupation. In a statement, the institutions slammed the razing operations carried out by Israeli bulldozers at the main UNRWA building.The statement deemed the razing and raiding operations, as well as the displaying of Israeli might, as a move intended to eliminate the agency’s operations and the right of Palestinian refugees to return under UN Resolution 194.These operations are part of the ongoing episodes by the Israeli occupation targeting Palestinian tents in the northern West Bank, the statement acknowledged.It called on the world to spring into action to halt these crimes and amplify the voice of the UN, which founded the agency and has been operating under its umbrella for 77 years. Source link
Iran’s national police chief said people who were “deceived” into joining demonstrations the authorities have deemed “riots” would receive lighter punishment if they turned themselves in within three days. “Young people who became unwittingly involved in the riots are considered to be deceived individuals, not enemy soldiers”, and “will be treated with leniency by the Islamic republic system”, Ahmad-Reza Radan said, adding they had “a maximum of three days” to surrender. Iranian officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into “riots” fuelled by US and Israel and aimed at destabilising the Islamic republic. Source link
One hundred days into the ceasefire, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced it has significantly expanded its life saving operations across the Gaza Strip, reaching more than one million people each month.The Programme stated that “while critical progress has been made in pushing back famine, the situation remains extremely fragile,” stressing “Border crossingsآ must stay open,آ volumes of food aid and commercial goodsآ must keep flowing, andآ the ceasefire must holdآ if we are to prevent Gaza from slipping back into the worst levels of hunger.” In Gaza, bakeriesآ continue to be a vital lifeline.آ By supporting bakeries, WFP provides food and jobs. Source link
Israeli forces advanced into and continued their attacks on towns in southern Lebanon. Field sources reported that Israeli forces blew up two houses in the town of Kfarkela after advancing close to the municipal center.Another Israeli force also blew up a house in the town of Markaba, near the town of Rabaa Thalathin.A ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon came into effect on Nov. 27, 2014, stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli entity’s forces from border villages and towns in southern Lebanon within 60 days. Following this, the Beirut government agreed to extend the deadline until Feb.18, 2014. However, the Israeli army remains in five locations and continues its violations, which have exceeded 7,000 aerial violations and more than 2,400 military activities in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) area of ​​operations in southern Lebanon since last November Source link
A seven-month-old infant girl died Tuesday due to the extreme cold in Gaza City, medical sources told Palestinian news agency (WAFA). With this death, the toll of children who have died in the Gaza Strip due to extreme cold since the beginning of winter rises to nine, amidst a shortage of aid and a lack of heating.The sources also highlighted that the incident reflects the severity of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, particularly for children and displaced families living in fragile tents unfit to withstand cold weather. Residents of Gaza face a lack of shelter and medical care, as well as insufficient heating due to fuel shortages, amid stormy, cold, and rainy weather conditions Source link
The Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched a new food distribution project for the benefit of 72,000 war-affected and internally displaced people (IDPs) across the Gaza Strip. The initiative is co-implemented by Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) as part of the ongoing Qatar aid programme for the people of Gaza. The project is aimed at alleviating the suffering of those worst hit by the recent war, including patients (kidney failure, cancers, heart disease, diabetes and chronic diseases, disabilities, malnutrition, and war injuries); IDPs and destroyed homes; children and young people; socially vulnerable families and older persons; and other victims of bombing and zero-income workers who have lost their jobs. Relief catering hubs have already been set up to prepare and pack the family-size hot meals, each of which is sufficient for 3-5 persons. The project’s field team is deployed to distribute the ready-made meals in the target areas over 12 days, at a rate of 450-500 meals per day for each of the project’s three phases. Related Story Source link