Latest news with #JulietteTouma
Daily Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Tribune
West Bank seeing largest displacement since 1967: UN
The UN warned yesterday that mass displacement in the West Bank had hit levels not seen since the start of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory nearly 60 years ago. The United Nations said an Israeli military operation launched in the north of the occupied territory in January had displaced tens of thousands of people, raising concerns about possible "ethnic cleansing". The military operation "has been the longest since ... the second Intifada", in the early 2000s, said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. "It is impacting several refugee camps in the area, and it is causing the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967," she told reporters in Geneva via video from Jordan, referring to the sixday Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. The UN rights office meanwhile warned that mass forced displacement by an occupation force could amount to "ethnic cleansing". Since Israel's military launched its operation "Iron Wall" in the north of the West Bank in January, rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said that "about 30,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced". Israeli security forces had during the same period issued demolition orders for about 1,400homes in the northern West Bank,he said, describing the figures as"alarming". He pointed out that Israelidemolitions had displaced 2,907Palestinians across the West Banksince October 2023. Another 2,400 Palestinians --nearly half of them children --had been displaced as a result ofIsraeli settler actions, he added,lamenting that the combined result was the "emptying large partsof the West Bank of Palestinians". "Permanently displacing thecivilian population within occupied territory amounts to unlawful transfer," Kheetan said,stressing that depending on thecircumstances this could be "tantamount to ethnic cleansing" andcould "amount to a crime againsthumanity". Kheetan said 757 attacks by Israeli settlers had been recordedin the West Bank during the firsthalf of the year, a 13% increase onthe same period in 2024. The attacks injured 96 Palestinians in the occupied territoryin June alone, he told reporters,stressing that this was the highestmonthly injury toll of Palestiniansfrom settler attacks, "in over twodecades". Violence in the West Bank hassurged since the October 2023attack on Israel by Palestinianmilitant group Hamas triggeredwar in the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 964 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including EastJerusalem, according to the UN. During that same period, 53Israelis have been killed in reported attacks by Palestinians orin armed clashes -- 35 of them inthe West Bank and 18 in Israel.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
One in 10 children in its clinics are malnourished, UN Palestinian refugee agency says
Geneva: One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday. "Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA 's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan. Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip. "One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries," Touma said. "Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out," Touma said. On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that it has helped facilitate 67,000 food trucks to enter Gaza, delivering 1.5 million tons of food, including infant formula and baby food. It said that about 2,000 tons of baby food have been brought into Gaza through the crossings in recent weeks, following requests by international aid organizations. Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing from U.N.-led aid operations - which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, using private U.S. security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the U.N. has refused to work with.
Gulf Today
3 days ago
- Health
- Gulf Today
One in 10 Gazan children screened in UNRWA clinics malnourished
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned on Tuesday of rising malnutrition rates among children in the Gaza Strip, confirming that one in every ten children is currently malnourished, according to data from its clinics and medical points across the strip. During a press briefing in Geneva, UNRWA's Director of Communications Juliette Touma said malnutrition rates have increased in Gaza, especially since the siege tightened four months ago, adding that UNRWA health teams have screened over 240,000 boys and girls across the Gaza Strip since January warned that therapeutic supplies to combat malnutrition among children are almost non-existent as UNRWA is facing severe shortages in medicines, nutritional supplies, fuel and hygiene materials, confirming that the agency ran out of food stocks late April. She noted that nearly 60 per cent of essential medicines have depleted from UNRWA's warehouses since Israeli forces banned the agency from bringing in any humanitarian aid, including food and medicines, on March 2. Palestinian mother Israa Abu Haleeb looks after her five-month-old daughter, Zainab, who is diagnosed with malnutrition, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital. Reuters On the Israeli aggression on the occupied West Bank, Touma described it as a silent war that continues to escalate in parallel with what is happening in Gaza, particularly amid severe restrictions on freedom of movement, imposed by the Israeli forces, rising poverty and unemployment due to loss of livelihoods. Palestinian children queue for a portion of hot food distributed by a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP Touma stressed that despite these challenges, UNRWA continues its operations across the occupied Palestinian territory through a 14,000-strong local workforce, delivering essential services, particularly in the fields of healthcare and education, to Palestinian refugees and others in need. WAM
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Japan Times
One in 10 children in its clinics are malnourished, U.N. Palestinian refugee agency says
One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday. "Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan. Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
One in 10 children in its clinics are malnourished, UN Palestinian refugee agency says
GENEVA, July 15 (Reuters) - One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday. "Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan. Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip. "One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries," Touma said. "Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out," Touma said. On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that it has helped facilitate 67,000 food trucks to enter Gaza, delivering 1.5 million tons of food, including infant formula and baby food. It said that about 2,000 tons of baby food have been brought into Gaza through the crossings in recent weeks, following requests by international aid organizations. Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing from U.N.-led aid operations - which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, using private U.S. security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the U.N. has refused to work with. On Monday, UNICEF said that last month more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition. It said it was an increase for the fourth month in a row.
