UNICEF: 82 Kids Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire

At least 82 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect in October, UNICEF said on Friday, warning of what it described as a “staggering pattern” of violence.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said: “UNICEF knows that reportedly, now, 82 children have been killed in Gaza since the 10th of October, which, again, is a staggering pattern, and it needs to stop.”

According to Gaza’s media office, at least 386 people have been killed and 980 others injured by Israeli army fire since the truce according to Anadolu.

The UN human rights office also reported more than 350 attacks since the ceasefire took effect, saying: “They were all in the vicinity of the so-called ‘yellow line,’ with at least 121 Palestinians killed, including seven women, 30 children and many other injuries.”

Although a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.

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Albanese: Israel, West Must Pay For Gaza Rebuild

The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories said Friday that Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza together with the US and other main arms provider countries.

Speaking at an event in London on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese noted that there should be a full assessment of complicity over the genocide in Gaza, stressing that not just Israel but all the states aiding genocide should face sanctions.

“States must cut ties with Israel, must stop aiding and assisting a state that maintains an unlawful occupation,” said Albanese.

Touching on the accountability, the special rapporteur said that Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, together with the US, Germany, and Italy, who are the main weapons providers according to Anadolu.

She went on to say that there should be a robust investigation into the UK’s complicity with this genocide through its services that have been provided from Cyprus bases.

“If Israel do not want to be accused of colonial practices, it should not behave as a colonial power, as a colonial entity, taking land, displacing the people,” she added.

Saying that the two years of genocide in Gaza is “the combination of 60 years of impunity,” she noted that it is not going to stop “unless things change in London or in Rome, or in Berlin, or in Paris.”

‘No robust response against sanctions’

Touching on US sanctions against her, Albanese said that with the sanctions, Albanese herself, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, or Palestinian human rights groups are “considered like criminals.”

“There has not been robust enough for response, or a robust enough response to this to have the sanctions lifted,” she said.

Saying that since she is banned from traveling to the US, she cannot present her reports to the UN General Assembly, while also adding that she also cannot open a bank account.

UN experts in August warned that US sanctions on Albanese threaten the human rights system, a month after the US announced it imposed sanctions on the special rapporteur for her “efforts to prompt” ICC action against US and Israeli officials.

In August, the US also sanctioned four ICC officials for authorizing the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing both officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

About 250,000 families are currently living in displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, many facing cold weather and flooding inside fragile tents, according to the Civil Defense.

Although a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.

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Washington ‘Asks’ Israel to Clear Mass Gaza Debris

The US has asked Israel to take responsibility for clearing the massive debris left across the Gaza Strip after over two years of its assault on the enclave, including destruction caused by airstrikes and armored bulldozers, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

The newspaper, citing a senior political source, said Israel has agreed to the US request “for now,” but will begin by clearing debris in a single pilot neighborhood in Rafah. The initial project is expected to cost tens to hundreds of millions of shekels.

According to the report, Washington expects Israel to ultimately remove rubble across the entire enclave, a task that could take years and cost more than $1 billion. Arab and international actors have so far refused to finance the debris-removal effort, the paper said according to Anadolu.

Gaza is buried under about 68 million tons of debris, The Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing widespread destruction across the enclave.

The UN Development Program estimates the rubble weighs as much as 186 Empire State Buildings.

Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 70,300 people and injured over 171,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.

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Gaza Tents Soaked in Rain

Hundreds of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip were flooded for the second consecutive day on Thursday after heavy overnight rainfall linked to a new winter storm.

The tents were inundated after rain fell continuously from the early hours of dawn through the night, worsening the conditions of families already displaced by Israel’s two-year genocide, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement Thursday that it evacuated dozens of tents in Rafah, in the south, after they were completely submerged.

The agency’s spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, warned Wednesday that more than 250,000 families in displacement camps across the enclave are vulnerable to cold weather and rainwater in their worn-out tents.

The agency warned that humanitarian conditions could deteriorate further if the storm system persists, especially with no temporary shelters available for displaced families.

On Tuesday, the Gaza Government Media Office warned that a polar low-pressure system would affect the enclave starting Wednesday and lasting until Friday evening, threatening hundreds of thousands of displaced families.

Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors of Israel’s war have turned into pools of water, soaking bedding, clothing, and food supplies, and leaving hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to the cold without warmth or shelter.

According to prior data from the media office, Gaza needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of war.

The UN estimates the cost of reconstructing Gaza at about $70 billion as a result of the Israeli war, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000. The assault came to a halt under a ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10 according to Anadolu.

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