The curricula in all Syrian schools will remain as is until specialised committees are formed to review and audit them, says Education Minister Nazir Al Qadri
world2 days ago
A United Nations report published on Tuesday found that Israeli strikes on and near hospitals in the Gaza Strip had left healthcare in the Palestinian territory on the verge of collapse.
The report by the UN human rights office said such strikes raised grave concerns about Israel's compliance with international law.
"Israel's pattern of deadly attacks on and near hospitals in Gaza, and associated combat, pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse, with catastrophic effect on Palestinians' access to health and medical care," the UN human rights office said in a statement.
Its 23-page report, entitled 'Attacks on hospitals during the escalation of hostilities in Gaza', looked at the period from October 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
It said that during this time, there were at least 136 strikes on 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, claiming significant casualties among doctors, nurses, medics and other civilians and causing significant damage to, if not the complete destruction of, civilian infrastructure.
The report noted that medical personnel and hospitals are specifically protected under international humanitarian law, provided they do not commit, or are not used to commit, acts harmful to the enemy outside their humanitarian function.
It found that Israel's repeated claims that Gaza hospitals were being improperly used for military purposes by Palestinian groups "vague".
"Insufficient information has so far been made publicly available to substantiate these allegations, which have remained vague and broad, and in some cases appear contradicted by publicly available information," the report said.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Gaza hospitals had become a "death trap".
"As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap," he said.
"The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times."
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
That resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
The report concluded with a call for credible investigations into the incidents detailed, and said they had to be independent given the "limitations" of Israel's justice system in respect of the conduct of its armed forces.
"It is essential that there be independent, thorough and transparent investigations of all of these incidents, and full accountability for all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law which have taken place," said Turk.
"All medical workers arbitrarily detained must be immediately released.
"It must also be a priority for Israel, as the occupying power, to ensure and facilitate access to adequate healthcare for the Palestinian population, and for future recovery and reconstruction efforts to prioritise the restoration of the medical capacity which has been destroyed over the last 14 months of intense conflict."
The curricula in all Syrian schools will remain as is until specialised committees are formed to review and audit them, says Education Minister Nazir Al Qadri
world2 days ago
They are targeting war criminals and those involved in crimes who refused to hand over their weapons, according to a security official
world2 days ago
The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out the overnight strike on the area of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip
world2 days ago
The US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency calls vehicle attacks 'a significant threat in the United States'
world3 days ago
Germans celebrate New Year's Eve with a particularly intense usage of fireworks, which spurs a recurrent debate about outlawing the most powerful devices
world3 days ago
After the stroke of midnight, the Bulgarian and Romanian interior ministers symbolically raised a barrier on the Friendship Bridge straddling the Danube River
world3 days ago
At least 76 deaths were recorded in about 20 accidents last year, making it the deadliest year for migrants who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britain's border control
world3 days ago
The revolutionary song
world3 days ago