Paul Ley, a bone doctor at the European hospital in Khan Younis, told the media that it’s really busy and they can’t take any more patients, but they keep coming.
He says: “We are getting new patients from the northern part of Gaza, and also from the fighting that is happening nearby. ”
The army of Israel is still doing missions on the ground in the south of Gaza, where the hospital is.
We have too many people on the list for surgery, and it’s too much for us to handle. The hospital is crowded with people who have been forced to leave their homes. There are about 6,000 to 7,000 people in the hallways and outside the hospital. Ley is there with the Red Cross surgical team to help.
“It’s really tiring, both for the body and mind. Local staff are being attacked in their homes. I’m working with surgeons who had to leave the north, and now they’re living in tents with other refugees. ”
“We don’t have enough anaesthetics and painkillers, so we have to lower our safety standards. ”
“We are still at the hospital and the Israelis know we are here, but some shrapnel has hit the hospital. ” Their way of letting us know about the fighting has been effective. We can’t see it, but we can hear it.
Tag: Red Cross
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Khan Younis surgeon: ‘We are at capacity to receive no more patients, but they keep coming’
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Red Cross in Gaza has reportedly received hostages – Israeli media
Israeli news sources say that a bunch of Israeli people who were taken by Hamas on October 7th, have been given to the Red Cross in Gaza.
The reports say they are going towards the border of Egypt – but the Israeli government has not said this officially.
They were set free after 12 people from Thailand were also rescued by Hamas.Later today, 39 Palestinian people who were held in Israeli jails are going to be set free and sent to the West Bank.
Israel and Hamas made an agreement to release 50 hostages and 150 Palestinians over four days.
Qatar helped make an agreement to stop the fighting for four days.
Additional help is also coming into Gaza – 60 trucks carrying medicine, fuel, and food came in today from Egypt.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, says that over 14,000 people have been killed in Israel’s campaign of revenge. -
Hostage release procedure will be intricate
The Red Cross is helping to free hostages in Gaza with a team that is already there. Today, they will get information about where in Gaza they can pick up the things from Hamas. It might be one place where all 13 hostages will be released today, or it might be more than one place.
The surgery is difficult, and it could only happen if both sides stop fighting and trust the Red Cross to help. After the Red Cross saves the hostages, they will be brought to the border with Egypt and given to Israeli soldiers.
At the same time, another group from ICRC in Israel will make sure the Palestinian prisoners are healthy and want to go back home after Israel releases them.
The Red Cross has a lot of experience doing this kind of work.
In April, it helped 900 prisoners of war in Yemen to exchange places.
It doesn’t make deals like this, but it will help with the agreed plan to free the hostages. -
43 people killed in Somali clash – Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported the retrieval of 43 bodies from the front line of recent conflict in a disputed city within Somaliland over the past week. In addition, the ICRC revealed that 110 injured individuals have been transported to hospitals within the last week by the Somali Red Crescent Society.
These clashes have persisted for months in and around Las-Anod, with the ICRC statement refraining from identifying the deceased or assigning blame.
Somaliland, which separated from Somalia three decades ago, has been striving for recognition as an independent nation.
Somaliland’s security forces have been engaged in conflict with clan militias who seek affiliation with Somalia. Puntland, a state within Somalia, has disputed Las-Anod with Somaliland for years.
The ongoing fighting has prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee, and the total number of casualties remains unknown.
The ICRC noted the “widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure” in Las-Anod, which serves as the capital of the Sool region.
Somaliland’s government issued a statement on Thursday condemning alleged images depicting the mistreatment of its captured soldiers. The government also reminded combatants of the guidelines outlined in the Geneva Conventions and Islamic customs regarding the treatment of prisoners.
Numerous individuals have been captured by both sides in the recent conflict, and the ICRC reported its first visit to 300 detainees held by the militias.
Four injured detainees were transferred to a hospital. The ICRC had previously visited captured militia forces in the capital of Somaliland.
Earlier this year, Somaliland’s defense ministry refuted claims that the army had shelled the main hospital in Las-Anod.
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Clashes in Senegal leaves over 350 injured – Red Cross
In the aftermath of the judgment of a two year prison term for opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on Thursday, violence broke out, according to the Red Cross in Senegal, injuring about 360 persons.
At least 16 people are known to have died in the clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the capital, Dakar, and Mr Sonko’s home city of Zinguinchor.
Supporters of Mr Sonko say his conviction on charges of “corrupting” a young woman are politically motivated.
They have condemned what they called the “murderous repression” of the security forces.
On Sunday the situation appeared calm.
The government has restricted access to the mobile internet, to stop what it called “subversive messages” from being shared.
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Two Red Cross workers kidnapped in Mali
In Mali, two International Committee of the Red Cross employees have been abducted.
According to the organization, the kidnappings happened on a road connecting the northeastern cities of Gao and Kidal, which has long been a flashpoint for violence by Islamic groups.
Since 2012, Mali has been experiencing a security crisis, and kidnappings are prevalent. Reasons for the abductions include demands for ransom and acts of retaliation against government security operations.
A World Health Organization doctor was released from captivity in Mali last month, weeks after he had been taken from his automobile in the Ménaka district. Moreover, in May 2022, gunmen kidnapped three Italians and a citizen of Togo.
The violence has also spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands and displacing more than two million people in the region.
Source: The Independent Africa
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Bishops call for arrest of South Sudan attackers
Catholic bishops in South Sudan are urging the government to arrest and bring to justice the attackers who killed civilians on the eve of the historic visit of the Pope and two other top clerics.
At least 21 civilians were killed on Thursday in Kajo-Keji county in Central Equatoria state by suspected cattle herders from Jonglei state.
The following day, Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, embarked on an ecumenical peace pilgrimage to South Sudan.
The death toll from the Kajo-Keji incident has risen to 27, with “countless numbers” injured, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Unmiss).
Unmiss also stated that 2,000 people, including 30 unaccompanied minors, were forced to flee their homes.
Among those killed were four volunteers from the South Sudan Red Cross Society, who were stationed in the area conducting Ebola awareness work following the recent outbreak of deadly disease in neighbouring Uganda.
The Red Cross says its volunteers in Kajo-Keji were taken from their homes and “callously killed.”
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World dangerously unprepared for another pandemic – Red Cross warns
The world’s largest humanitarian network says strong preparedness systems are ‘severely lacking’ despite three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All countries remain “dangerously unprepared” for the next pandemic, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned, saying future health crises could also collide with increasingly likely climate-related disasters.
Despite three “brutal” years of the COVID-19 pandemic, strong preparedness systems are “severely lacking”, the IFRC said in its World Disasters Report 2022, published on Monday. It called on countries to update their preparedness plans by year’s end.
The world’s largest humanitarian network said building trust, equity and local action networks were vital to get ready for the next crisis.
The recommendations were released on the third anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 an international public health emergency.
“The next pandemic could be just around the corner,” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the IFRC, the world’s largest disaster response network. “If the experience of COVID-19 won’t quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will?”
The report said countries need to be prepared for “multiple hazards, not just one”, adding that societies only became truly resilient through planning for different types of disasters because they can occur simultaneously.
The IFRC cited the rise in climate-related disasters and waves of disease outbreaks this century, of which COVID-19 was just one.
It said extreme weather events are growing more frequent and intense “and our ability to merely respond to them is limited”.
The report said major hazards harm those who are already the most vulnerable. It called leaving the poorest exposed “self-defeating”.
The report also said countries should review their legislation to ensure it is in line with their pandemic preparedness plans by the end of 2023 and adopt a new treaty and revised international health regulations by next year that would invest more in the readiness of local communities.
It also recommended that countries increase domestic health finance by 1 percent of their gross domestic product and global health finance by at least $15bn per year, which Chapagain described as a “good investment to make”.
“The important thing is there has to be a political will to commit to that,” he said. “If it is there, it’s possible.”
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Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv demands that the Red Cross visit a notorious prison
Ukrainian officials have asked the Red Cross to send a team to a notorious prison camp in the country’s occupied east.
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s president, has ordered that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit the Olenivka prison in Donetsk within three days.
“We just can’t waste more time. Human lives are at stake,” he tweeted.
Last month, the Red Cross tried to secure access to the camp but said it was denied by Russian authorities.
The Olenivka prison has been under the control of Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk since 2014, and conditions are said to be extremely poor.
In July, dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed in explosions at the camp, which both sides blamed on each other. Kyiv said the prison was targeted by Russia to destroy evidence of torture and killing, while Moscow blamed Ukrainian rockets. Without an independent investigation, however, the truth remains unknown.
Those detained at the site include members of the Azov battalion, who were the last defenders of the city of Mariupol and whom Russia has sought to depict as neo-Nazis and war criminals.
This is not the first time Ukraine has applied pressure on international organizations to investigate what is going on at the prison.
Mr Yermak said he had raised the issue again during a video conference with officials from the ICRC and other international organizations.
He has demanded the trip be made by Monday.
“Ukraine… will contribute to this mission in every possible way,” he said on Telegram, adding he did not understand why a mission to inspect Olenivka had not yet been arranged.
President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed the calls, and accused the Red Cross of inaction, saying it had “obligations, primarily of a moral nature”.
In his nightly address on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said he believed that the Red Cross was “not a club with privileges where one receives a salary and enjoys life”.
He said a mission to the prison camp could be organised similar to that of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in August.
“But it requires leadership,” Mr Zelensky said in a thinly veiled criticism of the Red Cross. “The Red Cross can make it happen. But you have to try to make it happen.”
The ICRC has been contacted for comment.
Last month, the organisation’s Director-General Robert Mardini said talks were ongoing with Russian authorities about access to Olenivka – but were eventually denied.
“We are negotiating every day to have full access to all prisoners of war,” he told reporters. “It is clearly an absolute obligation [of] the parties to give the ICRC access to all prisoners of war.”
Also in his Thursday address President Zelensky said Ukraine would celebrate its Defenders Day on Friday, which was made a national holiday in 2014 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
“Tomorrow we will definitely celebrate… one of our most important days. The holiday of all our warriors – from ancient times to the present, from the Cossacks to the rebels, from all of them to the soldiers of the modern army,” he said.
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Red Cross warns Russia on civilian lives
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for civilian lives and infrastructure in Ukraine to be protected.
In an implicit warning to Russia of its obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC said it was deeply concerned at the risk to civilian lives of the use of high explosives in populated areas.
It said: “Under international humanitarian law, the effects of hostilities on civilians and civilian infrastructure must be factored into all military operations.
“All possible measures must be taken to protect and spare civilian life and essential infrastructure like health facilities, housing, schools, power plants, and water supplies.”
The statement came after a day of air strikes across Ukraine which appeared to target civilian areas, power and water supplies, and medical centres.
The Red Cross also warned that the disruption of these services as winter approaches could significantly increase humanitarian needs.
Source: BBC
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View from a Tigray hospital: No medications, no treatments
A surgeon at the main hospital in the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region says that the 23-month civil war has led to patients dying needlessly because of a lack of medicines and treatments.
“We don’t have medicines for our patients, we don’t have surgical materials… we don’t have vaccines… we don’t have insulin,” Dr Fasika Amdeslasie told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
Tigray has been cut off for most of the conflict which has seen forces from Tigray clashing with Ethiopian federal troops and their allies since November 2020.
Some medicine has got through, thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, but the supply has been sporadic, Dr Fasika said.
He added that diabetic patients are dying because of a lack of insulin and kidney patients may also die because dialysis treatment cannot continue.
On top of this, Dr Fasika says that the staff at the hospital have not been paid for 17 months.
“We are trying to save those who we can… but it’s difficult now to save those who can be saved,” he concluded.
Some of the 42,000 Arema fans flung bottles and other missiles at players and officials and at least five police vehicles were toppled and set alight outside the stadium.
Riot police trying to stop the violence fired tear gas in the stadium, triggering panic in the crowd and sparking the crush as they stampeded for the exits.
Most of the 125 people who died were trampled or suffocated.
Image:Arema FC players and officials pray for the victims 
Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said in a news conference: “I ensure that investigation on this case will be conducted thoroughly and seriously.”
President Widodo has ordered a suspension of the Indonesian premier league until safety is re-evaluated and security is tightened.
The nation’s football association has also banned Arema from hosting any matches for the rest of the season.
Human rights group Amnesty International has urged the Indonesian government to investigate the use of tear gas at the stadium and ensure that those found in violation are tried in open court.
Police are still questioning witnesses and analysing footage from 32 security cameras inside and outside the stadium and nine mobile phones owned by the victims, as part of the investigation to identify suspects.
The 18 officers responsible for firing tear gas as well as security managers are also under investigation.
‘A tragedy beyond comprehension’
FIFA, which has no control over domestic games, has previously advised against using tear gas at stadiums.
Hooliganism is rife in Indonesian football, with fanaticism often spilling over into violence.
Prior to the stampede on Saturday, 78 people have died in game-related incidents over the past 28 years, according to data from Indonesian watchdog Save Our Soccer.
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‘This is why fighting should stop’: Red Cross calls for end to fighting near nuclear plant
Fighting must stop immediately in the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, according to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“In the event of a nuclear leak, it will be difficult if not impossible to provide humanitarian assistance… and this is why fighting should stop,” Robert Mardini told a news conference during a visit to Ukraine.
“The scenario could be a massive incident, and… there is very little anyone can do to mitigate the dire consequences of this.”
A mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) set off for the plant this morning, but a Ukrainian official claimed they were unable to reach the facility due to Russian shelling along the route.
Mr Mardini welcomed the planned visit, saying: “It is, therefore, time to stop playing with fire and instead take concrete measures to protect this facility, and others like it, from military operations.
“The slightest miscalculation could trigger devastation that we will regret for decades.”
He added the Red Cross was not stockpiling or distributing iodine tablets to people near the plant to avoid sowing panic.
“We don’t want to give a signal that this is inevitable,” he said. “This is totally self-inflicted risk that should be totally stopped.”
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Ukraine war: UN and Red Cross invited to investigate deaths of prisoners of war, Russia says
Ukraine war: UN and Red Cross invited to investigate deaths of prisoners of war, Russia says.
Russia has invited the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The prisoners were being held by Moscow-backed separatists at a jail in the town of Olenivka, in eastern Donetsk, when it was hit by rockets early on Friday.
Russia’s defense ministry said 50 prisoners were killed and another 73 were injured, adding that it wanted to act “in the interest of conducting an objective investigation” into the attack.
It claims Ukrainian soldiers had used a US-made high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) to target the prison.
Ministry spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said “all political, criminal and moral responsibility” rested with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “his criminal regime and Washington who supports them”.
But Ukraine said Russian artillery had been behind the attack, using it to hide the mistreatment of prisoners.
Mr. Zelenskyy said: “It was a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Source: bbc.com
