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Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Gaza a 'human chessboard', UN humanitarian team leader says

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 26 Dec 2023 05:47
  • 1 Shares
3 Min Read

Gemma Connell, a UN humanitarian team leader, says that "there is no safe place in Gaza."

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  • Gaza
    Palestinians mourn their relatives, killed in an overnight Israeli strike on the al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 25, 2023. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

Gemma Connell, a UN humanitarian team leader deployed in Gaza for several weeks, pointed out on Monday that Palestinians in Gaza who fled to areas claimed to be "safe" by the Israeli military found that only a small space remains for them in the densely populated Strip, Reuters reported.

Connell described the current situation as a "human chessboard" where thousands of people who have already been displaced are now finding that there is no guarantee that their next destination will be safe.

"People were heading up south with mattresses and all of their belongings in vans and in trucks and in cars in order to try and find somewhere safe," she said.

"I've spoken to many people. There's so little space left here in Rafah that people just don't know where they will go and it really feels like people being moved around a human chessboard because there's an evacuation order somewhere.

People flee that area into another area. But they're not safe there," the UN humanitarian team leader expressed.

Connell talked about the martyrdom of a nine-year-old boy named Ahmad at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah - a location presumed to be secure from Israeli strikes.

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"He [Ahmad] was not in an area under an evacuation order," she said, adding, "He was in an area that was supposed to be safe. There is no safe place in Gaza."

“What I saw it again today, which I see everyday that I’m here in Gaza is the absolute carnage & unprecedented suffering that’s been caused by this war.”

Gemma Connell from OCHA tells BBC what she saw when she visited the hospital where the injured from Al Maghazi were taken pic.twitter.com/hvjHvVXc6x

— Sadia Khan سعدية خان (@sadiaran) December 26, 2023

She noted that while at the hospital, she observed new airstrikes occurring and witnessed the arrival of new casualties.

It is noteworthy that the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed in early December that almost 1.9 million people, approximately 80% of Gaza's population, have been internally displaced since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip on October 7.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, reported on Monday an increase in the toll of the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza to 20,674 martyrs and 54,536 injuries since October 7.

Al-Qudra indicated that the Israeli occupation forces intensified their aggression in various forms, including through committing executions, massacres, and genocide, as well as wiping out residential neighborhoods, and depriving people of health services and humanitarian resources, especially for refugees.

In a poignant reference to the tragic situation, al-Qudra pointed out that the medical teams are forced to prioritize critical cases to save what can be saved, adding, "We lose dozens of lives every day due to the weakness of medical capabilities."

Read more: WHO mission in Gaza reports 'rising desperation due to acute hunger'

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