Clarion India
DOHA – Al Jazeera reports that the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are generally in agreement that Israel is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians in its bombardment of Gaza, says Giorgio Cafiero, CEO and founder of the Washington-based Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy.
“Anti-American sentiments in this part of the world have not been this high since the US invasion of Iraq two decades ago,” he told Al Jazeera at the Doha Forum.
But he noted that the the GCC countries —comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates— depend on the US, especially when it comes to security.
“Therefore, leaders of Gulf Arab countries have to strike a delicate balance between maintaining their deep relationships with Washington and also catering to public opinion in their own countries,” Cafiero added.
Palestinians flee Jabalia camp amid Israeli gunfire
Israeli forces have moved closer to the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reports. Palestinians in the area were forced to flee as sound of Israeli gunfire intensified.
UN urges return to spirit of universal rights declaration, 75 years on
The UN urged world leaders to revive the spirit that led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago, to counter today’s widespread oppression and polarisation, AFP reports.
“In the ashes of global warfare, it brought hope. To put an end to cycles of bloodshed, it promised justice,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at a gathering celebrating the 75th anniversary of the groundbreaking tract, adopted in Paris on December 10, 1948.
Turk said his thoughts went “to the millions of people suffering unbearably in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably in Gaza, and Israel; in Sudan; Ukraine; Myanmar; and so many other places”.
“At a time of so little solidarity, and so much divisive and short-sighted vision, I view it as a call to overcome polarisation,” he said.
91pc of almost 400 households across Gaza strip went to bed hungry: UN survey
Ninety-one per cent of 399 households surveyed reported going to bed hungry during the temporary six-day truce in the Gaza strip, the UN’s humanitarian office has said.
In a rapid food security assessment across the Gaza Strip involving a sample of 399 households, 63pc of them reported enduring days without food.
Severe hunger was found in 36pc of respondent households and moderate hunger in another 52pc.
