Latest news with #humanitarianLaw
The National
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Germans and Italians want arms ban on Israel, poll shows
Germans and Italians overwhelmingly back ending arms sales to Israel if humanitarian law is not respected in Gaza, an opinion poll suggests. The research carried out by advocacy group Eko also reveals that citizens of the two countries believe the EU-Israel Association Agreement should be suspended if Israel fails to uphold human rights and democratic principles, as required under Article 2 of the agreement. The poll was taken ahead of Monday's EU Foreign Affairs Council, where ministers will debate the EU-Israel Association Agreement. A review of Israel's actions in Gaza found it may have breached the agreement, according to a leaked document seen by Politico. 'On the basis of the assessments made by the independent international institutions … there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement,' the European External Action Service concluded. According to the new poll, about 74 per cent of Germans and 92 per cent of Italians support ending arms exports to Israel if it doesn't respect humanitarian law. German arms exports to Israel include engines for the Merkava tank, although these appear to have slowed down. Similarly, 77 per cent of Germans and 89 per cent of Italians believe the EU-Israel Association Agreement should be suspended. Both the final results exclude those who didn't express an opinion. Suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement requires a qualified majority vote among EU member states. Eko says that means the support of major countries like Germany and Italy is essential if that is to happen. 'For months we've called on the EU to use its power to stop this horror,' said Eoin Dubsky, senior campaigner at Eko. 'We now have the people, the momentum, and the legal justification to act. Suspending the trade deal and arms sales isn't just a political option - it's a legal and moral obligation.' An initial request filed by Ireland and Spain in February 2024 to review the agreement was ignored by the EU Commission – the EU's executive arm. But a recent call for a review filed by the Netherlands and sparked by Israel's blockade of aid into Gaza has gained momentum. The Dutch initiative has been supported by Finland, Portugal, Sweden and France. After the US, Germany was once the second-biggest supplier of arms sales to Israel and sold it $354.4 million worth of equipment last year, a ten-fold increase from 2022. But this has dwindled since the early weeks of the war in Gaza and the latest figures show sales to Israel do not feature in the top 10 importers of German hardware. In response to a recent parliamentary question last year, the ministry revealed only $16 million worth of exports were approved from January to August, with only $35,812 in actual weapons for fighting.
Zawya
3 days ago
- Health
- Zawya
Escalating insecurity forces Médecins sans frontières (MSF) to close Ulang hospital in South Sudan
After two violence incidents earlier this year, MSF has been forced to close our hospital in Ulang county, South Sudan, and end our support to 13 community-based health facilities. This has left 150,000 people with less access to healthcare, in an area where MSF's maternal services are a lifeline. All parties to conflict in South Sudan must adhere to international humanitarian law, cease such indiscriminate attacks, and ensure the protection of medical facilities, health workers, and patients. People in remote areas of Upper Nile state in South Sudan are suffering from a lack of access to healthcare, since attacks on medical boats and armed looting in medical facilities since the beginning of the year have forced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to close our hospital and end our support to 13 community-based healthcare facilities in Ulang county. The closure of MSF's hospital has left an area of more than 200km from the Ethiopian border to Malakal town without any functional specialised healthcare facility. MSF calls on all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law, cease such indiscriminate attacks, and ensure the protection of medical facilities, health workers, and patients. Since February 2025, South Sudan has experienced its worst spike in violence since the 2018 peace deal. Fighting between government forces and armed youth militias has escalated across multiple states, including Upper Nile, Jonglei, Unity, and Central Equatoria. This has led to mass displacement, widespread civilian casualties, and a total collapse of already fragile public services. Despite these closures, MSF remains dedicated to supporting the healthcare needs of displaced and vulnerable people in Ulang and Nasir counties. We have a mobile emergency team assessing needs who are prepared to provide short-term healthcare services wherever security conditions and access allow. MSF continues to provide healthcare services in our other projects in Upper Nile state, including in Malakal and Renk counties. An escalating trend of violence against healthcare In January 2025, MSF faced an attack by unidentified gunmen near Nasir, shooting at our boats as they returned from delivering medical supplies to Nasir County hospital. This attack forced us to suspend all outreach activities in Nasir and Ulang counties, which included medical referrals by boat along the Sobat River that allowed women to deliver their babies safely. In April 2025, armed individuals forced their way into the hospital in Ulang where they threatened staff and patients and looted the hospital so extensively that MSF no longer had the necessary resources to continue operations safely and effectively. 'They took everything: medical equipment, laptops, patients' beds and mattresses from the wards, and approximately nine months' worth of medical supplies, including two planeloads of surgical kits and drugs delivered just the week before. Whatever they could not carry, they destroyed,' says Zakaria Mwatia, MSF head of mission for South Sudan. Within a month, another MSF hospital was bombed in Old Fangak, a town in the neighbouring Jonglei state, leaving the facility completely non-functional. This is part of a worrying rise in attacks on healthcare facilities in South Sudan. Local communities depended on MSF for prenatal care 'During my third pregnancy, I decided to come to the hospital well in advance before my delivery. I lost my two first children because I did not make it to the hospital on time,' says Nyapual Jok, a young mother from the outskirts of Ulang county. Nyapual had been transported to the hospital by one of MSF's boat ambulances, since she lives in a remote village far away from Ulang hospital. Ulang, a vast flood-prone area, is characterised by spotted remote villages which often suffer severe mobility restrictions during the rainy seasons. MSF ran boat transportation services to ensure access to healthcare to mothers like Nyapual. 'It's very hard to access healthcare here. If we had a hospital closer during my previous deliveries, maybe my children would be alive today,' adds Nyapual. Nyapual shared her story in November 2024, only two months before the attack on the same boats which helped her deliver her baby safely. Facility closures create gaps that are difficult to fill The attacks' effect of stopping medical referrals by boat has had fatal consequences for the people living in remote areas in the region. People in Ulang and Nasir counties had to wait for days, sometimes even weeks, to get a boat to take them to Ulang hospital. In desperate situations, they would walk for days through a muddy landscape – a land that is nearly impossible to cross on foot during rainy season. 'She was in labour when she suffered birth complications – she had to get to a hospital as soon as possible,' says Veronica Nyakuoth, an MSF midwife at the Ulang hospital, about a patient she attended to in the maternity ward. 'Normally, MSF mobile teams would have been able to pick her up by boat, but since that service was cut off, instead she had to wait two days for a private boat to take her. When she finally made it to Ulang hospital, it was too late: the team could not find a heartbeat from the twins she was carrying in her womb.' 150,000 people cut off from care With the closure of the hospital and the withdrawal of support to the decentralised facilities including transportation of patients, more than 150,000 people will now face even more difficulties accessing healthcare in Ulang county and more might face the tragic fate that Veronica's patient had to suffer. Over 800 patients with chronic illnesses such as HIV, tuberculosis, and others have lost access to treatment due to the closure of MSF services in the area. 'We need a hospital nearby that can help mothers and children. Without it, many will suffer and lose their lives,' says Nyapual. MSF in Ulang Since 2018, MSF had been providing vital health services in Ulang including trauma, maternal and paediatric care. The teams also supported 13 facilities to offer essential healthcare services. Over the past seven years, MSF teams carried out more than 139,730 outpatient consultations, admitted 19,350 patients, treated 32,966 cases of malaria, and assisted 2,685 deliveries, among other essential services. During this time, MSF also provided support to Nasir County hospital and responded to multiple emergencies and disease outbreaks. Nyapual's story, along with those of many others, serves as a stark reminder that healthcare is a fundamental right and should never be a target. The consequences of attacks to healthcare are more than the damage to a building; it's the loss of hope, safety, and the chance for a healthier future. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).
Al Arabiya
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
UK foreign ministry staff warn of complicity in Israel's Gaza war
More than 300 civil servants at Britain's foreign ministry have written to Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressing concerns about Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, the BBC reported Tuesday. The officials warned of potential UK 'complicity' in what they called 'Israel's violations of international humanitarian law' during the conflict in the Palestinian territory. The letter dated May 16 questioned the continuation of some UK arms sales to the country, according to the broadcaster. 'In July 2024, staff expressed concern about Israel's violations of international humanitarian law and potential UK government complicity,' the staff wrote, according to excerpts cited by the BBC. 'In the intervening period, the reality of Israel's disregard for international law has become more stark,' they added, citing the killing of humanitarian workers, restrictions on international aid and violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The letter added the UK government had contributed to 'the erosion of global norms,' including through weapons exports, the broadcaster reported. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government suspended some 30 of 350 arms export licenses to Israel in September 2024, citing a 'risk' they could be used in violations of international law. London has also sanctioned settlers in the West Bank and suspended negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel. But it continues to supply components for F-35 fighter jets to a global pool that Israel is able to access. 'Since day one, this government has rigorously applied international law in relation to the war in Gaza,' a Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said in a statement sent to AFP. The BBC reported that the two most senior officials in the FCDO replied to the letter by saying the signatories could 'resign' if they disagreed with government policy. 'This is an honorable course,' they told staff, the BBC reported, adding that the response shocked the civil servants. The FCDO spokesperson said 'it is the job of civil servants to deliver on the policies of the government of the day.' 'There are systems in place which allow them to raise concerns if they have them,' they added. The row comes as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing international criticism over the war, including claims of genocide, which Israel strenuously denies. The war started after a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. The Gaza health ministry says at least 54,927 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel's retaliation. The UN considers these figures reliable.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ireland's top university cuts all ties with Israel after major student protest
Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at 'ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law'. The university's board informed students by email that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever 'institutional links with the State of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel'. The recommendations would be 'enacted for the duration of the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law', said the email sent by the board's chairman Paul Farrell. The taskforce was set up after part of the university's campus in central Dublin was blockaded by students for five days last year in protest at Israel's actions in Gaza. Among the taskforce's recommendations approved by the board were pledges to divest 'from all companies headquartered in Israel' and to 'enter into no future supply contracts with Israeli firms' and 'no new commercial relationships with Israeli entities'. The university also said that it would 'enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities'. Trinity has two current Erasmus+ exchange agreements with Israeli universities: Bar Ilan University, an agreement that ends in July 2026, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which ends in July 2025, the university told AFP in an email. The board also said that the university 'should not submit for approval or agree to participate in any new institutional research agreements involving Israeli participation'. It 'should seek to align itself with like-minded universities and bodies in an effort to influence EU policy concerning Israel's participation in such collaborations,' it added. Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants that sparked the war in Gaza. Polls since the start of the war have shown overwhelming pro-Palestinian sympathy in Ireland. In May 2024, Dublin joined several other European countries in recognising Palestine as a 'sovereign and independent state'. It then joined South Africa in bringing a case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza - charges angrily denied by Israeli leaders. In December, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of the country's embassy in Dublin, blaming Ireland's 'extreme anti-Israel policies'. The University of Geneva also announced Wednesday that it has ended its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem following student protests, saying it no longer reflected the institution's 'strategic priorities'.
Arab News
04-06-2025
- General
- Arab News
Prestigious Irish university to cut links with Israel over Gaza war
DUBLIN: Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at 'ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law.' The university's board informed students by email that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever 'institutional links with the State of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel.' The recommendations would be 'enacted for the duration of the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law,' said the email sent by the board's chairman Paul Farrell, and seen by AFP. The taskforce was set up after part of the university's campus in central Dublin was blockaded by students for five days last year in protest at Israel's actions in Gaza. Among the taskforce's recommendations approved by the board were pledges to divest 'from all companies headquartered in Israel' and to 'enter into no future supply contracts with Israeli firms' and 'no new commercial relationships with Israeli entities.' The university also said that it would 'enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities.' Trinity has two current Erasmus+ exchange agreements with Israeli universities: Bar Ilan University, an agreement that ends in July 2026, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which ends in July 2025, the university told AFP in an email. The board also said that the university 'should not submit for approval or agree to participate in any new institutional research agreements involving Israeli participation.' It 'should seek to align itself with like-minded universities and bodies in an effort to influence EU policy concerning Israel's participation in such collaborations,' it added. Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants that sparked the war in Gaza. Polls since the start of the war have shown overwhelming pro-Palestinian sympathy in Ireland. In May 2024, Dublin joined several other European countries in recognizing Palestine as a 'sovereign and independent state.' It then joined South Africa in bringing a case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — charges angrily denied by Israeli leaders. In December, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of the country's embassy in Dublin, blaming Ireland's 'extreme anti-Israel policies.' The University of Geneva also announced Wednesday that it has ended its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem following student protests, saying it no longer reflected the institution's 'strategic priorities.'
