Top aid groups call on world leaders to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza
MSF, Islamic Relief and Save the Children are among the 22 aid groups issuing a joint call for world leaders to ‘urgently intervene’ to stop Israel’s genocide. The heads of more than 20 aid agencies working in Gaza have called on world leaders to “urgently intervene” in the war, following the first-ever determination by a United Nations commission that Israel is perpetrating genocide in the devastated territory. With an estimated 65,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks so far in Gaza, including more than 20,000 children, the agencies warned early on Wednesday that almost 1 million more people are now “on the precipice of an even deadlier period in Gaza’s story if action is not taken”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The inhumanity of the situation in Gaza is unconscionable,” the groups said in a joint statement, warning that Israel’s latest efforts to forcibly displace Gaza City’s population through a ground occupation are aimed at making the enclave’s largest urban area “deliberately… uninhabitable”. “As humanitarian leaders, we have borne direct witness to the horrifying deaths and suffering of the people of Gaza. Our warnings have gone unheeded and thousands more lives are still at stake,” the agencies said. “More than half a million people are starving. Famine has been declared and is spreading. The cumulative impact of hunger and physical deprivation means people are dying every day,” they said. Despite the well-documented horrors that have unfolded for almost two years under Israel’s siege of the Palestinian territory and enforced starvation of the enclave’s civilian population as they try to survive under military fire, “world leaders fail to act”. “States must use every available political, economic, and legal tool at their disposal to intervene. Rhetoric and half measures are not enough. This moment demands decisive action,” the aid groups said. Advertisement “History will undoubtedly judge this moment as a test of humanity,” they said, adding that UN members must take action, or their “complicity” will set a “dangerous precedent for the future”. Christopher Lockyear, a signatory to the joint statement and the secretary-general of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said on Monday that Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza amounts to “the systematic destruction of a people”. MSF is clear, Lockyear said: “Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and doing so with absolute impunity.” “The Israeli military has attacked everything and everyone in Gaza,” he added. Signatories to the statement also include Islamic Relief Worldwide, ActionAid International, CARE International, Handicap International, Save the Children International, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Médecins du Monde. On Tuesday, Navi Pillay, the chairwoman of the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the world body had determined that Israel was carrying out genocide in Gaza. Among those most responsible, based on their own statements, for the genocide were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog, Pillay said. The UN Commission, in its report, “concludes that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs took to social media to call the report’s findings “fake” and accused the authors of “serving as Hamas proxies”. Adblock test (Why?)
PM Modi’s 75th Birthday: BJP marks celebration with ‘Seva Pakhwada’; check details of programme here
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on Wednesday, when he turns 75, the BJP will organise various programmes nationwide. As part of the celebrations, the ruling party will hold cleanliness drives, blood donation camps and other events.
Delhi govt issues new guidelines to control stray dog population days after SC order
Detailed records of sterilisation, vaccination, feeding, and medical care must be maintained, the guidelines read.
On 75th birthday, PM Modi to visit Madhya Pradesh today, to unveil several projects
PM will launch the ‘Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar’ and ‘8th Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ campaigns, it is the largest ever health outreach for women and children in the country.
PM Modi thanks ‘friend’ Donald Trump for birthday greetings, vows to strengthen India-US ties
The greetings from the US President came on a day the US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch was in the national capital to discuss next steps in bilateral trade negotiations.
Jalgaon cloudburst: 1 dead, 10 villages affected in Maharashtra; rescue operations underway
In a cloudburst-like situation, 452 houses were inundated, and almost 2500 hectares of land were damaged in Jalgaon. The Maharashtra State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is distributing food as relief for those who have lost their ration.
TribCast: Texas A&M firing reignites campus free speech battles
After a firing at Texas A&M and the assassination of Charlie Kirk, free speech on-campus is back in the spotlight.
Tarrant County’s Democratic commissioners skip meeting to prevent vote on tax rate cut
Republican county commissioners retaliated and voted to slash the Democrats’ office budget and eliminate road and bridge crew jobs.
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The university’s announcement came hours after Gov. Greg Abbott called for the student’s expulsion.
Minnesota House deadlocked after Democrats win special election to fill seat of slain lawmaker
Democrats will hold onto the legislative seat once held by Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic Minnesota House speaker who, along with her husband, was killed at their home in June in what prosecutors describe as a political assassination. Democratic Party nominee Xp Lee defeated Republican nominee Ruth Bittner in a special election Tuesday in a suburban Minneapolis state House district, according to the Associated Press. Lee’s victory in the blue-leaning district will once again deadlock the Minnesota House, with Democrats and Republicans each holding 67 seats in the chamber. And it will restore a power-sharing deal between the two parties hammered out after the Democrats lost their majority in the 2024 elections. MINNESOTA GOV. WALZ LAUNCHES BID FOR THIRD TERM: ‘I’M STAYING IN THE FIGHT’ The special election was held a week after the assassination of conservative firebrand, commentator, and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk rocked the nation and thrust Hortman’s murder back into the spotlight. CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION Prosecutors charge that alleged gunman Vance Boelter impersonated a police officer as he carried out what they call the “political assassinations” of Hortman and her husband, Mark. Boelter is also charged with shooting and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their nearby home. Lee, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled the Vietnam War, told the AP ahead of the election that continuing Hortman’s legacy was a major motivator in his campaign. TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT BUT FRONT-AND-CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS “I wouldn’t be running if it wasn’t for the murder of Melissa Hortman. So, I am very conscious of political and gun violence. So, I want to help our community heal,” Lee said. Bittner, a real estate agent, told public radio in Minnesota that Hortman “was a very unique individual. We will not be trying to replace her.” Minnesota was further rocked by violence late last month, when two young school children were killed and 21 people injured in a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. The Associated Press contributed to this report.