(The Age, 25/1/2024)
This shows yet again that the USA is happy to try to get publicity for challenging Israel on its actions without actually taking any action to stop the genocide and call for a ceasefire Mark
Washington: The United States was concerned by an Israeli attack on a UN training centre sheltering displaced people in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday, Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
“We deplore today’s attack on the UN’s Khan Younis training centre,” Patel told a news briefing, calling it “incredibly concerning.”
Patel repeated Washington’s calls for protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and aid facilities.
The Director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency Affairs in Gaza said that nine Palestinians were killed and 75 were injured when two tank rounds hit the building that was sheltering around 800 people in the southern Gaza Strip.
“Civilians must be protected, and the protected nature of UN facilities must be respected, and humanitarian workers must be protected so that they can continue providing civilians with the life-saving humanitarian assistance that they need,” Patel said.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi accused Israel of holding up aid deliveries for the Gaza Strip as a pressure tactic, the latest sign of friction between the two countries that have maintained a blockade on the enclave.
“This is a form of pressure on the Gaza Strip and its people over the conflict and the release of hostages. They are using this as a pressure tool on the people of the Strip,” Sisi said in comments to mark Egypt’s national police day.
Israel, which denies holding up aid, launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed across its border on October 7, killing some 1200 people and taking hostages, about 130 of whom remain in captivity.
To read more please visit
