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UN Says Israel-Hamas War Leaves Gaza 'Uninhabitable'

The head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for the Palestinian territories says the Israeli army has targeted hospitals and ambulances during the ongoing Gaza war - AFP
The head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for the Palestinian territories says the Israeli army has targeted hospitals and ambulances during the ongoing Gaza war - AFP
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UN Says Israel-Hamas War Leaves Gaza 'Uninhabitable'

The head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for the Palestinian territories says the Israeli army has targeted hospitals and ambulances during the ongoing Gaza war - AFP
The head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for the Palestinian territories says the Israeli army has targeted hospitals and ambulances during the ongoing Gaza war - AFP

Israel's war against Hamas has damaged around half of all buildings in the Gaza Strip and rendered the Palestinian territory uninhabitable, the United Nations said Wednesday.

"The level of destruction from the latest Israeli military operation rendered (Gaza) uninhabitable," the UN Conference on Trade and Development said in a report.

The report also affirmed that the devastation of civilian infrastructures, including health facilities, "underscores the impossibility of the recovery and development of Gaza without serious and speedy efforts" by the international community to restore peace and secure the high levels of funding required to bring a semblance of socioeconomic normality back to the devastated Strip.

Monetary poverty has widened and deepened engulfing the entire population of Gaza.

It also said that multidimensional poverty is even worse because it takes into account deprivation of education, and basic infrastructure services to capture a more realistic picture of poverty.

"Living conditions in Gaza are at their lowest since occupation began in 1967 and will worsen even more unless the military operation stops."

The UN warned that the future of the Palestinian people will be largely determined by the actions of the Government of Israel, donors and the international community.

"A new phase of economic rehabilitation predicated on peacebuilding cannot simply take as its goal a return to the pre-October 2023 status quo. Only by ending the military confrontation and fully lifting the blockade of Gaza can there be hope to resolve sustainably the political, socioeconomic and humanitarian crisis engulfing Gaza."

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said Wednesday at least 26,900 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory since the war with Israel broke out on October 7.

The latest toll includes 150 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 65,949 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the fighting began.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.