Paris Conference Over Yemen Discusses Clear Mechanisms to Deliver Aids

Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
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Paris Conference Over Yemen Discusses Clear Mechanisms to Deliver Aids

Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP
Socotra residents escaping severe flooding/AFP

Yemeni Minister of Local Administration and chairman of Higher Committee for Relief in Yemen Abdul Raqeeb Fateh told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the scheduled Paris conference for the reconstruction of Yemen would discuss clear mechanisms for the delivery of humanitarian aids to the entire Yemeni territories, based on the announcement made by foreign ministers of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

“The Yemeni government has specific guidelines which were presented during the Geneva meeting held last April.

Those guidelines focus on moving from an early recovery response to one related to the livelihoods and the needs of people, to enhance stability and provide revenue streams to the Yemenis,” Fateh said.

The Minister noted that an early recovery would still be needed even following the end of the war, however, he stressed the importance of moving to the second stage.

He said the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen had already announced the presence of 22 safe-passage corridors to ensure guarded passage of humanitarian aid to Yemen.

“The Paris meeting would discuss means that could facilitate the delivery of aid to targeted areas and would also witness an invitation call for all humanitarian organizations, particularly those operating under the United Nations, to effectively operate in Yemen through a decentralized relief system and to improve efficiency in the use of funds and effectively achieve the set goals and the targets of the humanitarian operation,” Fateh said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Samer Al Jutaily, Spokesperson for King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) told Asharq Al-Awsat that a relief team already left Saudi Arabia to Socotra on a relief mission, adding that the visit preceded the arrival of the tropical storm to the Yemeni Island.

“We have already delivered 20 tons of aid, providing a large supply for humanitarian aid to around 150,000 Yemeni families,” Al Jutaily said.



Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas fighters.

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops operating in the area.

"Occupation forces have taken the three hospitals out of medical service because of the repeated attacks that undermined them and destroyed parts of them," Bursh said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Officials at the three hospitals have so far refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.

Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.

Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the hospital since Monday, medics said.

NEW STRIKES

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes across the enclave on Tuesday.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.