Gaza a ‘death zone,’ WHO chief says
Mass starvation looms as Israel continues offensive
The head of the World Health Organization called Gaza a “death zone’’ Wednesday, lamenting health and living conditions that are “inhumane’’ and only getting worse.
Speaking at a media briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out severe malnutrition has increased from less than 1% to more than 15% in the Palestinian territory. World Food Program workers aren’t safe enough to distribute supplies in the north and the largest hospital in the south is besieged and barely functional, he said.
“Gaza has become a death zone,’’ Tedros said before asking: “What type of world do we live in when people cannot get food and water, or when people who cannot even walk are not able to receive care? What type of world do we live in when health workers are at risk of being bombed as they carry out their lifesaving work?’’
The U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday that it was pausing aid distribution in northern Gaza amid “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order,” citing supply trucks getting swarmed by starving crowds and aid workers encountering gunfire and looting.
The flow of trucks carrying humanitarian aid has been cut in half from a daily average of 144 since the beginning of the year, mostly because of safety issues.
“The situation is beyond your imagination,” said Soad Abu Hussein, a widow and mother of five children sheltering in a school in Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City.
The war in Gaza began when Hamasled militants invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. The militants still hold some 130 captives, around a fourth of whom are believed to be dead.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich drew sharp criticism from President Isaac Herzog and others Wednesday after saying that securing the return of the hostages was “not the most important thing” for Israel. Smotrich said the government’s primary focus should be destroying Hamas.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it had confirmation that Hamas started delivering medications to the hostages, a month after the medications arrived in Gaza under a deal mediated by the Gulf state and France. The deal provides three months’ worth of medication for chronic illnesses for 45 of the hostages, as well as other medicine and vitamins, in exchange for medicines and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the total Palestinian death toll since Oct. 7 had risen to 29,195. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its records, but says women and children make up twothirds of those killed. Over 69,000 Palestinians have been wounded, according to the ministry.
The Israeli military said Wednesday it seized and destroyed a Hamas tunnel the length of 10 football fields under the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Militants defending the tunnel were killed, the military said in a statement.
The Israeli military says it has found multiple, vast tunnels built by Hamas under cities and towns in Gaza.
US defends Israel before world court
The United States stood by Israel before the International Court of Justice on Wednesday as U.S. representative Richard Visek rejected claims that Israel is “legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw” from occupied territory.
Visek argued the hearing was onesided, focusing on Israel’s role in the occupation and ignoring the country’s legitimate security concerns highlighted by the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7 that began the war.
The decision from the 15 judges will likely have little impact. Most nations testifying in The Hague, Netherlands, were more critical of the Israeli position.
Cuba told the court that to qualify Israel’s actions “merely as acts of apartheid would leave out the implicit intention to exterminate the Palestinian people.”
Egypt’s representative said Palestinians
have been subjected to the “longest protracted occupation in modern history” and denounced the “obstruction of the Palestinian people’s inalienable, permanent and unqualified right to selfdetermination.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Republican Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles on Wednesday defended his comments about Hamas. Asked by an activist about the “genocide” occurring in Gaza, Ogles said: “You know what? I think we should kill them all, if that makes you feel better. Everybody in Hamas.”
The woman asked Ogles, a married father of three, if he had “a heart” and a family. Ogles replied that “Hamas and the Palestinians have been attacking Israel for 20 years. It is time to pay the piper.”
The American Muslim Advisory Council “unequivocally” denounced the comments, saying they amounted to advocating for “the extermination of the Palestinian people.”
Ogles was among several Republicans introducing legislation that would prohibit the U.S. from accepting Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza.
Ogles spokesperson Emma Settle told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Ogle “was not referring to Palestinians; he was clearly referring to the Hamas terrorist group.”
Satellite images reveal new wall near Egypt-Gaza border
Egypt is building a wall and leveling land near the Rafah border, satellite images and videos analyzed by USA TODAY and the Associated Press reveal. Israel has vowed to expand its offensive to Rafah, where more than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
The land, which is about 2 miles southwest of the border that Egypt shares with Gaza has shown increased activity this month. Though Egypt has not publicly acknowledged the construction, the Associated Press reported that Egypt has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the more than 1 million displaced Palestinians now in Rafah.
Contributing: Melissa Brown and Duane W. Gang, Nashville Tennessean; Associated Press
Northwestern Mutual posted another stellar year in 2023, setting new records for revenue and year-end surplus for the third consecutive year.
The Milwaukee-based insurance and financial management company ended the year with $36 billion in revenue, up $1 billion from 2022, and a $38 billion surplus, also a $1 billion increase. As a result, its customer-owners will share $7.3 billion in dividends, $550 million more than last year.
The 166-year-old company’s ability to set records since the global economic downturn in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic is a reflection of its fundamental strength, said Todd Jones, NML’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. It also stemmed from a plan put in place several years before the pandemic that included an expansion of its financial planning services and an investment in technology to support it.
“In volatility, with the financial strength that we have, we can be opportunistic, in that, instead of falling back we can deliver more value to the policy owners,” Jones said.
Northwestern Mutual is the largest corporation based in Wisconsin and a member of the Fortune 500. It has more than 5 million customers across its life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities and wealth management businesses.
It ended the year with more than $627 billion in institutional and retail client assets under management and $2.3 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, a $100 million increase over the previous year.
“I have never felt more confident that we have the financial strength, expert talent, innovative technology and the world-class workspaces we need to deliver outstanding results and grow our lead in the industry,” said John Schlifske, Northwestern Mutual’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Schlifske plans to retire at the end of the year, when he will pass leadership of the company to Tim Gerend, Northwestern Mutual’s president.
Jones said the past year’s higher interest rates, a challenge for many businesses, benefited the company and its policy owners because Northwestern Mutual was able to invest its free cash flow at higher rates. Returns on those investments pushed the company’s operating gain, its income before dividends and taxes, up $800 million to more than $8 billion, he said.
“We really became good at managing in a low interest rate environment, but a higher interest rate environment will produce even better results and, really, it’s going to be like jet fuel to our operating gain,” Jones said.
He also attributed the company’s growth to its field force, a group that grew to nearly 8,000 financial advisors, about one-third of whom are women and people of color. Other highlights from 2023 include:
● Total company assets increased 5% to $359 billion, the highest in company history.
● The general account investment portfolio grew nearly 4% to $308 billion.
● Term life insurance sales reached a new high. The company also had strong growth in disability insurance, long-term care insurance and income annuities.
● Life insurance death benefit protection reached $2.3 trillion.
● Assets managed by the company’s wealth management business grew 24% to $281 billion, also a record.