More wounded Palestinians, cancer patients arrive in UAE
The 16th group of wounded Palestinian children and cancer patients arrived in the UAE on Saturday in implementation of the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to provide medical treatment for 1,000 injured children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip at the UAE’S hospitals.
Departing from Al Arish International Airport in Egypt, the plane landed at Zayed International Airport, carrying 25 patients in urgent need of medical assistance, accompanied by 51 family members.
Upon landing, medical teams swift ly transferred the wounded and those in need of immediate care to hospitals for treatment, while other cases and their companions were taken to their residence in the Emirates Humanitarian City.
The UAE’S hospitals provide the highest levels of healthcare for the injured and cancer patients, in embodiment of the directives of the country’s wise leadership.
Families of patients and the wounded expressed their thanks and appreciation to the United Arab Emirates and its wise leadership for this noble humanitarian initiative, which sets a unique model of solidarity and support between sister nations.
They affirmed that the UAE has always and still been the first to extend a helping hand and provide relief to the Palestinian people, supporting them in all circumstances. They also valued the efforts of the medical and volunteer teams that provided them with full support.
Meanwhile, Hamas said on Saturday it was studying Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt was in Israel trying to jump-start stalled negotiations.
Khalil Al Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political arm in Gaza, said it had “received the official Zionist occupation response to the movement’s position, which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13.”
In a statement, Hayya said Hamas “will study this proposal” before responding.
The movement has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire, which Israel rejects.
The armed wing of Hamas also released video footage of two men held hostage in Gaza, identified by Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum as Keith Siegel and Omri Miran.
The signs of fresh truce talks come after the United Nations warned that “famine thresholds in Gaza will be breached within the next six weeks” unless massive food assistance arrives.
Aid groups say Gaza’s already catastrophic humanitarian conditions would be worsened by Israel’s vow to attack Hamas fighters still in Rafah city in southernmost Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday on efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire, the State Department said.
Blinken, who will depart on Sunday, will meet with ministers from the bloc of Gulf Arab states and also attend a special climate session in Riyadh of the World Economic Forum.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will also hold talks in Saudi Arabia Sunday and Monday as part of efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Turkish diplomatic sources said.
The BBC reported on Saturday that British troops may be tasked with delivering aid to Gaza from an offshore pier now under construction by the US military.
UK government officials declined to comment on the report.
According to the BBC, the British government is considering deploying troops to drive the trucks that will carry aid from the pier along a floating causeway to the shore.
“No decision has been made and the proposal hasn’t yet reached Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,” the BBC reported, citing unidentified government sources.
A “Freedom Flotilla” aimed at delivering aid to Gaza was blocked in Turkey on Saturday after being denied use of two of its ships, which organisers blame on Israeli pressure.
The coalition of NGOS and other associations said it was unable to set sail after the West African country of Guinea-bissau withdrew its flagged vessels.
“Sadly, Guinea-bissau has allowed itself to become complicit in Israel’s deliberate starvation, illegal siege and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.
Plane, carrying 25 patients in urgent need of medical aid, accompanied by 51 family members lands at Zayed International Airport; Hamas says studying new Israeli truce proposal; Blinken to hold Gaza talks in Saudi tomorrow.
EL AMRA: Thousands of sub-saharan migrants have huddled in Tunisian olive groves for months, living in makeshift tents and surviving on meagre rations while keeping their hopes alive of reaching Europe.
Around 20,000 are in isolated areas near the towns of El Amra and Jebeniana, some 30 and 40 km north of the port city of Sfax, humanitarian officials say.
One weary 17-year-old calling himself Ibrahim said he had left Guinea more than a year ago, hoping to reach the other side of the Mediterranean “to provide for his sick mother and little brother” back home.
He said that after walking for three weeks from the border with Algeria, he arrived in El Amra in midwinter, about three months ago.
“It’s really difficult here,” he said, adding that he and other migrants feel trapped on the sidelines of society.
“Even shopping, we have to do it in secret. You can go out looking for work, but when it’s time for your employer to pay you, they would call the police,” he said.
“We are only a few kilometres from Europe,” said Ibrahim of Lampedusa island some 150 km away.
The winter “was very cold, but we managed to survive thanks to the solidarity we have as African brothers,” said Ibrahim.
“If someone has food and you don’t, they give you some,” he said.
“We bought the tarpaulins with our money,” which relatives managed to send them, “or by begging.”
Hygiene is a pressing concern at the encampments.
“There have been many births and sicknesses,” said Ibrahim.
One humanitarian source said there had been one migrant birth per day in recent weeks at a hospital in Jebeniana.
Salima, 17, said she had no diapers for her four-month-old baby and had to use plastic bags instead.
While awaiting the resumption of departures for Europe, delayed because of bad weather, Salima said she was still determined to make the crossing.
Tunisian authorities raided several encampments recently, tearing down tents and kicking out some migrants, after locals allegedly reported thefts.
Near Jebeniana, AFP journalists saw used tear gas canisters, bulldozers and destroyed tents -some of which were already being put back up.
“We’re very tired of the police,” said 22-year-old Sokoto -- also a pseudonym -- who left Guinea three years ago and entered from Algeria last January.