► Two children killed in an Israeli strike
A Palestinian official announced on Wednesday January 8 that three people, including two children, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tammoun, a village in the northern occupied West Bank.
Ahmad Assad, the governor of the Tubas region, where Tammoun depends, said three members of the same family, aged eight, 10 and 23, had died in front of their house. The Israeli army had earlier announced that its air force had “hit a terrorist cell” in the region.
► The Red Cross calls for safe and unhindered access to Gaza
Access “safe and unhindered” to the Gaza Strip, ravaged by more than a year of war, there is an urgent need to deliver humanitarian aid while babies are dying from the cold, the International Red Cross has demanded.
Heavy rains and flooding have made the makeshift shelters of thousands of people in this territory uninhabitable, with up to 30 centimeters of water inside the tents, according to a statement from the International Federation of Cross Societies. Red Crescent (IFRC).
“Without safe access, children will freeze to death. Without safe access, families will starve. Without safe access, aid workers cannot save lives”warned IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain in the press release.
► The UN asks for $370 million for Lebanon
The UN and the Lebanese government launched a new appeal Tuesday evening for donations of $371.4 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the population affected by the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
“While the cessation of hostilities offers hope, more than 125,000 people remain displaced, and hundreds of thousands more face immense challenges in rebuilding their lives”commented Imran Riza, UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, in a statement.
Under these conditions, an additional $371.4 million is needed “to support efforts to save lives and prevent the deterioration of an already terrible situation”he added.
► New attempt in Lebanon to elect a president
The Lebanese Parliament is due to meet on Thursday to elect a President of the Republic in a country deprived of a head of state for more than two years, in the grip of a serious economic crisis.
Analysts, however, doubt that the deputies will be able to agree on a candidate even if the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, accused by its detractors of having blocked the election of a president during ten previous attempts, has just emerged weakened of a war with Israel.
Israel inflicted a serious setback on pro-Iranian Hezbollah during a two-month conflict, notably killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah, which was ended in a truce on November 27.
