world news
Gulf, France aid Gaza, Russia evacuates citizens
A United Arab Emirates humanitarian convoy set off from Al Arish on Sunday heading to Rafah. The convoy will be distributed as part of the UAE’s efforts to aid civilians in Gaza. This is called Gallant Knight 3, and it was “launched under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” the UAE’s WAM news agency noted on Sunday.
This is one of a series of efforts in the works to support Gaza this week. It is important because it comes in the context of wider moves to try to end the conflict. For instance, there are talks in the region and also talks between Arab countries and China, about efforts to end the fighting. Humanitarian aid is likely one of the easiest ways to support Gaza without getting into the complexities of a ceasefire or other issues.
Arab News reported on Monday that “a 14th plane carrying aid from Saudi Arabia for Gaza on Sunday arrived at El-Arish International Airport in Egypt, the Saudi Press Agency reported.” This report noted that it consisted of two ambulances out of 20 scheduled to be sent from Saudi Arabia. This campaign comes under the auspices of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief.
The UAE convoy “comprises 13 trucks carrying a total of 272.5 tonnes of aid. These include 10 trucks carrying 16,800 food packages weighing 252 tonnes to support 84,000 people, and 3 trucks carrying 360 tents weighing 20.5 tonnes,” WAM reported. “The UAE is continuing its humanitarian aid drive to support the Palestinian people as part of Operation ‘Gallant Knight 3’ through the operation of an air bridge. To date, the air bridge facilitated 49 flights aimed at alleviating the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip during these dire circumstances.”Aid sets sail for Egypt to enter through Rafah crossing
France is also sending a large ship to Egypt. The Dixmude, an amphibious helicopter carrier, set sail for Egypt this week. VOA news said that France is also sending a flight. “A charter flight carrying more than 10 tons of medical supplies is also planned for the start of the week,” VOA reported. “France will also contribute to the European effort with medical equipment on board European flights on November 23 and 30,” the French presidential office said.
Meanwhile Russian state media said that “Another group of Russian citizens, evacuated from the Gaza Strip earlier, has been delivered to Russia,” TASS reported in Moscow. “A [Russian] Ministry of Emergency Situations Il-76 plane flying from Cairo landed in Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. It delivered a group of 117 Russians, who previously evacuated through the Rafah checkpoint. During the flight, they were accompanied by Ministry medics and psychologists,” the TASS report said.
These are all important moves. Along with previous Jordanian air drops and the UAE’s decision to set up a field hospital, many countries are contributing to Gaza. As the conflict continues and aid needs become acute these efforts will take on more meaning.
The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) stated that China, Israel, and Myanmar are the “world’s three worst offenders” for imprisoning journalists in 2024, according to a report published by the organization on Thursday.
The report stated that while other egregious offenders, such as China, Myanmar, Belarus, and Russia, “routinely rank among the top jailers of journalists,” Israel rarely appeared in CPJ censuses before the October 7 massacre.
According to the report, Israel rose to second place as it “tried to silence coverage from the occupied Palestinian territories,” adding that “all detained by Israel on the day of CPJ’s census are Palestinian.” The CPJ report claims that 43 Palestinian journalists were held in Israeli custody as of December 1, 2024.
The report did not take into account that Israel has regularly discovered journalists either embedded with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, linked alleged journalists directly as members of terror groups, or killed terrorists whose journalistic ties are later revealed.However, the report did not focus exclusively on Israel but rather on the general increase of authoritarian arrests of journalists across the world, criticizing the authorities in China, Myanmar, Russia, and Belarus, respectively, to an equal extent.
“At least 10 journalists” are held in administrative detention centers where prisoners are subjected to “inhuman conditions,” the report added.
Lawyers who visited some of the detainees told CPJ that Israeli authorities informed the journalists that they were arrested because they had contacted individuals whom Israel wanted information about.
Such arrests are “symptomatic of Israel’s broader effort to prevent coverage of its actions in Gaza,” according to the report. CPJ also reported that Israel banned foreign correspondents from entering Gaza and banned Al Jazeera.
Other CPJ reports discussing Israel
CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna was quoted in a report titled Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war that “Journalists have been paying the highest price – their lives – for their reporting” since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
CPJ stated in the report that IDF spokespeople repeatedly tell media outlets that IDF policy does not deliberately target journalists and added that IDF reportedly told news agencies that they cannot guarantee the safety of journalists.
A separate January 17 report by CPJ stated that the journalists’ attorneys claimed their arrests by Israel were in retaliation for their journalism and commentary.
The January 17 report notes that 30 journalists, including three held by the Palestinian Authority, have been released since their arrests over the last 15 months.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s Al-Qassam militia, called on the West Bank to escalate confrontations with Israel and lauded Iran, the Houthis, and Hezbollah for their aid. These remarks were delivered during an extensive prerecorded address following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, where the spokesman also stressed that his organization sees itself fully committed to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Abu Obeida’s speech began with Quranic verses which reprimand the Israelites for their “arrogance” and blame them for causing “corruption in the land” twice.
The verses also threaten the Israelites with “Allah’s servants,” which would “ravage their homes,” and warn that their enemies will disgrace them and “enter that place of worship as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands,” perhaps referring to Hamas’s deadly incursion to Israeli communities on October 7th, 2023, which left 1200 dead and 250 kidnapped.
Al-Qassam’s spokesman then addressed Palestinians in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank, characterizing the conflict as “a historic battle” that “ignited the spark of Palestinian liberation and demonstrated the capabilities of the rightful owners of the land,” lauding Gazans and Al-Qassam with many a superlative, and commending them for their steadfastness and defending of Jerusalem.Based on an old Islamic tradition dubbed by some Hamas affiliates “the Hadith (oral tradition) of the Al-Aqsa Flood,” he referred to the Palestinians in Gaza as “Al-Ta’ifa Al-Mansura” (The Victorious Group), a mystical group of people who originates in the Levant and will bear witness to the ‘reign of Allah’ in the world at the end of days.
Addressing the toll of the conflict, Abu Obeida acknowledged the “extensive sacrifices” made by Palestinians, describing a “great caravan of martyrs” over more than 15 months of fighting, which he stressed were carried out by all Palestinian factions “in unison.”
He praised what he called the steadfastness of Gaza’s people under what he described as impossible conditions, comparing their resolve to historical religious examples of perseverance under difficulty.
A broad regional impact
Abu Obeida also emphasized what he portrayed as the broader regional impact of the conflict, asserting that while it began in Gaza, it transformed the entire region’s dynamics.
He also listed what he considered significant achievements against Israel, including military impacts, blows to Israel’s economy, the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes, and what he described as “the exposure of the occupation’s true nature to the world,” including the legal persecution against Israeli soldiers and leaders across the globe.
Regarding the ceasefire agreement, Abu Obeida confirmed that Hamas and other Palestinian factions had been seeking to reach such an agreement for many months, even alleging that a similar agreement could have been reached a year prior, expectedly placing the blame for the delay on the Israeli government.
He affirmed their commitment to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement, including the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian inmates, while threatening that the Israeli hostages’ well-being depends on Israel’s commitment to the agreement.
Abu Obeida lauded Hamas’s forces for what he called an “unequal battle” in terms of both military capabilities and ethics, accusing Israel of indiscriminately targeting civilians while claiming that Hamas targeted only soldiers, blaming Israel for the death of some of its hostages.
The speech included extensive gratitude to Hamas’s leaders and regional backers. He mentioned three of Hamas’s leaders who were assassinated by Israel: Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh Al-Arouri, and Yahya Sinwar, whose death scene he dubbed “iconic,” and curiously did not mention Al-Qassam’s leader, Mohammad Deif.
Referring to regional supporters, Abu Obeida mentioned specifically the Houthis in Yemen, whom he praised for what he called their welcome intervention that was felt globally; Hezbollah in Lebanon, thanking them for what he described as their “significant sacrifices” in the conflict; and the Islamic Republic of Iran, whom he thanked for their “continuous support” and engagement in the battle, especially during the instances of the direct Iranian targeting of Israel.
Despite reiterating Hamas’s commitment to a ceasefire, Abu Obeida dedicated significant attention to the West Bank, calling for increased confrontations with Israel and unity among Palestinian factions there. He also lauded the “resistance in Jenin,” dropping any mention of the Palestinian Authority’s military campaign targeting armed militants there.
More on regional affairs, Abu Obeida warned against what he described as attempts to “integrate” Israel in the region, claiming that these would fail in light of what he termed “increased global awareness of the Palestinian cause.”
The speech concluded with messages of determination, stressing that Hamas “shares the pain” of Gazans and promising reconstruction efforts in the Strip, as well as “continued resistance until complete victory and inevitable triumph.”
With the hostages now in Israel’s custody, one of the main concerns is preventing life-threatening complications such as salt imbalances and refeeding syndrome. Therefore, the nutrition protocol for the released hostages will be implemented gradually and meticulously, to ensure that deficiencies are addressed.
In the initial days, the primary focus is on the hostages’ medical condition, particularly regarding the fear that they have undergone prolonged starvation. Accordingly, clinical nutrition specialists will oversee their dietary treatment, adhering to a strict and gradual protocol.
Upon arrival at an IDF base, the hostages received tea with a teaspoon of sugar, three biscuits, and applesauce. They were also given 100 mg of thiamine, a critical vitamin (B1) for metabolic processes in the body.
A deficiency in this vitamin can lead to neurological symptoms, including Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a severe neurological condition characterized by confusion, eye movement disturbances, and other symptoms that can result in permanent brain damage.In cases of refeeding, where the body resumes using energy from carbohydrates, the demand for thiamine increases. Early administration of thiamine can prevent refeeding syndrome, a life-threatening condition marked by severe metabolic imbalances.
This condition includes drops in blood levels of potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium alongside a sharp increase in thiamine demand, potentially causing cardiac and neurological complications.
Thiamine supports the proper functioning of critical systems, such as the heart, and aids cellular energy recovery after starvation.
Without proper treatment, thiamine deficiency can lead to fatigue, weakness, lactic acidosis, and impaired central nervous system function. Therefore, thiamine administration is an essential part of the treatment process for starvation victims to ensure a safe and healthy recovery.
Health Ministry guidelines:
Each hostage will undergo vital sign monitoring, including heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation, every four hours during the first 24 hours of feeding. Additionally, comprehensive blood tests will be conducted, and deficiencies will be corrected gradually based on results and BMI (calculated as weight divided by height squared).
According to the Health Ministry’s plan, each hostage will be classified by their BMI. A BMI of 16 to 18.5 (the normal range is at least 20) is considered moderate risk, while a BMI below 16 indicates high risk and severe starvation.
Based on their nutritional status, the hostages will receive multivitamin supplements once daily for at least 30 days, along with vitamin D (due to prolonged time in darkness) and vitamin B12.
Hostages at moderate to high risk will also receive fluid supplementation based on body weight and caloric nutrition to address deficiencies. Some hostages may also receive glucose infusions. Progress will be monitored, with the goal of increasing caloric intake by 33% of the target daily or every two days. The ultimate objective is to meet full nutritional needs within 5 to 10 days.
Each hostage will receive an information sheet stating:
“After a long period of limited eating, it is very important to return to regular eating gradually and moderately to prevent potentially life-threatening complications that may result from rapid exposure to food and drink following a prolonged period of significantly reduced food intake.
To help prevent nutritional and health deterioration in the near term, it is recommended to eat gradually and cautiously until you return to the amounts you were accustomed to.
The dietitian at the medical center will accompany you through the process and assist in selecting and adjusting the types and amounts of food and drink daily, based in part on the results of various medical assessments.
This support will continue even after discharge from the medical center until nutritional rehabilitation is complete. Recording the types and quantities of food and drink consumed each day can assist in providing accurate guidance.”
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