'Hunger, desperation, and destruction': UN team on northern Gaza

[Donkees]

Samer AbdelJaber, the head of the World Food Program (WFP) in Palestine, has recounted a UN mission to provide food to Al-Ahli Hospital and surrounding areas.

AbdelJaber said that while being able to deliver food to the hospital in Gaza City was a “promising step”, the UN team saw “hunger, desperation, and destruction”.
“The [UN] team recounted painful stories from the people who haven’t received any aid in weeks,” he said.

Central and northern Gaza, including Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, have been largely cut off from humanitarian aid since Israel claimed it cut the Gaza Strip in two in early November.







Samer AbdelJaber
@SamerWFP

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/25/israel-hamas-war-live-israeli-officials-say-39-palestinians

[LexVegas]

1. Al Jazeera is a Hamas propaganda arm. nt

[msongs]

2. you dispute the content of this video then nt

[lapucelle]

3. UN remains alarmed by multiple reports of multiple rapes of Israeli women and children on October 7.

Link to tweet

[lapucelle]

4. Al Jazeera-speak for "hostage".

Hamas handed over 13 Israeli captives and four foreigners in central Gaza.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/25/israel-hamas-war-live-israeli-officials-say-39-palestinians

[Think. Again.]

5. I feel that the word 'captive' is ...

...just as bad as 'hostage', no? I mean if there is a major difference in the semantics, I really don't see it.

[lapucelle]

6. Oh let me help! I have a dictionary handy!

captive
: taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war

hostage
: a person taken by force to secure the taker's demands

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Glad I could clear that up for you!

[Think. Again.]

7. Yes, thanks!...

...so it seems ''captive" is a more correct word, seeing that hamas didn't take them to use in making any demands. Taking them 'captive', as if prisoners of war during a terrorist massacre, is in my opinion, even worse.

But really, I think this is all trivial in the face of how horrific this entire thing is.

[lapucelle]

8. "Hamas didn't take [the hostages] to use in making any demands."

"Civilians abducted from their homes (including children) are really prisoners of war, not hostages."

[Think. Again.]

9. I don't understand this response.

[yagotme]

13. Civilians are not prisoners of war. nt

[Think. Again.]

21. The definition supplied by the post I responded to...

....states:

captive: taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war.

My response was appropriate to that definition.

[TexasDem69]

10. You don't think Hamas kidnapped these people

From their homes to use as bargaining chips? Why do you think they seized these civilians then?

[Think. Again.]

12. They were "taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war"?

Last edited Mon Nov 27, 2023, 03:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Considering that hamas has not made any 'demands' in which these people would be "used as bargaining chips", I don't see how the rigid definition of 'hostage' that lapucelle supplied in post #6 applies.

Of course, perhaps hamas had indeed planned to make some sort of demands for less violence in the West Bank or something (but I don't think hamas has ever been concerned with the well-being of Palestinian civilians), but they have given no indication that the intention of taking the Israeli civilians was as hostages to bargain with, so that leaves me no other explaination except that they were taken captive as if prisoners of war.

[yagotme]

14. No, no demands, only getting a 3-1 exchange rate for them... nt

[Think. Again.]

19. If the exchange had been initially demanded by hamas...

...I would agree with you, do we know if that's the case?

[yagotme]

26. Searched several spots, this is the best detailed account I can find:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/21/politics/negotiations-israel-hamas-hostages/index.html
Doesn't specifically say that Hamas asked for that ratio, but prior exchanges have usually been in the terrorists favor.

[Think. Again.]

28. Thanks for sharing that...

...from that account, it seems that both sides were reluctant to do any kind of deal and that it was really the Biden team that got it all together.

[yagotme]

29. YW nt

[pinkstarburst]

18. A 10 month old baby is not a POW

A 3 year old toddler girl is not a POW. These are hostages, taken by brutal terrorist savages. That you want to play word games and try to soften or justify the actions of these animals is disgusting. There is no justifications. Every person involved in October 7th should be found and executed.

[Think. Again.]

20. STOP.

I did not start these word games, I responded to another that did.

I do not believe the words used are any more or less damning than each other.

I have posted numerous times that I believe no justification is needed for taking out hamas entirely and permanently.

[Eko]

11. The amount of people on here whatabouting a humanitarian catastrophe

is pretty wild.

[Goddessartist]

27. Yep

[Donkees]

15. ''The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said its teams have not been able to deliver any aid to northern Gaza today''

[Donkees]

17. Update: Aid trucks now getting through Israeli checkpoint ...

2m ago (17:40 GMT)
Update: Red Crescent manages to deliver aid to north Gaza
The Red Crescent says 40 trucks with humanitarian aid were able to enter Gaza City and the northern areas through the Israeli checkpoint that dissects the besieged coastal enclave.

Earlier, we reported the PRCS saying that it was not able to send aid to the north of the Strip. (10:30 AM)

[Bonx]

16. Why would Hamas do this to their own people?

[Think. Again.]

22. hamas has been working against the well-being of Gazans...

...since they took office, and Gazans do not agree with it;

From foreignaffairs.com:

"The argument that the entire population of Gaza can be held responsible for Hamas’s actions is quickly discredited when one looks at the facts. Arab Barometer, a research network where we serve as co-principal investigators, conducted a survey in Gaza and the West Bank days before the Israel-Hamas war broke out. The findings, published here for the first time, reveal that rather than supporting Hamas, the vast majority of Gazans have been frustrated with the armed group’s ineffective governance as they endure extreme economic hardship. Most Gazans do not align themselves with Hamas’s ideology, either. Unlike Hamas, whose goal is to destroy the Israeli state, the majority of survey respondents favored a two-state solution with an independent Palestine and Israel existing side by side.

(Full article: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/what-palestinians-really-think-hamas )

[David__77]

23. Hopefully the items making their way to the north are helping a significant portion of the population

[Donkees]

25. The plan to finally open a humanitarian aid corridor by sea from Cyprus will be a big help too

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218484425

[LiberaBlueDem]

24. Ceasefire NOW

And let the aid flow into Gaza