Migrant carers from India's Kerala await justice in UK visa 'scams'    Russia and Ukraine carry out attacks after Putin-Trump call    Israelis protest outside government headquarters after new wave of Gaza airstrikes    Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally return to Earth    Harry's US visa records unsealed after drug claims    Saudi Arabia slams Israeli attempts to destabilize Syria through continuous attacks    Commerce ministry: Shoppers can refuse receiving shipment if product is defective    Saudi Arabia surpasses self-sufficiency in figs    Istituto Marangoni to open Riyadh campus in August 2025    621 car maintenance businesses operate under franchise system in Saudi Arabia    Meeting of emirs reviews enhancing security and achieving comprehensive and sustainable development "King and Crown Prince direct to make things easier for the people"    Crown Prince Historic Mosques Project restores Al-Abasa Mosque in Abu Arish    Civil Defense bolsters safety measures for pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah    Princess Reema bint Bandar greets Saudi Special Olympics team in Jeddah    AFC Champions League Elite Finals draw sets stage for Jeddah showdown    Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43    Newcastle United ends 70-year wait for domestic glory with Carabao Cup triumph    Antenna: Saudi artist Ahmed Mater opens first solo exhibition in China    Al Nassr climbs to third with dominant win over Al Khaleej, Al Qadsiah slips after loss to Damac    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Man lives for 100 days with titanium heart in successful new trial    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Thousands march on streets of Brussels demanding permanent ceasefire in Gaza
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 01 - 2025

Thousands marched on the streets of Brussels on Sunday, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and urging both the Belgian government and the European Union (EU) to sanction Israel.
Protesters demanded the protection of the Palestinian population, the release of politically detained individuals, and access to international aid for those in Gaza currently facing a humanitarian emergency.
Organizers on social media also urged the Belgian government to impose a comprehensive international military embargo against Israel, support the ongoing case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel's conduct during the war with Hamas, and push the EU to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel on the grounds of human rights violations.
Belgian police said they counted around 7,000 people taking part at the march. It was organized by dozens of Belgian NGOs, including 11.11.11, Amnesty International Belgium, Pax Christi and Groen.
Those at the rally chanted slogans like "Free, free Palestine!" and "Stop, stop genocide!" as they marched through the Belgian capital.
Many at the protest could be seen carrying placards with first names on them – which they say is to put a face behind the death toll in Gaza. Local health authorities report that over 46,000 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, were killed during the 15-month-long war. Around 1.9 million of Gaza's population of 2.2 million were displaced.
Demonstrators said the ceasefire, which took effect last week, offered Palestinians in Gaza respite, but that the agreement does yet guarantee the end of the conflict in the region. They urged the EU and its Member States to address the situation in Gaza.
Wies de Graeve, director of Amnesty International Belgium's Flemish branch, said: "The ceasefire has been good news, of course, for the families of the hostages and also for the families of Palestinians who had been arbitrarily detained in Israel."
However, de Graeve said living conditions in Gaza continue to endanger Palestinians. He said it was important for a comprehensive arms embargo to be maintained and established against Israel and for the Belgian government, as well as the EU, to fully support the International Criminal Court in investigating the conflict.
"If we don't look at this in the broader context of an end to occupation and an end of the apartheid system committed against the Palestinians, we will never see a real solution that respects the human rights of all in the region."
Despite the recently announced ceasefire, living conditions in Gaza remain dire. The war set back development in Gaza by as much as 69 years, according to an assessment made by a UN-backed report.
The United Nation's Development Programme said the Palestinian economy could be put on a restorative track to align with its pre-war development goals in the next decade, but this would require a comprehensive recovery and reconstruction plan which combines humanitarian aid and strategic investment in recovery and reconstruction.
Thousands of Palestinians were kept from returning to their homes in northern Gaza by Israel on Sunday, as it accused Hamas of violating the fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it had released. Local health officials said Israeli forces fired on the crowd, killing two and wounding nine.
Israel said its war in Gaza was essential to combat Hamas and that its strikes and blockade were intended to target the militant group rather than civilians.
Their offensive began after Hamas' cross-border attack into Israel on 7 October, 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and more than 200 others taken as hostages back to Gaza.
As Palestinians returned to their homes in Gaza under the terms of the long-awaited ceasefire deal, Israeli forces launched a major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Suspected Israeli settlers tore through two Palestinian towns and several people were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Palestinians view such operations and the expansion of settlements as ways of cementing Israeli control over the West Bank, where three million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule.
Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarrar described the scale and intensity of the Israeli operation to CNN as "by far the hardest and most troubling" in recent months. He warned against "a man-made disaster similar to what we have seen in Gaza".
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that if Israel carries out its threat to close its east Jerusalem headquarters, the outsize effects will be felt acutely and immediately by tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The agency, known as UNRWA, runs 12 facilities that provide critical public services across east Jerusalem, including schools enrolling at least 1,200 children and free clinics serving over 70,000 people.
Israel says the agency has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the UN.
The violence comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces domestic pressure from his far-right allies after agreeing to the truce and a hostage-prisoner exchange with the Hamas militant group.
Meanwhile, newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has rescinded the Biden administration's sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the territory.
According to the Times of Israel, the order was used over the past year against 17 individuals and 16 entities, including settlers the US said had violently attacked Palestinians and illegally driven them off their land.
It is understood that Netanyahu raised the issue with Trump ahead of his inauguration.
More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, which was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 war. These settlements are considered illegal under international law.
Israeli troops and settlers have reportedly killed at least 851 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza.
Recently inaugurated US president Donald Trump suggested on Saturday that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
He said he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in the largely homeless population, so that "we just clean out that whole thing." He added that resettling Gaza's population "could be temporary or long-term."
"It's literally a demolition site right now," Trump said, referring to the vast destruction in the wake of Israeli's military campaign, "I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change."
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Palestinians would never accept such a proposal "even if seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction." He said the Palestinians can rebuild Gaza "even better than before."
Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told journalists that his country's rejection of the proposed transfer of Palestinians was "firm and unwavering."
Both Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. They fear that the permanent displacement of Gaza's population could make that impossible.
Before and during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, some 700,000 Palestinians – a majority of the pre-war population – fled or were driven from their homes in what is now Israel, an event they commemorate as the Nakba.
Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. The refugees and their descendants now number around 6 million, with large communities in Gaza, as well as the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Trump's proposal is likely to be welcomed by Israel, where Netanyahu's far-right governing partners have long advocated what they describe as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Human rights groups have already accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, which United Nations experts have defined as a policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove the civilian population of another group from certain areas "by violent and terror-inspiring means." — Euronews


Clic here to read the story from its source.