As the world celebrates International Women's Day, the Gaza Ministry of Health provided an update on the challenges facing women in the Gaza Strip.
Here's what happened on Friday, March 8, 2024:
Combat and humanitarian crisis
- On Friday, Gaza Health Ministry Spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said that around 5,000 women continue to give birth each month in the Gaza Strip, and that conditions are “harsh, unsafe and unhealthy.”
- Meanwhile, about 60,000 women go through their pregnancies without proper medical care and suffer from dehydration and malnutrition, he said.
- On Friday, three rockets were fired from Gaza into the Israeli city of Sderot. Israeli authorities said one of the rockets landed within the city limits and the other two landed outside the city, but there were no reports of damage or injuries from the attack.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- On Thursday, US President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address in which he announced that his administration would build a “temporary pier” off the coast of the Palestinian territories to facilitate the delivery of aid.
- He also called on Israel to allow more aid to the Gaza Strip, but stressed that he is a “lifelong supporter” of the US ally. “Nobody has stronger demands than me. I challenge any of you here,” he said.
- Organizers of the U.S. “No Commitment” campaign, which seeks to pressure Biden over his support for Israel during the Gaza war, told Al Jazeera they were dissatisfied with the speech.
- “I think he's further alienated voters who already felt like they weren't being listened to by the president,” said Asma Mohammed, an organizer with the No First Vote campaign in Minnesota. Ta.
- Meanwhile, regionally, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Bill Burns is said to have arrived in Qatar in a last-ditch attempt to secure a cease-fire agreement before Ramadan, according to CNN. This was reported as an American story. Officials and people close to the trip made the announcement Thursday.
- The United States, Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have airlifted more aid to northern Gaza. The UAE military said on Thursday it had delivered 53 tons of food and medical aid.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Local media reported on Friday that Israeli forces raided the town of Urif, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, and rearrested freed Palestinian prisoners.
- Al Jazeera Arabic also reports that Israeli forces have erected a steel barrier at Lions Gate near Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem to prevent people from attending Friday prayers. .