Houthis vow to keep up Red Sea strikes despite US warnings
Europe losing ‘moral ground’ over Gaza: Borrell
UN agencies voice anger at Israeli attacks on hospitals
Europe is losing moral ground with the rest of the world as a result of its stance on Gaza, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Monday.
Speaking at a conference in Aosta, Josep Borrell also said the EU had been unable to adopt a united view because some countries in Europe were feeling guilty as a result of the Holocaust and the Second World War, the Guardian reported.
“There are a certain number of countries that are prepared to support Israel to the limit because they have a bad guilt complex about the Holocaust, and that is not a sentiment that everyone shares,” he said.
He noted that “relations with the global south had not been very good before October 7, now it has become worse”.
He added, “We are losing moral ground with the rest of the world, including in the Middle East.” The accusations of double standards seemed massive compared with the EU’s standard in Ukraine, he said.
Injured Gazans
sitting ducks in hospitals
UN officials voiced anger and disbelief on Tuesday about the situation in Gaza hospitals, where injured people do not have basic supplies and children recovering from amputations are being killed in the ongoing conflict.
Most of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer operating due to damage from attacks, Israeli raids, and a lack of fuel and staff. Those still open are under growing pressure due to both strikes and the growing numbers of sick and injured patients arriving, Reuters wrote.
“I’m furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals,” said James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children’s agency.
He added that the Nasser Hospital, the largest operational hospital left in the enclave where he spent time earlier this month, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours.
“So where do children and families go? They’re not safe in hospitals, they’re not safe in shelters, and they’re certainly not safe in so-called safe zones,” he said.
Margaret Harris, a World Health Organization spokesperson, described the situation in Gaza hospitals as “unconscionable”.
“The very basics, they do not have them. One of my colleagues described people lying on the floor in severe pain, in agony, but they weren’t asking for pain relief. They were asking for water,” she said. “It’s beyond belief that the world is allowing this to continue.”
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza’s north and bombarded the south with airstrikes that killed at least 28 Palestinians, pressing ahead with their offensive Tuesday with renewed backing from the United States despite rising international alarm.
The air and ground war, launched in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, displaced some 1.9 million, demolished much of northern Gaza, and sparked attacks on US and Israeli targets across the region.
Yemenis won’t forsake Palestinians
The United States condemned “unprecedented” attacks by Houthi (Ansarullah) fighters on Red Sea shipping as they pledged Tuesday to continue military operations despite the announcement of a new maritime protection force.
The flurry of drone and missile attacks by the Ansarullah, the latest of which targeted two vessels on Monday, threaten to upend global trade flows, with major shipping firms halting traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to AFP.
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin warned Tuesday that the attacks “threaten” the free flow of commerce, a day after he announced a multinational task force to quell Ansarullah missile and drone attacks. The task force includes Britain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain, as well as the United States.
It drew Ansarullah’s ire, with fighters pledging to continue attacks.
“Even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world, our military operations will not stop... no matter the sacrifices it costs us,” senior Ansarullah official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on X, formerly Twitter.
The group’s spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said the “US-formed coalition aims to protect Israel and militarize the sea,” adding: “Whoever seeks to expand the conflict must bear the consequences of those actions.”
Yemen’s Ansarullah group have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different countries, according to the Pentagon.