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A bill to legalise migrants brought in to fill the gaps in Greece’s labour market has upset the conservative fraction of the ruling centre-right New Democracy party (EPP), causing headaches for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The United Nations Security Council could vote as early as Monday (18 December) on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip - via land, sea and air routes - and set up UN monitoring of the humanitarian assistance delivered.

Avec 60 ans et 7 mois, la moyenne d’âge du collège va augmenter avec Beat Jans. Trois départs durant la législature pourraient changer la donne.

Alacsony szintű rétegfelhőzettel és köddel kezdődött a hétfő (12. 18.) reggel. A Szlovák Hidrometeorológiai Intézet (SHMÚ) előrejelzése szerint napközben gyenge csapadék várható, amely jegesedéssel is járhat – főleg keleten. A hegyekben – és helyenként az alacsonyabban fekvő tájakon is – napos idő várható.

Following a ‘significant deterioration of security in the Middle East’, terrorist threats, and violent conflicts across Africa, Slovenia has decided to extend police checks at its border with Croatia and Hungary until 22 June 2024.

Both nations have successfully resolved a decades-long dispute concerning the Bystroe Canal, in which Ukraine is permitted to proceed with the development of the canal with the condition that the project adheres to environmental protection regulations, Romania’s Environment Ministry announced.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico wants to get a Slovak businessman linked to the pro-Kremlin biker group Night Wolves off the European sanctions list after being added for assisting the Kremlin’s interests.

People in Rafah city in the Gaza Strip flee a missile attack. Credit: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 2023 (IPS)

The unrestrained destruction of Gaza and the disproportionate killings of over 17,000, mostly civilians– in retaliation for 1,200 killings by Hamas and 120 hostages in captivity– have left the Palestinians in a state of deep isolation and weighed down by a feeling of being deserted by the world at large.

The United Nations and the international community have remained helpless– with UN resolutions having no impact– while American pleas for restrained aerial bombings continue to be ignored by the Israelis in an act of defiance.

The plight of the Palestinians was best described by Middle East correspondent Raja Abdulrahim who was quoted in the New York Times last week as saying: “Some people have told me they would rather just have a nuclear bomb (drop) and take them all out because the situation has gotten so desperate– and they don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

“They also feel like the entire world has abandoned them.”

Co-incidentally, a junior minister last month proposed dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza as “one way of dealing with the threat of Hamas.” But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instantly shot down the proposal and took the unusual step of suspending the politically far-right minister.

Perhaps Netanyahu was conscious of the fact– that even in an unlikely nuclear attack on Gaza — the fallout, described as potentially suicidal, will be equally disastrous on Israel and end up as an act of self-immolation.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu last week reportedly justified the killings of civilians and the virtual destruction of Gaza by pointing an accusing finger at the United States.

The devastation of Gaza, he says, was no better than the “carpet bombing” of Germany by the US in 1943 and the unleashing of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

And US President Joe Biden, an unrelenting ally of Israel, shot back: “Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War II, to see to it that it didn’t happen again”.

The United Nations, created in 1945 following the devastation caused by World War II, was mandated with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security.

But other international institutions, including the Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arrived much later.

Dr Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, who teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies, told IPS for Prime Minister Netanyahu to equate the bombing of Gaza to the “carpet bombing” of Germany and the dropping of atomic weapons on Japan is, at best, as preposterous as one can imagine.

Although President Biden himself did not justify the dropping of nuclear weapons on Japan, he pointed out, the circumstances at the time were completely different than the current situation in Gaza.

Furthermore, attitudes and views have greatly changed since then, particularly because of the bombings’ aftermath.

Dr Ben-Meir said President Truman was faced with a dilemma – to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Japan, whose soldiers were fighting to the death, which could result in the death of 5-10 million Japanese and hundreds of thousands of Allied troops.

Or use nuclear weapons that would result in the death of 200,000 Japanese, civilians and soldiers alike, but would end the war quickly and spare casualties on a massive scale, thinking it was better to sacrifice 200,000 lives to save 1 million more, he pointed out.

On that basis, Truman made the decision, albeit in today’s environment, that decision would be entirely different. Furthermore, Truman may not have even been fully aware of the bomb’s true devastating nature and initially believed that it was intended specifically for a military target.

In hindsight, said Dr Ben-Meir, the use of nuclear weapons is unthinkable under any, and all, circumstances, as President Biden stated, “That’s why all these institutions were set up after World War Two to see to it that it didn’t happen again.”

As to the “carpet bombings” of Germany, while there were a few instances of cities being bombed wholesale, most notably Dresden, for the most part, American and Allied troops carried out strategic bombings, targeting as much as possible specific military installations and other industrial targets supporting Germany’s war efforts, he argued.

Furthermore, as Biden noted, the actions of all powers during World War II came under serious criticism and evaluation, and institutions and treaties were established in the war’s aftermath to prevent these wholesale actions that greatly affected civilians, whether intentionally or not, from happening again.

“There’s no question that Israel has been steadily losing international support due to the rise of Palestinian casualties, which has now exceeded 17,000. The irony is because of this terrible heavy toll of casualties, the unthinkable slaughter of 1,200 Israelis is no longer being mentioned, and this is due to Netanyahu’s complete disregard, in my view, for the indiscriminate horror that is being inflicted on Gaza”.

He should be far more calculating in targeting Hamas to prevent the unnecessary death of civilians, which is only drawing ever more criticism of Israel’s war tactics.

“Israel will certainly win the war against Hamas, but it is as certain that it will continue to lose the support even of its closest allies and friends unless Israel takes extraordinary measures to protect civilian lives in Gaza while articulating an exit strategy consistent with a two-state solution to end the conflict,” declared Dr Ben-Meir.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Former Equality Minister Irene Montero, who recently caused controversy for her promotion of a ‘yes means yes’ law, will lead the party’s list for the European elections to have an ‘independent voice’ separated from the Socialist Group and The Greens/EFA, according to sources in the anti-establishment party.

Almost half of Poles believe newly-appointed Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government will be better than the Law and Justice (PiS) government that has ruled in Poland for the last eight years, according to a poll conducted by SW Research pollster for Rzeczpospolita.

President Aleksandar Vučić declared victory in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday (17 December), after pollsters projected his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) was on track to easily win.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promises to stay until the end of the legislature as long as she has the consent of the Italians, she said at Fratelli d’Italia’s annual event where many leaders, including Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Vox leader Santiago Abascal, were in attendance.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna called for an ‘immediate truce’ in Gaza while in Israel on Sunday just before travelling to meet with Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Lebanese authorities in Lebanon on Monday.

Green hydrogen projects going online by 2030 may face costs up to twice as high as anticipated until recently. At the same time, recent auction results have demonstrated surprisingly low support requirements. What are the possible explanations?

Pandas, Füchse, Haie, Quallen und Oktopusse - eine Vielzahl von Tieren können durch Handy-Emojis dargestellt werden. Doch Forschenden geht die Artenvielfalt bei den kleinen digitalen Bildern nicht weit genug.

The excessive import of fruits and vegetables will be reduced in order to stimulate local production, Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev told state television BNT on Saturday, adding that the government is preparing a law to regulate this trade.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a ‘Trojan horse’ who is breaking European unity and protecting Russian interests, said Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák on Sunday after Orbán blocked financial aid for Ukraine during last week’s European Council summit.

Europe could face threats from Russia by the end of the decade, and EU countries need to build up their defence industries to be prepared, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said during an interview published on Welt am Sonntag on Saturday.

Ein Streit hat am Sonntagabend in Münchenstein BL einen Grosseinsatz der Polizei ausgelöst. Die Polizei nahm einen 44-jährigen Mann vorläufig fest. Verletzt wurde niemand.

Fünf Schlafzimmer, sieben Badezimmer, einen Fitnessraum, eine Wellnessoase, einen riesigen Weinkeller und sogar einen Privatstrand. Diese Villa im brasilianischen Dschungel ist ein absoluter Traum. Das 210'437 qm grosse Grundstück hat jedoch einen grossen Haken.