fourteen years to clear the remains in Gaza, Paris releases 33 million euros for UNRWA

At least three people were killed on Friday, April 26, in the bombing of a house in Gaza City by Israeli planes.

The war was launched on October 7, 2023, by an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse report based on official Israeli data. More than 250 people were abducted and 129 remain trapped in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials.

The Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, announced a new death toll on Friday of 34,356 deaths in the territory since the start of the war. At least 51 more deaths were recorded in twenty-four hours, according to the ministry’s statement, which reports on 77,368 injured in more than 200 days of war.

• Clearing the Gaza Strip of rubble and unexploded bombs could take fourteen years, the UN says

A United Nations official said it will take about fourteen years to clear the massive rubble and unexploded ordnance left behind by Israel’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip, including the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Pehr Lodhammar, a senior official at the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), told a briefing in Geneva that the war had left about 37 million tons of debris in a largely urbanized and densely populated area. ” We know that there is generally a failure rate of at least 10% of ammunition fired that does not function. “, he declared. “ We are talking about fourteen years of work with a hundred trucks. »

Paris confirms payment of 33 million euros to UNRWA

“France confirms the payment of its annual contribution to the humanitarian program of UNRWA, which amounts to 33 million euros for 2024.said Christophe Lemoine, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, without giving a date for the payment. “Our support to UNRWA is accompanied by a demand: full implementation of the measures required by the independent external audit report led by Catherine Colonna”former French Minister of Foreign Affairs.

French attache “special significance (…) procedures for verifying the neutrality of UNRWA staff and facilities, banning hate speech and anti-Semitic speech from school textbooks, and reforming unions and staff management”he added again.

UNRWA, which has more than 30,000 staff serving the region’s 5.9 million Palestinians, is accused by Israel of employing “more than 400 terrorists” in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis have accused twelve people of being directly involved in the unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.

At Sciences Po Paris, the pro-Palestinian mobilization continues

Pro-Palestinian mobilization continues Friday at Sciences Po Paris with an occupation and blockade of premises by students whose demands mirror the protests roiling certain American campuses. They received the support of several LFI figures, including Franco-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan, a candidate on the “rebel” list for the European elections. “These students really carry the honor of France”M. told reporters^me Hassan, more or less echoing the words of “rebel” leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who sent an audio message of support to the protesters.

However, the tension rose around 16:00 with the arrival of around fifty pro-Israel protesters, shouting in particular “Free Science Po” Or “Free Gaza from Hamas”. Some were masked and had motorcycle helmets. There was a stampede between the supporters of the two camps, among the many journalists present. The police then moved in to separate the two groups without violence. The administration, which estimates the number of tenants in the main building to be around sixty, has decided to close several rooms on its campus in Paris. She “strongly condemns these student actions”.

“In view of the disturbance of public order and peace, the Prefect of the Paris Police is evacuating public roads”they stated from the police headquarters, but for now they cannot give details about the time of evacuation.

In New York, Columbia University is delaying the evacuation of its campus

The office of the president of New York University, where the pro-Gaza movement began more than a week ago, on Friday postponed a deadline for the evacuation of pro-Palestinian students from the occupied campus to protest the war in Gaza. “Negotiations have progressed and are continuing as planned”it was announced from the office of the president of the university, Minouche Shafik. “We have our requirements, they have theirs”continue from the presidential office, denying that police intervention was requested.

“They call us terrorists, they call us thugs. But the only tool we have is our voices”said one of the students present at the pro-Palestinian rally.

More than 200 protesters were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday at universities in Los Angeles, Boston and Austin, Texas, where about 2,000 people gathered again on Thursday.

And also

Egyptian delegation in Israel. She is coming to try to restart talks on a Gaza ceasefire linked to the release of hostages, as Israel prepares to launch an offensive on Rafah, according to Egyptian and Israeli media.

The ICJ will rule on Tuesday in the case of Nicaragua v. Germany. Nicaragua accuses Germany of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying weapons to Israel for the Gaza war.

The United States says it shot down two drones. In a message published on

The PS calls for the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement. “You have these children who are now orphans, who are crippled, who are children who will only want one thing in life, and that is to take revenge for what they suffered”he condemned Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist Party in the public senate.

Two leaders of Jamaa Islamiya killed in Lebanon. In a press release, Jamaa Islamiya, the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood close to Hamas, announced the deaths of Mosab Khalaf and Bilal Mohamed Khalaf in an Israeli strike, which came amid violence between the powerful pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel. gained in intensity over the past few days.