COVID-19 Emergency Situation Report 16 (12–28 August 2020)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Highlightes
The overall number of COVID-19 cases rose by forty per cent and 45 more people died.
First cases of community transmission reported in Gaza, leading to two fatalities.
Complete lockdown in Gaza, amidst intensified hostilities and a significant decline in...
Malnutrition stalks Gaza
Isra Saleh el-Namey
The Electronic Intifada / August 27, 2020
Muhammad Abu Amra has diabetes and cannot afford treatment.
He needs two insulin injections per day; each costs more than $7. He gets the medicine on credit.
The debt he owes to two pharmacies is continuously rising.
Muhammad and his family live in the...
Returning to Gaza – at a price
Rami Almeghari
The Electronic Intifada / August 27, 2020
Earlier this year, I moved from Gaza to Cairo with the intention of working there.
I arrived in March. Little did I expect that the Egyptian authorities would introduce major restrictions on movement soon afterwards.
Life under confinement was harsh. I only went outside to buy...
‘Leftists for Bibi’? Deep-fake pro-Netanyahu propaganda exposed
Itamar Benzaquen
+972 Magazine / August 12, 2020
According to a series of Facebook posts, the Israeli prime minister is winning over left-wing followers — except that none of the people in question exist.
Sharon Epstein used to be a left winger. She believed in peace and giving back the occupied territories...
Israel is frustrated at the failure to tackle the BDS movement
Adnan Abu Amer
Middle East Monitor / August 27, 2020
Israel is frustrated at its failure to tackle the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement despite the huge budget allocated to the task and the recruitment of pro-Israel activists worldwide to help. The movement continues to flourish in its effort...
Sorry Abbas, but ‘bypassing the Palestinians’ is a tactic promoted by your PA
Ramona Wadi
Middle East Monitor / August 27, 2020
Following a brief interval in which all attention was focused on whether Israel would follow through with its annexation plans, world leaders are now back with their usual rhetoric about peace negotiations and “saving” the defunct two-state paradigm. The UN, of course,...
Pompeo courts Trump’s culture warriors in Jerusalem speech
Josh Ruebner
The Electronic Intifada / August 26, 2020
In likely violation of US law and State Department regulations, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech on Tuesday laced with anti-Chinese racism to the Republican National Convention (RNC).
He spoke from outside the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem while on...
After Beirut blast, Israel revives tales of Hezbollah ammonium nitrate terror plots
Gareth Porter
Grayzone / August 26, 2020
Israeli intelligence is polishing off a dubious propaganda campaign to suggest Hezbollah was to blame for the recent catastrophe in Beirut. But the factual record either contradicts Israeli claims or reveals a complete dearth of evidence.
Israeli officials have exploited the massive explosion at the Port...
Always on edge Amjad
Ayman Yaghi
The Electronic Intifada / August 26, 2020
Iyad Ghanem has heard Israel’s drones flying overhead for most of his life.
Like many other people in Gaza, he refers to these pilotless warplanes as crows. The noise they make is often called zanana, the Arabic word for buzzing.
Whenever he hears a drone,...
