UNITED NATIONS: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees told a UN emergency meeting Monday “an immediate humanitarian cease-fire has become a matter of life and death for millions,” accusing Israel of “collective punishment” of Palestinians and the forced displacement of civilians.
Philippe Lazzarini warned that a further breakdown of civil order following the looting of the agency’s warehouses by Palestinians searching for food and other aid “will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the largest UN agency in Gaza to continue operating.”
TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have arrested a prominent lawyer and human rights defender as she attended the funeral of a teenage girl who died after a disputed metro incident, her husband said Monday.
The arrest of 60-year-old Nasrin Sotoudeh took place Sunday in Tehran during the funeral of 17-year-old Armita Garawand, who died a day earlier after nearly a month in intensive care.
Sotoudeh, who was awarded the European Parliament’s 2012 Sakharov prize for her human rights work, has been arrested several times in recent years.
GAZA: Hamas on Monday released a video it said showed three women from the more than 230 people Israel says were abducted by militants and taken to Gaza during the October 7 attacks.
The Palestinian Islamist group referred to the women in the 76-second video as “Zionist detainees” but it was not immediately possible to verify their identities.
Sitting on plastic chairs against a white tile wall, one of the women urges Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a prisoner exchange for the release of all captives.