Free Republic

... In the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, 490,000 settlers live among three million Palestinians. Their settlements are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the UN's humanitarian agency (OCHA) has recorded an average of more than six incidents per day between settlers and Palestinians, including everything from livestock theft to direct physical violence. Before the war, the average was three a day. "They use the war as a pretext to expel us from our homes and to expropriate our lands," Jaber Dababsi, a 35-year-old farmer...

In the ongoing brutality of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, the loss of civilian lives is an undeniable tragedy. Yet, when we dissect the numbers and delve into the narratives surrounding these casualties, a troubling pattern emerges. The concern for civilian lives appears to waver, leaning disproportionately towards one side. It's a disconcerting revelation that prompts us to question the consistency of our empathy when it comes to human suffering. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), from 2008 to September 19, 2023, the conflict has claimed the lives of...

France and Russia have agreed to send 50 metric tons of medical aid to government-controlled eastern Ghouta in Syria, French officials said on Friday. A Russian cargo plane arrived late Friday in Chateauroux in central France to take the aid, which includes medical supplies and other essential goods, to a Russian military base in northwestern Syria. It will then be transported to eastern Ghouta, which the Syrian government retook from rebel forces in April. Once in Syria, the cargo will be distributed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with the help of the Syrian...

The U.N.’s humanitarian aid coordination agency says it and partners require a record $22.2 billion next year to help people hit by conflict and disasters around the world, a 10 percent increase from this year. The appeal announced Monday from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs seeks to help nearly 93 million people in 33 countries — nearly two-thirds of them in Africa. More than one-third of the total appeal — $8.1 billion — aims to help people in Syria and refugees from it, and another $4.4 billion would support people inside or fleeing war-torn Yemen and South...