Three U.S. Soldiers Killed and 34 Others Wounded in Attack on the Syria-Jordan Border
At least three U.S. soldiers were killed and 34 were wounded in an attack on a U.S. outpost near the Syria-Jordan border on January 28.
The Islamic Resistance Forces in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks, also claiming that they had targeted at least two other U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq and one Israeli base on the same day.
This is the first time U.S. soldiers have been killed in over 150 attacks carried out by various resistance forces in the region since October 7.
The Islamic Resistance Forces is a constituent of the Hashd al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq. It has been targeting U.S. bases in the region in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance to Israel in Gaza.
The PMF, also a part of “the Axis of Resistance” against U.S. imperialism and colonial projects in the region, holds the U.S. directly responsible for the killing of Palestinians, as the country has provided military and diplomatic support to the Israeli war machine.
PMF has demanded that the U.S. stop supporting the Israeli war in Gaza and withdraw all its troops from the region.
U.S. forces have retaliated against some of the attacks. One such U.S. strike in the first week of January had killed one senior commander of the PMF, Hajj Moshtaq Taleb al-Saidi (Abou Taqwa) in Baghdad. In a similar attack, a PMF training center was destroyed last week.
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Western Countries Punish UNRWA for Work in the Gaza Strip
On January 27, a set of Western countries announced they would end their funding of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, after Israel accused some staff members of involvement in the October 7, 2023 Al-Aqsa Flood operation.
In a matter of hours, the United States, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, and a couple of other allies announced they would cease contributions to the organization’s work. While some stated the cuts would be temporary, until an internal investigation is concluded, UN officials pointed out that the move will essentially end the agency’s work on the ground—at the worst possible moment, as two million people in Gaza depend on the UNRWA for the very limited food, water, and other necessities they are able to get.
As pointed out by Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, the agency is hosting thousands of displaced people in its centers and providing what health care is possible in the circumstances. “Some 3,000 core staff out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to report to work, giving their communities a lifeline which can collapse anytime now due to lack of funding,” Lazzarini warned.
The U.S. and Germany are UNRWA’s two top donors. In 2022, they provided over $545 million to the agency—more than the other 18 top donors from the Global North combined.
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Health Care in Southern Gaza Facing a Fate Similar to That in the North
Health services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, have collapsed, announced Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on January 26. In the absence of a ceasefire, hospitals and health centers in southern and central Gaza are facing a fate similar to those in the North. After prolonged sieges by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), evacuation orders were issued for the areas where hospitals are located, forcing health personnel, patients, and displaced people to leave.
Those who stay behind face the risk of being shot or kidnapped when the IOF storm the grounds. Over 300 patients, unable to evacuate from Nasser Hospital, along with a handful of staff, are exposed to such danger.
An MSF nurse still at Nasser Hospital described how surgical gauze is running out, preventing health workers from sharing resources across hospital rooms. To save supplies, nurses and doctors are now reusing the same gauze on multiple patients.
“They use it once, they squeeze out the blood, wash it, sterilize it, and reuse it with another patient,” the nurse explained.
Even before the MSF announcement, the situation at Nasser Hospital was dire. The World Health Organization warned about reports indicating that health workers at Nasser were digging graves on hospital grounds, anticipating many dead with no alternative way to care for the bodies. The current situation, coupled with overcrowded shelters and inadequate sanitation, is contributing to growing cases of infectious disease. Hepatitis A alone has seen a 16-fold increase in suspected cases compared to November 2023.
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Everywhere He Goes, Biden Is Haunted by the Martyrs of Gaza
Biden is disrupted on the campaign trail at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina by protesters shouting “Ceasefire now!” and later gets on a flight to the Dallas airport, where more protesters are waiting for him. Biden’s speech at a Virginia campaign event is interrupted 13 separate times, and as he leaves, his motorcade is met with more protests. Biden, who brands himself as the “most pro-union president” is called out by union workers for his support for the genocide in Gaza as he is receiving the endorsement of one of the largest unions in the country. Biden’s staff attempt to hold a “morale-boosting party” as their boss’s approval rating tanks and more and more men, women, and children in Gaza die from U.S.-made bombs, only to be yelled at by protesters shouting “Quit your job!”
Biden and his administration continue to actively fund the onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza. On January 26, the same day that the International Court of Justice found plausibility to South Africa’s claims that Israel is committing genocide, the State Department cut off funding to the main UN relief agency in Gaza, UNRWA, based on allegations that 12 of the agency’s employees were involved in the October 7 Palestinian resistance operation. Biden has bypassed Congress several times to provide weapons to Israel. Biden refuses to call for a ceasefire, and the White House has even gone so far as to call the progressive push for a ceasefire within Congress “repugnant.”
By Global News Service
Credit Line: from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service