ISRAEL HITS KUWAIT HOSPITAL – Umm … awe

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Death toll mounts to 227

GAZA, May 19, (Agencies): The administration of the Kuwait Specialized Hospital in Gaza city said on Wednesday that the hospital facilities were damaged by the Israeli raids on Rafah city, in southern Gaza Strip. At dawn, some facilities were damaged at Kuwait Specialized Hospital in Rafah governorate, Administrative Supervisor at the hospital Talaat Barhoum said in a press statement. The hospital was damaged after the Israeli occupation forces targeted the charity near the hospital, which provides charitable aid to the people of Rafah, he added. The damage was concentrated in the recovery room in the operations department, dental clinics, the men’s department, and the vascular clinic, he explained, pointing out that pictures will be provided.

The Israeli occupation army said in a press statement that it launched 122 raids in 25 minutes on the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip last night. The Kuwaiti Cabinet on Tuesday decided to provide urgent relief assistance to the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip The Cabinet also expressed Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation of the criminal acts of the Israeli occupation authorities against the brotherly Palestinian people in Gaza that left dozens of people dead and wounded, said Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah in a statement issued by the cabinet following the meeting. The cabinet’s weekly meeting held today under chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah at Seif Palace.

Flagrant
These heinous practices are a flagrant challenge to all international charters and norms, the Cabinet said, adding that the acts also undermine all sincere international efforts aiming to achieve a fair and comprehensive peace in the region. They will lead to further tension, violence and instability in the region, the cabinet stated, calling on the international community to take an immediate and serious action to press Israel to stop these practices and bloodshed as well as end this disastrous reality and sufferings of the Palestinian people in a way that ensure their full legitimate rights. At least 227 Palestinian people, including 64 children and 36 women, have been killed so far by the Israeli occupation forces’ attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. The number of those injured exceeded 1,500 of varied ages, the ministry’s spokesman Ashraf Al-Qedra said in a press statement. Among the wounded are 450 children and 295 women, he said, stating that 370 others are in “very dangerous conditions”.

Al-Qedra warned against Israel’s continued violations against health teams and institutions that impede missions in evacuating and saving victims of the aggression. He called on the international community to criminalize these violations and hold the occupier accountable for its crimes in line with international charters and norms. The ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip has unleashed a chorus of voices across Gulf Arab states that are fiercely critical of israel and emphatically supportive of Palestinians. The vocal opposition to israel, expressed in street protests, on social media and in newspaper columns, comes just months after pacts were signed to establish ties with israel – and complicates government efforts to rally Arab citizens around full-throttle acceptance of the deals. Analysts said the conflict will also set back israeli efforts to secure more normalization deals with other Arab states, like Saudi Arabia. The criticism has not only put Arab governments that signed the diplomatic accords with israel in a difficult position with their citizens, it also affirms that the Palestinian cause continues to resonate deeply with people across the Middle East.

Priorities
“No matter what your national priorities are at the moment or regional priorities are at the moment, when stuff like this happens, the Palestinian issue comes back and hits you,” Emirati political analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdulla said. Still, the open calls for Palestinian rights and condemnation of israel voiced by countless Gulf Arab citizens have largely mirrored official statements from their governments, all of which have condemned the violence in some form. Some have gone further, and Abdulla said he’d hoped the United Arab Emirates’ most recent statement calling “on all parties” to cease fighting had been bolder and named israel as the aggressor.

In speaking out, Gulf citizens are challenging the official narratives around normalization with israel. In Bahrain, civil society groups signed a letter urging the government to expel the israeli ambassador. In Kuwait, protesters held two rallies and are demanding permission to hold more. In Qatar, the government allowed hundreds to protest over the weekend as Hamas’ top leader delivered a speech. In the UAE, some have openly donned the blackand- white checkered Palestinian keffiyeh on Instagram while others have tweeted under hashtags supportive of Palestinians. Last year, the UAE became the first Arab country in over two decades to establish ties with israel, after Egypt and Jordan in 1979 and 1994, respectively. It was a brazen move that bypassed the Palestinians, who slammed it as treason and a stab in the back.

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