The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, warned UN officials on Monday, describing overflowing hospitals, malnutrition children and desperate civilians risking their lives to get food for their family.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Explore the leading platform for forming Horizon Europe consortia We invite you to apply to Bridges, a two-day, in-person programme tailored for Horizon Europe consortium coordinators and partners working in the fields of Aquaculture and Civil Security. The programme will take place in Athens on the 26-27 November 2025. The programme offers a dynamic platform […]
We invite you to apply to Bridges, a two-day, in-person programme tailored for Horizon Europe consortium coordinators and partners working in the fields of Aquaculture and Civil Security. The programme will take place in Athens on the 26-27 November 2025.
The programme offers a dynamic platform for European-Israeli collaboration, peer exchange, and practical preparation for upcoming Horizon Europe calls. Gain targeted insights into relevant Cluster 3 and Cluster 6 topics, enhance your skills in consortium leadership and proposal development, and connect with like-minded experts shaping Europe’s future in these critical domains.
Bridges is designed for experienced organisations from Europe, Israel, and associated countries who are ready to lead or strengthen high-quality EU-funded consortia under Horizon Europe. The programme is best suited for those with a strong track record and clear intentions to engage in upcoming calls in the Aquaculture and Civil Security.
Ideal participants include:
The disorders began on July 12 when mutual abductions turned into armed conflict between the groups of Druze and the Bedouin tribes, attracting the Syrian security forces.
Violence has invaded a spiral, with reports of extrajudicial execution, desecration of corpses and looting. Images have largely circulated on the social media fueled sectarian tensions and disinformation.
In the presidential press release published on Sunday, the ambassadors said that they were “deeply concerned” by recent fights, which included “mass killings” and led to the internal displacement of some 192,000 people.
The Council “firmly condemns the violence perpetrated against civilians … and calls on all the parties to respect the cease-fire agreement and to ensure the protection of the civilian population”.
The organization of 15 members recalled to all parties of their obligations under human rights and international humanitarian law, highlighting in particular the duty to “respect and protect” all members of medical and humanitarian staff.
The members of the Council urged all the parties to allow “complete, safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to communities affected in the region strongly of Sweida and through Syria, in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.
They also underlined the need to ensure the human treatment of all the fighters, including those who went, are injured, detained or laid their arms.
The declaration called on the Syrian interim authorities to protect all Syrians “regardless of ethnicity or religion” and warned that “there can be no significant recovery in Syria without real security and protection for all Syrians”.
The Council welcomed the condemnation by the provisional authorities of violence and their commitment to investigate those responsible, but urged them to guarantee “credible, rapid, transparent, impartial and complete surveys … in accordance with international standards”.
Reaffirming resolutions, including 2254 (2015), the Council reiterated its “strong commitment to sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic” and called on all states to avoid “negative or destructive interference” which could further destabilize the country.
The declaration also recalled the 1974 disengagement agreement and the mandate of the strength of the United Nations Observer of the United Nations (UNDOD) Tmonitoring and patrolling the golan contested on the Syria-Israeli border, urging all the parties to be respected by its terms to maintain calm.
Regarding the threat of terrorism, the Council cited the last report of its team for monitoring analytical support and sanctions, expressing “a great concern concerning the acute threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters” in Syria. He urged the country to make decisive measures against ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, in accordance with relevant resolutions.
For the future, the Council has repeated its call to “an inclusive political process, led by Syrian and belonging to Syrian” based on resolution 2254, to protect the rights of all Syrians and allow them to “determine peacefully, independent and democratic their future”.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Two top UN officials warned that the Israeli cabinet’s green light this week for a fresh offensive aimed at gaining total military control of Gaza City – home to around one million Palestinians – would only risk igniting “another horrific chapter” of displacement, death and destruction.
Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told ambassadors that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed plan for “defeating Hamas” and the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, risked “yet another dangerous escalation” that would destabilise the entire region.
However, according to Israeli media reports, the senior political affairs official continued, the Israeli plan foresees the displacement of all civilians from Gaza City by 7 October, affecting some 800,000 people – many previously displaced.
Reports indicate that forces would then surround the city for three months. This would reportedly then be followed by an additional two months to seize control of central Gaza’s camps and clear the entire area of Palestinian armed groups.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction – compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,” said Mr. Jenča, calling for a full, immediate, and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages and compliance with international humanitarian law by Israel.
He said there was no military solution to end the conflict adding that planning for Gaza’s future “as we address the urgency of developments on the ground today,” is critical.
Mr. Jenča called for establishing political and security frameworks to ease the humanitarian crisis, while beginning recovery and reconstruction efforts that address the legitimate concerns of both Israelis and Palestinians – in line with realising a two-State solution.
“Critically these frameworks must facilitate a legitimate Palestinian Government that can reunify Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, politically, economically and administratively.”
Furthermore, it must be made up of a united leadership representing all of Palestine. He called on the Palestinian Authority to “advance its stated goal of holding elections” to this end.
Senior humanitarian affairs official Ramesh Rajasingham told ambassadors that hunger-related deaths were already rising, ahead of any new mass-displacement policy for Gaza City.
“Whatever lifelines remain, are collapsing under the weight of sustained hostilities, forced displacement and insufficient levels of life-saving aid.”
He said with local authorities documenting the deaths of 98 children from severe acute malnutrition – 37 since 1 July – “this is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation.”
The head of the humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) in Geneva said he was extremely concerned over the “prolonged conflict and further human toll that is likely to unfold following the Government of Israel’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza.”
“This marks a grave escalation in a conflict that has already inflicted unimaginable suffering.”
“A grim milestone has also been crossed in the humanitarian community,” he lamented, noting that over 500 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since hostilities escalated, including at least 167 women. Smear campaigns against aid operations continue unabated. “As we approach World Humanitarian Day, we must insist on the protection of all aid workers,” he added.
States – all those with any influence – must look within our bruised collective conscience and summon the courage to do what is necessary to end this inhumanity and pain, he said.
Civilians must be protected, and hostages must be released unconditionally. Arbitrarily detained Palestinians must be freed. Israel must agree to and facilitate humanitarian relief operations, both into and within the Gaza Strip, to reach the population in need.
The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures in the case on the application of the Genocide Convention in Gaza remain in place, the top OCHA official added, including the demand that Israel take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.
The EIT Urban Mobility RIS Education objectives are focused on capacity building in innovation and entrepreneurship and urban mobility. These objectives are reflected in the activity types proposed in this call. The activities responding to these objectives should aim to improve transferrable skills that will lead to further innovation and entrepreneurship in urban mobility in RIS countries.
There are five general topics (RISE 1-5) that can be addressed by the proposals:
The total indicative EIT funding allocated to this call for 2026 is approximately up to €1 250 000.
Projects under RISE1, RISE2 and RISE4 categories will be awarded a maximum of €150 000 EIT funding per project per year, whilst the maximum EIT funding under RISE3 will be €85,000 per project per year. For RISE5, the budget will be €20 000 – 50 000.
EIT Urban Mobility creates ecosystems. KICs are anchored in regional and local communities via their co-location centres (known as Innovation Hubs within EIT Urban Mobility). EIT Urban Mobility constitutes the mechanism to link the knowledge triangle components of education, research and businesses across Europe and into the wider world.
At EIT Urban Mobility, we integrate these knowledge triangle components and have expanded them by adding another group: cities. Accordingly, EIT Urban Mobility currently brings together around 450 partners from 42 countries and four sectors: academia, research, industry and cities.
This Call for proposals is open to all types of legal entities established in European Union (EU) member states and/or in third countries associated with Horizon Europe. These legal entities may be universities, research organisations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups or cities, among others, and may or may not be EIT Urban Mobility partners at the time of the proposal submission. Former EIT Urban Mobility RIS Hubs and entities from Outermost Regions are encouraged to apply to this Call by submitting proposals aligned with their preferred activity types. The applicants should have the expertise and previous experience in developing and implementing capacity building projects in urban mobility and/or innovation and entrepreneurship.
This Call is open to both multi-participant and mono-participant proposals from one or more RIS countries. In the case of multi-participant proposals, proposals must, as a minimum requirement, be composed of at least two independent legal entities[2] from at least one RIS country. In case of mono-beneficiary proposals, the applicant must be from a RIS country.
In the case of multi-participant proposals that involve entities from one country only and mono-participant proposals, the consortia shall explain how they are going to achieve the pan-European dimension in their projects. At the same time, the applying consortia are invited to integrate the knowledge triangle in their activities and should explain how cities, academia and industry partners are involved in the project design, development and implementation.
EIT Urban Mobility will host an online information session on 9 July 2025 12.00 – 13.30 CEST. To register for the webinar, please visit this website.
“For more than 150 days, not a single truck of UNRWA Was authorized to deliver food, medication or other essential elements to Gaza, “said the agency on Friday. »»This denial of access costs lives every day. “”
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, quoted by the UN, at least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed and more than 151,000 injured since October, in the middle of the implacable Israeli bombing and ground operations.
UNRWA said nearly 350 of its own employees have been one of the dead since Israel’s military operation in Gaza began following the terrorist attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Many civilians were killed during the shelter in schools or tents, or during the queue for food.
Food insecurity is now acute. The United Nations shows that 193 people – including 96 children – have died of malnutrition since the beginning of August, July, the highest monthly rate of acute malnutrition recorded in children under the age of five.
The prices of wheat flour have climbed up to 15,000% compared to pre-war levels. “Supported and large -scale deliveries are the only way to stabilize food supplies and prices,” said UNRWA.
Health services are close to collapse. More than half of the essential medical supplies are already out of stock and hospitals have been forced to ration the fuel for generators. UNRWA teams have nevertheless achieved more than 1.5 million health consultations since March, but “without replenishment, our ability to save lives decreases,” warned the agency.
The trip is on a large scale: 1.9 million people – around 90% of the Gaza population – were forced from their home, many on several occasions. Nearly 100,000 are piled up in more than 60 shelters led by a UNRWA.
In northern West Bank occupied by Israeli, around 30,000 people from NUR Shams refugee camps, Tulkarm and Jenin remain unable to return home due to the military operation of the Israel “iron wall”, in progress since January.
The agency has urged immediate and unhindered humanitarian access. “” We need the world to act – to open up crossings, stop suffering and maintain the most fundamental principles of humanity“He said.
The UN Security advice should meet in New York in emergency session on Sunday morning, the local time to discuss the approval by the Israeli cabinet of a military control of Gaza City which houses around a million Palestinians.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Two senior UN officials warned that the green light from the Israeli cabinet this week for a new offensive aimed at obtaining total military control of Gaza City – which is home to around a million Palestinians – would only risk “another horrible chapter” of travel, death and destruction.
Miroslav Jenča, deputy secretary general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told ambassadors that the plan proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “defeat Hamas” and the creation of an alternative civil administration which is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority, risky ” yet another dangerous escalation“It would destabilize the whole region.
However, according to the Israeli media, the senior political affairs has continued, the Israeli plan provides for the movement of all civilians from Gaza City by October 7, affecting some 800,000 people – many previously displaced.
The reports indicate that the forces would then surround the city for three months. This would then be followed by an additional two months to take control of the central Gaza camps and eliminate the entire area of the Palestinian armed groups.
“” If these plans are implemented, they will probably trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating in the region and causing a forced displacement, murders and destruction more -aggravating the unbearable suffering of the population, “said Jenča, calling for a complete, immediate and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages and respect for international humanitarian law by Israel.
He said there was no military solution to put an end to the conflict adding that the planning of the Gaza future “while we are approaching the urgency of field developments today” is critical.
Jenča called to establish political and security frameworks to mitigate the humanitarian crisis, while starting the reinforcement and reconstruction efforts which respond to the legitimate concerns of the Israelis and the Palestinians – in accordance with the realization of a two -state solution.
“In a critical way, these executives must facilitate a legitimate Palestinian government which can bring together Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, politically, economically and administrative. »»
In addition, it must be made up of united leadership representing all of Palestine. He called the Palestinian authority to “Advance your declared objective to hold elections To this end.
Ramesh Rajashingham, responsible for humanitarian affairs, told ambassadors that hunger deaths already increased, before any new mass travel policy for Gaza City.
“Whatever the lines of life, collapse under the weight of supported hostilities, forced displacement and insufficient levels of vital aid.”
He said local authorities documenting the death of 98 children of acute serious malnutrition – 37 since July 1 – ” It is no longer a imminent Hunger crisis – it’s famine. “”
The head of the Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (Ochha) in Geneva, said that he was extremely concerned about “prolonged conflict and another human toll which should take place following the government’s decision to extend military operations to Gaza”.
“It marks a serious escalation in a conflict that has already inflicted unimaginable suffering.”
“A dark milestone has also been crossed in the humanitarian community,” he said, noting that more than 500 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since hostilities have intensified, including at least 167 women. The smear campaigns against help operations continue tirelessly. “” As World Humanitarian Day approaches, we must insist on the protection of all“, He added.
States-all those who have an influence-must look in our bruised collective conscience and invoke the courage to do what is necessary to put an end to this inhuman and this pain, he said.
Civilians must be protected and hostages must be unconditionally released. The Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released. Israel must accept and facilitate humanitarian aid operations, both in and inside the Gaza Strip, to reach the population in need.
THE International Court of Justice‘s (Icj)) Provisional measures in the case of the application of the Gaza Convention in Gaza remain in place, added the senior OCHA, including the demand that Israel has immediate and effective measures to allow the provision of necessary basic services and humanitarian aid.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Instead of having seeds that grow reliably, farmers face prizes that can only increase 40 or 50% of the time. This decreases not only their yield and their profit, but also decreases their ability to maintain their livelihoods.
The organization of food and agriculture (Fao) Works with the Ministry of Agriculture in Haiti to change this by locating the seed economy and the training of members of the banks of organized seeds called the artisanal seed production groups (GPA).
“We realized that most of the seeds were of dubious quality, that is to say that they were not adapted to certain climatic conditions … and as long as they are not well suited and are not of good quality, we will have a low production,” said a news, Pierrefrantz, a former farmer and one of the project leaders of FAO seed banks.
Haiti seed banks work to provide farmers with high quality seeds.
There are now more than 200 GPAs located in all Haiti, which cultivate high quality seeds to distribute to other farmers in order to increase farmers’ yields and reduce dependence on foreign seeds and food imports.
Especially today, these groups play an important role with more than half of the country faced with emergency food insecurity and with agricultural production threatened by armed violence due to the increase in the activity of gangs.
“GPA, providing quality seeds, contributes to improving agricultural productivity and food security in communities,” said Jacques.
About two thirds of the population of Haiti is based on agriculture for their livelihoods, most of them are small farmers. However, due to recent globalization forces, these farmers only produce 40% of Haiti’s food, creating an untenable food situation through which Haiti has become dependent on exports.
In recent decades, various FAO programs in Haiti have worked to support the production of seeds as an approach to reduce trade deficit. The GPAS program in particular was revitalized in 2010 following the catastrophic earthquake 7.0 which devastated Haiti and its agricultural sector.
FAO strives to distribute high quality seeds in Haiti to stabilize the production of crops.
During this humanitarian crisis and while helping to provide emergency assistance, FAO has exceeded the immediacy of the crisis and began to consider what it would mean to rebuild the agricultural sector.
“Immediately, we must have humanitarian aid resources dedicated to resilience activities. You must prepare yourself later from the start, ”said Pierre Vauthier, representative of FAO in Haiti.
In 2010, this meant recognized that seed systems in Haiti were insufficient, many farmers dependent on external sources and low -quality permeate varieties on the formal and informal market.
This is where the GPAs arrived, giving them first generation of high generation (basic seeds) with which their businesses relaunch. The groups were also trained in best practices of culture, harvesting and financial management.
Although this training is based on scientific research and technological advances, it also aims to deploy local knowledge of ecosystems.
In this vein, in the end, it is the GPAS farmers who choose the varieties of seeds they want to cultivate, with a lot of choice of local species which are already well suited to the environment and already part of the local agricultural traditions.
“Farmers and residents are experiencing their environment, all the peculiarities. They know the type of soil, the type of climate. And this knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation, ”said Jacques.
Climatic shocks tormented the agricultural sector of Haiti.
In addition, FAO strives to provide seed banks with silos and other tools for appropriate storage. This is particularly important during climatic shocks, allowing farmers to better protect actions despite extreme weather events.
“We can consider seeds as an adaptation tool that allows farmers to continue to cultivate crops even during extreme conditions,” said Jacques.
In the end, a program like GPAS is at the heart of what FAO does, said Mr. Vauthier – Yes, FAO facilitates humanitarian assistance, but their true expertise lies in what comes after, in the creation of autonomous communities.
“Resilience can make communities of dignity. This may make your brain think in a very different way, not as assisted but as someone who takes control of his own life, “said Vauthier.
Haiti faces an prolonged crisis – 1.3 million displaced people, nearly six million in the face of emergency food insecurity, imminent climatic shocks for which the country is poorly prepared and armed violence that brutalized communities.
In this context, it may be hard to believe that a seed count. But for the FAO, the change must sometimes be small, to be locally durable before being exported to the whole country. These changes may not be revolutionary, said Vauthier, but they work and they do.
The seed banks are almost the same, according to Mr. Jacques.
“What is happening is that farmers depend less on other human beings. They are able to produce their own seeds … They will help strengthen autonomy and food security, “he said.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
The EIT Urban Mobility RIS Education objectives are focused on capacity building in innovation and entrepreneurship and urban mobility. These objectives are reflected in the activity types proposed in this call. The activities responding to these objectives should aim to improve transferrable skills that will lead to further innovation and entrepreneurship in urban mobility in RIS countries.
There are five general topics (RISE 1-5) that can be addressed by the proposals:
The total indicative EIT funding allocated to this call for 2026 is approximately up to €1 250 000.
Projects under RISE1, RISE2 and RISE4 categories will be awarded a maximum of €150 000 EIT funding per project per year, whilst the maximum EIT funding under RISE3 will be €85,000 per project per year. For RISE5, the budget will be €20 000 – 50 000.
EIT Urban Mobility creates ecosystems. KICs are anchored in regional and local communities via their co-location centres (known as Innovation Hubs within EIT Urban Mobility). EIT Urban Mobility constitutes the mechanism to link the knowledge triangle components of education, research and businesses across Europe and into the wider world.
At EIT Urban Mobility, we integrate these knowledge triangle components and have expanded them by adding another group: cities. Accordingly, EIT Urban Mobility currently brings together around 450 partners from 42 countries and four sectors: academia, research, industry and cities.
This Call for proposals is open to all types of legal entities established in European Union (EU) member states and/or in third countries associated with Horizon Europe. These legal entities may be universities, research organisations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups or cities, among others, and may or may not be EIT Urban Mobility partners at the time of the proposal submission. Former EIT Urban Mobility RIS Hubs and entities from Outermost Regions are encouraged to apply to this Call by submitting proposals aligned with their preferred activity types. The applicants should have the expertise and previous experience in developing and implementing capacity building projects in urban mobility and/or innovation and entrepreneurship.
This Call is open to both multi-participant and mono-participant proposals from one or more RIS countries. In the case of multi-participant proposals, proposals must, as a minimum requirement, be composed of at least two independent legal entities[2] from at least one RIS country. In case of mono-beneficiary proposals, the applicant must be from a RIS country.
In the case of multi-participant proposals that involve entities from one country only and mono-participant proposals, the consortia shall explain how they are going to achieve the pan-European dimension in their projects. At the same time, the applying consortia are invited to integrate the knowledge triangle in their activities and should explain how cities, academia and industry partners are involved in the project design, development and implementation.
EIT Urban Mobility will host an online information session on 9 July 2025 12.00 – 13.30 CEST. To register for the webinar, please visit this website.
