As Billionaire Wealth Soared in 2024, 35 Children Were Born Into Hunger Every Minute

More than 18 million kids were born into hunger this year, according to a new analysis, as the collective net worth of the world's richest grew to a record $14 trillion.


Children line up to receive meals distributed by charity organizations in Khan Younis, Gaza on December 26, 2024.
(Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


An analysis published Monday by the humanitarian group Save the Children estimates that roughly 35 kids across the globe were born into hunger every minute in 2024—a year in which the world's billionaires saw their combined wealth surge to a record high.

At least 18.2 million children were born into hunger this year, according to the new analysis, as war and climate-fueled extreme weather pushed around 800,000 more kids into hunger compared to 2023. Roughly half of all young child deaths worldwide are caused by malnutrition, experts say.

"Over 18 million newborns this year—35 children a minute—were born into a world where hunger is their reality from their first moments of life," Hannah Stephenson, global head of hunger and nutrition at Save the Children, said in a statement Monday. "Hunger knows no boundaries. It erodes childhoods, drains children's energy, and risks robbing them of their futures. Children should be free to play or expand their minds in class. No child should be worrying about when their next meal will be."

"We need immediate funding and safe access to humanitarian lifesaving services for children and families in desperate need of food, nutrition, healthcare, safe water, sanitation and hygiene, social protection, and livelihoods support," Stephenson added. "We have the tools to significantly reduce the number of malnourished children right now, like we have in the past."

Oxfam has estimated that eradicating world hunger entirely would require nations to contribute $31.7 billion more to global efforts to combat food insecurity—a fraction of the collective wealth of the planet's 2,682 billionaires.

According to a UBS study released earlier this month, billionaire wealth has increased by 121% over the past decade, reaching a record $14 trillion this year. Billionaires located in the U.S. saw the largest gains, UBS found, with their combined wealth growing by nearly 28% this year alone.

During that same 12 months, the number of children born into hunger rose by around 5% compared to the preceding year, Save the Children's analysis of United Nations data found.


"Children born into hunger this year include babies born in countries facing a risk of famine or catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity including South Sudan, Haiti, Mali, and Sudan," Save the Children observed. "In addition, there was a warning in early November of a strong likelihood that famine was imminent or already underway in the northern Gaza Strip and 345,000 people across Gaza could face catastrophic hunger in the coming months."

The group noted that the intensifying climate crisis—which billionaires help fuel with their emission-heavy lifestyles—poses a dire threat to children's access to food worldwide.

"More than 1.4 million babies were born into hunger in Pakistan, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries," Save the Children noted. "Pakistan saw the second highest number of babies born into hunger among countries with over 20% undernourishment."

Record Number of Children Living in Conflict Zones in 2024: UNICEF


"Children in war zones face a daily struggle for survival that deprives them of a childhood."


Palestinians, including children, injured in an Israeli attack on Gaza City are brought to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for treatment on December 28, 2024.
(Photo: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Dec 29, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The record number of children living in conflict zones or forcibly displaced because of global wars "must not be the new normal," said the executive director of the United Nations' children's agency on Saturday.

Catherine Russell, who heads the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), released a sobering statement detailing the effects of conflicts and violence on children worldwide in 2024, revealing that more children than ever were estimated to be living in the midst of violent conflicts or forced to leave their homes due to war in the past year.

Over 473 million children—more than 1 in 6—were affected by conflicts in 2024, including in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and Haiti.

"By almost every measure, 2024 has been one of the worst years on record for children in conflict in UNICEF's history—both in terms of the number of children affected and the level of impact on their lives," said Russell. "A child growing up in a conflict zone is far more likely to be out of school, malnourished, or forced from their home—too often repeatedly—compared to a child living in places of peace... We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage to the world's unchecked wars."




UNICEF said that the U.N. has not yet verified the number of child casualties in worldwide conflicts for 2024. But the latest available data, from 2023, shows a record 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children.

"With the overall upward trend in the number of grave violations—for example, thousands of children have been killed and injured in Gaza, and in Ukraine, the U.N. verified more child casualties during the first 9 months of 2024 than during all of 2023—this year is likely to see another increase," said UNICEF.

The percentage of children living in conflict zones across the globe has nearly doubled since the 1990s, when it stood at 10%.

The statistics also mean that a record number of children are having their rights violated, including by being forced to halt their educations, missing life-saving vaccines, losing access to routine healthcare, and being critically malnourished.

More than 52 million children were estimated to be out of school this year due to conflict, with educational infrastructure destroyed across Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria.

More than half a million people are estimated to be living in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 5 conditions—famine—which is defined as 20% of households facing an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffering from acute malnutrition, or populations seeing two to four deaths each day from starvation.

In the case of Gaza, Israel and the U.S.—which has backed the Israeli assault on the enclave that began in 2023—have vehemently denied that famine has taken hold, even as experts have reported on widespread starvation there.

About 40% of children who are unvaccinated or undervaccinated live in countries affected by conflict, where disruptions to sanitation services and proper nutrition can also make them especially vulnerable to life-threatening and preventable diseases.

Children are also disproportionately represented among global refugees. While children account for 30% of the global population, about 40% of the refugee population and nearly half of people who are internally displaced are children.


"Children in war zones face a daily struggle for survival that deprives them of a childhood," said Russell. “Their schools are bombed, homes destroyed, and families torn apart. They lose not only their safety and access to basic life-sustaining necessities, but also their chance to play, to learn, and to simply be children."

"As we look towards 2025," she said, "we must do more to turn the tide and save and improve the lives of children."

UN Chief's Message to the World as Blistering 2024 Ends: 'We Must Exit This Road to Ruin'

"This is climate breakdown—in real time," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.


United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the U.N. headquarters 
(Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a year-end message on Monday that "we have no time to lose" in the face of the worsening global climate crisis, which pushed temperatures to a record high this year and supercharged deadly extreme weather around the world.

"Today, I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat," Guterres said in a video message posted to social media. "The top 10 hottest years on record have happened in the last 10 years, including 2024."

“This is climate breakdown in real time. We must exit this road to ruin," he continued. "In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future. It is essential—and it is possible."



Guterres' call to action came in the waning days of what scientists say is almost certain to be the hottest year on record and the first full year to breach the critical 1.5°C temperature threshold.

Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), echoed Guterres' warning about the dire consequences of the status quo, saying in a statement Monday that "if we want a safer planet, we must act now."

"It's our responsibility. It's a common responsibility, a global responsibility," Saulo said. "Every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and increases climate extremes, impacts, and risks. Temperatures are only part of the picture. Climate change plays out before our eyes on an almost daily basis in the form of increased occurrence and impact of extreme weather events."

Last month, with emissions continuing to surge as the rich nations most responsible for the climate emergency refuse to ditch fossil fuels, world leaders convened for a U.N. climate summit in Azerbaijan that was swarmed by oil and gas lobbyists. The key gathering ended with a deal that climate advocates described as a step backward in the necessary push to rein in fossil fuel emissions.

Climate-denier and fossil fuel booster Donald Trump's looming return to office in the U.S.—the world's largest historical emitter—has campaigners and scientists increasingly concerned about the future of existing global climate agreements such as the Paris accord, from which the president-elect has pledged to withdraw once again.

One recent analysis projected that a second Trump administration could unleash an additional 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, which would inflict $900 billion in global climate damages and deal a devastating blow to efforts to forestall runaway warming.

Throughout 2024, Guterres used his role as head of the U.N. to sound the alarm about the world's dangerous trajectory, saying in an October address that "there is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters."

"We're playing with fire," he said, "but there can be no more playing for time."

Brazil says 2024 was its hottest year on record

China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported this week that 2024 was their hottest year recorded yet.

By  AFP

January 3, 2025


A thermometer shows a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 F) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 17, 2024 - Copyright AFP/File Miguel SCHINCARIOL

Last year was Brazil’s hottest on record, its weather agency said Friday, after a record-breaking drought and flooding in the South American country that climate experts have linked to global warming.

The average temperature in 2024 was 25.02 degrees Celsius (77.04 Fahrenheit) — 0.79 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, the National Institute of Meteorology said.

It was the warmest year since records began in 1961, exceeding the 2023 figure of 24.92 degrees Celsius, which was also a record high.

The weather agency said that the “statistically significant trend… may be associated with climate change resulting from rising global temperature and local environmental changes.”

According to a study released last week, Brazil experienced an “alarming” increase in climate disasters between 2020 and 2023, with almost twice as many events each year, on average, as in the previous two decades.

Official data showed an annual average of 4,077 climate-related disasters in the four-year period, including droughts, flooding, violent storms and extreme temperatures, the research by the Federal University of Sao Paulo showed.

The study found a correlation between climate disasters suffered in the country and a warming of ocean surface temperatures.

The United Nations said Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year on record for the planet.

China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported this week that 2024 was their hottest year recorded yet.

2024 was China's hottest year on record: weather agency

Agence France-Presse
January 2, 2025

In July, heavy rains caused by Typhoon Gaemi flooded villages in central China's Hunan province (STR)/AFP


by Sam Davies, with Jing Xuan Teng in Shanghai

Last year was China's hottest on record and the past four years were its warmest ever, its weather agency said this week.

China is the leading emitter, in total volume, of the greenhouse gases driving global heating.

It aims to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.

The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) -- 1.03C. It was "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site late on Wednesday.

"The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top 10 warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century," it added.


In 2024, China logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn on record.

The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.

Other countries also recorded temperature records in 2024.


India said on Wednesday 2024 was its hottest year since 1901, while Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday that the past year marked its second-warmest year since records began in 1910.

Germany's weather agency said in December that 2024 was the hottest year since records began 143 years ago.

The Czech weather service CHMI said on Thursday that 2024 was "by far the hottest" in Prague since records started in 1775, beating the previous records from 2018 and 2023 by 0.5 degrees.


"It is worth noting that of the 15 warmest years since 1775, 13 were in this century and all 15 after 1990," the CHMI said.
- Extreme weather -

Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.


Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.

Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.

In central Beijing, finance professional Xu Yici lamented that warmer-than-usual weather had affected the city's traditional winter pastime of ice skating.


"There's no ice in the Summer Palace. I was going to go ice skating at the Summer Palace but I didn't get to do it this year," Xu told AFP.

Dozens of people were killed and thousands evacuated during floods around the country last year.

In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, killing 48 people.


Residents of the southern city of Guangzhou experienced a record-breaking long summer, with state media reporting there were 240 days where the average temperature was above 22C (71.6F), breaking the record of 234 days set in 1994.

Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River suffered from heat and drought in early autumn.

But Xue Weiya, an IT worker in Beijing, told AFP he believed "the Chinese government is doing a very good job of protecting the environment, so I don't think the weather... will have a big impact on us".

Globally, 2024 saw deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, multiple violent storms in the United States and the Philippines, and severe drought and wildfires across South America.


Natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses in 2024, Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re has said.

Under the 2015 Paris climate accords, world leaders pledged to limit global heating to well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels -- and to 1.5C if possible.

In November, the World Meteorological Organization said the 2024 January-September mean surface air temperature was 1.54C above the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.

© Agence France-Presse

Marxists.orgwww.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1951/murder.htm

Murder of the Dead by Amadeo Bordiga 1951

Murder of the Dead. First Published: Battaglia Comunista No. 24 1951; Source ... murderer also of the dead: “But as soon as people, whose production ...

What Were the Most Expensive Climate Disasters of 2024?

"The human suffering caused by the climate crisis reflects political choices. There is nothing natural about the growing severity and frequency of droughts, floods and storms," said the CEO of Christian Aid.


An aerial view shows destruction in Fort Pierce, Florida, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton on October 10, 2024.
(Photo: John Falchetto/AFP via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


Climate disasters aren't cheap. In 2024, the 10 costliest extreme weather events not only extracted a toll in the form of human lives, but also each cost over $4 billion in economic damages—and some much more—according to a report released Monday from the global group Christian Aid.

"The human suffering caused by the climate crisis reflects political choices. There is nothing natural about the growing severity and frequency of droughts, floods and storms," said Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt in a statement Monday.

"Disasters are being supercharged by decisions to keep burning fossil fuels, and to allow emissions to rise. And they're being made worse by the consistent failure to deliver on financial commitments to the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries," he continued.

According to the report, the costliest climate disasters in terms of economic cost this year, in ascending order, were: Valencia floods in Spain; Bavaria floods in Germany; Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil; Storm Boris in Central Europe; Hurricane Beryl in the U.S., Mexico, and Caribbean islands; Typhoon Yagi in Southwest Asia; China floods in China; Hurricane Helene in the U.S., Mexico, and Cuba; Hurricane Milton in the U.S.; and U.S. storms in the United States.

Two items on the list—"China floods" and "U.S. storms"—are not a single event. The China floods refer to flood events across China that happened in June and July, and U.S. storms are all storms classified by the global professional services firm Aon as "severe convective storm" for the period between January and September, according to the report.

These U.S. storms, the most expensive climate disaster of 2024, amounted to over $60 billion in economic costs and 88 deaths, per the report. The second costliest, Hurricane Milton, caused 25 deaths and $60 billion in economic losses.

Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida, was made worse by fossil fuel emissions: "In a world without climate change, Hurricane Milton would have made landfall as a Category 2 storm. Instead, it struck as a Category 3 hurricane, with stronger winds and more intense rainfall, causing extensive tornado activity, and damaging infrastructure in regions still recovering from previous hurricanes."

Specifically, "a rapid analysis by Climate Central showed that the unusually warm ocean temperatures, which fueled the hurricane's rapid intensification, were made 400-800 times more likely by climate change over the two weeks preceding the storm," according to the report.

The report's authors also caveat that the losses tallied in the document are likely an undercount. Most of the costs estimates are based on insured losses, meaning that the true financial costs are likely to be even higher (for example, it does not include economic costs stemming from crop production losses). Human costs are also often undercounted, the report's authors state.

Another important piece of context is that economic costs are generally higher in absolute terms for richer countries because the value of infrastructure and private property tends to be higher, living costs are greater, and more is covered by insurance—meaning losses are more calculable in financial terms, per the report. However, the death toll tends to be higher in poorer countries.

The deadliest climate disaster, according to the report, was Typhoon Yagi, which came in as the fifth most expensive climate disaster in terms of economic cost, and caused the deaths of over 829 people. The typhoon struck multiple countries in southeast Asia, causing landslides, flooding, and infrastructure damage in places including the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand. In Myanmar, for example, it devastated entire villages and decimated over 2.3 million hectares of agricultural land.

In its Monday statement, Christian Aid highlighted that "some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2024 hit poorer nations, which have contributed little to causing the climate crisis and have the least resources to respond."

To that end, the group is calling on Global North countries to increase their commitment to climate finance and cease development of new fossil fuel projects.

The report also includes additional information about disasters that didn't make it into the top ten for economic damages, but are still of note. They include a drought that impacted countries in southern Africa between February and July and floods impacting Afghanistan and Pakistan between March and September.

Marxists.orgwww.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1951/murder.htm

Murder of the Dead by Amadeo Bordiga 1951

Murder of the Dead. First Published: Battaglia Comunista No. 24 1951; Source ... murderer also of the dead: “But as soon as people, whose production ...

'Why Would He Stop Now?' Trump Border Czar's Firm Peddles Federal Contracts

"When not presumably working on President-elect Trump's kids-in-cages policy 2.0, does Mr. Homan intend to exploit his new title to steer more lucrative federal contracts to his homeland security clients for his own personal gain?"


Jessica Corbett
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


A watchdog group that has sounded the alarm about various picks for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's next administration released a Monday report focused on the consulting and nonprofit work of incoming immigration official Tom Homan.

Homan, who was acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump's first term, is set to serve as "border czar," a post that does not require Senate confirmation.

The new analysis by Accountable.US details how Homan's role as border czar could present serious conflicts of interest with his private consulting firm.

"Homan founded Homeland Strategic Consulting LLC," the report explains, "a private consulting firm which touts Trump's endorsement, claims to have secured 'tens of millions of dollars of federal contracts' for clients, and has taken over $83,000 from Jim Lamon, a failed U.S. Senate candidate who was indicted alongside Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman in Arizona's fake electors case."

"Homan will soon join a growing club of top Trump administration aides with glaring conflicts of interest that create perfect conditions for corruption and insider special treatment at the expense of everyone else."


The watchdog found that the firm's website said last month: "Homeland Strategic Consulting has been extremely successful in assisting small and large companies in business development with both federal and state governments. We provide around-the-clock guidance and subject-matter expertise to help your company discover opportunities, pursue acquisitions, win those opportunities, and assist in the execution of those contracts."

When Commons Dreams tried to access the firm's website on Monday afternoon, it featured a gray page with a message that it "is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance to bring you a faster, more secure, and improved browsing experience."

The report notes that "Homan is also a strategic adviser for the Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC), a homeland security industry group of 'midsized company CEOs,'" and on the editorial board of its publication, Homeland Security Today.

Accountable.US further highlighted that "Homan is president and CEO of Border911, a far-right 501(c)(3) nonprofit that claims to fight a 'historic illegal alien crisis' and that the U.S. is under 'attack from the inside.'"

"In possible violation of its tax-exempt status, Border911 was promoting Homan's appearances at Republican political events as of December 2024," the document details. "This includes a state party convention that sold tickets to a VIP reception featuring Homan and a Women's International Republican Club gala in New York City."

"Additionally, Border911 held a sold-out fundraiser in April 2024 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, with Trump confirmed to appear at the event and a $100,000 'presidential' sponsorship tier," the report adds.

The watchdog also pointed out Homan's contributions to Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-led initiative that includes a sweeping right-wing policy playbook for the next Republican president. Although Trump tried to distance himself from the project during the campaign, he is now expected to pursue many of its proposals.



Homan has long faced intense criticism for his role in the "zero tolerance" policy of the first Trump administration, which forcibly separated thousands of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Human rights groups revealed earlier this month that an estimated 1,360 children have yet to be reunited with their families.

This cycle, Trump campaigned on promises of mass deportations and ending birthright citizenship, despite the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Announcing the border czar role last month, the president-elect said that "there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders" and "Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin."

Last week, Homan previewed plans to detain migrant families with children in tents and suggested that Trump should revive mass worksite immigration raids and the "Remain in Mexico" policy that stopped asylum-seekers from entering the United States.

"When not presumably working on President-elect Trump's kids-in-cages policy 2.0, does Mr. Homan intend to exploit his new title to steer more lucrative federal contracts to his homeland security clients for his own personal gain?" Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk asked in a Monday statement.

"Both Homan's business and nonprofit group have thoroughly milked his connections to the Trump brand before, why would he stop now?" Carrk continued. "Homan will soon join a growing club of top Trump administration aides with glaring conflicts of interest that create perfect conditions for corruption and insider special treatment at the expense of everyone else."

Rolling Stone first reported on the watchdog's Monday publication. Homan told the magazine that "as the incoming border czar I have recused myself from any involvement, discussion, input, or decision of any future government contracts that may be awarded by the government. Therefore, there is no conflict of interest."

Although Homan did not respond to Rolling Stone's question about whether he would name his clients, he said, "I will be filing all appropriate documents as required by ethics rules including financial disclosures."

Homan isn't the only immigration hard-liner planning to join the next Trump administration. The others include family separation architect Stephen Miller, the incoming homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff for policy; dog-killing Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the nominee for homeland security secretary; and Caleb Vitello, the next acting ICE director.

'A Virtuous Cycle': Local Business Owners Celebrate 2025  U$ Minimum Wage Hikes

“The minimum wage increase will recirculate back into the economy through spending at the main street shops that make up the fabric of our communities,” said one business owner in New York.


An employee of the Frosted Cakerie on Main St. sets up outdoor seating for the day in Joplin, Missouri 
(Photo: Terra Fondriest for The Washington Post via Getty Images).

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

With 23 states and the District of Columbia slated to increase their minimum wages by the end of 2025, the national network Business for a Fair Minimum Wage reports that business owners in states around the country are cheering those increases, saying they will boost consumer spending and hiring, increase productivity, help retain employees, and in general strengthen the economy.

According to a statement Business for a Fair Minimum Wage issued on December 12, the following states will have either a planned or indexed minimum wage increase on January 1: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Florida, Oregon, and the District of Columbia will see increases later in the year, and some states like Alaska will experience multiple wage floor increases during 2025, per the statement.

Voters in Alaska and Missouri approved ballot measures in November that greenlit increases to the minimum wage. Hundreds of business owners in those two states worked with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage to support the ballot initiatives, according to the statement.

"Workers are also customers and minimum wage increases boost consumer buying power. They go right back into the economy as increased spending at local businesses," said Holly Sklar, the CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

She added: "State raises are vital for workers, businesses, and communities as the federal minimum wage remains stuck at just $7.25, falling further and further behind the cost of living." The federal minimum wage hasn't budged since 2009, when it was raised to $7.25.

One business owner, Erik Milan, whose music store Stick It In Your Ear is based in Springfield, Missouri, praised the state's increase. "Raising Missouri's minimum wage will be good for workers and businesses. When workers in our community are paid more, they can spend more at local businesses ... Thanks to better wages and paid sick time because of Proposition A, businesses will also benefit from lower employee turnover, increased productivity, better health and morale, and better customer service," he said, per the statement.

Because of Proposition A, Missouri will increase the state minimum wage to $13.75 an hour on January 1 for private and non-exempt employees, and then increase it again to $15 in 2026. Beginning in May of this coming year, employers are required to give employees one hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked.

Over in Alaska, the owner of Waffles and Whatnot in Anchorage, Derrick Green, said that "Alaska's minimum wage increases will help Alaskans thrive ... The more that people can make a living in Alaska, the stronger our businesses and communities will be."

Same as Proposition A, Alaska's Ballot Measure One mandates that workers will be able to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Alaska's minimum wage was already set to increase on January 1, and then thanks to Ballot Measure One it will increase again on July 1 to $13 and then again to $14 in July 2026.

The statement from Business for a Fair Minimum Wage in total quotes 11 business owners touting the wage floor increases, including Jessica Galen, owner of Bloomy Cheese & Provisions in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

"The minimum wage increase will recirculate back into the economy through spending at the main street shops that make up the fabric of our communities. It's a virtuous cycle. When we take care of our employees, they take care of us," she said.

Experts Warn Cybercrime Treaty Gives Governments New Powers to Crush Dissent


"States should not ratify this treaty," said Deborah Brown of Human Rights Watch.


A police officer from the central contact point for cybercrime at the Lower Saxony State Office of Criminal Investigation stands at a trade fair in Hanover, Germany.
(Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

A technology expert at Human Rights Watch on Monday urged countries not to ratify a first-of-its-kind cybercrime treaty that the United Nations General Assembly adopted without a vote last week, warning that the measure would give governments additional powers with which to crack down on journalists, whistleblowers, and peaceful protesters.


Deborah Brown, HRW's deputy director of technology, rights, and investigations, said that the Convention Against Cybercrime "extends far beyond addressing cybercrime—malicious attacks on computer networks, systems, and data."

"It obligates states to establish broad electronic surveillance powers to investigate and cooperate on a wide range of crimes, including those that don't involve information and communication systems. And it does so without adequate human rights safeguards," Brown warned, noting that "years of heated negotiations" produced a "deeply problematic outcome" backed by the United States and other major governments that had previously expressed opposition.

Brown explained that the newly adopted convention—which is set to take effect 90 days after 40 nations ratify it—"will obligate governments to collect electronic evidence and share it with foreign authorities for any 'serious crime,' defined as an offense punishable by at least four years of imprisonment under domestic law."

"Many governments treat activities protected by international human rights law as serious offenses, such as criticism of the government, peaceful protest, same-sex relationships, investigative journalism, and whistleblowing," Brown wrote. "Additionally, the convention could be misused to criminalize the conduct of children in certain consensual relationships as well as the ordinary activities of security researchers and journalists."

"The U.N. Cybercrime Convention is excessively broad and introduces significant legal uncertainty."

The U.N. General Assembly's adoption of the treaty last week brought to an end a five-year negotiation process during which civil society organizations voiced deep concerns about the emerging document.

In October, a coalition of groups including HRW, Amnesty International, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the U.N. General Assembly to oppose the treaty, warning that its adoption and ratification would undermine "democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, endangering a wide range of communities and jeopardizing the safety and privacy of Internet users globally."

"The U.N. Cybercrime Convention is excessively broad and introduces significant legal uncertainty," the coalition said. "It provides for states to leverage highly intrusive domestic and cross-border surveillance powers for the purpose of a broadly defined list of criminal offenses which bear only a minimal nexus to information and communications technology systems and go far beyond the scope of core cyber-dependent crimes."

The groups pointed specifically to Article 23 of the convention, which they said mandates "the collection of e-evidence on a wide range of crimes, even those that don't involve information and communication systems." Such a requirement, the coalition warned, could easily be "misused by governments to stifle dissent."

Brown echoed that concern on Monday and argued that the human rights safeguards embedded in the treaty are limited and "many are optional."

"Others lack any means of enforcement, which provides no confidence that international human rights standards will prevail over abusive state practices," Brown added. "States should not ratify this treaty and those that do should take significant measures through domestic law and negotiations over the protocol to ensure it will be implemented in a way that respects human rights in practice, not just on paper."

Rep. Summer Lee Leads Call for US Action to Aid Civilians in War-Torn Sudan

"Without decisive global engagement, violent conflict in Sudan threatens to destabilize the entire region, with devastating implications for countless lives and communities," argued Lee and two other Democrats.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), attends the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled "Overdue Oversight of the Capital City: Part II," in Rayburn Building on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
(Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 31, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

With only a few weeks left of President Joe Biden's administration, the progressive Squad member Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) is spearheading a call urging Biden to increase U.S. humanitarian aid to the war-torn country of Sudan, among other requests.

In a letter sent Monday, Lee—as well as Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—warned that "without decisive global engagement, violent conflict in Sudan threatens to destabilize the entire region, with devastating implications for countless lives and communities."

Sudan has been racked by violence since fighting erupted between the between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)—the nation's official military—and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023. The civil war has also led to widespread hunger in the country. According to the letter, roughly half of Sudan's population is in acute need of food, and over the summer, famine was declared in a refugee camp in Sudan's Darfur region. The letter notes that nearly 12 million people have been displaced due to the conflict.




The letter writers are asking Biden to act swiftly, including through "multilateral fora" to protect civilians by establishing safe zones and setting up humanitarian corridors. They are requesting an increase in U.S. humanitarian aid, specifically that a portion of that funding go toward supporting Sudanese organizations and entities that are aiding civilians on the ground.

The trio is also urging the U.S. to renew Temporary Protected Status for Sudan, a program that gives migrants whose home countries are deemed unsafe the ability to live and work in the U.S. for a period of time, and are asking for an update to the December 2023 "atrocity determination" to include new crimes committed by both the RSF and SAF.

The atrocity determination that the three lawmakers reference was issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in December 2023, declaring "that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan. I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing."

Lee of Pennsylvania, Meeks, and Lee of California are not the only leaders urging more action. In September, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a visit to Sudan that "the scale of the emergency is shocking, as is the insufficient action being taken to curtail the conflict, and respond to the suffering it is causing."

The insufficient global action in the face of such warnings has caused many observers to call the conflict the world's "forgotten war," according to the think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). "As the humanitarian situation deteriorates, sorely needed aid is not arriving, signaling a historic failure in the global aid system," wrote CFR in September 2024.

The three Democratic lawmakers also point out that "the massive refugee flows from Sudan have placed extraordinary burdens on neighboring countries—Chad, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia—each already struggling with their own domestic challenges."

"We therefore believe it is critical to continue our diplomatic work to secure a cease-fire, protect civilians, and ensure unobstructed humanitarian access," they conclude. "We urge you to take these bold and immediate actions."

Pentagon Repatriates Guantánamo Detainee Held Without Charge for Over Two Decades

The move came as the Biden administration faced pressure to clear the notorious military prison of all uncharged detainees before Donald Trump takes office.


Human rights activists organized a protest in front of the White House and called for the release of detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay on December 4, 2024.
(Photo: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 31, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The Biden administration announced late Monday that it transferred a Tunisian man who was never charged with a crime out of the notorious Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba, a move that came more than a decade after the detainee was approved for release.

The man, 59-year-old Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi, had been held at Guantánamo since the day former U.S. President George W. Bush opened the prison camp in 2002. The Pentagon said in a statement Monday that al-Yazidi has been repatriated to the government of Tunisia.

With al-Yazidi's transfer, there are now 26 detainees remaining at Guantánamo, the majority of whom have never been charged with a crime and have been approved for release from the prison, which United Nations experts have said is "defined by the systematic use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment." More detainees have died at Guantánamo than have been convicted of a crime, according to the human rights group Reprieve.

The Biden administration said in 2021 that it intended to shutter the prison, and critics have accused the administration of "a lack of courage" as it has dragged its feet on the matter.

But human rights campaigners have welcomed recent progress. Al-Yazidi was the fourth Guantánamo detainee in two weeks to be transferred from the prison by the Biden administration, which has faced growing pressure to clear the camp of the remaining uncharged men before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes power next month.

"Fifteen men remain who have never been charged with any crimes and have long been cleared by U.S. security agencies to leave Guantánamo, some for more than a decade," Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement earlier this month after the Biden administration announced the transfer of three never-charged men out of the prison camp.

"President Biden must transfer these men before he leaves office, or he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government," said Eviatar. "It has been 23 years; President Biden can, and must, put an end to this now."

The transfer was announced on the same day that a Pentagon appeals panel "upheld a military judge's finding that the plea deals in the September 11 case are valid, clearing the way at least for now for a guilty plea hearing next week with the accused mastermind of the attack, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed," The New York Timesreported Monday. Mohammed is among the Guantánamo detainees who have been charged with a crime by a military commission.

"Col. Matthew N. McCall, the judge in the case, had ruled that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III acted too late and beyond the scope of his authority when he rescinded the three deals on August 2, two days after a senior Pentagon appointee had signed them," the Times reported. "Under the pretrial agreements, or PTAs, Mr. Mohammed and two co-defendants agreed to plead guilty to war crimes charges in exchange for life prison sentences rather than face a death-penalty trial."

Sanders Lays Out Plan to Fight Oligarchy as Wealth of Top Billionaires Passes $10 Trillion

"If there was ever a moment when progressives needed to communicate our vision to the people of our country, this is that time," wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Despair is not an option."

Jake Johnson
Dec 31, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


A Bloomberg analysis of billionaire wealth published Tuesday found that the combined fortunes of the 500 richest people on the planet surpassed $10 trillion this year, a finding that came shortly after U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued an urgent call to action to prevent the emergence of "an oligarchic and authoritarian society."

The new analysis notes that the world's top 500 billionaires "got vastly richer" this year with the help of "an indomitable rally in U.S. technology stocks."

Just eight billionaires—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin—added more than $600 billion to their collective wealth in 2024 and accounted for 43% of the $1.5 trillion increase in net worth among the world's 500 richest people, according to Bloomberg.


"But it was Musk—the so-called 'first buddy' of President-elect Donald Trump after unprecedented support for his reelection campaign—who dominated the world's wealthiest in 2024," Bloomberg observed, adding that Trump himself also saw his fortune surge to a record high this year, "boosted by the performance of his majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp."

Musk's use of his enormous fortune to influence the U.S. political system—including via his purchase of one of the world's largest social media platforms and donations to Trump's 2024 campaign—amplified existing concerns about the corrosive impact of massive wealth concentration on democracy.

And wealth inequality in the U.S. could soon get worse, with Trump and the incoming Republican-controlled Congress set to pursue another round of tax cuts for the ultra-rich and large corporations.


"They do not believe in democracy—the right of ordinary people to control their own futures. They firmly believe that the rich and powerful should determine the future."

In an email to supporters on Monday, Sanders (I-Vt.) called the rapid shift toward oligarchy in the U.S. "the defining issue of our time," warning that billionaires have come to increasingly dominate not only "our economic life, but the information we consume and our politics as well."

"A manifestation of the current moment is the rise of Elon Musk, and all that he stands for," Sanders wrote, pointing to Musk's outsize influence on the 2024 election and his key role in shaping Trump's billionaire-dominated Cabinet.

"But it's not just Musk. Billionaire owners of two major newspapers overrode their editorial boards' decisions to endorse Kamala Harris, while many others are kissing Trump's ring by making large donations to his inauguration committee slush fund," the senator continued. "They do not believe in democracy—the right of ordinary people to control their own futures. They firmly believe that the rich and powerful should determine the future."

Progressives, Sanders wrote, have a "radically different vision," one that prioritizes "an economic system based on the principles of justice," "a vibrant democracy based on one person, one vote," and making "healthcare a human right."

"Even though we are not going to succeed in achieving that vision in the immediate future with Trump as president and Republicans controlling Congress, it is important that vision be maintained and we continue to fight for it," wrote Sanders.

Since Trump's victory in the 2024 election, Sanders has focused heavily on the need to organize the working class to combat the threat posed by Musk and other far-right billionaires who have amassed obscene wealth and political power.

In his email on Monday, the senator said he intends to "travel, organize, hold events, and create content that reaches people where they are" in the coming weeks as part of the "struggle to determine where we go from here."

"Will this effort be easy?" asked Sanders. "No, of course it will not. Can it be done? We have no choice. If there was ever a moment when progressives needed to communicate our vision to the people of our country, this is that time. Despair is not an option. We are fighting not only for ourselves. We are fighting for our kids and future generations, and for the well-being of the planet."

'Where the Hell Is Doctor Hussam?' Israel Gives Mixed Messages on Gaza Hospital Director

"To suggest he isn't in custody is an insult to the public's intelligence," said Dr. Muhammad Brika, his colleague at Kamal Adwan Hospital.


Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, is treated by colleagues for his injuries following an Israeli strike on November 23, 2024.
(Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Jan 03, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Israeli officials this week have given a human rights group and news media conflicting messages about Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza who was detained when Israel's troops attacked the facility a week ago.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) contacted Mashlat—the Israeli body responsible for coordinating with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regarding the location of detainees from the Gaza Strip—on behalf of Abu Safiya's family.

On Thursday, PHRI shared on social media a screenshot of Mashlat's email claiming to have "no indication of the arrest or detention of the individual in question," which contradicts the IDF's Friday statement to CNN.



"On December 27, 2024, military forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, surrounded the building, and arrested Dr. Abu Safiya," PHRI detailed in the social media thread. "In a video recording, the senior doctor is seen walking toward an armored military vehicle and is taken from there for interrogation."

That same day, an Israeli spokesperson "confirmed that he was arrested and transferred for questioning, but since then, his whereabouts have entirely vanished," the group noted. "Unfortunately, the court gave the state one week to respond regarding the hospital director's location."

Following the email to PHRI, CNN reported Friday:

The IDF has since told CNN that Dr. Abu Safiya "was apprehended for suspected involvement in terrorist activities, and for holding a rank in the Hamas terror organization, while hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were hiding inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital under his management. He is currently being investigated by Israeli security forces."

It made similar allegations about the hospital and its director around the time of the raid on the facility, without providing evidence for the claims.

While decimating Gaza hospitals and other civilian infrastructure—and killing at least 45,658 Palestinians—since October 2023, the IDF has repeatedly accused those killed and detained of ties to militant groups, often without sharing any evidence.

Citing recently released former detainees, CNNreported Monday that Abu Safiya was among the medical professionals being held at Israel's notorious Sde Teiman military base in the Negev Desert, but his location has not been publicly confirmed as of Friday.

PHRI on Friday circulated comments from Dr. Muhammad Brika, Abu Safiya's colleague at Kamal Adwan Hospital, who said: "To suggest he isn't in custody is an insult to the public's intelligence. The events we experienced were very clear."

"We remained at Kamal Adwan until the very end, until the military invaded the hospital," Brika continued, recalling the attack. "Dr. Abu Safiya was there the entire time. The image shown in the media, where he appears to be led towards the tank, does not reflect the reality of his arrest... Many details haven't been made public, and the truth is far different from the narrative they've tried to create."

"That same day, around 10:00 pm, we were forcibly transported to Al-Fakhoora school, with Dr. Abu Safiya up front," the doctor explained. "Upon arrival, we were treated horribly—forced to strip down to our underwear and left standing in the freezing cold. This continued until 1:30 am, during which Dr. Abu Safiya was taken into the school, either for interrogation or to give testimony. It's unclear what exactly was happening."

Abu Safiya was then brought back to the rest of the hospital workers, according to Brika. Israeli officers "told us one group would be arrested while the other would be allowed to leave the school," the doctor said. "At the last moment, they called Dr. Abu Safiya back and dressed him in white prison clothes in front of the entire medical staff. He was then formally arrested and taken into their custody, while the rest of us were allowed to leave."



People worldwide have sounded the alarm over officials' mixed messages about the missing hospital director—including Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard, who on Thursday urged Israeli authorities to "urgently disclose" his location and said that he should be considered a victim of enforced disappearance, "and as such at great risk of torture and ill-treatment."

Following CNN's Friday reporting, Callamard reiterated her call for Abu Safiya's release. She also highlighted how, under his leadership, the Gaza hospital "played an indispensable role in treating children suffering from malnutrition and dehydration-related issues," and "received those wounded from a series of Israeli attacks on starving people as they waited for flour trucks, known as flour massacres.

From last February to October, Callamard said, "Dr. Abu Safiya was the go-to source for human rights and humanitarian organizations investigating the situation of the healthcare sector in north Gaza and the impact of the mixture of disease and hunger on children in particular, providing accurate, nonsensationalist, and credible information, coordinating with international health organizations, providing media briefings, all whilst obviously working as a dedicated pediatrician."

The human rights leader further emphasized that the IDF's unsubstantiated allegations about the hospital director and Hamas are relatively recent. She asserted that "Dr. Abu Safiya's unlawful detention is emblematic of the broader attacks on the healthcare sector in Gaza and Israel's attempts to annihilate it. It is part and parcel of Israel's genocidal intent and genocidal acts—meant to inflict conditions of life CALCULATED TO BRING ABOUT DESTRUCTION OF PALESTINIANS."

"Dr. Abu Safiya has been acting as a leading voice for the healthcare sector in the north of Gaza since October 2024 and refusing to abandon the hospital and his patients," Callamard noted. "He has stood against Israel's genocidal act and his arrest along with that of [hundreds] of Palestinian medical staff further provides evidence of genocidal intent."

"None of the medical staff abducted by Israeli forces since November 2023 from Gaza during raids on hospitals and clinics has been charged or put before a trial; those released after enduring unimaginable torture were never charged and did not stand trial," she added. "Those still detained remain held without charges or trial under inhumane conditions and at risk of torture."



According to PHRI, "Since October 2023, Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 230 doctors."

"The whereabouts and fate of many remain unknown, and requests for their location remain unanswered for many months," the group said Thursday. "In some cases, only thanks to the persistence of human rights organizations, information has been provided regarding the whereabouts of some of the missing. In some cases, it was revealed that the missing individuals died while in military or prison service custody."

Drop Site Newsreported Friday that the IDF ordered the "evacuation of al-Awda Hospital in north Gaza, warning that those who remain by 3:00 pm will face death or bombing," and pointed out that "around 65 healthcare workers and 30 patients are currently at the hospital."

In a Friday statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the United States, demanded action from the U.S. government, which has given Israel billions of dollars in weapons support as it has waged an assault on Gaza that's led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

"The Biden administration, which is a full partner in Israel's genocide, must act to secure the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and to end the far-right Israeli government's systematic assault on hospitals and medical personnel in Gaza," said CAIR. "Israeli attacks on medical facilities, its daily slaughter of Palestinian civilians, and its forced starvation of an entire population are clearly part of the overall genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza."

Report: 

Israel Detaining North Gaza Hospital Director in Notorious Torture Camp

A Palestinian recently released from Sde Teiman said Israeli guards beat Hussam Abu Safiya “until his eye was bleeding.”

By Sharon Zhang , 

Truthout

December 30, 2024

Ambulances transport wounded Palestinians from the Kamal Adwan Hospital to the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, on December 28, 2024.

Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP via Getty Images


Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

Israeli forces are reportedly detaining Kamal Adwan Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya in a camp notorious for torture, sexual assault and killings of Palestinians, after abducting him and carrying out a massacre in the hospital last week.

CNN reported on Monday, citing Palestinians recently released from Israeli custody, that Israel is holding Safiya in Sde Teiman camp, a camp likened to Guantánamo Bay for Israeli soldiers’ horrific treatment of detainees there, who are often held without charges. Detainees said that they had either seen and recognized the doctor or heard his name being read out.

CNN cited a man named Alaa Abu Banat, who was abducted and detained by Israeli forces 43 days ago while he was walking home. He said he talked to Safiya’s cellmate, who told him Israeli soldiers beat Safiya “until his eye was bleeding.” Israel’s torture camps, particularly Sde Teiman, have become infamous for their brutality against Palestinians throughout Israel’s genocide. The Israeli military has killed at least 60 Palestinian detainees in their custody since October 7, 2023, according to human rights sources.

“They are all still in detention. They treated them really badly especially the doctors,” Abu Banat told the outlet.

Safiya’s family also said in a statement on Monday that they have heard from recently released detainees that the doctor is being held at Sde Teiman.


Israel Orders Total Evacuation of North Gaza Hospital, Sets Facility Ablaze
The military threatened the hospital’s director, saying: “This time we will arrest you.”
By Sharon Zhang , Truthout December 27, 2024

Israeli forces claimed, without evidence, that Safiya was being held over suspicions that he is a member of Hamas — the same excuse used for nearly all Palestinian detainees from Gaza, even if they are later cleared of such claims. One eyewitness released from the torture camp said that soldiers there said they were holding prisoners simply for being from Gaza.

Images circulating online showed Safiya, a pediatrician, walking toward Israeli tanks in the wreckage of Israel’s assault on and around Kamal Adwan — formerly the last operational hospital in northern Gaza. His condition is unknown.

Israeli forces destroyed what was left of Kamal Adwan Hospital last week after having attacked and besieged the hospital for nearly three months straight. Soldiers set the facility ablaze after violently forcing dozens of patients and medical workers to evacuate, stripping many of them to their underwear and detaining others.

Safiya has been vocal throughout Israel’s assault, during which Israeli forces killed his son, Ibrahim. The doctor has provided crucial updates about Israel’s atrocities in and around the hospital while pleading, for months, for international intervention to help save the lives of dozens of patients and medical staff at Kamal Adwan. Israeli forces have detained him in previous raids of the facility, done as Israel has carried out its campaign of total ethnic cleansing in north Gaza.

Safiya’s family has put out an urgent appeal calling on the world, especially the World Health Organization and MedGlobal, to take action for his release. They warned that he is experiencing “extreme cold” in Israeli custody as witnesses have said that soldiers forced him to strip and used him as a human shield after the massacre.

“We have received testimonies from released detainees confirming that he has been subjected to humiliation and mistreatment, including being forced to remove his clothes and being used a as human shield,” his family said. “He is also suffering from extreme cold and deprivation of necessary medical care.”

MedGlobal, for which Safiya is a lead physician, has also called for his release.

“Dr. Abu Safiya has dedicated his life to protecting the health and lives of children in Gaza, providing care under conditions no medical professional should have to endure. His arrest is not only unjust — it is a violation of international humanitarian law, which upholds the protection of medical personnel in conflict zones,” the group’s president and co-founder, Zaher Sahloul, said in a statement. “We urgently call for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Abu Safiya.”

UN Expert Urges Medical Boycott of Israel After It Detains Hospital Director


Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health care system is a “critical tool of its ongoing genocide,” Francesca Albanese said.

By Sharon Zhang , 

Truthout

December 30, 2024

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese holds a press conference in Geneva on December 11, 2024.

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images

The UN’s top expert on the occupied Palestinian territories has called for medical professionals worldwide to cut ties with Israel after it destroyed northern Gaza’s last operational hospital and abducted its director, sparking an outcry.

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese called on the medical community to act on Monday, as reports emerged that Israeli forces are holding the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, at a torture camp for Palestinian detainees that’s notorious for its brutality.

“I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel’s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide,” Albanese said.

Israeli forces are reportedly holding Safiya at Israel’s Sde Teiman, where Palestinians, including children, have reported enduring constant torture, sexual assault and severe deprivation by Israeli guards. One witness, recently released from the facility, has told reporters that Israeli guards beat Safiya until his eye was bleeding. His current condition, like that of the thousands of Palestinians held by Israel without charges, is unknown.

Israeli authorities have claimed that Safiya and Kamal Adwan Hospital have ties with Hamas — a claim for which they have provided no evidence, and which, even if it were true, experts have said could not possibly justify their nearly three month-long assault of the hospital that has rendered it inoperable.

Advocates for Palestinian rights have long condemned Israel for its system of medical apartheid, while UN officials have found that Israel is carrying out a systematic campaign to destroy Gaza’s medical system. Israel’s destruction of Kamal Adwan means that northern Gaza is left without an operational hospital.

Albanese has called on international leaders to demand Safiya’s release. “Palestinians must be protected, especially those who have become icons of humanity in the face of an implacable genocide,” the UN expert said.
Safiya’s family has issued urgent pleas for the doctor’s release, begging international powers to stand up to Israel’s aggression.

A multitude of figures and groups have called for the release of Safiya — one of many doctors and health care workers targeted by Israeli forces throughout Israel’s genocide.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the WHO has not been informed of Safiya’s condition and called for Israel to release him.

“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat. Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza is out of service — following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two days ago,” Tedros said. “His whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release.”

Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa office called for Safiya to be released “immediately and unconditionally.”

“For months Dr. Abu Safiya has been the voice of Gaza’s decimated health sector, appealing for the protection of his hospital and working under inhumane conditions, including following the killing of his son,” the group said. “Israel must immediately release all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, including health workers. Hospitals and health workers are not targets.”

Israel’s assault of Kamal Adwan has been extremely brutal, with weeks of attacks from Israel including weapons like booby trapped robots and barrels, drones and bombs. According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli military also carried out field executions and sexual assault in its attack on Friday. Some survivors described being used as human shields by Israeli forces, after being forcibly stripped.

The group urged the UN to immediately launch an investigation into Israel’s destruction of the hospital.

“During the assault, Israeli forces destroyed and burned most of Kamal Adwan Hospital’s sections after targeting it with shells. Preliminary information also indicates that several hospital staff members were killed while trying to extinguish fires in one of the hospital’s sections, which was completely rendered out of service,” the group found.

“Euro-Med Monitor reaffirms that the failure of states to fulfill their legal obligations to halt the genocide in Gaza over the past 14 months, coupled with their refusal to take decisive steps to compel Israel to stop its crimes, renders them internationally liable for these atrocities, with some states effectively becoming accomplices,” Euro-Med Monitor went on.

Allies Demand Release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya From Notorious Israeli Prison

"Bombing of hospitals and kidnapping, torturing, and killing doctors and healthcare workers is illegal and immoral and a crime according to the Genocide Convention," asserted Doctors for Humanity.



Kamal Adwan Hospital Director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya approaches the open door of an Israel Defense Forces tank after an Israeli raid on the facility, in Beit Lahia on December 28, 2024.
(Photo: Channel 14 screen grab)


Brett Wilkins
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


Human rights defenders in the global medical community and beyond are demanding Israel immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza's obliterated Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was seized by Israeli troops on Saturday and is believed to be imprisoned at a notorious detention center where dozens of detainees have died and where torture, rape, and other abuses have been reported.

"We appeal to world leaders, to the global medical community, and to all who value humanity: Help us save our friend, our colleague, and a true healer," Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle, a Boston-based pediatric neurologist and co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide, told Common Dreams on Monday.

"Put all kinds of pressure to ensure his release so he can return to his patients, who need him desperately, and to his family, who cannot endure this pain," Kuemmerle added. "We demand a reality that respects life, respects human rights, and respects every man, woman, and child for humanity's sake."



Doctors for Humanity—a coalition of groups including Global Health Coalition, Doctors Against Genocide, and Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations—said in a statement Monday, "We the medical community demand the immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiya and an immediate end to the bombing of hospitals and targeted kidnapping and killing of healthcare workers in Gaza."

"Bombing of hospitals and kidnapping, torturing and killing doctors and healthcare workers is illegal and immoral and a crime according to the Genocide Convention," Doctors for Humanity added.

Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder the Illinois-based NGO MedGlobal, for whom Safiya works as lead Gaza physician, said over the weekend that "Dr. Abu Safiya has dedicated his life to protecting the health and lives of children in Gaza, providing care under conditions no medical professional should have to endure."

"His arrest is not only unjust—it is a violation of international humanitarian law, which upholds the protection of medical personnel in conflict zones," the group added. "We urgently call for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Abu Safiya."

Dr. Yipeng Ge—who in November 2023 was suspended from his medical residency at the University of Ottawa for social media posts critical of Israel's "settler-colonialism" and "apartheid upon Palestinian people"—called for Abu Safiya's "immediate release," as well as "protection of hospitals and medical workers in Gaza" and "an end to the genocide" there.



Amnesty International secretary-general Agnès Callamard hailed Abu Safiya as "the voice of Gaza's decimated health sector," who pleaded "for the protection of his hospital" while "working under inhumane conditions, including following the killing of his son" by an Israeli drone strike at the hospital gates earlier this year.

"We at Amnesty are extremely concerned over the fate and well-being of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya," Callamard said. "He must be released immediately and unconditionally."

Recently released former detainees at the Sde Teiman prison in Israel's Negev Desert said Abu Safiya is being held there, and that the Israeli security forces working there—some of whom stand accused of gang-raping a prisoner—are treating captured Palestinian doctors "really badly."

Idrees Abu Safiya, Abu Safiya's son, toldThe Guardian on Monday that his father's leg was badly injured during the Israeli raid on the hospital.

"We are so worried, we haven't been able to sleep for three days because we didn't know until today where he is," Idrees told the British newspaper.

Relatives of Abu Safiya toldCNN that "Sde Teiman is known for brutality and torture, we can't imagine what our father is going through in that place and if he is well or not, warm or cold… hungry or in pain."

Kuemmerle told Common Dreams: "What is striking about Dr. Abu Safiya is his extraordinary composure, kindness, and unwavering dedication, even in the face of unimaginable hardships. We have come to know his bravery, dedication, humane professionalism, and gentle manners. We are terrified for his fate, knowing all too well as Palestinians the horrors that await our doctors in these torture camps."

Israel claims that Abu Safiya—who, despite the killing of his son and an injury caused by shrapnel from a November 23 Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan, refused to stop working at the hospital—is a suspected Hamas terrorist. That's a common allegation made by Israeli officials, who also often claim that hospitals are used as Hamas command-and-control centers. These officials usually offer very little if any evidence to support their assertions.

"The lies that are being spread right now that [Abu Safiya] is really a Hamas colonel are lies to prevent what is happening right now, which is a global wave of outrage, and that global wave of outrage must grow so we, the global medical community, can stop the relentless attacks on healthcare workers and healthcare infrastructure," Dr. Rupa Marya, a University of California, San Francisco professor of medicine who's currently on paid suspension after questioning whether an Israeli student and likely Israel Defense Forces (IDF) veteran may have committed war crimes, told Common Dreams.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, hundreds of healthcare workers have been detained and more than 1,000 have been killed since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Critics accuse Israel of deliberately killing and wounding health workers.

The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor on Saturday published the testimonies of witnesses to alleged IDF war crimes during the Kamal Adwan raid, including "deliberate killings, field executions, as well as sexual and physical assaults on women and girls from medical teams and displaced women in the area."

Responding to Israeli attacks on hospitals and Abu Safiya's detention, Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy and campaigns at London-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, said on the Bluesky social media platform Saturday that "our leaders must demand the immediate and safe release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all detained Gaza health workers."

"Health workers are not a target," he added, "and impunity for Israel's destruction of Palestinian healthcare must end."