Switzerland

Switzerland: With antisemitism rising as the Israel-Hamas war rages, Europe’s Jews worry

GENEVA (AP) — As he sits in Geneva, Michel Dreifuss does not feel all that far away from the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza. The ripples are rolling through Europe and upending assumptions both global and intimate — including those about his personal safety as a Jew.

WHO chief 'appalled' by attack on Gaza's Indonesian Hospital

21 November 2023; MEMO: The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief yesterday said he is “appalled” by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Anadolu news agency reported.

The attack reportedly resulted “in 12 deaths, including patients, and tens of injuries, including critical and life-threatening ones,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Iran FM describes Palestinian resistance as legitimate liberation movement

Tehran, IRNA - Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has termed the Palestinian resistance as a liberating and legitimate movement against the usurped Zionist regime.

Addressing a number of UN officials, humanitarian organizations, religious institutions, university professors, and some foreign ambassadors in Geneva on Wednesday, Amirabdollahian highlighted that “there is no logic and basis for the right to legitimate defense for the occupying regime".

WHO says Israel raid on Gaza hospital is totally unacceptable

15 November 2023; MEMO: The World Health Organisation head said, on Wednesday, that the Israeli military incursion into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza was “totally unacceptable”, Reuters reports.

Israeli troops entered Shifa, Gaza’s biggest hospital, on Wednesday as part of their assault on the Palestinian Territory.

Israel says Hamas fighters have headquarters in tunnels beneath it. Hamas denies this is the case.

U.N. observes minute's silence for 101 staff killed in Gaza

GENEVA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - United Nations workers observed a minute's silence on Monday to honour the more than 100 employees killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began last month, the largest toll of humanitarian workers in the organisation's 78-year history.

Staff at U.N. offices in Geneva bowed their heads as a candle was lit in memory of the 101 employees of U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza. U.N. flags across the world flew at half mast.

'If there’s a hell on earth today, it's northern Gaza': UN

11 November 2023; MEMO: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, stated: “If there is a hell on earth today, its name is northern Gaza.”

His remarks were made at a press conference held by Laerke on Friday at the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Over 100 UN staffers killed in 1 month in Gaza: Official

10 November 2023; MEMO: The UN Agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, said Friday that more than 100 of its staff have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestine war on 7 October, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Devastated. Over 100 UNRWA colleagues confirmed killed in 1 month. Parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, (and) support staff,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

Switzerland: Fight against TB back on track after Covid disruptions: WHO

GENEVA, Nov 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Deaths from tuberculosis dipped last year amid a dramatic increase in diagnosis and treatment of the world’s second deadliest disease, the World Health Organization said.

   The UN health agency hailed a “significant worldwide recovery” in efforts to rein in tuberculosis, marking “an encouraging trend starting to reverse the detrimental effects of Covid-19 disruptions on TB services”.

70% of Gaza victims are children, women; UNRWA chief

01 November 2023; MEMO: Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Organisation for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said 70 per cent of the Palestinian martyrs who have been killed by the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 7 October are children and women, warning that there is no safe place in Gaza.

Subscribe to Switzerland