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Hospitals Targeted By the Syrian Air Force in Aleppo

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Continuing a long-held practice of depopulating cities by restricting access to public services and destroying residential areas, the Syrian government has yet again committed multiple human rights violations just in the past day.

According to activists, the Syrian Air Force conducted airstrikes in Aleppo city, destroying five hospital clinics that provide much-needed care for the besieged inhabitants. The violence in and around Aleppo has continued to increase in the past few weeks mainly due to the recent government siege taking place. Throughout the course of this time, many hospitals and ambulance trucks have been deliberately targeted due to the value that they bring to the population centers in rebel-held Aleppo.

An activist based in Aleppo confirmed the strikes on the hospitals and also mentioned that one of the few blood banks in the entire city was destroyed as well. In these strikes five people were also killed, adding to the already inflated and staggering death toll that has risen perpetually for the last five years.

A non-governmental organization called Physicians for Human Rights has been documenting the tragedies occurring in Syria when it pertains to health care and medical personnel. They have noted that over 750 medical personnel, whether it be doctors, nurses, or first responders, have been killed. They accredit a majority of these deaths to be caused by the Syrian military and by the Russian Air Force that has been operating in the country for almost a year now. Detailing the number of attacks, Physicians for Human Rights has also claimed that there have been over 373 separate instances where medical facilities in the country have either been attacked or completely destroyed. To consider these attacks to be accidental or unintended would be shortsighted, to say the least. The high frequency of attacks on medical facilities is too great to consider to be coincidences.

As mentioned earlier, the implications for these deliberate attacks are dire. Not only these attacks end up limiting the quality and amount of healthcare that can be employed in the city, but it will also inevitably lead to the rise in fatalities as most injuries in the city are major injuries caused by bombings and other traumatic events. In addition, with the lack of medical facilities operating on a daily basis, the spread of diseases and germs will consequently be on the rise which could pose even greater health issues in the future.

These attacks come in the wake of recent talks between the United States and Russia to potentially cooperate and facilitate military operations in the country against groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS. These talks are aimed at not only minimizing the threats posed by the extremist groups in Syria to the outside world but also to try to bring about a cessation of hostilities that is very much needed. However, besides the feasibility of such cooperation, the talks appear to have stalled or at least haven’t progressed in the past few days.

As the siege of Aleppo intensifies, expect to see in uptick in violence targeted at the remaining medical facilities and other vital public service locations. This brutal tactic of the Syrian government has been implemented since the beginning of the conflict so don’t expect the Syrian government to retract on their position in considering medical personnel and facilities to be legitimate targets. As a matter of fact, the situation will only become much worse. Unfortunately, it will only get worse at the expense of the innocent caught in the crossfire.

Featured Image via Youtube/Doctors Without Borders / MSF-USA

Defence

Finland will close all but the northernmost border crossing with Russia.

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To stop the flow of asylum seekers into the Nordic country, Finland will block all but the northernmost crossing point on its border with Russia starting at midnight on Friday, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Wednesday.

More than 600 individuals who arrived in Finland through Russia without proper travel credentials for the European Union since the beginning of the month prompted Helsinki to close several crossings and accuse Moscow of facilitating the flow of migrants into the country. The Kremlin refutes the accusation.

Orpo stated during a news conference, “The government has decided to close more border stations today.”

According to immigration authorities, the asylum applicants are from a variety of countries, including Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria.

According to a spokeswoman, in response to a request from Helsinki, the European Union border agency Frontex intends to send personnel and equipment as early as next week.

EU migration commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Tuesday Finland has sought for 60 Frontex personnel on top of 10 currently stationed along its 1,340-kilometre boundary with Russia.

Following 75 migrants’ attempts to enter from Russia since last week, the majority of them were from Somalia and Syria, Estonia earlier on Wednesday accused Russia of being involved in “a hybrid attack operation” to send refugees to its border.

The Baltic nation said that it was ready to deal with migrants who attempted to enter beyond authorized crossings and to restrict border crossings if Russian pressure to control migration increased.

On Wednesday, the Finnish border guard reported that illegal immigration was still occurring at Russian border crossing locations and had advanced northward to the frontier stations of Vartius and Salla, which were still accepting asylum requests.

Finland claimed that despite a consensus that those two crossing points were only accessible by car, Russia permitted refugees to pass them on foot.

“There are growing signs that the situation is worsening on the eastern border,” Orpo stated.

Except for the Raja-Jooseppi crossing in the Arctic, Finland will close three of the remaining border crossing locations on Friday at midnight. The closure of all other border points for Finns wishing to enter Russia will continue until December 23.

“Raja-Jooseppi is the northernmost (border crossing) and it requires a real effort to get there,” Orpo stated.

He said that to avoid closing the border entirely, the administration will work to change the laws.

President Sauli Niinisto declared on Monday that it was now difficult to repatriate those who do not fit the requirements for asylum and demanded an EU-wide solution to halt unauthorized immigration into the passport-free Schengen area of Europe.

On Monday, the Kremlin said that it had officially protested Finland’s decision to close part of its border, claiming that the move was anti-Russian.

Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia accused Belarus, a strong ally of Moscow, of deliberately inciting a migrant crisis at their borders in 2021 by flying in individuals from the Middle East and Africa and trying to force them across the border. Belarus has refuted these accusations on several occasions.

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Defence

Russia push for UN Security Council action on Israel, Gaza fails

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Monday’s vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution sponsored by Russia that demanded a humanitarian truce in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists Hamas in Gaza was postponed until Tuesday.

Five people voted in favor of the resolution, four against it, and six others abstained. For a resolution to be approved, it must have at least nine votes in favor and not face vetoes from the five permanent members (the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom).

“Today, the entire world waited with bated breath for the Security Council to take steps in order to put an end to the bloodletting, but the delegations of the Western countries have basically stomped on those expectations,” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said to the council after the vote.

On Friday, Russia put out a one-page draft language that included demands for hostage release, access to humanitarian aid, and the safe evacuation of vulnerable populations. The document denounced all forms of terrorism and brutality against civilians but omitted mentioning Hamas, responsible for the 1,300 deaths in Israel on October 7.

“By neglecting to denounce Hamas, Russia is protecting a terrorist organization that brutally assaults defenseless individuals. It is revolting. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the U.N., called it “hypocritical and indefensible.”

She stated that while the United States typically abstains from council action in favor of its friend Israel, “we do agree that this council should take action, but we have to get it right and we’ll work intensely with all members on the council to do so,”

To allow the council more time to compromise, the vote on the opposing Brazilian-drafted resolution, which denounces “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas,” was postponed until late Tuesday.

Amid U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s exhausting meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, the council convened.

In the bloodiest attack on civilians in Israel’s 75-year history, Hamas fighters attacked Israeli cities, murdered 1,300 people, and took hostages. As a result, Israel has promised to destroy Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.

Israel is putting Gaza under complete isolation and preparing a ground attack while launching the most severe aerial bombardment ever. According to the Gazan authorities, at least 2,750 Palestinians have died.

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AFRICA

President’s “Non-Starter” Deal Will Not End Shutdown

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This week, shutdown polls showed the American public blame President Trump for the government shutdown. To divert Americans’ attention elsewhere, President Trump tried to make a deal with Democrats on Saturday. Among other elements, the deal consists of three years’ legislative relief to DACA recipients and a three-year extension of temporary protected status for 300,000 immigrants whose protected status is about to expire. In exchange for these provisions, $5.7 billion border wall funding will finally be paid for. The so-called deal is a non-starter because it contains the wall House Speaker Pelosi refuses to compromise on. Moreover, Democrats seek to reopen government before beginning negotiations on border security. Democrats are presenting a united front and refusing to budge on the wall together, at least until the government is opened.

To Pelosi, the wall is an expensive and unnecessary item border security can do perfectly fine without. To President Trump, the wall is an integral part of his campaign promise and essential to seal off the border, stopping illegal crooks and helping border security officials do their jobs.

Support for the wall is clearly divided along partisan lines. Many Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, supported President Trump’s latest proposal. McConnell said he will floor Trump’s proposal in the Senate next week. Sen. Mitt Romney is also in favor of the proposal. House Republicans too considered Trump’s deal to be bipartisan, fair, and reasonable.

Speaker Pelosi said any one item in the deal was not likely to pass the House, let alone the compilation of all items. Moreover, Trump’s proposal does not offer a permanent solution to Dreamers and TPS recipients. Dreamers and TPS recipients had their protections initially removed by President Trump. President Trump’s deal with the Democrats can hardly be called a deal at all considering the Democrats were not consulted before Trump’s announcement and none of their policy demands were met. His proposal is a consolidation of items Democrats previously voted for and band-aid solutions to Democratic immigration priorities.

Other Democrats such as Sen. Tim Kaine and Mark Werner, both of whom represent Virginia where many federal workers reside, were displeased President Trump did not address the sufferings of federal workers going without pay. Without their paychecks, federal workers, who tend to be paid less overall, can barely make ends meet with mortgage and child care payments. There is increasing dependence on food banks. The government shutdown enters its 29th day.

 

Featured image via Flickr/The White House

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