When Claire Magone, director general of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) France, recently arrived in Gaza, she found herself in a “living nightmare”.
Bomb blasts reverberated around her, even in areas deemed safe in central Gaza, as she tried to support her teams working in a field hospital.
“At every corner, you are exposed to death and loss. Either you die on the spot or you are pushed to the south, where you barely find any space to survive,” she told The National in an interview after leaving the enclave this week.
Her testimony reflects a grim assessment two years into the war. In October 2023, a week after the Hamas attacks and the start of Israel’s war, she released a video describing the carpet-bombing campaign as “dramatic”. Today, for MSF and its director general, that war has become a “loud and clear genocide” against Palestinians.
The Israeli army has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded at least 169,000 others. Among them are about 20,000 children killed and about 40,000 injured, according to estimates by several charity groups.
For Ms Magone, who co-edited a book about lessons learnt from MSF staff in several regions, one of the most disturbing trends she witnessed is the Israeli army’s attempt to normalise hospital bombings and reverse the burden of proof.
“Each time a hospital has been attacked or surrounded, instead of being held accountable for these attacks, the IDF has asked repeatedly humanitarian workers and medical staff … to justify, to give them a good reason not to bomb hospitals,” she said.
“Proportionality, the principle of precaution and the principle of distinction … have been distorted. They have been distorted to justify attacks on hospitals.”
The result is impunity, she argued. “The total impunity in which the [Israeli military] is conducting that war with the support of western countries is really something that is a new norm.”
Gradual disappearance
Despite the UN Human Rights Council and respected scholars characterising Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide, few countries have taken concrete steps to halt the conflict.
France and several other nations recently recognised Palestinian statehood, while the US administration – which has vetoed every UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to the war – put forward a plan that demands Hamas’s surrender but offers no guarantees that Israel will withdraw.
So far, no Israeli official has been held accountable for the mass killing in the enclave, even those from the military who have publicly stated that the plan was to kill 50 Palestinians for every Israeli killed in the Hamas attacks. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, but many countries are not expected to enforce them.
“As you know, the very plan of Israel regarding the West Bank and also Gaza could be called a genocide for decades,” said Ms Magone. She added that many people have pointed to “the gradual disappearance of the Palestinian population” as evidence of such intent.
But what pushed MSF to adopt that term in the context of Gaza's war, she explained, was “the way the Israeli army had systematically destroyed the health system and … the very social fabric that was supporting civilian life”. She added that there are zero fully functioning hospitals and only 14 out of 36 health structures in the enclave are partly functioning.
Ms Magone, whose recent visit to Gaza was her first since the war began, stressed that calling it genocide carries obligations for the international community. “If they don’t want to have a specific complicity in what’s happening, then the violence must be stopped.”
The US ceasefire plan, currently under revision by Hamas, calls for an immediate halt to the Israeli campaign. However, many western and Arab officials believe that the goal of the current Israeli government, which includes far-right extremists, is far bigger than that.
The government has rejected a Palestinian state, built new illegal settlements, gradually annexed parts of the occupied West Bank, and seized more territory not only in Gaza but also in Syria and Lebanon. Many Israeli officials have called for annexing north Gaza before grabbing the whole territory.
Waiting for a bus
“What is sure is that people are gradually pushed by the bombs and by food and water scarcity further to the south,” said Ms Magone, adding that the entire population of Gaza – around two million people – is being ousted into less than 15 per cent of the land.
“And the end of the story, I would say, seems to be that they will be cornered in one tiny area of the Gaza Strip, which might become the waiting room for mass deportation that is part of Israel's plan,” she added.
Recently, the relentless Israeli offensive in the enclave’s largest urban area, Gaza city, forced MSF to suspend vital medical activities.
“What was heartbreaking for our teams is that we were treating … wounded patients in extremely bad shape. Some of them, we tried to tell them, try to go south where you could find maybe some health care that we cannot provide you any more,” Ms Magone stated.
“They were just asking us: where do you want me to go? There is no space any more in the south,” she added.
The Israeli army “has made life unbearable in the Gaza Strip. And now the population is stuck between those two impossible choices: either dying on the spot or being promised a slow death in the south”.
Last year, MSF carried out a mortality survey among its own healthcare workers in Gaza to measure the human cost of the war. The study revealed that 40 per cent of the family members killed were children.
“The number of children who have been killed, burnt and bombed by the Israeli army is unprecedented in the history of recent conflicts,” Ms Magone said. The total number of people wounded “would not have any functioning health system that could cope with such a number”, she added.
She was speaking to The National on Thursday, the same day an MSF medic was killed and four others were wounded. Omar Hayek, 42, was the 14th MSF staff member to be killed since the start of the Israeli campaign.
“Everywhere you can be struck by a drone, a quadcopter, an air strike,” she said. “But you don't really know what the purpose of that target is. What is true, what is very sure, is that they don't care.”
The MSF team, clearly identified as health workers, was hit by an Israeli strike while waiting on a street for a bus to a field hospital.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
UAE%20set%20for%20Scotland%20series
%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20will%20host%20Scotland%20for%20a%20three-match%20T20I%20series%20at%20the%20Dubai%20International%20Stadium%20next%20month.%3Cbr%3EThe%20two%20sides%20will%20start%20their%20Cricket%20World%20Cup%20League%202%20campaigns%20with%20a%20tri-series%20also%20involving%20Canada%2C%20starting%20on%20January%2029.%3Cbr%3EThat%20series%20will%20be%20followed%20by%20a%20bilateral%20T20%20series%20on%20March%2011%2C%2013%20and%2014.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Brave CF 27 fight card
Welterweight:
Abdoul Abdouraguimov (champion, FRA) v Jarrah Al Selawe (JOR)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (TUN) v Alex Martinez (CAN)
Welterweight:
Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA) v Khamzat Chimaev (SWE)
Middleweight:
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Rustam Chsiev (RUS)
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) v Christofer Silva (BRA)
Super lightweight:
Alex Nacfur (BRA) v Dwight Brooks (USA)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) v Tariq Ismail (CAN)
Chris Corton (PHI) v Zia Mashwani (PAK)
Featherweight:
Sulaiman (KUW) v Abdullatip (RUS)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) v Mohammad Al Katib (JOR)
57%20Seconds
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Company%20Profile
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory