Israel / Gaza: Al Ahli hospital’s Christian ethic
Founded by CMS, Al Ahli hospital was run by the Baptist Church until 1982 when it became part of the Episcopal diocese of Jerusalem, offering care to all, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation. The hospital is a partner of Embrace the Middle East, who described the hospital’s deaths as ‘utterly heartbreaking: not only the immediate loss of innocent lives but also the loss of a vital institution that provides healthcare for the people of Gaza regardless of background. It is a Christian Anglican hospital that has no connection whatsoever with Hamas. This is the destruction of the very institutions that maintain a vestige of hope for people in desperate need. The Christian population in Gaza is tiny. We, and for sure, they, have every reason to fear for its very survival.’ The hospital’s aim is to ‘plant hope in the heart of the people of Gaza’.
Egypt: hopes of reopening border crossing to Gaza
Machinery to repair roads has been sent through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in preparation for the delivery of some of the aid stockpiled in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, two security sources said on Thursday. Rafah is the only crossing not controlled by Israel but has been out of operation since the first days of the conflict in Gaza following Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side of the border. The USA and Egypt have been pushing for a deal with Israel to get aid delivered to Gaza, and on 18 October the White House said that it had been agreed for up to 20 trucks to pass through, with hopes for more later. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents depended on aid before the current conflict started on 7 October, and about 100 trucks daily were providing humanitarian relief to the enclave, according to the UN. At least that number are waiting close to the crossing, though it was not expected that aid would enter before 20 October. More aid is being held in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, some 45 km away. Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said Israel would not block aid for civilians entering Gaza from Egypt, as long as those supplies do not reach Hamas.
USA: healthcare clinic challenging pro-abortion law
A Catholic healthcare clinic is challenging a Colorado law that forbids giving women a natural hormone to reverse the effects of the abortion pill and save a baby's life. Mother and daughter nurse practitioners Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett founded Bella Health and Wellness, a ‘life-affirming, dignified healthcare’ facility for men, women, and children. It is one of many healthcare clinics across the nation which offer progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone essential for maintaining a healthy pregnancy, to women at risk of miscarriage. But Colorado has now passed a law that prohibits clinics from offering progesterone in order to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, in spite of evidence of its safety and efficacy. Now, Chism and Sinnett say they run the risk of losing their medical licences and being liable to pay $20,000 per violation if they continue their ministry to pregnant women who seek their help. In September California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against two major pro-life pregnancy centres to stop them from advertising abortion pill reversal services, claiming that the natural hormone used to reverse the abortion pill is risky and ‘has no credible scientific backing’. However, the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) website says that there is a 64-68% success rate for women who follow their protocol, adding that ‘thousands of lives have been saved’.
Sudan: UK describes ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Darfur
Recent analysis of satellite and social media data reveals that at least 68 villages in Darfur have been set on fire by Sudanese armed militias since the civil war began in April. The UK minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said this bore ‘all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing’ - the first time the government has used the term to describe what is happening in Sudan. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), said that he would cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring those guilty to justice. Much of the ethnic violence is blamed on militias which are part of - or affiliated to - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the SAF for control of the country. The RSF has repeatedly denied any involvement in the violence in the region and has called for an independent international investigation. The analysis has been carried out by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), which uses Nasa heat-recognition technology and satellite images to identify fires and matches them with images on social media.
