The following is a statement by Head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Ajith Sunghay.
Civilians continue to face the brunt of the escalation in Gaza. The situation is nothing short of a catastrophe.
Last Saturday, I was in Khan Younis, where I met with people who were frustrated, angry and understandably wary. And yet they spoke to me, explaining their situation, treating me with warmth and respect in the middle of a brutal, unconscionable situation, explaining how they fled their homes to seek shelter in overcrowded, makeshift camps.
How children have not gone to school in months – and their schools have been destroyed, as have their universities, destroying their hopes for the future. The personal cost to each individual, each family, in addition to the killings of loved ones. Family separation, violence against women, documents destroyed, homes and communities uprooted, health deteriorating.
In Rafah, I saw displaced people who had been ordered by Israeli authoritie
s to leave their homes, with no provision for their accommodation, literally living on the street, with sewage running in the streets and conditions of desperation conducive to a complete breakdown in order.
And even in the midst of it all, human rights and humanitarian NGOs, our counterparts in Gaza, continue their courageous work, trying to make sure human rights violations are properly documented and humanitarian response continues – even as their own lives fall apart.
Over the past few days, these warm, heroic, long-suffering people I met have been caught in the midst of ever intensifying violence, from Israeli airstrikes and street-to-street fighting between Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Palestinian armed groups. There have been near continuous attacks, including on medical facilities and schools in Khan Younis, UN facilities, as well as residential areas.
The people I spoke to fear the extreme violence is spilling into Rafah – which will have catastrophic implications for the more than 1.3 million
people already crowded there.
Shelling by the IDF continues in areas that it has unilaterally designated as ‘safe’ areas, including Al Mawasi in western Khan Younis.
Even after explosions were reported in Al Mawasi on 22 and 23 January, the IDF continued to order residents of western Khan Younis to move there. The order, which was issued repeatedly on 23, 24 and 25 January, reportedly affects more than half a million people as well as three hospitals which have been under heavy attacks and siege – An Nassr Hospital, Al Amal Hospital and Jordanian Field Hospital. I have very grave concerns that these chaotic and mass evacuation orders are ineffective in ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians, instead placing them in increasingly vulnerable, dangerous, situations.
Attacks on hospitals, schools, and other places of refuge have repeatedly displaced Palestinians into ever smaller areas, with ever decreasing access to the essentials needed to sustain life. Such a failure violates Israel’s obligations under
international law.
Having personally witnessed and heard the testimonies of those who have endured so much pain and suffering, I am very, very worried. I fear that many more civilians will die. The continued attacks on specially protected facilities, such as hospitals, will kill civilians, and there will be a further, massive impact on access to health care, safety and security in general of Palestinians.
We are also very worried about the impact of the rainy, cold weather in Gaza, which was entirely predictable at this time of the year and risks making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the people. Most have no warm clothes or blankets. Northern Gaza, where IDF bombardment continues, is barely accessible even to provide basic humanitarian aid.
The apparent disregard for international law needs to end. The violence needs to end. Humanitarian aid needs to be delivered without impediment to all those who need it. We urge a ceasefire, immediately, we urge the release of hostages, and
we urge a political solution to the causes of this conflict that respects and ensures the rights of all Palestinians and Israelis.
Source: National news agency – Lebanon
ABU DHABI: The inaugural Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) Entrepreneurship Courses concluded with 12 AI-based startup business plans presented at an on-campus event in Masdar City.
Twenty-two students gained the entrepreneurial skills, tools, and networks needed to commercialise their AI solutions in the UAE, and three startups were fast-tracked for financial grants from MBZUAI.
Jointly launched by MBZUAI’s Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (MIEC) and startAD, the Abu Dhabi-based startup accelerator powered by Tamkeen and anchored at NYU Abu Dhabi, the programme aims to boost the AI startup ecosystem in Abu Dhabi.
The top three AI-assisted technologies and applications are Audiomatic, which provides automatic and emotionally intelligent audio production for video content, including customised scores, sound effects, and narrations; Limb, an application providing accessible physiotherapy information such as exercise correction and pain management features; and Momzo, a co
mplete AI assistant for women’s maternity to motherhood powered by generative AI.
‘These are the first AI-focused entrepreneurship courses at the university and in the UAE and come on the eve of an expected AI startup boom led by generative AI,’ MBZUAI’s Vice President of Public Affairs and Alumni Relations Sultan Al Hajji said.
He added, ‘The entrepreneurship courses actively encourage students to take advantage of the favourable entrepreneurial environment in Abu Dhabi and ignite the potential to transform their research and engineering know-how into a business. The startup pitches highlight specific-industry and application-use cases and have the potential to make a significant impact on society with their bold, sophisticated, and innovative concepts.’
Managing Director of startAD Ramesh Jagannathan said, ‘The MBZUAI IEC programme immersed AI innovators in the exciting world of innovation and entrepreneurship, where they learned to apply business literacy heuristics to their ideas. According to an Accen
ture Report, AI will add $182 billion in annual gross value to the UAE’s economy by 2035. These startup projects demonstrate high potential and are poised to strengthen the UAE’s knowledge economy.’
The 22 graduates represent more than ten nationalities, with 41% being women. All participants graduated from the intensive five-week entrepreneurship courses, which included eight workshops and three community engagement events covering topics such as idea generation, market discovery, prototyping, and pitching.
The 12 startup business plans covered a variety of verticals, including AI safety, AI for health, AI for social good, and more.
The top three pitches were named by a panel of expert judges, including Jean-Luc Scherer, business incubation expert and advisor at Sandooq Al Watan; Mariam Al Badr, director of outreach at Khalifa Fund; Dr. Ramzi Ben Ouaghrem, director of research development and engagement at MBZUAI; Michael Huang, acting director of strategy and IEQA at MBZUAI; and Selim Tira, investment re
presentative at Shorooq Partners.
Source: Emirates News Agency