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Thousands join pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva

Several thousand people demonstrated in a pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva on Saturday as Israel readied troops for an expected invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Published: 15 October 2023 08:54 CEST
Thousands join pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva
A protester has a sticker reading "Free Palestine" on her forehead during a rally in support of Palestinians in Geneva, on October 14, 2023. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP.

Police and organisers said around 6,000 people attended, national broadcaster RTS reported. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper gave the same figure.

Protesters marched behind a banner reading “Free Palestine” and chanted “Long live Palestine” and “Israel: assassins”, while dozens waved Palestinian flags. Demonstrators marched under heavy police escort.

Cardboard placards read: “What you’re calling ‘self defence’ is actually a genocide”, “End Israeli apartheid”, “Boycott Israel” and “We want peace in Palestine and not a Palestine in pieces”.

One boy held a placard reading: “Save the children of Gaza”.

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday, one week on from the deadliest attack in its history, as it urged Palestinians to flee the area before an expected ground offensive against Hamas commanders.

There has been no let-up in Israel’s response to the Islamist fighters’ dawn raid, which saw them break through the heavily fortified border and gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people.

On the Gazan side, health officials said more than 2,200 people had been killed. As on the Israeli side, most were civilians.

Swiss dual-national killed

A Swiss-Israeli dual national was among the victims of the Hamas attacks, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Friday. The victim has not been identified.

The foreign ministry “currently has no information regarding other victims or injured Swiss nationals in these terrorist attacks,” it said Saturday.

Between 10 and 20 specialists from Switzerland’s disaster victim identification team could be sent to Israel in the coming days to help identify victims of the Hamas attack, the foreign ministry said Friday, following a request from Israel.

Their main task will be to identify the deceased in accordance with international standards, using characteristics such as DNA and fingerprints.

Around 880 people have so far returned to Switzerland on four special repatriation flights from Tel Aviv to Zurich.

However, Swiss International Air Lines has now suspended the flights, citing the expected Israeli ground offensive, cancelling two flights scheduled for Saturday.

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POLITICS

Swiss earmark 10 million francs for UNRWA in Gaza

Switzerland is proposing to give $11 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, specifically for tackling the humanitarian crisis in Gaza triggered by the war between Israel and Hamas.

Published: 8 May 2024 14:18 CEST
Swiss earmark 10 million francs for UNRWA in Gaza

The government’s proposal, announced Wednesday after weeks of procrastination, represents half of the amount which was initially set to be paid to the UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency) in 2024.

“Switzerland’s 10 million Swiss francs contribution to UNRWA will be restricted to Gaza and will cover the most pressing basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, basic healthcare and logistics,” a government statement said.

Switzerland “is fully aware of the critical nature of this situation and recognises the urgent need for action”.

UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel.

This led many donor nations, including the United States and Switzerland, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver desperately-needed aid in Gaza, where the UN has warned of an impending famine.

An independent review group of UNRWA, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” but said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its chief allegations.

In making its decision, the Swiss government said it “drew on the analysis of the Colonna report and coordination with other donors”.

The government’s decision must still be submitted to parliament’s foreign affairs committees for consultation.

On April 30th, the Swiss head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said that of the $450 million in funding that had been frozen by donors, $267 million was still suspended, the bulk of it by Washington.

Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7th attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has conducted a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,800 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Switzerland “reiterates its call for a humanitarian ceasefire, unhindered access for emergency aid to Gaza, compliance with international humanitarian law, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” the government said.

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