Description
Added on the 24/11/2020 12:12:25 - Copyright : France 24 EN
A de facto blockade preventing medicines and other life-saving supplies reaching Ethiopia's Tigray has created "hell" in the war-ravaged region, WHO director general says. SOUNDBITE
Ethiopia's government denounces claims from rebel groups that the capital Addis Ababa would fall under siege as "not true". In a virtual press conference, the spokesperson of the Prime Minister's office, Billene Seyoum, adds "There is an alarmist narrative that is creating much tension among different communities, including the international community, that needs to be effectively addressed." SOUNDBITE
Eyewitnesses who have fled Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, is under fierce bombardment. CNN reports a communications blackout in the region has made reporting on claims from both sides difficult. About half a million residents live in Mekelle. UNICEF says roughly half of them are children. More than 43,000 Ethiopian refugees have crossed into neighboring Sudan since fighting began on November 4th. The number of people internally displaced inside Tigray is growing daily. According to the UNHCR, the pre-existing refugee camps in the region only have food supplies to last three days.
Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed says his government "had every right" to deploy state forces to the restive northern region of Tigray, whose ruling party Abiy blames for instigating a conflict many fear could spiral into a protracted civil war. SOUNDBITE
Exterior of the Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Betunia, where Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released as part of a hostage exchange deal. Palestinian prisoners will be released from three jails in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then taken to the Ofer military camp on buses, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that they were expected to be freed in the evening. IMAGES
Thousands of demonstrators gather in Washington, DC in solidarity with Palestinians and to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war as fighting rages in Gaza for a 29th day since Hamas militants stormed across the Israeli border and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people. Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory saying 9,488 people have been killed, about two-thirds of them women and children. IMAGES
|
Support : Technical 
- Content 
- Editors 
