Africa

La troisième chambre de jugement du Tribunal de commerce de Cotonou a tranché, le 6 janvier 2026, le contentieux opposant la société Technology Foods and Science (TEFOS) à la société Sécurité Plus Sarl.

Le Tribunal de commerce de Cotonou a ordonné à la société Technology Foods and Science (TEFOS), le paiement intégral d'une créance de gardiennage s'élevant à 15.499.700 FCFA.

L'affaire, enregistrée sous le numéro de rôle BJ/e-TCC/2025/1062, portait sur une opposition à une ordonnance d'injonction de payer initialement rendue en août 2025.

Pour obtenir la rétractation de l'ordonnance, la société TEFOS a soulevé plusieurs moyens de forme et de fond. Elle invoquait notamment « la nullité de la requête aux fins d'injonction de payer pour défaut de qualité du directeur général de la société SECURITE PLUS ». Selon TEFOS, s'agissant d'une société à responsabilité limitée, « seul le gérant était habilité à y procéder » et l'usage d'un cachet de directeur général constituait une « violation flagrante » de l'Acte uniforme de l'OHADA.

Une argumentation rejetée par le Tribunal. « L'apposition du cachet de directeur général constitue de toute évidence une mention erronée qui ne saurait entraîner l'annulation de la requête », selon le jugement N°002 /2026/ CJ3/S1/TCC du 06 janvier 2026. Le juge a précisé que la société TEFOS « ne rapporte pas la preuve du grief que lui aurait causé une telle irrégularité ».

Sur le fond, la société TEFOS contestait la certitude de la créance, affirmant qu'elle n'était « nullement débitrice de la société SECURITE PLUS ». Elle invoquait d'« importants manquements » imputables au prestataire, citant un « nombre insuffisant d'agents déployés » et « plusieurs cas de vols commis par ces mêmes agents ». TEFOS soutenait également que le contrat, conclu initialement en 2017, n'avait pas été « régulièrement renouvelé » au-delà de l'année 2023.

De son côté, la société Sécurité Plus a maintenu que le contrat était « resté en vigueur jusqu'au mois de mai 2025 ». Elle a versé au dossier des preuves d'activité, notamment des « mails de transmission de factures », des sommations de payer et un « registre de passation de service ».

Il ressort des pièces que TEFOS a « poursuivi la relation contractuelle avec la défenderesse jusqu'à la date du 02 juin 2025 », selon le Tribunal. Le jugement souligne que la société débitrice ne peut invoquer le défaut de preuve de la prestation pour solliciter la rétractation de l'ordonnance.

Face à la condamnation, la société TEFOS a sollicité un « délai de grâce d'un (01) an », justifié par d'« énormes difficultés financières » ayant conduit à la « fermeture momentanée du site ».

Le tribunal a jugé que la mesure sollicitée ne saurait être accordée puisque : « aucune pièce du dossier judiciaire ne permet d'attester que la demanderesse se trouve réellement confrontée à des difficultés de trésorerie ».

Le juge « rejette la demande en annulation de la requête » et « rejette également sa demande en rétractation ».

Technology Foods and Science (TEFOS) est condamnée « au paiement de la somme de quinze millions quatre cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf mille sept cents (15.499.700) francs CFA » et aux dépens de l'instance.

La décision est assortie de « l'exécution provisoire en ce qui concerne la moitié de la condamnation pécuniaire ».

M. M.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “shocked by reports of violence and excessive use of force by Iranian authorities against protesters”, is urging restraint and immediate restoration of communications, as unrest enters its third week. 11 January 2026. Credit: United Nations

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Jan 15 2026 (IPS)

Unlike ever before, Iran’s Islamic regime is facing a revolt led by a generation that has lost its fear. Young and old, men and women, students and workers, are flooding the streets across the country.

Iran’s future may well hinge on whether its military chooses to act and save the country, driven by economic collapse, corruption, and decades of repression. Women and girls are at the forefront, protesting without headscarves, defying the clergy that once controlled every aspect of their lives. They don’t want reform; they are demanding freedom, economic relief, and the end of authoritarianism.

Shutting down the internet, arresting nearly 17,000 protesters, killing at least 3,000, including children, and Trump’s threat to use force to stop the Iranian regime have not prevented the mullahs from continuing their onslaught. The regime’s ruthless crackdown has been a calamitous wave of repression, taking thousands of lives in a brutal attempt to crush dissent. Yet even in the face of such peril, the public remains undeterred, determined to continue their fight.

Now, however, they need the support of the most powerful domestic—not foreign—power to come to their aid. The Iranian military is the most pivotal institution in the country, capable of catalyzing the downfall of the regime. The military is the key player, with significant internal influence and the capability to drive the necessary change from within, ultimately leading to regime change.

Every officer in the military should stop and think, how do I want to serve my country.

Do I want to continue to prop up a bunch of reactionaries, self-obsessed old men who have long since lost their relevance, wearing the false robe of piety to appear sanctimonious while subjugating the people to hardship and hopelessness?

Should I not support the younger generation who are yearning for a better life, for opportunity, for a future that gives meaning to their existence?

Should I not participate in sparking the revival of this magnificent nation from the doldrums of the past 47 years that have consumed it from within?

Should I continue to prepare for war against Israel, or extend a peaceful hand and invest in building my country with such immense natural and human riches and be in the forefront of all other modern democratic and progressive nations, and restore the glory of ancient Persia?

Do I truly want to continue to wear blinders and let my country be destroyed from within, or should I become part of a newly reborn nation and take personal pride in helping to revive it?

The answer to these questions should be clear to every officer. The military should establish a transitional government and pave the way for a legitimate, freely elected government, and restore the Iranian people’s dignity and their right to be free.

The idea that the Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, could return and restore a monarchy is just the opposite of what the Iranian people need. Instead of another form of corruption or an old kingdom, they deserve a democracy and genuine freedom.

In the final analysis, Iran’s destiny may rest on a single profound choice—whether its military steps forward to reshape the nation’s destiny.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

The election is a rematch between Bobi Wine and Yoweri Museveni, who has been president for 40 years.

Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, International at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Credit: COP30

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Jan 15 2026 (IPS)

President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.

But where some see a catastrophic escalation, other global experts, such as Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, International at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), see first and foremost a continuing formalization of damaging positions already taken by the current administration.

In January 2025, President Trump initiated a second withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming. Simultaneously, the U.S. administration began to significantly reduce funding for climate programs, withdrawing from international climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund, cancelling billions in domestic clean energy grants, halting climate research and, overall, prioritizing fossil fuels over climate initiatives.

While conceding that the moment at hand is indeed overwhelming, especially coming on the back of COP30, Dagnet told IPS that “the rest of the world must turn this challenge into an opportunity to break new ground in climate action, financing and international cooperation.”

“I have a stubborn yet grounded optimism. The path ahead will be challenging but achieving the set-out climate goals is far from impossible. This is far from a catastrophe. Only one country has withdrawn from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); the rest of the world is still firmly on board.”

Regarding the exit from UNFCCC, Dagnet’s colleague Jake Schmidt from NRDC, pointed out in his blog that  the legal ramifications are such that it is unsettled constitutional law whether a president can unilaterally withdraw from international agreements that the Senate gave its advice and consent to join. The Constitution specifies the entry provisions, but it is silent on the exit provisions.

Dagnet also noted that while the withdrawal from the UNFCCC is unprecedented, making the United States the only nation outside the bedrock UN Climate Treaty, “the exit is not cast in stone; a future administration could bring the country back to the fold.”

Nevertheless, the United States will be back in the headlines come January 27, 2026, when the country will technically become a non-signatory to the Paris agreement and will not be part of international climate negotiations unless the withdrawal is reversed.

“The optimism I feel is also grounded in pragmatism. To borrow the words of author James Baldwin, ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ The U.S. administration was not represented at COP30 and still the world pushed forward a comprehensive climate action agenda to move beyond pledges through accelerated collaboration between governments, businesses, civil society, and investors.”

In his 2025 inauguration speech, Trump called oil ‘liquid gold’ and vowed to ‘unleash’ America’s fossil fuels in the form of oil and gas. Dagnet says the die was already cast on the path forward for the United States and that the world should continue to rethink, re-strategize and reorganize, for those who are for climate action are more than those against.

Trump finds an assortment of 66 UN and non-UN entities, including those focused on climate and clean energy, that are not aligned with the United States’ national interests. They include the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change, UN water, UN Oceans and UN Energy.

Others are the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is the global authority on technical and policy advice on conservation, and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing countries.

Non-UN organizations include the International Renewable Energy Agency, Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Concerns are rife that communities such as those in the informal settlements will be dangerously exposed to the vagaries of climate change in the face of looming budget cuts to support climate efforts. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

There are widespread concerns that the withdrawal will have far-reaching negative consequences on financing and technical support for climate and clean energy. But Dagnet reminds us that  the United States did not pay its dues to the UN in 2025. The UN Chief has expressed regret over the country’s exit from UN entities and urged the Trump administration to settle what is owed to the international body, as the payments are mandatory. The United States owes the largest share, amounting to about 22 percent of the regular budget.

Similarly, before this withdrawal, the United States was already failing to fulfill many of its climate finance commitments.  While this new development, alongside past insufficient funding pledges, signals a major retreat from international climate action and support for developing nations, that challenge is  not insurmountable.

Climate financing trackers found that even during President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States’ international climate finance contributions were insufficient and fell far short of goals. Dagnet notes that while the country’s actions on multilateralism represent a setback, multilateralism is also evolving and will hopefully be capable of navigating uncharted territories.

She hails the broad recognition that climate change urgently and sustainably requires global cooperation and collaboration. She further stressed that international cooperation would expand the climate finance basket, as financial support for climate action can come not only from governments but also from a diverse array of non-state and public-private actors.

“This withdrawal is not the end of the road.”

Dagnet is one of nine members of the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Protocol Steering Committee, which is the primary governing body providing direction and oversight to the GHG Protocol. The Protocol provides accounting standards and tools to help the corporate sector, countries and cities track progress towards climate goals.

The development of such standards is facilitated through a transparent multi-stakeholder governance process, drawing on expertise from business, finance, governments, academia, auditors and civil society in a milestone move and landmark partnership, she says.

The GHG Protocol is leading the global harmonization of greenhouse gas accounting with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as part of the COP30 Action Agenda, to enable comprehensive decarbonization action. This collaborative effort will strengthen the enabling conditions (in terms of policy, benchmarking, and governance) that are paramount to achieving sectoral breakthrough and will shape the journey towards the next global stocktake, or inventory taking, on progress towards climate goals in line with the Paris Agreement.

Subnational efforts also keep Dagnet pragmatically optimistic and solutions-focused. Indeed, she felt energized after attending the Resilient Cities Forum 2025 in London, a remarkable highlight as a major international platform where global leaders and experts converged to tackle urban resilience, emphasizing collaboration, best practices and practical innovation for sustainable, equitable cities.  She was inspired by the various and clear visions for a healthier planet.

“The resolve was stronger than ever,” says Dagnet.

“Importantly, we have locally designed tools, international frameworks and corporate standards to turn our vision towards a more prosperous, healthier and greener future into our lived reality. The worst we can do is to give up our imagination and ability to innovate.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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"Alapvető nézeteltérések" vannak az Egyesült Államok és Dánia között Grönland jövőjéről, de folytatódnak a tárgyalások a vita rendezése érdekében - jelentette ki Lars Lokke Rasmussen dán külügyminiszter Washingtonban szerdán, miután Grönland külügyminiszterének oldalán tárgyalt J. D. Vance amerikai alelnökkel és Marco Rubio külügyminiszterrel.

The government in Mogadishu has accused the UAE of undermining its sovereignty.

The government in Mogadishu has accused the UAE of undermining its sovereignty.

The government in Mogadishu has accused the UAE of undermining its sovereignty.

BBC Sport Africa provides all the information on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations as Morocco face Senegal in the final of the 35th edition of the continent's biggest sporting event.

Wengen plant eines der ambitioniertesten Energieprojekte der Schweiz: Eine Transportleitung soll Fernwärme von Lauterbrunnen ins Dorf auf 1274 m ü. M. bringen. Das Projekt gelingt nur, wenn die Hoteliers mitziehen. Maximilian Dinkelaker vom Victoria Lauberhorn tuts.

Mohamed Salah's Afcon dream was ended by Sadio Mane and Senegal on Wednesday night - but how many more chances will the Liverpool forward have to win the competition?

Mohamed Salah's Afcon dream was ended by Sadio Mane and Senegal on Wednesday night - but how many more chances will the Liverpool forward have to win the competition?

The pause starting on 21 January will bar foreign nationals who "would take welfare and public benefits".

This Wednesday, the Conference of Presidents adopted the following statement in support of multilateralism and the rules-based international order and supporting Greenland and Denmark.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Burkina Faso sack coach Brama Traore after their last-16 exit at Afcon 2025, while 10 high-ranking members of Mali's football federation resign.

L'Indice Harmonisé des Prix à la Consommation (IHPC) au Bénin a clôturé l'année 2025 sur une légère note de croissance.

L'Indice Harmonisé des Prix à la Consommation (IHPC) au Bénin a enregistré une progression de 0,1 % au cours du mois de décembre 2025. Cette légère variation porte le niveau général des prix à 101,8, contre 101,7 un mois plus tôt. Selon les données de l'Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD), cette dynamique mensuelle s'explique principalement par la poussée des coûts liés au logement et à l'équipement lors des fêtes de fin d'année.

L'effet des fêtes sur le panier de la ménagère

L'accroissement de l'indice en décembre est « essentiellement imputable » à l'augmentation des prix dans deux divisions de consommation majeures. La division « Logement, eau, électricité, gaz et autres combustibles » a progressé de 0,2 %. Parallèlement, le segment « Vêtements et chaussures » affiche une hausse de 0,3 %.

Dans le détail, deux sous-classes de biens ont particulièrement contribué à cette tendance : les combustibles solides (+0,8 %), en raison d'une forte demande de charbon de bois pour les festivités de fin d'année ; les vêtements (+0,4 %), dont l'évolution est directement liée aux achats de fin d'année.
Cette pression à la hausse a toutefois été tempérée par le repli des prix des « Poissons et autres fruits de mer » (-0,4 %) et des « Carburants et lubrifiants » (-0,2 %).

Une inflation structurelle sous contrôle

Malgré ces fluctuations saisonnières, l'inflation sous-jacente, qui exclut les produits aux prix volatils comme les produits frais et énergétiques, reste stable. Elle s'établit à 100,4, marquant une hausse contenue de 0,1 % par rapport au mois de novembre.

Concernant la provenance des produits, une divergence apparaît en variation mensuelle : les prix des « Produits locaux » ont crû de 0,2 %, tandis que ceux des « Produits importés » ont reculé de 0,2 %.
Le glissement annuel (évolution par rapport à décembre 2024) révèle une progression de 1,4 % du niveau général des prix. Cette évolution est largement dominée par la catégorie « Produits alimentaires et boissons non alcoolisées », qui bondit de 4,9 % en un an.

Cette cherté annuelle est particulièrement portée par deux segments spécifiques. Les produits frais, avec une envolée de 7,9 % ; Les produits énergétiques, en hausse de 7,0 %.

L'analyse de l'INStaD met également en lumière des écarts de prix significatifs entre les grandes villes. En moyenne nationale, le kilogramme de maïs séché se vend à 189 FCFA, mais il atteint 241 FCFA à Porto-Novo contre seulement 155 FCFA à Bohicon.

La viande de bœuf sans os, produit de référence pour de nombreux ménages, illustre parfaitement ces disparités. Elle coûte 3 500 FCFA à Cotonou, alors qu'elle est accessible à 2 000 FCFA à Natitingou.

Au terme de l'année 2025, le taux d'inflation en moyenne annuelle pour le Bénin ressort à +1,1 %. Ce chiffre confirme la maîtrise globale du coût de la vie au niveau national, maintenant le pays dans une position stable au sein de l'espace UEMOA.
M. M.

'If Mercosur fails, we can forget the European Union as a global player,' Commission president told her party's MEPs

Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius recently said Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty would “definitely” apply if the US invaded the mineral-rich Danish territory

Cardiologist Dr. Marwan Sultan, then Director of the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza, in February 2025 showing damage to hospital equipment following an Israeli attack on the facility a few months prior. In July 2025, Dr. Sultan was killed in an Israeli strike on the apartment where he was sheltering with his family. Credit: PHR/GHRC

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Jan 14 2026 (IPS)

Israel must lift all restrictions on medicine, food and aid coming into Gaza, rights groups have demanded, as two reports released today (Jan 14) document how maternal and reproductive healthcare have been all but destroyed in the country.

In two separate reports released jointly, Physicians for Human Rights (with the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School) and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHR-I) show how the war in Gaza has led to rising maternal and neonatal mortality, births under dangerous conditions, and the systematic destruction of health services for women in Gaza.

The reports from the two groups, which are independent organizations, provide both detailed clinical analysis of the collapse of Gaza’s health system and its medical consequences as well as firsthand testimonies from clinicians and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza forced to live and care for their newborns in extreme conditions.

And the organizations say that with conditions improving only marginally for many women despite the current ceasefire, Israel must roll back restrictions placed on aid and immediately help ensure people in Gaza get access to the healthcare they need.

“Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure, combined with untreated malnutrition resulting from restrictions on food and medical supplies, including baby formula, has created an environment in which the fundamental biological processes of reproduction and survival have been systematically destroyed, resulting in known and foreseeable harm, pain, suffering, and death,” Sam Zarifi, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) Executive Director, said.

“Israel must immediately allow food and essential medical material to enter Gaza with a proper medical plan for helping the besieged population,” he added.

Israeli military operations following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, have left massive destruction across Gaza, including to healthcare facilities. According to UNICEF, 94 percent of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.

Destroyed incubators and equipment at the Kamal Adwan Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in north Gaza, following the targeting and raid of the facility by the Israeli forces in December 2024. Credit: PHR/GHRC

Maternal and reproductive healthcare has suffered. Before the war, Gaza had eight neonatal intensive care units with 178 incubators. Today, the number of incubators has dropped by 70 percent. In the north, there were 105 incubators across three NICUs, now there are barely any functional units remaining, UNICEF told IPS.

It says that the numbers of low birth weight babies have nearly tripled compared to pre-war levels and the number of first-day deaths of babies increased by 75 percent.

The PHR and PHR-I reports paint a similar picture.

The PHR report, which focuses on the period between January 2025 and October 2025 when a ceasefire was agreed, details how between May and June last year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported a 41 percent decrease in the birth rate in Gaza compared to the same time period in 2022; there was a significant increase in miscarriages that affected more than 2,600 women, and 220 pregnancy-related deaths that occurred before delivery.

The ministry also reported a sharp increase in premature births and low birth weight cases; over 1,460 babies were reported to be born prematurely, while more than 2,500 were admitted to neonatal intensive care. Newborn deaths also increased, with at least 21 babies reported to have died on their first day of life.

Meanwhile, the PHR-I report includes personal testimonies illustrating the severe problems pregnant women and women with newborns have faced in Gaza during the war, from lacking safe routes to care and being forced to give birth in unsanitary, dangerous conditions to battling hunger and severe food shortages as they try to breastfeed their children.

One woman, Samah Muhammad Abu Mustafa, a 30-year-old mother of two from Khuza’a, Khan Youni, described how when her contractions began in the middle of the night, because there were no vehicles and very few ambulances, which are reserved for shelling or other critical emergencies, she had to walk a long distance through rain. When she eventually reached the hospital, she said it was “horrifying.”

“I swear, one woman gave birth in the corridor, and her baby died. It was very crowded, and the doctors worked nonstop. I felt as though I could give birth at any moment. After giving birth to my eldest daughter, I was told I should not deliver naturally again because my pelvis was too narrow. Despite this, the doctors said I would have to deliver naturally because a cesarean section required anesthesia, and there was not enough available. I stood for three hours until it was finally my turn, without sitting even for a moment,” she said.

But despite the October 2025 ceasefire, massive problems remain with women’s access to and the provision of, maternal and reproductive healthcare in Gaza.

“Maternal health units in Gaza are largely non-functional and face critical shortages of essential medicines, consumables, and equipment,” Lama Bakri, project coordinator in the Occupied Territories Department at PHR-I, told IPS.

“Neonatal and diagnostic equipment remains scarce or blocked, including portable incubators for premature and low-birth-weight newborns. Although some aid has entered since the ceasefire, these gaps are not being addressed at the scale required, and meaningful improvement in the immediate future remains unlikely.”

Malnutrition also remains a serious problem.

“The ceasefire has allowed us to significantly scale up our nutrition response, but we are still treating pregnant and breastfeeding women for acute malnutrition in alarmingly high numbers,” Ricardo Pires, Communication Manager, Division of Global Communications & Advocacy at UNICEF, told IPS.

He said that between July and September 2025 about 38 percent of pregnant women screened were diagnosed with acute malnutrition.

“In October alone, we admitted 8,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women for treatment, about 270 a day, in a place where there was no discernible malnutrition among this group before October 2023,” he added.

UNICEF has documented almost 6,800 children admitted for acute malnutrition treatment in November 2025 compared to 4,700 cases in November 2024. So far, the number of admitted cases more than doubled in 2025 compared to 2024: almost 89,000 admissions of children to date in 2025, compared to 40,000 cases in 2024, and almost none before 2023.

“What we’re seeing is that no child meets minimum dietary diversity standards, and two-thirds of children are surviving on just two food groups or less. Around 90 percent of caregivers reported their children had been sick in the previous two weeks, which compounds the malnutrition crisis,” Pires said.

And there are fears for the longer-term demographic future of Gaza given the damage to maternal and reproductive healthcare.

“For Gaza’s demographic future, the implications are serious. Even with reconstruction, we will be dealing with a generation of children who were scarred before they took their first breath, children who may face lifelong health complications, developmental challenges, and the effects of stunting. The rebuilding must start now, but we should be clear-eyed: the damage to maternal and newborn health will echo for years, potentially decades,” said Pires.

But others say that with cooperation between international actors and the right political will, the situation need not remain so dire.

“To rehabilitate the population after everything that has happened is going to be a real issue, [but] now there is a Board of Peace, the needs of pregnant women and maternal and reproductive healthcare can be prioritized,” Zarifi told IPS.

“The capacity and the will exist among Gazans and Gazan healthcare workers to rebuild the healthcare system, including maternal and reproductive health services,” added Bakri. “The primary obstacle is not technical or professional but political: Israel’s control over Gaza’s borders and the restrictions on the entry of essential equipment, medical supplies, and reconstruction materials. With unrestricted access to what is needed to rehabilitate hospitals, rebuild destroyed units, and restock essential medicines, recovery is entirely feasible. Whether maternal and reproductive healthcare can return to pre-war levels depends on sustained international pressure to allow that access.”

Although some aid has entered since the ceasefire, these gaps are not being addressed at the scale required, and meaningful improvement in the immediate future remains unlikely.

However, while both NGOs like PHR and PHR-I and others, alongside international bodies like the UN, stress that any recovery and reconstruction in Gaza requires the ceasefire to hold and consolidate, repeated violations underline its fragility, and the effect that has on women.

Meanwhile, PHR and PHR-I point out that extreme weather and ongoing Israeli restrictions on medicine and food getting to Gaza to this day continue to severely affect pregnant women, new mothers, and babies. On top of this, Israel has also announced it will bar 37 international aid groups from working in Gaza, potentially compounding the problems.

Bakri said such measures were jeopardizing what small gains had been made since the ceasefire and “raise serious concerns about whether the situation can improve.”

“Even after the ceasefire, while bombardment has decreased, the reality these women face remains catastrophic – not only for their bodies and well-being but for the survival of the entire society,” said Bakri.

Zarifi added, “We are worried that the restrictions placed by Israel on some of the major actors in the humanitarian response will hamper access to assistance for those that need it. We have raised questions with the Israeli government as to why specific medicines are not allowed to be brought into Gaza and they say that they are not stopping them from being brought in but they can be brought in by commercial means. That is hard for people who can barely put any money together. These medicines should definitely be coming in through humanitarian channels.”

He also highlighted how important the issue of accountability is in ensuring any progress is made in rebuilding healthcare in Gaza and also limiting the probability of similar devastation in the future.

Both reports concluded that the harms caused by Israeli attacks are not isolated incidents but part of an ongoing pattern of systematic damage to the health of women and their children in Gaza, amounting to reproductive violence.

Israel has denied this and said that attacks on hospitals in Gaza have been because the medical facilities are being used by Hamas, and it has maintained that its forces adhere to international law.

While under international law healthcare facilities have special protection even in war, and attacks on them are prohibited, that protection is lost if they are deemed to fulfill criteria to be considered military objectives, such as housing militaries and arms.

However, any attack on them must still comply with the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack and failure to respect any of these principles constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law, according to the UN.

“These attacks are part of a deliberate policy designed to create a domino effect of suffering. From starvation and militarized aid distribution by the GHF, to lack of access to clean water, repeated displacement orders, living in shelters under continuous bombardment, and exposure to infections, disease, and harsh weather, the attacks on maternal and reproductive healthcare are another piece of this puzzle. Together, these conditions were created to systematically destroy the fabric of life in Gaza and reduce the population’s ability to survive,” said Bakri.

“The Israeli government has justified attacks on healthcare facilities by saying this was a problem caused by Hamas. We haven’t had an indication of this but it might be true. But in any case there has to be an investigation of these incidents and we hope the Israeli government will carry out such an investigation,” said Zarifi.

“But what is really alarming to us is that the norms prohibiting attacks on healthcare have been repeatedly violated, and there are also laws governing the protection of women and children that appear to have been violated. The only thing that makes these norms work is accountability. There has to be accountability for what happened, as it is the only way we can ensure that what has happened won’t happen in other conflicts. Impunity is watched by other actors around the world,” he added.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The Commission president told her centre-right allies that the EU will have its own security strategy this year