Hundreds of people protested ‘Israeli’ attacks on Gaza in Brussels on Wednesday, in solidarity with Palestinians under Tel Aviv's offensive since Monday.

The demonstrators gathered at Schuman Square, located in the center of buildings of the EU Commission, the EU Council and the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

They carried placards that read "We are not free until Palestine is free", "Jerusalem is our red line" and "End the occupation," and chanted pro-Palestine slogans, demanding freedom for Palestine and condemning ‘Israel’.

Several protesters carried photographs of children who were killed as a result of the relentless attacks on Gaza.

Also, the flags of many Muslim countries, including those of Palestine and Turkey, were waved during the protest.

Worldwide demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine have been underway since this weekend to protest [Israel's] deadly offensive on Gaza.

As of Wednesday, at least 227 Palestinians have been killed, including 64 children and 38 women, in ‘Israeli’ attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry./agencies

Kuwait’s Cabinet said it will send urgent relief assistance to Gaza Strip amid violent attacks by Israeli forces, state news agency KUNA reported.

The cabinet has further condemned Israeli’s acts against Palestine leaving hundreds dead and more wounded.
The violent practices made by Israelis are a flagrant challenge to all international charters and norms, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said during the cabinet’s weekly meeting.
The cabinet further called on the international community to take action to stop Israel’s attacks.
Israeli air strikes have killed 217 Palestinians, including 63 children, and wounded more than 1,400 people in just over a week in the Hamas-run enclave, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The death toll on the Israeli side has risen to 12 after rockets Hamas fired at the southern Eshkol region killed two Thai nationals working in a factory, police said./Agencies

The Palestinian foreign minister sent a letter on Tuesday to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Prosecutor's Office, calling for an investigation into Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.

According to a Twitter post by the Palestinian Mission to the Netherlands, Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman delivered the letter by hand from Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, calling for "accountability for the war crimes and crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Palestine, including in Sheikh Jarrah and Gaza."

"The State of Palestine continues to consistently provide the Court with information and documentation on the new and ongoing crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Court in the context of the ongoing investigation in the situation," it added in the statement.

In March 2021, ICC has opened a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories after five years of preliminary inquiries. This was before fresh tensions erupted centered on the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda last week said that the investigation would "cover all sides and all the facts and evidence relevant to an assessment of whether there is individual criminal responsibility under the [ICC] Statute."

Bensouda added that the office would continue to consider developments on the ground.

At least 217 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children and 36 women, and 1,500 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Also, 12 Israelis have reportedly been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community./agencies

The number of people who have been displaced by [Israel's] ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip has soared to over 58,000, the UN said on Tuesday.

The new figure represents an increase of 20,000 since the international body gave its last assessment of 38,000 displaced Gazans on Monday.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 47,000 people have sought protection in 58 UN-run schools across the coastal enclave amid ongoing ‘Israeli’ attacks that continued to target civilian infrastructure overnight Monday.

That included Gaza's central COVID-19 testing lab "and other health and humanitarian facilities," Dujarric told reporters.

"There will be a great need for reconstruction of the infrastructure that was destroyed in Gaza. The Palestinian people will need the help of the international community, the financial help of the international community. We will get involved in it as much as we can," he said.

The total number of people killed in ongoing ‘Israeli’ attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip has risen to 213 on Tuesday, including 61 children, 36 women, and 16 elderly people, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

As many as 1,400 people have also been injured in the attacks.

Ten ‘Israelis’ have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into ‘Israel’.

‘Israel’ has allowed dozens of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) fuel trucks into Gaza, but continues to block delivery of "other essential humanitarian cargo," Dujarric said.

"As far as the security situation allows, the UN along with our partners provide food and non-food items to displaced families, and immediate cash assistance to more than 56,000 people," he said./aa

Bangladesh requested India resume commercial shipments of coronavirus vaccines on Tuesday because the two neighbors signed an agreement, according to a statement by the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry.

“Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen has requested Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to provide Bangladesh AstraZeneca vaccines immediately,” said the statement that cited a telephone conversation between the two ministers.

Bangladesh signed a deal with India on Dec. 13 to purchase 30 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in installments from the Serum Institute of India.

Dhaka, however, managed to get just 7 million in two installments although India has gifted 3.2 million doses as a sign of friendship.

India later informed Bangladesh that it would not continue the commercial supply of vaccines for an indefinite period, citing an internal crisis.

Despite having a written agreement with early payment, the sudden halt to vaccine shipments from India has thrown Bangladesh into a deep crisis, forcing it to postpone inoculation of the first dose in late April.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Ministry in a meeting recommended filing a lawsuit against the Indian firm for breaching the deal.

Referring to India’s failure, Momen urged Jaishankar during a telephone conversation to request Indian strong ally, the US, provide Bangladesh vaccines on a priority basis. “S Jaishankar has informed us that he will request the US.”

The statement also noted that because of comparatively fewer casualties and infection records, Bangladesh is not on the vaccine priority list of the US.

The overcrowded country of 165 million has recorded 12,221 fatalities with 782,119 infections while it has inoculated more than 5.8 million, including over 3.8 million residents who have received both doses.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh sent a second consignment of medical supplies for virus-affected people in India on Tuesday.

Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Indian Kolkata handed over 2,672 boxes of medicines and protective items to a representative from the Indian Red Cross Society.

Bangladesh sent the first consignment of 10,000 vials of antiviral injection Remdisivir on May 6, as a gift to the Indian people amid an unprecedented surge of infections in that country./aa

Selcuk Bayraktar, the top official at Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar, is a genius in the field of armed drones, a Chinese popular science writer said on a television program. 

"A genius has emerged in Turkey on armed UAV. This is Selcuk Bayraktar, father of UAVs in Turkey. Bayraktar's position in the drone wars is like Steve Jobs' position in smartphone technology," Song Yi Chang said on the War Technologies program on China Central Television (CCTV).

He said Bayraktar's situation is similar to Jobs' entry into the telephone with Apple and then to first place in smartphone technology.

The Chinese author also noted Bayraktar's background and said Bayraktar specialized in software and electronics of armed UAVs during his education in the US before returning to Turkey.

Song Yi Chang is author of four books: "A Lonely Queen of the North", "The Empires On the Sea", "Flames on the Sea" and "Sailing to the Deep Ocean."/aa

Vaccinating coronavirus patients who have received the AstraZeneca jab with the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective, according to preliminary results from a Spanish study published Tuesday. 

The small clinical trial led by Spain’s Carlos III Health Institute found that mixing the vaccines could provide greater protection against the virus.

The neutralizing antibodies in the people who received a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine increased sevenfold compared to those who received just one AstraZeneca dose.

It is a higher increase than previous studies found when two doses of AstraZeneca were given, according to the public health institute.

The side effects were also relatively mild in those who received a second Pfizer jab. No one needed serious medical treatment, but 44% reported headaches, 25% had chills and 2.5% came down with a fever.

The clinical trial included 673 participants who received the first AstraZeneca jab. The control group had 232 people who did not receive a second vaccine dose, while the remaining 441 were administered a Pfizer jab.

Spain fast-tracked the study after giving AstraZeneca vaccines to around 2 million essential workers younger than 60 years old. Then, when a potential link was found between the vaccine and blood clots, the country shifted policy to only giving AstraZeneca to those older than 60.

“Today’s results support vaccinating people who have received the first AstraZeneca dose with Pfizer, but the final decision does not lie with the researchers,” said Jesus Antonio Frias of the Carlos III Health Institute.

Spanish health authorities will later discuss what to do about the essential workers who remain in a vaccine limbo.

Daniel Lopez Acuna, a former director of the World Health Organization, argued that the small study, with significant limitations, does not constitute a solid base to make public health decisions.

“The study didn’t look at people who received a second AstraZeneca or Moderna dose… and it is unable to detect low-frequency side effects,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The Public Health Commission should follow the recommendations of the WHO and European Medicines Agency and approve the second dose of AstraZeneca in people younger than 60.”/aa