01/29/24 01/29/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this kind of attack was expected because of what the israelis were doing in gaza, what they were doing in yemen with the missile attacks and drone attacks against ships, with the american navy and air force have been doing in the red

sea attacking yemen. and this is part of a regional war. amy: a drone strike at a base in jordan or the syrian-her rep. porter: killed three u.s. soldiers, injuring more than 30. iran denies any involvement. we will speak with palestinian-american journalist rami khouri about u.s. middle east policy. then hours after the international court of justice forwarders israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in gaza, arguments in another genocide case began in a u.s. federal court in oakland against president biden, secretary of state antony blinken, and defense secretary lloyd austin. we will speak with a lawyer who helped bring the case and a palestinian who testified. as israel intensifies its attack on southern gaza were displaced palestinians have sought refuge, we will speak with emergency room physician who spent three

weeks at a hospital in khan younis. >> the hospital was recently the focus of very intense military campaigns with bombing and gun clashes as well as tanks rolling in around the hospital facility. hundreds of thousands of people fled from khan younis further south. the humanitarian crisis has deepened. amy: we will also speak with the norwegian refugee council's jan egeland about the u.s. and 12 other nations suspending funding to unrwa after israel accuses 12 unrwa employees of taking part in the hamas attack october 7. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the pentagon has accused iranian-backed militants of killing three u.s. soldiers and

injuring 34 others in a drone strike at a base in jordan along the syrian border. on sunday, president biden vowed the u.s. would respond "at a time and in a manner of our choosing." the attack comes less than a month after a u.s. drone strike in baghdad killed the head of an iranian-backed militia. a group called the islamic resistance in iraq has claimed responsibility for attacking the u.s. forces in jordan. iran has denied any involvement. in a statement, the islamic resistance in iraq said -- "if the u.s. keeps supporting israel, there will be escalations. all u.s. interests in the region are legitimate targets and we don't care about u.s. threats to respond." the drone strike was the first fatal attack on u.s. forces in the middle east since hamas attacked israel on october 7. two u.s. navy seals died on january 11 after going overboard while raiding a ship suspected of carrying iranian arms off the coast of somalia.

in gaza, israeli attacks have killed at least 373 palestinians since friday when the international court of justice ordered israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide in gaza. in another major development, the united states and at least 12 other nations have suspended funding to unrwa, the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees, after israel accused 12 employees of the agency of taking part in the hamas attack on october 7. unrwa is one of the largest employers in gaza with a staff of over 13,000. it provides essential aid to most of gaza's 2.3 million residents. the agency responded to israel's allegations by firing nine employees. the head of unrwa philippe lazzarini condemned the freezing of funds at a time when famine is looming in gaza. he said, "palestinians in gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. this stains all of us."

palestinian prime minister mohammad shtayyeh urged countries to reverse their decision to freeze unrwa funds. >> the suspension of aid is in line with israeli plans for the forced evacuation of our people from gaza into egypt. the suspension of aid comes at the most difficult time. at a time when the international court of justice has called for an immediate supply and increased supplies and aid into gaza and unrwa provided for 1.7 million palestinians. amy: norway is continuing to fund unrwa. we will speak with the head of the norwegian refugee council jan egeland later in the broadcast. in other news on gaza, cia director william burns is taking

part in talks in paris with officials from israel, egypt, and qatar over a proposed deal involving the release of israeli hostages in gaza in exchange for a two-month pause to israel's assault. thousands of israelis gathered in jerusalem sunday for a major conference calling for palestinians to be removed from gaza in order to rebuild jewish settlements. speakers at the conference included israel's national security minister itamar ben-gvir and israel's finance minister bezalel smotrich. >> we were settling our land from west, controlling and fighting terror always and bringing security to all of israel with god's help. you know what the answer is, stops -- without settlements, there's no security. amy: a group of palestinian-americans asked a federal judge on friday to bar the united states from providing military, financial, and diplomatic support to israel for committing genocide in gaza. the biden administration has asked the judge to dismiss the

case which was brought by the center for constitutional rights. one of the lawyers in the case, marc van der hout, spoke outside the federal courthouse in oakland on friday. >> we are very hopeful. the administration did not even contest, really, there's genocide going on. they just say, judge, whatever is going on, whether it is 20,000 or 30,000 or 2.2 million people were ultimately killed, you can't to anything judge. nobody can do anything. the president can do whatever the hell you wants. what we say to that? we say hell no. amy: in related news, former house speaker nancy pelosi has called on the fbi to investigate pro-palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in gaza. without sharing any evidence, pelosi claimed on cnn that the

protesters may have ties to russian president vladimir putin. pelosi said, "for them to call for a cease-fire is mr. putin's message." a federal jury ordered donald trump to pay e. jean carroll $83.3 million in damages for defaming her in 2019, while he was president of the united states. this comes on top of the $5 million in damages he was ordered to pay carroll last year by another jury when he was found liable of sexually abusing her in the 1990's and defaming her. in a statement, e. jean carroll said, "this is a great victory for everywoman who stands up when she has been knocked down and eat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down." trump said he would appeal friday's ruling. ms. k judge is expected to rule on a 300 $70 million civil fraud

suit brought against trump by new york attorney general letitia james. the biden administration has announced it has approved a $23 billion deal to sell f-16 fighter jets to turkey. the state department notified congress of its decision on friday, just days after turkish lawmakers voted to allow sweden to join nato. a kenyan court blocked a plan to send 1000 kenyan police officers to haiti to help combat gang violence, ruling the move was unconstitutional. the u.n. security council approved the mission last year, and kenyan forces were due to deploy as early as this month. in haiti, the reaction to the news was mixed, as some residents have called for foreign intervention amid the spiraling violence. others have rejected any outside actors coming to haiti. >> the crisis is a haitian crisis. i remember in 2005, 2006 when the united nations stabilization mission arrived in haiti.

they left behind children, diseases, and left many children without dads. today if we are united, we can do wonders. amy: niger, mali, and burkina faso announced they are withdrawing from the economic community of west african states, or ecowas, bloc. all three countries are led by military governments following coups in recent years. the nations released a joint statement, accusing the 15-country bloc of being "under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles" and "becoming a threat to its member states and its population." niger, mali, and burkina faso have expelled the military of their former colonizer france and were already suspended by ecowas in the wake of the military takeovers. in a major victory for the climate movement, the biden administration on friday paused approvals for new liquified natural gas, or lng, export terminals. the move comes after years of organizing by activists and frontline gulf communities who

have decried the projects as carbon mega bombs. this is roishetta sibley ozane of the environmental justice organization the vessel project. >> being a mom of six children in this community where my children have asthma and other skin conditions that they are battling every day, i know these facilities are not in the public interest. living in a community that smells like rotten eggs and charcoal, i know that these facilities are not in the public interest. but this pause is not just a minor achievement, it is a significant milestone. it sets the stage for potential rejection and slows down the progress of these projects. amy: in related news, a louisiana court ok'd environmental permits for a new formosa plastics facility in st. james parish. it would be the country's largest plastics plant.

the area, located along the mississippi river, is already known as cancer alley due to the many toxic chemical plants that have sickened the majority-black population. residents and activists have vowed to keep fighting the proposed formosa plant. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the first u.s. troops have been killed by enemy fire in the middle east since hamas attacked israel on october 7. the pentagon is accusing iranian-backed militants of killing three u.s. soldiers in a drone strike at a base in jordan along the syrian border. the attack reportedly also injured 34 other u.s. troops. on sunday, president biden vowed u.s. would respond "at a time and in a matter of our choosing." the attack comes less than a month after a u.s. drone strike in baghdad killed the head of an iranian-backed militia.

a group called the islamic resistance in iraq has kind responsibility and released video of the attack it says shows the group attacking the american military base. in a statement, the group said -- "if the u.s. keeps supporting israel, there will be escalations. all u.s. interests in the region are legitimate targets and we don't care about u.s. threats to respond." for more, we are joined by rami khouri, palestinian american journalist and a senior public policy fellow at the american university of beirut. his recent piece for al jazeera is headlined "watching the watchdogs: the 5 d's of u.s. middle east policy." " washington's delusion, denial, dishonesty, distortion, and diversion have had disastrous consequences for the region." welcome back to democracy now! so if you can talk about this latest attack, three u.s. shoulders dad -- soldiers dead, 34 wounded.

talk about the significance of who has claimed responsibility and what this means for a possible escalating regional conflict. >> glad to be with you again. great to see a show like yours doing such a wide range of coverage, important issues. i would say the significance here is several fold. first of all, the people who did this attack, the americans plant a certain movement. there are dozens of these groups all over the region. there are almost oas any as american bases. i think there are like 35 military bases with something like 30,000, 40,000 troops. the ones that come in an aircraft carriers, more than that. you have to see this in the

context of a regional situation with any american military installations. some of them killing and attacking arabs and others, some of them not. you have to see the groups from air of countries. official state groups and nonstate actors like hezbollah and hamas, etc. that's the context we have to see this. there are so many potential people who could have done this attack, which should make us wonder about why are there so many people who are potential attackers? it is because they see the american presence linked very closely to what israel is doing in palestine, they see this as a threat. they come out and say it. instance in iraq, like the broader middle east coalition of hezbollah and yemen, islamic groups resistance groups in syria and iraq, there significance is they come right out and said it so many times,

"we are not scared of being attacked. we're not put off by the u.s. and the israeli threats. we are defending our territory." this is unusual in this region but it is going on all the time. the u.s. and the u.k., the two great colonial powers in the middle east over the last century, both have been attacking targets in yemen and the people say, attack, we don't care. they keep attacking back and hitting ships and trying to fire other places. that is the context we have to look at. some of it is linked to gaza. some of it was there before gaza, which is the other important thing. in yemen, and others have said the u.s. stops actually

supporting the genocidal's average moves in gaza, we will stop attacking american targets. it is significant this is the first direct strike that killed the americans but that is not as significant as the broader picture that we have to look at. amy: rami khouri, can you talk about the other countries and their response and where they stand vis-à-vis the united states and israel? for example, jordan. i listen to the jordan deputy prime ministers yesterday say this did not happen on jordanians soil, it happened in syria. but it looks like it did happen in jordan. and why that was relevant? they are very close on the border. as he said, if it happened on jordanians soil, they would consider it an act of war. >> jordan tries to stay out of these big conflicts. it is a small country.

it has quite a sophisticated elettra capability. they spend a lot of money on their security services internally and regionally. technical capabilities, special forces, things like that. they try to not get directly involved in large-scale warfare, but to a little strategic pinpoint actions when necessary either to protect themselves or to help their allies like the u.s. and others. it is hard to know exactly where this attack came from. if the u.s. military agencies have the information, they should make it public so people stop speculating. but jordan is a country with a huge territory on the borders. it is very hard to patrol it. i know that area in northeastern jordan quite well. i spent many days there years

ago when i was writing books on archaeology and lived in jordan. there are two things i think people should recognize about this area. if you look at the aerial for degraff -- photograph of the camp of tower 2, if you go back to the archaeological journals and look at pictures, aerial photographs of camps that archaeologists have mapped and surveys, you will find the same thing. this is a sign these kinds of foreign military installations inside the region, especially on peripheral border areas, don't have a long lifestyle. they will be abandoned because the local people don't want them there. the second thing i would say, the area is very fascinating. people call it a desolate area. the desert area now because of climate change and overgrazing and things like that.

but this was a strategically important region in the beginning of modern civilization as we know it in the bronze age, the people who think abrahams cap's came through here what is known as the promised land. this is an area developed early in the bronze age, sophisticated water systems. showing the human capabilities that have been in this area for about 5000 years. those are just two little side points i would like to throw in there. amy: treated parsi trita parsi talking about the u.s. soldiers who died said they did not do i defending u.s. interest but biden's refusal to press israel for ceasefire. their lives were put at risk by biden to defend israel's ability

to continue its carnage in gaza. if you could respond to that and, among other things, 1000 black pastors across the political spectrum representing hundreds of thousands of congregants in the black community in the united states calling on biden who are normally mainly constituents, supporters of biden for ceasefire, this issue of rather than doing what the republicans like lindsey graham and senator cornyn are calling for, bomb iran, are saying, go the other way as a result of this. >> those are two really important points. on the point of the black pastors, they represent i think around a couple hundred thousand parishioners. they have now joined airbnb american a muslim american whose located all over the country who

are also telling biden the same thing, we're not going to vote for you if you keep being part of the genocide in gaza. this is significant because it is showing as american politicians don't care about morality or the law. they care about electoral incumbency and staying in power. wishes probably what all politicians do, to be fair. americans are no different. this is a question raised with the death of the three americans and 24 injured. there will be more attacks, for sure. keep in mind, the axis of resistance, the islamic resistance in iraq and syria, openly saying, we don't care if you attack us. this is unusual. the question, are american troops in the red sea and iraq and possibly in other places dying for the sake of israel? israel wants a confrontation.

the americans have been thoughtful and usually in the middle east by resisting a full-scale war with iran. the question becomes come all these actions, are they for the sake of israel? not just israel, but the right-wing fascist majority now has been said by the u.n. highest court, the world highest court? strategic interest has not been well served by the 35, 40 military bases. it emerged out of the destruction that happened in iraq after the american invasion of iraq that toppled saddam hussein, created a lot of -- some are tribal and summer i agree logical -- archaeological and somewhere in your can-supported.

all of this goes back to what the u.s. did in iraq to a very large extent. therefore the u.s. needs to listen to people like trita parsi and others to what we're doing? is this the best thing for america's well-being or are we serving the interest of israel is? and if we are, why are we doing that? is it baby for electoral purposes? selfish political reasons? becoming much more clear and controversial, sensitive. they have to be addressed. there is the possibility to stop all of this letter is him, which is -- militarism, which is the ceasefire that can be installed quickly if the u.s. wants. new leaders in israel and palestine and other places, were credible leaders, but negotiate

a peace that resolves the conflict which will not need 35, 40 american bases and constant never-ending warfare. this process is going to keep expanding if we are not careful. i don't think we're going to get a full-fledged war with iran and hamas and hezbollah fighting against the u.s. and israel, that would be a catastrophe for the whole region. but what we have now is a low intensity diversified regional warfare, and i think that is going to continue. amy: rami khouri, thank you for being with us, palestinian american journalist and a senior public policy fellow at the american university of beirut. speaking to us from boston. up next, hours after the international court of justice ordered israel to prevent genocide in gaza, and other genocide case was brought

against the biden administration heard in oakland, california. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "blue eyes" by vic mensa. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. just hours after the international court of justice in the hague ordered israel on to take "all measures" to prevent genocide in gaza, but stopped short of calling for ceasefire, hearing and another case began in the united states. the center for constitutional rights first father casey november against president joe biden, secretary of state antony blinken, and defense secretary lloyd austin. for three hours on friday, in a federal courtroom in oakland, california, palestinians and americans testified in person and by phone from gaza about the biden administration's failure to prevent what they called the "unfolding genocide" in gaza. lawyers for the biden

administration say the court lacks the proper jurisdiction to decide the case, which they argue is a matter of foreign policy. the judge said, "this probably is the most difficult case factually that this court has ever had." for more, we're joined by two guests. laila el-haddad testified friday. she is a palestinian writer and journalist from gaza, author of "gaza mom: palestine, politics, parenting, and everything in between" and the co-editor of the book "gaza unsilenced" with refaat alareer, the prominent palestinian academic and activist who was killed in december by an israeli airstrike in gaza, along with his brother, his sister, and her four children. also joining us is diala shamas, senior staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. we welcome you both to democracy now! start off by laying out the

case. >> thank you for having me. we filed this case in november laying out all of the was in which the u.s. government, particularly president biden, secretary blinken, and austin, have failed in their duty to prevent the unfolding genocide in gaza but also are complicit in genocide in gaza. a couple of days after filing the complaint, soft a preliminary injunction which is essentially an emergency order saying to the court stakes here are so high, the harm to our plaintiffs in this case -- and we have two human rights organizations staff in gossett that our plaintiffs along with the number of individuals, some of whom are palestinian-americans with families in gaza, many of whom have been killed and displaced

and are suffering all of the conditions that we have all come to know all too well, and we also have plaintiffs in gaza -- palestinians who are currently displaced and who have also suffered injuries and loss of relatives. he and her motion perp limiter junction, we essentially told the court unless the court intervenes now and issues an urgent -- some urgent relief, the harm to these palestinians will be so irreparable so we need some urgent action pending this resolution -- litigation always takes much longer time. so the hearing -- the government filed a motion to dismiss as well as in opposition to our motion seeking the urgent relief . we had that hearing on friday, which you were just describing.

remarkable hearing. in many ways, in large part, one of the most remarkable aspects was, as far as i can tell and i'm aware of, we been litigating palestine-related cases and have been a student of them for decades. i can't think of another time where in a u.s. federal court palestinians have been on the witness stand one after the other after the other describing their experiences under israeli occupation, uninterrupted in a way that offers a holistic, complete, complicated accounting of what has been happening to palestinians. in this case, not just over the course of the last 16 weeks since the latest assault and unfolding genocide started, but really placing it in the broader context every single one of our

plaintiffs got up there and in order to explain the impact to the court, to the judge, of the current moment and hast to explain the history of the nakba. i've never heard that word set in federal court so many times. it was an important part of their telling because they were there -- they were tasked with describing the urgency and the harm in injuries they are experiencing. it is a multilayered harm. in order to explain how they even got to gaza in the first place, they have to explain their families history as refugees, the refugee population , fragmentation of palestinians. there was so much that was remarkable about the hearing, but that really stands out to me. amy: if you can quickly say, how did the preliminary judgment of

the international court of justice in the hague weigh in and inform the case that you brought? because it happened right after on friday, as they said, israel has to prevent a genocide in gaza. and also the significance of the judge saying this is the most difficult case he will ever have to decide? >> yeah, so as you said, mere hours after the icj issued its order, 4:00 a.m. california time, hearing started at 9:00 a.m., we reviewed it as fast as we could, submitted it to the court because it was relevant and had not really had the time to fully process it, but walking into that hearing with a sort of

validation in many ways, also we all think new exactly -- in some ways we did not need the validation of of the world court had found there was a possible case of genocide that required the order that it issued with the provisional measures, west significant. the judge took note of it. in many ways, similar postures in our federal court as the international terminal court proceeding, which is the provisional measures at the international court level also sought to get these printed provisional measures at a showing of possibility. so we don't have time to have the full litigation on the merits because of the time we come around, the damage will be done and will be nobody left to save. and that is why we got that

order from the icj. we are making the similar argument to the court here which is pulmonary junction is needed -- the preliminary junction is needed now and then we can litigate this. amy: i want to bring in laila el-haddad, palestinian writer and journalist from gaza. you are the co-editor of a book with refaat aleer who was killed recently, well-known acclaimed writer and academic in gaza. you are the author of "gaza mom: palestine, politics, parenting, and everything in between." speaking to us from near baltimore today. what did you testify in court on friday? >> thank you for having me. i and other plaintiffs who spoke in a professional capacity about

half this ongoing genocide and particularly u.s. complicity in it has impacted our families in gaza and our families here as well. so i started off by introducing myself -- as you can see, it has been a long weekend and my voice is completely gone. i spoke about my family in gaza, in the south of gaza in khan younis, and i started off by talking about how israel had killed multitudes of them on my mother side. i believe the number is now 86. five of my immediate family members in gaza city. had displaced the rest of them to multiple locations and how israel was responsible for starving them and depriving them of basic human needs and so on all with active u.s. support,

with u.s. weapons and u.s. financial support and u.s. diplomatic support. i spoke about my aunt and adult cousins. had a chance after three months to get the full details from the surviving brother who is now -- even his whereabouts now are unknown after having a night of israeli bombardment on gaza city. he was telling me how he had on his own to retrieve his sister's body parts, half of his mother, how he had to. then with his own hands in a mass grave. how sister's body, my cousin, is still unaccounted for under the rubble and how he was injured and his brother, mother cousin bled to death because he could not access medical care. they could not get medics to the area. it was very heavy and very painful but also very urgent.

that was part of the point was to speak about we have not had the luxury has palestinians, particularly palestinians from gaza, to grieve. we have not had that luxury. we recognize how being palestinians in america necessitates our involvement in this case, how it obligates us to do everything we can to take every possible recourse, including legal recourse, to try to put an end to this. it is our tax dollars were being put to work. amy: this latest attack on khan younis, as you have any family members there, so many people being told to leave khan younis, have moved repeatedly thinking each next lace was a safe zone, now being forced to raffah, to

the border, to the sea. where are your family members and what hope will come out of this? >> they are, without exaggeration, everywhere. like everyone else. hated saying that. i feel like you look at someone else and you say, their situation is a little better but truth be told, the entire situation is just beyond description. horrific. every morning when i looked at my feet and whatsapp and communicate with family members, i try not ask how they are doing but i know they derive hope knowing that we are doing something here to speak out about what is happening. that was one of the motivating factors behind this lawsuit. but my family, several of them

are still in gaza city. they have not left since the very beginning. i have two direct cousins there and their husbands and all of their children. one of them is in front of the nasser hospital in gaza city. the others -- one because it was in the shifa compound. he left with his family and i don't even know where because his home was destroyed posted my eldest uncle who is blind and deaf, this senate family, are in central gaza. my mother's family were in khan younis as you mentioned and then are now in -- i have not been able to communicate with them for a while but one of my cousins i was in her home was destroyed and she is now with her four children literally under a nylon tarp because they cannot even find a tent. her husband, who has cancer -- yeah.

for those who are familiar, it is a sandy enclave almost directly adjacent to the beach. there is nothing there. there's nothing there beyond the seawater. and now with aid being cut by several countries, including the united states -- as it has been said, blinken did not hesitate with a matter of seconds to shut the aid off. yet for more than three month, palestinians have been enduring and ongoing genocide, which the united states not only has refused to stop but is actively aiding and abetting. despite overwhelming evidence, including president biden himself acknowledging the bombings have been discriminate, despite the stated intent by israeli leaders that the art of innocents in gaza.

amy: we are going to talk about that cutting off of aid to unrwa in our next segment. i want to thank you for being with us, laila el-haddad, posten and writer and journalist from gaza. diala shamas is a senior staff attorney at the center for constitutional rights. next up, and emergency room physician just back from khan younis and we speak with the head of the norwegian refugee council jan egeland. norway is saying it will not cut off aid to unrwa despite the u.s. and 12 other countries are doing so. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "the saddest thing" by melanie safka. the folk singer who rose to fame from woodstock 1969 died last week at the age of 76. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. we turn now to conditions in southern gaza's khan younis area, where displaced palestinians have fled to seek refuge are reporting heavy aerial and tank fire as israel intensifies its ground offensive around two main hospitals there. we are joined in chicago by dr. thaer ahmad, emergency room

physician just back after spending three weeks in gaza volunteering at al nasser hospital in khan younis. board member for medglobal, which has an office in gaza and is working with the world health organization. dr. ahmad just returned to chicago on thursday where he's the global health director of his hospital and also an assistant professor of emergency medicine at university of illinois chicago. dr. ahmad, tell us what you experienced in khan younis at the hospital. >> surgical capabilities, of thousands of people sheltering inside of the hospital. families sheltering in the area of the medical complex. what i saw was relentless bombing taking place. you so many injured, many were children. many people who were just trying to go about the regular day looking for their next meal,

where they could obtain water. in the process, they were hit by a take shells or air fire. it was overwhelming. i worked at a level one trauma center in chicago. no stranger to trauma or gang violence. this was something that was on a level i don't think many people in america have ever experienced. every aspect of life in gaza has been disrupted, made harder. you felt that while you were in the hospital. the physicians have been working nonstop for nearly four months. they also are hungry and are concerned about where they can get clean water. their families have been displaced multiple times. they are being asked to take care of waves and waves of people coming in as victims of bomb strikes or take showings. he saw children walking around the complex barefoot. they looked hungry looking for food. they were trying to find some

sort of refuge. they're not getting vaccinated. they are not going to regular appointments. what we saw when the fighting intensified was a mass migration of people. i remember looking outside the window and seeing a four-year-old girl holding onto her pillow and her dad trying to grab whatever he could. they were going to fully on foot further south. probably would have to walk five or six miles in the middle of the night as you heard f-16s above and the relentless bombing. i thought, this can't be real. this is not something i would expect in 2024. part of what we are seeing, these people are consistently being dehumanized. simple to just say people are being asked to evacuate or go to a safer place. but what i realized quickly and the doctors told me is there is no place in gaza that is say. there's no where to take refuge.

no place has been spared from bombing. just because there might be intensified fighting in khan younis, it doesn't mean raffah is say. and the people in the north of gaza are suffering immensely. i was there in the midst of an eight day telecommunications blackout. the doctors were asks to work 24 hour shifts, thinking about their families and not knowing what was going to take place, not knowing if they had eaten for the day. that is something i think was traumatizing to experience secondhand and i was there for less than three weeks. this is what they had a deal for four months. amy: reports are from the u.n. at least 300 health-care workers have been killed in gaza. al jazeera speaking to doctor at nasser hospital where you were, dr. ahmad, in khan younis, said

95% of staff fled toraffah. how many people are taking refuge in nasser hospital in addition to the wounded? how many dead bodies are piling up? how many medical staff are left? >> that is something that was noticeably thinning every day the military sought was taking place in khan younis, more and more staff had to lead to take care of their families and make sure they were safe. you can say there was probably two dozen in terms of medical staff and doctors as well as nurses. i want to point out that of these physicians or nurses have been paid for the last four months. they received one payment of $200 in november. otherwise, they are essentially volunteering. in the process, many have been subjected to violence, have been killed. many have been arrested. that was one of the concerns when we were in khan younis and

there were serious intense bombings taking place is you saw there was this tension that existed. i remember trying to say, i think the hospital should be safe. they quickly said, what would you make you think nasser hospital in khan younis is different than shiffa or any of the other hospitals that have been attacked? what happens is while the attacks are taking place, people who have been killed, their bodies left in the street. it is dangerous for any first responder to go and try to retrieve the body or bring somebody who is wounded -- so many die in the process. you see health care workers digging mass graves to be able to bury some of the wounded. there are thousands sheltering in the hospital. if you were to walk at nasser hospital on any floor, see people in every age and every corner. they may have a small blanket. families congregating. they assume the hospital can be

a sanctuary. time and again, that has been proven incorrect in gaza. people have no choice. they have nowhere to go. the staff are overworked. i understand this notion that people in gaza are different. and they are so resilient and oppressive from every single corner or every single angle. they are able to do so much with so little resources. they are phenomenal physicians and health care workers. the why are we insisting we keep pushing them to the maximum limit? why do we keep trying to test her superhuman capabilities? that is something i found very disturbing. amy: we're going to ask you to stay after the show and continue our conversation with your eyewitness report, now back in chicago, emergency room physician, volunteered at al nasser hospital in khan younis. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. palestinian officials and human rights groups have denounced the

decision by the united states and at least 12 other countries to temporarily suspend funding to unrwa, the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees, after israel accused 12 unrwa employees of helping hamas stage the october 7 attack. nine of the employees were fired, while unrwa said two of the accused employees were dead. unrwa is one of the largest employers in gaza with a staff of over 13,000 and it provides aid to most of gaza's 2.3 million residents. the agency has long faced targeting from israel which -- israel.

meanwhile, unrwa the unrwa condemned the freezing of funds. he said "palestinians and gaza did not need the additional collective punishment. this." stains all of us." and until has urged donor nations to continue supporting unrwa. for more would go to oslo, no way, where we're joined by jan egeland, secretary general of the norwegian refugee council. norway has decided to continue its funding. can you start off by responding to the cutting off of funding at a time when, among other things, gaza is under bombardment and is on the edge of famine? >> it is the worst possible reaction to these allegations that some -- maybe a dozen, of the 13,000 unrwa aid workers --

participate in the horrific attacks on israel. that, however, was immediately with responsive unrwa by firing these staff and now having an independent investigation. what the donor state, the u.s., u.k., germany, italy, finland, netherlands, australia, and some others did was to cut all aid to the children of gaza, to the women in gaza, to the completely innocent there. it is the worst possible move at a time when this trapped population is under bombardment. do not punish the many innocent for the sins of the few who did very wrong, it seems. amy: it will be interesting to

see if israel hands over the evidence for the u.n. to investigate the situation. because we are talking about an immediate cut off i many of these nations suspending weapons. i want to reach a clip of the former israeli official who said it will be impossible to win the war if we do not destroy unrwa. and this destruction must begin immediately. the prime minister netanyahu said there will be no unrwa in postwar gaza jan egeland. your response jan egeland,? you are the head of large military aid group. how important is unrwa to all of the groups, not to mention the people on the ground? >> unrwa is completely essential. large humanitarian group across the world, we are on all sides of conflict lines for the

displaced and the refugees, and we've been in gaza for two decades. we have been funded by the united states and other donor nations and international agencies. in gaza, we have to recognize all of us combined are not even close to be what unrwa is for the people of gaza. unrwa was the response to the creation of israel. the 1948 war that displaced so many of the original palestinian population to gaza, to the west bank, and elsewhere. unrwa was created to give them relief. since then, there has not been political, peaceful settlement. and that is because the international community -- to

settle this conflict. thereby, we end up by having humanitarian groups like first and foremost unrwa provide for the population. so to undermine and undercut unrwa as extremists within the israeli government are two income is basically to say we are going to punish the women and children, the innocent, on the other side for what extremists have done in the situation of utter turmoil and perpetua's conflict -- perpetual conflict, that we are not willing to settle with courts on a future. it is very wrong. the international donors must stay with the humanitarian organizations like norway did. norway is a large donor giving much more per capita to palestinians than any other

donor. stay with unrwa and we say, good that you terminated all of those countries and fired these people and could there is an investigation -- good there is investigation and then we will draw conclusions what we should do for the future. amy: jan egeland, what evidence is there of israel's charges? have they handed over the evidence? >> as far as i know, it has not been received by unrwa or the u.n. investigators. i hope they will be received so they can do a thorough investigation of this. very serious allegations. i read about them in "the new york times." if it is true, again, they betrayed all of our principles. neutrality, impartiality, etc., that is so important for us who

are unarmed humanitarian workers in the crossfire around the world. but of course, no one who is working across the middle east can guarantee that there are not people within our midst that may in the end have hidden agendas. we know of many israelis who have done bad things in gaza. shooting at people with white flag. it is document. they even shot their own people with white flags. they have settler organizations. mafia-style settler organizations, displacing unarmed women and children and families across the west bank. many of these are recruited to the israeli defense forces. they belong in jail but they are in the israeli fence forces. no one can guarantee there are not plums. therefore, they have to be

investigated and there has to be action every time something happens. but don't cut funding to people in great need. it is the worst possible response. amy: jan egeland, secretary general of the norwegian refugee council. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]