Israeli drone strike kills sixth MSF member in Gaza
Doctors Without Borders (known by their French acronym MSF) have announced the killing of their sixth staff member in Gaza.
Physiotherapist Fadi al-Wadiya, 33, was killed in an Israeli drone attack near an MSF clinic on Gaza City on Tuesday along with five other people, including three children.
Al-Wadiya was cycling to work at the time of the Israeli strike.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe,” MSF said in a statement. “Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked health workers and medical facilities, making it nearly impossible for us to continue to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”
In response to MSF’s statement, the Israeli army claimed, without providing evidence, that al-Wadiya was a “significant terrorist in Islamic Jihad”.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
MSF called the killing of their colleague “cynical and abhorrent”.
Elsewhere, at least 15 people were killed and others wounded in Israeli air strikes on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
In the US, progressive congressman and Israeli critic Jamaal Bowman lost his primary Democratic race to George Latimer, who received heavy funding and support from pro-Israel lobby groups in New York’s 16th Congressional District.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent $14m in the district’s primary, making it the most expensive race in the history of the US House of Representatives.
AIPAC is spending a total of $100m in an effort to oust progressive American lawmakers who have been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza.
In his speech conceding defeat, Bowman vowed to keep fighting for his policies, including those related to Palestine.
“We will continue to fight for a free Palestine now, and God help us build a better world where everyone understands when we say ‘Free Palestine,’ it is not antisemitic,” he said.
The lawmaker, who regularly criticises AIPAC, mentioned them again in his speech.
“We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that isn’t true,” he said. “They spent a record amount of money, the most in US history, to beat this Black man.”
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
