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Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, concludes UN commission of inquiry - latest updates

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · 23d

To count as genocide, the 1948 UN Genocide Convention says that at least one of five acts must have occurred.

Now, a UN commission has found that Israel has committed four of them

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Finding comes as Israel’s defence minister says ‘Gaza is burning’ amid escalation in bombardment

Four journalists among 15 dead in Israeli strike on hospital, Gaza officials say

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Aug 25

At least 192 Palestinian journalists have now been killed covering genocide in Gaza
www.bbc.com/news/article...

The strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis are said to have killed journalists working for international media.

www.bbc.com

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Aug 14

"Designed to control independent organisations, silence advocacy and censor humanitarian reporting," say MSF and other NGOs
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Aid groups say Israel’s new registration rules are ‘weaponising aid’

Lifesaving goods for starved people in Gaza blocked by vague rules on anti-Israeli activity, say humanitarian bodies

Palestinian reporters killed, international reporters banned – Israel’s other Gaza war is over narrative

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Aug 12

"Israel is running two Gaza campaigns: one for military control of the strip; another for narrative control of how the world understands what happens there"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Members of press and influencers covering devastation are being silenced despite protection under international law

Gaza aid distribution declared ‘orchestrated killing’ by MSF

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Aug 9

Institutionalised starvation and dehumanisation
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...

Medical relief agency has treated more than 1,300 patients for wounds sustained near notorious GHF aid sites in Gaza.

www.aljazeera.com

Gaza: MSF finds 1 in 4 young children and pregnant women malnourished

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Jul 25

“Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.” - Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, MSF deputy medical coordinator in Gaza
msf.org.uk/article/gaza...

Israel's use of starvation as a weapon in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels, as patients and healthcare workers themselves struggle to survive

Mass starvation spreading across Gaza, aid agencies warn, as pressure on Israel grows – Middle East crisis live

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Jul 23

"Our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away": the message from more than 100 aid agencies including MSF
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

More than 100 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and Oxfam, say ‘our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away’

Our Médecins Sans Frontières staff are being killed in Gaza. Why are UK ministers enabling that? | Natalie Roberts

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Reposted by Mark Lankester

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @drtedros.who.int · Jul 21

@who.int staff residence in Deir al Balah was attacked 3 times today as well as its main warehouse

2 WHO staff & 2 family members were detained. 3 were later released, while one staff remains in detention.

WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff & protection of all its staff. #Gaza

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Jul 14

"MSF has a responsibility to act with moral clarity and humanitarian consistency in the face of mass atrocities. The same should apply to the UK government."

Our op-ed on Gaza by @docnat.bsky.social, in the Guardian today: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Britain has a duty to act morally, and stop supporting this genocide, says Médecins Sans Frontières UK executive director Dr Natalie Roberts

Israel-Gaza war live: one-week-old baby amongst 45 people killed in Gaza strikes as UN warns aid still being blocked

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Jul 9

A message to the UK Government: MSF is witnessing a genocide in Gaza. And you are complicit.
msf.org.uk/issues/gaza-...

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · May 21

MSF: "The Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving"
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Aid group says deliveries are just ‘a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over’

Siege of Gaza: MSF denounces deliberate humanitarian catastrophe

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · May 14

"We are witnessing, in real time, the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives in Gaza"

msf.org.uk/article/sieg...

We are witnessing the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives

Gaza: MSF calls on UK government to take action on the humanitarian catastrophe

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · May 7

MSF UK calls on the Prime Minister to uphold the UK's obligations as a UN Security Council member, act under International Humanitarian Law to protect all civilians in Gaza, and publicly condemn the Israeli government for the atrocities it is inflicting.

msf.org.uk/article/gaza...

The UK must uphold its UN obligations to protect civilians in Gaza, and publicly condemn the Israeli government

🔴 Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders documents 15 months of all-out war waged by the Israeli army against the Palestinians of #Gaza through information and testimonies collected by its t...

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · May 7

Data visualisation from MSF. This interactive feature compiles information and testimonies collected by our teams between October 2023 and February 2025 during the all-out war waged by the Israeli army against the people of Gaza
gazainsidethewar.com/en

Gaza, inside the war

gazainsidethewar.com

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · May 4

An MSF hospital in South Sudan - the only hospital treating a region of more than 110,000 people - has been bombed.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Seven killed in South Sudan hospital and market bombing, charity says

Doctors without Borders (MSF) said its hospital was attacked as fears grow of a return to civil war in South Sudan.

www.bbc.com

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Apr 15

Two years ago, MSF doctor Javid Abdelmoneim received a cryptic message from his cousin in Khartoum that said "Your dad is safe". But safe from what?

In the latest episode of Everyday Emergency, Javid shares his deeply personal experience of returning to Sudan on assignment.

The Debrief: Dr Javid Abdelmoneim on the crisis in Sudan

An experienced MSF medic shares his deeply personal story on the second anniversary of the conflict

Sudan in ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’ after two years of civil war

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Apr 15

"The consequences for Sudan’s 51 million people have been devastating. Tens of thousands are reportedly dead. Hundreds of thousands face famine. Almost 13 million people have been displaced."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

NGOs and UN say country is ‘worse off than ever before’ with wide-scale displacement, hunger, famine and attacks on refugee camps

Gaza: MSF condemns Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Mar 25

“We cannot go back to repeated attacks on healthcare facilities when the health system in Gaza is already hanging by a thread, and no supplies have entered in weeks."

msf.org.uk/article/gaza...

“We cannot go back to repeated attacks on healthcare," says MSF Head of Emergencies in Gaza

Gaza: MSF teams respond to “unacceptable massacres of civilians” by Israeli forces

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Mar 18

🚨"We woke up, at around 2 AM local time to 20 minutes of airstrikes and heavy artillery – just like the past 15 months of war. We are appalled and outraged by these new unacceptable massacres of civilians." - Claire Nicolet, MSF Head of Emergencies.

msf.org.uk/article/gaza...

MSF teams are treating influxes of patients in southern and central Gaza

Why has Israel resumed large-scale airstrikes on Gaza?

Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Mar 18

"The grim reality is that the fragile two-month pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas is now over. It appears very unlikely that a deal that would end the new Israeli attacks can be achieved soon."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Officials claim attacks will bring release of more hostages, but some suggest political factors at play for Netanyahu

Starmer announces big cut to UK aid budget to boost defence spending

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Reposted by Mark Lankester

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · Feb 28

JD Vance: "Peace can only be arrived at with diplomacy."

Proceeds to cause huge diplomatic incident live on air.

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Feb 27

A flawed and dangerous decision from a government so many expected better of

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) @msf.ca · Feb 26

#UK: While MSF does not receive UK Government funding, we are deeply concerned about the far-reaching impact of repeated and sustained aid reductions. Countries affected by conflict, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks where we operate will suffer immensely.

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Reposted by Mark Lankester

Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · Feb 25

David Miliband, a former Labour foreign secretary who now runs US aid charity the International Rescue Committee, has criticised Starmer for cutting the UK aid budget…

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Mark Lankester @markrlankester.bsky.social · Feb 25

Shortsighted politics that will absolutely cost lives and credibility rather than prevent conflict
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

PM confirms rise in military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned