The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the changes must occur. The letter, which restates U.S. policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers, was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports Israel had conducted a strike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza that killed at least four people. A senior defense official said Tuesday that Blinken and Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts as they saw a recent decrease in assistance reaching Gaza. The official said a similar letter sent by Blinken in April triggered a constructive response and “concrete measures from the Israelis.” The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the latest letter was a way to similarly address the problem. Read more: The US is building a pier off Gaza to bring in humanitarian aid. Here's how it would work For Israel to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, the level of aid getting into Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks a day, Israel must institute additional humanitarian pauses and provide increased security for humanitarian sites, Austin and Blinken said. They said Israel had 30 days to respond to the different requirements. An Israeli official confirmed a letter had been delivered but did not discuss the contents. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a diplomatic matter, confirmed the U.S. had raised “humanitarian concerns” and was putting pressure on Israel to speed up the flow of aid into Gaza.

In response to the recent fire in one of the refugee camps, hosting nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, the European Union has released €300 000 to assist the affected population. The incident left over 5 000 people without shelter. The funding will serve to provide immediate emergency assistance to address the most urgent needs, notably in terms of shelter, water and site development, said the EU Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday. It will be implemented by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and complement efforts of other humanitarian partners. Read: Rohingya youth murdered over camp dominance in Cox’s Bazar  In the early hours of 7 January, a large fire broke out in one of the most congested camps, Camp 5, where it quickly spread. Close to 950 shelters burned down or were partially destroyed. The fire also damaged communal facilities, including one health centre, 15 learning centres, as well as numerous latrines and washrooms. Despite the extensive damage, no casualties have been reported so far, thanks to the rapid intervention of the fire brigade with the essential help of Rohingya community volunteers. Since fires are frequent in the congested camps, EU-funded disaster preparedness programmes have helped humanitarian partners strengthen camp structures and better prepare for such risks. Read: A fire in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh guts more than 1,000 shelters  This new funding comes in addition to the over €38 million provided by the EU last year in humanitarian aid to Bangladesh, notably in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, but also to reduce the impact of natural hazards. Last March, when another devastating fire caused substantial damage in Cox’s Bazar camps, the EU released €1 million to assist the affected refugees. 

Israel has to stop killing children and women in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron has told the BBC.During an exclusive interview, Macron said that there was "no justification" for the attack, adding that Israel would gain from a ceasefire. While acknowledging Israel's right to self-defense, he said, "We do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza.However, he also emphasised that France "clearly condemns" Hamas' "terrorist" activities, the report said. Thousands who were sheltering at Gaza City’s hospitals flee as Israel-Hamas war closes inLike Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western countries, France views Hamas as a terrorist group.When asked about whether he wanted other world leaders to support his demands for a ceasefire, including those in the US and the UK, Macron said, "I hope they will." Civilians flee north Gaza or shelter at a hospital as Israel and Hamas battle in the cityFollowing almost two weeks of main ground incursion into the territory and a month of Israeli shelling, the health ministry headed by Hamas in Gaza said on Friday that 11,078 Palestinians had died and 1.5 million had left their homes.Israel claimed that it followed international law when attacking military targets and that it takes precautions to lessen the number of civilian deaths by alerting civilians in advance and urging them to flee.Speaking a day after a conference in Paris on humanitarian aid related to the Gaza conflict, Macron stated that all participating governments and agencies had reached the "clear conclusion" that there is “no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow [us] to protect... all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists.""De facto — today, civilians are bombed — de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop," the French president said.Macron, however, stated it was not for him to determine whether or not international law had been breached. Fights in bread lines, despair in shelters: War threatens to unravel Gaza's close-knit society

The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 continues to rise as more bodies are retrieved from the rubble of demolished buildings. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the already battered province of Hatay this week damaged or demolished more buildings, compounding the devastation. Here’s a look at the key developments Thursday from the aftermath of the earthquake. DEATH TOLL TOPS 47,000 Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has raised the number of fatalities in Turkey from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake to 43,556. The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria now stands at 47,244. Read: 6.8 earthquake shakes lightly populated part of Tajikistan In an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Wednesday, Soylu said teams were sifting through two buildings in hard-hit Hatay province in search of further bodies. Search operations elsewhere have come to an end, he said. Meanwhile, at least 164,000 buildings have either collapsed or are so damaged that they need to be demolished, said Murat Kurum, Turkey’s minister for the environment and urbanization. SYRIANS SHELTER IN TENTS AND CARS The local civil defense in northwestern Syria, known locally as The White Helmets, said Thursday that thousands of children and tens of thousands of families have taken shelter in cars and tents “fearing they would face a repeat of the earthquake.” In government-held Syria, a first plane from Bahrain loaded with aid landed in Damascus. The Gulf monarchy is among many Arab countries that in recent years have tried to thaw relations with President Bashar Assad, after shunning him in 2011 for his brutal crackdown on protesters. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two key U.S. allies in the region, have also delivered aid.  

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has stood beside Turkey with humanitarian aid to express solidarity with those affected by the recent devastating earthquakes and alleviate their sufferings. BGMEA donated warm clothing including blankets and sweaters for the earthquake victims of Turkey who are going through immense misery in harsh winter conditions after losing their homes and belongings in the disaster. Read More: UL Solutions delegation meets BGMEA President BGMEA President Faruque Hassan handed over the donation to Turkish Ambassador-designate to Bangladesh Ramis Şen at the embassy in Dhaka on February 20. Former Vice President of BGMEA Moshiul Azam Shajal, Director of BGMEA Mohiuddin Rubel and Commercial Counsellor of the embassy Kenan Kalayci were also present on the occasion. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, “We are saddened and shocked at the loss of valuable lives in Turkey and Syria in a series of massive earthquakes. We would like express our deepest condolences for the dead and sincere sympathy for those who lost their loved ones in the disaster as well as for the injured.” “We cannot bring back those whom we have lost in the earthquakes, but we can join hands and work together with what we have to alleviate the immense sufferings of the earthquake victims.” The BGMEA President assured the Turkish Ambassador that BGMEA would stand beside the people of Turkey and provide more support in their hour of need. Read more: Death toll rises to 8 from new Turkey-Syria earthquake  

Mathilde, the Queen of Belgium, will visit the largest refugee camp in the world – Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday which hosts more than a million Rohingyas. The Queen, who is paying a three-day visit to Bangladesh in her capacity as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) advocate, visited a garment factory in Narayanganj and a UNICEF school in Dhaka on Monday. The company aims to be a “role model” for the textile industry in Bangladesh and is “committed” to meeting all social, ethical and environmental standards. Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen received her upon her arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday morning. Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Ambassador of Belgium to Bangladesh Didier Vanderhasselt and Ambassador and Special Advisor to the Queen Jean-Louis Six, among others, were also present. The Belgian Queen plans to measure and support the progress made in Bangladesh in the areas of girls’ education, women’s economic empowerment, fight against domestic violence and mental health awareness. She is also interested in responses to environmental problems. She will pay courtesy calls on President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and will visit projects linked to flooding in Khulna. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will host a dinner in honour of the Queen on Tuesday. The Queen is scheduled to return to Dhaka from Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday evening. As one of the 17 SDG Advocates of the UN, she will visit projects in Dhaka and Khulna districts.“Agenda 2030 requires citizens, civil society, academia, scientists, philanthropic organisations, and the private sector to work together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ownership and participation are key,” the UN quoted the queen as saying. The SDG advocates are 17 inspiring, influential people raising global awareness of the SDGs and the need for accelerated action. They use their unique global platforms to raise ambition around the SDGs and reach the most vulnerable first. SDG advocates are strong public figures dedicated to peace, prosperity and the planet, rallying behind the vision of a better world and inspiring others to do the same. Queen Mathilde ascended the throne in 2013. She is the honorary president of Child Focus, a foundation for missing and sexually exploited children, and UNICEF Belgium. In 2001, she established the Princess Mathilde Fund (now the Queen Mathilde Fund) to promote the care of vulnerable people. As an SDG advocate, she is particularly focused on mental health.

Around $34 billion, the funding shortfall for aid operations is the biggest it has ever been, the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said recently amid a time when global needs are at an all-time high, with a record 303 million people in crisis. "The UN appeals aim to reach 204 million of the most vulnerable. Never before have humanitarians been called to respond to this level of need, and they are doing so in ever more dangerous environments," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said Friday. The cost of UN-coordinated relief projects this year is close to $50 billion. Although financing pledges have reached their highest level ever – totalling more than $15 billion – needs are outpacing funds. "This is the largest gap we've ever had; also, it is also the largest amount of donor funding that has ever been committed," Laerke said. Read: Bangladesh to provide Tk 1 crore grant to Afghanistan through UN OCHA "However, the needs in the world are rising much, much faster than the donor funding is coming in." According to data from the non-governmental organisation Humanitarian Outcomes, with which the UN partners annually to highlight these statistics, more than 140 aid workers were killed in the line of duty last year – the highest number of fatalities since 2013. Another 203 aid workers were injured and 117 were kidnapped last year. The OCHA said: "The most violent countries for aid workers continue to be South Sudan, followed by Afghanistan and Syria."   According to Humanitarian Outcomes, 168 aid workers have been attacked so far this year, leading to 44 fatalities.

Bangladesh has decided to support Afghan people through humanitarian aid package in the form of food and medicinal assistance.  While appreciating the OIC for calling for extraordinary Council, Bangladesh has also urged the leaders to intensify cooperation within and beyond OIC in support to the Afghan people. Read: Islamic world unites to aid desperately poor Afghanistan  Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen conveyed this during the 17th Extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC on Afghanistan held in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday.  The Foreign Secretary led the Bangladesh delegation which includes Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to OIC, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan and the Director-General of International Organization, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the Council meeting, Momen expressed deep concern on economic and humanitarian crisis looming on the larger part of the Afghan population due to acute shortage of food, shelter and social services which may further be worsened as winter approaches. 

The U.S. has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country's new Taliban rulers, the Taliban said Sunday. The statement came at the end of the first direct talks between the former foes since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of August. The U.S. statement was less definitive, saying only that the two sides “discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people.” Read: Taliban say they won’t work with US to contain Islamic State The Taliban said the talks held in Doha, Qatar, “went well,” with Washington freeing up humanitarian aid to Afghanistan after agreeing not to link such assistance to formal recognition of the Taliban. The United States made it clear that the talks were in no way a preamble to recognition of the Taliban, who swept into power Aug. 15 after the U.S.-allied government collapsed. State Department spokesman Ned Price called the discussions “candid and professional,” with the U.S. side reiterating that the Taliban will be judged on their actions, not only their words. “The U.S. delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for U.S. citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as on human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society,” he said in a statement. Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen also told The Associated Press that the movement's interim foreign minister assured the U.S. during the talks that the Taliban are committed to seeing that Afghan soil is not used by extremists to launch attacks against other countries. On Saturday, however, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington on containing the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan. Read:US, Taliban to hold first talks since Afghanistan withdrawal IS, an enemy of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including Friday's suicide bombing that killed 46 minority Shiite Muslims. Washington considers IS its greatest terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan. “We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen said when asked whether the Taliban would work with the U.S. to contain the Islamic State affiliate. He used an Arabic acronym for IS. Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who tracks militant groups, agreed the Taliban do not need Washington's help to hunt down and destroy Afghanistan's IS affiliate, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISKP. The Taliban "fought 20 years to eject the U.S., and the last thing it needs is the return of the U.S. It also doesn’t need U.S. help,” said Roggio, who also produces the foundation's Long War Journal. “The Taliban has to conduct the difficult and time-consuming task of rooting out ISKP cells and its limited infrastructure. It has all the knowledge and tools it needs to do it.” The IS affiliate doesn't have the advantage of safe havens in Pakistan and Iran that the Taliban had in its fight against the United States, Roggio said. However, he warned that the Taliban's longtime support for al-Qaida make them unreliable as counterterrorism partners with the United States. Read: IS bomber kills 46 inside Afghan mosque, challenges Taliban The Taliban gave refuge to al-Qaida before it carried out the 9/11 attacks. That prompted the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that drove the Taliban from power. “It is insane for the U.S. to think the Taliban can be a reliable counterterrorism partner, given the Taliban’s enduring support for al-Qaida,” Roggio said. During the meeting, U.S. officials were expected to press the Taliban to allow Americans and others to leave Afghanistan. In their statement, the Taliban said without elaborating that they would “facilitate principled movement of foreign nationals."

PRAN-RFL, country's leading business conglomerate, has donated hand rubs and pure drinking water for health workers working at Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Covid-19 dedicated hospital on Wednesday. Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of PRAN-RFL Group, handed over the ‘Activo’ branded hand rub and PRAN Drinking Water to Brig. Gen. AKM Nasir Uddin, Director of the hospital. Also read:PRAN-RFL Group distributing food among 40,000 families Kamruzzaman Kamal said “Protective equipment and drinking water have been given to DNCC Covid Hospital for its health workers who are carrying out their professional duties during the epidemic amid risk.” Brig. Gen. AKM Nasir Uddin thanked PRAN-RFL for providing safety equipment and drinking water for the health workers at the hospital. Read:PRAN-RFL donates protective equipment to three Covid-19 ... PRAN-RFL has provided food to 70,000 helpless and poor families who became lost job during the general holidays across the country last year to contain the spread of coronavirus.    Moreover, the group donated corona sample collection booth, surgical masks, PPE, hand gloves and hand sanitizers to Director General of Health Services (DGHS) and 15 hospitals in Dhaka, Chattogram and Bhola.  Also read PRAN-RFL provides food to corona affected 6,000 families