World Briefing: December 22, 2024

Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide increased overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country said. Israel, which says it will ban UNRWA operations in the country from late January, accuses the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the 14-month-old war in Gaza. Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa told Reuters. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.” Dousa said Sweden “in no way” supported Israel’s law and had repeatedly expressed its criticism. “Israel must do much more to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza,” he said - Reuters

Winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 14-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain. There is a shortage of blankets and warm clothing, little wood for fires, and the tents and patched-together tarps families are living in have grown increasingly threadbare after months of heavy use, according to aid workers and residents. The United Nations warns of people living in precarious makeshift shelters that might not survive the winter. At least 945,000 people need winterization supplies, which have become prohibitively expensive in Gaza, the U.N. said in an update Tuesday. The U.N. also fears infectious disease, which spiked last winter, will climb again amid rising malnutrition - AP

German officials faced mounting criticism on Sunday over the failure to prevent a deadly Christmas market attack in Magdeburg as it emerged that the 50-year-old suspect had made online death threats against German citizens and had a history of quarreling with state authorities. The Saudi suspect, 50-year-old psychiatrist and anti-Islam activist Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, had made online death threats against German citizens and had a history of quarreling with state authorities. News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany‘s spy agency BND a year ago about a tweet in which Abdulmohsen threatened Germany would pay a “price” for its treatment of Saudi refugees. And in August Abdulmohsen wrote on social media: “Is there a path to justice in Germany without blowing up a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens?... If anyone knows it, please let me know.” Die Welt daily reported, also citing security sources, that German state and federal police had carried out a “risk assessment” on Abdulmohsen last year but concluded that he posed “no specific danger” - France 24

Some two days after an alleged massive Russian cyberattack, Ukraine is said to be struggling to recover. Hacked were the registries of property rights, marriages and even a database listing those liable for military service. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Facebook late on Thursday: “Today the largest external cyber-attack in recent times.” For a highly-digitized economy, the cyberattack was especially painful, sources tell me. “For a while it was impossible to sell or buy property & cars - even to get married.” Another said: “It seems an information leak occurred and this is very dangerous.”

Senior U.S. diplomats visiting Damascus on Friday met with Syria’s de-facto new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa and held a “good” and “very productive” meeting with him about Syria’s political transition and decided to remove a bounty on his head. In their first in-person meeting with the leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham since the former al Qaeda affiliate overthrew Syria’s long-time President Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, al-Sharaa “came across as pragmatic”, Barbara Leaf, top Middle East diplomat at the State Department, told reporters. “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by the deeds, not just by words,” Leaf, who was the head of the U.S. delegation, said in a briefing and added that the U.S. officials reiterated that Syria’s new government should be inclusive. It should also ensure that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat, she said. “Ahmed al-Sharaa committed to this,” Leaf said. “So, based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing rewards for justice,” she said, referring to a $10 million bounty that U.S. had put on the HTS leader’s head - Reuters

Albania’s prime minister said Saturday the government will shut down the video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teen after a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama said the shutdown would begin sometime next year. It was not immediately clear if TikTok has a contact in Albania - AP

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