Headlines in This News Package:

• Yemen’s Armed Forces Resume Attacks Against Israel, Affirm Solidarity With Palestine

• Cypriots Hit the Streets With a Massive Display of Solidarity With Palestine

• Risk of Infectious Diseases, Malnutrition Soars as Israel Resumes Attacks on Gaza Strip

• United Auto Workers Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza

[NEWS ITEM TEXT]

Yemen’s Armed Forces Resume Attacks Against Israel, Affirm Solidarity With Palestine

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The Yemeni Armed Forces announced that it had launched two direct attacks on Israeli ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen’s coast on December 3.

The spokesperson for the Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, confirmed the operation, stating that it was in response to the demands of the Yemeni people and the “free people of our Arab and Islamic nation, to stand fully with the choices of the Palestinian people and their steadfast resistance.”

Sare’e added that Yemen’s naval forces had carried out an attack on the Unity Explorer and Ship Number 9 vessels, the first with a naval missile and the second with a naval drone. He said that the mission was launched after both ships rejected warnings from the Yemeni Naval Forces. The Unity Explorer has been linked to Dan David Ungar, reportedly the son of Israeli billionaire Abraham Ungar.

Sare’e affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces would continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea and the Arab Sea “until the Israeli aggression… comes to a halt.”

Following a seven-day ceasefire agreement, Israel intensified its aerial bombardments on Gaza on December 1, killing 700 Palestinians in the besieged Strip in 24 hours.

Addressing the families of martyrs earlier on Sunday, Sare’e had also announced that the Yemeni Armed Forces would resume “targeting the Zionist occupation with painful and crushing strikes after the enemy entity returns to launch its barbaric aggression against the Gaza Strip.”

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Cypriots Hit the Streets With a Massive Display of Solidarity With Palestine

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On December 3, a major Palestine solidarity demonstration was organized in Nicosia by the progressive groups in Cyprus. The “Peace March” was called by the Pancyprian Peace Council, along with other progressive groups such as the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), United Democratic Youth Organization, POGO Women’s Movement, Pancyprian Federation of Labor, and the Green Movement-Citizens’ Cooperation. The Ambassador of Palestine to Cyprus, Abdallah Attari, also attended the march.

The Pancyprian Peace March called for the immediate end of the genocidal war in Gaza by Israel, an end to Israeli occupation and colonization, and freedom for Palestine.

The participants in the rally demonstrated outside the Israeli embassy and the European Parliament Office in Cyprus. Outside the Israeli embassy in Nicosia, the POGO Women’s movement unfurled a huge banner that read “How many more dead children?”

While addressing the Peace March, the secretary general of the World Peace Council (WPC), Haris Pasias, noted that the Cypriot people “know that the struggle against imperialism and the struggle to defend peace, freedom, and justice is common to all peoples of the earth.”

“We will not stop taking to the streets until a full ceasefire and an end to the war are implemented,” Pasias added.

AKEL Secretary General Stefanos Stefanou addressed the demonstration, reiterating AKEL’s solidarity with the people of Palestine, “against the criminal policy of the State of Israel” and stated that it will continue until the Palestinian people attain freedom.”

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Risk of Infectious Diseases, Malnutrition Soars as Israel Resumes Attacks on Gaza Strip

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“Even if peace was declared, we have a massive public health challenge ahead of us,” said Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, speaking at a press conference on November 29. His warning came shortly before a short truce ended with another series of Israel’s attacks on December 1.

The devastation of the health system in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, is leading to growing concerns about the spread of infectious diseases. Considering the severe overcrowding in which approximately 1.8 million displaced people in Gaza are currently living, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, warned that “the risks are increasing for epidemics of respiratory tract infections, acute watery diarrhea, hepatitis, scabies, lice, and other diseases.”

The WHO recorded 75,000 cases of diarrhea and 111,000 cases of respiratory infections that prevent normal breathing function among the population in Gaza. Even though the UN health agency delivered 121 pallets of medical supplies into the Strip in the first three days of the truce, the materials delivered are enough to care for 90,000 people. This leaves tens of thousands without adequate care.

Only 15 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza are still functioning and are “overwhelmed,” warned the WHO on November 29. Health workers who were forced to leave their workplaces at gunpoint days before the truce kicked in remain imprisoned or disappeared, signaling that attacks against healthcare in Palestine will continue as bombardments and shelling resume.

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United Auto Workers Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza

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The United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the largest unions in North America, added its voice to the global call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The announcement was made hours after Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip following a seven-day pause.

On December 1, Brandon Mancilla, Director for United Auto Workers Region 9A, wrote on X that the UAW is calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine and is creating “a Divestment and Just Transition working group to study the history of Israel and Palestine, our union’s economic ties to the conflict, and explore how we can have a just transition for U.S. workers from war to peace.”

UAW President Shawn Fain stated shortly afterward, “I am proud that the UAW International Union is calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. From opposing fascism in WWII to mobilizing against apartheid South Africa and the CONTRA war, the UAW has consistently stood for justice across the globe.”

Speaking outside of the White House gates at a press conference on the morning of December 1, where a group of activists has been on a hunger strike since November 27 for a permanent ceasefire, Brandon Mancilla said, “For so long we’ve been silent and we’ve been ignorant in the labor movement to this issue.”

“That time is over,” he said. “I wanna thank all the rank-and-file members who have made this happen.”