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Women caught in the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas are now suffering from a severe shortage of menstruation hygiene productsto the point that they are having to cut canvas strips from tents and scraps of clothing as a substitute for sanitary pads, risking infection and deadly toxic shock syndrome.

Since the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian enclave began on October 7, the total siege on Gaza has prevented hygiene and period products from entering the Strip. Of the 1.9 million Gazans who have fled south to Rafah, one million are estimated to be women and girls and the United Nations estimated that there are 700,000 women and girls in Gaza experiencing menstrual cycles who cannot access the hygiene products.

Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said the aid trucks that were able to penetrate the enclave mostly prioritized food and medical aid, rather than sanitary products for women. “Women in Gaza go to many places and walk long distances to search in all the pharmacies for pads, but they can’t find them,” Jafari told news outlet Middle East Eye. As a result, most females are now using menstruation-delaying pills to block their periods since sanitary products are scarce and pills are generally more available as they are not commonly used.

Also, keeping themselves clean is an added struggle. Many of them live in makeshift tents and have difficulty accessing clean running water and toilets due to overcrowding. With only one of three water pipelines in Gaza functioning, women are unable to wash themselves, some have said they’ve gone weeks without showering. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that there is only one toilet per 486 people at its shelters in Rafah.

“We suffer a lot whenever we want to go to the bathroom. We stand in line for a long time and the bathrooms are far away,” a woman who was displaced from her home with her four children told global federation ActionAid International. “This is a new form of suffering experienced by women in Gaza. This situation is extremely difficult for women and adolescent girls, who lack safe, private and dignified places to manage their menstrual hygiene,” Jafari added. Babies are being “delivered into hell”

Apart from the unsanitary living conditions, pregnant women in labor are undergoing cesarean procedures without anesthetic. What is worse, they are being discharged just hours after the operation, according to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Tess Ingram.

Since there is only one operational maternity hospital left in Gaza, women in labor are forced to share beds or give birth in their tents or toilets. “Two women who were sharing a bed maybe an hour after getting a cesarean, they were then moved to a chair to free the bed up to somebody else, and discharged after three hours to go back to their shelter,” Ingram reported after she visited the El Emirati Maternity Hospital on Jan. 12. “They are terrified, they are scared about the lack of medical care, but they’re also scared about the prospect of bringing a newborn baby into such an uncertain place.”

UNICEF reported that 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza since the conflict started in October. After delivery, mothers are forced to nurse their newborns in tents and are often unable to find clothes and nappies. According to ActionAid, food supply shortages have left many new mothers too malnourished to breastfeed their newborns.

Meanwhile, a shocking press release dated January 19 from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, indicated that the Gaza crisis is impacting women and girls at unprecedented levels with loss of life and catastrophic levels of humanitarian need. The study found that around 70 percent of people killed in the enclave are estimated to be women and children, including two mothers per hour killed since the beginning of the crisis. (Related: Israel downplays assassination of two women in Gaza church by absurdly claiming they were “Hamas spotters.”)

UN Women also estimated that at least 3,000 women may have become widows and heads of household, in urgent need of protection and food assistance, and at least 10,000 children may have lost their fathers. And so, more women fear that families will resort to desperate coping mechanisms including early marriage.

The statement also said the organization is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It asked that no effort should be spared to ensure womens and girls’ protection and safe access to rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance. It also reiterated its deep concern at accounts of unconscionable sexual violence and other gender-based violence during the attacks, its call for accountability, justice, and support for all those affected, and for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Check out Humanitarian.newsfor more stories on the current living conditions of women and children in Gaza.

Watch the video below where theArchbishop of Westminster talks about Israel’s “cold-blooded” killing of two women in Gaza.

This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories:

Exclusive: Gaza grandmother gunned down by Israeli sniper as child waved white flag.

Israel KILLED more Palestinians in 2023 than in any year since the Nakba in 1948.

Palestinian Christians in Gaza fear Israel’s ongoing bombing campaigns will lead to their EXTINCTION. Sources include:

MiddleEastEye.net

Telegraph.co.uk

UNWomen.org

Brighteon.com
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Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

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Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz accepted an invitation on Tuesday to compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

Cruz is the fifth player to commit to the competition, held one day before the All-Star Game. The others are Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

Cruz, 26, is known for having a powerful bat and regularly delivers some of the hardest-hit homers in the sport. His home run May 25 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers had an exit velocity of 122.9 mph and was the hardest hit homer in the 10-year Statcast era.

But Cruz has never hit more than 21 in a season, and that was in 2024. He’s on track to set a new high this year and has 15 in 80 games.

Cruz has 55 career homers in 324 games with the Pirates.

Cruz will be the first Pittsburgh player to participate in the Derby since Josh Bell in 2019. Other Pirates to be part of the event were Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (2005), Andrew McCutchen (2012) and Pedro Alvarez (2013).

Overall, Cruz is batting just .203 this season but leads the National League with 28 steals.

Among the players to turn down an invite to the eight-player field are two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies and 2024 runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.

Defending champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers recently turned down a spot as a consideration to nagging injuries.

Top power threats Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers also are expected to skip the event.

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

New York Yankees All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr., after making 28 starts in a row at third base, is moving back to second base starting with Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.

Boone confirmed the change on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday.

Chisholm, who is batting .245 with 15 home runs, 38 RBIs and 10 steals in 59 games, has recently been bothered by soreness in his right shoulder, which he said is an issue only on throws.

He said he prefers to play second base and prepared in the offseason to exclusively play in that spot before injuries played havoc with Boone’s lineup card, starting with Chisholm’s oblique injury in May.

Third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera went down with a season-ending ankle injury on May 12.

DJ LeMahieu manned second base while Chisholm was at third, but Boone has a better glove option in Oswald Peraza, a utility man with a stronger arm plus defensive skills across the infield.

LeMahieu, 36, is batting .266 with two home runs and 12 RBIs this season.

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Willie Mays’ personal collection going to auction

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Willie Mays' personal collection going to auction

The personal collection of Willie Mays, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to the Hall of Famer by President Barack Obama, will head to auction via Hunt Auctions on Sept. 27-28 in San Francisco.

“Per Mays’ wishes, all proceeds from this auction will go to delivering education, training, and health services for youth through the Say Hey! Foundation which Willie Mays founded in 2000,” Hunt Auctions said in a statement.

Other items to be auctioned include Mays’ 1954 New York Giants World Series ring, his 1954 and 1965 NL MVP Awards, his Baseball Hall of Fame induction ring and his 1962 home San Francisco Giants uniform — photo-matched to that year’s MLB All-Star Game and two other games from that season.

There’s also a 1977 Stutz Blackhawk VI, custom made for Mays.

“We are deeply humbled and grateful to Willie Mays for having been selected to represent this important offering of his personal collection,” said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, who also handled the auctioning of Bill Russell’s and Bill Walton’s personal collections.

“For all of his extraordinary achievements as a baseball player, Willie Mays wanted his enduring legacy to be helping children,” Jeff Bleich, Mays’ friend and the chair of the Say Hey! Foundation, said in a statement.

The collection’s first public display will be at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention, held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, from July 30 through Aug. 3.

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