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Humanitarian crisis in Gaza an 'unprecedented catastrophe,' UN says_我的网站

一 |     JACKSON, Miss. -- One of the people being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services over allegations of misspending welfare money has filed a separate lawsuit against Gov. Tate Reeves, saying the Republican is trying to protect political allies including a former governor.Austin Garrett Smith filed the suit Wednesday and described himself in court papers as “politically powerless.” Smith's suit says Reeves should sue Republican former Gov. Phil Bryant, who was in office when prosecutors say money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. was instead spent on projects pushed by wealthy and well connected people.“Reeves has actively shifted the focus of the MDHS lawsuit away from Bryant, despite overwhelming evidence of Bryant's involvement,” Smith's attorney, Jim Waide, wrote.Reeves press secretary Shelby Wilcher said in response to questions about Smith's lawsuit: “The State of Mississippi is fighting to claw back every single dollar that was misspent in the scandal that occurred before Governor Reeves assumed this office.”The Department of Human Services filed a lawsuit in 2022 against more than two dozen businesses or people, including Smith and retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre. The ongoing suit seeks to recover more than $20 million of the roughly $77 million in welfare money that the state auditor said had been misspent between 2016 and 2019, during Bryant's second term as governor.Auditor Shad White said the misspending included $5 million for one of Favre's pet projects, a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Smith is a nephew of former Mississippi Department of Human Services executive director John Davis.The state's lawsuit says Smith received more than $426,000 of money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program from 2017 to 2019 for purposes not allowed by the program. It says Smith was paid from “under the guise” of providing services for two nonprofit groups whose leaders had close ties to Davis and Bryant.Smith's lawsuit says that several defendants in the state's lawsuit, including Smith, have “little or no” property they could use to pay any judgment against them.Smith's lawsuit also says Reeves has improperly hired private attorneys to represent the Department of Human Services when that legal work should be done by the state attorney general's office.“Reeves has controlled the MDHS suit in order to advance his own political interests and protect his political allies,” Waide wrote.Reeves is seeking a second term in the Nov. 7 election. The Democratic nominee for governor, Brandon Presley, said Reeves is tainted by the welfare misspending that occurred when Reeves was lieutenant governor and had power to oversee how the Department of Human Services was operating. Presley noted that Reeves had received campaign contributions from central figures in the scandal and that the governor's brother, Todd Reeves, had sent text message to the state auditor asking White to praise Favre.“Tate Reeves is too ethically compromised to lead this investigation,” Presley said Wednesday.Reeves campaign spokesperson Clifton Carroll said in a statement: “It's no surprise that some of the defendants who are being sued by the Reeves administration are unhappy because he is aggressively pursuing this case.”。    An "unprecedented catastrophe" is unfolding for civilians in Gaza, according to the United Nations, which is pleading for Islamic leaders to allow humanitarian efforts into the territory to help those trapped there.The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) released a statement Wednesday urging the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation "to firmly and unconditionally support the humanitarian efforts to safeguard civilians in Gaza."UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini evoked the "harrowing images" from the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, where nearly 500 people were killed in a blast on Tuesday night, to highlight the plight of the civilians who remain in Gaza. Another air strike struck an UNRWA school sheltering 4,000 displaced people on Tuesday, killing at least six people, Lazzarini said."An unprecedented catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes," Lazzarini said. "Gaza is being strangled and the world seems to have lost its humanity."A humanitarian crisis began in Gaza almost as soon as the retaliatory air strikes from Israel began last week, following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas, experts told ABC News. The territory is "highly dependent" on imports, and with the crossings into Israel and Egypt currently sealed, supplies are running out fast.Just one week after the latest fighting between Israel and Hamas began, one million people inside Gaza were forced to flee their homes, according to Lazzarini.Fourteen frontline humanitarian workers from the UNRWA are among the dead in Gaza, Lazzarini noted, adding that since the fighting began, not one shipment of aid has been allowed into Gaza.A surgical team and 60 tons of humanitarian aid and medical items have been mobilized to the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, into southern Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Tuesday. But the aid was not granted passage on Monday, when the crossing was supposed to be opened.Images show tractor-trailers filled with supplies and other goods idling on roads leading to Gaza.Potable water, stocks of food, and other supplies such as hygiene materials and medicine are in short supply in Gaza, Lazzarini said, adding that people are being forced to drink unclean water."We are on the brink of a major health and sanitation crisis," Lazzarini said.A mother named Rana, who is trapped in Gaza with her family, told ABC News that she and her children go to sleep every night in fear that they will never wake up again.At night, Gaza becomes a "ghost city" in near darkness, with sirens and bomb blasts the only sounds to break the silence, she said."We sleep in one room," said Rana, who did not want to provide her last name or location due to safety concerns. "We keep praying."During remarks from Israel on Wednesday morning, President Joe Biden said that Israel agreed to allow humanitarian assistance to move from Egypt to Gaza. The passage will be subject to inspections and the aid will go to civilians, not Hamas, Biden said.As of Wednesday evening, it was unclear when the crossings between Gaza and Egypt will open for humanitarian passage.。

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