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With police absent in Gaza, vigilante groups arrive on the streets
© Reuters. Members of People’s Protection Committees work to maintain security and control prices in the market, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO (Reuters) – Heads turned as the masked men with clubs walked down a Rafah street, part of a vigilante public security group set up by armed factions in Gaza after the civil police force went underground saying it was targeted by Israeli strikes.
A group of nine of the men, their head bands reading “People’s Protection Committees” bound around ski masks or hoods, strode through a market place this week after first appearing around Rafah late last month.
“We want to control the street to ensure that there is still safety in the country… We are present in the streets to control the streets from all sources of trouble existing in the Palestinian street now,” one said.
The group was formed by the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, along with other political factions that had a street presence in Gaza, and was tasked with ensuring public order and stopping price hikes by market profiteers, he said.
Reuters was unable to reach a spokesperson for the Gaza Interior Ministry, which has stopped operating normally since the war began. Spokespeople for Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and another major faction, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When the vigilantes first appeared in markets, with some brandishing assault rifles, dozens of youths gathered around to whistle, clap and chant “God is Great” in support, witnesses said.
But while some Rafah residents appeared to welcome the emergence of the People’s Protection Committees to tackle lawlessness and war profiteers, others seemed worried at the idea of armed, masked men taking over policing.
“Maybe if we had real policemen without masks, people who are known to the people, it would be more organised and more comfortable,” said a father-of-four Reuters reached by phone in Rafah.
None of the people Reuters spoke to wanted to be identified by their full names. The vigilantes feared being identified by Israel or by the clans of profiteers whose goods they had seized, one person said. People backing the vigilantes were worried that Israel would see them as Hamas supporters.
Those who voiced concern about them were worried about angering the group, or the factions that support it, they said.
PROFITEERING
Hamas, whose deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 triggered the conflict, has run Gaza since 2006, including overall control over the civil police force.
Officials from the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have said uniformed municipal police in Gaza have refused to escort aid convoys after a number of police were killed in Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was attacking police.
The conflict has led to intense shortages of all goods in Gaza, with Israel allowing only humanitarian aid into the enclave, trickling in at a far slower rate than food and medicine did before the conflict.
Prices have rocketed, infuriating a population in which almost everybody has already lost their home and now live, destitute, in tents or other temporary shelters with few possessions beyond the clothes they wear.
“The ministry of economy sets the price of every good which everyone should follow, including big traders even before smaller ones,” said one of the masked men.
They issue warnings to traders whose prices are too high and confiscate the goods of repeat offenders to sell at the set rate, he said.
“They are answering our call to protect us against high prices,” said Akram, a Rafah resident infuriated by the rampant inflation who had to quit smoking because a single cigarette cost what a whole packet had done previously.
The father of four in Rafah said he had initially welcomed the idea of vigilante groups, but they had proven ineffective and were going after the wrong people, he said.
“They should focus their mission at Rafah border crossing where the goods come in and they have to press senior merchants to bring down prices,” he said.
Market traders selling goods at a high price were often displaced people who had been forced to buy their goods at inflated prices from profiteers themselves, said another Rafah resident.
“Why can’t the Economy Ministry form groups to do these campaigns and inspect markets?” he said.
By Maggie Fick and Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Members of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team are laying the groundwork for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization on the first day of his second term, according to a health law expert familiar with the discussions.
“I have it on good authority that he plans to withdraw, probably on Day One or very early in his administration,” said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health at Georgetown University in Washington and director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health (NS:) Law.
The Financial Times was first to report on the plans, citing two experts. The second expert, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha, was not immediately available for comment.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The plan, which aligns with Trump’s longstanding criticism of the U.N. health agency, would mark a dramatic shift in U.S. global health policy and further isolate Washington from international efforts to battle pandemics.
Trump has nominated several critics of the organization to top public health positions, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic who is up for the post of secretary of Health and Human Services, which oversees all major U.S. health agencies including the CDC and FDA.
Trump initiated the year-long withdrawal process from the WHO in 2020 but six months later his successor, President Joe Biden, reversed the decision.
Trump has argued that the agency failed to hold China accountable for the early spread of COVID-19. He has repeatedly called the WHO a puppet of Beijing and vowed to redirect U.S. contributions to domestic health initiatives.
A WHO spokesperson declined to directly comment but referred Reuters to comments by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Dec. 10 in which he was asked whether he was concerned that the Trump administration would withdraw from the organization.
Tedros said at the time that the WHO needed to give the U.S. time and space for the transition. He also voiced confidence that states could finalize a pandemic agreement by May 2025.
Critics warn that a U.S. withdrawal could undermine global disease surveillance and emergency response systems.
“The U.S. would lose influence and clout in global health and China would fill the vacuum. I can’t imagine a world without a robust WHO. But U.S. withdrawal would severely weaken the agency,” Gostin said.
U.Today – MicroStrategy has made headlines again by purchasing 5,262 BTC for approximately $561 million at an average price of $106,662 per BTC. The company now holds a staggering 444,262 BTC, accumulated at a total cost of approximately $27.7 billion, with an average purchase price of $62,257 per BTC.
Despite impressive returns of 47.4% since the beginning of the quarter and 73.7% since the beginning of the year, skepticism about the company’s strategy is growing.
It is believed that to sustain its purchases, MicroStrategy raises capital through methods such as issuing convertible and corporate bonds, securing credit lines and selling shares.
This cycle appears to operate as follows: shares are sold to acquire the cryptocurrency, and the rising price per BTC increases asset value, enabling further loans, which are then reinvested in more purchases.
Some observers warn that a significant decline in Bitcoin’s price or MicroStrategy’s stock could trigger a cascade effect. A sharp fall in MSTR shares would weaken the collateral backing its loans, potentially leading to forced asset sales, including BTC.
This scenario could exert downward pressure on the broader cryptocurrency market, as the company holds 2.2% of the global Bitcoin supply now.
Thus, while some view Michael Saylor’s approach as a bold bid to cement the cryptocurrency’s role in the financial system, others see it as unsustainable. History offers a cautionary note: in 2000, MSTR shares surged to $333 before plummeting 99%, a collapse that took 24 years to recover from.
National homebuilder ranked No. 12 on inaugural list ranking companies based on trust
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — With a longstanding reputation for trust, national homebuilder and land developer Taylor Morrison (NYSE:) (NYSE: ™HC) has been recognized by Forbes on their inaugural list of the Most Trusted Companies in America. The homebuilder ranked No. 12 out of 300 companies across all industries.
“There are few things more powerful than trust and it’s something we strive to earn amongst all company stakeholders, from our customers to our team members, our shareholders, and our local communities,” said Taylor Morrison Chairman and CEO Sheryl Palmer. “To be included on this esteemed list in its inaugural year is especially meaningful and these awards are important reminders of the relationships we’re building across all aspects of our business.”
Fueled by hundreds of millions of data points, the Most Trusted Companies in America list combines data on a wide range of factors across four categories: employee trust, customer trust, investor trust and media sentiment. The ranking was created in partnership with research companies HundredX, Signal AI and Glassdoor.
Taylor Morrison also earned the No. 67 spot on Forbes’ inaugural America’s Best Companies list. The ranking is Forbes’ most comprehensive company ranking to date and factored in ratings for financial performance, customer and employee satisfaction, cybersecurity, sustainability, companies’ remote work policies, media coverage and more. Forbes’ America’s Best Companies list assessed more than 60 metrics across 11 primary categories to identify which organizations excel across the board. Of the more than 2,000 U.S.-based publicly traded companies that were eligible, only 300 qualified for each list.
In addition to being named among the Most Trusted and Best Companies in America by Forbes, Taylor Morrison holds several additional accolades including being named on Newsweek’s America’s Most Responsible Companies and America’s Greenest Companies lists, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Companies to Work For list, the American Opportunity (SO:) Index, America’s Most Trusted ® Home Builder for nine years, Hearthstone’s 2021 BUILDER Humanitarian Award, and inclusion on the Fortune 500 list since 2021.
About Taylor Morrison
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is one of the nation’s leading homebuilders and developers. We serve a wide array of consumers from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury and resort lifestyle homebuyers and renters under our family of brands”including Taylor Morrison, Esplanade and Yardly. From 2016-2024, Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America’s Most Trusted ® Builder by Lifestory Research. Our long-standing commitment to sustainable operations is highlighted in our annual Sustainability and Belonging Report.
For more information about Taylor Morrison, please visit www.taylormorrison.com.
CONTACT:
media@taylormorrison.com
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