Report Wire

Tag: Israel-Palestine war

  • Israeli Nationalists Chant ‘Death to Arabs’, March Through Palestinian Area | World News

    JERUSALEM: Thousands of mostly ultranationalist Israelis were taking part in an annual march through a sensitive Palestinian area of ​​Jerusalem on Wednesday, with some stoking already surging wartime tensions by chanting “Death to Arabs.”

    Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been mostly calm throughout the Israel-Hamas war. But the annual march, seen as provocative by Palestinians, could ignite broader unrest, as it did three years ago, when it helped set off an 11-day war in Gaza.

    Marchers convening outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s historic Old City, a central gathering place for Palestinians in east Jerusalem, chanted anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans, danced and waved Israeli flags as the procession kicked off.

    Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly made contentious visits to a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, was expected to join the march through the Old City.

    “We are delivering a message from here to Hamas: Jerusalem is ours. Damascus Gate is ours,” he told marchers at the start of the rally. “And with God’s help total victory is ours,” Ben-Gvir said, referring to the war in Gaza, which he has demanded that Israel continue until Hamas is defeated .

    Commenting on the march, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said “our people will not rest until the occupation is gone and an independent Palestinian state is established, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

    Just before the march began, crowds scuffled with police and threw plastic bottles at a journalist wearing a vest with the word PRESS emblazoned on it. Police said they arrested five marchers for throwing objects at journalists.

    The march was taking place as tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza are high. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel responded with a massive offensive that has killed over 36,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, displaced most of the territory’s population and caused widespread destruction.

    The United States has thrown its weight behind a phased cease-fire and hostage release outlined by President Joe Biden last week. But Israel says it won’t end the war without destroying Hamas, while the militant group is demanding a lasting cease-fire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

    The annual march commemorates “Jerusalem Day,” which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital, but its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, see the march as a provocation.

    Police said they were deploying 3,000 security personnel to ensure calm and were seen arresting several Palestinian men before the march got underway, leading them away with their hands bound behind their backs.

    At the insistence of Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, the march is following its traditional route, entering the Muslim Quarter of the Old City through Damascus Gate and ending at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.

    As buses bringing young Jewish men in for the march thronged around the Old City’s centuries-old walls, Palestinian shopkeepers closed down in the Muslim Quarter in preparation.

    The police stressed that the march would not enter the sprawling Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. The hilltop on which it stands is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity.

    Perceived encroachments on the site have set off widespread violence on a number of occasions going back decades.

    Counterprotests were planned throughout the day. An Israeli group, Tag Meir, sent volunteers through the emptying city streets ahead of the march to distribute flowers to Christian and Muslim residents of the Old City.

  • ‘Heard taking pictures near me’: Israeli girl who survived music pageant assault

    Tal Ben-Dror was among the many 1000’s who had thronged to an unlimited discipline in southern Israel close to the Gaza border for a music pageant. Music, dance, alcohol fueled the festive temper because the in a single day social gathering continued. However, at round 6:40 am, the social gathering scene changed into a nightmare for all these current there.

    “There were around 3,000-4,000 people at the party. I came with some 15 friends and we arrived at 2 am. The rocket attack started around 6:40 am,” Tal Ben-Dror advised India Today TV.

    She, together with different Israelis, trusted the Iron Dome to deal with the airstrikes. The anti-missile system did its job and intercepted over 5,000 rockets launched from Gaza. However, Hamas had assaults deliberate on the bottom as effectively.

    Recalling the second when the rocket assault occurred, Tal Ben-Dror stated, “The security guy waved his hand and shouted and then they stopped the music and told us ‘Guys take your stuff and go home, just leave’.”

    “But we were still chill. We thought there were only rockets and we’d get back home safely. We called the driver of the minibus in which we had arrived. I had friends who went separately in cars and I did not understand the panic yet. I sent audio messages…and now I can hear the shooting (in the audio message). At the time, I did not know about the shooting,” she stated.

    “We sat on the minibus and waited. We wanted to wait because we knew that the traffic would be crazy and people were driving with alcohol in their blood…And so we said, ‘let’s wait 10-15 minutes. Let’s not drive with everyone else’. The decision saved our lives basically.”

    Tal Ben-Dror stated she had no concept that Hamas terrorists had entered Israel. “But then when we sat in the minibus, someone started screaming ‘Terrorists are arriving, run for your lives’,” she stated.

    “We started running. We split, not on purpose, and then five of us ran, and two of my friends found a car because one of them had trouble running. Three of us were running and then someone got shot twice in the leg in front of us. And then we were hiding, hiding behind bushes, hiding behind trees, hiding and running while we heard the shooting so close to us,” Tal Ben-Dror stated as she went by way of the sequence of occasions on that fateful day.

    The social gathering was organised in a discipline outdoors of Kibbutz Re’im, about 5.3 kilometers from the wall that separates Gaza from southern Israel.

    Tal Ben-Dror, who had served within the Army on the base that was 5 minutes from the social gathering location, couldn’t consider how the assault occurred.

    “The party was authorized by the IDF and by the police. If not, I wouldn’t go…But ,terrorists coming to us, shooting, kidnapping, raping, murdering…No, hell no. It is not an accident. Something more serious is happening here.”

    She urged the Israeli authorities to convey again the lacking folks.

    “Our friend stayed there and we have no answer whether she has been murdered or kidnapped or has been hiding since Saturday. We have no answer,” Tal Ben-Dror stated, as she broke down in tears.

    Published On:

    Oct 13, 2023

  • Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Blinken reaches Jordan; Israel says it dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since struggle started

    As the Israel-Hamas battle continues to accentuate, the Israeli army mobilized tanks close to the Gaza Strip, signaling preparations for a deliberate floor invasion to strike the Palestinian militant Hamas group that at present governs the enclave. “Now is the time for struggle,” the army management mentioned.

    The Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council launched a joint assertion on Thursday night, advising all Israelis overseas to remain cautious on Friday after the Hamas terror group’s name for a “Day of Rage”. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is additionally scheduled to go to Israel on Friday, the place he’ll meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Meanwhile, the European Commission introduced it has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, previously Twitter to establish whether or not the platform facilitated the dissemination of disinformation in regards to the Middle East battle. On Thursday, the Israeli authorities introduced graphic pictures to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO protection ministers portraying youngsters and civilians reportedly killed by Hamas throughout a devastating assault in Israel over the weekend.

    Check developments from yesterday right here.

    Amid these developments, the stance of Hezbollah, a gaggle backed by Iran akin to Hamas, stays unsure relating to its involvement within the ongoing hostilities between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Islamic militant rulers.

    Check the newest dwell updates on the Israel-Hamas War at IndiaToday

  • Video: How Hamas’s lengthy recreation fooled Israeli intel

    A Reuters report revealed that the Palestinian terror group Hamas had been meticulously planning and coaching for an enormous assault on Israel for 2 years.

    According to a supply near Hamas, the group efficiently deceived Israel by creating an impression of financial focus and war-weariness. This subterfuge allowed them to coach their fighters in plain sight, usually misinterpreted as posturing by Israeli intelligence.

    The assault, which passed off on October 7, was the worst breach in Israel’s defenses for the reason that Arab armies waged struggle in 1973. The operation concerned a barrage of three,000 rockets, dangle gliders, motorbikes, and bulldozers, displaying a degree of sophistication and coordination that left Israel’s safety forces shocked. The assault resulted within the abduction of a number of Israelis and brought on important casualties.

    This has raised critical questions concerning the effectiveness of Israel’s intelligence providers. 

  • From India to Israel, US weapons getting used to assault its allies

    After Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, butchered its residents and took a whole bunch as hostages, movies captured the horror and the celebration in Gaza. What was identified by consultants was the flashing of American weapons, particularly what they mentioned had been M14 assault rifles, within the celebratory movies.

    A outstanding American politician has questioned if US-made weapons had been utilized by the Palestinian terrorist outfit Hamas and sought a probe to search out out if the supply of the weapons was Afghanistan or Ukraine.

    India, too, has been reporting the usage of US-made arms and ammunition by terrorists in Kashmir.

    What is paradoxical right here is that each India and Israel are allies of the United States.

    But how are weapons manufactured within the US discovering their means into the palms of terrorist organizations just like the Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Hamas within the Palestinian territory?

    Click right here for the Israel-Hamas battle dwell updates

    US DUMPED WEAPONS IN AFGHANISTAN

    War is a giant enterprise, however it’s a bloody enterprise leading to 1000’s of deaths the world over. The largest producer and exporter of arms and defence tools, the United States, is on the centre of that huge enterprise.

    Arms exports by the US elevated by 14 per cent between 2013–17 and 2018–22 and it accounted for 40 per cent of the worldwide arms exports within the 2018–22 interval, in keeping with a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in March 2023.

    As it has been supplying weapons to Ukraine amid the nation’s battle with Russia, the US has all through its historical past been offering weapons to varied theatres of battle.

    The US battle in Afghanistan in opposition to the Taliban after the 9/11 assaults was one other such navy theatre the place it poured in arms and defence tools price billions of {dollars}.

    But Afghanistan has by no means been a straightforward territory for any overseas power. Like the Soviet Russia assault in 1988, the US-led Nato marketing campaign too turned untenable.

    In February 2020, then US President Donald Trump signed a peace cope with the Taliban and that included a deadline of May 2021 by when all overseas troops can be withdrawn from Afghanistan. President Joe Biden, Trump’s successor, additionally dedicated to the withdrawal of troops however prolonged the deadline to August 31.

    The withdrawal of overseas troops was chaotic, to say the least. The Taliban militia had taken management of most components of Afghanistan by then and within the rush to go away the war-battered nation, US troops left behind weapons and defence tools of over $7 billion. Those later discovered their means into the palms of the Taliban.

    “US-funded equipment valued at $7.12 billion was in the inventory of the former Afghan government when it collapsed, much of which has since been seized by the Taliban,” the US Department of Defence mentioned in its report in August 2022. The trove included navy plane, floor automobiles, weapons, and different navy tools, the report mentioned.

    Among the defence tools had been Black Hawks and different helicopters, US Humvees and ScanEagle navy drones.

    Then there have been refined weapons like M16 assault rifles and M4 carbines, which had landed with anti-India and anti-Israel forces. These are what’s now being turned in opposition to the 2 nations.

    AMERICAN WEAPONS IN KASHMIR

    During final 12 months’s Raisina Dialogue, then Army Chief General MM Naravane mentioned India was seeing an increase within the variety of weapons and different navy tools from Afghanistan being seized in Kashmir.

    Pakistan-backed terrorists working within the Kashmir Valley had been discovered to be utilizing steel-core bullets and night-vision glasses left behind by the US-led Nato troops in Afghanistan. American armour-piercing bullets have been utilized in encounters with Indian safety forces and so they breached the bulletproof jackets of troopers.

    In January, NBC News reported quoting Indian officers that Pakistan-backed terrorists had been armed with M4s, M16s and different US-made arms and ammunition. The officers informed NBC News that it may very well be due to the US-funded weapons that fell into the palms of the Taliban after the rushed American exit from Afghanistan.

    It was in 2020 that US-made refined M-series carbine rifles started surfacing in Kashmir.

    It got here as a priority for the Indian safety institution as these are extra refined than the AK-series rifles, which have been the mainstay of the terrorists.

    Experts have hinted at Pakistan supplying the M4 carbines, that are utilized by its troops.

    There are thriving weapons bazars in Pakistan, together with the one in Darra Adam Khel, close to Peshawar.

    And it isn’t that Frankenstein’s Monster has spared Pakistan. In September this 12 months, Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, mentioned that US navy tools, from firearms to night-vision goggles, had reached the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has not too long ago overrun a number of villages in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and seized the military headquarters in Chitral.

    The seizure of US-made weapons in Kashmir elevated after what consultants trace on the Taliban buying and selling the weapons on the black market, a cost the Islamic militia has denied.

    Most of the weapons recovered in Kashmir are from Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the NBC News report mentioned.

    DID HAMAS USE AMERICAN GUNS IN ISRAEL ATTACK?

    Is it the identical that occurred in Israel as Hamas terrorists went on a massacre? It appears probably and a number of other consultants are asking for an in depth investigation.

    US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in a publish on X recommended that Hamas could have used American weapons for its assault on Israel. The Republican member of the House of Representatives sought an intensive investigation into the supply of the weapons utilized by Hamas.

    Jim Ferguson, a British politician, too tweeted a photograph of Taliban militants with American weapons and linked it to the Hamas assault on Israel.

    “A high-ranking Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commander said US weapons left in Afghanistan by the Biden administration were found in the hands of Palestinian groups active in the Gaza Strip,” posted Ferguson.

    The Israel Defence Forces on October 5, simply two days forward of the Hamas assault that killed over 500 Israelis, tweeted a photograph of an M-16 rifle that they had recovered from two terrorists who attacked an Israeli safety forces car.

    The M-16 is a classy assault rifle manufactured within the US, which was equipped to Afghanistan.

    The fear has been persisting for months now.

    In May this 12 months, Newsweek quoted an unnamed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commander saying the nation was involved that weapons equipped to Ukraine by the US and different western nations might find yourself with Israel’s enemies within the Middle East.

    The Israeli commander was significantly nervous about Iran and informed Newsweek, “â€æWe are very worried that some of these capabilities are going to fall to Hezbollah and Hamas’ hands.”

    The Israeli commander mentioned among the US-made small arms seized in Afghanistan have already been seen with Palestinian terrorist teams working within the Gaza Strip.

    Several movies on social media platforms present individuals within the Gaza Strip celebrating the assault on Israel with weapons, which consultants recognized as American weapons, together with M16 and M4 rifles.

    The use of American weapons in opposition to US allies is a grave concern. It stays to be seen how the US will tackle this situation. The incidents additionally function a stark reminder of the widespread and unpredictable penalties of arms proliferation.

    Published On:

    Oct 10, 2023

  • Video: German girl was at music competition moments earlier than Hamas caught her

    A 30-year-old German-Israeli, Shani Louk attended a music competition in southern Israel close to the Gaza border. She labored as a tattoo artist. 

    The competition, which was speculated to be a joyous celebration, became a nightmare when Hamas militants launched an assault on October 7.

    A video that has since gone viral captured the terrifying moments of Louk’s abduction. In the video, Louk is seen immobile, surrounded by armed militants. Her dreadlocks are held by one militant whereas one other drapes his leg over her waist. The chilling scene ends with the militants cheering “Allahu Akbar”.

    This video, together with others from the competition, has been broadly circulated, revealing the horrifying actuality of the assault. The aftermath left not less than 260 useless and several other, together with Louk, taken hostage. The present situation and whereabouts of Louk stay unknown.

  • Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen militant throughout conflict, group says

    Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian militant in clashes within the occupied West Bank metropolis of Jenin on Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group stated.

    The Israeli navy stated Palestinian suspects fired on its troopers and threw fire-bombs at them. “The soldiers responded with live fire toward the suspects. Hits were identified,” the navy stated.

    Buy Now | Our finest subscription plan now has a particular worth

    It was not instantly clear whether or not the teenager killed was a type of suspects. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his demise.

    The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group described the teenager as one in all its members and stated he had taken half within the combating towards the Israeli troopers. Photos circulated on social media confirmed him holding a rifle.

    Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the killing. “We warn against the consequences of the occupation’s continued crimes against our people. We urge the international community to condemn them and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Shtayyeh stated in an announcement.

    Israel has stepped up its incursions within the Jenin space since late March, following a string of lethal assaults in its cities, a few of which have been carried out by Palestinians from Jenin, which is taken into account a militant stronghold.

    The Palestinian Authority often condemns Israeli raids in Palestinian cities and villages.

    The Israeli operations have typically sparked clashes. At least 46 Palestinians, round 1 / 4 of them in Jenin, have been killed by Israeli forces or armed civilians because the starting of the 12 months. The casualties embrace armed members of militant teams, lone assailants and bystanders.

    On May 11, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American and a veteran reporter for the Qatari-based Al Jazeera TV community, was shot useless in Jenin throughout an Israeli raid, in an incident that has drawn worldwide concern. An Israeli soldier was killed in clashes there two days later.

    The Palestinians accuse Israel of assassinating Abu Akleh and have known as for a global response. Israel has denied concentrating on her, saying she could have been shot by chance by a soldier or a Palestinian gunman as they exchanged hearth.

    Since March, Palestinians and members of Israel’s Arab minority have killed 18 individuals, together with civilians, law enforcement officials and a safety guard in Israel and West Bank.

  • After Israel assaults, sidelined Palestinian difficulty reemerges

    Three lethal assaults in Israel in every week are elevating questions over Israel’s strategy to its battle with the Palestinians, after years of efforts to sideline the difficulty and focus as an alternative on different regional priorities.

    The assaults by Palestinian assailants, together with most not too long ago on Tuesday night time, have killed 11 individuals within the deadliest spate Israel has seen in years. They come as peace talks on ending Israel’s rule over Palestinians and organising a Palestinian state on occupied lands are a distant reminiscence. In the meantime, Israel has shifted its priorities to containing archenemy Iran and constructing regional Arab alliances.

    Israel’s authorities, with assist from the Biden administration, has tried to do what leaders describe as “shrinking” the battle. Instead of searching for a partition cope with the Palestinians, it goals to maintain issues quiet by taking steps to enhance the Palestinian financial system and cut back frictions.

    Mourners collect across the physique of Avishai Yehezkel, 29, throughout his funeral Wednesday, March 30, 2022. Yehezkel was considered one of 5 killed by a gunman in a crowded metropolis in central Israel. (AP)

    But now, as Israel faces the potential for one other cycle of violence lower than a 12 months after a conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza, the Palestinian difficulty is as soon as once more clawing its method again to the fore and exposing the weaknesses of this strategy.

    It was a message that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to ship as he condemned Tuesday night time’s capturing within the central metropolis of Bnei Brak.

    “Permanent, comprehensive and just peace is the shortest way to provide security and stability for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the peoples of the region,” he stated. Israel has lengthy sidelined Abbas, branding him an unacceptable companion for peace talks.

    Israel sees the present wave as one other spherical of extremist violence aimed in opposition to its very existence. It blames incitement on Palestinian social media, says that Hamas encourages the violence and factors to a flood of weapons obtainable in Palestinian communities.

    Right wing activists wave Israeli flags throughout a protest in opposition to Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, following a current wave of violence, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (AP)

    In Tuesday’s assault, a 27-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank methodically gunned down victims, killing 5. On Sunday night time, a capturing assault by two Islamic State sympathizers within the central metropolis of Hadera killed two law enforcement officials. Last week, a mixed car-ramming and stabbing assault within the southern metropolis of Beersheba — additionally by an attacker impressed by IS — killed 4.

    The two earlier assaults had been carried out by Palestinian residents of Israel; in all three incidents the attackers had been killed by police or passersby.

    The violence has surprised Israelis, who had loved relative quiet since final 12 months’s 11-day conflict with Hamas. It has additionally overshadowed a historic gathering within the Negev Desert this week that for the primary time noticed the overseas ministers of 4 Arab international locations meet their Israeli and American counterparts on Israeli soil. And although the overseas ministers — from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco — paid lip service to the Palestinian difficulty, the assembly centered on the rising nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The Palestinians weren’t invited.

    In response to the violence, Israel has elevated its safety presence in Israeli cities and the occupied West Bank. It has made arrests in Arab communities and raided the West Bank house of the person who carried out Tuesday’s assault.

    “We are dealing with a new wave of terror,” stated Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “As in other waves, we will prevail.”

    Ahead of a Cabinet assembly Wednesday, Bennett stated that together with calling up reservists to bolster the police, he was evaluating “a larger framework for incorporating civilian volunteers who want to help and assist.”

    “Anyone who has a license for a firearm, this is the time to carry a weapon,” he stated.

    But there are not any indicators that Bennett is ready to deal with the deeper points fueling the battle.

    Bennett heads an unwieldy coalition of ideologically numerous events — together with an Islamist Arab faction — that united with the aim of toppling former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. To survive, the coalition agreed to put aside divisive points, most notably the battle with the Palestinians, and as an alternative concentrate on issues within the Israeli consensus, such because the pandemic and the financial system.

    The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, has repeatedly known as the brand new authorities “a beautiful thing.” Focused on the conflict in Ukraine and tensions with China, Washington has indicated it has no plans to drift a peace plan and as an alternative needs to put the inspiration for future talks at some point.

    With his tack, Bennett and his authorities didn’t diverge from Netanyahu, who begrudgingly accepted the idea of Palestinian statehood beneath fierce American strain however did little to advance the thought.

    The Palestinians, in flip, have drawn disappointing parallels with the conflict in Ukraine, lamenting that the West has rallied swiftly in opposition to Russia’s aggression and has but to maneuver to sanction Israel for its 55-year occupation.

    Meanwhile, Israel has deepened its management over the West Bank with its net of checkpoints and limitations, and lots of of hundreds of Israelis residing in Jewish settlements. The Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza persists. The final substantive peace talks happened a decade and a half in the past. The Palestinians search the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel within the 1967 Mideast conflict, for a future state.

    The Bennett authorities seems to have realized some classes from final 12 months, when a collection of missteps earlier than the Muslim holy month of Ramadan boiled over into the Gaza conflict.

    This 12 months, as main Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays converge, Israel has provided to ease a collection of restrictions on Palestinians forward of Ramadan, which begins this weekend.

    Israel has issued hundreds of labor permits for Gaza laborers, lifted a ban on household visits to Palestinian prisoners from Gaza and stated it is not going to prohibit Palestinian gatherings round Jerusalem’s Old City like final 12 months.

    A uncommon go to by Jordan’s king to Palestinian leaders within the West Bank this week, adopted by visits to the king by Israel’s protection minister and president on Wednesday, was aimed toward cementing the calm.

    The uptick in violence may derail the brand new measures.

    King Abdullah II instructed Isaac Herzog, the visiting Israeli president, that he condemned the bloodshed, however that any regional progress “must include our Palestinian brothers.”

    Many Palestinians say the true purpose of Israel’s measures is to keep up the established order, wherein hundreds of thousands stay beneath a decades-long army occupation for ever and ever.

    “They’re doling out little privileges through an eyedropper,” stated Diana Buttu, a former authorized adviser to the Palestinian management. “The Israelis have long taken the position that Palestinians don’t deserve rights, that we don’t want rights, that it’s just a question of us being able to be bought off, to get little permits here and there.”

    Any answer to the Palestinian battle is sophisticated by a yearslong rift between Abbas’ Fatah motion and Hamas, which guidelines the Gaza Strip and requires Israel’s destruction. And with two of the final three assaults having been carried out by Israeli residents, Israel might now be pressured to reckon with a minority inhabitants riddled by violent crime and lengthy affected by discrimination.

    In Israel, some argue that even Palestinian statehood wouldn’t finish the battle.

    The Palestinians “will never accept Israel as a Jewish state. The struggle for them is for all of Israel,” Yitzhak Gershon, a retired army main normal, instructed Israeli Army Radio.

    Meanwhile, a number of rights teams have branded Israeli rule between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as an apartheid system.

    Omar Shakir of the worldwide group Human Rights Watch confused that no grievance justifies the killing of harmless individuals. He added: “The reality is that it is unsustainable to continue ruling over millions of people deprived of their fundamental rights.”

  • Islamic nations slam Israel — and one another’s ties to it

    By: AP | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
    May 16, 2021 10:00:41 pm
    A league of Muslim nations on Sunday demanded that Israel halt assaults killing Palestinian civilians amid heavy preventing between it and Hamas within the Gaza Strip, at the same time as fissures between international locations over their recognition of Israel emerged.
    An announcement by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation hewed intently to earlier ones issued by the Saudi-based group, together with backing the decades-old name for Palestinians to have their very own nation with East Jerusalem as its capital.
    However, latest normalization offers between Israel and a few nations within the group — in addition to their very own considerations about Hamas — noticed diplomats at factors as a substitute criticize one another.
    “The massacre of Palestinian children today follows the purported normalization,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mentioned. “This criminal and genocidal regime has once again proven that friendly gestures only aggravate its atrocities.”
    A lady reacts whereas standing on the rubble of a constructing that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday that housed The Associated Press, broadcaster Al-Jazeera and different media shops, in Gaza City, Sunday, May 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
    The previous week has seen a number of the worst violence throughout Israel and the Palestinian territory for the reason that 2014 battle in Gaza, with militants launching missiles and Israel pounding the blockaded coastal strip house to 2 million individuals with heavy fireplace. At least 188 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza with 1,230 individuals wounded. Eight individuals in Israel have been killed.
    The Organization of Islamic Cooperation assertion referred to as on Israel to respect Muslims’ entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest web site in Islam, in addition to cease settlers from forcibly evicting Palestinian households from their houses.
    “The plight of the Palestinian people is the bleeding wound of the Islamic world today,” Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar mentioned.
    But the videoconference assembly noticed some delegates as a substitute flip their fireplace towards international locations like Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, Muslim nations which reached normalization offers final 12 months to acknowledge Israel. While Egypt and Jordan earlier reached peace offers, supporters of the Palestinians criticized the brand new international locations for recognizing Israel earlier than the formation of an unbiased Palestinian state.
    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu joined Zarif in criticizing the normalization, although Israel maintains diplomatic ties with Ankara.
    “There are a few who have lost their moral compass and voiced support for Israel,” he mentioned. “If there are half-hearted statements within our own family, how could we criticize others? Who will take our words seriously?”
    Zarif additionally accused Israel of “genocide and crimes against humanity.”
    “Make no mistake: Israel only understand the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to their right to defend themselves,” Zarif mentioned.
    Hamas, which seized energy in Gaza in 2007, didn’t participate within the assembly, which got here earlier than consultations on the United Nations over the disaster.
    Across the Arabian Peninsula, reactions to the preventing equally has been combined. In Qatar, house to the Al-Jazeera satellite tv for pc community, a whole lot turned out late Saturday night time to hearken to a speech by Hamas’ prime chief Ismail Haniyeh. Kuwait’s parliament speaker reportedly spoke with Haniyeh on Saturday, as did Qatar’s overseas minister.
    Meanwhile, in Bahrain and the UAE, government-linked media hasn’t been protecting the present flare-up of violence nonstop like different networks within the area.
    There are murmurs of dissent although. In Bahrain, civil society teams signed a letter urging the dominion to expel the Israeli ambassador. In the UAE, the place political events and protests are unlawful, Palestinians have expressed their anger quietly, fearful about dropping their residency allow. Some Emiratis even have expressed considerations.
    “The region’s only democracy,” tweeted the Emirati author and political analyst Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi in writing about Israel’s strike on a Gaza constructing that housed the workplaces of The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera.

    Hussein Ibish, a senior scholar on the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute, mentioned most Gulf Arab leaders concern Hamas’ rocket fireplace as “cynical, dangerous, unnecessarily provocative and endangering Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza alike.” That takes the strain off these Gulf leaders to reply, not like in different confrontations involving the Al-Aqsa Mosque or when Israeli settlers pressure Arab households out of their houses, he mentioned.

    “There won’t be much sympathy for what is widely viewed in the Gulf as Israel’s heavy-handed and disproportionate retaliation,” Ibish wrote, “but it will be much easier for Gulf leaders and many citizens to regard the exchange as a tragic conflagration at the expense of ordinary people brought about by two leaderships over which they have neither control nor responsibility.”

  • Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at the very least 26, flatten three buildings; OIC leaders maintain emergency meet

    Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at the very least 26 individuals on Sunday, medics mentioned, making it the deadliest single assault since heavy combating broke out between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers almost per week in the past.
    The Gaza Health Ministry says the dying toll from Israeli strikes on a major thoroughfare in Gaza City has climbed to 33, together with 12 girls and eight youngsters, the AP reported.
    Earlier, the Israeli army mentioned it destroyed the house of Gaza’s prime Hamas chief, Yahiyeh Sinwar, in a separate strike within the southern city of Khan Younis. It was the third such assault within the final two days on the properties of senior Hamas leaders, who’ve gone underground.
    Israel has stepped up strikes in latest days to inflict as a lot injury as potential on Hamas as worldwide mediators attempt to dealer a cease-fire. But focusing on the group’s leaders may hinder these efforts. A US diplomat is within the area to attempt to de-escalate tensions, and the UN Security Council is ready to fulfill Sunday, AP reported.

    The newest outbreak of violence started in east Jerusalem earlier this month, when Palestinians protested makes an attempt by settlers to forcibly evict quite a few Palestinian households from their properties and Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a frequent flashpoint situated on a mount within the Old City revered by Muslims and Jews. Hamas fired rockets towards Jerusalem late Monday, triggering the Israeli assault on Gaza.

    The turmoil has additionally spilled over elsewhere, fueling protests within the occupied West Bank and stoking violence inside Israel between its Jewish and Arab residents, with clashes and vigilante assaults on individuals and property.
    At least 181 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, together with 52 youngsters and 31 girls, with 1,225 wounded. Eight Israelis have been killed, together with a 5-year-old boy and a soldier.
    A person walks previous the the rubble of the Yazegi residential constructing that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City on Sunday. (AP photograph)
    The army mentioned Sunday it struck Sinwar’s dwelling and that of his brother Muhammad, one other senior Hamas member. On Saturday it destroyed the house of Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior determine in Hamas’ political department, AP reported.
    It is unlikely any of Hamas’ higher echelon was at dwelling on the time of the strikes. Hamas’ prime chief, Ismail Haniyeh, divides his time between Turkey and Qatar, each of which offer political help to the group.
    OIC holds emergency assembly on Gaza
    The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation held an emergency digital assembly Sunday over the state of affairs in Gaza, calling for an finish to Israel’s army assaults on the Gaza Strip, the AP reported.
    Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan urged the worldwide group to work on ending Israel’s army operations in opposition to Gaza and to permit assist to succeed in the coastal area.
    Speaking from Ramallah within the West Bank, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki blasted Israel, calling it an “apartheid state” that’s practising “crimes and brutality against our people in Gaza.”
    Palestinian rescuers seek for survivors below the rubble of destroyed residential buildings following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Sunday. (AP photograph)
    He added that the most recent spherical of violence that started on Monday has displaced 10,000 individuals.
    “The rise of the Palestinian people has made it clear that Jerusalem is a red line,” Malki mentioned. He added that “our people will not be exhausted by Israel’s killing machine”.
    Pope Francis denounces violence
    Pope Francis has denounced the “unacceptable” spiral of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the deaths particularly of youngsters was a “sign that they don’t want to build the future but want to destroy it.”
    Francis prayed for peace, calm and worldwide assist to open a path of dialogue throughout his Sunday blessing, delivered from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
    The Pope mentioned, “I ask myself: this hatred and vendetta, what will it bring? Do we truly think that we can build peace by destroying the other?” In unusually pointed feedback, Francis added: “In the name of God, who created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity and are called to live as brothers, I appeal for calm and an end to the violence.”
    Rights group urges International Criminal Court to probe Israeli assaults
    An worldwide human rights group is looking upon the International Criminal Court to research an Israeli assault on a constructing housing media organisations and one other the place 10 individuals together with eight youngsters have been killed, calling such assaults a warfare crime.
    Amnesty International mentioned Sunday that they’re deeply involved over the mounting dying toll in Gaza that has killed greater than 180 individuals since Monday, the AP reported.

    Amnesty International tweeted that the International Criminal Court should examine Israel’s assault on al-Shati refugee camp, saying direct assaults on civilians are warfare crimes.

    It added the assault on the media constructing on Saturday “must also be investigated as a war crime”.  It mentioned the strike suits a sample of Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian inhabitants.
    China requires UN council motion, slams US
    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has known as on the UN Security Council to hunt an early de-escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. He additionally blamed the US for the council’s lack of motion to this point.
    “Regrettably, the council has so far failed to reach an agreement, with the United States standing on the opposite side of international justice,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Wang as saying in a telephone dialog Saturday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
    He expressed help for a two-state answer, and mentioned China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, expects all events to talk with a unified voice when the council discusses the battle later Sunday.
    Soumya Santhosh’s funeral held in Kerala
    The funeral of Soumya Santhosh, who was killed in a Palestinian rocket assault in Israel, was held at a cemetery in Keerithodu on Sunday by adhering to COVID-19 protocol.
    According to Senior church priest Fr Jose Plachickal, Bishop of Idukki diocese, John Nellikunnel officiated the funeral ceremonies held on the Nithya Sahaya Matha Church in Keerithodu, round 3.45 pm.
    A message of Syro-Malabar church head, Cardinal George Alencherry, was learn out on the funeral.  Earlier, individuals, following COVID protocol, paid tribute to the departed soul because the physique was stored at her residence.
    Besides locals and politicians, Consul General of Israel in South India, Jonathan Zadka, additionally visited Soumya’s residence to pay homage. Talking to her relations, Zadka mentioned Soumya is considered an angel by the individuals of Israel. “I cannot imagine how difficult this loss would be for her family,” he mentioned.

    Later, in a tweet, Zadka mentioned, “Honoured to pay my respects & convey our sympathies to the family and friends of Ms Soumya Santosh as she was laid to rest in her home town Keerithod, #Kerala. May she R.I.P Folded hands Folded hands our prayers are with the family that lost an angel in a cowardly #hamasterror attack.”
    (With inputs from AP and PTI)