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Why don't the Muslim nations unite and eliminate this terrorist state once and for all.
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Contact the PP Team
[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Bloodshed in the land of Palestine - 2023 Edition
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A report alleges US President Joe Biden is scathing about Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind the scenes. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it has rescued two hostages from captivity in Gaza - where dozens have been killed in strikes on the crowded city of Rafah.
Sky News
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The UK has imposed sanctions against four "extremist" Israeli settlers it has accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Foreign Office announced financial and travel restrictions against the four who it says have committed human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Lord Cameron also called on Israel to take action to end the violence.
West Bank violence has surged since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October.
At least 384 Palestinians - members of armed groups, attackers and civilians - have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in Israel, according to the UN.
During the same period, 10 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, have been killed.
The Foreign Office says some residents in settlements and unauthorised outposts have used harassment, intimidation and violence to put pressure on Palestinian communities to leave their land.
Approximately 700,000 Jewish people live in 160 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 144 outposts, according to settlements watchdog Peace Now.
The settlements were built by previous Israeli governments after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, while the smaller outposts have been built without official authorisation.
The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements and outposts illegal under international law, though Israel and the US dispute this interpretation.
Among those subject to UK travel bans and financial restrictions are settlers accused of threatening families at gunpoint and destroying property as part of a targeted campaign to displace Palestinian communities.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: "Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs. This behaviour is illegal and unacceptable.
"Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through."
He added extremist settlers were "undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians".
The Foreign Office has named the four settlers and described the accusations against them.
Moshe Sharvit is accused by the UK of threatening, harassing and assaulting Palestinian shepherds and their families in the Jordan Valley.
In October 2023, he is said to have forced a community of 20 families to flee after he allegedly attacked residents and said they had five hours to leave.
Yinon Levy, leader of an outpost farm, has been sanctioned after using physical violence and the destruction of property to displace Palestinian communities, the Foreign Office statement says.
Zvi Bar Yosef, also sanctioned, is behind an outpost described by local Palestinian residents as a "source of systematic intimidation and violence", the government said.
A fourth Israeli sanctioned, Ely Federman, has been accused of being involved in multiple incidents against Palestinian shepherds in the South Hebron Hills.
Between the 7 October attacks and 5 February, 506 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians were recorded by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Foreign Office has accused Israel of failing to act, leading to "an environment of near total impunity" for extremist settlers in the West Bank.
The UK says it is continuing to call for Israel to take action against those responsible for settler violence, release frozen funds to the Palestinian Authority and halt settlement expansion.
The UK move comes after the US approved sanctions last week on Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Shortly after President Joe Biden signed the executive order, Israel signalled its dissatisfaction and described the majority of West Bank settlers as "law-abiding".
"Israel takes action against all law-breakers everywhere, and therefore there is no need for unusual measures on the issue", a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Source: BBC
The Foreign Office announced financial and travel restrictions against the four who it says have committed human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Lord Cameron also called on Israel to take action to end the violence.
West Bank violence has surged since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October.
At least 384 Palestinians - members of armed groups, attackers and civilians - have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in Israel, according to the UN.
During the same period, 10 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, have been killed.
The Foreign Office says some residents in settlements and unauthorised outposts have used harassment, intimidation and violence to put pressure on Palestinian communities to leave their land.
Approximately 700,000 Jewish people live in 160 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 144 outposts, according to settlements watchdog Peace Now.
The settlements were built by previous Israeli governments after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, while the smaller outposts have been built without official authorisation.
The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements and outposts illegal under international law, though Israel and the US dispute this interpretation.
Among those subject to UK travel bans and financial restrictions are settlers accused of threatening families at gunpoint and destroying property as part of a targeted campaign to displace Palestinian communities.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: "Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs. This behaviour is illegal and unacceptable.
"Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through."
He added extremist settlers were "undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians".
The Foreign Office has named the four settlers and described the accusations against them.
Moshe Sharvit is accused by the UK of threatening, harassing and assaulting Palestinian shepherds and their families in the Jordan Valley.
In October 2023, he is said to have forced a community of 20 families to flee after he allegedly attacked residents and said they had five hours to leave.
Yinon Levy, leader of an outpost farm, has been sanctioned after using physical violence and the destruction of property to displace Palestinian communities, the Foreign Office statement says.
Zvi Bar Yosef, also sanctioned, is behind an outpost described by local Palestinian residents as a "source of systematic intimidation and violence", the government said.
A fourth Israeli sanctioned, Ely Federman, has been accused of being involved in multiple incidents against Palestinian shepherds in the South Hebron Hills.
Between the 7 October attacks and 5 February, 506 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians were recorded by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Foreign Office has accused Israel of failing to act, leading to "an environment of near total impunity" for extremist settlers in the West Bank.
The UK says it is continuing to call for Israel to take action against those responsible for settler violence, release frozen funds to the Palestinian Authority and halt settlement expansion.
The UK move comes after the US approved sanctions last week on Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Shortly after President Joe Biden signed the executive order, Israel signalled its dissatisfaction and described the majority of West Bank settlers as "law-abiding".
"Israel takes action against all law-breakers everywhere, and therefore there is no need for unusual measures on the issue", a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Source: BBC
UK sanctions four Israeli settlers accused of violence
The foreign secretary accuses four people of threatening Palestinians at gunpoint and forcing them off land.
www.bbc.com
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The individuals who have been sanctioned by the UK are Israeli settlers. Pakistan has referred to them as settlers. These are actually Israeli residents in the West Bank, and the UK has temporarily imposed restrictions on them because they are accused of attacking Palestinian people.
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White House presses Israel to work toward pause in Gaza war
The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict to win freedom for more hostages held by Hamas and rapidly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that some progress had been made in negotiations toward a humanitarian pause but that more work remained to be done.
“We continue to support an extended humanitarian pause,” Kirby said.
He spoke a day after U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him a military operation in Rafah “should not proceed” without a plan to protect civilians there.
Kirby welcomed news that the Israeli military had freed two hostages during a raid by special forces in Gaza’s southern Rafah neighborhood.
He said there can be no end to the Gaza crisis until Hamas releases all hostages.
The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict to win freedom for more hostages held by Hamas and rapidly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that some progress had been made in negotiations toward a humanitarian pause but that more work remained to be done.
“We continue to support an extended humanitarian pause,” Kirby said.
He spoke a day after U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him a military operation in Rafah “should not proceed” without a plan to protect civilians there.
Kirby welcomed news that the Israeli military had freed two hostages during a raid by special forces in Gaza’s southern Rafah neighborhood.
He said there can be no end to the Gaza crisis until Hamas releases all hostages.
White House presses Israel to work toward pause in Gaza war
WASHINGTON: The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict to win freedom for...
www.brecorder.com
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it feels more like a formality from white house.White House presses Israel to work toward pause in Gaza war
The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict to win freedom for more hostages held by Hamas and rapidly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that some progress had been made in negotiations toward a humanitarian pause but that more work remained to be done.
“We continue to support an extended humanitarian pause,” Kirby said.
He spoke a day after U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him a military operation in Rafah “should not proceed” without a plan to protect civilians there.
Kirby welcomed news that the Israeli military had freed two hostages during a raid by special forces in Gaza’s southern Rafah neighborhood.
He said there can be no end to the Gaza crisis until Hamas releases all hostages.
White House presses Israel to work toward pause in Gaza war
WASHINGTON: The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict to win freedom for...www.brecorder.com
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Palestinians sheltering in Rafah fear impending Israeli ground offensive
A Palestinian doctor in Rafah has said people are terrified about the prospect of an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza's southern-most city, after a night of some of the worst air strikes he has experienced since arriving there.In a series of messages sent to the BBC by phone overnight, Dr Ahmed Abuibaid described the air strikes as incessant and everywhere.
"[The] most popular question on people's minds is, where can we go?" he said.
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation into Rafah.
More than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million is now crammed into the city on the border with Egypt, which was home to only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas.
Many of the displaced people are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
On Monday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that an assault on Rafah would be "terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured".
He also said it could mean that the "meagre" humanitarian aid getting into Gaza might stop, with most deliveries currently going through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing.
His warning follows an unusually sharp criticism from the US last week, with President Joe Biden calling Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza "over the top" and the White House stating that Israel should not mount an operation in Rafah without proper planning to ensure civilians were not harmed.
Palestinians sheltering in Rafah fear impending Israeli ground offensive
The UN warns an assault on the city where more than a million people are sheltering would be "terrifying".
www.bbc.com
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Everyone in that region must be terrified after seeing the brutality of Israeli military in the last few months.
aboveandbeyond
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Specially when the Israeli state has unequivocal support from the USA and the NATO terrorists.
Shame on bin sulieman, Uae, Qatar. They should stop all oil supply to the NATO terrorists and other sympathizing leeches.
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shortbread
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The Saudis and Emaratis have bombed and killed many more Yemenis using the same bombs supplied by the Americans and the British. Very much used to barbarism of this scale. They're as cruel as the israel.
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The ignorance of Muslim states towards nations like Palestine, Burma etc is beyond this world. All talk and no work. The biggest reason why every Muslim country is under such a crisis is because they are not united under one umbrella. Priorities are different and when money and power is involved, this kind of ignorance is definite.
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Israel Gaza: Biden urges Israel to protect Rafah civilians
US President Joe Biden has said an Israeli offensive in Rafah "should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of more than one million Palestinians sheltering there.
He said many displaced people in the southern Gazan city were "exposed and vulnerable" and needed to be protected.
A Palestinian doctor in Rafah told the BBC people there were living in fear.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk says any assault would be "terrifying" and many civilians "will likely be killed".
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation to Rafah. He vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen hiding in the city.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with a number of casualties reported.
More than half of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.3 million is now crammed into the city on the border with Egypt, which was home to only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October.
Many of the displaced people are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
President Biden again appealed for the protection of Rafah civilians after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington on Monday.
"Many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north and now they're packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable," the US leader said.
"They need to be protected. And we've also been clear from the start, we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza."
Last week, the White House said it would not support major Israeli operations in Rafah without due consideration for the refugees there.
Many people have fled Israel's ground operation in the rest of the Gaza Strip - a Palestinian enclave run by Hamas.
A number of countries and international organisations have warned Israel against launching its planned offensive.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Monday said Israel should "stop and think seriously" before taking further action in Rafah.
EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged allies of Israel to stop sending weapons, as "too many people" were being killed in Gaza.
Last week, Saudi Arabia warned of "very serious repercussions" if Rafah was stormed.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers said there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties, warning that any operation would also undermine talks about a possible release of Israeli hostages held in the territory.
Rafah - on the border with Egypt - is the only open point of entry for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel's military launched its operations in the Gaza Strip after at least 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led gunmen, who also took 253 people hostage.
A number of those hostages were later released but Israel says 134 are still unaccounted for.
On Monday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 164 people had been killed and 200 injured in Gaza over the last day. The ministry says 28,340 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 68,000 wounded in the Strip since 7 October.
BBC
US President Joe Biden has said an Israeli offensive in Rafah "should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of more than one million Palestinians sheltering there.
He said many displaced people in the southern Gazan city were "exposed and vulnerable" and needed to be protected.
A Palestinian doctor in Rafah told the BBC people there were living in fear.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk says any assault would be "terrifying" and many civilians "will likely be killed".
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation to Rafah. He vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen hiding in the city.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with a number of casualties reported.
More than half of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.3 million is now crammed into the city on the border with Egypt, which was home to only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October.
Many of the displaced people are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
President Biden again appealed for the protection of Rafah civilians after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington on Monday.
"Many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north and now they're packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable," the US leader said.
"They need to be protected. And we've also been clear from the start, we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza."
Last week, the White House said it would not support major Israeli operations in Rafah without due consideration for the refugees there.
Many people have fled Israel's ground operation in the rest of the Gaza Strip - a Palestinian enclave run by Hamas.
A number of countries and international organisations have warned Israel against launching its planned offensive.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Monday said Israel should "stop and think seriously" before taking further action in Rafah.
EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged allies of Israel to stop sending weapons, as "too many people" were being killed in Gaza.
Last week, Saudi Arabia warned of "very serious repercussions" if Rafah was stormed.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers said there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties, warning that any operation would also undermine talks about a possible release of Israeli hostages held in the territory.
Rafah - on the border with Egypt - is the only open point of entry for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel's military launched its operations in the Gaza Strip after at least 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led gunmen, who also took 253 people hostage.
A number of those hostages were later released but Israel says 134 are still unaccounted for.
On Monday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 164 people had been killed and 200 injured in Gaza over the last day. The ministry says 28,340 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 68,000 wounded in the Strip since 7 October.
BBC
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Erdoğan's keynote speech at a summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday. The president denounced Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories while urging the international community to support a relief agency for Palestinians that has been under fire by Israel recently.
Addressing the World Governments Summit, Erdoğan reiterated his criticism of Israel, "which views itself above the law and did not give up its decadeslong policy of occupation, theft, destruction and massacre" toward the Palestinians.
"Today's crisis stems from the increasing occupation of Israel, of Palestinian territories. We cannot find a solution to the issue without finding the source of the problem. If Israel wants a lasting peace in the region, it should give up its expansionist dreams and accept an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders," he said, referring to the ongoing occupation of lands originally belonging to Palestinians.
"The path to peace, calm and economic development in our region goes through the establishment of a Palestinian state. We are ready to assume responsibility to that extent for the solution, including guarantorship," he said.
After the new round of conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians broke out last October, Türkiye stepped up efforts to stop the Israeli aggression and expressed readiness to act as a guarantor state between the sides to ensure permanent peace. "We have to end the massacre in Gaza as soon as possible, prevent further bloodshed and tears and a greater threat for our region," he told the summit.
Erdoğan also urged all countries “with a conscience” to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) amid Israel’s allegations against the agency. “I’m inviting all nations with a conscience to protect UNRWA, which provides a lifeline for 6 million refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine,” Erdoğan said. He condemned “a regretful assassination of reputation” toward the agency.
The main U.N. agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza is facing growing administrative hurdles from Israel, with a shipment amounting to a month's supply of food blocked at a port, the agency's chief said. Israel has alleged that 12 staff members with UNRWA were involved in the Hamas-led offensive on Israel on Oct. 7, with a number of donor countries suspending funding. UNRWA has dismissed staff accused of involvement in the attack and launched an investigation.
"We have an environment here that is for the time being quite hostile to the agency but there have been some decisions now that are starting to impact the ability of the agency to properly operate," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday.
He said UNRWA had been informed by a contractor that provided handling services in the Port of Ashdod that it could no longer continue working with UNRWA, following instructions from the Israeli authorities.
As a result, a shipment from Türkiye was blocked in the port, Lazzarini said. He said UNRWA had informed Türkiye of the stoppage. A spokesperson for the Finance Ministry said the matter was in the hands of the government's legal adviser but offered no further comment.
The incident came as Gaza faces a growing humanitarian emergency, with hundreds of thousands facing acute deprivation and hunger, some four months after Israel launched its invasion of the blockaded coastal enclave.
Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on social media platform X that Israel was canceling tax breaks previously offered to UNRWA. The decision was not formally communicated to the agency, which only learned about it when the statement appeared on the platform, Lazzarini said.
UNRWA was set up to help Palestinian refugees who were forced from their homes or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied the foundation of the State of Israel. It still distributes aid and provides education to their descendants in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Last month, Türkiye said it was concerned by the decision of some countries to suspend funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinians and urged them to reconsider their move. In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the suspension of funding primarily harmed Palestinian civilians.
"Working under very difficult conditions, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency meets the vital needs of millions of Palestine refugees. Since Oct. 7, more than 150 UNRWA personnel have been killed by Israel in Gaza," it added.
Several key donor countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Australia and Canada, have said they will halt funding to the U.N. agency following Israel's allegations that staff members took part in the Oct. 7 attack. Other nations, such as Ireland and Norway, have welcomed an investigation into the allegations but said they would not cut off aid.
Erdoğan said in Dubai that Türkiye did all it could in the face of tragedy where Gaza was reduced to debris and more than 1.5 million people were forced to leave.
"We will continue doing so," Erdoğan said, adding that they sent some 34,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the region for delivery to Gaza so far and hosted 380 patients from Palestine for treatment.
The president also highlighted Türkiye's support for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity Israel committed "toward our Gazan brothers and sisters" and thanked South Africa and other countries for leading the efforts in this field.
South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in late December and asked it to grant emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza. The court recently ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.
The president also expressed discontent in the face of rising anti-Semitism amid the Palestine-Israel conflict and reiterated Türkiye's support for Palestine.
"The irresponsible, ruthless policies of the current Israeli administration stoke anti-Semitism in the world. We are disturbed by this rise and are concerned about this situation in the name of humanity," he said.
Source: Daily Sabah
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Beijing “calls on Israel to stop all military operations as soon as possible, do everything possible to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and prevent the devastating humanitarian disaster in Rafah from worsening,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that China “opposes and condemns” actions that harm civilians and violates international law.
Israel has announced plans to launch a ground offensive on Rafah, which is now more to nearly 1.4 million people seeking refuge from the war.
The planned offensive has sparked outrage and raised concerns of yet another humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 28,340 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,984 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 8,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel’s Assault on Gaza is Collective Punishment – UN Human Rights Chief
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all of the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Source: The Palestine Chronicle
The ministry added that China “opposes and condemns” actions that harm civilians and violates international law.
Israel has announced plans to launch a ground offensive on Rafah, which is now more to nearly 1.4 million people seeking refuge from the war.
The planned offensive has sparked outrage and raised concerns of yet another humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 28,340 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,984 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 8,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel’s Assault on Gaza is Collective Punishment – UN Human Rights Chief
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all of the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Source: The Palestine Chronicle
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Condemnation alone not enough they must be sanctioned.
Chinese are not stupid. They will offer lip service though. After all, Iran is their friend.
When any country questions China over its occupation of XinJiang and treatment of Uyghers, they say it is their internal issue and not mess with them.
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They are wrong there too.
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- Nov 25, 2023
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US President Joe Biden has said civilians who are "packed" into Rafah in the Gaza Strip are "exposed and vulnerable" and must be protected.
Israel must make "credible" efforts to protect the more than one million Palestinians sheltering in the southern Gazan city, he said.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with a number of casualties reported.
A Palestinian doctor told the BBC people in Rafah were living in fear.
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation to Rafah. He vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen hiding in the city.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said any assault would be "terrifying" and many civilians "will likely be killed".
More than half of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.3 million is now crammed into the city on the border with Egypt, which was home to only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October.
Many of the displaced people are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
Israel's military launched its operations in the Gaza Strip after at least 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led gunmen, who also took 253 people hostage.
A number of those hostages were later released but Israel says 134 are still unaccounted for.
Some 28,473 Palestinians have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
On Sunday, Israel's military said two male Israeli-Argentine hostages had been rescued during a raid in Rafah.
President Biden again appealed for the protection of Rafah civilians after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington on Monday.
He said any major military operation in the city "should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of those living there.
"Many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north and now they're packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable.
"They need to be protected. And we've also been clear from the start, we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza."
Last week, the White House said it would not support major Israeli operations in Rafah without due consideration for the refugees there.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers said there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties in Rafah, warning that any operation would also undermine talks about a possible release of Israeli hostages held in the territory.
The head of Israel's intelligence agency, David Barnea, CIA chief William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met Egyptian officials in Cairo on Tuesday for further talks about a Gaza truce proposal, according to AFP news agency, which cited Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera News. The officials' planned meeting was also reported in Israeli media.
Benjamin Netanyahu last week rejected Hamas's proposed terms for a ceasefire, saying "total victory" in Gaza would be possible within months.
Alongside the US, a number of countries and international organisations have warned Israel against launching its planned offensive.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Monday said Israel should "stop and think seriously" before taking further action in Rafah.
EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged allies of Israel to stop sending weapons, as "too many people" were being killed in Gaza.
Last week, Saudi Arabia warned of "very serious repercussions" if Rafah was stormed.
Source: BBC
Israel must make "credible" efforts to protect the more than one million Palestinians sheltering in the southern Gazan city, he said.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with a number of casualties reported.
A Palestinian doctor told the BBC people in Rafah were living in fear.
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered troops to prepare to expand its ground operation to Rafah. He vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen hiding in the city.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said any assault would be "terrifying" and many civilians "will likely be killed".
More than half of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.3 million is now crammed into the city on the border with Egypt, which was home to only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October.
Many of the displaced people are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
Israel's military launched its operations in the Gaza Strip after at least 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led gunmen, who also took 253 people hostage.
A number of those hostages were later released but Israel says 134 are still unaccounted for.
Some 28,473 Palestinians have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
On Sunday, Israel's military said two male Israeli-Argentine hostages had been rescued during a raid in Rafah.
President Biden again appealed for the protection of Rafah civilians after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington on Monday.
He said any major military operation in the city "should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of those living there.
"Many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north and now they're packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable.
"They need to be protected. And we've also been clear from the start, we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza."
Last week, the White House said it would not support major Israeli operations in Rafah without due consideration for the refugees there.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers said there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties in Rafah, warning that any operation would also undermine talks about a possible release of Israeli hostages held in the territory.
The head of Israel's intelligence agency, David Barnea, CIA chief William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met Egyptian officials in Cairo on Tuesday for further talks about a Gaza truce proposal, according to AFP news agency, which cited Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera News. The officials' planned meeting was also reported in Israeli media.
Benjamin Netanyahu last week rejected Hamas's proposed terms for a ceasefire, saying "total victory" in Gaza would be possible within months.
Alongside the US, a number of countries and international organisations have warned Israel against launching its planned offensive.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Monday said Israel should "stop and think seriously" before taking further action in Rafah.
EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged allies of Israel to stop sending weapons, as "too many people" were being killed in Gaza.
Last week, Saudi Arabia warned of "very serious repercussions" if Rafah was stormed.
Source: BBC
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Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have resumed in Cairo, Egyptian media say.
Senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar are meeting as Israel faces strong international pressure to stop its bombardment of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
About 1.5 million people are crammed into this small border town, amid fears of an Israeli ground offensive.
BBC
Senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar are meeting as Israel faces strong international pressure to stop its bombardment of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
About 1.5 million people are crammed into this small border town, amid fears of an Israeli ground offensive.
BBC
Two-state solution ‘not rewarding Hamas’, Cameron tells Lords – as it happened
Former Tory leader, recently parachuted into role, to face questions over Gaza and elsewhere
Great reply from Cameron to Israeli shoeshiner Stewart Jackson.
Did you clear your question with your Zionist overlords before standing up to ask that ? Why do we have Parliamentarians who care more for Israeli interests than the taxpayers they're meant to represent ?
A Palestinian State is the right of Palestinians and the internationally agreed consensus to resolve this conflict. Recognition is the least western nations who purportedly believe in it can do, and doesn't need to be "cleared" with anyone.
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No breakthrough in Gaza war truce talks as Rafah braces for Israeli assault
Talks between the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a possible Gaza truce have ended without a breakthrough as calls grow for Israel to hold back its planned assault on the southern end of the enclave, where more than a million Palestinians are now displaced.In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held talks with CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani aimed at agreeing a truce, protecting civilians and delivering more aid into the enclave, Egypt’s state information service said on Tuesday.
In a statement on its website, it cited a “keenness to continue consultation and coordination” on the key issues, indicating that no breakthrough was made. Israeli representatives were also present at the talks.
Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli forces are planning a ground assault on the 64sq km (25sq miles) southernmost city of Rafah.
Rafah, whose pre-war population was about 300,000, now teems with about 1.4 million people, many living in tent camps and makeshift shelters after Israel declared the city a “safe zone” while it bombarded areas in north and central Gaza for four months.
No plan to evacuate civilians safely has been forthcoming and aid agencies say the displaced have nowhere else to go in the shattered besieged territory.
“Where are you going to evacuate people to, as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it’s pretty much unlivable,” Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said.
No breakthrough in Gaza war truce talks as Rafah braces for Israeli assault
Talks in Cairo have ended without agreement as calls continue for Israel to halt a full-fledged attack on Rafah.
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Everyone must understand that no one will be a winner if this War is keep on expanding.
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UN warns attack on Rafah could lead to 'slaughter'
A top UN official has warned an Israeli assault on Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, could lead to a "slaughter".
Humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Palestinians in Gaza were already suffering an "assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope".
The consequences of an invasion of Rafah would be "catastrophic", he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen he says are hiding in the city.
In an unusually strongly worded statement, Mr Griffiths said over a million people were "crammed in Rafah, staring death in the face". He said civilians in the city had little food or access to medicine and "nowhere safe to go".
An Israeli invasion of the city, he added, would "leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death's door".
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the BBC's Newshour programme the UN had not received any Rafah evacuation plans from Israel and would not participate in any forced evacuation.
Stephane Dujarric said: "The United Nations will not be party to any forced displacement of people."
Rafah is a small city in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt. Before the war it was home to around 250,000 people, but since Israel ordered civilians to evacuate south its population has swelled to an estimated 1.5 million.
Many are living in tents in desperate conditions and say they have nowhere to go.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with at least 67 people killed there on Monday according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Mr Griffiths also said humanitarian workers working in Gaza had been "shot at, held at gunpoint, attacked and killed" because of the breakdown in law and order.
His statement came as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza resumed in Cairo.
Senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar met on Tuesday, as pressure mounted on Israel from the international community not to invade Rafah.
Mr Guterres said that hoped the talks would be successful so as to avoid an Israeli attack on the city.
US President Joe Biden has warned Israel that civilians must be protected. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has told Israel to "stop and think seriously" before attacking Rafah.
At least 1,200 people were killed during attacks in Israel by Hamas-led gunmen on 7 October last year.
In response, Israel launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip. More than 28,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
BBC
A top UN official has warned an Israeli assault on Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, could lead to a "slaughter".
Humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Palestinians in Gaza were already suffering an "assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope".
The consequences of an invasion of Rafah would be "catastrophic", he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas gunmen he says are hiding in the city.
In an unusually strongly worded statement, Mr Griffiths said over a million people were "crammed in Rafah, staring death in the face". He said civilians in the city had little food or access to medicine and "nowhere safe to go".
An Israeli invasion of the city, he added, would "leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death's door".
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the BBC's Newshour programme the UN had not received any Rafah evacuation plans from Israel and would not participate in any forced evacuation.
Stephane Dujarric said: "The United Nations will not be party to any forced displacement of people."
Rafah is a small city in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt. Before the war it was home to around 250,000 people, but since Israel ordered civilians to evacuate south its population has swelled to an estimated 1.5 million.
Many are living in tents in desperate conditions and say they have nowhere to go.
Rafah has come under heavy Israeli air strikes in recent days, with at least 67 people killed there on Monday according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Mr Griffiths also said humanitarian workers working in Gaza had been "shot at, held at gunpoint, attacked and killed" because of the breakdown in law and order.
His statement came as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza resumed in Cairo.
Senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar met on Tuesday, as pressure mounted on Israel from the international community not to invade Rafah.
Mr Guterres said that hoped the talks would be successful so as to avoid an Israeli attack on the city.
US President Joe Biden has warned Israel that civilians must be protected. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has told Israel to "stop and think seriously" before attacking Rafah.
At least 1,200 people were killed during attacks in Israel by Hamas-led gunmen on 7 October last year.
In response, Israel launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip. More than 28,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
BBC
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pressed the militant group Hamas on Wednesday to agree a Gaza deal quickly to avoid “dire consequences,” the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
“We call on the Hamas movement to quickly complete a prisoner deal, to spare our Palestinian people from the calamity of another catastrophic event with dire consequences, no less dangerous than the Nakba of 1948,” Abbas said.
The president was referring to the war accompanying the creation of Israel, which saw 760,000 Palestinians flee or forced from their homes.
Abbas's internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has not been involved in this week’s talks hosted by Egypt, aimed at securing a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after more than four months of war.
Seated in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the PA is widely derided by Palestinians who have failed to see their aspirations for statehood realized since 1948.
The United States - Israel's top military backer and a PA funder - has said it supports the creation of a Palestinian state but wants an overhaul of the leadership.
Washington’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, said last month Abbas was “committed” to reforming the PA “so that it can effectively take responsibility for Gaza, so that Gaza and the West Bank can be reunited under a Palestinian leadership.”
Gaza has had its own separate administration run by Hamas since 2007 when Abbas loyalists were ousted from the territory.
Source: Al Arabiya
“We call on the Hamas movement to quickly complete a prisoner deal, to spare our Palestinian people from the calamity of another catastrophic event with dire consequences, no less dangerous than the Nakba of 1948,” Abbas said.
The president was referring to the war accompanying the creation of Israel, which saw 760,000 Palestinians flee or forced from their homes.
Abbas's internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has not been involved in this week’s talks hosted by Egypt, aimed at securing a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after more than four months of war.
Seated in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the PA is widely derided by Palestinians who have failed to see their aspirations for statehood realized since 1948.
The United States - Israel's top military backer and a PA funder - has said it supports the creation of a Palestinian state but wants an overhaul of the leadership.
Washington’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, said last month Abbas was “committed” to reforming the PA “so that it can effectively take responsibility for Gaza, so that Gaza and the West Bank can be reunited under a Palestinian leadership.”
Gaza has had its own separate administration run by Hamas since 2007 when Abbas loyalists were ousted from the territory.
Source: Al Arabiya
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The call of the President of Palestine is right. Hamas has to accept the deal so that Israel stops this genocide and bloodshed in Gaza.
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Palestinians say Israeli forces have ordered thousands of displaced people to evacuate the largest hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip
Videos showed an announcement via loudspeaker and a crowd leaving the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Israel's military said it had opened a secure route for civilians, but did not intend to evacuate patients and medics.
Doctors and health officials say a number of people there have been killed by Israeli sniper fire in recent days.
The reported deaths came as battles between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters raged in the vicinity of the hospital, which the UN says has been under siege for around a week and is only minimally functional.
Intense hostilities have also been reported around the nearby Al-Amal hospital, which the Palestinian Red Crescent said was raided last week after some 8,000 displaced people and patients complied with an order to evacuate.
The Israeli military has previously accused Hamas fighters of operating from inside and around the two hospitals - a claim that the armed group and medical officials have denied.
Khan Younis has been the focus of Israel's invasion of the south of Gaza, which began in early December after troops largely took control of Hamas strongholds in the north.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people hostage.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 28,500 people have been killed in the territory since then, including at least 103 in the past 24 hours..
On Wednesday morning, Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Helo posted on Instagram what he said was footage showing a drone hovering over Nasser hospital as a soldier using a loudspeaker says in Arabic: "Go now out of the hospital, go now to the municipality."
About an hour later, he posted another video showing dozens of people walking through a courtyard and then turning towards al-Bahr Street, which connects western Khan Younis with the Mediterranean coast.
Later, Gaza's health ministry put out a brief statement accusing Israeli troops of "forcibly evacuating" thousands of displaced people, medical staff and patients from Nasser hospital.
Médecins Sans Frontières reported that displaced people had been ordered to leave and that medical staff and patients had been told that they could remain in the hospital with a limit of one caretaker per patient.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had "opened a secure route to evacuate the civilian population taking shelter in the area of the Nasser hospital toward the humanitarian zone" - a reference to a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast in an area known as al-Mawasi.
"The evacuation of the civilian population is being conducted in a controlled and precise manner by IDF troops in order to prevent terrorists exploiting the evacuation," it added.
"We emphasize that the IDF does not intend to evacuate patients and medical staff, the troops involved have been thoroughly instructed in advance to prioritize the safety of civilians, patients, medical workers, and medical facilities during the operation."
The IDF also alleged that Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and other countries - "cynically embeds itself within hospitals and civilian infrastructure".
Before the evacuation began, a doctor at Nasser hospital said in an audio message that Israeli tanks and snipers had surrounded the facility.
Dr Khaled Alserr, a trauma surgeon, also said that he had treated a 16-year-old boy who was shot as he tried to leave the hospital. "[When] he reached the gate of the hospital he was shot by four bullets by an Israeli sniper," he added.
The Gaza health ministry also said Israeli sniper fire killed three people and injured two others at the hospital on Tuesday. Another seven people were reportedly shot dead in the courtyard on Monday.
There was no immediate response to the allegations from the IDF, although it insists that its forces do not intentionally target civilians.
A doctor at Nasser hospital's emergency department, Haitham Ahmed, told BBC Arabic on Tuesday night that Israeli tanks had destroyed the northern wall during heavy bombardment and violent clashes in the surrounding area.
"Part of the stock of medical supplies... was burned as a result of the morning clashes," he said. "Since [Monday], with the hospital's infrastructure being affected, sewage has unfortunately begun to flow into the departments located on the ground floors of the hospital, and there is a fear that it will reach the emergency and radiology departments."
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was alarmed by what was reportedly happening.
"Nasser is the backbone of the health system in southern Gaza. It must be protected," he warned. "Humanitarian access must be allowed."
"Hospitals must be safeguarded so that they can serve their life-saving function. They must not be militarized or attacked."
Only 11 of Gaza's 33 hospitals are currently partially functioning, according to the UN.
As well as being overwhelmed by huge numbers of casualties, the hospitals are serving as shelters for thousands among the 1.7 million people who have fled their homes as a result of the fighting. The majority of those displaced are now living in Rafah, south of Khan Younis, where there is mounting concern about the lack of food, water and sanitation.
Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, told the BBC that there was only 24 hours' worth of food left in the city.
He also warned that it be impossible to run any effective humanitarian operations or protect civilians if Israel sent ground forces into Rafah.
"I understand why the Israelis want to move in on Rafah. I understand their desire to recover those hostages, those poor people," he said.
"What I want to say to you, before it starts is, if there is an assault you cannot, you must not, you should not, rely on the fantasy of a humanitarian operation being able to save people in the middle of such carnage."
In a separate development, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - who is based in the occupied West Bank - urged Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza quickly to avoid "another catastrophic event".
Negotiations are underway in Cairo aimed at securing a new temporary ceasefire deal, including the release of more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Source: BBC
www.bbc.com
Videos showed an announcement via loudspeaker and a crowd leaving the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Israel's military said it had opened a secure route for civilians, but did not intend to evacuate patients and medics.
Doctors and health officials say a number of people there have been killed by Israeli sniper fire in recent days.
The reported deaths came as battles between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters raged in the vicinity of the hospital, which the UN says has been under siege for around a week and is only minimally functional.
Intense hostilities have also been reported around the nearby Al-Amal hospital, which the Palestinian Red Crescent said was raided last week after some 8,000 displaced people and patients complied with an order to evacuate.
The Israeli military has previously accused Hamas fighters of operating from inside and around the two hospitals - a claim that the armed group and medical officials have denied.
Khan Younis has been the focus of Israel's invasion of the south of Gaza, which began in early December after troops largely took control of Hamas strongholds in the north.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people hostage.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 28,500 people have been killed in the territory since then, including at least 103 in the past 24 hours..
On Wednesday morning, Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Helo posted on Instagram what he said was footage showing a drone hovering over Nasser hospital as a soldier using a loudspeaker says in Arabic: "Go now out of the hospital, go now to the municipality."
About an hour later, he posted another video showing dozens of people walking through a courtyard and then turning towards al-Bahr Street, which connects western Khan Younis with the Mediterranean coast.
Later, Gaza's health ministry put out a brief statement accusing Israeli troops of "forcibly evacuating" thousands of displaced people, medical staff and patients from Nasser hospital.
Médecins Sans Frontières reported that displaced people had been ordered to leave and that medical staff and patients had been told that they could remain in the hospital with a limit of one caretaker per patient.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had "opened a secure route to evacuate the civilian population taking shelter in the area of the Nasser hospital toward the humanitarian zone" - a reference to a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast in an area known as al-Mawasi.
"The evacuation of the civilian population is being conducted in a controlled and precise manner by IDF troops in order to prevent terrorists exploiting the evacuation," it added.
"We emphasize that the IDF does not intend to evacuate patients and medical staff, the troops involved have been thoroughly instructed in advance to prioritize the safety of civilians, patients, medical workers, and medical facilities during the operation."
The IDF also alleged that Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and other countries - "cynically embeds itself within hospitals and civilian infrastructure".
Before the evacuation began, a doctor at Nasser hospital said in an audio message that Israeli tanks and snipers had surrounded the facility.
Dr Khaled Alserr, a trauma surgeon, also said that he had treated a 16-year-old boy who was shot as he tried to leave the hospital. "[When] he reached the gate of the hospital he was shot by four bullets by an Israeli sniper," he added.
The Gaza health ministry also said Israeli sniper fire killed three people and injured two others at the hospital on Tuesday. Another seven people were reportedly shot dead in the courtyard on Monday.
There was no immediate response to the allegations from the IDF, although it insists that its forces do not intentionally target civilians.
A doctor at Nasser hospital's emergency department, Haitham Ahmed, told BBC Arabic on Tuesday night that Israeli tanks had destroyed the northern wall during heavy bombardment and violent clashes in the surrounding area.
"Part of the stock of medical supplies... was burned as a result of the morning clashes," he said. "Since [Monday], with the hospital's infrastructure being affected, sewage has unfortunately begun to flow into the departments located on the ground floors of the hospital, and there is a fear that it will reach the emergency and radiology departments."
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was alarmed by what was reportedly happening.
"Nasser is the backbone of the health system in southern Gaza. It must be protected," he warned. "Humanitarian access must be allowed."
"Hospitals must be safeguarded so that they can serve their life-saving function. They must not be militarized or attacked."
Only 11 of Gaza's 33 hospitals are currently partially functioning, according to the UN.
As well as being overwhelmed by huge numbers of casualties, the hospitals are serving as shelters for thousands among the 1.7 million people who have fled their homes as a result of the fighting. The majority of those displaced are now living in Rafah, south of Khan Younis, where there is mounting concern about the lack of food, water and sanitation.
Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, told the BBC that there was only 24 hours' worth of food left in the city.
He also warned that it be impossible to run any effective humanitarian operations or protect civilians if Israel sent ground forces into Rafah.
"I understand why the Israelis want to move in on Rafah. I understand their desire to recover those hostages, those poor people," he said.
"What I want to say to you, before it starts is, if there is an assault you cannot, you must not, you should not, rely on the fantasy of a humanitarian operation being able to save people in the middle of such carnage."
In a separate development, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - who is based in the occupied West Bank - urged Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza quickly to avoid "another catastrophic event".
Negotiations are underway in Cairo aimed at securing a new temporary ceasefire deal, including the release of more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Source: BBC
Israel orders evacuation of largest hospital in southern Gaza
Doctors and health officials say a number of people there have been killed by Israeli sniper fire in recent days.
www.bbc.com
Last edited:
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Israel is now unstoppable. Israel has made history by registering a new record in the book of genocide.
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Updates on ceasefire talks
Talks in Cairo to reach a new cease-fire and hostage deal ended inconclusively yesterday. CIA Director William Burns took part in the negotiations with Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials for a temporary pause in the fighting, but no deal was reached.
Talks in Cairo to reach a new cease-fire and hostage deal ended inconclusively yesterday. CIA Director William Burns took part in the negotiations with Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials for a temporary pause in the fighting, but no deal was reached.
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Netanyahu vows to press ahead with Rafah offensive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his troops will advance on the Gazan city of Rafah, defying outside pleas to reconsider.
French President Emmanuel Macron was among those warning Mr Netanyahu off, telling him the human cost of Israel's operation in Gaza was "intolerable".
But Mr Netanyahu has ordered his army to prepare for a ground assault.
Some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, which has already come under bombardment.
Mr Netanyahu vowed to press on with a "powerful" assault, declaring that Hamas, the group which controls Gaza, must be eliminated from the southern city.
"We will fight until complete victory and this includes a powerful action also in Rafah after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones," he said.
President Macron phoned Mr Netanyahu on Wednesday to say Israel's operations in Gaza "must cease".
He expressed "France's firm opposition to an Israeli offensive in Rafah, which could only lead to a humanitarian disaster of a new magnitude".
The prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued a joint statement expressing their "grave concern" that a military operation in Rafah would be "catastrophic".
"We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path," the statement read, adding "the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, visiting Israel, warned that people in Rafah with nowhere to go could not "simply vanish into thin air."
Spain and the Republic of Ireland have asked the EU, of which they are members, to examine "urgently" whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza under an accord linking rights to trade.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory reports that at least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Israel took action after Hamas-led gunmen killed at least 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in a surprise attack on its territory on 7 October.
In the earlier days of the war, Israel had instructed Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah as the Israeli military moved against the northern cities.
Rafah is Gaza's southern-most and features a crossing point into Egypt where humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter the Strip.
Now Israeli authorities want civilians to relocate to what they call a "humanitarian zone" - a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast known as al-Mawasi.
Among the displaced civilians in Rafah was Ahlam Abu Assi, who told AFP news agency she "would rather die" there than return to famine-like conditions like those experienced by relatives who had stayed in Gaza City.
"My son and his children have nothing to eat. They cook a handful of rice and save it for the next day," she said.
Another city, Khan Younis, has been the focus of Israel's operations in the south of Gaza so far.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians sought shelter there in the Nasser hospital but are now also being ordered to evacuate.
Mr Netanyahu's vow to press on came after peace negotiations involving officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar ended inconclusively.
Israel's prime ministerial office said Hamas had presented no new offer for a hostage deal and Israel would not accept the militant group's "ludicrous demands".
"A change in Hamas' positions will make it possible to move forward in the negotiations," it added.
BBC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his troops will advance on the Gazan city of Rafah, defying outside pleas to reconsider.
French President Emmanuel Macron was among those warning Mr Netanyahu off, telling him the human cost of Israel's operation in Gaza was "intolerable".
But Mr Netanyahu has ordered his army to prepare for a ground assault.
Some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, which has already come under bombardment.
Mr Netanyahu vowed to press on with a "powerful" assault, declaring that Hamas, the group which controls Gaza, must be eliminated from the southern city.
"We will fight until complete victory and this includes a powerful action also in Rafah after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones," he said.
President Macron phoned Mr Netanyahu on Wednesday to say Israel's operations in Gaza "must cease".
He expressed "France's firm opposition to an Israeli offensive in Rafah, which could only lead to a humanitarian disaster of a new magnitude".
The prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued a joint statement expressing their "grave concern" that a military operation in Rafah would be "catastrophic".
"We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path," the statement read, adding "the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, visiting Israel, warned that people in Rafah with nowhere to go could not "simply vanish into thin air."
Spain and the Republic of Ireland have asked the EU, of which they are members, to examine "urgently" whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza under an accord linking rights to trade.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory reports that at least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Israel took action after Hamas-led gunmen killed at least 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in a surprise attack on its territory on 7 October.
In the earlier days of the war, Israel had instructed Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah as the Israeli military moved against the northern cities.
Rafah is Gaza's southern-most and features a crossing point into Egypt where humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter the Strip.
Now Israeli authorities want civilians to relocate to what they call a "humanitarian zone" - a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast known as al-Mawasi.
Among the displaced civilians in Rafah was Ahlam Abu Assi, who told AFP news agency she "would rather die" there than return to famine-like conditions like those experienced by relatives who had stayed in Gaza City.
"My son and his children have nothing to eat. They cook a handful of rice and save it for the next day," she said.
Another city, Khan Younis, has been the focus of Israel's operations in the south of Gaza so far.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians sought shelter there in the Nasser hospital but are now also being ordered to evacuate.
Mr Netanyahu's vow to press on came after peace negotiations involving officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar ended inconclusively.
Israel's prime ministerial office said Hamas had presented no new offer for a hostage deal and Israel would not accept the militant group's "ludicrous demands".
"A change in Hamas' positions will make it possible to move forward in the negotiations," it added.
BBC
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Two powerful Israeli far-right ministers Thursday slammed a reported US peace plan with its Arab allies for a Gaza truce which lays the foundation for a Palestinian state.
The Washington Post reported that US President Joe Biden’s administration and a small group of Arab nations are working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
It includes a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.
"An initial ceasefire, projected to be at least six weeks, would provide time to make the plan public, recruit additional support and take the initial steps toward its implementation, including the formation of an interim Palestinian government,” the report said quoting unnamed US and Arab officials.
Planners hope an agreement that would include the release of hostages can be reached before March 10 when the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is expected to begin, it said.
But the proposal was slammed by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both extreme-right settlers living in the occupied West Bank.
“We will in no way agree to this plan, which actually says that the Palestinians deserve a reward for the terrible massacre they committed,” Smotrich wrote on social media platform X, referring to the October 7 attack by Hamas.
“A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel as was proven on October 7.”
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories of West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem are seen as a major barrier to a peace deal.
“1,400 are murdered and the world wants to give them a state. Not going to happen,” wrote Ben-Gvir on X.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state means the establishment of a Hamas state.”
Al Arabiya
The Washington Post reported that US President Joe Biden’s administration and a small group of Arab nations are working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
It includes a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.
"An initial ceasefire, projected to be at least six weeks, would provide time to make the plan public, recruit additional support and take the initial steps toward its implementation, including the formation of an interim Palestinian government,” the report said quoting unnamed US and Arab officials.
Planners hope an agreement that would include the release of hostages can be reached before March 10 when the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is expected to begin, it said.
But the proposal was slammed by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both extreme-right settlers living in the occupied West Bank.
“We will in no way agree to this plan, which actually says that the Palestinians deserve a reward for the terrible massacre they committed,” Smotrich wrote on social media platform X, referring to the October 7 attack by Hamas.
“A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel as was proven on October 7.”
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories of West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem are seen as a major barrier to a peace deal.
“1,400 are murdered and the world wants to give them a state. Not going to happen,” wrote Ben-Gvir on X.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state means the establishment of a Hamas state.”
Al Arabiya
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It's disheartening to see opposition to efforts aimed at establishing a comprehensive and long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The desire for a peaceful resolution should be prioritized over divisive rhetoric.
Kroll
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The Israelis don't want peace. They have outright rejected the two state solution.
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The satanic Israel state must be put in place by Muslim nations but there is a big If on that.
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Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war
The list below is CPJ’s most recent and preliminary account of journalist deaths in the war. Our database will not include all of these casualties until we have completed further investigations into the circumstances surrounding them. For more information, read our FAQ.The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7 and Israel declared war on the militant Palestinian group, launching strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
CPJ is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, which has led to the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
As of February 15, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 88 journalists and media workers were among the more than 29,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 28,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies in October that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, according to a Reuters report.
Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages.
As of February 15:
88 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead: 83 Palestinian, 2 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese.
16 journalists were reported injured.
4 journalists were reported missing.
25 journalists were reported arrested.
Multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family members.
CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.
“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”
Source : CPJ
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Top Israeli ministers reject Palestinian statehood as part of post war plan
"A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel as was proven on Oct. 7," he said, adding that he will demand the security cabinet, set to meet later on Thursday, to take a clear position against Palestinian statehood.The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the United States was working with some Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia - with which Israel has long sought to establish diplomatic ties - on a post war plan for the region that would include a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said any political initiative that did not begin with a Palestinian state as a full member of the United Nations was "doomed to failure".
Echoing Smotrich in separate remarks were National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Education Minister Yoav Kisch and lawmaker Matan Kahana, a member of the National Unity Party headed by main Netanyahu challenger Benny Gantz.
"This is a catastrophe, to reward the Palestinians after Oct. 7 by establishing a state," Chikli of Netanyahu's Likud party told Army Radio.
The latest Gaza war erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas led an attack on southern Israeli towns in which Israeli authorities say 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage.
In the more than 130 days since, Israel has killed more than 28,600 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities, in an unrelenting air, land and sea offensive that has laid much of Gaza to waste and displaced most of its 2.3 million population.
Millions of Palestinians live under varying degrees of Israeli rule but only a fraction are citizens. The Palestinian Authority has for years called for an end to Israel's occupation and settlement expansion in the West Bank - among territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war - where it wants to form a state that includes East Jerusalem and Gaza. Palestinians and the international community for the most part consider the settlements to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical, biblical and political links to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Source: Reuters
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Down with Israel, wretched people.
Kroll
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As soon as October 7 happened, I knew they would go all out to flatten Gaza. Just wish they hadn't done as its heart breaking to see all those children suffering and all the other innocents.
It's now the longest occupation in the history of the world so anyone could at least understand there is every chance of attacks as no one can live like this.
It's not worth it to have so many people massacred and now its given Israel the excuse to deny Palestinians their right to a homeland.
Plain to see they just to want ethnically cleanse them so they can grab all the land for themselves including the whole of the West Bank which is seeing attacks on Palestinian refugee camps there.
Aside from Houthi and Hezbollah defiance, all we see are a few mutterings from the Arab and Muslim countries, it's proper messed up.
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Israel is now receiving hate from its allies.
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Two people were killed in Israel when a gunman opened fire on a crowded bus stop near the southern town of Kiryat Malakhi on Friday, a hospital and police said.
Two people who were brought to Kaplan Medical Center had been declared dead, a spokeswoman for the facility told AFP. Four others were wounded in the shooting, Israeli police said.
An AFP photographer at the scene reported the gunman had been killed and his body was still at the site of the attack. Police said he had been “neutralized” by a civilian at the scene.
“We have raised a national level alert,” Israel's police chief Kobi Shabtai told reporters at the site, without providing details on the attacker.
On Sunday evening there were two stabbing attacks - one against police in annexed east Jerusalem and the other against troops at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
The attackers in both incidents were killed while there were no casualties among security forces.
Kiryat Malakhi is located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s war with Hamas militants has raged for more than four months.
The conflict was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
At least 28,775 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Source: Al Arabiya
Two people who were brought to Kaplan Medical Center had been declared dead, a spokeswoman for the facility told AFP. Four others were wounded in the shooting, Israeli police said.
An AFP photographer at the scene reported the gunman had been killed and his body was still at the site of the attack. Police said he had been “neutralized” by a civilian at the scene.
“We have raised a national level alert,” Israel's police chief Kobi Shabtai told reporters at the site, without providing details on the attacker.
On Sunday evening there were two stabbing attacks - one against police in annexed east Jerusalem and the other against troops at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
The attackers in both incidents were killed while there were no casualties among security forces.
Kiryat Malakhi is located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s war with Hamas militants has raged for more than four months.
The conflict was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
At least 28,775 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Source: Al Arabiya
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They may certainly level accusations against Hamas, but Israel is an ally of America, and they also need to address issues related to personal weapon laws.
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The spokesman of Hamas’ armed wing, Abu Obeida, says in an audio message that losses amongst Israeli hostages were many, and that the remaining hostages are living in extremely difficult conditions.
Source: Al Arabiya
Source: Al Arabiya
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Satellite images appear to show extensive construction work in progress along Egypt's border with Gaza, which reports claim is being carried out in preparation for housing Palestinian refugees.
Unnamed Egyptian sources reportedly said the work is being done in order to set up an isolated buffer zone containing a walled enclosure in Egypt's North Sinai province in case Israel goes ahead with its planned ground offensive in Gaza's southernmost city, Rafah.
According to a report published by a human rights group, seven-metre-high walls are being constructed in the zone.
Egypt has publicly denied making any such preparations.
BBC
Unnamed Egyptian sources reportedly said the work is being done in order to set up an isolated buffer zone containing a walled enclosure in Egypt's North Sinai province in case Israel goes ahead with its planned ground offensive in Gaza's southernmost city, Rafah.
According to a report published by a human rights group, seven-metre-high walls are being constructed in the zone.
Egypt has publicly denied making any such preparations.
BBC
Kroll
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What's really annoying me is these Arab leaders flying to each other countries holding "meetings" and all smiles and handshakes with nothing meaningful coming from them. All while the Palestinians in Gaza haven't even got animal feed to eat any longer as the all food had run out with none allowed to come in.
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this has been going on for ages. These arab Muslim leaders are also beneficiaries of the Pro-american-Israeli system and they won't be doing anything that matters for the people of Palestine.
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Eleven people arrested at pro-Palestine demonstration in London
Ten more people have been arrested at a pro-Palestine march in central London, bringing the total to 11.Officers have made 10 further arrests during an incident at Hyde Park Corner.
Earlier, the Met Police said a man who was seen in the crowd with an antisemitic placard was arrested for inciting racial hatred.
When officers went in to arrest him they were assaulted, resulting in six arrests for assaulting an emergency worker, the force said.
Two other people were arrested for refusing to remove face coverings when required to do so by officers.
A pro-Palestinian car convoy was also stopped in Neasden, northwest London.
Police said in previous years, convoys have driven through areas with significant Jewish communities causing fear for residents, so specialist traffic officers and a police helicopter is closely monitoring the scene.
Police estimated that 30,000 people gathered for the demonstration in central London.
The first arrest was made on suspicion of support for a proscribed organisation in relation to a placard ahead of the start of the march at 1.30pm, police said.
Police say an order is in place until 8pm in much of central London which requires anyone wearing a face covering for the purpose of concealing their identity to remove it when asked to do so.
There is also a dispersal order in place until 11pm, meaning anyone refusing a direction to leave the area can be arrested.
Around 1,500 police officers from forces across the UK are on the streets of London, with the protesters going along Park Lane, Knightsbridge and Kensington Road, then ending at the junction with Kensington Court, where speeches will be made.
According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, organisers advertised a start time of 12.30pm, but Met Police said starting at 1.30pm would allow time for a synagogue event to finish.
Speakers will address crowds near the Israeli embassy and they must stop by 5pm, while protesters must leave by 6pm, police said.
The Met said "there will be some who ask why" a decision to allow the protest so close to the embassy was allowed but that it is a "common misconception" that forces can allow or refuse permission for a protest to take place.
There must be "a real risk of serious disorder" sufficient for police to request that the Home Secretary ban the protest, which the Met said was not expected on Saturday.
A number of further restrictions are being implemented by police during the protest.
Protesters will be kept more than 100m away from the embassy grounds, behind barriers controlled by officers, and face arrest if they do not do so.
Precautions have also been taken to ensure the presence of protesters does not unnecessarily disrupt other sensitive premises, including synagogues, either near the start or along the route.
Police have also said no gazebos or other stalls can be erected in a specified area at Marble Arch and that anyone participating in the march must not deviate from the route.
Ahead of the protest, Commander Kyle Gordon, who is lead the policing operation, said: "We are there to ensure protests take place lawfully, minimising disruption to the life of the wider public and in a way that gives due consideration to the cumulative impact on London's communities and those who feel most vulnerable in the current climate.
"The protests we have seen since October have thankfully been largely peaceful and we must take this into account in our policing approach. I hope the same will be true this Saturday.
"Unfortunately, despite this, we have regularly seen officers having to deal with offences related to placards and other hate speech.
"We do not underestimate the fear this causes, nor the impact of such criminal and unacceptable behaviour on wider community relations," Commander Gordon added.
"I would appeal to all those attending the protest on Saturday to act within the law and to consider the impact of their actions on the safety and security of others. We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to do so."
Source: BBC
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People should be allowed to record their protest peacefully.
sweep_shot
Test Star
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Death toll in Palestine is now close to 30,000.
Mindboggling.
Mindboggling.
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Israel stages airstrikes across Gaza, makes arrests at hospital
CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Israeli forces carried out arrests in Gaza's largest functioning hospital, health officials and the military said on Saturday, as airstrikes hit across the enclave and rain battered Palestinians taking shelter in Rafah.Israeli forces raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday as they pressed their war on Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules the enclave.
"Occupation forces detained a large number of medical staff members inside Nasser Medical Complex, which they (Israel) turned into a military base," said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra.
The Israeli military said it was hunting for militants in Nasser and had so far arrested 100 suspects on the premises, killed gunmen near the hospital and found weapons inside it.
Hamas has denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for cover. At least two released Israeli hostages have said they were held in Nasser.
The Israeli incursion into the hospital has raised alarm about patients, medical workers and displaced Palestinians sheltering there.
About 10,000 people were seeking shelter at the hospital earlier this week, but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of Israeli orders to evacuate, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Further south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population are sheltering, the winter cold added to already dire conditions when wind blew away some tents of the displaced and rain flooded others.
Israeli plans to storm Rafah have prompted international concern that such action would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the group said in a statement on Saturday.
Haniyeh added that Hamas would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and "lifting of the unjust siege," as well as a release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli jails.
Source: Reuters
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If sleepy Joe had been serious, the conflict would have ended long ago
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US President Biden says he repeatedly told Israel’s Netanyahu there “has to be a temporary ceasefire” in war on Gaza during “extensive” conversations this week.
Israel’s incursion into Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital has led to the deaths of at least five patients after electricity was severed and oxygen supplies cut.
The US says an Israeli ground attack on Rafah with 1.4 million people would be a “disaster” without a plausible evacuation plan.
Source : Al Jazeera
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US President Biden says he repeatedly told Israel’s Netanyahu there “has to be a temporary ceasefire” in war on Gaza during “extensive” conversations this week.
Israel’s incursion into Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital has led to the deaths of at least five patients after electricity was severed and oxygen supplies cut.
The US says an Israeli ground attack on Rafah with 1.4 million people would be a “disaster” without a plausible evacuation plan.
Source : Al Jazeera
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Latest ceasefire talks not very promising – Qatar
Talks to agree a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza were "not very promising" in recent days, mediator Qatar has said.
Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he remained optimistic, but added "time is not in our favour".
It comes as Israel's prime minister said he would press ahead with plans for a Rafah ground invasion, despite growing international pressure.
Hamas has blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal.
Talks have been taking place in Cairo as senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar meet to try to broker a pause in fighting.
"The pattern in the last few days [is] not really very promising but, as I always repeat, we will always remain optimistic and will always remain pushing," said Sheik Mohammed, speaking at a meeting of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference.
"I believe in this agreement we are talking at a bigger scale and we still see some difficulties on the humanitarian part of these negotiations," he added.
But he said a truce should not be dependent on a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas.
"This is the dilemma that we've been in and unfortunately that's been misused by a lot of countries - that in order to get a ceasefire, it's conditional to have the hostage deal," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he sent negotiators following a request from US President Joe Biden, but added they did not return for further discussions because Hamas's demands were "delusional".
The group has laid out a series of demands, including the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, full withdrawal of Israel's forces and an end to the war after a 135-day pause in fighting, broken into three phases.
Israel launched its military offensive after Hamas-led gunmen killed at least 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in a surprise attack on its territory on 7 October.
The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 28,800 people, mainly women and children - have been killed in Israel's campaign.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his aims of destroying Hamas and said his forces would fight until Israel achieved "absolute victory".
He said those urging against military action in Rafah, the southern-most Gazan city where some 1.5 million people have fled, were effectively telling the country to "lose the war", adding that his troops would enter even if a hostage deal was reached.
In the earlier days of the war, Israel had instructed Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah as the Israeli military moved against the northern cities.
Israeli authorities this week said they wanted civilians to relocate to what they call a "humanitarian zone" - a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast known as al-Mawasi.
President Biden has urged Israel not to launch an offensive in Rafah without a plan to keep civilians safe.
Mr Netanyahu is also facing pressure domestically to bring home the hostages who remain in Gaza.
Thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for early elections, which are not scheduled until 2026. Israel's prime minister dismissed similar calls from within his own ruling Likud party for an election immediately after the conflict with Gaza had ended, saying it would "immediately divide us".
Meanwhile, Hamas has blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal and threatened to suspend its involvement unless relief supplies are brought into the north of Gaza. Aid agencies say they are increasingly concerned about the lack of food, water and medicine in the territory.
BBC
Talks to agree a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza were "not very promising" in recent days, mediator Qatar has said.
Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he remained optimistic, but added "time is not in our favour".
It comes as Israel's prime minister said he would press ahead with plans for a Rafah ground invasion, despite growing international pressure.
Hamas has blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal.
Talks have been taking place in Cairo as senior officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar meet to try to broker a pause in fighting.
"The pattern in the last few days [is] not really very promising but, as I always repeat, we will always remain optimistic and will always remain pushing," said Sheik Mohammed, speaking at a meeting of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference.
"I believe in this agreement we are talking at a bigger scale and we still see some difficulties on the humanitarian part of these negotiations," he added.
But he said a truce should not be dependent on a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas.
"This is the dilemma that we've been in and unfortunately that's been misused by a lot of countries - that in order to get a ceasefire, it's conditional to have the hostage deal," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he sent negotiators following a request from US President Joe Biden, but added they did not return for further discussions because Hamas's demands were "delusional".
The group has laid out a series of demands, including the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, full withdrawal of Israel's forces and an end to the war after a 135-day pause in fighting, broken into three phases.
Israel launched its military offensive after Hamas-led gunmen killed at least 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in a surprise attack on its territory on 7 October.
The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 28,800 people, mainly women and children - have been killed in Israel's campaign.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his aims of destroying Hamas and said his forces would fight until Israel achieved "absolute victory".
He said those urging against military action in Rafah, the southern-most Gazan city where some 1.5 million people have fled, were effectively telling the country to "lose the war", adding that his troops would enter even if a hostage deal was reached.
In the earlier days of the war, Israel had instructed Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah as the Israeli military moved against the northern cities.
Israeli authorities this week said they wanted civilians to relocate to what they call a "humanitarian zone" - a thin strip of mainly agricultural land along the Mediterranean coast known as al-Mawasi.
President Biden has urged Israel not to launch an offensive in Rafah without a plan to keep civilians safe.
Mr Netanyahu is also facing pressure domestically to bring home the hostages who remain in Gaza.
Thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for early elections, which are not scheduled until 2026. Israel's prime minister dismissed similar calls from within his own ruling Likud party for an election immediately after the conflict with Gaza had ended, saying it would "immediately divide us".
Meanwhile, Hamas has blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal and threatened to suspend its involvement unless relief supplies are brought into the north of Gaza. Aid agencies say they are increasingly concerned about the lack of food, water and medicine in the territory.
BBC
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Tel Aviv protesters call on Netanyahu to resign
Protesters angry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to demand fresh elections.
While anti-government protests declined in the wake of the 7 October attacks, Mr Netanyahu's popularity has fallen as the fighting goes on.
Mass protests were regularly held throughout 2023 demanding his resignation - fuelled by opposition to controversial judicial reforms. Mr Netanyahu is now also under pressure over the fate of the dozens of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas fighters on 7 October and held in Gaza.
More than 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the ongoing war.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 28,800 people have been killed.
BBC
Protesters angry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to demand fresh elections.
While anti-government protests declined in the wake of the 7 October attacks, Mr Netanyahu's popularity has fallen as the fighting goes on.
Mass protests were regularly held throughout 2023 demanding his resignation - fuelled by opposition to controversial judicial reforms. Mr Netanyahu is now also under pressure over the fate of the dozens of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas fighters on 7 October and held in Gaza.
More than 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the ongoing war.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 28,800 people have been killed.
BBC
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UN likely to vote Tuesday on Gaza ceasefire, US signals veto
The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said diplomats, a move the United States signalled it would veto.
Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield quickly said the text could jeopardize "sensitive negotiations" aimed at brokering a pause in the war.
Algeria requested on Saturday that the council vote on Tuesday, diplomats said. To be adopted, UN Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.
"The United States does not support action on this draft resolution. Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted," Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement on Saturday.
Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action and has already twice vetoed council action since Oct. 7. But it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza and called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in fighting.
Talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar are on to seek a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
tribune.com.pk
The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said diplomats, a move the United States signalled it would veto.
Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield quickly said the text could jeopardize "sensitive negotiations" aimed at brokering a pause in the war.
Algeria requested on Saturday that the council vote on Tuesday, diplomats said. To be adopted, UN Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.
"The United States does not support action on this draft resolution. Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted," Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement on Saturday.
Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action and has already twice vetoed council action since Oct. 7. But it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza and called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in fighting.
Talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar are on to seek a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
UN likely to vote Tuesday on Gaza ceasefire, US signals veto | The Express Tribune
'The United States does not support action on this draft resolution,' says US Ambassador to the UN Thomas-Greenfield
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Sir Keir Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" in Gaza - ahead of a vote in the Commons which risks re-opening Labour divisions on the issue.
The Labour leader, fresh from an appearance at a gathering of top politicians in Germany, said every conversation there had focused on what could be done to end the crisis in the Middle East.
"Not just for now, not just for a pause, but permanently. A ceasefire that lasts. That is what must happen now. The fighting must stop now," he said in a a speech to the Scottish Labour conference.
It comes a day after Scottish Labour unanimously backed a motion calling for an immediate end to the conflict.
However a Labour source suggested this was not what Sir Keir was endorsing and his comments are set within the context of any ceasefire being lasting and sustainable and coming from both sides, alongside the release of hostages.
Sir Keir's position on the war in the Middle East has caused a rift within Labour, as many MPs want him to explicitly back an immediate end to the fighting.
news.sky.com
The Labour leader, fresh from an appearance at a gathering of top politicians in Germany, said every conversation there had focused on what could be done to end the crisis in the Middle East.
"Not just for now, not just for a pause, but permanently. A ceasefire that lasts. That is what must happen now. The fighting must stop now," he said in a a speech to the Scottish Labour conference.
It comes a day after Scottish Labour unanimously backed a motion calling for an immediate end to the conflict.
However a Labour source suggested this was not what Sir Keir was endorsing and his comments are set within the context of any ceasefire being lasting and sustainable and coming from both sides, alongside the release of hostages.
Sir Keir's position on the war in the Middle East has caused a rift within Labour, as many MPs want him to explicitly back an immediate end to the fighting.
Starmer says 'fighting must stop now' in Gaza conflict ahead of ceasefire vote
Sir Keir Starmer has called for a "ceasefire that lasts" in Gaza, ahead of a crucial Commons vote that could reignite divisions within Labour over its position on the conflict.
news.sky.com
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Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned that unless Hamas frees all hostages held in Gaza by 10 March an offensive will be launched in Rafah.
It is the first time Israel has said when its troops might enter Gaza's overcrowded southern city.
Global opposition is growing to such an attack in Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Earlier, the UN public health agency said a key Gaza hospital had ceased to function following an Israeli raid.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had not been allowed to enter Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, north of Rafah, to assess the situation.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) entered the complex on Thursday, saying intelligence indicated hostages taken by Hamas were being held there.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned that unless Hamas frees all hostages held in Gaza by 10 March an offensive will be launched in Rafah.
It is the first time Israel has said when its troops might enter Gaza's overcrowded southern city.
Global opposition is growing to such an attack in Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Earlier, the UN public health agency said a key Gaza hospital had ceased to function following an Israeli raid.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had not been allowed to enter Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, north of Rafah, to assess the situation.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) entered the complex on Thursday, saying intelligence indicated hostages taken by Hamas were being held there.
Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah
A war cabinet member says unless Hamas frees all hostages by 10 March an assault will begin in Rafah.
www.bbc.com
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Their recognition does not matter as their days as occupant are already numbered.
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‘Recognition Of Palestinian State A Reward To Reward To Terrorism’: Israel Cabinet Rejects US Proposal
Israel's Cabinet unanimously rejected "International Diktats" for Palestinian Statehood after reports said that US and Arab Partners are preparing a comprehensive peace deal with "firm timeline" for Palestinian State.The Israel Cabinet Decision reads, “Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.
A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement”.
Source : Times of India
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‘Recognition Of Palestinian State A Reward To Reward To Terrorism’: Israel Cabinet Rejects US Proposal
Israel's Cabinet unanimously rejected "International Diktats" for Palestinian Statehood after reports said that US and Arab Partners are preparing a comprehensive peace deal with "firm timeline" for Palestinian State.The Israel Cabinet Decision reads, “Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.
A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement”.
Source : Times of India
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Israel to set security limits on Ramazan prayers at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa
Israel will allow Ramazan prayers at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming holy month but limits will be set according to security needs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday.
The Hamas group, Israel's main enemy in the Gaza war, denounced the proposed restrictions and the top Palestinian Islamic council called on all Muslims to visit Al Aqsa regardless.
Al Aqsa, one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, sits on a hilltop in Jerusalem's Old City in a compound also revered by Jews as the site of their temples of biblical times.
Rules about access to the site have been a frequent source of friction, particularly during holidays including Ramazan, which begins this year on or around March 10. Israel has imposed restrictions in the past - usually keeping out younger worshippers - saying that doing so prevents violence.
Asked about the possibility of blocking access for Israeli Muslims to Al Aqsa, Netanyahu's office said: "The prime minister made a balanced decision to allow freedom of worship within the security needs determined by professionals."
Tribune
Israel will allow Ramazan prayers at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming holy month but limits will be set according to security needs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday.
The Hamas group, Israel's main enemy in the Gaza war, denounced the proposed restrictions and the top Palestinian Islamic council called on all Muslims to visit Al Aqsa regardless.
Al Aqsa, one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, sits on a hilltop in Jerusalem's Old City in a compound also revered by Jews as the site of their temples of biblical times.
Rules about access to the site have been a frequent source of friction, particularly during holidays including Ramazan, which begins this year on or around March 10. Israel has imposed restrictions in the past - usually keeping out younger worshippers - saying that doing so prevents violence.
Asked about the possibility of blocking access for Israeli Muslims to Al Aqsa, Netanyahu's office said: "The prime minister made a balanced decision to allow freedom of worship within the security needs determined by professionals."
Tribune
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This is an inhuman move by Israel. How can it be called a balanced decision?
aboveandbeyond
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Hallmarks and actions of a terrorist state which is ISRAEL.
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Israel's Rafah deadline raises stakes as Ramadan approaches
Israel's sudden threat to unleash its controversial ground operation in the southern Gazan town of Rafah unless all hostages are freed by 10 March has ratcheted up the pressure on the tortuous talks to secure an elusive agreement.Even before Benny Gantz, a leading member of Israel's war cabinet, threw down the gauntlet, Arab leaders were already anxiously focused on this start of the Islamic holy month - a time of communal fasting and prayer which can intensify a prevailing mood.
"Ramadan is ahead of us and if the situation in Rafah evolves, it will be a very, very dangerous time in the region," warned Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the annual Munich Security Conference over the weekend.
The palpable apprehension by an Arab leader directly involved in the protracted negotiations to swap Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and reach a truce in this grievous war, is being forcefully echoed by other Arab officials.
Their principal preoccupation is the highly combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, where tensions and violence have been steadily escalating.
"The West Bank is a powder keg waiting to explode and, if it does, it is game over," stressed Jordan's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi in a BBC interview in Munich on Sunday, before Israel seemed to set a deadline.
Conversations in Munich with several Arab and western officials with knowledge of these high-stake talks underscored a bleak prognosis. They all spoke off the record because of the sensitive nature of the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas involving US, Egyptian and Israeli spy chiefs, as well as Qatar.
"The gaps are still wide," regretted one source. Another described the process as "stuck".
The main stumbling blocks are said to include Hamas's high price for the release of the hostages. A figure of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners for five female Israeli soldiers was cited by one source as one example.
In the first swap in November during a one-week truce, 105 hostages - mainly elderly women and young children - were swapped for 240 Palestinians, many of them teenagers, detained in Israeli prisons. About 130 hostages are said to be still in captivity in Gaza, although a small number are believed to have been killed in this war.
It was always known that Hamas would hike the price to release Israeli soldiers, who they see as one of its most valuable bargaining chips. Sources say negotiators have been trying to bring down these numbers by introducing other incentives such as increased deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
Hamas's broader demand for an end to this war and the pull-out of all Israeli troops are utterly unacceptable to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas's proposed plan as "delusional".
Negotiators have been searching for a less controversial form of words, including "restoring calm".
Israel is also said to be adding new issues to the negotiating table, including its accusation that Hamas failed to deliver medicines to hostages as part of an earlier initiative mediated by Qatar and France. Mr Netanyahu has also been criticised for holding back on presenting any counterproposals until Hamas comes back with more acceptable offers.
Hamas first put forward its own proposal in early February, which included a three-stage ceasefire and a phased release of hostages in exchange for prisoners and humanitarian aid over 135 days.
"That's why we have negotiations," insisted Jordan's Mr Safadi, who accused the Israeli leader of walking away from the talks. "There are a lot of people who are trying very hard to get a deal."
Beyond the details of any agreement, some players are vexed that Hamas will claim credit for hugely important Palestinian issues such as prisoner releases. It is yet another element complicating this highly charged crisis.
Those who insist a deal is still doable point out that both Hamas and Israel would benefit from a truce - even if it is only temporary.
Source: BBC
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Then why don't he use his influence to stop the rabid Israeli govt?
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Prince William has said that "too many have been killed" in the Israel-Hamas war, as he called for the fighting to end "as soon as possible".
In a rare statement on the crisis, the Prince of Wales said he clings "to the hope that a brighter future can be found and I refuse to give up on that".
"I remain deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October," he said.
"I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. It's critical that aid gets in and the hostages are released.
"Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home.
"Even in the darkest hour, we must not succumb to the counsel of despair."
Source : Sky News
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Prince William has said that "too many have been killed" in the Israel-Hamas war, as he called for the fighting to end "as soon as possible".
In a rare statement on the crisis, the Prince of Wales said he clings "to the hope that a brighter future can be found and I refuse to give up on that".
"I remain deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October," he said.
"I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. It's critical that aid gets in and the hostages are released.
"Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home.
"Even in the darkest hour, we must not succumb to the counsel of despair."
Source : Sky News
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US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
The United States has vetoed another United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Arab nations, led by Algeria, put the draft resolution to a vote on Tuesday with the expectation that it would not pass after the US – Israel’s key ally – had warned it would not back the text and proposed a rival draft instead.
The US was the only country to vote against the draft text while the United Kingdom abstained. The UN Security Council’s 13 other member countries voted in favour of the text demanding a halt to the war that has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and displaced more than 80 percent of the population.
For a UN Security Council resolution to be adopted, it requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members: the US, UK, France, Russia or China.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said her country was vetoing the resolution over concerns it would jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
She rejected claims that the veto was a US effort to cover for an imminent Israeli ground invasion into the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people are sheltering.
www.aljazeera.com
The United States has vetoed another United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Arab nations, led by Algeria, put the draft resolution to a vote on Tuesday with the expectation that it would not pass after the US – Israel’s key ally – had warned it would not back the text and proposed a rival draft instead.
The US was the only country to vote against the draft text while the United Kingdom abstained. The UN Security Council’s 13 other member countries voted in favour of the text demanding a halt to the war that has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and displaced more than 80 percent of the population.
For a UN Security Council resolution to be adopted, it requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members: the US, UK, France, Russia or China.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said her country was vetoing the resolution over concerns it would jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
She rejected claims that the veto was a US effort to cover for an imminent Israeli ground invasion into the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people are sheltering.
US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
Majority of members voted to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 29,000.
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It clears the intentions of USA.US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
The United States has vetoed another United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Arab nations, led by Algeria, put the draft resolution to a vote on Tuesday with the expectation that it would not pass after the US – Israel’s key ally – had warned it would not back the text and proposed a rival draft instead.
The US was the only country to vote against the draft text while the United Kingdom abstained. The UN Security Council’s 13 other member countries voted in favour of the text demanding a halt to the war that has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and displaced more than 80 percent of the population.
For a UN Security Council resolution to be adopted, it requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members: the US, UK, France, Russia or China.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said her country was vetoing the resolution over concerns it would jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
She rejected claims that the veto was a US effort to cover for an imminent Israeli ground invasion into the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people are sheltering.
US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
Majority of members voted to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 29,000.
sweep_shot
Test Star
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- Mar 30, 2016
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US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
The United States has vetoed another United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Arab nations, led by Algeria, put the draft resolution to a vote on Tuesday with the expectation that it would not pass after the US – Israel’s key ally – had warned it would not back the text and proposed a rival draft instead.
The US was the only country to vote against the draft text while the United Kingdom abstained. The UN Security Council’s 13 other member countries voted in favour of the text demanding a halt to the war that has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities, and displaced more than 80 percent of the population.
For a UN Security Council resolution to be adopted, it requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members: the US, UK, France, Russia or China.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said her country was vetoing the resolution over concerns it would jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
She rejected claims that the veto was a US effort to cover for an imminent Israeli ground invasion into the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people are sheltering.
US vetoes another UN Security Council resolution urging Gaza war ceasefire
Majority of members voted to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 29,000.
UN should kick out USA from the organization.
Alternatively, all free countries in the world should eave UN and start a new and fair organization. Maybe China and Russia (I prefer Russia) can play the role of the lead country.
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Israel-Gaza war: World Food Programme stops deliveries to northern Gaza
The World Food Programme has paused "live-saving" food deliveries to northern Gaza, saying aid convoys had endured "complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order".The agency says the decision has not been taken lightly and crews had faced crowds, gunfire and looting.
The UN has been warning of looming famine in the north since December.
The WFP says these latest reports are proof of a "precipitous slide into hunger and disease".
The Israeli military ordered 1.1 million Palestinian civilians to evacuate all areas north of Wadi Gaza and seek shelter in the south at the start of its ground offensive in October. The evacuation area included Gaza City - which before the war was the most densely populated area of the territory.
Most residents followed the Israeli order, but several hundred thousand chose to stay or were unable to flee as Israeli troops encircled the region and then largely took control of Hamas strongholds there.
Last month the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said at least 300,000 people who had remained in northern Gaza depended on its assistance for their survival.
Aid deliveries to the north have been scarce and dependent on security clearances from the Israeli military.
This weekend the WFP had hoped to begin a week-long delivery, sending 10 lorries each day to help "stem the tide of hunger and desperation".
But on Sunday, as a convoy neared the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on its way north, it was "surrounded by crowds of hungry people" with "multiple attempts by people to climb aboard" and then on entering Gaza City faced gunfire, "high tension and explosive anger".
Additionally, several lorries driving between the southern city of Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah had been looted and a driver beaten.
The WFP said over the past two days its teams had "witnessed unprecedented levels of desperation" in the Gaza Strip.
"Food and safe water have become incredibly scarce and diseases are rife, compromising women and children's nutrition and immunity and resulting in a surge of acute malnutrition," it said.
"People are already dying from hunger-related causes," it added.
Source: BBC
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China condemns US veto of call for immediate ceasefire at UN
China has sharply criticised the US for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Beijing said the move sent the "wrong message" and effectively gave a "green light to the continued slaughter".
The White House said the Algerian-proposed resolution would "jeopardise" talks to end the war.
The US has proposed its own temporary ceasefire resolution, which also warned Israel not to invade the city of Rafah.
There has been widespread condemnation of the US decision to block Algeria's resolution as fighting continued in Gaza. It was backed by 13 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council - with the UK abstaining.
In response to the veto, China's UN ambassador Zhang Jun said the claim the motion would interfere with ongoing diplomatic negotiations was "totally untenable".
"Given the situation on the ground, the continued passive avoidance on an immediate ceasefire is nothing different from giving a green light to the continued slaughter," he said.
"The spill-over of the conflict is destabilising the entire Middle East region leading to rising risk of a wider war," he added.
"Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can we prevent the fires of hell from engulfing the entire region."
Algeria's top UN diplomat declared that "unfortunately the Security Council failed once again". "Examine your conscience, how will history judge you," Amar Bendjama added.
US allies were also critical of the move. France's UN envoy Nicolas de Rivière expressed regret that the resolution had not been adopted "given the disastrous situation on the ground".
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington's ambassador to the UN, said it was not the right time to call for an immediate ceasefire while negotiations between Hamas and Israel were continuing.
Her UK counterpart, Barbara Woodward, said the plan could "actually make a ceasefire less likely" by endangering talks.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.
The Israeli military campaign has left more than 29,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
The draft resolution proposed by the US calls for a temporary ceasefire "as soon as practicable" and on the condition that all hostages are released, as well as urging barriers on aid reaching Gaza to be lifted.
The White House has previously avoided the word "ceasefire" during UN votes on the war, but it is unclear if or when the Security Council will vote on the proposal.
It also states a major ground offensive in Rafah would result in more harm to civilians and their further displacement, including potentially into neighbouring countries - a reference to Egypt.
But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was "committed to continuing the war until we achieve all of its goals" and no pressure could change it.
More than a million displaced Palestinians - about half of the Strip's population - are crammed into Rafah after being forced to seek shelter there. The southern city, which borders Egypt, was home to only 250,000 people before the war.
Many of the displaced are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
The UN has issued its own warning that a planned Israeli offensive in the city could lead to a "slaughter". The Israeli military has previously insisted it only targets Hamas fighters.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned the ground assault will be launched unless Hamas frees all its hostages by 10 March.
BBC
China has sharply criticised the US for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Beijing said the move sent the "wrong message" and effectively gave a "green light to the continued slaughter".
The White House said the Algerian-proposed resolution would "jeopardise" talks to end the war.
The US has proposed its own temporary ceasefire resolution, which also warned Israel not to invade the city of Rafah.
There has been widespread condemnation of the US decision to block Algeria's resolution as fighting continued in Gaza. It was backed by 13 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council - with the UK abstaining.
In response to the veto, China's UN ambassador Zhang Jun said the claim the motion would interfere with ongoing diplomatic negotiations was "totally untenable".
"Given the situation on the ground, the continued passive avoidance on an immediate ceasefire is nothing different from giving a green light to the continued slaughter," he said.
"The spill-over of the conflict is destabilising the entire Middle East region leading to rising risk of a wider war," he added.
"Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can we prevent the fires of hell from engulfing the entire region."
Algeria's top UN diplomat declared that "unfortunately the Security Council failed once again". "Examine your conscience, how will history judge you," Amar Bendjama added.
US allies were also critical of the move. France's UN envoy Nicolas de Rivière expressed regret that the resolution had not been adopted "given the disastrous situation on the ground".
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington's ambassador to the UN, said it was not the right time to call for an immediate ceasefire while negotiations between Hamas and Israel were continuing.
Her UK counterpart, Barbara Woodward, said the plan could "actually make a ceasefire less likely" by endangering talks.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.
The Israeli military campaign has left more than 29,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
The draft resolution proposed by the US calls for a temporary ceasefire "as soon as practicable" and on the condition that all hostages are released, as well as urging barriers on aid reaching Gaza to be lifted.
The White House has previously avoided the word "ceasefire" during UN votes on the war, but it is unclear if or when the Security Council will vote on the proposal.
It also states a major ground offensive in Rafah would result in more harm to civilians and their further displacement, including potentially into neighbouring countries - a reference to Egypt.
But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was "committed to continuing the war until we achieve all of its goals" and no pressure could change it.
More than a million displaced Palestinians - about half of the Strip's population - are crammed into Rafah after being forced to seek shelter there. The southern city, which borders Egypt, was home to only 250,000 people before the war.
Many of the displaced are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
The UN has issued its own warning that a planned Israeli offensive in the city could lead to a "slaughter". The Israeli military has previously insisted it only targets Hamas fighters.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned the ground assault will be launched unless Hamas frees all its hostages by 10 March.
BBC
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Israeli parliament backs Netanyahu’s rejection of a Palestinian state
Israeli lawmakers have voted to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state as international calls have grown for the revival of Palestinian statehood negotiations.
Wednesday’s symbolic declaration, issued during Israel’s war on Gaza, also received backing from members of the opposition with 99 of 120 lawmakers voting in support, a Knesset spokesperson said.
The Israeli position is that any permanent accord with the Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the two sides and not by international dictates.
That is despite Netanyahu openly stating his opposition to a Palestinian state, and presenting himself to the Israeli public as a bulwark against any such state. No talks on Palestinian statehood talks have been held since 2014, when Israel refused to accept a state encompassing all of the Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel.
www.aljazeera.com
Israeli lawmakers have voted to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state as international calls have grown for the revival of Palestinian statehood negotiations.
Wednesday’s symbolic declaration, issued during Israel’s war on Gaza, also received backing from members of the opposition with 99 of 120 lawmakers voting in support, a Knesset spokesperson said.
The Israeli position is that any permanent accord with the Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the two sides and not by international dictates.
That is despite Netanyahu openly stating his opposition to a Palestinian state, and presenting himself to the Israeli public as a bulwark against any such state. No talks on Palestinian statehood talks have been held since 2014, when Israel refused to accept a state encompassing all of the Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel.
Israeli parliament backs Netanyahu’s rejection of a Palestinian state
Lawmakers vote to support PM’s rejection of any ‘unilateral’ recognition of a Palestinian state.
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The UK has air-dropped aid into Gaza for the first time since war broke out after striking a deal with Jordan.
Four tonnes of supplies including medicines, food and fuel were delivered into the strip on a Jordanian Air Force plane on Wednesday.
Packages fitted with parachutes floated down to the Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the aid would save lives and keep the hospital running.
The UK has until now only sent aid to Gaza by land and sea, but northern Gaza - a wasteland after nearly five months of war - is impossible to reach.
The World Food Programme has suspended deliveries there because its convoys had endured "complete chaos and violence", the organisation said.
BBC
Four tonnes of supplies including medicines, food and fuel were delivered into the strip on a Jordanian Air Force plane on Wednesday.
Packages fitted with parachutes floated down to the Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the aid would save lives and keep the hospital running.
The UK has until now only sent aid to Gaza by land and sea, but northern Gaza - a wasteland after nearly five months of war - is impossible to reach.
The World Food Programme has suspended deliveries there because its convoys had endured "complete chaos and violence", the organisation said.
BBC
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China tells ICJ justice ‘must not be denied’ to Palestinians
China has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague in the Netherlands on Thursday.
“Fifty-seven years have passed since Israel began its occupation of the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). The unlawful nature of the occupation and sovereignty over the occupied territories remain unchanged,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from The Hague, said China used its time at the ICJ to counter the United States’ argument on Wednesday that Israel should not be ordered to unconditionally withdraw from the occupied territories without security guarantees.
“The US said the United Nations and the ICJ should stay out of a bilateral issue between Israel and Palestine. According to China, it was definitely a matter for the UN to talk about the self-determination of the Palestinian people,” Vaessen said.
“The Chinese representative said Israel is a foreign nation occupying Palestine, so the right to self-defence lies more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis.”
On Thursday, representatives from the Republic of Ireland, Japan, and Jordan also presented their arguments at the ICJ.
www.aljazeera.com
China has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague in the Netherlands on Thursday.
“Fifty-seven years have passed since Israel began its occupation of the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). The unlawful nature of the occupation and sovereignty over the occupied territories remain unchanged,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from The Hague, said China used its time at the ICJ to counter the United States’ argument on Wednesday that Israel should not be ordered to unconditionally withdraw from the occupied territories without security guarantees.
“The US said the United Nations and the ICJ should stay out of a bilateral issue between Israel and Palestine. According to China, it was definitely a matter for the UN to talk about the self-determination of the Palestinian people,” Vaessen said.
“The Chinese representative said Israel is a foreign nation occupying Palestine, so the right to self-defence lies more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis.”
On Thursday, representatives from the Republic of Ireland, Japan, and Jordan also presented their arguments at the ICJ.
China tells ICJ justice ‘must not be denied’ to Palestinians
Representatives from Ireland, Japan, and Jordan present their arguments at the ICJ hearing on Israel’s occupation.
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Chine must come forward to make a block against the USA to undone his VITO power.China tells ICJ justice ‘must not be denied’ to Palestinians
China has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague in the Netherlands on Thursday.
“Fifty-seven years have passed since Israel began its occupation of the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). The unlawful nature of the occupation and sovereignty over the occupied territories remain unchanged,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from The Hague, said China used its time at the ICJ to counter the United States’ argument on Wednesday that Israel should not be ordered to unconditionally withdraw from the occupied territories without security guarantees.
“The US said the United Nations and the ICJ should stay out of a bilateral issue between Israel and Palestine. According to China, it was definitely a matter for the UN to talk about the self-determination of the Palestinian people,” Vaessen said.
“The Chinese representative said Israel is a foreign nation occupying Palestine, so the right to self-defence lies more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis.”
On Thursday, representatives from the Republic of Ireland, Japan, and Jordan also presented their arguments at the ICJ.
China tells ICJ justice ‘must not be denied’ to Palestinians
Representatives from Ireland, Japan, and Jordan present their arguments at the ICJ hearing on Israel’s occupation.
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When you keep your atrocities on then be ready for such a reaction
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An Israeli man has been killed and 13 other people have been wounded in an attack by three Palestinian gunmen near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, police and medics say.
The attackers fired automatic weapons at vehicles waiting at a checkpoint on a highway outside Maale Adumim.
Security forces and armed civilians killed two of the attackers while the third was detained, police said.
Palestinian armed group Hamas praised the attack but did not claim it.
There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas's deadly attacks in Israel on 7 October.
At least 394 Palestinians - members of armed groups, attackers and civilians - had been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in Israel as of Tuesday, according to the UN. During the same period, 12 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, had been killed.
Israel's police force said Thursday's attack took place near the al-Zaim checkpoint on Highway 1, which connects Maale Adumim with Jerusalem.
The three Palestinian gunmen arrived at the scene in two separate vehicles, armed with weapons including an M-16 rifle and a Carlo sub-machine gun. After getting out, they opened fire towards vehicles stuck in a traffic jam.
Two of the attackers were shot dead by security forces and armed civilians at the scene. The third gunmen tried to escape but was "neutralised" and taken into custody.
Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said paramedics found casualties in five vehicles along a 500m-long (1,640ft) stretch of the highway.
A man who was later identified as Matan Elmaliach, a 26-year-old man from Maale Adumim, died of his wounds at the scene, it said.
Thirteen other people were wounded, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman who was shot in the upper body and is in a serious condition.
Eight people were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and five to Shaare Zedek Hospital.
The attackers were identified as three Palestinian men, including two brothers, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 10km (6 miles) to the south-west.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told journalists at the scene: "The enemies... want to hurt us. They hate us."
He said authorities needed to "distribute more weapons" to Israeli civilians for protection and install more roadblocks around Palestinian communities in the West Bank, arguing that "our right to life is superior to the freedom of movement" of Palestinians.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician, meanwhile called for the immediate approval of plans for thousands more homes in settlements like Maale Adumim.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel and the US dispute this.
Hamas called Thursday's attack a "natural response" to Israeli "massacres and crimes" in Gaza and the West Bank, and called on Palestinians to take up arms.
The shooting comes six days after a Palestinian man shot and killed two people at a bus stop near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi.
Source: BBC
======
An Israeli man has been killed and 13 other people have been wounded in an attack by three Palestinian gunmen near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, police and medics say.
The attackers fired automatic weapons at vehicles waiting at a checkpoint on a highway outside Maale Adumim.
Security forces and armed civilians killed two of the attackers while the third was detained, police said.
Palestinian armed group Hamas praised the attack but did not claim it.
There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas's deadly attacks in Israel on 7 October.
At least 394 Palestinians - members of armed groups, attackers and civilians - had been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in Israel as of Tuesday, according to the UN. During the same period, 12 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, had been killed.
Israel's police force said Thursday's attack took place near the al-Zaim checkpoint on Highway 1, which connects Maale Adumim with Jerusalem.
The three Palestinian gunmen arrived at the scene in two separate vehicles, armed with weapons including an M-16 rifle and a Carlo sub-machine gun. After getting out, they opened fire towards vehicles stuck in a traffic jam.
Two of the attackers were shot dead by security forces and armed civilians at the scene. The third gunmen tried to escape but was "neutralised" and taken into custody.
Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said paramedics found casualties in five vehicles along a 500m-long (1,640ft) stretch of the highway.
A man who was later identified as Matan Elmaliach, a 26-year-old man from Maale Adumim, died of his wounds at the scene, it said.
Thirteen other people were wounded, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman who was shot in the upper body and is in a serious condition.
Eight people were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and five to Shaare Zedek Hospital.
The attackers were identified as three Palestinian men, including two brothers, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 10km (6 miles) to the south-west.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told journalists at the scene: "The enemies... want to hurt us. They hate us."
He said authorities needed to "distribute more weapons" to Israeli civilians for protection and install more roadblocks around Palestinian communities in the West Bank, arguing that "our right to life is superior to the freedom of movement" of Palestinians.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician, meanwhile called for the immediate approval of plans for thousands more homes in settlements like Maale Adumim.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel and the US dispute this.
Hamas called Thursday's attack a "natural response" to Israeli "massacres and crimes" in Gaza and the West Bank, and called on Palestinians to take up arms.
The shooting comes six days after a Palestinian man shot and killed two people at a bus stop near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi.
Source: BBC
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Agree. I would support that.
China and Russia should start a new organization like UN. Countries should join that organization and ditch UN.
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Israel plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack, a senior Cabinet minister said.
The decision is bound to frustrate Washington at a time of growing tensions over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s finance minister, far-right firebrand Bezalel Smotrich, announced the new settlement plans late Thursday, after three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on cars near the Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five.
“The serious attack on Ma’ale Adumim must have a determined security response but also a settlement response,” Smotrich wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Our enemies know that any harm to us will lead to more construction and more development and more of our hold all over the country.”
He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant participated in the discussion. The decision will put in motion approval processes for 300 new homes in the Kedar settlement and 2,350 in Maale Adumim. It will also advance previously approved construction of nearly 700 homes in Efrat.
Once the war in Gaza is over, the Biden administration seeks eventual Palestinian governance in Gaza and the West Bank as a precursor to Palestinian statehood. It’s an outcome opposed by Netanyahu and his right-wing government — and pushed farther from view, advocates say, as new settlement plans are advanced.
"Instead of acting in order to prevent future horrible attacks such as of yesterday, the government of Israel is acting to deepen the conflict and the tensions,” said Hagit Ofran, from Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now.
“The construction in settlements is bad for Israel, distancing us from peace and security,” he said.
Consecutive Israeli governments have expanded settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, war-won territories the Palestinians seek for a future state, along with Gaza.
Construction has accelerated under Netanyahu’s current right-wing government, which includes settlers, including Smotrich, in key positions.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which triggered Israel’s war on the militant group.
Since Oct. 7, Palestinian gunmen have carried out several deadly attacks on Israelis. Israel has held the West Bank under a tight grip — limiting movement and conducting frequent raids against what it says are militant targets.
Palestinian health officials say 401 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank during that period.
Al Arabiya
The decision is bound to frustrate Washington at a time of growing tensions over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s finance minister, far-right firebrand Bezalel Smotrich, announced the new settlement plans late Thursday, after three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on cars near the Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five.
“The serious attack on Ma’ale Adumim must have a determined security response but also a settlement response,” Smotrich wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Our enemies know that any harm to us will lead to more construction and more development and more of our hold all over the country.”
He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant participated in the discussion. The decision will put in motion approval processes for 300 new homes in the Kedar settlement and 2,350 in Maale Adumim. It will also advance previously approved construction of nearly 700 homes in Efrat.
Once the war in Gaza is over, the Biden administration seeks eventual Palestinian governance in Gaza and the West Bank as a precursor to Palestinian statehood. It’s an outcome opposed by Netanyahu and his right-wing government — and pushed farther from view, advocates say, as new settlement plans are advanced.
"Instead of acting in order to prevent future horrible attacks such as of yesterday, the government of Israel is acting to deepen the conflict and the tensions,” said Hagit Ofran, from Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now.
“The construction in settlements is bad for Israel, distancing us from peace and security,” he said.
Consecutive Israeli governments have expanded settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, war-won territories the Palestinians seek for a future state, along with Gaza.
Construction has accelerated under Netanyahu’s current right-wing government, which includes settlers, including Smotrich, in key positions.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which triggered Israel’s war on the militant group.
Since Oct. 7, Palestinian gunmen have carried out several deadly attacks on Israelis. Israel has held the West Bank under a tight grip — limiting movement and conducting frequent raids against what it says are militant targets.
Palestinian health officials say 401 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank during that period.
Al Arabiya
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First illegal occupation, then oppression, and now the expansion of occupation in Palestine by Israel.
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Gaza ceasefire talks underway in Paris as air strikes continue
Gaza truce talks were underway in Paris on Friday, in what appears to be the most serious push for weeks to halt the fighting in the battered Palestinian enclave and see Israeli and foreign hostages released.
A source briefed on the ceasefire talks, who could not be identified by name or nationality, said talks had begun with Israel's head of Mossad intelligence service meeting separately with each party - Qatar, Egypt and United States.
An official from Hamas said the militant group had wrapped up ceasefire talks in Cairo and was now waiting to see what mediators bring back from the weekend talks with Israel.
Mediators have ramped up efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, in the hope of heading off an Israeli assault on the Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million displaced people are sheltering at the southern edge of the enclave.
Israel says it will attack the city if no truce agreement is reached soon. Washington has called on its close ally not to do so, warning of vast civilian casualties if an assault on the city goes ahead.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss a truce this past week on his first visit since December.
Two Egyptian security sources earlier confirmed that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel would head on Friday to Paris for the talks with the Israelis, after wrapping up talks with Haniyeh on Thursday. Israel has not publicly commented on the Paris talks, which are expected to continue through the weekend.
Reuters
Gaza truce talks were underway in Paris on Friday, in what appears to be the most serious push for weeks to halt the fighting in the battered Palestinian enclave and see Israeli and foreign hostages released.
A source briefed on the ceasefire talks, who could not be identified by name or nationality, said talks had begun with Israel's head of Mossad intelligence service meeting separately with each party - Qatar, Egypt and United States.
An official from Hamas said the militant group had wrapped up ceasefire talks in Cairo and was now waiting to see what mediators bring back from the weekend talks with Israel.
Mediators have ramped up efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, in the hope of heading off an Israeli assault on the Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million displaced people are sheltering at the southern edge of the enclave.
Israel says it will attack the city if no truce agreement is reached soon. Washington has called on its close ally not to do so, warning of vast civilian casualties if an assault on the city goes ahead.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss a truce this past week on his first visit since December.
Two Egyptian security sources earlier confirmed that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel would head on Friday to Paris for the talks with the Israelis, after wrapping up talks with Haniyeh on Thursday. Israel has not publicly commented on the Paris talks, which are expected to continue through the weekend.
Reuters
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US says new Israeli settlements ‘inconsistent’ with international law
The United States has said that new Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal, effectively reversing a policy by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that more than 3,300 new Israeli settlements are to be built in the occupied West Bank was “disappointing”.
“It has been a longstanding policy of both Democratic and Republican administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving enduring peace. They are also inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said at a news conference late on Friday in Buenos Aires.
“Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion. In our judgement it only weakens, not strengthens Israel’s security,” he added, without making any mention of tangible consequences Israel could face for settlement expansion.
This negates the so-called Pompeo Doctrine, which referred to an announcement in November 2019 by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem as legal.
The majority of the global community views these settlements as illegal and an extension of Israeli occupation.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Blinken’s position “has been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations”.
“If there’s an administration that is being inconsistent, it was the previous one,” Kirby said.
The Pompeo Doctrine itself had overturned a legal position held by the US Department of State since 1978 when the administration of former President Jimmy Carter had evaluated Israeli settlements to be in violation of international law.
Germany has also condemned the latest Israeli plans to construct thousands of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.
“You know our position on settlement construction. It is contrary to international law and this also applies when new construction projects are carried out,” deputy foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer told a news conference in Berlin.
Al Jazeera
US says new Israeli settlements ‘inconsistent’ with international law
The US and its allies have historically done little to pressure Israel to halt or roll back settlement expansion.
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It's just a statement. No actions will be taken.
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Down with Israel, they are even worse than animals
====Israel’s war on Gaza live: ‘Bodies scattered on the road’ in Rafah attack
- A number of casualties reported after Israeli jets target area in Rafah, southern Gaza.
- At least 24 people were killed in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah region when Israeli forces shelled a residence where displaced people were sheltering.
- UNRWA representatives say it can no longer provide services in north Gaza, citing few staff and a “collapse of social order” amid Israeli attacks on civilians and restrictions on food aid access that has left the population starved.
- Palestinian Authority sharply criticises post-war plan for Gaza presented by Israeli PM Netanyahu.
- At least 29,606 Palestinians killed and 69,737 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 attacks stands at 1,139.
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Wonder why these people used to rebuke Hitler
=====How Israeli settlers are exploiting Gaza conflict to seize more Palestinian land in the West Bank
As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza approaches its sixth month, Western governments have upped the pressure on “extremist” settlers who critics say are taking advantage of the conflict to illegally occupy more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.In recent months, violence by extremist Israeli settlers has triggered Western sanctions, with more such penalties expected to be announced in the coming weeks and months. But that did not deter Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, from approving last week the construction of more than 3,000 new settlement homes in response to a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, shown in this photo walks with soldiers during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023, has approved the construction of more than 3,000 new settlement homes in the West Bank. (AFP/File)
Peace Now, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that advocates for the two-state solution and which condemns the behavior of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, said 26 new communities had sprung up over the past 12 months, making 2023 a record year for new illegal settlements.
Yonatan Mizrachi, part of the Settlement Watch Team at Peace Now, said it was not unusual to see new outposts pop up in the West Bank during periods of violence in Gaza when the international community was distracted.
“Since the war there is much less, if any, enforcement from the Israeli Civil Administration to remove the illegal outposts,” Mizrachi told Arab News. “The settlers are using these periods to increase their illegal work and build new outposts, roads and other bits of infrastructure.”
On Friday, the US restored its longstanding policy that settlements are inconsistent with international law, just hours after Smotrich announced the plan to advance the construction of thousands of new settlement homes.
“It’s been long-standing US policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace,” Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said on Friday.
The approval of a record number of settlement homes last year and the expansion of settler presence in the West Bank led the Biden administration to summon the Israeli ambassador in Washington for the first time in over a decade.
Under the far-right coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli authorities appear to have actively undermined the decades-old prohibition on settlement expansion, marrying Israeli law to settler practices.
Those changes have helped legalize 15 West Bank outposts, with the government also moving to promote the construction of 12,349 housing units across the West Bank — another new record.
A view of an unauthorized Israeli settler outpost of Meitarim Farm near Hebron city in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)
In a recent statement, Peace Now cited data from the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem: “In direct relation to the establishment of these outposts, approximately 1,345 Palestinians were forced to flee from their homes due to violent attacks by settlers.”
These new outposts have spelled disaster for Palestinians, with 21 communities forced from their homes over the past 12 months — 16 of them since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza.
Such forced evictions and disputes over land use have long contributed to localized violence between settlers and Palestinian residents. According to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, such violence has escalated since the war began.
Using data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the NGO highlighted 532 settler attacks on Palestinians between Oct. 7 and Feb. 14, which included shootings and the burning of homes, resulting in casualties and property damage.
“Prior to Oct. 7, settlements and settler-driven displacement had already been increasing in the occupied West Bank in recent years,” a spokesperson for GCR2P told Arab News.
“Since Oct. 7 the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that settlers carrying out these attacks are at times acting with the acquiescence and collaboration of Israeli forces and authorities.”
UN data also reveals the extent of the resulting displacement in the occupied West Bank, with 4,525 Palestinian-owned structures demolished or destroyed since 2019.
Source: Arab News
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One of the most disturbing videos I have ever seen.
Hurting a person in a wheelchair? Coward.
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Gaza death toll set to pass 30,000, as Israel prepares assault on Rafah
The death toll in Gaza is likely to pass the grim milestone of 30,000 this week, as negotiators try to pin down a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, and the Israeli government presses ahead with plans for an attack on Rafah.
The prime minster, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened the war cabinet late on Saturday for a briefing with negotiators who had been at talks in Paris.
This week, it will meet again to discuss preparations for an assault on Rafah, the southern border town where an estimated 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. A deal might delay that operation, but would not prevent it, Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS.
Negotiators from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the US have agreed the “basic contours” of an arrangement during weekend talks in Paris, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN, but the final details still have to be hammered out.
Israeli media reported that the prospective deal would allow for the release of 30 or 40 hostages – women, elderly people and the wounded – in exchange for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, and a ceasefire lasting up to six weeks.
Both sides would continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent ceasefire, an Egyptian official told the Associated Press.
www.theguardian.com
The death toll in Gaza is likely to pass the grim milestone of 30,000 this week, as negotiators try to pin down a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, and the Israeli government presses ahead with plans for an attack on Rafah.
The prime minster, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened the war cabinet late on Saturday for a briefing with negotiators who had been at talks in Paris.
This week, it will meet again to discuss preparations for an assault on Rafah, the southern border town where an estimated 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. A deal might delay that operation, but would not prevent it, Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS.
Negotiators from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the US have agreed the “basic contours” of an arrangement during weekend talks in Paris, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN, but the final details still have to be hammered out.
Israeli media reported that the prospective deal would allow for the release of 30 or 40 hostages – women, elderly people and the wounded – in exchange for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, and a ceasefire lasting up to six weeks.
Both sides would continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent ceasefire, an Egyptian official told the Associated Press.
Gaza death toll set to pass 30,000, as Israel prepares assault on Rafah
Netanyahu plans attack on city sheltering 1.5m Palestinians, as talks on ceasefire and hostage release deals continue
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