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Tag: Israel

  • Israel, Hamas trade blame over truce violations, border opening

    Israel, Hamas trade blame over truce violations, border opening

    Israel on Thursday traded blame with Hamas over violations of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire.

    It said it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date.

    A row over the return of bodies of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza retains the potential to upend the truce along with other major planks of the plan yet to be resolved, including disarmament of militants and Gaza’s future governance.

    Israel demanded that Hamas fulfill its obligations in turning over the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages.

    The Islamist faction said it had handed over 10 bodies but Israel said one of them was not that of a hostage.

    Israel’s government spokesperson said on Wednesday that “we will not compromise on this, and we will spare no effort until our fallen hostages return, every last one of them.”

    The armed wing of Hamas said the handover of more bodies in Gaza, which was reduced to vast tracts of rubble by the war, would require the admission of heavy machinery and excavating equipment into the Israel-blockaded Palestinian enclave.

    On Thursday, a senior Hamas official accused Israel of flouting the ceasefire by having killed at least 24 people in shootings since Friday, and said a list of such violations was handed over to mediators.

    “The occupying state is working day and night to undermine the agreement through its violations on the ground,” he said.

    The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the Hamas accusations.

    It has previously said that some Palestinians have ignored warnings not to approach Israeli ceasefire positions and troops “opened fire to remove the threat”.

    Israel has said the next phase of the 20-point plan to end the war engineered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration calls for Hamas to relinquish its weapons and cede power, which it has so far refused to do.

    Hamas has instead launched a security crackdown in urban areas vacated by Israeli forces, parading its power through public executions and clashes with local armed clans.

    Twenty remaining living hostages were freed on Monday in exchange for thousands of Palestinians jailed in Israel.

    Read Also: Israel embassy hails end of war, return of hostages

    The Gaza health ministry said Israel had released 30 bodies of Palestinians killed during the conflict, taking the total of bodies it has received since Monday to 120.

    Longer-term elements of Trump’s plan, including the make-up of an international “stabilization force” for the small, densely populated territory and moves towards creating a Palestinian state rejected by Israel have yet to be hashed out.

    Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) would work with international institutions and partners to address Gaza’s security, logistical, financial and governance challenges.

    An upcoming conference in Egypt on Gaza’s reconstruction would need to clarify how donor funds are organised, who would receive them and how they would be disbursed, he told reporters.

    Hamas ejected the PA from Gaza in a brief civil war in 2007.

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Israel embassy hails end of war, return of hostages

    Israel embassy hails end of war, return of hostages

    The Embassy of Israel in Nigeria has hailed the return of the 20 hostages after 738 days in Hamas’s captivity.

    The embassy said it was never a war that Israel wanted to go into.

    Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria Michael Freeman, in a statement yesterday, said the return of the hostages marks an end to the war.

    Freeman also commended President Donald Trump for brokering the agreement leading to the return of the hostages.

    He said: “Today, we welcome home the 20 living hostages who have endured the unendurable. We give thanks for their survival, and we pray for their healing. We remember with broken hearts those who did not make it home, and we renew our commitment to bring back the bodies of the 28 remaining hostages who were murdered by Hamas.

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    “Israel did not seek this war. It was forced upon us by terror, hatred, and darkness. But after 738 days, we also see light — the light of freedom, the light of truth, and the light of hope.

    “As Israel has always said, the release of the hostages will bring the end of the war.

    “The end of this war must bring an end to Hamas’s reign of terror, and open the door to a future of security, dignity, and coexistence — for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

    “We extend our deepest gratitude to President Donald J. Trump, whose steadfast leadership, moral clarity, and tireless diplomacy played an instrumental role in bringing our hostages home and in advancing peace in the Middle East. His friendship with Israel and his courage in standing with the Israeli people will never be forgotten.”

  • Israeli forces intercept aid flotilla

    Israeli forces intercept aid flotilla

    Israel faced international condemnation and protests yesterday after its forces intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza.

    Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed armed Israeli soldiers in helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled in life vests with their hands up.

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    A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg, the most prominent of the passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.

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    Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.

    “If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces. Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law,” she said.

    Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he expected the members of the flotilla to be expelled from Israel on Monday and Tuesday and sent to European capitals on charter flights.

    “All the passengers are safe and in good health,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on X after they began to be taken ashore in Ashdod.

    “One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented.”

  • Israel’s attack on Qatar

    Israel’s attack on Qatar

    For more than two months, Israel had planned a strike against senior Hamas leaders in Qatar, including its chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya. Last Tuesday, the strike was carried out against the remonstrations of Israel’s Army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and Mossad chief, David Barnea, who felt the timing was awkward. The objectors were worried that Qatar was a United States ally, with the Americans operating the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar for more than two decades, its largest in the region. Only last year, the Qataris gifted President Donald Trump and the US a $400m Boeing 747 luxury jetliner to be used as Air Force One. The Tuesday attacks killed some six lower level Hamas officials but failed to get any of the group’s leaders.

    The pretext for the air strike was that Qatar sheltered Hamas leaders who continue to direct attacks against Israel, especially last Monday’s Jerusalem killings that caused the death of six Israeli citizens. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023 put pressure on Qatar to expel Hamas from Doha for continuing to orchestrate attacks against the state of Israel. Allegations against Qatar’s sponsorship of terrorism are not new. In 2017, Saudi Arabia-led Arab League countries imposed a blockade on Qatar for sponsoring terrorism and violating the 2014 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement of which it was a signatory. The League accused Qatar of fraternising with Iran and Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood, all of which had become instruments of regional destabilisation. Israel understands the deep division in the region, especially in the context of the Sunni-Shiite divide, a division that is nevertheless not as sharp as it seems. Though the blockade, which lasted until January 2021, did not achieve its aims of drastically downgrading the relationship between Qatar and Iran, or shutting down the hostile Al Jazeera cable television, or stopping military coordination with Turkey, it signposted the fault lines in the region that Israel could potentially exploit.

    Read Also: Trump, Blair, others meet over Israel’s war in Gaza

    The irony is that Qatar offered to shelter Hamas at the instance of the US and Israel. But while the US under President Trump has since upgraded relations with Qatar, a part of which privately benefits the Trump family’s businesses, Israel’s relations with Qatar have remained fraught. It is not clear that the failure of the September 9 attack against Hamas leaders was due to a tipoff from the US – though this was denied, and Israel itself has claimed it acted independently – it has probably sent signals to the GCC that, in the context of Israel, their relations with and dependence on the US will remain far more intractable than they seem on the surface. Worse, the hostage and ceasefire deals proposed by the US may now be hard to get back on line, while Israel may also begin gradually to recognise that military prowess, of which it has shown scintillating examples in recent months, has its limitations.

  • Five journalists, 15 others killed in Israel’s strikes on Gaza hospital

    Five journalists, 15 others killed in Israel’s strikes on Gaza hospital

    Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza killed no fewer than 20 people, including five journalists, according to the Gaza health ministry and the media organisations the journalists worked for.

    Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was struck twice yesterday in what has been described as a “double-tap” attack.

    The initial strike hit the top floor of a building at Nasser Hospital. Minutes later, as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene, a second missile struck the same location, according to Dr. Ahmed al Farra, head of the hospital’s paediatrics department.

    Al Jazeera, the Associated Press (AP), and Reuters said their journalists were among those killed.

    A British consultant surgeon, who worked at the Nasser Hospital earlier this summer, described the attack yesterday morning as “barbarism in the extreme”.

    Consultant surgeon Professor Nick Maynard told Sky News it was a “typical double strike that the Israelis use frequently”. It targets an area, then hits it shortly afterwards, often when emergency services respond, he explained.

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    The Israeli military said its troops carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and that it would conduct an investigation into the incident. The military said it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such”.

    In a further statement, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Effie Defrin said: “We are aware of reports that harm was caused to civilians, including journalists. I would like to be clear from the start – the IDF does not intentionally target civilians.

    “The IDF makes every effort to mitigate harm to civilians, while ensuring the safety of our troops.”

    He said forces were “operating in an extremely complex reality” and that Hamas “deliberately use civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as shields”.

    He said the findings of Israel’s investigation will be presented “as transparently as possible”.

    Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist who freelanced for AP during the war, as well as other news outlets, was killed in the strike.

    AP said in a statement that it was shocked and saddened by the death of Dagga and the loss of other journalists.

  • Israel set to expand in West Bank to ‘bury’ Palestinian State

    Israel set to expand in West Bank to ‘bury’ Palestinian State

    Israel plans to expand settlements into an area of the West Bank that would effectively bisect the enclave — a move its finance minister said “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.”

    The expansion into the 3,000 acres known as E1 that run between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim — long excluded from settlement plans — would amount to a major rebuke of growing Western calls to recognise Palestinian statehood.

    It comes as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorised a large-scale increase in settlement building in the West Bank — widely considered a violation of international law — over the past year and plans to take over the Gaza Strip.

     “Anyone in the world who tries to recognise a Palestinian state will get our answer on the ground,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlements within Israel’s Defence Ministry, according to a transcript of a speech he gave at E1. “They’ll talk about a Palestinian dream, and we’ll keep building a Jewish reality.”

    “After 20 years of hold-ups, pressure, election-eve promises and broken dreams — we stand here in Ma’ale Adumin and proclaim in a clear voice: the cork has been broken, the E1 project is under way,” said Smotrich, an ultranationalist settler, who in June was sanctioned by the UK for inciting violence against Palestinian communities. He said 3,401 homes would be built there.

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    The West Bank-based administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the announcement. Along with the devastation in Gaza and recurrent violence by some settlers against Palestinians, it “will only lead to further escalation, tension and instability,” said Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

    The U.S. in June imposed sanctions on members of the PA “for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,” a counter-action to moves from European countries toward recognsing a Palestinian state.

    Alarmed by Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, which has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, several longtime Israeli allies — including France, the UK and Canada — are poised to recognize a Palestinian state during next month’s United Nations General Assembly.

    Israel rules out Palestinian statehood and, backed by the US, has accused those countries of rewarding Hamas for the 7 October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered the Gaza war.

    Palestinians say any Israeli development of E1 would not only divide the West Bank but disrupt economic activity in and between their hub cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

    But, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, visited the Qatari capital Doha yesterday for talks on resuming Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap negotiations with Hamas, Israeli media said.

    According to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, without giving further details.

    U.S. news website Axios said the visit marked the highest-level contact between Israel and mediators since negotiations broke down in Doha three weeks ago.

    The outlet said Barnea told Qatari officials that Israel is prepared to launch a military operation in Gaza City if there is no progress in the hostage talks soon.

    The U.S., Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye are all involved in the mediation efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal.

    Axios also noted that a Hamas delegation recently visited Istanbul for talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, before traveling to Cairo to meet Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad to discuss ways to resume the negotiations.

    The Israeli Channel 13 claimed that Hamas is likely to present a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.

    There was no comment from Hamas or Qatari officials on the Israeli report.

    Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News channel, citing an Egyptian source, earlier said that Hamas was ready to “swiftly” return to the ceasefire negotiations with Israel.

    The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal war in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, killing more than 61,700 Palestinians.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

    Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, described the development as a done deal, requiring only the approval of an Israeli planning committee next week.

    “In theory, Netanyahu could overturn this. But I doubt Smotrich would have made the announcement without knowing Netanyahu was on-side,” said Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran. “So the bulldozers may be starting work within days.”

    There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu, a conservative who in 2009 approved negotiations over a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Those US-sponsored talks stalled in 2014 and Netanyahu now opposes statehood — a position endorsed by the Israeli parliament last year.

    Last month, parliament called for the Netanyahu government to annex West Bank settlement blocks. Supporters of annexation say Israelis have a right to remain permanently in the West Bank, which they

  • Nigeria, Israel discuss security, counter-terrorism other bilateral issues

    Nigeria, Israel discuss security, counter-terrorism other bilateral issues

    Nigeria and Israel have said that security and terrorism are global issues that require support and cooperations of all the international community.

    The concern was raised at a comprehensive and productive Political Dialogue between the countries.

    The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Isreali Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sharren Miriam Haskel-Harpaz, outlined some of the security challenges at the meeting. 

    Both countries emphasised the need to deepen collaborations in the area of counter-terrorism, intelligence and sharing of information, especially in the area of financing and security training. 

    According to a communique at the end of the meeting, critical multilateral issues on security, counter-terrorism, as well as important bilateral political and economic matters, were discussed. 

    The two countries also endorsed the valuable ideas and initiatives exchanged during the deliberations. 

     “The two countries agreed that the issue of security and terrorism was a global concern that requires the support and cooperation of every country. After outlining some of the security challenges, both countries emphasized the need to deepen collaborations in the area of counter-terrorism, intelligence and sharing of information, especially in the area of financing and security training. 

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    “They emphasized the need for stronger collaboration at the multilateral level, especially in solidarity on critical issues for each of the parties”. 

    Other areas of interest covered during the meeting according to the communique  included the mutual desire to cooperate in the areas of technology, innovation for border management, capacity building, culture, tourism, agriculture, consular and immigration matters.

    “Both countries agreed that there should be an exchange of study tours between the countries. 

    “The two countries further agreed to a more robust bilateral relationship and to ensure constant dialogue in the future.”

  • Israel responds to WHO accusations over attacks on Gaza facilities

    Israel responds to WHO accusations over attacks on Gaza facilities

    Israel’s military on Tuesday responded to accusations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that its forces attacked the UN agency’s facilities in central Gaza and detained staff members.

    The military said soldiers came under fire in the city of Deir al-Balah on Monday and returned fire in the direction the shots originated.

    However, the military did not specify whether the gunfire came from WHO premises in Deir al-Balah.

    The WHO said that a staff accommodation facility was attacked on Monday and that a central warehouse had been damaged in a separate incident on Sunday.

    According to a report by Israeli news outlet Ynet, citing a military spokesperson, the army is aware of claims that a residential complex housing WHO employees was struck.

    The report added that, according to the military, no agency staffs were injured.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) publicly confirmed that several individuals were detained in Deir al-Balah on suspicion of “involvement in terrorism.’’

    It did not clarify whether those detained were WHO employees or their relatives, as the UN agency has claimed.

    Most of those detained were released following on-site questioning, the army said.

    The IDF did not comment on one individual who, according to the WHO, remained in custody.

    In a statement on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said male WHO staff and their male relatives had been handcuffed, stripped, searched at gunpoint, and interrogated on site.

    Responding to the claim, the Israeli military stated on Tuesday that at times during field questioning.

    Read Also: UK, France, 23 other nations condemn Israel over ‘inhumane killing’ of civilians

    “It is necessary for individuals suspected of terrorist activity to temporarily remove parts of their clothing in order to ensure that they are not concealing explosive belts or other weapons.’’

    Suspects were treated in accordance with international law, the military added.

    Ghebreyesus also said that women and children related to WHO staff had been forced to flee on foot amid the fighting.

    The Israeli military said it had warned civilians to leave the area prior to its operation and had been in contact with international organisations operating there.

    The IDF advanced this week into the south-west of Deir al-Balah as part of its operations against Hamas and other militant groups.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • 67 children die as Israel’s Gaza blockade enters 103rd day

    67 children die as Israel’s Gaza blockade enters 103rd day

    At least 67 children have died of hunger in Gaza since Oct. 2023 as Israel’s total blockade of the territory enters its 103rd consecutive day, the Government Media Office in Gaza said in a statement on Saturday.

    The office warned that the number could rise dramatically, with more than 650,000 children aged under five now facing severe and life-threatening malnutrition in the coming weeks due to the continued denial of food, medicine, and fuel.

    “Starvation is now killing what bombs have not,” the office noted, describing the ongoing siege as one of the “most extreme forms of collective punishment in modern history.”

    The media office said “dozens of additional deaths had been recorded in just the past three days alone, as Israeli forces continue to block the entry of flour, infant formula, and vital nutritional and medical supplies.”

    It accused Israel of “deliberately pursuing a policy of mass starvation.”

    As of now, around 1.25 million people in Gaza are enduring catastrophic hunger, while 96 per cent of the population, including over one million children, suffer from acute food insecurity, the office said.

    It held Israel fully responsible for a “systematic and organised starvation campaign” and placed legal and moral blame on its international backers for their support or silence.

    “We are sounding the alarm: this is a mass death sentence unfolding before the eyes of the world,” the office said. 

    “Immediate international intervention is not optional, it’s a matter of life or death.”

    Similarly, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) also issued a warning on Saturday about dire health consequences in the Gaza Strip caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade.

    “No soap, no clean water. Children in Gaza can’t be bathed properly because of the ongoing siege,” said UNRWA in the statement.

    “This, coupled with overcrowded shelters and summer heat, can lead to dire health consequences,” it added, stressing that “the siege must be lifted.”

    “UNRWA must be allowed to resume delivering humanitarian aid, including hygiene items, into Gaza,” it added.

    Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 57,900 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children.

    The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

    (AA/NAN)

  • Israel, Hamas inch toward new ceasefire deal for Gaza

    Israel, Hamas inch toward new ceasefire deal for Gaza

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington yesterday to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a ceasefire that might lead to an end to the 21-month war in Gaza.

    Israel and Hamas are considering a new U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal that would pause the war, free Israeli hostages and send much-needed aid flooding into Gaza. It also aims to open broader talks about ending the conflict.

    Negotiations have repeatedly stalled over Hamas’ demands for an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel wants Hamas to surrender and disarm before it ends the war.

    It was gathered that the truce would last 60 days, 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 would be released in phases throughout the truce, Palestinian prisoners held by Israel will be released in exchange for the hostages, although precise numbers were not detailed.

    Humanitarian aid entering Gaza would be ramped up significantly and would be distributed by the United Nations. The proposal makes no mention of the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

    Israeli forces would withdraw to a buffer zone along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt. Israel has seized large swaths of the territory since ending a previous ceasefire in March.

    On the first day of the truce, the sides are expected to begin negotiations toward an end to the war, but no timeline is mentioned.

    The mediators — the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — will serve as guarantors to make sure the sides negotiate in good faith.

    While there is no guarantee the war would end, the proposal states that Trump insists the talks during the truce “would lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict.”

    If the negotiations toward ending the war are not complete after 60 days, the ceasefire may be extended.

    The proposal says Trump will personally announce the ceasefire deal once it is reached.

    Read Also: Trump says Israel has agreed to 60-day ceasefire

    The UN yesterday raised alarm over continued mass displacement in the Gaza Strip and warned that more than 700,000 people have been uprooted since the end of the ceasefire in March amid ongoing Israeli military operations.

    “Yesterday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order for parts of Khan Younis for the second time in two days. Our colleagues estimate that more than 50,000 people are in the area slated for displacement,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

    “We remind you that since the end of the ceasefire in March, more than 700,000 human beings have been displaced in Gaza, many have been displaced more than once, and they have no safe place to go,” he said.

    Dujarric said that Palestinians were “reportedly killed over the weekend while attempting to get food,” adding that hospitals are “overwhelmed” with patients injured while seeking aid.

    “We again clearly condemn the killing of all civilians,” he said, recalling a recent report by the World Food Program that notes “one out of every three people has not eaten for days in Gaza, placing more people at risk of starvation.”