The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Israel

  • Israel denies reports of ceasefire in Gaza Strip

    Israel denies reports of ceasefire in Gaza Strip

    Israel has denied reports of a planned ceasefire with the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

    “There is no ceasefire,’’ the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu said on Monday morning.

    Earlier, there had been reports a ceasefire with Hamas would be implemented for several hours to allow foreign nationals to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt.

    Also as well as the entry of aid via the Rafah border crossing.

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    The Israeli military has been bombarding targets in Gaza since the unprecedented attacks on Israeli civilians carried out by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7.

    Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the densely populated coastal enclave ruled by Hamas and has been completely sealed off following the attacks over a week ago.

    They are seeking shelter in the south of Gaza to avoid an expected Israeli ground invasion.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • The fire this time

    The fire this time

    It’s always been a hibernating tinderbox environment waiting for the slightest spark to flare. The latest spark occurred early at dawn on 7th October when Israelis at an overnight party in southern Israel were barnstormed by a horde of fighters from the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, who had breached the heavily fortified border with Gaza Strip to infiltrate the Jewish state. That assault was facilitated by a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, which blew out homes in Israel. The hailstorm of rockets triggered the Israeli system of siren alarm blaring to alert sleepy citizens, but belatedly so. At the party, the Hamas militants fired indiscriminately at frolickers, leaving no fewer than 260 dead. Militants also fanned out into the communities where they attacked Jewish habitants and abducted about 150, mostly civilian hostages, across the border back into Gaza.

    The Israeli government rallied to respond to the ambush attack. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went on air to declare that the country was at war. “Not an operation, not a round (of fighting), but at war,” he said. Israel has since replied with thousands of rockets fired into the Palestinian enclave, besides a rain of airstrikes – many hitting civilian homes. The Jewish state reinforced her blockade on Gaza and called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists, amid indications it may soon or late stage a ground assault. Israeli media said Hamas fighters killed some 900 people in the weekend attack, including the 260 at the music festival. Gaza authorities put the death toll in Israel’s retaliatory strikes at 770, but Israel said bodies of some 1,500 Hamas fighters were found in her territory. Other countries that reported their citizens dead in the Hamas attack include Thailand, Argentina, the United States and Britain. Tel-Aviv said it had ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off supplies of food, water and electricity to its roughly two million residents.

    Founded in 1987, Hamas is both a political party and militant group that holds sway within limited autonomy allowed under Israeli control in Gaza – a small strip of roughly 140 square mile that is considered one of the most densely populated spaces on earth. The group is backed by Iran and is deemed a terrorist organisation by many nations. Its defining ideology is its refusal to accept the statehood of Israel, and a radical militancy in pursuit of the destruction of the Jewish nation – an approach differing from the more sober quest for Palestinian statehood by Fatah party in West Bank. The 7th October attack coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War – a grim reminder of the deep roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that anyone who would make sense of the vicious cycle of violence must consider.

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    We can only accommodate a summary here. The Zionist movement of the early 20th Century had mobilised Diaspora Jews to what is deemed their historic homeland in Palestine. That initiative climaxed with the 14th May, 1948 creation of the State of Israel, which was preceded in 1947 by the United Nations (UN) approval of the partitioning of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states and a proposal that Jerusalem, the birthplace of three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, be placed under special international administration. On the heels of Israel’s declaration of Independence, Arab nations joined with Palestinians in an offensive that was the first Arab-Israeli War. That war ended the following year with Israel emerging victorious, and with the territory carved into three regions namely State of Israel, which after the war occupied 60 percent of the area proposed as a Palestinian state under the UN plan; West Bank along the Jordan River, controlled by Jordan; and Gaza Strip under Egypt’s control. It was in this war, which made thousands of Palestinians stateless, that Israel annexed the western half of Jerusalem. After the war, the Jewish state refused to grant Palestinians the right to return, thereby seed-bedding a nationality driven by passionate aspiration for self-determination.

    In 1967, Israel waged a preemptive six-day war against Egypt, Syria and Jordan, resulting in her annexing West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and Golan Heights from Syria. The Jewish state emerged from this conflict with territory four times its original size, and more than a million Palestinians coming under Israeli rule in occupied lands. Egypt and Syria staged a surprise reprisal attack in 1973, leading to a 19-day war that again ended in Israel’s victory. This conflict known as the ‘Yom Kippur War’ because fighting started on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, brought humiliation to the Arab world, weakened Arab unity, and by extension united Arab backing for the Palestinian cause, and eventually led to the Camp David Accords of 1978 – Israel’s first ever peace treaty with an Arab nation by which she agreed to restore Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for Cairo’s formal recognition of, and normalisation of ties with Tel-Aviv. Although the treaty had a framework for Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and West Bank, implementation was elusive.

    The years 1987 to 1993  witnessed the First Intifada (Arab for ‘shaking off’), a Palestinian uprising characterised by stone-throwing mass protests and acts of civil resistance against Israeli occupation in West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the start of the Oslo peace process. The historic Oslo Accords of 1993 established the Palestinian Authority in West Bank and Gaza, thereby providing Palestinians some degree of political autonomy towards fulfilling the right of the people to self-rule. There was, however, disagreement among the Palestinians, with those who believed only armed resistance could free their land from Israeli occupation considering the treaty a betrayal. The Second Intifada erupted in 2000 in response to then far-right Israeli Opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the contested Temple Mount, the third-holiest site in Islam. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza Strip, dismantling Jewish settlements and ending its military presence in the enclave in a bid to burnish its image. But this also marked a complex turning point in the conflict, as it raised questions about the feasibility of unilateral actions in resolving the broader territorial and political disputes between the two sides.

    Palestinians held elections in 2006 in which Hamas won majority seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, defeating the secular Fatah party, and was set to administer the occupied territories of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem. But having been designated a terrorist group, much of the international community refused to recognize Hamas rule. A civil war soon after broke out between Hamas and Fatah, with Hamas gaining control of Gaza while Fatah held onto West Bank. Citing security concerns, Israel and Egypt in 2007 both imposed a blockade on Gaza, restricting movement of people and goods in and out of the strip in what has created severe economic and humanitarian challenges for the population. Human rights groups likened conditions in the enclave to that of an “open-air prison.”

    That is the general situation of Gaza over which flare-ups have recurrently erupted between Israel and Hamas, often resulting in significant casualties amid quest by the global community for a lasting ceasefire. Only that the quest falters at every turn owing to perennial aggression mode of parties concerned. Israel is fundamentally a ‘war state’ because not only was her birth secured by aggression in the first Arab-Israeli War, she has had to hold up amidst enveloping enmity of Arab neighbours. Some of these have signed peace treaties with the Jewish state, though, the latest being the 2020 Abraham Accords by which Tel-Aviv normalised relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Moves by the U.S. are currently underway to forge ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But implacable enemies remain: besides Hamas in Gaza, there is Hezbollah in Lebanon that is also sponsored by Iran. The two-state solution proposed by the UN hasn’t flown with Israel because it involves giving up annexed East Jerusalem to Palestinians. The Jewish state says the ‘City of David’ is its historical territory that can’t be divided.

    Hamas was beyond bestial in its latest attack on Israel. In the raging conflict, however, even where Israel is the aggressed and not the aggressor as in the latest case, she comes off as a monster in her reprisal that puts Palestinian civilians in way of aggravated harm. Humanitarian agencies say the present siege has created acute shortages of food, water and medicaments for hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents. Israel must find a way of responding to Hamas without so severely hazarding the civilian Palestinian populace. But let’s be clear: the conflict is all about territory and has nothing to do with religion. Nothing.

    • Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.

  • Israeli/Palestinian conflict: The heart of the matter

    Israeli/Palestinian conflict: The heart of the matter

    By Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    SIR: On October 7, the world woke up to a surprised and unprovoked attack on Israeli territory by the Palestinian led Hamas group resulting to death of scores and destruction of properties. Hamas was said to have launched over 5000 rocket propelled attacks on Israel lasting several hours. Aljazeera quoted Mohammed Deif, head of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas as saying, “we announced the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we announce that the first strike, which targeted enemy positions, airports and military fortifications exceeded 5,000 missiles and shells.”

    Israel does not take any affront to its sovereignty or territorial integrity lightly. Therefore, it has swiftly retaliated with blistering aerial attacks on Gaza preparatory for ground assault. Israel is angry and nobody knows when this onslaught on Gaza will end. Responding to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that, “Israel will take mighty vengeance against Hamas. This war will take time. It will be difficult.”

    Major General Ghassan Alian, a key Israeli Defence Force official said that Hamas had, “opened the gates of hell with its surprise attack and will bear the responsibility and pay for its deeds.”

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    As Israeli offensive continues on Gaza, officials said “it has dropped 6,000 bombs weighing 4,000 tonnes in the past six days, killing more than 1,400 people.” The attack on Israel was a surprise to the global community after many thought the two neighbours are beginning to learn how to live in peace with each other.

    Why is it difficult for the world to find a lasting solution to this conflict? The unending Israeli/Palestinian conflict is fuelled by the bias and hypocrisy of the global community.

    There is an already existing global political alignment on matters related to Israel/Palestine. America has never hidden her support for Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran has risen up as the big brother of Palestine/Hamas. It is ridiculous some religious leaders across both Christian and Islamic divides have made this to look like a religious war. Their followers have pitched tents with either side in complete ignorance of the crux of the matter.

    The crisis is a war to claim territory not on religion. Land as a resource and historical ancestral affinity to both Israel and Palestine is at the heart of this conflict. Both have laid claims to ancestral ownership of the land. Humanity does not support injustice and subjugation. Therefore, the right of the Palestinian people to life and home is paramount. Israel also needs protection and a place called their own. Hamas should have allowed the sleeping dog lie by avoiding any provocative actions that could deepen the already existing animosity and fragile situation. Israel should understand that the generality of Palestinian people are the underdog and it is not fair to kill a fly with a sledge hammer. Therefore, for calm and normalcy to return, the world should strongly impress it on both states to embrace peace and the United Nations prescribed 1947 two-nation states status.

    The world should take side with humanity, stop alignment based on economic or political interest and discard spewing religious bigotry. The total population of Israel is 9.364m equivalent to the population of Kaduna State in Nigeria, occupying a land mass of 22,145sq.km, far less than Adamawa State of Nigeria with 36,917sq.km. Of the above population, 1.7m are Muslims representing 18% while Christians are just 185,000 equivalent to 1.9%. Jewish religion adherents have about 73.6% of the total population.

    From the above figures, it can be seen that Israeli Muslims are more than Israeli Christians while Jewish religious adherents takes the lead. The Israeli Defence Force has an army of 169,500 (active personnel). Of this number, only 150 are Christians while Muslims are 606, the rest are Jewish Adherents. Also, 40% of Jerusalem are Palestinians.

    Therefore, if you think the fight between Israel and Palestine is a Christian/Muslim war, you are dead wrong.

    As the war rages on, the world should bear in mind that the price of war is stewed with the blood of the innocent. In the end, it is the poor man, woman, children who bears the brunt. The global politics of war is nothing but a business devoid of morality. Iran which is allegedly said to sponsor Hamas has an interest to protect so also is America and the rest.

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, sunnyeze02@yahoo.com

  • U.S. to avert escalation of Israel-Hamas war

    U.S. to avert escalation of Israel-Hamas war

    The United States (U.S.) and its allies are ratcheting up efforts to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from engulfing the wider region, acting on concerns that an invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces could prompt Iran to enter the conflict.

    Iran warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians, with its foreign minister saying other parties in the region were ready to act, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

    “If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger,” Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying

    This is coming as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi admonished Israel for its response against Hamas while speaking with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling the assault on Gaza “collective punishment”.

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    “The reaction went beyond the right to self-defence, turning into collective punishment for 2.3 million people in Gaza,” el-Sisi told Blinken yesterday, according to Reuters.

    The remarks are some of Egypt’s strongest public statements since last week’s massacre at an Israeli music festival turned the conflict between Israel and Palestine into an all-out war.

    Egypt has emerged as a middle ground between Israel and Palestine, with the U.S. and Israel negotiating with the country to allow U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to enter Egypt from Gaza.

    FBI Director Christopher Wray told U.S. police chiefs that the number of terror threats in the U.S. is rising.

  • ‘Huge earthquake’ awaits Israel if it doesn’t stop Gaza attack, Iran warns

    ‘Huge earthquake’ awaits Israel if it doesn’t stop Gaza attack, Iran warns

    • Israel poised to begin ground assault
    • Thousands rally in London for Palestine

    Iran yesterday warned Israel to stop its planned all out attack on Gaza otherwise the war might engulf other parts of the Middle East, especially if Hezbollah joins the battle.

    Iran’s Hossein Amirabdollahian said the result for Israel would be ‘a huge earthquake.’

    An unperturbed Israel said it was pressing ahead with its planned  ‘joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land’ in the Gaza Strip.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a field trip to see his soldiers massed near Gaza yesterday, said “the next stage is coming.”

     Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group had taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.

    Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert along Lebanon’s borders with Israel following the October 7 attack by Hamas.

    Hezbollah said yesterday that its fighters carried out an attack on Zionist positions in the occupied Lebanese territories of Shebaa Farms.

    It said: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. [Permission to fight] has been given to those who are being fought because they were wronged, and indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.

    ”At three-fifteen in the afternoon on Saturday, October 14, 2023, groups from the Islamic Resistance carried out an attack on Zionist positions in the occupied Lebanese territories of Shebaa Farms, including the Radar, Ruwaysat Al-Ilm, Samaka, Zabdeen, and Ramtha, using guided missiles and mortar shells.

    “The attack resulted in precise and direct hits. Victory is from none but Allah, the Almighty, the Wise.”

    Amirabdollahian during his Beirut visit yesterday discussed the situation in Gaza with the top Hamas official in exile, Saleh Arouri, and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, Ziad Nakhaleh.

    Amirabdollahian said he met Friday with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who briefed him on the group’s conditions in Lebanon.

    “I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place,” Amirabdollahian said. “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”

    Israel: We’re poised to begin Gaza ground assault

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement yesterday that it was readying to “expand the offensive” by implementing a “wide range of offensive operational plans” including a “joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land’ at the expiration of a deadline for civilians to flee.

    Netanyahu spent time during his visit to the Israeli troops to talk to them.

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    Israel announced it had killed two top Hamas commanders including Ali Qadi in a wave of airstrikes on the militant group.

    Ali Qadi was arrested by Israel in 2005 for the kidnapping and murder of civilians before being released into the Gaza Strip as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.

    Israel’s Air Force said he had led the ‘Nukhba’ commando force which gunned down Israeli civilians last Saturday. Officials revealed a black and white video of a massive explosion engulfing a Hamas base where he was said to be located.

    Also killed was Murad Abu Murad, the leader of Hamas’ air forces.

    IDF said the duo played a key part overseeing the October 7 attacks.

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said yesterday that safe water supplies in Gaza had nearly run out.

    “It has become a matter of life and death. It is a must; fuel needs to be delivered now into Gaza to make water available for two million people,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, after Gaza’s water plant and public water networks stopped working.

    “We need to truck fuel into Gaza now. Fuel is the only way for people to have safe drinking water. If not, people will start dying of severe dehydration, among them young children, the elderly and women. Water is now the last remaining lifeline. I appeal for the siege on humanitarian assistance to be lifted now,” added Mr Lazzarini.

    The International Rescue Committee also warned: “This population is now under siege with no electricity, fuel, food, or water allowed in, or movement of people either in or out. Hospitals in Gaza are already struggling to cope with the level of injuries and shortages of supplies.

    “When fuel reserves expire, doctors and nurses will be powerless to treat the sick and injured. Parents will run out of food and water for their children.

    “International humanitarian law demands civilians have access to humanitarian support. Occupying powers have a responsibility to ensure adequate provision of the survival of the civilian population. The siege must be lifted. Hostages must be released. Human lives are not bargaining chips.”

    Thousands of pro-Palestine supporters yesterday marched through London  protesting the situation in Gaza

    Palestine flags and supportive placards were waved as people chanted, with Metropolitan Police and community support officers stationed nearby.

    More than 1,000 officers were deployed to police the protesters.

  • How Israel dropped the ball on Hamas invasion

    How Israel dropped the ball on Hamas invasion

    • By Anatoliy Maksymov

    For the first time since 1973, Israel is officially at war. Unlike previous times, the enemy came from the Gaza Strip, from the inside of the country.

    The Hamas group attacked Israel. For a moment, its militants gained control over several settlements, captured hundreds of Israelis and citizens of other countries, and killed about a thousand soldiers and civilians.

    All international observers and experts are still trying to figure out how one of the world’s best intelligence services happened to miss this invasion. After all, as it became crystal clear during the first day, the Tzahal was utterly unprepared for fighting on such a scale. Or – maybe – the intelligence blew the whistle, but nobody wanted to listen?

    Israel and Hamas: a game of attrition that became a habit

    The two sides have been fighting almost non-stop since at least the 1990s. The full-blown fighting started in 2007 when Hamas seized power in Gaza and overthrew Yasser Arafat’s Fatah party. Israel is the number one target for Hamas. According to their ideology, it should be destroyed – Hamas wants to “throw Israel into the sea.”

    Over many years of confrontation, the Israelis have grown accustomed – insofar as possible – to missile and terrorist attacks and to attempts by certain terrorist groups to enter Israel through various tunnels. Many thought it would be this way in the future.

    War benefited everyone as long as both parties got to keep their power. Ironically, this was one of the few instances where certain right-wing Israelis and Hamas fanatics saw eye to eye.

    The fact that Israelis grew accustomed to this behavioral pattern along with the traditional celebrations and the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War left their army unprepared for large-scale combat operations and delayed the mobilization of reserve soldiers and their subsequent regrouping to the south of the country, closer to the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the residents of towns and kibbutz near the Gaza Strip were left virtually defenseless against the terror of Hamas.

    Hamas never acts on its own. It is part of the Iranian “proxy forces,” which also includes the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement in Yemen, Hezbollah in Iraq and Lebanon, as well as other terrorist and paramilitary groups. Without Iranian funding and organizational support, launching thousands of rockets at once would have been impossible for the combatants from Gaza, as they simply don’t have enough resources.

    How the invasion happened

    The Hamas attack began on Shabbat (Saturday) on Oct. 7 at 6 a.m. with a massive missile attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. Most people, particularly the soldiers, were either resting or in a different region of the country, such as on the West Bank of the Jordan River or in the Golan Heights (for instance, the artillery and 26 battalions of the Tzahal). The missiles arrived as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the central and eastern parts of the country accordingly.

    That’s when more than a thousand well-armed terrorists headed to Israel by land, to the great surprise of the still sleepy country. They broke through the protective barrier around the Sector, in some places simply tearing it down with bulldozers. The army’s response came overdue – in the afternoon, the “Nakhal,” “Golani,” “Maglan” and other brigades began to approach Gaza. The urban combat started, followed by the airstrikes on Gaza.

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    However, it wasn’t possible to chase them back immediately – they were too numerous. They hid in cities, drove on the roads, received reinforcements from Gaza, and attempted sea landings.

    Israel’s society, where almost every citizen served in the army, is now bombarding the authorities and intelligence with questions about how it was possible in the first place, for armed men to break through the most controlled border in the Middle East, where every centimeter is covered with motion sensors and cameras.

    There are no precise and unequivocal answers yet, but certain conclusions can already be drawn – in particular, the ones about the policies of the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

    The most spectacular failure since 1973?

    Israel had already lived through something similar in October 1973. Then Arab countries attacked during a holiday, like this time. And like this time, Israel was utterly unprepared for battle, suffering defeat after defeat during the first days of war.

    This level of unpreparedness comes as a great surprise in a country that boasts several highly skilled intelligence services led by the legendary Mossad. But neither Mossad (although it was supposed to monitor Iran and Lebanon) nor Shabak (a local analog of FBI) nor Aman military intelligence raised the alarm.

    However, another opinion was voiced – the intelligence tried to blow the whistle, but Netanyahu’s office chose not to listen.

    The thing is that many armed forces members, representatives of intelligence, and former reservists sided with the protesters when “Bibi” was trying to push his legal reform – the one taking several important powers from the Supreme Court – through the Knesset.

    Netanyahu did not forgive and did not forget. At that time, the story ended with an open clinch with the power block.

    Moreover, it is known that Netanyahu even refused to read intelligence reports – just like his dear American friend Donald Trump.

    Another reason is that the political ambitions and objectives of the Netanyahu government are concentrated in the eastern part of the country, not in the south.

    Tzahal was ordered to protect the construction of illegal settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Golan Heights. As a result of the 1967 and 1973 wars, Israel seized these territories along with East Jerusalem.

    The whole world considers this an occupation. Only Israel did not leave this land, as it happened with the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. On the contrary, the settlers – Israelis who live in small settlements surrounded by Palestinians, in difficult living conditions and with challenged security – have become the base of the electorate of Netanyahu and his ultra-right-wing ministers. Further development of settlements became their ideology.

    It was believed there was no threat from the south – the Hamas were “pacified” and did not want a big war, and the “Iron Dome” would handle the shelling.

    As it turned out, it was nothing more than wishful thinking. Some international media have already written about the fact that the planning of this attack started two years ago. While Israel was handing out money to Palestinian workers, they were giving it to Hamas, which in turn stole billions of dollars in international aid given to the Sector.

    All the funds “collected” this way were used to purchase weapons and pay for the work of Iranian instructors. The WSJ publication reported that since August 2023, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been developing the final details of the attack and gave the “green light” to the terrorists during a meeting in Beirut.

    And so, as Hamas paragliders landed and 3,000 rockets flew overhead, Gaza’s elite commandos raced toward the border and pounded it with tractors, explosives, and brute force. They attacked the headquarters of the “Southern” command and jammed their communications, preventing attempts to call for help. All other militants terrorized civilians and took prisoners.

    This is how Netanyahu’s geopolitical gambit failed

    In recent years, the Gaza Strip has experienced a period of relative calm. This has allowed Israel to shift its foreign policy focus from solving local security issues to developing diplomatic relationships with its neighbors. As a result of this shift, Israel has signed the Abraham Accords, which are agreements aimed at normalizing and restoring diplomatic relations between the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Israel. These accords represent a significant step towards reconciliation and improved relations between Israel and the Arab world.

    Despite these positive developments, Saudi Arabia has yet to join the treaty, insisting that the issue with the Palestinians be resolved first. However, there has been progress made in this regard as well. Israel has even established contacts with Iran, a country that has long been considered its sworn enemy.

    It is highly probable that this issue will be forgotten for an indefinite period. The entire Arab world once again showed their support for the Palestinians in their fight against Israel.

    Netanyahu’s grand political gambit has failed.

    He will most likely win the war, but like Golda Meir’s situation in 1973, he may lose his office. And Israel is going to live through the difficult weeks and years of recovery and investigations into who exactly is to blame for the events that occurred.

    • ”              This article was first published in www.kyivpost.com
  • Death toll tops 2,800 as Israel orders Gaza evacuation

    Death toll tops 2,800 as Israel orders Gaza evacuation

    • We’re going nowhere, Hamas vows

    The death toll in the Middle East conflict now stands at about 3000 with 1,300, including 247 soldiers, on the Israeli side alone, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman has confirmed.

    The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 1,537 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli airstrikes, including 500 children.

    Thousands of others on both sides are injured.

    Observers fear the figure may rise sharply should Israel go ahead with its planned ground operation against the Palestine militant Hamas.

    It had ordered 1.1 million people in Gaza to evacuate, which observers interpreted as  a sign that it was setting up a ground operation against the militant group.

    But Hamas vowed in a swift response that Palestinians would go nowhere.

    A United Nations spokesperson said it is to evacuate civilians “without devastating humanitarian consequences,” and said the U.N. “strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded to avoid what transforming what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”

    “Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” the Israeli military said, accusing Hamas of hiding in and under civilian buildings.

    Israel said the horrific attack on its civilians meant it must annihilate the militant group and others must get out of the way.

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    Hamas tunnels, military compounds, senior operatives’ residences and weapons storage warehouses were among 750 military targets struck overnight, it said.

    Israel has said it will not lift its blockade until scores of hostages captured by Hamas are set free.

    The Red Cross has said hospitals could soon run out of emergency fuel.

    International talks are focused on providing aid and safe zones in Gaza amid fears that the conflict could spread, with Iran warning of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and the powerful Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.

    Pro-Palestinian protests were held around the world yesterday and in some places, Jewish communities feared they could be targeted after Israel’s military response to the unprecedented weekend attacks that killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians.

     We’re going nowhere – Hamas vows

    Hamas, in a response to the Israeli quit warning, vowed that there would be nothing of the sort.

    “We adamantly reject to be expelled from our homes once again. We will resist Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza,” it said.

    It added: “Our unwavering determination is to resist Israel’s pursuit of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, firmly resolved to prevent a second Nakba from unfolding.

    “The current developments in Gaza represent an extraordinarily audacious and brutal endeavour to forcibly remove the Palestinian indigenous people from their land. Israel has publicly declared its plan to commit genocide against Palestinians.

    “The Zionist entity, supported by Western governments, has conducted a war of intense bombardment, releasing more than 6,000 bombs upon Gaza within the past week. Nearly 500 children have been tragically killed as a result of the intense bombardment, carried out by the Zionist entity.

    “They have targeted mosques, a church, educational institutions, residences, and medical facilities with bombings, yet it is our people who are erroneously branded as terrorists. Today, we have seen the mobilization of millions in the Arab and Muslim world, extending their support to the courageous Palestinians in Gaza.

    “What the Zionists are doing is inhumane, it is unprecedented, it is barbaric and contravenes all the laws and treaties that the so-called free and democratic countries claim they believe in.

    “But our resolve is unbreakable. We will not surrender our legitimate fight for freedom and self-determination. We will either live standing tall or we will die fighting.”

    By yesterday afternoon, there was no sign of any mass exodus as Israel prepared its onslaught.

    “Death is better than leaving,” said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an Israeli air strike two days ago near the centre of Gaza.

    “I was born here, and I will die here. Leaving is a stigma,” he added.

    Anti-Israel protesters hit the streets

    Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets after yesterday Jumat in Muslim communities around world

    Anti-Israel protests were held in a ‘day of jihad’ across the world today after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal asked Muslims to take to the streets to demonstrate amid the ongoing conflict.

    From Iraq to Japan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of protesters marched and showed support for Palestinians over  the deadly conflict that followed last Saturday’s attack on Israel by Hamas.. 

    During yesterday’s protests, angry demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags.

    Also yesterday US Secretary of State Antony met Jordan’s King Abdullah as well as Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.

    Blinken is also set to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – some of the countries with influence on Hamas, which is backed by Iran.

    Iran’s foreign minister met the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nassrallah in Lebanon, where there have been cross-border clashes with Israel since the weekend, according to Lebanese media outlets.

    “The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said.

    NYPD on red alert over planned global protest 

    The New York Police Department (NYPD) yesterday issued a red alert following planned protest by pro-Palestinians over the situation in the Middle East.

    Reacting to the planned protest, the NYPD Chief, Rebecca Weiner, at a press conference yesterday morning, said all operatives had been asked to report to work in their uniforms.

    She said even those scheduled to be off had been called to work, adding that the step was to ensure increased police presence across the city

    The police boss who stressed that there was no specific, credible threat from their analysis in the city, said the increased police presence was to assuage public panic that emanated from reports of the planned protest.

    Police said every member of the department would be in uniform and ready to respond if need be, confirming that thousands of officers had been deployed to Times Square as well as schools and religious institutions.

  • Israel’ll not stop fighting until Hamas loses military potential – Foreign ministry

    Israel’ll not stop fighting until Hamas loses military potential – Foreign ministry

    Israel will not stop fighting until the Palestinian Hamas movement will no longer have any military potential, Foreign Ministry spokesman Walid Abu Haya told Sputnik on Friday.

    “We will see the end of this war once Hamas loses its military potential,” the spokesman said.

    Read Also: Trump criticises Netanyahu as unprepared for Hamas attack on Israel

    In recent years, Hamas has refused to accept the Middle East Qaurtet’s terms on settlement, including recognition of agreements between the Palestinians and Israel, preventing the organization from becoming a political party, Abu Haya added.

    The spokesman also said that there is no difference between Hamas and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) as their goal is to “exterminate the Jewish people.” (Sputnik/NAN)

  • Israel urges civilians to leave Gaza City as military amasses tanks

    Israel urges civilians to leave Gaza City as military amasses tanks

    Israel on Friday called for all civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground assault in response to an attack by the militant group Hamas.

    There are more than 1 million people living in the northern half of the Gaza Strip.

    Hamas, which controls the strip, told residents to stay put and vowed to fight to the last drop of blood.

    By Friday afternoon there was no sign of any mass exodus as Israel prepared its onslaught.

    “Death is better than leaving,” said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an Israeli air strike two days ago near the centre of Gaza.

    “I was born here, and I will die here. Leaving is a stigma,” he added.

    The United Nations said evacuating everyone was impossible with power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after a week of retaliatory air strikes and a full Israeli blockade. The U.S. called it a “tall order”.

    The northern half of the Gaza Strip includes the enclave’s biggest settlement, Gaza City.

    The UN said it had been told that Israel wanted the entire population to move across the wetlands that bisect the enclave.

    “Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” the Israeli military said, accusing Hamas of hiding in and under civilian buildings.

    Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority and a rival of Hamas, told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan that the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza would constitute a repeat of 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from what is now Israel.

    Most Gazans are the descendants of such refugees.

    Abbas called for aid to be allowed into Gaza immediately.

    Read Also: Gaza Strip: We are all united against Israel, says Palestine Ambassador

    Israel has said it will not lift its blockade until scores of hostages captured by Hamas are set free.

    The Red Cross has said hospitals could soon run out of emergency fuel.

    International talks are focused on providing aid and safe zones in Gaza amid fears that the conflict could spread, with Iran warning of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and the powerful Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.

    Pro-Palestinian protests were held around the world and in some places, Jewish communities feared they could be targeted after Israel’s military response to the unprecedented weekend attacks that killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians.

    Israel has already responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians.

    Gaza authorities say more than 1,500 people have been killed.

    “We are ready to join the fight and rid the Palestinians of the Israeli atrocities,” said Muntadhar Kareem, 25, a teacher among thousands of Iraqis protesting in Baghdad.

    The Israeli military pledged to operate “significantly” in the coming days.

    “We are fighting for our home. We are fighting for our future,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said.

    “The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win,” the minister added.

    Israel says the horrific attack on its civilians means it must annihilate the militant group and others must get out of the way.

    Hamas tunnels, military compounds, senior operatives’ residences and weapons storage warehouses were among 750 military targets struck overnight, it said.

    The military wing of Hamas said the latest air strikes had killed 13 of the captives it brought back from Israel and that it had fired 150 rockets at Israel in response.

    The United Nations said Israel’s call for Gaza civilians to leave could not happen “without devastating humanitarian consequences”, prompting a rebuke from Israel which said it should condemn Hamas and support Israel’s right to self-defence.

    A ground invasion of the narrow and densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, poses a serious risk, with Hamas threatening to kill its hostages.

    Hours after the Israeli evacuation call, there were no signs people were leaving Gaza City, where dozens gathered at the al-Shifa Hospital, vowing to stay put.

    Palestinians in southern and central areas of the enclave, where people were expected to flee, said air strikes had hit there overnight, with central parts also hit on Friday morning.

    “No place is safe in the entire Gaza Strip,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

    The UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) said more than 400, 000 people had already been made homeless in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed.

    “Mass displacement continues,” it said.

    The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said it had moved its central operations centre and international staff to Gaza’s south and urged Israel to spare its shelters.

    Seeking to build support for its response, Israel’s government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers graphic images of those killed.

    “It’s simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,” Blinken said, joining others in urging Israel to show restraint while also reiterating America’s support, saying: “We will always be there by your side.”

    On Friday he met Jordan’s King Abdullah as well as Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.

    Blinken is also set to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – some of the countries with influence on Hamas, which is backed by Iran.

    Iran’s foreign minister met the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nassrallah in Lebanon, where there have been cross-border clashes with Israel since the weekend, according to Lebanese media outlets reported.

    “The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said.

    The foreign minister of Turkey, which has offered mediation, talked with his counterpart from the UAE, a Turkish foreign ministry source said, and will visit Egypt on Friday.

    The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected it to “do the right things”. Austin was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Friday.

    The United States and Japan were among countries offering charter flights for their citizens wanting to leave Israel while police in Paris used tear gas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinians.

    Some Jewish schools in Amsterdam and London were set to close temporarily due to safety concerns and police in New York and Los Angeles stepped up their presence around synagogues and Jewish community centres.

    Abbas and the Palestinian Authority say they oppose killing civilians but have stopped short of directly condemning the Hamas attacks, blaming the escalation on Israel having strengthened extremists by ignoring Palestinian grievances.

    Gazans have suffered economic collapse and repeated Israeli bombardment under a blockade since Hamas seized power there 16 years ago.

    Talks to create a Palestinian state collapsed a decade ago and Israel’s right-wing government has cracked down in the West Bank and talked of seizing more land. Israel says it has had no reliable partner for negotiations.

    (Reuters/NAN) 

  • Teacher killed, others wounded in France school stabbing

    Teacher killed, others wounded in France school stabbing

    A man armed with a knife killed a teacher at the high school in northern France he once attended and critically wounded another teacher and a security guard Friday, authorities said, an attack being investigated as potential terrorism amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas.

    French anti-terror prosecutors said they were leading the investigation into the attack at the Gambetta high school in the city of Arras, some 115 miles north of Paris. They said they were investigating charges including terror-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect, who was arrested.

    National police said the suspected assailant was a Russian national of Chechen origin. The French intelligence services said the suspect had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing.

    Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene said the suspected attacker, a former student at the school, shouted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic.

    Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He “was shouting ‘someone is attacking with a knife,’” Hamzi said

    Hamzi said he rushed to the school and saw a male victim lying on the ground outside the school and the attacker being taken away.

    “Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn’t save the victim,” Hamzi said.

    Police said two other men, a second teacher and a security guard, were in critical condition.

    School attacks are rare in France. President Emmanuel Macron was heading to the scene along with the interior and education ministers, and the government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across the country.

    Read Also: Gaza Strip: We are all united against Israel, says Palestine Ambassador

    Julie Duhamel, an official with the the Unsa teachers’ union in the Pas-de-Calais region that includes Arras, told Franceinfo that teachers had noted the suspect’s radicalization “a few years ago.”

    Hundreds of police deployed around the school and nearby neighborhoods, including heavily armed units, and barricaded a wide perimeter around the school. Parents said pupils were still confined to the locked-down school more than three hours after the attack.

    Friday’s attack came three years after a teacher was beheaded outside a school in suburban Paris. Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was murdered on Oct 16, 2020 — also a Friday — by an 18-year-old who had become radicalized. Like the suspect in Friday’s stabbings, that attacker was of Chechen background.

    Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at the Gambetta high school, said the attacker appeared to be hunting for a history teacher.

    “I was chased by the attacker who … asked me if I teach history. (He said), ‘Are you a history teacher, are you a history teacher?’” said Doussau, who recounted how he barricaded himself behind a door until police used a stun gun to subdue the attacker.

    “When he turned around and asked me if I am a history teacher, I immediately thought of Samuel Paty,” Doussau told reporters.

    The attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas’ weekend attack on southern Israel and Israel’s military response, which have killed hundreds of civilians on both sides. There have been calls in Muslim nations for mass protests after Friday prayers over Israel’s intense bombing campaign in Gaza.

    Darmanin on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since the Hamas attack.

    France is estimated to have the world’s third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S., and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.

    A vice president of France’s lower house of parliament, Naima Moutchou, said the National Assembly “expresses its solidarity and thoughts for the victims, their families and the educational community as we learn that a teacher has been killed and several others have been injured.″

    Newsnow