Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

‘Deep moral deterioration’ being normalised in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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Ministers and mobs protesting at arrests for torture of Palestinians shows diminishing respect for rule of law and human dignity

The far-right mob attack on two Israel Defense Forces bases in support of soldiers accused of sexually torturing a detainee did not come out of the blue – the parallels to a 2016 incident were immediately obvious.

In March that year, Elor Azaria, an IDF soldier serving in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, calmly walked over to Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, an injured Palestinian knife attacker lying on the ground, and shot him in the head. A video of the killing released by a human rights group led to political uproar.

Both the political and military establishments in Israel have been willing to deny or turn a blind eye to the repeated allegations of torture at Sde Teiman

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Middle East crisis: Israeli military said 10 rockets had been fired from Lebanon and that one of them hit kibbutz HaGoshrim – as it happened

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An Israeli civilian has been killed by rocket fired from Lebanon, Israel’s N12 news channel is reporting.

David Lammy has reiterated a warning to British citizens in Lebanon.

“My message to British nationals in Lebanon is clear – leave,” he said.

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Rockets fired from Lebanon kill one Israeli citizen amid retaliation fears

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US diplomatic efforts to constrain Israel’s reaction continue as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a ‘harsh’ response

Two barrages of rockets fired from Lebanon have killed one Israeli civilian in a kibbutz and injured another person, in attacks likely to add to political pressure inside Israel for a strong strike against Hezbollah and complicate a US-led push to de-escalate regional tensions.

America has been leading a global diplomatic effort to deter Israel from hitting Beirut or Lebanese infrastructure in retaliation for a weekend rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children as they played football.

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Israeli inquest into alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees sparks far-right fury

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Arrest of IDF reservists suspected of abuse prompts confrontation at notorious detention base and outcry from MPs

An investigation by the Israeli military into the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at a notorious military detention camp for prisoners captured in Gaza has sparked protests from members of Israel’s far right.

The Israeli military said on Monday the office of its advocate general ordered an inquiry “following suspected substantial abuse of a detainee” at the Sde Teiman facility, which holds Palestinian detainees, including alleged members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces involved in the 7 October attack.

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Tanker carrying jet fuel for Israel must not dock in Gibraltar, say MPs

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Campaigners say overseas territory will be complicit in breach of international law if US vessel stops there

There is an overwhelming case for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar, according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.

Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 3pm UK time on Tuesday.

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Middle East crisis: Netanyahu says Israel will issue ‘harsh’ response to Golan Heights strike – as it happened

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Israeli prime minister releases statement following visit to scene of strike in which 12 youngsters died

Hundreds of thousands of people have converged on Deir al-Balah, a small city in the centre of the Gaza Strip that is the only major area yet to be stormed, Reuters reports.

Many have been forced there by fighting in the ruins of Khan Younis further south since last week.

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Israeli drones hit southern Lebanon as tensions mount over Golan Heights attack

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Two reported dead as Israeli officials weigh up response to rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah that killed 12 children

Israeli drones struck a remote road in southern Lebanon, underscoring tensions as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised a “harsh” response to the rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children.

“The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come, and it will be harsh,” he said during a visit to the remote town of Majdal Shams, a majority Druze village in a region annexed by Israel from Syria in 1981.

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UK should stop arming Israel after ICJ advisory ruling, top lawyer says

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Exclusive: Philippe Sands KC says non-binding opinion will nevertheless be seen as ‘authoritative statement of law’

The UK should stop arming Israel in order to comply with the historic advisory opinion by the UN’s top court that member states should not “render aid or assistance” to the occupation of the Palestinian territories, a lawyer who represented Palestine has said.

In a broad and damning ruling published this month, the international court of justice (ICJ), found that Israel’s settlement policies and occupation of the territories were in breach of international law. It also said UN member states were under an obligation to neither recognise the occupation as lawful nor abet it.

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Nearly 3,000 Palestinians killed in first days of Gaza war named by conflict monitor

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Airwars says move is first step in effort to identify every civilian killed during Israeli military campaign

A conflict monitor has named nearly 3,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza in almost 350 separate incidents during the first 17 days of the war – the first step in an exercise aimed at identifying every civilian killed during the Israeli military campaign.

Though the 2,993 victims named are a fraction of the overall death total of 39,000 cited by the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza, Airwars, the group involved, says the effort shows it is possible to name those killed while a war is ongoing.

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Girls as young as nine gang-raped by paramilitaries in Sudan – report

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Human Rights Watch accuses RSF militia of ‘countless’ cases of rape and torture in Khartoum in 15-month civil war

Gunmen from a notorious militia roamed Sudan’s capital gang-raping “countless” women and girls, some as young as nine, according to an investigation documenting the shocking prevalence of sexual violence in Khartoum during the country’s civil war.

Some of the attacks by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were so brutal that women and girls died “due to the violence associated with the act of rape”, according to the research by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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Global leaders try to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon

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US backed Israel in blaming Hezbollah for strike on Golan Heights but is ‘working on a diplomatic solution’

Global leaders were engaged in intensive diplomacy on Sunday to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon, amid fears that a wider regional war could erupt in response to a rocket strike that killed 12 children playing football in the occupied Golan Heights.

As the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a meeting of his national security cabinet, the White House backed Israeli statements that blamed Saturday’s attack on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying: “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”

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Biden administration blames Hezbollah for ‘horrific’ Golan Heights rocket attack

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National security council says attack that killed 12 children and teenagers ‘should be universally condemned’

The Biden administration formally placed blame on Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah for the rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers on a soccer field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday.

National security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the attack was “conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”

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Iran’s new president rekindles faint hopes of rapprochement with west

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Masoud Pezeshkian says the Iranian people voted for change and promises constructive engagement with west

Iran’s new president has been formally inaugurated by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, opening up the slim hope of improved relations with the west, less internal censorship and a fresh approach to the economy.

In a ceremony on Sunday marking the start of his four-year presidency, Masoud Pezeshkian said the Iranian people had voted for change and promised constructive engagement with the west, a step he regards as a precondition for Tehran curbing inflation and securing growth.

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‘It was indescribable’: Golan Heights town mourns 12 children killed in strike

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Majdal Shams residents tell of scenes of horror after children who had gathered to play football were struck

The funeral lament rang out across Majdal Shams, from the centre of the town, from balconies and from rooftops. Thousands of mourners packed the narrow streets and squares, carrying small coffins covered in white shrouds to their final resting place.

Men from the town in the occupied Golan Heights, some wearing traditional white hats topped with red, linked arms and sung a mourners’ chant. “The mother cries: ‘Where is my son? Don’t say he is among the victims,’” they intoned. “Oh, children, tears are pouring from the eyes of girls and young men.”

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Israeli minister threatens ‘all-out war’ with Hezbollah after Golan Heights attack – as it happened

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Israel warplanes carry out strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, in apparent retaliation for attack on occupied Golan Heights

The Lebanese government has asked the US to urge restraint from Israel, Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, has told Reuters.

Bou Habib said the US had asked the Lebanese government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Sunday he does not want to see an escalation of conflict.

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Israel strikes Lebanon as diplomats try to prevent regional war

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Jets strike south of country after rocket attack that killed 12 children in Golan Heights blamed on Hezbollah

Israeli jets struck southern Lebanon overnight as diplomats worked frantically to prevent a regional war after a rocket strike that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, visited the scene of Saturday’s rocket attack in Majdal Shams, a predominantly Druze village, calling the strike “a terrible tragedy”.

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Israel announces strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon after rocket attack kills 12 in Golan Heights

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Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed revenge for strike on football pitch that left children among the dead

Israeli warplanes carried out attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday night, Israel’s military said on Sunday, in apparent retaliation for a rocket attack on the Golan Heights that killed 12 people, including children.

“Overnight, the IAF struck a series of Hezbollah terror targets both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon, including weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, and Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El Thalathine, Khiam, and Tayr Harfa,” the military said.

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Wave of Israeli airstrikes kills at least 50 people in Gaza

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Palestinian officials say at least 30 killed in strike on school in Deir al-Balah where thousands were seeking shelter

A wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting central and southern Gaza have killed at least 50 people and injured an estimated 200, with one strike hitting a school where thousands were seeking shelter.

Palestinian health ministry officials said at least 30 people were killed in an airstrike on the Khadija school in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

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Palestine Olympic chief: no handshakes with Israelis unless they recognise state

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  • Jibril Rajoub says he will not pay ‘lip service’ to Israelis
  • Israel president says athletes compete ‘proudly and fairly’

The president of Palestine’s National Olympic Committee says he will not shake hands with his Israeli counterpart, or any of their delegation, at Paris 2024 unless they recognise his state’s right to independence.

Jibril Rajoub, who has led calls for Israel’s athletes to be banned from international competition amid the war in Gaza, told the Guardian he would not engage with Yael Arad or her colleagues out of principle if they crossed paths during the Olympics.

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Severe heatwave in Iran forces shops and public institutions to close

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Temperatures reach 45C in parts of the country and 225 people seek treatment for heatstroke

A heatwave blanketing Iran has forced authorities to cut operating hours at various facilities on Saturday and order all government and commercial institutions to close on Sunday, as hospitals received more than 200 people for heatstroke treatment.

Temperatures ranged from 37C (98.6F) to 42C (107F) in the capital, Tehran, according to weather reports.

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