Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Israel-Gaza war: US mediators making progress on ceasefire deal but still ‘gaps to close’, says Biden – as it happened

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In his Nato news conference, the US president acknowledged concerns about Israeli actions despite his overall support

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday it is not possible for Nato to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration, reports Reuters.

“Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within Nato will not be approved by Turkey,” Erdoğan said at a news conference at the Nato summit in Washington DC. Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

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Thousands of Palestinians missing amid Gaza’s unrelenting warfare

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International Committee of the Red Cross takes between 500 and 2,500 calls a week, mostly from family members

About 6,400 Palestinians reported as missing to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since the outbreak of the war in Gaza on 7 October are yet to have been found, the group has said.

Many are believed to be trapped under debris, buried without identification, or held in Israeli detention while others have been separated from their loved ones, who have been unable to contact them.

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Fresh scrutiny of free speech in Saudi Arabia after brothers’ convictions over tweets

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Crown prince criticised ‘bad laws’ for Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s death sentence months before second conviction

Fresh questions have been raised about the suppression of free speech in Saudi Arabia after the brother of a man facing the death penalty for tweeting to 10 followers was handed a 20-year sentence for largely innocuous tweets.

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had said Mohammed al-Ghamdi was a victim of “bad laws” after being sentenced to death, yet the crown prince permitted the same laws to be used to sentence Ghamdi’s younger brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi.

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US steps up sanctions against Israeli settlers and ‘outposts’ in occupied West Bank

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Targeting ‘outposts’ suggests Biden administration prepared to take some action to confront blatant land grab

The US has stepped up efforts to target violent Israeli settlers, adding new individuals and organisations to a growing sanctions list and warning banks to check transactions linked to all Israeli “outposts” in the occupied West Bank.

The new sanctions cover the far-right group Lehava, already listed by the UK, and two founding members of Tsav9, a campaign group that blocked aid from reaching Gaza. The new measures also target outposts, suggesting the Biden administration is prepared to take at least some steps to confront Israel’s creeping land grab on the West Bank.

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Israel-Gaza war: Hamas accuses Israel of ‘stalling’ over ceasefire negotiations – as it happened

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Group says that mediators have not provided any updates over negotiations about a deal to end the war

Iran is still conducting indirect nuclear talks with the United States via Oman, Iran’s Etemad newspaper on Thursday quoted Iran’s acting foreign minister as saying.

Ali Bagheri Kani’s reported comments followed remarks on Monday in which a White House spokesperson said the United States was not ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran under the newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, Reuters reported.

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Widow of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi given death sentence by Iraqi court

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Judgement deems one of Baghdadi’s widows complicit in crimes against Yazidi women

An Iraqi court has issued a death sentence against one of the widows of the late Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alleging that she was complicit in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group.

The ruling comes weeks before the 10-year mark since IS launched a series of attacks against the Yazidi religious minority in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar in early August 2014, killing and capturing thousands – including women and girls who were subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse. The UN said the campaign against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.

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Palestinians told to leave Gaza City as Israel steps up offensive

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Evacuation order follows deadly airstrikes on locations including schools and shelters in past few days

The Israeli military told all Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza City and head south on Wednesday as it stepped up a military offensive in the territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.

The evacuation order, carried out by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah, came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of Gaza.

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Armed men jump onboard small boat during rescue near Libya

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Group of masked men approached wooden vessel in dinghies, prompting panic during rescue by charity ship

A group of masked and armed men have threatened a wooden boat in distress in the central Mediterranean, provoking the frightened passengers to throw themselves into the sea.

The incident happened early on Tuesday morning as crew from Ocean Viking, a rescue ship operated by the charity SOS Méditerranée, were evacuating 93 people who had been crammed on to the blue wooden vessel in distress about 19 miles (30km) off the coast of Libya.

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Israeli strike on Khan Younis shelter kills at least 31 amid surge in Gaza fighting

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IDF reviewing airstrike after confirming an attack using ‘precision munitions’, which Gaza officials say killed eight children

An Israeli airstrike on the entrance of a school-turned-shelter in southern Gaza has killed at least 31 people as a stepped-up military offensive in the territory sent thousands fleeing in search of refuge.

The airstrike on Tuesday afternoon hit the tents of displaced families outside a school in the town of Abassan, east of Khan Younis. Officials at the nearby Nasser hospital said on Wednesday that 31 people had been killed, including eight children, and more than 50 wounded.

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US Gaza aid pier to be permanently dismantled after operating for just 20 days – reports

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Pier, which has delivered the equivalent of a single day’s pre-war land aid deliveries in two months, will reportedly be removed in a few days’ time

A US military pier, built two months ago as a way to bring sea-borne humanitarian aid into Gaza, is to be permanently dismantled within a few days, according to a new report.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the pier, which has had to be moved repeatedly to avoid bad weather, would be reconnected to the Gaza coastline on Wednesday but would operate for just the next few days before being disassembled by the US army and navy.

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Irish woman charged with ‘attempting suicide’ by Dubai court

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Public figures call for release of Tori Towey, 28, who says attempt was response to alleged domestic violence attack

A 28-year-old woman from Ireland has been charged with “attempting suicide” by a court in Dubai, with politicians and campaigners calling for her release.

Tori Towey, who works in the United Arab Emirates as an airline cabin crew member, was allegedly attacked and left with severe bruising and other injuries in a violent incident.

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Meta expands hate speech policy to remove more posts targeting ‘Zionists’

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Meta says it would remove content ‘attacking “Zionists” when it is not explicitly about the political movement’

Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would start taking down more posts that target “Zionists” when the term is used to refer to Jewish people and Israelis rather than representing supporters of the political movement.

The Facebook and Instagram parent said in a blog post it would remove content “attacking ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement” and uses antisemitic stereotypes or threatens harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis.

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Israeli attack on Gaza City continues as Hamas says ceasefire efforts at risk

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New wave of displacement as airstrikes hit northern and central Gaza and IDF says forces engaged in ‘close-quarter combat’

Northern and central Gaza were hit by a second day of heavy Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, attacks Hamas said threatened to derail new international efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Residents of Gaza City reported helicopter strikes, explosions and gun battles as Israel expanded its two-week-old offensive in Shuja’iya, an eastern neighbourhood, moving tanks into areas of the city where Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters have regrouped.

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Famine spreading throughout Gaza, UN says, after more children die from malnutrition – as it happened

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This live blog is closed

Here is the video clip of US national security spokesperson, John Kirby, saying gaps remain between Israel and Hamas in ceasefire negotiations.

In a statement Israel’s military has claimed to have “eliminated dozens of terrorists and located numerous weapons” in Gaza City. It says it was acting “following intelligence indicating the presence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist infrastructure in the area”.

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‘Challenge me,’ Biden says as more Democrats urge president to quit race | First Thing

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Leading Democrat Adam Smith called on Biden to end presidential bid. Plus, one of the heaviest Israeli strikes on Gaza City since 7 October

Good morning.

Joe Biden’s position among congressional Democrats eroded further on Monday when Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the armed services committee in the House of Representatives, lent his voice to calls for Biden to end his presidential campaign.

What are the polls saying? A New York Times/Siena College poll last week found 74% of voters thought Biden was too old to be effective, including 59% of Democrats. Biden v Trump polls have widened slightly since the debate, with Trump averaging 42% and Biden 39.7%.

Who are the alternatives? Vice-president Kamala Harris is touted by some Democrats, including Smith. The Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said she would not run for the Democratic nomination even if Biden walked away.

What happens next? Today is the official start of a three-day Nato summit in Washington, and the Biden campaign signalled he would also increase public appearances, with a press conference on Thursday and more events next week, to try to allay voter concerns.

What is the humanitarian impact of Israel’s assault on Gaza? After the invasion was sparked when Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostage on 7 October, more than 38,500 people have died in Gaza as Israeli attacks have decimated infrastructure and housing, displaced 90% of the population, and brought widespread malnutrition and famine to the coastal strip.

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Labour unlikely to rush into proscribing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

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Exclusive: Lammy said to be looking at creating new category of state-sponsored terrorism to allow restrictions to be imposed

Labour is unlikely to rush into proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and will instead examine whether a new category of state-backed terrorism needs to be devised.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will also consult colleagues on the implications for Iranian foreign policy of the election at the weekend of a reformist-backed president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

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Thousands of Palestinians flee amid heavy Israeli attack on Gaza City

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Civil emergency service says dozens killed in strikes launched after Israeli military issued evacuation orders

People in Gaza City have reported one of the heaviest attacks by Israeli forces since 7 October, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing from an area already ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-old war.

The latest Israeli incursion into the eastern sector of Gaza City came as Israel’s far-right coalition parties threatened again to stop ongoing negotiations in Qatar for a ceasefire, arguing that halting the fighting now would be a huge mistake.

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Israeli minister says hostage deal with Hamas would be ‘humiliation’ as Netanyahu offered ‘political safety net’ by opposition – as it happened

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Yair Lapid says he will offer Benjamin Netanyahu political support if he reaches a hostage deal after fears such a move could lead to collapse of government

Israeli far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said making a ceasefire deal would be a “senseless folly” and instead Israel should press on in its military campaign against Hamas.

He posted to social media to say:

Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. This is the time to squeeze the neck until we crush and break the enemy. To stop now, just before the end, and let them recover to fight us again is a senseless folly that will take the achievements of the war bought with much blood down the drain. We must continue until victory.

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Labour expected to drop challenge to ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant

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Exclusive: UK government appears unlikely to go ahead with legal bid, while Keir Starmer has spoken with Israeli PM over Gaza ceasefire

The new Labour government is expected to drop a bid to delay the international criminal court (ICC) reaching a decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The development came as Keir Starmer, the new UK prime minister, told the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, that he believed the Palestinians had an undeniable right to a Palestinian state. Starmer spoke to Abbas on Sunday about the “ongoing suffering and devastating loss of life” in Gaza.

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‘I panic when my phone rings’: the plight of Palestinians in Jordan

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In kingdom where half of people have Palestinian roots, rulers try to balance US ties with calls for action on Gaza war

Ahmed Saeed Abu Fares leans back in his cheap plastic chair and smiles. He has just got a call through to his older sister in Gaza. Though he is only 90 miles away in Jordan, this is an achievement. The conversation is brief, but long enough for Abu Fares to hear that she is safe. So too are her children. For the first time in weeks, the 63-year-old scrap dealer relaxes.

“We just couldn’t get through to check on them. When their house was bombed and two of my nieces were killed, it was two weeks before I found out. So I’ve been panicking when my phone rings. Every time, it is terror or fear,” Abu Fares says. “I feel much better now. She says they are all tired but OK.”

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