Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

‘Shhh or I’ll shoot you’: family of jailed Christian woman tell of Israeli raid

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Troops took Layan Nasir away at gunpoint from her home in the West Bank and her parents haven’t been told where she is

The Israeli troops arrived at about 4am last Saturday to take 23-year-old Layan Nasir away at gunpoint from her parents’ home in the West Bank town of Birzeit. There was no arrest warrant or charges, and her parents haven’t been notified of where she is held.

The only Palestinian Christian woman currently in Israeli detention, her case has been raised by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. “I’m shocked and deeply concerned,” he said in a post on X. “Please pray for Layan’s safety and swift release.”

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Hamas weakened and divided but far from defeated six months into Gaza war

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Few of Hamas’s senior leaders have been harmed but its ability to govern is reduced and thousands of fighters are dead

Six months after the surprise attacks it launched into Israel, triggering the Gaza conflict, Hamas is weakened and divided but far from defeated, experts, officials and sources close to the militant Islamist organisation say.

Hamas remains in de facto control of swaths of Gaza, including the parts where much of the territory’s population is now concentrated, and has re-established a presence elsewhere. In recent days, Hamas “operatives” armed with batons have been sighted keeping order on the streets of Khan Younis, the southern city from which Israeli forces withdrew just last week. On Wednesday, rockets targeting a kibbutz in Israel were launched by militants from Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

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Iranian attack on Israel expected ‘sooner rather than later’, says Joe Biden

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President said US are ‘devoted to the defence of Israel’ as he urged Tehran to show restraint

Joe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel “sooner rather than later” and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: “Don’t.”

“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden told reporters on Friday.

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Ireland and Spain reiterate plan to form alliance to recognise state of Palestine

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Leaders of two nations vow to muster international support for two-state solution to Gaza crisis

Ireland and Spain have reiterated their intention to forge an alliance of countries that will soon recognise Palestine as a nation state.

The Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, and Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, vowed on Friday to muster international support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine.

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Middle East crisis: threat of Iranian attack on Israel ‘still viable’, says White House – as it happened

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An assessment conducted by a UN team in Khan Younis after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area, has reported “widespread destruction”.

In an update on its website, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) wrote:

Every building they visited – and most of those they observed – had been damaged, and paved roads had been reduced to dirt tracks. They inspected a UN warehouse, four medical centres, and eight schools, and all but one had significant damage.”

Street and public spaces in Khan Younis are littered with unexploded ordnance posing a severe risk to civilians, especially for children. Our team found unexploded 1,000 pound bombs lying on the main intersection and inside schools.

Residents who returned to the area, and some who remained during the fighting, told the team about the dire shortages of food and water and the loss of critical health services due to the destruction of the al-Nasser and al-Amal hospital.”

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Argentina court blames Iran for deadly 1994 bombing of Jewish center

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The attack, blamed on a suicide bomber, killed 85 people, wounded 300 and devastated Latin America’s biggest Jewish community

A new ruling by Argentina’s highest criminal court has blamed Iran for the fatal 1994 attack against a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, declaring it a “crime against humanity” in a decision that paves the way for victims to seek justice.

That huge blast at the Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), was blamed on a suicide bomber driving a stolen van loaded with explosives. It killed 85 people, wounded 300 and devastated Latin America’s biggest Jewish community.

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Abu Dhabi state oil company reportedly looked at buying BP

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Adnoc decided move was not right fit but it is latest sign of foreign buyers circling UK firms

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company reportedly recently explored a multibillion-pound bid for BP, in a sign that depressed share values in London are making even the biggest British businesses takeover targets.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) considered options including buying BP or acquiring a large stake before deciding it was not the right fit and abandoning preliminary discussions, according to Reuters.

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‘We searched for ladies over 70’: on the trail of Jordan’s forgotten folk music

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An arts organisation has been seeking out and recording the region’s traditional music and is teaching the lyrics to young singers

In the Jordanian town of Tafilah, a six-year-old boy softly hummed a song. His family were astonished, and his 82-year-old great-grandmother, Jawaher Al Ahmad, overheard and began to cry. She asked the child who had taught him the “hajini”, or Bedouin folk song, and said: “The last time I heard that song was at my wedding.”

Her great-grandson, Ahmad, had learned the tune as part of the I’m My Voice project run by Tajalla for Music and Arts, a cultural organisation founded by Russol Al Nasser.

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Germany faces domestic lawsuit over its arms sales to Israel

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German human rights groups bring court action amid rising dismay in country at deaths in Gaza

Germany will face a fresh call to revoke all arms sales to Israel on Thursday in a lawsuit that puts more pressure on Berlin amid a rising outcry about the scale of deaths and destruction in the war on Gaza.

A lawsuit in the German domestic courts will ask judges to urgently direct the government to revoke all arms licences to Israel issued since 7 October, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel.

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Irish taoiseach and Spanish PM to discuss Palestine nation state plan

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Pedro Sánchez is first foreign premier Simon Harris will meet since becoming leader

The new Irish taoiseach is to meet the Spanish prime minister to discuss their joint plan to recognise Palestine as a nation state and their attempts to force the EU to assess Israel’s human rights obligations as a condition of their trade deal with the bloc.

Pedro Sánchez, who is due to arrive in Dublin on Friday, is the first foreign premier Simon Harris will meet since his promotion to the office of the taoiseach this week.

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Aid ‘still not reaching Gaza’, as top US official warns famine has started

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Samantha Power becomes first US official to confirm famine, while aid workers decry continuing lack of help

A surge in aid into Gaza that Benjamin Netanyahu promised Joe Biden a week ago has so far failed to materialise, aid workers say, as the US aid chief confirmed that famine was beginning to take hold in parts of the besieged coastal strip.

A key port has not been opened to aid shipments, and a new crossing into northern Gaza has officially opened but UN agencies are not yet allowed to use it, even though they provide the vast majority of food aid for the territory.

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US seeking to deter Iran from strike on Israel, officials say

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US declaring commitment to Israeli security while also working to prevent regional war, say officials

The US is seeking to deter Iran from carrying out a retaliatory strike against Israel with concerted declarations of commitment to Israeli security, while at the same time trying to prevent the outbreak of a major regional war, officials in Washington have said.

US officials still believe that a direct Iranian missile or drone strike is possible within the next few days, in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consular building in Damascus on 1 April, which killed a top Islamic Revolutionary Guards general and six other Guard officers.

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Hamas says it does not have 40 hostages who fit criteria for deal with Israel

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US-backed proposal involves women, children and elderly or sick hostages in Gaza being exchanged for 900 Palestinian prisoners

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has indicated it does not have 40 captives who are still alive who meet the “humanitarian” criteria for a proposed hostages-for-prisoners ceasefire agreement with Israel.

A senior Israeli official confirmed claims made at the weekend by Hamas during talks in Cairo that it does not have 40 hostages in Gaza who meet the exchange criteria.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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Russia warns against travel to Middle East amid fears of Iranian attack on Israel – as it happened

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Israeli forces killed three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza without consulting senior commanders or political leaders including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Reuters citing Israeli media reports on Thursday.

Quoting senior Israeli officials, Walla news agency said neither Netanyahu nor defence minister Yoav Gallant had been told in advance of the strike, which was coordinated by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet intelligence service.

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IDF colonel discusses ‘data science magic powder’ for locating terrorists

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Video of official from Unit 8200 in February 2023 raises questions about Israel’s denials of use of AI in Gaza

A video has surfaced of a senior official at Israel’s cyber intelligence agency, Unit 8200, talking last year about the use of machine learning “magic powder” to help identify Hamas targets in Gaza.

The footage raises questions about the accuracy of a recent statement about use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which said it “does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist”.

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Lebanese man under US sanctions for allegedly funding Hamas found dead

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Body of Mohammad Surur reportedly discovered in town outside Beirut with several gunshot wounds to his legs

A Lebanese man under US sanctions for allegedly funnelling millions of dollars to Hamas has been found dead in a mountain town outside Beirut.

The body of Mohammad Surur was found on Tuesday in a villa in the mountain town of Beit Mery, with several gunshot wounds to his legs, according to security sources.

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Hamas leader repeats Gaza ceasefire call after sons and grandchildren killed

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Deadly Israeli airstrike prompts comments by Ismail Haniyeh, as two sides remain far apart on key issues

Three sons and at least two grandchildren of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the exiled political chief of the militant group has said from his base in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Haniyeh told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that his children Hazem, Amir and Mohammed and several of their children were visiting relatives for Eid at the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza when their car was targeted in an Israeli airstrike. Sixty of his relatives had been killed in the six-month-old war, he said, including 14 who died after an Israeli airstrike hit the family home in Gaza City in October.

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British Muslims describe Eid festivities as ‘heavy’ due to Gaza conflict

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Thousands of Muslims in Rafah attend Eid prayers outside ruins of mosque

Millions of Muslims across the UK celebrated Eid on Wednesday after the first sighting of the new crescent moon, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Baitul Futuh mosque in London, one of the largest in Europe, welcomed more than 5,000 people to pray and celebrate the three-day festival, one of the most important holidays in the Islamic calendar.

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End of the Line? Saudi Arabia ‘forced to scale back’ plans for desert megacity

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Crown prince’s pet project was sold as a 105-mile-long city of the future, but finances may have led to a rethink

It was billed as a glass-walled city of the future, an ambitious centrepiece of the economic plan backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transition Saudi Arabia away from oil dependency.

Now, however, plans for the mirror-clad desert metropolis called the Line have been scaled down and the project, which was envisaged to stretch 105 miles (170km) is expected to reach just a mile and a half by 2030.

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Middle East crisis live: Israel threatens to strike Iran directly – as it happened

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Israel’s foreign minister says Israel will attack Iran directly if Tehran launches an attack from its territory

The commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil), Aroldo Lazaro, said on Wednesday the danger of escalation on the Lebanon-Israel border was real, reports Reuters.

“Unifil calls for a return to the cessation of hostilities, and a move towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict,” Lazaro said in a statement.

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