Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

US reportedly approves transfer to Israel of bombs and jets worth billions

Posted on by

Sources say weapons package authorized even as Washington expresses public concern over anticipated offensive in Rafah

The US in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, two sources familiar with the effort said on Friday, even as Washington publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah.

The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs and 500 MK-82 500lb bombs, said the sources, who confirmed a report in the Washington Post.

Continue reading...

Schools in England accused of closing down debate on Israel-Gaza conflict

Posted on by

Government adviser says teachers feel ill-equipped to talk about controversial topics but avoiding debate risks fuelling anger

Schools in England are closing down legitimate debate about the Israel-Gaza conflict because teachers feel ill-equipped and are concerned about political impartiality, the government’s independent adviser on social cohesion has said.

Dame Sara Khan said that if schools continued to shut down debate they risked “fuelling further anger, hate and polarisation”.

Continue reading...

Famine is now probably present in Gaza, US says

Posted on by

State department assessment comes after world’s top court ordered Israel to admit food aid into territory

Famine is already probably present in at least some areas of northern Gaza, while other areas are in danger of falling into conditions of starvation, the US state department said on Friday a day after the world’s top court ordered Israel to admit food aid into the territory.

“While we can say with confidence that famine is a significant risk in the south and centre but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas,” a state department official told Reuters.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu faces huge challenge after court ruling on military exemption

Posted on by

Strain on coalition grows after Israeli supreme court orders end to subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men who avoid conscription

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing one of the most serious threats yet to his coalition government after the country’s supreme court ordered an end to government subsidies from Monday for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the army.

The ruling follows a series of delays by the government in presenting a proposal to the court aimed at enhancing the military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men, who have historically been exempt from conscription.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah deputy commander – as it happened

Posted on by

IDF says Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missiles unit, was killed in airstrike in Lebanon

The Guardian’s Kaamil Ahmed, Damien Gayle and Aseel Mousa have been investigating the scale of environmental destruction in Gaza.

Satellite analysis revealed exclusively to the Guardian shows farms devastated and nearly half of the territory’s trees razed. Alongside mounting air and water pollution, experts says Israel’s onslaught on Gaza’s ecosystems has made the area unlivable.

Continue reading...

Eurovision: Olly Alexander and other competitors reject calls to boycott over Israel participation

Posted on by

The former Years and Years singer and star of It’s a Sin signed a joint response affirming a stance against ‘all forms of hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia’

Britain’s Eurovision competitor Olly Alexander and several other entrants have rejected calls to boycott this year’s Eurovision song contest owing to its inclusion of Israel among the competitors, stating their belief in “the unifying power of music, enabling people to transcend differences and foster meaningful conversations and connections”.

Maxine Peake and the author Sarah Schulman were among a list of more than 450 queer artists, individuals and organisations who signed an open letter as Queers for Palestine calling on Alexander – the former Years and Years singer and star of Channel 4’s It’s a Sin – to pull out of the contest in solidarity with Palestine.

Continue reading...

Israeli airstrike in Syria kills more than 40 people, says war monitor

Posted on by

Strike near Aleppo weapons depot reportedly killed Hezbollah and Syrian troops, while civilians also said to be among dead

Israeli airstrikes on Syria’s Aleppo province have killed more than 40 people, including members of Hezbollah and a large number of Syrian soldiers in an area near the militant Lebanese organisation’s weapons depots, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

As many as 42 people were killed in what contradictory reports described as air and drone strikes in the early hours of Friday that hit missile depots for Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Aleppo’s southern suburb of Jibreen, near Aleppo’s international airport, and a nearby town that houses a military facility.

Continue reading...

‘Famine is setting in’: UN court orders Israel to unblock Gaza food aid

Posted on by

Judges issue unanimous decision and say Palestinians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance

The international court of justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israel’s claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.

A panel of judges at the UN’s top court, which is already considering a complaint from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, issued the ruling after an emergency measure in January obliging Israel to admit emergency aid.

Continue reading...

Queer artists call on Olly Alexander to boycott Eurovision over Israel participation

Posted on by

Maxine Peake and Sarah Schulman among signatories of open letter asking singer to withdraw from contest

More than 450 queer artists, individuals and organisations have called on the UK’s Eurovision contestant, Olly Alexander, to boycott this year’s competition in solidarity with Palestine.

The actor Maxine Peake and the novelist and playwright Sarah Schulman are among the signatories of the open letter calling on the singer to withdraw from the contest in May due to the conflict in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Heavy fighting reported around Gaza’s al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals

Posted on by

Israeli forces also blockading al-Amal hospital amid mounting concern for the safety of patients, civilians and medical staff

Heavy fighting took place around two key hospitals in Gaza on Thursday, while a third was reportedly under Israeli siege, amid mounting international concern for the safety of patients, civilians and remaining medical staff in the facilities.

The most intense fighting once again appeared to be focused on the al-Shifa complex, Gaza City’s main hospital before the war, where the Israeli army said it continued to operate around the site after storming it more than a week ago.

Guardian Newsroom: The unfolding crisis in the Middle East

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: US and Israel in talks to revive Washington trip to discuss Rafah – as it happened

Posted on by

Israeli PM had cancelled officials’ US visit to discuss planned offensive in southern Gaza after the US refused to veto a UN security council vote on a ceasefire

The Palestinian Authority has announced the formation of a new Cabinet as it faces international pressure to reform, Associated Press reports.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the PA for nearly two decades, announced the new government in a presidential decree on Thursday. None of the incoming ministers is a well-known figure.

We will make our contributions while ensuring that the conditions are met for UNRWA to fulfil its missions in a spirit devoid of incitement to hatred and violence.

Continue reading...

Ireland backs bid to include blocking of aid in definition of genocide

Posted on by

Dublin joins South Africa’s case in the international court of justice, arguing that stopping delivery of essentials may constitute ‘genocidal intent’

Ireland is to seek to widen the definition of genocide to include blocking humanitarian aid in a landmark international court of justice (ICJ) case against Israel.

The Irish government will intervene in the case taken by South Africa and argue that restricting food and other essentials in Gaza may constitute genocidal intent, the foreign minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israel intensifies strikes on southern Gaza as eight killed in fighting on Lebanese border – as it happened

Posted on by

Attacks around Rafah come despite growing pressure for ceasefire. This live blog is closed

The UK is facing legal action over its pause in funding for Unrwa, after Israel’s allegations that 12 staff at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel.

London-based law firm Bindmans has sent a pre-action letter, the first stage in a legal claim, on behalf of a British-Palestinian man whose family are in Gaza and reliant on humanitarian aid provided by Unwra.

The UK government’s strategy for international development sets out four priorities, including to: ‘provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and work to prevent the worst forms of human suffering’.

Given the catastrophic situation in Gaza, including an impending, man-made famine, the ongoing decision to cease funding to Unwra is not only morally wrong but flies in the face of that strategy.”

The government knows that Unwra is the only effective means to deliver humanitarian aid, and it ought to know that it hasn’t given sufficient reason on how, or why, it decided to cut funding.”

Continue reading...

MPs and peers sign letter urging UK government to ban arms sales to Israel

Posted on by

Ministers under growing pressure to act amid signs Israel intends to ignore UN ceasefire resolution

Parliamentary pressure is building on the UK government to ban arms sales to Israel, amid signs that Israel intends to ignore the UN security council resolution passed this week calling on all sides to commit to a ceasefire.

A letter signed by more than 130 parliamentarians to the foreign secretary, David Cameron, highlights action taken by other countries, most recently Canada, which last week announced it would halt all arms exports to Israel.

Continue reading...

Twelve people reported drowned off a Gaza beach trying to reach aid drop

Posted on by

Palestinian authorities say deaths resulted from attempts to recover crates that fell in water after parachutes went wrong

Twelve people drowned trying to get to aid dropped by plane off a Gaza beach, Palestinian health authorities have said, amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel’s military campaign.

Video of the airdrop on Monday showed crowds of people running towards the beach, in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza, as crates with parachutes floated down, then people standing deep in water and bodies being pulled on to the sand.

Continue reading...

‘Madness’: Netanyahu’s handling of US relations under scrutiny after UN vote

Posted on by

Tone in parts of Israeli media borders on contempt, as prime minister’s growing friction with Biden linked to US abstention

The Israeli prime minister’s handling of relations with the Biden administration, which led the US on Monday to decline to veto a ceasefire resolution at the UN security council, has been greeted by sharp criticism by Israeli commentators.

After the US abstention, prominent columnists across the Israeli media condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing friction with the US president, Joe Biden.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israel recalls ceasefire negotiators from Qatar, claiming Hamas ‘not interested’ in talks – as it happened

Posted on by

Netanyahu’s office said ‘Israel will not cave to Hamas’s delusional demands’, ending immediate attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal

Israeli media is reporting that the Israeli delegation has left Qatar, ending talks to try and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

More details soon …

Continue reading...

Plan to end ultra-Orthodox students’ military exemption sparks row in Israel

Posted on by

For years Haredi men have been allowed to continue Torah study, but proposal could force some to enlist

A proposed bill to extend compulsory military service to ultra-Orthodox students, historically exempt from conscription, has ignited a fierce debate in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warning that failure to pass the law could jeopardise the stability of the government.

Israel has mandatory army service but for decades made an exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredi, who are allowed to continue full-time Torah study. The proposal, as Israel approaches six months since the 7 October Hamas attacks that began the war in Gaza, seeks to extend the duration of military service for conscripts and raise the age for reservists, while also urging an end to the customary exemptions granted to yeshiva students.

Continue reading...

Al-Mawasi: Palestinians fleeing to ‘humanitarian zone’ find little hope

Posted on by

Area offers desperate families in Gaza relative safety but conditions are dire and threat of Israeli attacks remain

A month ago Nariman Salman decided to finally flee northern Gaza and head for al-Mawasi, a narrow strip of coastline at the southernmost end of the territory designated as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military.

The decision was reluctant but unavoidable. When Salman, 42, was reduced to sending her young son around neighbours to beg for a single piece of bread for her pregnant daughter, she knew the family had to leave. Days earlier, her eldest son had been stabbed to death for a bag of flour.

Continue reading...

Israel isolated as UN security council demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Posted on by

Israeli PM cancels White House visit by two ministers and says US ‘abandoned its policy in the UN’ after abstaining on vote

The UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after the US dropped a threat to veto, bringing Israel to near total isolation on the world stage.

The vote result sets up the strongest public clash between the US president, Joe Biden, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, since the war began.

Continue reading...