Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Ship carrying aid nears Gaza as Cyprus puts second vessel on standby

Posted on by

Where Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms will dock, and how supplies will be distributed, is still unclear

A ship carrying aid is nearing Gaza about 48 hours after it left Cyprus, with further aid preparations being made aboard a second “much bigger” vessel. It came as the EU foreign policy chief said starvation was being used as a weapon of war.

After the 240-mile voyage, the ship will dock at a jetty being built by the World Central Kitchen (WCK), the organisation that will distribute the aid.

Guardian Newsroom: The unfolding crisis in the Middle East On Wednesday 20 March, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

Continue reading...

Israel broke international law with tank shelling that killed journalist, UN finds

Posted on by

IDF fired two rounds at ‘clearly identifiable journalists’ in Lebanon last year when there was no exchange of fire in area

An Israeli tank that killed a Reuters journalist and wounded six others in Lebanon last year fired two 120mm rounds at a group of “clearly identifiable journalists” in violation of international law, a UN investigation has found.

The investigation by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), summarized in a report seen by Reuters, said its personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than 40 minutes before the tank opened fire, killing Issam Abdallah, a 37-year-old video journalist.

Continue reading...

Telegraph takeover: UK planning new laws to prevent foreign states owning assets

Posted on by

New legislation could thwart planned £600m purchase of media group by UAE-backed consortium

The UK government plans to introduce legislation that would prevent foreign governments owning UK newspapers and news magazines in a significant move that could scupper the planned £600m sale of the Telegraph to a United Arab Emirates-backed consortium.

RedBird IMI – a partnership between a fund backed by the UAE’s vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and a privately owned US investment firm – is seeking to acquire one of the UK’s most influential newspaper groups.

Continue reading...

A Separation director Asghar Farhadi cleared of plagiarism claims, says agent

Posted on by

The double Oscar winner’s film A Hero won the grand prix at Cannes in 2021 but was the subject of an alleged copyright infringement brought by a former student

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has been cleared of charges of plagiarism over his film A Hero brought by one of his students, the agency representing him said on Wednesday.

The film, about a prisoner in the Iranian city of Shiraz, won the grand prix at the Cannes film festival in 2021.

Continue reading...

Palestinian boy killed by Israeli police during clashes in East Jerusalem

Posted on by

Child suffered fatal gunshot wound after riots broke out at Shuafat refugee camp during Ramadan

A Palestinian boy has died after being shot by Israeli border police at a refugee camp in East Jerusalem in the first such fatality in the Israeli-annexed territory during Ramadan.

The child – who was variously reported as being 12 or 13 years old – suffered a fatal gunshot wound during clashes between residents of the Shuafat refugee camp and police.

Continue reading...

Palestinian citizen of Israel granted UK asylum in case said to be unprecedented

Posted on by

‘Hasan’, 24, argued he would face persecution in Israel on grounds of his race, faith and its ‘apartheid regime’

A Palestinian citizen of Israel has been granted asylum in the UK after claiming he would face persecution in his home country on the grounds of his race, his Muslim faith and his opinion that Israel “is governed by an apartheid regime”.

“Hasan”, whose real identity is not being disclosed for his own protection, has attended pro-Palestinian protests in the UK, and his lawyers also argued that his activism would place him at increased risk of hostile attention on his return.

Continue reading...

US citizen thought to have been taken hostage in Hamas attack reported dead

Posted on by

Itay Chen, 19, was serving in the IDF when militants attacked his base and killed him, and then took his body to Gaza

Joe Biden has said he was devastated to learn that a dual US-Israeli citizen thought kidnapped and held in Gaza had actually been killed during Hamas’s 7 October attack.

Itay Chen, 19, was about one year into his military service in the Israeli Armoured Corps when his base near the Gaza border was attacked.

Continue reading...

Palestinian aid agency funding will stay frozen until reports received, says UK

Posted on by

US, UK and Australia and others will decide on Unrwa support only after seeing reports on Israeli claims, says Foreign Office minister

Countries including the US, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Australia will not take a decision on ending the suspension of funding to the Palestinian relief works agency Unrwa until they have seen two interim reports on the organisation, the UK Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell has said.

Mitchell’s remarks put back a decision on the funding for weeks, and runs counter to the decision by Sweden, Canada and the EU to resume funding the agency.

Continue reading...

Foreign Office official floated idea of giving honour to fixer for Saudi royals

Posted on by

Salah Fustok alleged by UK prosecutors to have been a middleman for nearly £10m in payments to Saudi prince

A Foreign Office official floated the idea of giving an honour to a businessman who was later alleged to have helped facilitate millions of pounds of bribes to a Saudi prince and his high-ranking associates.

Salah Fustok was alleged by UK anti-corruption prosecutors to have been a middleman for nearly £10m of payments to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and other Saudi officials as “an inducement or reward” for the awarding of a contract by the Saudi Arabian national guard.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israel and Hamas ‘not near a truce’, says Qatar; Biden ‘devastated’ US-Israeli citizen killed in 7 October attack – as it happened

Posted on by

All parties ‘continuing to work in negotiations’, says Qatar; US president says he has heavy heart after learning of death of Itay Chen. This live blog is closed

A spokesperson for Yemen’s internationally recognised government told Reuters earlier that airstrikes that hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen were carried out by the UK and the US.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said that earlier reports that Britain was involved in carrying out the airstrikes were incorrect.

Continue reading...

Red Sea crisis: US carries out six ‘self-defence’ strikes against Houthi targets

Posted on by

Yemeni group earlier warned it would escalate operations during Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

The US said it carried out six strikes in self-defence against Houthi targets on Monday afternoon and evening, hours after the rebel group warned it would escalate attacks during Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

US Central Command (Centcom) said it destroyed an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles belonging to the Houthis – but on Tuesday reports emerged of drones being shot down by an Italian warship in the Red Sea.

Continue reading...

First aid ship to Gaza leaves Cyprus port in pilot project

Posted on by

Charity ship seen sailing out of Larnaca towing barge containing 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein

An aid ship that has been docked in Cyprus for close to a month has finally set sail for Gaza, taking almost 200 tonnes of aid in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.

A video showed the Open Arms boat departing the Mediterranean island’s southern port of Larnaca at an unknown time early on Tuesday. Government officials in Cyprus had said the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be released for security reasons.

Continue reading...

US delegation leaves Saudi Arabia early over kippah row

Posted on by

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom cuts visit short after rabbi told to remove Jewish head covering

A US delegation on religious freedom said on Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town and Unesco world heritage site, when the commission’s chair, the Orthodox rabbi Abraham Cooper, “refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering”.

Continue reading...

Israeli human rights groups accuse country of failing to abide by ICJ’s Gaza aid ruling

Posted on by

Exclusive: 12 prominent organisations sign open letter criticising lack of humanitarian access

Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The court in The Hague made a number of legal requirements of Israel when it issued a provisional ruling in late January in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing the state of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza.

Continue reading...

West won’t stop Houthi attacks unless it works with Yemeni authorities, say experts

Posted on by

Calls for closer collaboration made after multiple Houthi drone strikes on ships in Red Sea over weekend

Western efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea will fail unless the US and its allies build stronger intelligence and military relations with the UN-recognised government in Yemen, politicians and experts are warning.

Yemen’s ambassador to the UK has warned the Houthis have to be confronted and driven away from Red Sea ports such as Hodeidah. Similar calls were made by members of the Yemeni government coalition when they visited London last month.

Continue reading...

Next stop for Democratic ‘uncommitted’ vote campaign for Gaza: Washington

Posted on by

After successes in Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii, local organizers urge voters to keep pressure on Biden for ceasefire

The movement among Democrats to cast a Gaza protest vote against President Joe Biden in the primary election moves to Washington state on Tuesday.

Organizers with Vote Uncommitted WA have been working for two weeks to ramp up outreach to voters via phone, text, online and in-person connections to explain how they can use their primary ballots to check “uncommitted delegates” to send a message to Biden in support of a permanent ceasefire.

Continue reading...

US defence contractor paid commissions to Saudi firm later alleged to be conduit for bribes

Posted on by

Harris had longstanding relationship with ABTSS, later alleged by British prosecutors to have handled or received illegal payments

One of the largest military contractors in the US paid commissions to a Saudi company later alleged to have been a conduit for bribes for the kingdom’s royal family.

A document disclosed in a UK criminal trial revealed that Harris Corporation, now L3Harris, paid commissions to the Saudi company for over two decades for services in the kingdom.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: European Commission ‘hopeful’ first boat from Cyprus carrying aid to Gaza will set sail soon – as it happened

Posted on by

The EU says the ship is just one of three routes to getting life-saving supplies to the population of Gaza

Citing the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that overnight and into the morning Israeli security forces have detained at least a further 25 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It reports that most of the detentions happened in Ramallah.

The PPS now states that about 7,530 Palestinians have been detained since 7 October by Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Ensuring all the needs of the population in the Gaza Strip are met is not a favour from anyone; it is a guaranteed right under international humanitarian law even during times of war.

If the US administration is serious about solving the humanitarian crisis, the easiest and shortest path is to stop using veto power to allow a ceasefire to be reached, and to compel Israel to open all land crossings and allow entry of all required aid.

The occupation’s attempt to communicate with the leaders and clans of some families to operate within the Gaza Strip is considered direct collaboration with the occupation and is a betrayal of the nation that we will not tolerate. The occupation’s efforts to establish bodies to manage Gaza are a ‘failed conspiracy’ that will not materialise.

Continue reading...

UK lawyer to oversee ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestinian territories

Posted on by

Andrew Cayley, previously Britain’s chief military prosecutor, to run operation of the complex case

A senior British lawyer has been appointed to oversee the international criminal court’s investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, the Guardian understands.

Andrew Cayley, a barrister and former military prosecutor, has recently joined the ICC after he was chosen by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, to lead the high-profile investigation.

Continue reading...

Gaza food aid ship stuck at Cyprus with ‘technical difficulties’

Posted on by

Vessel carrying 200 tonnes of provisions to alleviate looming famine now not sailing from Larnaca on Sunday as planned

An aid ship carrying 200 tonnes of food to alleviate looming famine in the Gaza Strip remained docked in Cyprus on Sunday night, despite the push for maritime aid in the face of stalling ceasefire talks and the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Cyprus government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, told the island’s official news agency that the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be made public for “security reasons”. It was later reported that due to “technical difficulties”, it might not depart until Monday morning.

Continue reading...