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Israeli warplanes have attacked targets in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after a rocket was launched towards the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz in Israel on Friday, the IDF has said.
The Israeli army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the rocket fell in an area near the border fence between Israel and southern Gaza.
Continue reading...Palestinian restauranteur speaks from Bethlehem, where food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attack
Fadi Kattan looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said. “And over there should be piles of aubergines and courgettes.”
The watermelons from Jenin looked too small for the season, while he wasn’t sure where the boxes of oranges were from. They would normally be from Gaza. At Um Nabil’s stall in the West Bank market where Kattan is a regular customer, she told him she could no longer afford to bring in the best small local cucumbers or piles of green cherries from her village of Artas.
Continue reading...Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient custom
Traditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.
For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or “towers of silence”. These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil, and the sacred elements of earth, fire and water, from being contaminated by corpses.
Continue reading...People in Jerusalem express little sympathy with anti-war demonstrators, with some accusing them of hatred for Israel
At the Jerusalem theatre on Thursday night, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks of pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses reached a tumultuous climax 6,000 miles away.
The noisy demonstrations have been closely followed in Israel, reported by major media and discussed by prominent public figures.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Penny Wong says a two-state solution is ‘the only path out’ of a cycle of violence as she meets Germany’s Annalena Baerbock
The Australian government faces a decision next week on whether to support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN and is swapping notes with allies including South Korea and Germany.
A copy of the draft resolution, seen by Guardian Australia, expresses “deep regret and concern” that the US used its veto power to block the proposal at the UN security council last month.
Continue reading...UN humanitarian office spokesman says hundreds of thousands of lives could be at risk and there would be a huge impact on aid operations
Daniel Hurst is Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent.
The Australian government faces a decision next week on whether to support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN and is swapping notes with allies including South Korea and Germany.
Continue reading...Israeli foreign minister strongly criticises decision by President Erdoğan, accusing him of acting like a ‘dictator’
Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister.
“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday.
Continue reading...PM backs action in case of disorder on campuses after claims that pro-Palestinian protests create hostile atmosphere
The prime minister has backed a police crackdown on any outbreak of disorder on university campuses after Jewish students said pro-Palestinian encampments were creating a “hostile and toxic atmosphere”.
In recent days, new encampments have been set up at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle, among others, after violent scenes on US campuses resulted in mass arrests of students and staff.
Continue reading...UN agency says reconstruction will require effort on a scale unseen since second world war
The EU has offered Lebanon a financial package of €1bn (£855m / $1.07bn), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Beirut on Thursday.
The funds would be available from this year until 2027, von der Leyen told a joint news conference with Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides.
This continued EU support will strengthen basic services such as education, social protection and health for the people in Lebanon. It will accompany urgent economic, financial and banking reforms. Furthermore, support will be provided to the Lebanese armed forces and other security forces with equipment and training for border management and to fight against smuggling.
Continue reading...Gustavo Petro tells May Day rally ‘if Palestine dies, humanity dies’, as Israeli foreign minister accuses president of antisemitism
Colombia’s president has announced that his government will sever diplomatic relations with Israel, in the latest escalation of a furious row between the countries over the war in Gaza.
Addressing a May Day rally in Bogotá on Wednesday, Gustavo Petro again described Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide”.
Continue reading...Los Angeles mayor calls late-night attack by counter-demonstrators ‘abhorrent’ as footage shows people wielding sticks
The University of California in Los Angeles was reeling on Wednesday following a late-night violent attack by counter-demonstrators on a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, as the state’s governor condemned a slow response from law enforcement to some of the worst violence seen since students across the US intensified their protests in support of Gaza.
As the Los Angeles mayor called the violence “abhorrent” and California’s governor said he was monitoring the situation, UCLA announced it was cancelling all classes on Wednesday “due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night”.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken holds two-hour meeting with Netanyahu while Hamas considers ceasefire proposal
Israel’s leaders were under renewed pressure to allow more aid into Gaza on Wednesday after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told Benjamin Netanyahu to “accelerate and sustain improvements” seen during recent days in the amount of humanitarian assistance reaching the territory.
Humanitarian agencies say that though the number of lorries entering Gaza after being vetted by Israel has increased significantly, these still deliver only a fraction of what is needed.
Continue reading...Two convoys on the way to Gaza attacked by some Israeli settlers, reports Jordan’s state news agency
Reporting for Al Jazeera from Rafah, Tareq Abu Azzoum has said that Israel appears to have “ramped up airstrikes and land bombardment”. He writes for the news network:
Israeli artillery units have been relentlessly pounding the Nuseirat refugee camp – in the northern part of that densely populated area – where thousands of Palestinians are. They have also been taking a systematic approach to destroying residential buildings in al-Mughraqa.
Here in Rafah in the south, the situation is also dire. A number of houses were attacked, with two Palestinian children killed. The children arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital alive, but they succumbed to their wounds.
You have to hear this to believe this. The international criminal court in The Hague is contemplating issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials as war criminals.
This would be an outrage of historic proportions. International bodies like the ICC arose in the wake of the Holocaust committed against the Jewish people. They were set up to prevent such horrors, to prevent future genocides.
This ICC attempt is an attempt to paralyze Israel’s very ability to defend itself. The government and people of Israel reject outright this grave threat to our security, this grave threat to our very existence.
And I want to assure you, no ICC action will impact Israel’s ironclad determination to achieve the goals of our war with Hamas terrorists. We will destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in Gaza. We will release all our hostages. And we will ensure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again.
Continue reading...Riyadh seeks more modest agreement with Washington in absence of Gaza ceasefire and Netanyahu resistance to Palestinian state
The US and Saudi Arabia have drafted a set of agreements on security and technology-sharing which were intended to be linked to a broader Middle East settlement involving Israel and the Palestinians.
However, in the absence of a ceasefire in Gaza and in the face of adamant resistance from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government to the creation of a Palestinian state – and its apparent determination to launch an offensive on Rafah – the Saudis are pushing for a more modest plan B, which excludes the Israelis.
Continue reading...Manahel al-Otaibi, who frequently promoted female empowerment on social media, was arrested under anti-terror laws
A young women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia was secretly sentenced to 11 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court after being arrested for “her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights”.
Saudi officials confirmed in a statement to the United National high commissioner for Human Rights that Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced on 9 January for what the Saudi government called “terrorist offences”.
Continue reading...British government doing everything it can to prevent assault on Rafah while civilians shelter there, says deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell
Al Jazeera is carrying a quote from Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan. It quotes him saying:
It’s clear from the Israeli paper that they are still insisting on two major issue: they don’t want a complete ceasefire and they are not talking – in a serious way – about the withdrawal from Gaza. In fact, they are still talking about their presence, which means they will continue to occupy Gaza. We have serious questions for the mediators. If there are positive answers, I think we can move forward.
Continue reading...Images on TV show police on campus in New York after students take over Hamilton Hall building amid continuing protests
New York City police entered Columbia University on Tuesday evening in a reported effort to disperse the students who took over an academic building – and are facing expulsion – earlier in the day and those who have been encamped on school property for two weeks as tensions surrounding the pro-Palestinian demonstration escalated.
TV images showed police entering the elite university in upper Manhattan, which has been the focal point of student protests that have spread to dozens of schools across the US.
Continue reading...Observation was made by medics contributing a new pain management manual for treating children in conflict zones
Children being treated in Gaza’s hospitals are “underplaying” pain because it “seems trivial” in the context of the wider conflict, doctors have said.
International medics met in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday to discuss plans for a new trauma pain management manual to support professionals treating children in Gaza and other conflict zones.
Continue reading...Republican governor says on social media ‘no encampments will be allowed’ as videos show police using pepper spray
Protesters who returned to the University of Texas at Austin on Monday were greeted by dozens of law enforcement officers, many in riot gear. At least 43 protesters were arrested as police and campus security used pepper spray and flash-bang charges on the crowd.
The Republican governor, Greg Abbott, on social media reposted video of troopers arriving on the 50,000-student campus. “No encampments will be allowed. Instead, arrests are being made,” Abbott posted.
Continue reading...State department says five units mostly from IDF but including at least one police unit responsible for gross violations in West Bank
The US has found five units of the Israeli security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, over incidents in the West Bank before the current Gaza war, the state department has said.
The findings come at a time when Israel is facing potential accountability from the international criminal court and the state department for its conduct of the conflict in Gaza, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed.
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