Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Israel still has no proof of Unrwa terrorist claims – but damage to aid agency is done

Posted on by

Inquiry has not backed up allegations of ties to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which led to loss of $450m as people died in droves

Unsupported Israeli allegations about Unrwa links to terrorism led major donors to cut $450m in funding to the main humanitarian agency working in Gaza at a time when people there were dying in droves.

Three months later, the situation has only worsened with the onset of a human-made famine on top of the bombing, the collapse of healthcare, the lack of water and a rise in epidemics. And despite a rigorous inquiry by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, supported by three well-respected research institutes, there is still no evidence for the claim that significant numbers of Unrwa employees have Hamas or Islamic Jihad ties.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: More than 200 bodies recovered from temporary mass graves in Nasser hospital, local authorities say – as it happened

Posted on by

Residents return to site in search of bodies of loved ones following withdrawal of Israeli forces last month. This live blog is closed

Haaretz reports that Israeli security forces have arrested two people suspected of carrying out a car ramming in Jerusalem. Three people are reported to have been injured.

Aharon Haliva, who was the general in command of the IDF’s military intelligence directorate on 7 October, has resigned over the failure of Israel’s military to prevent the attack inside southern Israel by Hamas that day, according to Israeli media reports.

Continue reading...

Israel has yet to provide evidence of Unrwa staff terrorist links, Colonna report says

Posted on by

Exclusive: review finds government yet to substantiate claims UN relief agency staff have ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad

Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of its claims that employees of the UN relief agency Unrwa are members of terrorist organisations, an independent review led by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna has said.

The Colonna report, which was commissioned by the UN in the wake of Israeli allegations, found that Unrwa had regularly supplied Israel with lists of its employees for vetting, and that “the Israeli government has not informed Unrwa of any concerns relating to any Unrwa staff based on these staff lists since 2011”.

Continue reading...

Pro-Israel US groups plan $100m effort to unseat progressives over Gaza

Posted on by

Aipac and other groups targeting candidates critical of Israel’s war in Gaza – but progressives are not going down without a fight

Pro-Israel groups are pumping millions into this year’s heated congressional races, singling out progressives who have voiced criticism of the Israeli government and its relentless campaign in Gaza.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is betting that $100m will be enough to fight back a wave of progressive dissent over Israel’s war in Gaza this election cycle. After investing heavily in the 2022 midterms, Aipac is now doubling down on its electoral efforts.

Continue reading...

Aipac: the pro-Israel group planning to spend millions in US elections

Posted on by

The lobby group has been a powerful force in American politics – but has Israel’s war in Gaza changed the equation?

A handful of pro-Israel groups fund political campaigns in support of individual candidates in US elections, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a powerful force in American politics. Before the 2024 election, Aipac plans to spend tens of millions of dollars against congressional candidates, primarily Democrats, whom it deems insufficiently supportive of Israel.

Aipac and other pro-Israel lobby groups have recruited and supported challengers to a number of lawmakers and candidates – most notably members of the Squad, the group of progressive representatives who are particularly vocal in their criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Gaza doctors save baby from womb of mother killed in Israeli airstrike

Posted on by

Girl delivered via emergency caesarean section as woman lay dying from head injuries in Rafah

Doctors in Gaza have saved a baby from the womb of her mother as she lay dying from head injuries sustained in an in Israeli airstrike. The girl was delivered via an emergency caesarean section at a hospital in Rafah.

The woman, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant when her family home was hit by an airstrike. Her husband, Shoukri, and their three-year-old daughter, Malak, also died.

Continue reading...

Israeli military intelligence chief quits over 7 October attack

Posted on by

Maj Gen Aharon Haliva is first senior figure to step down over role in deadliest assault in country’s history

The head of Israel’s military intelligence has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’s unprecedented attack on 7 October becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history.

Maj Gen Aharon Haliva wrote in his resignation letter: “The intelligence directorate under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with.

Continue reading...

Peter Hain calls for inquiry into MoD’s alleged role in Saudi bribes scandal

Posted on by

Government auditors must look into claims of complicity in corruption on arms deals with UK, says Labour peer

Alleged Ministry of Defence complicity in the “national scandal” of bribery on arms deals in Saudi Arabia must be investigated by government auditors, a senior Labour politician has said.

Peter Hain, the antiapartheid campaigner and peer, said in a letter to the National Audit Office (NAO) that a “timely, targeted” investigation was now necessary after the conclusion of a major criminal trial.

Continue reading...

US poised to impose sanctions on IDF unit accused of violations in West Bank

Posted on by

Israeli leaders vow to oppose expected measures under Leahy law against the Netzah Yehuda battalion

A unit of the Israel Defense Forces is facing US sanctions over its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, even as Congress voted for $26bn in new emergency aid to Israel.

According to reports in the Israeli media, US state department officials have confirmed they are preparing to impose sanctions on the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has been accused of serious human rights violations against Palestinians.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Netanyahu vows to fight any sanctions on Israeli military units ‘with all my strength’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Israel PM’s comments follow reports that the US was planning measures against an IDF battalion

At least 34,097 Palestinian people have been killed and 76,980 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

An estimated 48 Palestinians were killed and 79 others injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Continue reading...

Erdoğan urges Palestinian unity after meeting Hamas chief

Posted on by

Turkish president says recent events between Iran and Israel should not allow Israel to ‘gain ground’ in Gaza

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.

Erdoğan has failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the region, with the Hamas-run Palestinian territory bracing for a new Israeli offensive and a reported Israeli attack on Iran.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis – as it happened: US denies carrying out airstrikes in Iraq after explosion at military base

Posted on by

‘The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,’ the US military’s Central Command said

Paul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Friday’s events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.

You can take a look at it here:

Continue reading...

Gaza death toll passes 34,000 as Israel and Iran missile strikes grab global attention

Posted on by

Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasion

The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah.

The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has dimmed, and global attention has shifted to the dangerous exchange of missile and drone strikes between Iran and Israel.

Continue reading...

Israel is fighting on four fronts – but the defeat may come at home

Posted on by

The IDF is embroiled in simultaneous conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran and in the West Bank – but hadn’t reckoned on the social and political divisions this would cause

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, described the conflict Israel was engaged in as a “multi-front war” earlier this month.

Israeli forces were fighting Hamas inside Gaza and engaged in daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon. A low-level conflict, mainly consisting of airstrikes, was continuing with Iranian-backed forces in Syria. Israel had also been targeted – albeit ineffectively – by drones fired by the Houthis in Yemen.

Continue reading...

‘Media firestorm’: Israel protest at professor’s home sparks heated free-speech debate

Posted on by

Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley. A polarized and very public controversy has followed

During a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his house’s backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of minutes, but has led to a fierce debate about the limits of free speech, drew death threats to those involved, and created a “media firestorm,” as the dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, has put it.

Some short and chaotic viral videos illustrate part of what happened. One of them shows the woman, Malak Afaneh, as she gives a Ramadan greeting; she is accompanied by a small group of other student protesters. As Afaneh begins reading a speech about the Israel-Gaza war, Chemerinsky and his wife, the law professor Catherine Fisk, quickly cut Afaneh off.

Continue reading...

Explosion hits base of Iranian-aligned Iraqi army unit

Posted on by

Officials report casualties with some citing air strike on former anti-Isis unit known as Hashed al-Shaabi, which is now part of Iraq’s regular military

An explosion has hit an Iraqi military base housing pro-Iranian paramilitaries, according to security sources.

The explosion on Friday night was at the Calso base, where former pro-Iranian paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi – now integrated into the regular army – is stationed, an interior ministry source and a military official told Agence France-Presse.

Continue reading...

US and EU sanctions against Israeli extremists mark pivotal step against far right

Posted on by

International moves target two high-profile individuals with connections to senior figures in far-right politics

The latest US and EU sanctions against individuals implicated in pro-settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories represent a significant escalation in international moves against key far-right extremists in Israel.

While previous sanctions announcements have focused on individual settlers implicated in violence – often little known outside Israel – the latest moves mark the targeting of two far more high-profile individuals with connections to senior figures in far-right politics in Israel, including national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Continue reading...

Gulf states’ response to Iran-Israel conflict may decide outcome of crisis

Posted on by

Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s future

Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in a moment that ultimately led to the first world war, these shots were heard around the world, even if few can agree conclusively on what they portend.

By one de minimis account, Tehran was merely sending a performative warning shot with its attack last Saturday, almost taking its ballistic missiles out for a weekend test drive. The maximalist version is that this was a state-on-state assault designed to change the rules of the Middle East. By swarming Israel with so many projectiles, such an assessment goes, Iran was prepared to risk turning Israel into a mini-Dresden of 1945 and was only thwarted by Israeli strategic defences and, crucially, extraordinary cooperation between the US, Israel and Sunni Gulf allies.

Continue reading...

Diplomacy and drones: how Israel’s reported attack on Iran unfolded

Posted on by

Country’s leaders took time to weigh response to Iran’s strike under gaze of allies urging restraint

Just before dawn on Friday the explosions of air defence systems woke Iranians across the historic city of Isfahan. The breaking news alerts that followed roused people around the world, to worry that the region had moved a step closer to full-blown conflict.

There was little doubt who had launched the attack, even before any details of what happened were clear. It came just days after an unprecedented barrage of Iranian drones and missiles were aimed directly at Israel, whose government had vowed it would respond.

Continue reading...

World leaders urge calm after Israeli drone strike on Iran ratchets up tension

Posted on by

Tit-for-tat attacks have breached taboo of direct strikes on each other’s territory but Tehran has no ‘immediate’ plans to retaliate

World leaders urged calm on Friday after Israel conducted a pre-dawn drone sortie over Iran following a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that crossed an important red line that has for decades held the Middle East back from a major regional conflict.

There were tentative hopes late on Friday that the apparent strike attempt against an airbase near the city of Isfahan was sufficiently limited to fend off the threat of a bigger Iranian response and an uncontrolled spiral of violence between a nuclear power and a state with the capacity to develop nuclear weapons quickly.

Continue reading...