Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Israeli ministers reportedly considering limiting aid entering Gaza

Posted on by

Two ministers said to have suggested move as part of efforts to free hostages and weaken Hamas, which they claim hijacks supplies

Ministers in Israel’s war cabinet are reportedly considering limiting the amount of aid reaching Gaza, as rightwing protesters disrupt the entry of trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the besieged Palestinian territory.

Benny Gantz, a retired general who joined the emergency wartime government formed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after 7 October, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff and war cabinet observer, suggested temporarily limiting aid to weaken Hamas, Israel’s Channel 12 reported late on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden issues executive order against Israeli settlers in West Bank

Posted on by

Financial sanctions and visa bans imposed on four individuals as US frustration with Israel grows

Joe Biden has issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians, amid fast-growing frustration in Washington at Israel’s trajectory in the midst of its war in Gaza.

The order initially imposes financial sanctions and visa bans against four individuals, and US officials said they were evaluating whether to punish others involved in attacks that have intensified during the Israel-Hamas war.

Continue reading...

UK manufacturers hit by Red Sea disruption and rising shipping costs

Posted on by

Supply chain difficulties have led to job losses and cuts in purchasing and stocks, S&P Global poll shows

Britain’s factories have been hit by disruption caused by Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea that led to shipping delays and contributed to rising costs, as the boss of Adidas warned about “exploding” global freight rates.

UK manufacturers have experienced growing supply chain difficulties, as the Red Sea crisis led to the rerouting of deliveries of raw materials, components and other goods away from the Suez Canal, a survey has shown.

Continue reading...

US orders reprisal strikes against Iranian-backed militia

Posted on by

Strikes expected to take place in Syria and possibly Iraq, after three US soldiers were killed at a base in Jordan

The US has ordered a series of reprisal strikes to be launched over more than one day against an Iranian-backed militia, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has said.

Austin said all drones in the region attacking the US were of Iranian origin. The retaliatory strikes are expected to hit militia in Syria and possibly Iraq, though Austin did not specify the timing or precise location.

Continue reading...

Israel’s campaign in Gaza ‘plausibly’ amounts to genocide, US court finds

Posted on by

But federal judge in California says lawsuit aimed at stopping US military support for Israel is outside court’s jurisdiction

A federal court in California has ruled that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza “plausibly” amounts to genocide, but dismissed a case aimed at stopping US military support for Israel as being outside the court’s jurisdiction.

“There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the court. This is one of those cases,” the US district court in the northern district of California ruled. “The court is bound by precedent and the division of our coordinate branches of government to abstain from exercising jurisdiction in this matter.

Continue reading...

Belgium summons Israeli ambassador over bombing of Gaza development office building – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closing. You can read all our coverage of the Middle East and the Israel-Gaza war here.

Israeli media reports that Hamas representatives are again conducting talks in Cairo on the outlines of a possible hostage deal, with Egypt and Qatar mediating.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that two Palestinian men have been shot and wounded overnight by Israeli security forces during a raid on the Isreali-occupied West Bank city of Tubas.

Continue reading...

Dozens in Jordan targeted by authorities using NSO spyware, report finds

Posted on by

Findings suggest Jordan is relying on cyberweapon to quash dissent and its use is ‘staggeringly widespread’

About three dozen journalists, lawyers and human rights workers in Jordan have been targeted by authorities using powerful spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group amid a broad crackdown on press freedoms and political participation, according to a report by the lobbying group Access Now.

The information suggests the Jordanian government has used the Israeli cyberweapon against members of civil society, including at least one American citizen living in Jordan, between 2019 and September 2023.

Continue reading...

Refugee files complaint to UN against Spain over 2014 border deaths

Posted on by

Country accused of violating torture convention in hope of finding justice decade after incident in which at least 15 people died

A 25-year-old from Cameroon has filed a complaint to the UN against Spain, accusing the country of multiple violations of the convention against torture in hope of seeking justice after an incident in 2014 during which at least 15 people died while trying to enter Spanish territory from Morocco.

“A decade has passed and still not a single person has been held accountable for the death and injury of so many,” said the man, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Ludovic.

Continue reading...

Hamas mulls ceasefire proposal amid intense fighting across Gaza

Posted on by

Leader of Hamas heads to Cairo talks, with many families of Israeli hostages pressing for a negotiated release

Heavy bombardment of Gaza continued on Wednesday as the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected to arrive in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire proposal in the Israel-Gaza war that would reportedly involve the staged release of Israeli hostages.

A Hamas official said Haniyeh would be in the Egyptian capital for talks on Wednesday or Thursday, as intense fighting was reported in the south of the territory in Khan Younis and in the north in Gaza City.

Continue reading...

Israel says it continues to operate in central and northern Gaza – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Overnight the US central command reported that Yemen’s Houthis fired one anti-ship cruise missile towards the Red Sea, which was shot down by USS Gravely.

The attack was at 11.30pm local time.

Continue reading...

Diseases spread in overcrowded Rafah as Gaza’s population forced south

Posted on by

Crisis in southern Gaza only set to worsen in coming days as Israeli forces push deeper into Khan Younis

Haneen Harara wakes up each morning in the southern Gazan city of Rafah thinking about the long queues and crowds that stand between her and the survival basics of food, water and medical care.

The film-maker and employee at a Dutch charity considers herself lucky that she and 15 members of her family reached the city on Gaza’s border with Egypt in time to find a house at which to stay. Many others have found shelter from the winter cold in tents that fill with water every time it rains.

Continue reading...

Iran not seeking war with US but ‘not afraid of it’, says military chief

Posted on by

Head of Islamic Revolutionary Guards defiant as US prepares ‘very consequential response’ to drone attack on Jordan base

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US, as the Pentagon weighs how directly to respond to the killing of three US servicemen in a drone attack in Jordan.

The IRGC commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

Continue reading...

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Biden events cast shadow on his re-election effort

Posted on by

President dogged by anti-Gaza war crowds everywhere he goes over support for Israel despite the heavy cost in civilian lives

Joe Biden had barely started speaking at a high-profile re-election campaign rally focusing on abortion rights in Virginia last week when the carefully choreographed made-for-TV spectacle exploded into a cacophony of angry yelling.

“Genocide Joe!”, a protester holding up a Palestinian flag cried from the back of the hall. “How many kids have you killed in Gaza? How many women have you killed in Gaza?”

Continue reading...

Iran on high alert as Biden mulls response to killing of US servicemen

Posted on by

Tehran warns Washington but regime unsure of degree of support for interventionist foreign policy

Iran has told the US via intermediaries that if it strikes Iranian soil directly, Tehran will itself hit back at American assets in the Middle East, drawing the two sides into a direct conflict.

The warning comes as Iran waits on high alert to see how Joe Biden responds to the death of three US servicemen deemed by Washington to have been killed by a Tehran-backed militia based in Syria.

Continue reading...

Biden says he has decided how US will respond to Jordan drone attack

Posted on by

Iran-backed militia Washington blamed for attack announces it has suspended anti-US operations

Joe Biden has said he has decided how to respond to a drone strike in northern Jordan which killed three American soldiers and wounded dozens more, as the Iran-backed militia that Washington blamed for the attack said it had suspended anti-US operations.

As Washington pondered its response, Kataib Hezbollah announced the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region, claiming the decision was intended to prevent “embarrassment” to the Iraqi government.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu rules out ceasefire deal that would mean Gaza withdrawal

Posted on by

Israeli PM also says he will not accept any truce that would require release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners

Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept any ceasefire deal that requires the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners or the departure of Israeli troops from Gaza, as the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said he was willing to travel to Cairo to discuss the proposals.

Haniyeh said the group’s aim remained to end Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and secure a full pullout of Israeli forces from the territory.

Continue reading...

Israeli special forces disguised as doctors kill three militants at West Bank hospital

Posted on by

Counter-terrorism officers enter Jenin’s Ibn Sina hospital wearing doctors’ scrubs and women’s clothes

Israeli forces dressed in doctors’ scrubs and women’s clothes have killed three Palestinian militants in an undercover operation in a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

A border police counter-terrorism unit and a unit from the internal security forces, known as the Shin Bet, entered Ibn Sina hospital on the outskirts of the city’s refugee camp early on Tuesday, CCTV footage of the aftermath of the operation showed.

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia surprises oil markets by ditching plan to increase production

Posted on by

Blow to Joe Biden, who had hoped to benefit from lower pump prices in an election year

Saudi Arabia has cast doubt on the future of the global oil market after abandoning plans to grow its crude production capacity by 1m barrels a day.

The world’s biggest exporter signalled a big change in policy by ordering the state oil company, Saudi Aramco, to drop plans to expand its maximum production capacity to 13m barrels a day by 2027.

Continue reading...

Somalia to launch its first current affairs TV show led by women

Posted on by

New show will follow Question Time format answering audience questions on taboo subjects from periods to women in politics

Somalia’s only all-female media team, Bilan, is launching the country’s first TV current affairs show to be hosted by a woman.

The debate show, which plans to address some taboo subjects, will also be the first programme on Somali television to have a panel of at least 50% women, and the first to broach contentious topics, such as a critical shortage of female teachers and the challenges faced by women trying to get into politics, as well as environmental issues.

Continue reading...

Israel denies its forces are storming al-Amal hospital in Gaza – as it happened

Posted on by

Denial comes after Palestinian Red Crescent Society says hospital in Khan Younis is under attack; White House declines to give further details of response

The Wafa Palestinian news agency reports that “dozens of Palestinian civilians” have been killed today by Israeli airstrikes, including “intense and fierce airstrikes at the city of Rafah”, which is in the south of the Gaza Strip and is one of the areas Israel’s military has repeatedly told Palestinians to flee to for safety.

Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah for Al Jazeera, said the strike in Rafah caused “a great deal of panic and concern as people believe the military operation is expanding step by step”. He said a house was destroyed and a number of people were reported dead, as “the Israeli military continues bombing, killing and maiming Palestinians across Gaza”.

Continue reading...