This blog has now closed. Read our full report on the latest developments in Gaza here and our report on a UN meeting to hear accounts of sexual violence committed by Hamas on 7 October here.
Continue reading...Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa
‘The science compels: phase out fossil fuels’ – Mary Robinson responds after Cop28 row – live
Former president of Republic of Ireland makes first comments since Sultan Al Jaber told her a fossil fuel phase out could mean ‘going back into caves’
Alok Sharma, an MP for the Conservative party in Britain and president of Cop26 that was held in Glasgow two years ago, has made some comments about Al Jaber’s presidency: “everyone should be questioned,” he says.
Environment ministers from Germany and Colombia have led an open letter calling for the inclusion of nature in the global stocktake outcome, which countries are negotiating at Cop28.
“The GST provides a critical moment to recognize the importance of just and inclusive means of implementation, and address the significant finance gap for nature-based solutions,” said Muhamad. “In particular, the involvement and respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is critical, in addition to the urgent need to align financial flows to enable the transformations required to deliver the Paris Agreement goals.”
Continue reading...Israel is warned on civilian impact as IDF pushes further into southern Gaza
UN and US urge against a repeat of the destruction and displacement its attacks inflicted on northern end of Palestinian territory
Israel has been urged by UN and US officials to avoid a repeat of the devastating impact that its operations in northern Gaza had on civilians as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) expanded its ground offensive against Hamas further south to the city of Khan Younis.
Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza (UNRWA), said the expansion of military operations in southern Gaza was “repeating horrors from past weeks” by displacing people who had already been displaced, overcrowding hospitals and further “strangling the humanitarian operation” due to limited supplies.
Continue reading...Israel investigates claims investors made millions short-selling before Hamas attacks
US professors detected unusual trading activity on Tel Aviv and US stock exchanges before 7 October
Israeli authorities are investigating claims by US researchers that some investors may have known in advance about the Hamas plan to attack Israel on 7 October and used that information to earn millions of dollars by short-selling Israeli shares.
Research by law professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York University and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University found significant short-selling of shares leading up to the attacks that triggered the war.
Continue reading...British national, 19, killed while fighting for IDF in Gaza
Binyamin Needham was born in England but moved with his family to Israel at the age of eight
A 19-year-old British national has been killed while fighting for the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza.
Binyamin Needham was one of two soldiers killed during an operation in the north of the territory on Sunday, according to a statement released by the IDF.
Continue reading...Israel extends ground offensive into southern Gaza, with mission in north ‘almost complete’
Israel orders people to evacuate areas marked on maps online, but move criticised as many in Gaza do not have internet access
Israeli tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers have entered the southern part of the Gaza Strip near Khan Younis, as an Israeli commander claimed the army had almost completed its mission in the north.
Israeli military vehicles were on the southern section of the main north-to-south road in Gaza, “firing bullets and tank shells at cars and people trying to move through the area”, a witness, Moaz Mohammed, told the AFP news agency.
Continue reading...White House condemns ‘antisemitic’ rally outside Philadelphia falafel shop
Deputy press secretary says protest at Goldie, owned by American Israeli chef Michael Solomonov, ‘completely unjustifiable’
The White House has condemned events outside an Israeli-style falafel shop in Philadelphia that became the focus of marchers at a “Flood Philly for Gaza” rally who chanted, “You can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” on Sunday.
It was “antisemitic and completely unjustifiable to target restaurants that serve Israeli food over disagreements with Israeli policy”, said the deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron says Israel must define more precisely its Gaza aims
French president says there is no lasting security for Israel if it comes at the cost of Palestinian lives
Emmanuel Macron has ramped up his criticism of Israel’s military strategy, saying its stated objective of the elimination of Hamas could take a decade and stoke “the resentment of all public opinion in the region”.
In his strongest warning yet, the French president said at the weekend that the Israeli authorities needed to “define more precisely” their aims in Gaza, adding that the proper response to a terrorist group was not “to bomb the entirety of civilian capabilities”.
Continue reading...Girl, 12, held hostage in Gaza for 50 days ‘won’t let father out of her sight’
Hen Avigdori says daughter Noam sometimes wakes up screaming as doctors report trauma among released Israeli children
The father of a 12-year-old girl who was held hostage in Gaza for 50 days has said she sometimes wakes in the night screaming and will not let him out of her sight.
Hen Avigdori’s daughter Noam and wife, Sharon, were held with other relatives in a single room in Gaza after being abducted from the Be’eri kibbutz on 7 October.
Continue reading...Al Jaber says comments claiming there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels were ‘misinterpreted’ – Cop28 as it happened
Cop28 president and oil chief says phase-down and phase-out of fossil fuels is essential and says his comments were misrepresented
John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate was just asked on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in the UK what he thinks of Damian Carrington’s scoop that Sultan Al Jaber said there was ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels.
He was very diplomatic in his response and appeared to give the oil chief and Cop28 president the benefit of the doubt.
“What you have to do is clearly reduce the emissions. They have made it clear we need a 43% minimum reduction in emissions by 2030, and we need net zero 2050 in order to meet the goal of keeping 1.5. We’ve got all kinds of ways of getting there. Renewables are the one technology we really know we can deploy today and it has the impact we need.”
“We are not only signed up to that, president Biden on behalf of the US voted to join the g7 where we said we must phase out unabated fossil fuel. We have to do that yes otherwise you cannot reach net zero by 2050. What we are trying to figure out is how we can capture those emissions, or reduce those emissions, or not make those emissions in the first place.
“I think the only question here is not whether or not you are going to reduce emissions, it’s what means are you going to use to go at this to provide the energy you want for your country but also keeping faith with the reduction of the emissions that are creating the climate crisis.”
Continue reading...The Israeli army says it has fired on Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to attacks on Monday – as it happened
This blog is now closed. See our Full report here: Israel extends ground offensive into southern Gaza
A volunteer with the Palestinian Red Crescent has been killed in an Israeli strike on the al-Faluja neighbourhood north-east of Gaza City, the organisation has said on X.
Osama Tayeh was killed at his home, the Red Crescent said, while employee Muhammad Abu Rukba was injured in the attack.
Continue reading...Air pollution is dirty secret in UAE, says rights group
Human Rights Watch says country’s air pollution is dangerously high but there is little public criticism
The United Arab Emirates’ vast fossil fuel production is contributing to dangerously high air pollution levels, creating health risks for its people and migrant workers in addition to heating the planet, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
HRW analysis of data from 30 government ground monitoring stations in September 2023 found that average levels of PM2.5 (very small toxic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and easily enter the bloodstream) were almost three times the daily recommended levels under the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines.
Continue reading...Three commercial vessels attacked in Red Sea by Houthi rebels, says US
US military says the destroyer Carney shot down three drones as US Central Command says they believe attacks ‘fully enabled by Iran’
Three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday, as Yemen’s Houthi group claimed drone and missile attacks on two Israeli vessels in the area.
“Today there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea,” the statement from the US Central Command reads. “We have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.”
This article was amended on Monday 4 December to correct a headline error that stated the three commercial vessels were US-owned.
Continue reading...IDF claims to have found 800 tunnel shafts – as it happened
This blog has now closed. Follow our new liveblog here
Al Jazeera is carrying a quote from Unicef’s global spokesperson, James Elder, who had this to say about conditions inside al-Nassar hospital in Khan Younis:
Everywhere you turn to, there are children with third-degree burns, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries and broken bones. Mothers crying over children who look as if they are hours away from death. It seems like a death zone right now.
The UKTMO has received a report of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) activity including a potential explosion in the vicinity of the Bab el Mandeb originating from the direction of Yemen.
Vessels in the vicinity are advised to follow industry guidance on loitering munitions and advised to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.
Continue reading...Israel says its ground forces are operating across ‘all of Gaza’
IDF spokesperson says ‘troops coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them’
Israel continued with its intense bombing campaign across the north and south of Gaza for a third day since the end of the truce with Hamas, killing hundreds of Palestinians in a 24-hour period, according to local officials.
On Sunday night, the Israeli military also said it has expanded its ground operation to all of Gaza. “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] continues to extend its ground operation against Hamas centres in all of the Gaza Strip,” spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv. “The forces are coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them.”
Continue reading...Cop28 live: UAE climate chief’s comments ‘incredibly concerning’,
This live blog is now closed
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has been facing criticism at home for the brevity of his visit to the climate conference, having visited for less than a day. He has also been accused of hypocrisy for pushing for a phase-out of fossil fuels only weeks after approving new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
Al Gore, the former US vice-president, said: “I am not impressed with prime minister Sunak’s climate policies. I think they’re terrible. They’re very disappointing.”
Continue reading...Dozens attend protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli bombardment of Gaza
Demonstration is first time abductees’ families have come together with other activists
Dozens of people attended a noisy fringe protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night outside the Israeli military’s headquarters, protesting against the renewed bombardment on Gaza that they blame for the halt in the release of the estimated 130 hostages still held by Hamas.
The group gathered after the regular weekly rally demanding the release of all the hostages held by Hamas, and marched around the Israel Defense Force’s Kirya military base demanding an urgent meeting with the country’s war cabinet and pressing for a ceasefire.
Continue reading...Cop28 officials fail to clarify if protesters are safe to protest in Dubai
Thousands of activists attending climate conference in UAE, which has a poor record for demonstrations
Cop28 organisers and the UN body that oversees the annual climate conference have failed to clarify whether activists in Dubai are safe to demonstrate outside the conference area, putting civil society at risk in a country where protest is normally prohibited.
At least 80,000 people are registered to attend the conference, including thousands of activists and members of civil society, who normally hold protests around the conference area.
Continue reading...Gaza diary part 31: ‘Santa, this year don’t bring dolls and bicycles, bring blankets and food’
Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian, writes a letter to Santa, asking if he has any safety or hope he can offer the children of Gaza
4pm Dear Santa
Continue reading...UK surveillance aircraft to search for Hamas hostage sites in Gaza
MoD says any information on the potential whereabouts of captives will be shared with Israel
The UK will conduct surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza to search for hostage locations used by Hamas, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
MoD officials said a range of unarmed aircraft would be used for the reconnaissance flights, including Shadow R1s, which are used for intelligence gathering.
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