Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Israeli ground offensive in Gaza faces physical and political risks

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Military has might on its side but Hamas is prepared and the humanitarian fallout could prove costly

Israel is poised to launch a ground offensive into the northern half of Gaza, an attack that, for all the country’s military superiority, is fraught with uncertainty and whose potential humanitarian consequences are grim.

The military called up 300,000 reservists on Monday to add to its 170,000-strong standing army and has been massing them near the Gaza border. Hamas, it is estimated, can count on 30,000 fighters, perhaps a tenth of the likely invasion force, and it has neither the tanks nor the air power available to the attackers.

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‘They had no chance’: UK relatives of missing Israelis pray for their release

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London-based Noam Sagi and Sharone Lifschitz hope against hope for safety of their parents, missing after kibbutz massacre

As Noam Sagi watched footage of journalists reporting from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza last Saturday, his heart sank when he saw his 75-year-old mother’s burnt-out car in the background.

His family had not heard from Ada since she called in distress earlier that morning to say Hamas gunmen had stormed the kibbutz and she was sheltering in a safe room.

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Don’t avoid discussing Hamas-Israel conflict with children, say experts

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Ignoring tricky questions could drive young people on to the internet, where disinformation proliferates

As difficult as it might be, carers should not avoid discussing the Hamas-Israel conflict with children, experts have said. Doing so, they warn, could drive young people on to the internet where disturbing disinformation and images are easily found.

“Don’t avoid difficult questions,” said Emma Citron, a consultant clinical psychologist with extensive experience of working with children. “If those questions are in the heads of our young people, it’s our job to give them a balanced and reassuring – but also an honest – account.”

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Tens of thousands rally around the world in support of Israel and Palestinians

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Jewish and Palestinian communities take to the streets as police increase presence around schools, synagogues and mosques

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attacks a week ago.

Elsewhere, Jewish communities in the US, France and other countries held rallies on Friday in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country’s 75-year history.

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Palestinians flee northern Gaza before expected Israeli ground invasion

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Thousands pack into cars and trucks or leave on foot after Israel told them to go, as violence flares in East Jerusalem and West Bank

Thousands of people have been fleeing to the southern half of Gaza before an expected ground invasion of the blockaded strip as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict descends into its bloodiest period in decades.

The UN says it estimates “tens of thousands” of people have fled their homes and moved south, adding that more than 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza were already internally displaced before Israel’s military issued an order to evacuate.

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US families of Hamas attack victims tell of ‘total horror’

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At least 22 Americans have died and 14 are missing – and officials are scrambling to determine whether the latter are still alive

As US officials work to determine the whereabouts of 14 US citizens unaccounted for since last Saturday’s deadly Hamas assault on Israel, US families of the dead or missing are describing their loss.

At least 22 Americans are known to have died in last Saturday’s attacks, and officials have said they are working to determine whether those missing have been killed or taken hostage.

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Shelling on south Lebanon border kills one journalist and injures six

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Shell, reportedly Israeli, struck group of international journalists covering clashes at border

A group of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon have been hit by shelling, with one killed and six injured. The Associated Press and Al Jazeera said the weapon was an Israeli shell.

Reuters said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer Issam Abdallah has been killed. Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal. Our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time.”

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Blinken urges Israel to avoid civilian deaths and wants safe zones in Gaza

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Top US diplomat tours Arab states in effort to avoid wider war over expected Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip

The US’s most senior diplomat has urged Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza as he called for the establishment in the territory of safe zones where shelter, food, water and medical supplies can be provided.

“We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians,” the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. “We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives.”

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Insurance issues delay UK attempts to bring citizens home from Israel

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British-organised repatriation flights cancelled but other countries’ flights are able to land in UK

British citizens trying to escape the war zone in Israel are having their repatriation flights repeatedly cancelled by the British government, while emergency flights arranged by US and Australian authorities are landing in the UK.

The government has failed in its attempts to organise repatriation flights for British nationals to return home from Israel because of problems obtaining insurance, an aviation source told the PA news agency.

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UN says tens of thousands have fled south in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation order – as it happened

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More than 400,000 in Gaza were already internally displaced before Israel’s evacuation order, UN humanitarian office says

“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City told an Associated Press reporter while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her.

She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.

The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza city, from their homes, southwards, for their own safety and protection, and to move to the area south of wadi Gaza, the river Gaza, as shown on the map.

The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel, and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place. This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza city only when another announcement permitting it is made. Do not approach the area of the security fence of Israel. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza city, inside tunnels, underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent civilians who are using you as human shields.

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Gaza residents told to move south as Israel prepares for expected ground assault

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UN says Israeli military has given 1.1 million Gaza residents 24 hours to move amid warnings it could cause ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’

Israel’s military has delivered sweeping evacuation orders for almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive aiming to eradicate the Hamas militant group after its unprecedented assault on Israel, UN officials said.

The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade.

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‘We came to thank him and say goodbye’: mourners bury young Briton in quiet, jittery Jerusalem

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As Nathanel Young, 20, was buried, the streets of the divided city remained uneasily empty with both sides fearing reprisals

On a hillside in Jerusalem, hundreds of people stood in near silence at the funeral of a “lone soldier”. Speaking only in whispers or exchanging glances they crammed on to the stone walls that overlooked the line of white gravestones in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl.

A fearful quiet had descended on the city, with the line of cars snaking up the hillside and the crowds of people finding their way to the cemetery marking the only crowds in a place normally teeming with life.

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US to send more arms to Israel before expected Gaza invasion

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Ground forces are gathering near the border, as UN says that Gaza is dangerously close to running out of food and water

The US pledged to send more arms to Israel on Thursday ahead of an expected ground assault in Gaza against Hamas, as the UN warned food and water supplies were running dangerously low in the blockaded enclave.

As America’s top diplomat flew into Israel following Saturday’s surprise cross-border assault by Hamas, the UK announced it would send two navy ships and would begin surveillance flights in its own show of support.

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Palestinian death toll passes 1,500 – as it happened

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In previous encounters, says Nebal Farsakh, there would always be some time without airstrikes.

“But now, there is not a single minute. That’s why the casualties keep going up and up,” says Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent.

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FA criticised by Jewish groups over response to Hamas attacks

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  • Silence for all Israel-Palestine victims and no lit Wembley arch
  • Campaign Against Antisemitism says plan ‘utterly shameful’

Leading Jewish groups have hit out at English football’s response to the Hamas attacks in Israel and criticised the Football Association’s refusal to light up the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag.

With the FA believed to be nervous over being seen to favour one of Israel and Palestine, it has decided to hold a period of silence for all victims of the conflict before England host Australia in a friendly on Friday night. On a day when the Premier League broke its silence on the situation, it was announced that the England and Australia players would wear black armbands and that supporters would be prevented from bringing Israeli and Palestinian kits and flags into Wembley.

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Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf tells of war’s impact on in-laws in Gaza

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Yousaf renews calls for UK government to urge ceasefire as he describes his family’s fears for trapped relatives

His mother-in-law in besieged Gaza is running out of drinking water. His brother-in-law, a doctor, is dealing with the horror of trying to identify body parts in a hospital nearby. And his four-year-old daughter, at home in Scotland, can only understand that “granny is afraid of the thunder”.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has described in brutal detail the impact on trapped family members of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response to the shock attacks by Hamas at the weekend.

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What are the rules of war – and how do they apply to the Israel-Gaza conflict?

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International humanitarian law dictates the rules combatants should follow – with a central tenet that ‘civilians should not be targeted’

Amid the horror of the attacks by Hamas on Israel and the response by the Israeli military in Gaza, there have been calls for both sides to abide by international law and accusations of breaches.

So what is the framework of international laws that is supposed to govern war or armed conflicts?

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Hamas attacks on Israel had echoes of Nazi massacres, says Antony Blinken

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At press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, US secretary of state says America will always be by Israel’s side

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said the attacks by Hamas on Israel on Saturday had “harrowing echoes” of Nazi massacres, as he stood alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem in an act of public solidarity.

Blinken, who is Jewish, vowed that the US would stand for ever alongside Israel, and said he would use his tour of the region to urge all parties, especially Hezbollah, not to broaden the conflict or open a second front.

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Dysfunction in Washington leaves Middle East without key US diplomats

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Having no US ambassador to Israel in place and Republicans holding up military promotions is a threat to democracy, experts say

Political turmoil in Washington has left the US without key diplomats across the Middle East and raised concerns that years of congressional dysfunction are taking their toll on US leadership.

A devastating weekend attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen shook the region and came at a moment when there is no US ambassador in place in Israel, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon or Oman.

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