Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Gaza aid ship Madleen heading to Israel, says Israeli foreign ministry, after activists report army boarded vessel – live

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Freedom Flotilla Coalition says ship’s communications were jammed after Israeli defence minister threatened to ‘take all necessary measures’ to prevent the humanitarian ship from reaching Gaza

Israel’s foreign ministry has said that the Madleen is “safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

In a post on X, the ministry says “The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.”

While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.

There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies.”

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IDF ordered to stop Gaza-bound aid ship carrying Greta Thunberg

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Alarm briefly sounds on vessel Madleen amid interception fears after Israeli defence minister tells military to ‘take all necessary measures’ to block humanitarian ship

The Israeli defence minister has threatened to “take all necessary measures” to prevent a humanitarian ship carrying climate campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza.

The Madleen says it is attempting to reach the shores of the territory to bring in a symbolic amount of aid and raise international awareness of the continuing humanitarian crisis.

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At least four killed by Israeli fire near Gaza food point, officials say

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Shooting happened about a kilometre from distribution site in Rafah run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

At least four people have been killed and others injured by Israeli fire about a kilometre from a food distribution point in Gaza, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said, the latest casualties of a new system to provide supplies that critics say is unethical, chaotic and dangerous.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces had opened fire on Sunday morning as people went to receive supplies from a site in Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed group.

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Iran extends ban on dog-walking for ‘public order, safety and health’

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Many cities said to have imposed prohibition in recent days that echoes 2019 police directive in Tehran

Iranian authorities have expanded a ban on walking dogs in public to many cities nationwide, citing public health, social order and safety concerns, domestic media have reported.

The ban, which echoes a 2019 police directive that barred walking dogs in Tehran, was expanded to Ilam city in the west on Sunday, according to reports.

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Body of Thai hostage retrieved from Gaza, says Israeli defence minister

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Nattapong Pinta had been seized in the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack and killed, according to Israeli military

The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage, Nattapong Pinta, who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023, according to defence minister, Israel Katz. .

Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahideen Brigades, and was retrieved from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.

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Iran blasts Trump for ‘racist mentality’ and hostility to Muslims over travel ban

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Tehran condemns Donald Trump’s order barring 12 countries’ citizens from entering US as violation of ‘fundamental principles of international law’

Tehran has denounced the US travel ban on Iranians and citizens of 11 other mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, saying Washington’s decision was a sign of a “racist mentality”.

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday reviving sweeping restrictions that echo the US president’s first-term travel ban, justified on national security grounds after a firebomb attack at a pro-Israel rally in Colorado.

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Conference to recognise Palestinian state to weaken scope of its ambition, diplomats say

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UK, France and other western states will not recognise Palestine at New York meeting, instead focusing on agreeing steps towards it

A planned conference in New York this month that supporters of Palestine had hoped would push western governments to recognise a Palestinian state has weakened its ambition and will instead hope to agree on steps towards recognition, diplomats have said.

The change to the aims of the conference, due to be held between 17 and 20 June, marks a retreat from an earlier vision that it would mark a joint declaration of recognition of Palestine as a state by a large group of countries, including permanent UN security council members France and the UK.

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Netanyahu defends arming Palestinian clans accused of ties with jihadist groups

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PM says it ‘saves lives of Israeli soldiers’, after accusations government is giving weapons to ‘criminals and felons’

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has admitted arming clans in Gaza that he says are opposed to Hamas, after allegations that members of these criminal gangs looted humanitarian aid and have ties to jihadist groups.

The admission came after Israeli media reports quoted defence sources as saying Netanyahu had authorised giving weapons to a clan reportedly led by a man known as Yasser Abu Shabab, a Rafah resident from a Bedouin family, known locally for his involvement in criminal activity. Israel allegedly provided Abu Shabab’s group, which calls itself the “Anti-Terror Service”, with Kalashnikov assault rifles, including weapons seized from Hamas.

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Israel accused of arming Palestinian gang who allegedly looted aid in Gaza

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Gang ‘of about 100 armed men’ operate in eastern Rafah with tacit approval of IDF in apparent attempt to counter Hamas

Israel’s government has been accused of arming a Palestinian criminal gang whose members have allegedly looted humanitarian aid, in an apparent attempt to counter Hamas in Gaza.

Satellite images and videos verified by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz showed on Thursday that a new Palestinian militia has expanded its presence in southern Gaza, and is operating inside an area under the direct control of the Israel Defense Forces.

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to reopen two distribution centres intended to supply aid – as it happened

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US-backed Israeli logistics group to reopen facilities today after closures following IDF warnings. This live blog is closed

Russian president Vladimir Putin is ready to “help resolve” the standoff between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

“We have a close partnership with Tehran. And President Putin said that he was ready to use this partnership to help resolve the Iranian nuclear issue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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IDF recovers bodies of two Israeli-American hostages from 7 October attack

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Remains of Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai returned to Israel after overnight operation in southern Gaza

Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages who were killed and abducted in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the remains of Judih Weinstein, 70, and Gad Haggai, 72, both of whom had Israeli and US citizenship, were returned to Israel by the army and the Shin Bet internal security agency after an overnight operation in southern Gaza.

Their deaths had been announced in December 2023. “My beautiful parents have been freed. We have certainty,” their daughter, Iris Haggai Liniado, wrote in a Facebook post. She thanked the Israeli military, the FBI and the Israeli and US governments and called for the release of all the remaining hostages.

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US vetoes resolution for unconditional Gaza ceasefire at UN security council

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Russia, China, France and the UK all voted in favour of ‘immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire’

The United States has vetoed a United Nations security council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza while the 14 remaining countries on the council voted in favour.

The vetoed resolution also called the situation in Gaza “catastrophic”, and demanded the “immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN and humanitarian partners”.

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Keir Starmer calls Israel’s recent actions in Gaza ‘appalling and intolerable’

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PM tells MPs he is considering imposing sanctions on Israeli government members but is resisting ban on arms sales

Keir Starmer has called Israel’s recent actions in Gaza “appalling, counterproductive and intolerable”, as the UK government comes under mounting pressure to take stronger action after the killings of dozens of civilians at food points in recent days.

The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday the UK was considering imposing sanctions on members of the Israeli government, but is so far resisting growing calls for a complete ban on arms sales and immediate recognition of Palestine.

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Many of Dead Sea scrolls may be older than thought, experts say

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Researchers enlisted help of AI along with radiocarbon dating to produce new insights into ancient texts

Many of the Dead Sea scrolls could be older than previously thought, with some biblical texts dating from the time of their original authors, researchers say.

The first of the ancient scrolls were discovered in the caves of Qumran in the Judean desert by Bedouin shepherds in the mid-20th century. The manuscripts range from legal documents to parts of the Hebrew Bible, and are thought to date from around the third century BCE to the second century CE.

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Ms Rachel says she’ll risk career to advocate for children in Gaza

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The popular YouTuber has received pushback for speaking out on behalf of children affected by war and famine

Ms Rachel, the children’s entertainer and educator whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions of families around the world, said she is willing to risk her career to keep advocating for suffering children in Gaza.

In an interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, Ms Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, said she had received pushback for speaking out to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza, where more than 54,000 people have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military assault.

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Gaza aid points close for day as Israel warns against travel to distribution centres – Israel-Gaza war live

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation halts limited supply of food distribution after at least 27 killed by Israeli fire as they waited for food

The civil defence agency in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians near the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday killed at least 12 people. Earlier reports had put the death toll at 10 (see 7.47am BST).

“At least 12 people were killed, including several children and women, in a strike by an Israeli drone this morning on a tent for displaced persons” near Khan Younis, the agency’s spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that four more people had been killed in other strikes.

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Israel attacks Syrian targets after projectiles launched toward its territory

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Israel’s defence minister says he holds Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the two projectile launches

Israel hit southern Syria with a series of strikes overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, saying it had targeted weapons belonging to Syrian authorities after the launch of projectiles towards its territory

Israel launched the two attacks after reporting projectiles had been fired from Syria on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the two projectiles.

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Gaza food hub stops operations for second day as access routes remain ‘combat zones’

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Extended closure said to be for maintenance and follows deaths of at least 27 people killed by Israeli troops near distribution site

A US-backed group operating food distribution sites in Gaza has announced that its operations would be suspended for a second day on Thursday, due to “maintenance and repair work”, as the Israeli army warned that roads leading to distribution centres were considered “combat zones”.

After Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians, killing at least 27 and injuring hundreds, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) pressed Israel to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites.

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation names US evangelical leader as new chair

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Johnnie Moore, also an adviser to Trump, named as US- and Israeli-backed initiative tries to recover from resignations

An evangelical leader and adviser to Donald Trump on interfaith issues has been appointed the new head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as the controversial US- and Israeli-backed initiative attempts to recover from top-level resignations during a tumultuous rollout last week.

Johnnie Moore, a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and founder of the boutique advisory firm Kairos Company, was appointed the new head of the GHF after Jake Wood, a former marine, resigned, saying that he could not guarantee the GHF’s independence from Israeli interests.

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Masked Israeli troops block media visit to West Bank site of Oscar-winning film

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Group of international reporters stopped on way to Masafer Yatta, which features in documentary No Other Land

Masked Israeli soldiers have blocked an international group of reporters from visiting Palestinian villages on the West Bank that have been under sustained attack by Jewish settlers, and which were the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary film.

The Academy Award won by No Other Land has not stopped the attacks on Masafer Yatta, a cluster of villages on the southern edge of the occupied territory, which has been the target of settler violence and house demolitions and forced displacement by the army for many years.

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