Category Archives: Gaza

City of Sydney could tear up contracts with suppliers targeted by boycott Israel campaign

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Mayor Clover Moore says procurement and investment should be examined to potentially ‘put additional pressure towards a ceasefire’ in Gaza

The City of Sydney will consider tearing up contracts with suppliers targeted by the boycott Israel campaign, in a move the lord mayor, Clover Moore, hopes could “put additional pressure towards a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

On Monday night, Moore backed a Greens motion for the council to prepare a report on the council’s investment policy regarding “companies involved in, or profiting from, any human rights violations including the illegal occupation of the settlements in Palestinian territories and the supply of weapons”.

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‘The grey zone’: how IDF views some journalists in Gaza as legitimate targets

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Amid a loosening of Israel’s approach to targeting, a record number of media workers have been killed in Gaza

As Israel’s offensive in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history, its military has repeatedly said it is not deliberately targeting the media.

“There is no policy of targeting media personnel,” a senior official said, attributing the record number of journalists killed to the scale and intensity of a bombardment in which so many of Gaza’s civilians have died.

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One in five households in Gaza go whole days without food, draft UN report says

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Latest snapshot also finds half of households have had to sell or swap clothes for food, despite pressure on Israel to improve aid deliveries

More than half of households in Gaza have had to sell or swap their clothes to be able to buy food, the UN is to report, as a high risk of famine remains across the whole of the territory after a new round of violence in recent weeks.

The latest “Special Snapshot” of Gaza from the UN’s hunger monitoring system, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), that will be published on Tuesday also says that one in five of the population – more than 495,000 people – are now “facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity” involving “an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion”.

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Intense phase of Israel’s war with Hamas nearing end, says Netanyahu

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Israeli PM says he hopes for diplomatic solution to conflict but will solve it in ‘a different way’ if necessary

Israel’s prime minister has said the most intense phase of the assault against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, freeing up forces to move to the Lebanese border, where escalating exchanges of fire with the militant group Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war.

In his first public interview with a Hebrew-language network outlet in more than eight months of conflict, broadcast on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu also walked back on his commitment to a US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hamas, instead suggesting a more limited offer.

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US withholding arms shipments, says Netanyahu, days after Washington denies claim – as it happened

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Israeli prime minister told his Cabinet that there had been a ‘dramatic drop’ in US weapons deliveries

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday that it had received a report of a distress call from a vessel 96 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, Yemen, adding that authorities were investigating it.

A drone damaged a merchant ship 65 nautical miles (120km) west of Hodeidah, Yemen, on Saturday. The ship made its way to its next port of call and “all crew members are reported safe”, the UKMTO said in a statement.

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Israeli defence minister flies to US for ‘critical’ talks on Gaza and Lebanon

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Yoav Gallant to meet top officials as Benjamin Netanyahu repeats claim of ‘dramatic drop’ in US arms shipments

Israel’s defence minister has flown to meet senior Biden administration officials in Washington for what he has described as “critical” talks over the twin conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Yoav Gallant, accompanied by the Israel Defense Forces’ deputy chief of staff, will meet the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, as well as the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Joe Biden’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein.

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Israel’s Iron Dome risks being overwhelmed in all-out war with Hezbollah, says US

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Militants in Lebanon can fire 3,000 missiles a day, US officials warn as fears grow that the conflict will escalate

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile batteries risk being overwhelmed in the opening strikes of any significantly escalated conflict with Hezbollah.

The assessment delivered by US officials late last week, echoing recent analysis by experts in Israel and the United States, comes amid fears that a war with Hezbollah could be a far more dangerous undertaking than the devastating 2006 second Lebanon war, when Israeli bombing caused huge destruction in Lebanon.

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Israeli forces strap wounded Palestinian man to hood of military jeep

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Verified video shows Jenin resident Mujahed Azmi on vehicle that passes two ambulances during raid

Israeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military Jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

A video circulating on social media and verified by Reuters showed a Palestinian resident of Jenin, Mujahed Azmi, on the Jeep that passes two ambulances.

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Dozens killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City

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Israeli forces said strikes on densely populated locations were aimed at killing senior Hamas commander

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on two densely populated locations in Gaza City.

According to initial reports in the Israeli media, the bombings were aimed at assassinating a very senior Hamas commander.

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At least 22 Palestinians killed in shelling near Gaza office of Red Cross, agency says

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Territory’s health ministry says Israeli attack targeted tents of displaced people; Israeli military says report ‘under review’

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says 22 people have been killed in a shelling attack that damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in tents.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said there were 25 dead and 50 injured in the shelling, which it blamed on Israel. The ministry said Israeli shelling on Friday had “targeted the tents of the displaced in the al-Mawasi area”, which is around the ICRC base.

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Activists tell UK arms makers they may face criminal liability over sales to Israel

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Campaign groups write to 20 firms warning of potential war crimes for roles in production of F-35 fighter jets

Campaigners have written to the directors of 20 arms manufacturers based in the UK saying they may face criminal liability for failing to prevent war crimes if their companies continue to sell military equipment to Israel.

Four groups, including the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to directors of arms companies that contribute parts or elements of the F-35 fighter jets used by Israel’s air force as part of the bombing of Gaza.

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Israel-Gaza war: Netanyahu rebukes IDF after army spokesperson warns that Hamas cannot be eliminated – now closed

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Prime minister’s office says the IDF is committed to the defeat of Hamas, after Daniel Hagari said Hamas is an ‘ideology’

French authorities have detained an Iranian citizen after he posted remarks about Israel-Gaza war posted on social media, a police source said on Thursday, in a case his lawyer has denounced as “political” amid tensions between Paris and Tehran.

Bashir Biazar has been described by London-based Iran International television channel as a former official for the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. Iranian state media call him a “cultural figure”.

There is nothing, in terms of law, that justifies this measure. Bashir Biazar expressed himself on his Instagram account, as anyone could do freely in a state governed by the rule of law.

I think this procedure is political, and politics has no place in law.

The arrest of an Iranian citizen by the French police for having defended the oppressed Palestinian people (is) another scandal for France in the domain of human rights.

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Israeli talk of war with Hezbollah almost certainly fresh attempt at deterrence

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Risk is that miscalculation leads to sudden conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is far more powerful than Hamas

A warning from Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, that a decision on “all-out war” with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is coming soon is almost certainly a fresh attempt at deterrence on his part – not least because both sides well understand how devastating full hostilities would be.

The reality is that Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, is a more powerful adversary than Hamas in Gaza. It is estimated to have between 30,000 and 50,000 fighters available and a similar number in reserve – plus between 120,000 and 200,000 unguided missiles and rockets, plus attack and reconnaissance drones.

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Hezbollah leader: Cyprus will be target if it lets Israel use its territory in conflict

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Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warns of ‘war without rules’ if Israel launches full-scale invasion against Lebanese militia

The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned of a war “without rules or ceilings” in the event of a full-scale Israeli offensive against the Lebanese militia, as he threatened that Cyprus could become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory in any conflict.

Cyprus and Israel have a bilateral defence cooperation agreement which has seen the countries conduct joint exercises.

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Israel-Gaza war: Hezbollah fires more projectiles at Israel despite warning – as it happened

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Iran-backed militant group fired more than a dozen projectiles into northern Israel, says Israeli army, day after Israel warned of ‘total war’ with group

Agence France-Presse (AFP) report that there have been Israeli airstrikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday.

Witnesses and the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported Israeli bombardment in western Rafah, where medics said drone strikes and shelling killed at least seven people.

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Israeli foreign minister says decision on all-out war against Hezbollah is near

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Signoff on planning for a Lebanon offensive follows release of Hezbollah drone footage of Haifa in northern Israel

The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has said a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon, as Israel generals announced late on Tuesday that they had signed off planning for an offensive into Lebanon.

The escalating rhetoric came after the release of video footage from a Hezbollah surveillance drone’s overflight of the northern city of Haifa, which included images of sensitive sites and civilian neighbourhoods.

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At least 17 killed in Gaza refugee camps after latest Israeli strikes, say medics

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Airstrikes kill Palestinians in historic Nuseirat and Bureij camps as tanks advance into Rafah in south

A series of Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday have resulted in the deaths of at least 17 Palestinians in two of the Gaza Strip’s historic refugee camps, as tanks advanced further into the southern city of Rafah, according to reports from residents and medics.

Nuseirat and Bureij are home to families and descendants of people who fled to Gaza in the 1948 war around the creation of Israel.

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Israel-Gaza war: 17 Palestinians reportedly killed by double Israeli strike on Nuseirat refugee camp – as it happened

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Al-Jazeera reporter says it has been ‘another bloody night across central Gaza’ with attack on camp housing families evacuated from Rafah

The UN human rights chief on Tuesday warned that the rights situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was drastically deteriorating, while there had been “unconscionable death and suffering” in Gaza.

Reuters reports Volker Türk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said “The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is dramatically deteriorating.”

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Labor senator Fatima Payman calls on government to ‘recognise Palestine’ in rebuke to Albanese

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Party were ‘fierce champions of Palestine’ in opposition and they must ‘summon that spirit of old’, she writes for Al Jazeera

The Labor senator Fatima Payman has called on her own government to “recognise Palestine” and undermined efforts by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to discredit protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Payman, writing for Al Jazeera, argued that nations needed to take a “definitive stance” on Palestinian statehood because Israel “continues to disregard its obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and cease genocidal acts”. Israel denies committing genocide in its military response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

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Dua Lipa says criticism of Israeli war in Gaza was for ‘greater good’

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Singer due to headline Glastonbury embraces risk of backlash over ‘Israeli genocide’ post on Instagram

The pop star and soon-to-be Glastonbury headliner Dua Lipa has said she is willing to risk a backlash over political statements after she recently described military operations in Gaza as “Israeli genocide”.

In an interview with the Radio Times, the 28-year-old said she repeatedly checked herself before making a statement, but did so if she felt it was for the “greater good” and worth the risk.

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