Smaller marches will take place instead of single larger event and will be policed locally
Police said protests are expected “in around 13 boroughs” in London on Saturday after the seven-day Israel-Hamas ceasefire ended.
There are no plans for any major central London demonstrations of the sort that have been seen over the past two months, but a number of smaller events are planned, the Metropolitan police said.
Continue reading...The person, who is as yet not been identified, is in critical condition and a guard who attempted to intervene was injured
A protester with a Palestinian flag self-immolated on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, injuring a security guard who attempted to intervene, authorities said.
The person, whom officials did not identify, is in critical condition, the Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum said at a news conference. The guard’s condition was not immediately clear.
Continue reading...Adam Smith of Washington state calls spray-painting of garage ‘sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse’
A Democratic congressman says his home was vandalized on Thursday night by “people advocating for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza”.
Adam Smith, a US House member from Washington state, called the vandalism to his home in the city of Bellevue “sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse in our country, and is completely unwarranted, unnecessary, and harmful to our political system”.
Continue reading...Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate southern city of Khan Younis, where it says Hamas leadership is based
Israel has signalled that it is preparing to launch a ground assault in southern Gaza in a significant escalation of the war, as it attacked the Strip on Friday after the end of a seven-day truce, leaving at least 178 Palestinians dead.
The country’s military dropped leaflets in parts of Khan Younis, where Israel believes Hamas’s leadership is based, warning citizens to evacuate farther south to Rafah, prompting humanitarian groups to say that Palestinians risked being forced completely out of the territory.
Continue reading...Safety of civilians held by Hamas in further doubt after expiration of truce that allowed hostage-prisoner swaps
The families of hostages being held in Gaza have said they are terrified about the safety of their loved ones after the end of a seven-day ceasefire.
Fighting resumed on Friday after the expiry of the truce, during which Hamas released 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Continue reading...UAW, representing 400,000 in the US and over 580,000 retired workers, makes announcement as military operations resume
The United Auto Workers, one of the US’s largest labor unions, has come out in support of a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine as a temporary ceasefire ended on Friday with Israel resuming military operations in Gaza.
The UAW is now the largest union to have called for a ceasefire. It represents 400,000 workers in the US and more than 580,000 retired workers.
Continue reading...IDF claim to be avoiding blanket bombing the south, where about 2mn people live, but their new approach does not look much different
Israel’s Defense Forces waited just four minutes after the truce expired at 7am before restarting bombing, according to one resident of Khan Younis. An hour later, its military set out its plan for the “next stage of the war”: a division of Gaza into dozens of numbered “evacuation areas”, a core part of the military’s plan to gradually take control of the southern part of the strip.
The military’s plan, canvassed privately this week, is to avoid a repeat of the blanket bombing of the northern Gaza in the crowded south, with sequential, targeted bombing campaigns. Under the plan, people in certain numbered districts of Gaza will be told to evacuate before bombing begins, although how much time they will get is not clear; homes in Khan Younis were among the targets struck on Friday hours after the truce expired, and residents were given little if any time to flee.
Continue reading...European Commission vice-president says there must be ‘no role for Hamas in any post-conflict horizon’ during visit to Australia
Australia and the European Union are in talks about “the day after” the war in Gaza and are united on calls to revive a two-state solution, a senior official has said.
But the European Commission vice-president, Margaritis Schinas, added that Hamas had forfeited the right to be part of any political settlement.
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Palestinian media is reporting Israeli military strikes in northern Gaza, Reuters has snapped.
The Israeli military has resumed combat against Hamas in Gaza, the military announced, saying Hamas had violated the truce and fired towards Israeli territory, Reuters has snapped.
Continue reading...More than 170 Palestinians killed as Red Cross head warns ‘nightmarish situation’ for civilians has returned
Israel attacked targets across Gaza after the end of a seven-day ceasefire on Friday, leaving more than 170 Palestinians dead after negotiations over further hostage releases fell apart overnight.
Israel’s military said it had attacked 200 targets from land, sea and air across the north and south of the strip by lunchtime, including in Khan Younis, a southern city from which it had ordered civilians to evacuate.
Continue reading...Study covering period in late October and early November shows damage to 10 hospitals and health facilities
• Warning: this article contains images and videos some may find distressing.
An investigation has revealed the damage caused to hospitals, health facilities and ambulances in the northern Gaza Strip over 21 days in the course of the Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The Guardian collected and analysed more than 200 pieces of evidence including videos, photos, news footage and satellite imagery from between approximately 21 October and 11 November, and spoke to international humanitarian organisations, to investigate the damage caused to 10 of Gaza’s hospitals and health facilities. Of the 10, only two are functioning.
Continue reading...Mia Schem was abducted from music festival on 7 October; lawyer Amit Soussana has also been released
Mia Schem, a French-Israeli woman who was abducted from the Supernova music festival in Israel and shown in the first Hamas video of a hostage speaking from captivity, has been released.
She was one of eight hostages released in two tranches on Thursday.
Continue reading...Philippe Lazzarini urges Israel to think of consequences of offensive if truce is not further extended
An Israeli military assault into the south of Gaza may lead to 1 million refugees, the head of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA has warned.
After a second overnight visit to Gaza where he met overwhelmed Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini urged Israel to think through the consequences of an offensive in the south if the temporary truce in the fighting is not extended.
Continue reading...Tears and joy as 17 Thai nationals who were seized in Hamas attacks on Israel land in Bangkok
Pornsawan Pinakalo’s three great aunts would not have missed his return for the world. Kularb Pinakalo’s knees couldn’t quite get her up to the room in Bangkok airport where her nephew was meeting other family members for the first time since being taken hostage in Gaza. But after travelling for four hours by van to the Thai capital, the 63-year-old was ready and waiting for him to emerge in the arrivals hall, alongside 84-year-old Nangnoi Pattataysan and Noi Prakobkan, 82.
“I just want to give him a hug,” Kularb said. She was so overwhelmed that she could hardly think of what to say to him, she added.
Continue reading...Two men, reportedly brothers from East Jerusalem, shot dead at scene after attack that killed three people
Hamas has claimed responsibility for a deadly gun attack at a busy bus stop in west Jerusalem in which three Israelis were killed, prompting the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to pledge to eliminate the Palestinian group whenever the hostage release halts.
The shooting overshadowed negotiations aimed at extending the existing truce in Gaza, but despite the attack, Egypt and Qatar remained hopeful of securing a two-day extension in return for the release of another 20 hostages and a further 60 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Continue reading...Anthony Hurndall, whose son was shot by the IDF in 2003, has called on governments to challenge Israeli claims about deaths of women and children
Western governments are “actively encourag[ing] the killing of women and children” in Gaza, because they are not willing to challenge Israeli accounts of the war there, the father of a British peace activist killed by an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sniper has warned.
Anthony Hurndall’s son, Tom Hurndall, was shot in the head in April 2003 in Rafah, while he was helping Palestinian children.
Continue reading...Third apology issued for cancellation of Wednesday’s performance of The Seagull as foundation member Alex Schuman’s departure is confirmed
The Sydney Theatre Company has issued a third public apology after the on-stage pro-Palestinian protest by several actors during opening night of Chekhov’s The Seagull.
It comes as a second board member resigned.
Continue reading...IDF and Hamas agree at last minute to extend truce into seventh day as Antony Blinken arrives in Israel as part of diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to fighting in devastated Gaza Strip
Israel’s military confirmed on Thursday that a truce with Hamas will continue, allowing further hostage and prisoner releases and the possibility of more a durable pause in hostilities.
There were frantic diplomatic efforts through the night to prolong the six-day halt to fighting in Gaza which was set to end at 7am local time (5am GMT) on Thursday. The current extension appears to be only for 24 hours, though this has yet to be explicitly confirmed by all parties.
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China’s government has released a position paper on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The country this month took the chair of the UN security council, and the position paper’s release coincided with an address to the council by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi.
The five point proposal reiterated much of China’s ongoing position on the conflict, which is that a two-state solution remains the answer, and again called for an immediate ceasefire, and an end to the fighting. It said humanitarian corridors had to be safe and unimpeded, and expansion of the conflict must be prevented.
Pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council shoulders primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and should thus play an active and constructive role on the question of Palestine.
Any arrangement on the future of Gaza must respect the will and independent choice of the Palestinian people, and must not be imposed upon them.
Continue reading...With olives the largest single agricultural product on the West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli restrictions and settler violence are losing them $70m
Shaadi, Isa and Mahmud Saleh look out across the valley, bite their nails, wring their hands and worry. There is no work locally and travelling to find any is almost impossible because of restrictions imposed by Israel on the occupied West Bank after the 7 October attacks by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people. The main road into their village has been almost entirely blocked. Their debts are mounting up.
“There has never been anything like this,” says Isa, 73. “Life is not normal.”
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