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Continue reading...Category Archives: Israel-Gaza war
ICC decision on Netanyahu arrest warrant may be delayed by UK
Britain to make legal arguments over jurisdiction in case of alleged war crimes by the Israeli PM
An intervention by the UK government at the international criminal court is expected to delay a decision over whether an arrest warrant can be issued against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Judges at the ICC ruled on Thursday they would allow the UK to make legal arguments in the case as they consider whether to approve requests made by the ICC’s chief prosecutor for warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Continue reading...UN issues warning over disease in Gaza as sewage and rubbish problems grow – as it happened
Unrwa director says ‘stench in Gaza is enough to make you kind of immediately nauseous’. This live blog is closed
A ship’s captain reported that five missiles had landed close to his vessel in the Red Sea, 150 nautical miles (172 miles) northwest of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitor said on Friday.
After posting earlier that it had received the report and that authorities were investigating (9.32am BST), the UKMTO said the ship had reported no damage and was heading northward. It gave no information on the ship or its cargo, reports Reuters.
Continue reading...Critically ill children leave Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing
Nineteen minors, five with cancer, allowed to enter Israel before travelling to Egypt and elsewhere for treatment
A group of critically ill children have been allowed to leave Gaza, the first such medical evacuation since early May when Israel seized control of Rafah, the territory’s sole border crossing with the outside world.
Nineteen minors, including five who have cancer, were allowed to travel through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel on Thursday accompanied by relatives, and were to travel to Egypt and further abroad for medical treatment. The Israeli military body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs said the evacuation was carried out in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and officials from the US and Egypt.
Continue reading...US Congress faces growing calls to withdraw Netanyahu invitation: ‘a terrible mistake’
Notable Israelis add their voices to oppose invite extended by Mike Johnson, which Democrats plan to boycott
A group of prominent Israelis – including a former prime minister and an ex-head of Mossad, the foreign intelligence service – have added their voices to the growing domestic calls in the US for Congress to withdraw its invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu to address it next month, calling the move “a terrible mistake”.
The plea, in an op-ed article in the New York Times, argues that the invitation rewards Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, for “scandalous and destructive conduct”, including intelligence failures that led to last October’s deadly Hamas attack and the ensuing bloody war in Gaza which shows no sign of ending.
Continue reading...Labor group praises Fatima Payman for upholding party ‘principles and policy’ to cross floor
Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine hit out at federal government’s stance as ‘weakening’ commitment to Palestinian statehood
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Labor Friends of Palestine have praised Fatima Payman’s decision to cross the floor to support Palestinian statehood as “entirely consistent with Labor principles and policy” and rejected federal Labor’s stance as a “weakening” of its commitment on the issue.
After Anthony Albanese temporarily suspended the senator from caucus, the group wrote to Payman declaring that she had “the support of thousands of rank-and-file ALP members”.
Continue reading...Israeli court rules ultra-Orthodox men must be drafted for military service
Decision threatens Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government with collapse as Gaza conflict drags on
Israel’s supreme court has ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be drafted into military service, a politically explosive decision that threatens the stability of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
The unanimous ruling on Tuesday, from an expanded panel of nine judges, upheld an interim decision last month that the state had no authority to offer the current exemption for ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men. It found that yeshivas – Orthodox seminaries for Torah study – should be ineligible for state subsidies unless students enlisted in the military.
Continue reading...‘The grey zone’: how IDF views some journalists in Gaza as legitimate targets
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.
Continue reading...One in five households in Gaza go whole days without food, draft UN report says
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”.
Continue reading...Intense phase of Israel’s war with Hamas nearing end, says Netanyahu
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.
Continue reading...Labour would comply with ICC arrest order for Netanyahu, Lammy reiterates
Shadow foreign secretary repeats belief in ‘rules-based order’ and also says UK would not seek EU membership
David Lammy has reiterated that Labour would seek to implement an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if one was issued by the international criminal court.
Speaking to CNN, the shadow foreign secretary said a Labour government would comply if an order was issued for the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, adding that he expected the response to be the same all over Europe.
Continue reading...IDF investigates soldiers who tied Palestinian man to vehicle’s bonnet
Military says conduct seen in video from occupied West Bank city of Jenin ‘does not conform’ to its values
The Israel Defense Forces have said they are investigating an incident in which soldiers strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the bonnet of a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.
A video circulating on social media showed a man, variously identified as Mujahid Azmi or Fayyad, from the Jabriyat neighbourhood between the towns of Burqin and Jenin, tied to the front of an off-road vehicle that is seen passing two ambulances.
Continue reading...US withholding arms shipments, says Netanyahu, days after Washington denies claim – as it happened
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.
Continue reading...Israeli defence minister flies to US for ‘critical’ talks on Gaza and Lebanon
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.
Continue reading...Accusations fly as pro-Israel groups spend big to oust progressive House Democrat
Jamaal Bowman faces challenge from George Latimer in New York primary that has become testy – and expensive
It was one of the hottest days of the year in New York City on Saturday – but as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the stage in the Bronx, you wouldn’t know it.
At a rally to support Jamaal Bowman, the progressive Democrat facing a primary campaign that has seen pro-Israel lobbying groups pump more than $15m into the race, Ocasio-Cortez was amped up.
Continue reading...Israel’s Iron Dome risks being overwhelmed in all-out war with Hezbollah, says US
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.
Continue reading...Israeli forces strap wounded Palestinian man to hood of military jeep
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.
Continue reading...Dozens killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City
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.
Continue reading...At least 22 Palestinians killed in shelling near Gaza office of Red Cross, agency says
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.
Continue reading...‘All day you hear bombs’: on Israel’s northern border as war with Hezbollah looms
Doctors prepare underground hospital units, people flee their homes and in rural kibbutz tension hangs in the air
Beneath the 800-bed Galilee medical centre in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, treatment is being conducted in an underground complex beneath the hospital.
About 7km from the border with Lebanon, a frontier visible from the hospital’s car park and already under threat from Hezbollah’s missiles and explosive drones, the doctors are aware that in the event of an escalating war their facility will be on the frontline.
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