Category Archives: Israel-Gaza war

Labour membership falls by 23,000 over Gaza and green policies

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Party claims financial position still strong as it continues to hold a commanding lead in opinion polls

Labour has suffered a sharp fall in membership over the past two months following controversies over its policy on Gaza and its U-turn on green investment, according to figures released to its National Executive Committee (NEC). The drop of more than 23,000 members comes despite the party holding a commanding lead in the opinion polls, which suggests it is now seen by the wider electorate as ready and able to form the next government, after 14 years of Tory rule.

Labour sources said the party’s overall financial position remained strong despite membership subscriptions falling off, because donations large and small were healthy, and the expectation was that the unions would still give very substantial backing to the election effort.

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‘Death at any moment’: fights break out as Gazans compete over airdropped aid

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Armed gangs take food and water from desperate locals, as critics say airdrops are dangerous and merely designed to divert public anger

Airdrops of humanitarian aid are leading to fatal fights in Gaza as the desperate and hungry battle to reach parachuted food and essentials, amid fears that little of the much-needed assistance is reaching those most threatened by a looming famine.

Eyewitness accounts, images and interviews with aid workers in Gaza suggest the high-profile airdrop operations are of limited help, and have contributed to growing anarchy there.

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Children among cancer patients fearing being sent back to Gaza by Israel

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Moves to deport those receiving care in East Jerusalem have been called ‘a deliberate risk to innocent lives’

Cancer patients from Gaza, including children, are living in a state of limbo in a hospital in East Jerusalem after Israeli authorities threatened to send them back.

The Guardian was given access to the Augusta Victoria hospital, where at least 22 patients from Gaza in urgent need of advanced cancer treatment are living in fear of deportation. As with numerous others, they received authorisation prior to Hamas’s 7 October attack to receive medical care outside the strip, due to the inadequate facilities in Gaza.

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Gillian Keegan criticises union for ‘inappropriate’ Israel-Palestine motion

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Education secretary says conference proposals describing Israeli government as racist ‘reflect NEU’s divisive ideology’

Gillian Keegan has strongly criticised the National Education Union over a motion to be debated at its annual conference describing Israel’s government as “racist” and “guilty of apartheid policies”.

The education secretary said the motion and amendments were “wholly inappropriate and completely ignore the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on 7 October … These motions reflect the NEU’s divisive ideology, which I don’t believe is representative of our teachers.

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Schools in England accused of closing down debate on Israel-Gaza conflict

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Government adviser says teachers feel ill-equipped to talk about controversial topics but avoiding debate risks fuelling anger

Schools in England are closing down legitimate debate about the Israel-Gaza conflict because teachers feel ill-equipped and are concerned about political impartiality, the government’s independent adviser on social cohesion has said.

Dame Sara Khan said that if schools continued to shut down debate they risked “fuelling further anger, hate and polarisation”.

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Famine is now probably present in Gaza, US says

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State department assessment comes after world’s top court ordered Israel to admit food aid into territory

Famine is already probably present in at least some areas of northern Gaza, while other areas are in danger of falling into conditions of starvation, the US state department said on Friday a day after the world’s top court ordered Israel to admit food aid into the territory.

“While we can say with confidence that famine is a significant risk in the south and centre but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas,” a state department official told Reuters.

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Netanyahu faces huge challenge after court ruling on military exemption

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Strain on coalition grows after Israeli supreme court orders end to subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men who avoid conscription

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing one of the most serious threats yet to his coalition government after the country’s supreme court ordered an end to government subsidies from Monday for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the army.

The ruling follows a series of delays by the government in presenting a proposal to the court aimed at enhancing the military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men, who have historically been exempt from conscription.

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Middle East crisis: Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah deputy commander – as it happened

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IDF says Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missiles unit, was killed in airstrike in Lebanon

The Guardian’s Kaamil Ahmed, Damien Gayle and Aseel Mousa have been investigating the scale of environmental destruction in Gaza.

Satellite analysis revealed exclusively to the Guardian shows farms devastated and nearly half of the territory’s trees razed. Alongside mounting air and water pollution, experts says Israel’s onslaught on Gaza’s ecosystems has made the area unlivable.

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Sydney man’s wife and three children to be evacuated from war-torn Gaza

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Mohammed Almassri says after months of seeking urgent help, Dfat has told him the family will be evacuated from Rafah on Saturday or Sunday

The Sydney father whose Australian children are living in a tent in Gaza has been told his family will be evacuated from the war-torn Palestinian enclave over the weekend.

Late on Thursday, after four months of requesting urgent help for his family, Mohammed Almassri, 43, was contacted by a Dfat case worker and told his three children and wife would be evacuated from Rafah on Saturday or Sunday, he said. His mother’s request to leave was not approved, he said.

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Heavy fighting reported around Gaza’s al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals

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Israeli forces also blockading al-Amal hospital amid mounting concern for the safety of patients, civilians and medical staff

Heavy fighting took place around two key hospitals in Gaza on Thursday, while a third was reportedly under Israeli siege, amid mounting international concern for the safety of patients, civilians and remaining medical staff in the facilities.

The most intense fighting once again appeared to be focused on the al-Shifa complex, Gaza City’s main hospital before the war, where the Israeli army said it continued to operate around the site after storming it more than a week ago.

Guardian Newsroom: The unfolding crisis in the Middle East

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Middle East crisis: US and Israel in talks to revive Washington trip to discuss Rafah – as it happened

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Israeli PM had cancelled officials’ US visit to discuss planned offensive in southern Gaza after the US refused to veto a UN security council vote on a ceasefire

The Palestinian Authority has announced the formation of a new Cabinet as it faces international pressure to reform, Associated Press reports.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the PA for nearly two decades, announced the new government in a presidential decree on Thursday. None of the incoming ministers is a well-known figure.

We will make our contributions while ensuring that the conditions are met for UNRWA to fulfil its missions in a spirit devoid of incitement to hatred and violence.

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Australian officials scrambled to understand allegations before Unrwa funding suspended, documents show

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Exclusive: Dfat official said there was ‘precious nothing in the public domain’ on claims against aid agency hours before pause announced

Australian officials scrambled to “understand what the allegations are” against Unrwa staff and complained of “precious nothing in the public domain” hours before the government suspended funding to the “vital” aid agency.

New documents obtained by Guardian Australia show how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade rushed to gather information after Israel alleged 12 Unrwa staffers were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.

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Ireland backs bid to include blocking of aid in definition of genocide

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Dublin joins South Africa’s case in the international court of justice, arguing that stopping delivery of essentials may constitute ‘genocidal intent’

Ireland is to seek to widen the definition of genocide to include blocking humanitarian aid in a landmark international court of justice (ICJ) case against Israel.

The Irish government will intervene in the case taken by South Africa and argue that restricting food and other essentials in Gaza may constitute genocidal intent, the foreign minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday.

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Middle East crisis: Israel intensifies strikes on southern Gaza as eight killed in fighting on Lebanese border – as it happened

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Attacks around Rafah come despite growing pressure for ceasefire. This live blog is closed

The UK is facing legal action over its pause in funding for Unrwa, after Israel’s allegations that 12 staff at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel.

London-based law firm Bindmans has sent a pre-action letter, the first stage in a legal claim, on behalf of a British-Palestinian man whose family are in Gaza and reliant on humanitarian aid provided by Unwra.

The UK government’s strategy for international development sets out four priorities, including to: ‘provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and work to prevent the worst forms of human suffering’.

Given the catastrophic situation in Gaza, including an impending, man-made famine, the ongoing decision to cease funding to Unwra is not only morally wrong but flies in the face of that strategy.”

The government knows that Unwra is the only effective means to deliver humanitarian aid, and it ought to know that it hasn’t given sufficient reason on how, or why, it decided to cut funding.”

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MPs and peers sign letter urging UK government to ban arms sales to Israel

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Ministers under growing pressure to act amid signs Israel intends to ignore UN ceasefire resolution

Parliamentary pressure is building on the UK government to ban arms sales to Israel, amid signs that Israel intends to ignore the UN security council resolution passed this week calling on all sides to commit to a ceasefire.

A letter signed by more than 130 parliamentarians to the foreign secretary, David Cameron, highlights action taken by other countries, most recently Canada, which last week announced it would halt all arms exports to Israel.

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Twelve people reported drowned off a Gaza beach trying to reach aid drop

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Palestinian authorities say deaths resulted from attempts to recover crates that fell in water after parachutes went wrong

Twelve people drowned trying to get to aid dropped by plane off a Gaza beach, Palestinian health authorities have said, amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel’s military campaign.

Video of the airdrop on Monday showed crowds of people running towards the beach, in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza, as crates with parachutes floated down, then people standing deep in water and bodies being pulled on to the sand.

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‘Madness’: Netanyahu’s handling of US relations under scrutiny after UN vote

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Tone in parts of Israeli media borders on contempt, as prime minister’s growing friction with Biden linked to US abstention

The Israeli prime minister’s handling of relations with the Biden administration, which led the US on Monday to decline to veto a ceasefire resolution at the UN security council, has been greeted by sharp criticism by Israeli commentators.

After the US abstention, prominent columnists across the Israeli media condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing friction with the US president, Joe Biden.

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Middle East crisis: Israel recalls ceasefire negotiators from Qatar, claiming Hamas ‘not interested’ in talks – as it happened

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Netanyahu’s office said ‘Israel will not cave to Hamas’s delusional demands’, ending immediate attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal

Israeli media is reporting that the Israeli delegation has left Qatar, ending talks to try and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

More details soon …

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Al-Mawasi: Palestinians fleeing to ‘humanitarian zone’ find little hope

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Area offers desperate families in Gaza relative safety but conditions are dire and threat of Israeli attacks remain

A month ago Nariman Salman decided to finally flee northern Gaza and head for al-Mawasi, a narrow strip of coastline at the southernmost end of the territory designated as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military.

The decision was reluctant but unavoidable. When Salman, 42, was reduced to sending her young son around neighbours to beg for a single piece of bread for her pregnant daughter, she knew the family had to leave. Days earlier, her eldest son had been stabbed to death for a bag of flour.

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Israel isolated as UN security council demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza

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Israeli PM cancels White House visit by two ministers and says US ‘abandoned its policy in the UN’ after abstaining on vote

The UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after the US dropped a threat to veto, bringing Israel to near total isolation on the world stage.

The vote result sets up the strongest public clash between the US president, Joe Biden, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, since the war began.

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