DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army has ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from the eastern half of the city of Khan Younis in Gaza.
An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions between the two sides continue to boil, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press. The strike near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent escalating clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from spiraling into an all-out war that could possibly lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran. A Hezbollah statement identified the killed commander as Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre.
The US government employees who have publicly resigned in protest of the Biden administration’s Gaza policies released a joint statement on Tuesday for the first time, stating they “stand united in a shared belief that it is our collective responsibility to speak up” and outlining steps they believe the US government should take.
The deputy leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday the only sure path to a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border is a full cease-fire in Gaza. “If there is a cease-fire in Gaza, we will stop without any discussion,” Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said in an interview with The Associated Press at the group’s political office in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hezbollah's participation in the Israel-Hamas war has been as a “support front” for its ally, Hamas, Kassem said, and “if the war stops, this military support will no longer exist.”
Israel will create Hamas-free “bubbles” in Gaza as part of a pilot scheme for how the territory could be ruled after the terror group is defeated.
The letters addressed to the prime minister appealed to the government to end ties with Israel.
Harrison Mann, military expert who quit over Gaza, says ruinous war in Lebanon would pull US into regional conflict
Russia said Wednesday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months.The defence ministry said its troops had "liberated" the Novy district of Chasiv Yar, but it was unclear if it was claiming its forces had crossed a canal which runs through the eastern part of the town.
French prosecutors have requested the country's highest court to rule on the validity of the international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar Assad for alleged complicity in war crimes during Syria’s civil war, according to a statement on Tuesday. Judges at the Court of Appeal last week ruled that the arrest warrant issued by France for Assad in November is valid and remains in place, rejecting the prosecutors' argument that he has absolute immunity as a serving head of state.
Prosecutors have asked France's highest court to review the legality of a French arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over deadly chemical attacks on Syrian soil in 2013. According to Syria's opposition, one attack on the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus in August 2013 killed around 1,400 people – including more than 400 children.Prosecutors said Tuesday they had made the request to the Paris Court of Cassation on judicial grounds on Friday – two days after another appeals court uph
Allegations of sexual abuse against a child by a Syrian man in Kayseri, Turkey, have sparked overnight riots that targeted Syrian businesses and cars in the city.
Joe Biden "has prioritized politics over just and fair policymaking" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, former government officials argued in their first joint statement since quitting.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticised the evacuation order on Monday, saying there is now no safe place for Palestinians to flee.View on euronews
The Israeli leader has rejected the idea of starting a ceasefire in Gaza while Hamas remains in power, after a New York Times article cited current and former security officials who said a truce would give Israeli troops time to prepare for a potential land war with Hezbollah.
Patients have left a hospital and tent camps as Israel appears poised to launch another assault on the city.
Clashes in Mauritania between security forces and protesters rallying against the reelection of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani left three people dead, authorities said Tuesday. Following the clashes, mobile internet access was blocked Tuesday as authorities vowed to arrest those behind the violence. The protests broke out late Monday in parts of the northwestern African country after Ghazouani was declared winner of the presidential election.
Liora Argamani succumbs to brain cancer three weeks after her daughter was freed from captivity in Gaza.
Israel killed a senior commander in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Wednesday, the second top field leader killed in less than a month, and the group said it retaliated by firing scores of rockets at Israeli military positions near the border. The Israeli military estimated that around 100 rockets were fired, and said there were no reports of casualties. International diplomats are scrambling to prevent the near-daily clashes between Israel and Hezbollah from spiraling into an all-out war that could possibly lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, which is Hezbollah's main backer.
Investigators in Germany and Sweden on Wednesday arrested eight suspects allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government over alleged participation in crimes against humanity in Syria, prosecutors said.- 'Severe and repeated' abuse - German prosecutors said that those arrested in Sweden also belonged to the FPM and participated in the crimes on July 13, 2012.
Israeli forces carried out deadly strikes Tuesday on southern Gaza and battled militants after the army again ordered Palestinians to leave areas near the besieged territory's border with Israel and Egypt.Witnesses reported intense bombing and shelling around Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city from which Israeli forces withdrew in early April after a devastating months-long battle.A hospital source in the city said shelling killed eight people and wounded more than 30 others.The bombardment came after a rocket barrage at southern Israel claimed by the militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas.This was followed by an order to evacuate most areas east of the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, including the towns of Al-Qarara and Bani Suhaila.Bani Suhaila resident Ahmad Najjar said the Israeli order has spurred "fear and extreme anxiety", and "there is a large displacement of residents".Six consecutive days of intense battles followed a similar evacuation order issued last week for the Gaza City district of Shujaiya.An AFP correspondent reported artillery shelling in the northern area on Tuesday, and witnesses said gun battles raged on.The military said its forces were operating in Shujaiya, central Gaza and Rafah, where aircraft carried out strikes and troops "ambushed an armed terrorist squad" in a car and killed them.Over the past day, the Israeli air force "struck approximately 30 terror targets" across Gaza, said a military statement.In Shujaiya, Palestinian militants "were eliminated and dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites above and below ground were dismantled, including tunnel shafts", it added.- 'Downshift' -In central Gaza, witnesses said strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp where the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least one dead, a child.Other parts of the Gaza Strip were reeling from continued fighting nearly nine months into the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.Months of on-and-off talks towards a truce and hostage release deal have meanwhile made little progress, even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declared that the "intense phase" of the war was winding down."We've heard the Israelis talk about a significant downshift in their operations in Gaza," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday."It remains to be seen."The latest order to leave parts of southern Gaza follows an evacuation of Rafah nearly two months ago which had signalled the start of a long-feared Israeli ground offensive.The fighting since then has again uprooted many Palestinians and led to the closure of a key aid crossing.The United Nations and relief agencies have voiced alarm over the dire humanitarian crisis and the threat of starvation the war and Israeli siege have brought for Gaza's 2.4 million people.Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the army says are dead.Israel's retaliatory offensive aimed at eradicating the Palestinians militants in Gaza has killed at least 37,900 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.Israeli authorities on Monday released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital -- the territory's largest medical complex -- along with dozens of other detainees returned to Gaza for treatment.Speaking after his release, Abu Salmiya said he had suffered "severe torture" during his detention."Several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine," he said.- 'Try peace' -Israel has accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals as a cover for military operations, claims Gaza militants have rejected.Netanyahu, who has faced growing anger from protesters over his handling of the conflict as well as pressure from hardline coalition partners, criticised the release which he said had been made without his knowledge.The Israeli premier said Abu Salmiya belongs "in prison" because Israeli hostages were "murdered and held" in the now ravaged hospital he runs.Successive Israeli raids have reduced large parts of Al-Shifa to rubble.The director's return to Gaza was "a serious mistake and a moral failure", Netanyahu said.According to Abu Salmiya, Israel brought no charges against him during his seven-month detention.Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency said the release was "to free up places in detention centres".Those freed "represent a lesser danger" and were not directly involved in attacks on Israeli civilians, it said.In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Monday, thousands attended an event calling for an end to the war and "a better reality" for Israelis and Palestinians, according to activist Ibrahim Abu Ahmad."At any moment, we can start making peace," said Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari."We have already tried to make peace, and we weren't good at it. So what? We aren't that successful at making war either, and that doesn't stop us from trying... It's time to try peace again."bur-ami/jkb
Just one problem: This person doesn't seem interested in running, should the opportunity arise.
