CAIRO: Evacuations from the Gaza Strip into Egypt for foreign passport holders and Palestinians needing medical treatment resumed through the Rafah crossing on Thursday after being suspended for a day, Egyptian security and medical sources said.
Departures from Rafah, the only crossing to the besieged enclave that does not border Israel, had been paused on Wednesday due to what the US State Department referred to as an unspecified security issue.
Evacuations from Gaza through Rafah began on Nov. 1 for an estimated 7,000 foreign passport holders, dual nationals and their dependents, as well as a limited number of people needing urgent medical treatment.
Several dozen foreign passport holders and dependents, along with 12 medical evacuees, were crossing the border on Thursday, the security and medical sources said.
Rafah is also the only entry point for humanitarian aid going into Gaza. On Wednesday, 106 trucks carrying food medicines and water crossed into Gaza, bringing the total number of aid trucks that have entered since Oct. 21 to 756, according to the United Nations.
Before the war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7 an average of more than 400 trucks carrying aid and other supplies were entering Gaza daily.
Aid officials say at least 100 truckloads are needed daily to meet growing humanitarian needs, and that deliveries have been hampered by a cumbersome inspection system and security challenges distributing the aid.
Evacuations from Gaza Strip resume through Egypt’s Rafah crossing
https://arab.news/2gkch
Evacuations from Gaza Strip resume through Egypt’s Rafah crossing
- Departures from Rafah had been paused on Wednesday due to what the US State Department referred to as an unspecified security issue
- Several dozen foreign passport holders and dependents, along with 12 medical evacuees, were crossing the border on Thursday
Turkiye detains 37 over ‘provocative’ social media posts following arrest of Istanbul mayor
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested after a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.
The detention of a popular opposition leader and key Erdogan rival deepened concerns over democracy and sparked protests in Istanbul and elsewhere, despite a four-day ban on demonstrations in the city and road closures. On Thursday, hundreds of university students held a peaceful march in Istanbul to protest the detentions.
It also caused a shockwave in the financial market, triggering temporary halts in trading to prevent panic selling.
Critics see the crackdown as an effort by Erdogan to extend his more then two-decade rule following significant losses by the ruling party in local elections last year. Government officials reject claims that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that the courts operate independently.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said authorities identified 261 social media accounts that shared provocative posts inciting public hatred or crime, including 62 that are run by people based abroad. At least 37 of the suspected owners were detained and efforts to detain other suspects were continuing, he wrote on the X social media platform.
Imamoglu’s arrest came just days before he was expected to be nominated as the opposition Republican People’s Party’s presidential candidate in a primary scheduled for Sunday. The party’s leader has said the primary will go ahead as planned.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed concern over the mayor’s detention, saying it was a “very, very bad sign” for Turkiye’s relations with the European Union.
Scholz said it was “depressing for democracy in Turkiye, but certainly also depressing for the relationship between Europe and Turkiye.”
“We can only call for this to end immediately and for opposition and government to stand in competition with each other, and not the opposition being brought to court,” he said.
Prosecutors accused Imamoglu of exploiting his position for financial gain, including the improper allocation of government contracts.
In a separate investigation, prosecutors also accuse Imamoglu of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by allegedly forming an alliance with Kurdish groups for the Istanbul municipal elections. The PKK, behind a decades-long insurgency in Turkiye, is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and other allies.
It was not clear when authorities would begin questioning the mayor, who can be detained without charges for up to four days. Analysts say Imamoglu could be removed from office and replaced by a “trustee mayor” if he is formally charged with links to the PKK.
Before his detention, Imamoglu already faced multiple criminal cases that could result in prison sentences and a political ban. He is also appealing a 2022 conviction for insulting members of Turkiye’s Supreme Electoral Council, a case that could result in a political ban.
This week, a university nullified his diploma, citing alleged irregularities in his 1990 transfer from a private university in northern Cyprus to its business faculty, a decision Imamoglu said he would challenge. The decision effectively bars him from running for president, since the position requires candidates to be university graduates.
Imamoglu was elected mayor of Turkiye’s largest city in March 2019, a historic blow to Erdogan and the president’s Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. Erdogan’s party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities.
The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election a few months later, which Imamoglu also won. The mayor retained his seat following local elections last year, during which his party made significant gains against Erdogan’s governing party.
UK bomb disposal expert injured in Gaza blast
- Ordnance ‘fired at or dropped on’ UN facility, killing 1, injuring 4 others
- Mines Advisory Group: ‘Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law’
LONDON: A bomb disposal expert from the UK has been injured in an explosion in Gaza.
The unnamed 51-year-old was wounded at a UN facility in Deir Al-Balah on Wednesday. Four others were injured and a UN worker was killed in the incident.
The Briton, who was working in Gaza as an explosive ordnance disposal expert for the Mines Advisory Group, was treated locally before being moved to a hospital in Israel.
Darren Cormack, the charity’s CEO, told the BBC that the man was conducting an explosive hazards assessment at a UN Office for Project Services facility when the explosion occurred.
“The UN has confirmed that today’s incident did not occur in the course of normal EOD operations and resulted from ordnance being fired at or dropped on the building in which the team was working,” Cormack said.
“It is shocking that a humanitarian facility should be subject to attacks of this nature and that humanitarian workers are being killed and injured in the line of duty.”
Cormack added: “Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law.”
Health authorities in Gaza said the explosion was a result of Israeli military activity.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein posted on X: “The circumstances of the incident are being investigated. We emphasize that the initial examination found no connection to IDF (Israel Defense Forces) activity whatsoever.”
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told the BBC: “We are making it clear that all military operations have to be conducted in a way that ensures that all civilians are respected and protected.”
UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva said the explosion was “not an accident” and described the situation in Gaza as “unconscionable.”
Putin offers cooperation to Syrian leader, backs efforts to stabilize country
- Russia, which has two strategically important military bases in Syria, was one of the main supporters of former President Bashar Assad
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa supporting efforts to stabilize the situation in the country and saying Russia is ready to engage in “practical cooperation,” Russian state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.
Putin confirmed “Russia’s continuing readiness to develop practical cooperation with the Syrian leadership on the whole range of issues on the bilateral agenda in order to strengthen traditionally friendly Russian-Syrian relations,” it quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Syria has been rocked by a wave of sectarian killings. The Kremlin
said
earlier this month it wanted to see a united and “friendly” Syria because instability there could affect the whole of the Middle East.
Russia, which has two strategically important military bases in Syria, was one of the main supporters of former President Bashar Assad, who fled to Russia after he was toppled in December.
UN raises alarm on civilian deaths in Khartoum attacks
Geneva: Dozens of civilians have been killed by shelling and bombardments in and around Khartoum, the United Nations said Thursday, as fighting for control of the Sudanese capital intensifies.
The UN Human Rights Office demanded an end to the “lawlessness and impunity” in war-ravaged Sudan, where the SAF regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a battle for power since April 2023.
“We are receiving troubling reports of escalating violence against civilians in Khartoum, amid continued intense hostilities,” spokesman Seif Magango said in a statement.
“Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in eastern Khartoum and north Omdurman since March 12.”
The war has escalated in recent months, with the army seeking to reclaim territory in Khartoum and beyond.
Less than a kilometer now separates army units in central Khartoum from the presidential palace, overrun by RSF troops at the start of the war.
Nearly two years of fighting have left large swathes of the capital unrecognizable.
Magango said credible reports indicated that the RSF and allied militia had raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings and arbitrary detentions, and looted food and medical supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics.
The UN rights office has also received allegations of sexual violence in the Al Giraif Gharb neighborhood.
Meanwhile SAF and affiliated fighters are also reported to have engaged in looting and other criminal activities in areas they control in Khartoum North and East Nile, Magango said, amid widespread arbitrary arrests in East Nile.
“We call once again on both parties — and all states with influence over them — to take concrete steps to ensure the effective protection of civilians, and to bring an end to the continuing lawlessness and impunity,” Magango said.
The fighting has plunged Sudan into what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.
Istanbul’s mayor still held as new rally called
- Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival
- His detention came just days before the party was expected to name him as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election
ISTANBUL: Istanbul’s powerful mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, remained in police custody Thursday over graft and terror allegations after being held the day before, as his party called for more protests in Turkiye’s largest city.
Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival and his detention came just days before the party was expected to name him as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
Financial markets in Turkiye fell shortly afterwards in what analysts said indicates investors’ serious concerns that the move was politically motivated.
The leader of the main opposition CHP, of which the mayor is a member, is expected to address supporters outside Istanbul’s City Hall at 1730 GMT on Thursday, a party spokesman told AFP.
University students also planned several demonstrations in the city.
The governor has banned all protests in Istanbul for four days.
Hundreds of police joined the pre-dawn raid on Imamoglu’s home in Istanbul on Wednesday, he posted on X before being taken away, with the authorities then blocking access to social networks.
Access to the Internet and social media was still slow early Thursday.
Thousands of angry protesters gathered outside City Hall late on Wednesday, chanting slogans including “Erdogan, dictator!” and “Government, resign!“
Already facing an array of legal battles, the two-time Istanbul mayor is now under investigation for “aiding and abetting a terrorist organization” — namely the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.
He is also being probed for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organization” along with around 100 other suspects.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, who traveled from Ankara to Istanbul immediately after the mayor was held, branded it a “coup” as he attended Wednesday night’s protest.
“Imamoglu’s only crime was that he was taking the lead in opinion polls,” he said alongside Imamoglu’s wife Dilek.
“His only crime was that he won the hearts of the people. His only crime was he would be the next president,” he added.
Local media said the other suspects were being interrogated at police headquarters but that Imamoglu has not yet been questioned.
Hamish Kinnear, a senior analyst with Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy, said the arrest had sparked “a heightened risk of civil unrest, which the government appears to have anticipated by introducing a four-day ban on protests in Istanbul.”
The analyst warned Imamoglu’s detention could spoil the government plans to change the constitution so that Erdogan can run another term.
“If Imamoglu’s arrest unites the opposition and provokes a political backlash, it could upset the government’s plan to push through constitutional change that would enable Erdogan to run for a third term,” he said.
Under the constitution, Erdogan — who has been president for more than a decade — cannot run again for the presidency. He already changed the constitution to introduce the presidential system after serving as prime minister for 11 years.
The Turkish lira fell sharply against the dollar after Imamoglu’s detention, trading at 37.99 on Thursday morning.
