Israeli troops, warplanes strike north Gaza

Smoke billows from an area targeted by Israeli bombardment in the Gaza City district of Shujaiya on June 28, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 28 June 2024
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Israeli troops, warplanes strike north Gaza

  • The Al-Quds Brigades said Friday it was fighting in northern Gaza neighborhood of Shujaiya

GAZA: Israel’s military on Friday said it was conducting raids backed by air strikes in northern Gaza, killing “dozens” of militants in an area where it had declared the command structure of Hamas dismantled months ago.
The operation in Shujaiya, on the edge of Gaza City, caused numerous casualties, witnesses and medics said on Thursday when it began.
Renewed fighting in Gaza’s north followed comments on Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said the “intense phase” of the war was winding down after almost nine months.
Experts say they foresee a potentially prolonged next phase.
Omer Dostri, a military expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said he expects the army to reduce its ground presence and to increasingly use drones and fighter jets “to further dismantle Hamas.”
On Friday in the Shujaiya area, an AFP correspondent witnessed an air strike and saw smoke rising. Artillery fire boomed.
In a statement, Israel’s military said that, overnight Thursday, troops “started to conduct targeted raids” in the Shujaiya area as part of an operation that began earlier in the day.
Intelligence had indicated “the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area of Shujaiya,” the military said, in its first details of the operation.
As troops went in, warplanes struck dozens of Hamas targets, it said, following other “significant” strikes that killed “dozens” of militants in the north.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, said on Friday it was fighting in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shujaiya and had targeted Israeli troops with mortar shells.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces had targeted the agency’s headquarters while advancing in western Rafah.
Multiple agency staff were wounded, while two fire engines, an ambulance and an excavator used for rescuing people from under rubble were damaged, one of the agency’s officials Mohammad Al-Mughair told AFP.

On Thursday, a military spokesman told residents and displaced Gazans in a social media message to leave “for your safety.”
They were asked to head south, to a declared “humanitarian zone” about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.
An AFP photographer saw many Palestinians leaving on foot, carrying their belongings through rubble-strewn streets.
Hamas said Israeli forces were “starting a ground incursion,” reporting “several” dead as “thousands flee under relentless bombing.”
The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 42 are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,765 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
On Friday the military announced the death of another soldier, aged 19, during combat in southern Gaza. This brings to 314 the number killed since ground operations began in the territory.
Elsewhere in the coastal strip, paramedics on Friday reported three people killed in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza.
AFP images showed the municipal building had been destroyed.
Colleagues prayed over the bodies of four civil defense volunteers killed during bombardment of the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, other AFP images showed.
Orange work vests lay on top of their white-shrouded bodies.
Witnesses on Friday reported artillery fire in Nuseirat.
Fighting in Gaza comes alongside growing fears of a wider regional conflagration involving Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began.
Such exchanges have escalated this month.
US officials have voiced hope a Gaza ceasefire could also lead to a reduction in hostilities on Israel’s northern border, but months of on-off mediation, also involving Egypt and Qatar, have not brought a deal.
On Thursday, Hezbollah said it fired “dozens” of rockets at a military base in northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
Hezbollah said four of its fighters had been killed. Israel’s military said air strikes killed three Hezbollah operatives.
In Gaza, most of the population has been uprooted and much of the territory’s infrastructure has been destroyed, leaving residents struggling to survive.
A UN-backed assessment this week said almost half a million people in Gaza are still experiencing “catastrophic” hunger.
An Israeli government spokesman dismissed the report, partly because “it’s based upon data from Hamas’s own health institutions.”
But the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, on its website, says it was created “precisely to supersede potential political interferences through technical neutrality,” and that its parameters are based on international standards.
Netanyahu’s announcement that intense fighting is winding down comes with his right-wing coalition under a range of pressures.
Thousands of protesters again gathered in front of his Jerusalem residence on Thursday to call for a hostage release deal, an AFP reporter said.
In the Tel Aviv area, mounted police dispersed ultra-Orthodox men protesting a Supreme Court ruling that they must be drafted for military service.


Palestinian Authority says Israel fired on diplomats visiting West Bank

Updated 4 sec ago
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Palestinian Authority says Israel fired on diplomats visiting West Bank

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority accused Israeli forces of firing on diplomats as they visited the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, releasing video of two soldiers aiming rifles at a group of people.
It condemned “the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate.” A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP he had heard “repeated shots” coming from inside Jenin refugee camp. An Israeli army spokesperson said: “I am looking into it.”

EU review of Israel ties ‘devastatingly late’: Amnesty

Updated 26 min 19 sec ago
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EU review of Israel ties ‘devastatingly late’: Amnesty

  • Association agreement to be examined over Gaza concerns
  • ‘Emboldened by EU inaction — and even backed by some EU states — Israeli leaders have flaunted their genocidal aims’

LONDON: The EU’s decision to review trade and cooperation with Israel in light of concerns over the Gaza war is “devastatingly late,” Amnesty International has said.

On Tuesday, the European Commission agreed to conduct a review into Israel’s potential violation of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The article mandates respect for human rights and democratic principles from both parties.

Seventeen EU member states raised objections to Israel’s conduct in Gaza and demanded the review.

Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty’s European Institutions Office, said: “While this is a welcome first step, it also comes devastatingly late. The extent of human suffering in Gaza for the past 19 months has been unimaginable. Israel is committing genocide in Gaza with chilling impunity.”

The NGO has long called for a review of the EU’s association agreement with Israel. It has cited Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory as a key violation of the agreement.

Israel’s conduct in Gaza has only strengthened calls for a review into European trade with the country.

“Emboldened by EU inaction — and even backed by some EU states — Israeli leaders have flaunted their genocidal aims,” Geddie said.

“The EU’s unofficial policy of appeasement towards Israel is contrary to its member states’ obligations and will forever be judged in the annals of history.”

Geddie warned that any delay in European action would “cost human lives in Gaza.” She called for the EU to immediately suspend all trade linked to Israel’s settlement industry, which has expanded significantly amid the war in Gaza.

“The stakes are too high. If the EU fails to live up to these obligations as a bloc, and seeks to shield itself from its clear legal obligations, its member states must unilaterally suspend all forms of cooperation that may contribute to violations of international law,” Geddie said.

After the EU agreed to probe ties with Israel, Amnesty said it would now focus on pushing for a “meaningful review which takes evidence and international standards into account.”


US to appoint Thomas Barrack as special envoy for Syria, sources say

Updated 21 May 2025
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US to appoint Thomas Barrack as special envoy for Syria, sources say

DAMASCUS/ISTANBUL: The United States will appoint President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and current US ambassador to Turkiye, Thomas Barrack, as a special envoy for Syria, a person with direct knowledge of the matter and a diplomat in Turkiye said.
The decision follows Trump’s landmark announcement last week that US sanctions on Syria would be lifted. It also suggests US acknowledgement that Turkiye has emerged with key regional influence on Damascus since Syrian strongman Bashar Assad’s ouster by rebels in December, ending 14 years of civil war.
Asked for comment, a US State Department spokesperson said: “There is no announcement at this time.”
Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Rubio said he was allowing Turkish embassy staff, including Barrack, to work with local officials in Syria to understand what kind of aid they need.
“We want to help that government succeed, because the alternative is full-scale civil war and chaos, which would, of course, destabilize the entire region,” Rubio said.
A US-Turkish meeting focused on Syria took place in Washington on Tuesday with Barrack in attendance, according to Turkiye’s foreign ministry, which said sanctions relief and efforts to counter terrorism had been discussed.
The US had sought a step-for-step approach to Syria sanctions relief until Trump’s announcement that he was ordering “the cessation of sanctions,” which he said aimed to give Syria a chance to recover from devastating war. He said he made the decision after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Trump also met with Syria’s interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on May 14 and urged him to normalize ties with longtime foe Israel following his surprise sanctions announcement.
Removing US sanctions that cut Syria off from the global financial system would clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations working in Syria, and ease foreign investment and trade as the country looks to rebuild.


South Sudan’s President Kiir promotes sanctioned ally as ruling party deputy

Updated 21 May 2025
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South Sudan’s President Kiir promotes sanctioned ally as ruling party deputy

  • The reshuffle follows months of political uncertainty in which authorities placed Kiir’s longtime rival First Vice President Riek Machar under house arrest

NAIROBI: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has reshuffled the senior leadership in the ruling party, according to an official decree, as the country faces fresh fighting between rival armed factions and widespread speculation about Kiir’s succession plans.
Kiir, 73, promoted sanctioned ally Second Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel as his SPLM party’s deputy chairperson, according to a decree read on the state broadcaster on Tuesday night, weeks after the United Nations said the country was on the brink of civil war.
Seen widely by political analysts as Kiir’s chosen successor, Bol Mel was sanctioned by the United States in 2017 over suspicions his construction company received preferential treatment in the awarding of government contracts.
If Kiir stepped down, Bol Mel’s new role as the SPLM party’s deputy chairperson would make him acting president of the country.
The reshuffle follows months of political uncertainty in which authorities placed Kiir’s longtime rival First Vice President Riek Machar under house arrest, accusing him of trying to stir a rebellion.
Machar’s opposition party denied the charges, and said the move effectively voided a 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war between Kiir’s Dinka forces and Nuer fighters loyal to Machar.
Western countries, including the United States, Britain and Germany closed embassies or cut back operations in South Sudan.
Tuesday night’s ruling party shake-up saw Kiir demote three veterans of South Sudan’s liberation struggle, including former Second Vice President James Wani Igga, according to the decree read on state television on Tuesday night.


Muslim World League backs UK, France, Canada statement on Gaza, West Bank

Updated 21 May 2025
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Muslim World League backs UK, France, Canada statement on Gaza, West Bank

  • MWL urges international community to act, force Israel to comply with international law, hold perpetrators accountable

DUBAI: The Muslim World League on Wednesday welcomed the joint statement issued by the UK, France and Canada regarding Israel’s war on Gaza and the West Bank.

The statement warned of concrete measures, including targeted sanctions, should the Israeli occupation government fail to halt its military operations, stop settlement expansion, and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.

The MWL’s Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, who is also chairman of the Muslim Scholars Association, praised the joint stance.

In a statement, Al-Issa described it as “an important and just step in the right direction for the Palestinian people, whose suffering has been prolonged under the killing and destruction machine of the Israeli occupation government.”

He urged the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities by increasing pressure to end the ongoing violations, and for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

Al-Issa said the Israeli government should be compelled to immediately comply with UN resolutions and international humanitarian law.