Israel’s PM condemns settler violence on soldiers in West Bank

There has been a general surge in violence across the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 24 November 2024
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Israel’s PM condemns settler violence on soldiers in West Bank

  • The International Criminal Court stunned Israel on Thursday by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month-old Gaza conflict

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday Jewish settlers who attacked senior Israeli military officers including Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the army’s Central Command in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said that a group of settlers trailed Bluth and other officers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, blocked their exit and hurled abuse at them. It added that five rioters had been arrested.
“All violence directed against Israeli military officers and soldiers must be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
Some of the crowd yelled “traitor” at Bluth, who had visited Hebron to attend an annual religious event in the city.

BACKGROUND

On Saturday, dozens of settlers hurled stones at Israeli troops near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, police said.

On Saturday, dozens of settlers, some of them masked, hurled stones at Israeli troops and border police near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, police said.
There has been a general surge in violence across the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
Palestinians have been repeatedly targeted by settlers, who want Israel to annex the West Bank. The Israeli military is meant to protect the local Palestinians, but Bluth acknowledged in August that the army had failed to safeguard civilians when settlers went on the rampage in one town. Palestinians say they are often left to the mercy of the settlers, with soldiers doing little or nothing to rein them in.
Some settler youth groups reject the jurisdiction of the Israeli military in areas that they see as under their control and have attacked Israeli forces.
Settler leaders have said violence has no place in their movement and have called for offenders to be prosecuted.
Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel captured in a 1967 war to be illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state.
Separately, analysts and officials have said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing legal perils at home and abroad that point to a turbulent future for the Israeli leader and could influence the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The International Criminal Court stunned Israel on Thursday by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month-old Gaza conflict.
The bombshell came less than two weeks before Netanyahu is due to testify in a corruption trial that has dogged him for years and could end his political career if he is found guilty. He has denied any wrongdoing.

While the domestic bribery trial has polarized public opinion, the prime minister has received widespread support from

across the political spectrum following the ICC move, giving him a boost in troubled times.

 


Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

Updated 6 sec ago
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Algeria jails historian who questioned Amazigh culture

He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity“
Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court sentenced him to five years

ALGIERS: An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced historian Mohamed Amine Belghit to five years in prison for offending national symbols, his lawyer said, after remarks questioning the existence of the native Amazigh culture.

Belghit sparked outrage in the North African country when he said in a recent interview that “the Amazigh language is an ideological project of Franco-Zionist origin,” and that “there’s no such thing as Amazigh culture.”

He was arrested on May 3 for “the crime of undermining national unity” by targeting “symbols of the nation and the republic” as well as “disseminating hate speech,” the prosecution said at the time.

On Thursday, Belghit’s lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that a court outside the capital Algiers sentenced him to five years behind bars.

The prosecutor had requested seven years jailtime and a fine of 700,000 dinars ($5,400).

Algeria in 2016 granted official status to Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh people, who are also known as Berbers.

The Berber new year celebration, Yennayer, was added in 2017 to the list of national holidays.

Belghit, a university professor, is no stranger to controversies.

His remarks often cause uproar, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism and hostility toward the Amazigh people.

Iran committed to Non-Proliferation Treaty, foreign minister says

Updated 25 sec ago
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Iran committed to Non-Proliferation Treaty, foreign minister says

Iran remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday, a day after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
“Our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be channeled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons,” Araqchi wrote in a post on X.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday enacted the legislation passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, a move the US called “unacceptable.”
Araqchi’s comment on X was in response to a call from Germany’s Foreign Ministry urging Tehran to reverse its decision to shelve cooperation with the IAEA.
Araqchi accused Germany of “explicit support for Israel’s unlawful attack on Iran, including safeguarded nuclear sites.”
Iran has accused the IAEA of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel’s
June 13-24 airstrikes on Iranian nuclear installations, which began a day after the UN agency’s board of governors voted to declare Tehran in violation of its obligations under the NPT.
Western powers have long suspected that Iran has sought to develop the means to build atomic bombs through its declared civilian atomic energy program. Iran has repeatedly said it is enriching uranium only for peaceful nuclear ends.
IAEA inspectors are mandated to ensure compliance with the NPT by seeking to verify that nuclear programs in treaty countries are not diverted for military purposes.
The law that went into effect on Wednesday mandates that any future inspection of Iranian nuclear sites by the IAEA needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran,” the Vienna-based global nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce
told a regular briefing
on Wednesday that Iran needed to cooperate fully with the IAEA without further delay.


Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament

Updated 03 July 2025
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Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament

  • “A group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” PKK said
  • A PKK spokesperson said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions”

IRBIL, Iraq: A Kurdish militant group that has waged a long-running insurgency in Türkiye announced Thursday its fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons, marking the first concrete step toward disarmament as part of a peace process.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

Ocalan, 76, continues to wield significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment. His call to end the fighting marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

In the latest development, “a group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” the PKK said in a statement Thursday.

The ceremony, which is expected to take place between July 10 and July 12 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, will be the first concrete move toward disarmament.

Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions and interested parties.” The number of fighters who will take part has not yet been determined but might be between 20 and 30, he said.

For the PKK to take further steps toward disarmament, he said “the regime of isolation” imposed on Öcalan in prison “has to be abolished” and “constitutional, legal and political” must be taken to “ensure that the guerrilla who have abandoned the strategy of armed struggle could be reintegrated into democratic politics in Turkiye.”

An Iraqi Kurdish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the PKK members are expected to hand over their light weapons to the regional government.

The regional government is dominated by two parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, with the KDP overseeing the regional capital, Irbil, and the city of Dohuk. The PUK governs Sulaymaniyah.

The KDP has good relations with Türkiye and has been at odds with the PKK, while the PUK is closer to the PKK.

In Türkiye on Monday, Omer Celik, a spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said the PKK could begin handing over arms “within days,” but did not provide details. Celik added that Erdogan would meet with members of the pro-Kurdish party next week to discuss the peace effort.

There was no immediate statement from Türkiye’s government on Thursday’s announcement.

The PKK has long maintained bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish forces have launched offensives and airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have emptied as a result.

The Iraqi government in Baghdad last year announced an official ban on the separatist group, which has long been prohibited in Türkiye.


Killings rise when Gaza Health Foundation distributes aid: Analysis

Palestinian children line up to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in Nuseirat on June 30, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 03 July 2025
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Killings rise when Gaza Health Foundation distributes aid: Analysis

  • Sky News finds correlation between aid drops, increased fatalities
  • UN labels GHF sites ‘death traps,’ amid claims Israeli soldiers deliberately fire at civilians

LONDON: An investigation has found an increase in deaths in Gaza correlated with aid distribution overseen by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Health Foundation.

The GHF took over humanitarian supply systems in the Palestinian enclave in May, replacing around 400 distribution sites run by other charities and NGOs with four designated facilities, called Secure Distribution Sites.

They were meant to ensure that aid did not fall into the hands of Hamas or other armed groups, which Israel alleges frequently happened under the previous UN-backed system.

However, Gaza’s health authorities say more than 600 Palestinians have been killed trying to access aid at the sites, which the UN has labeled “death traps.” Israeli soldiers have been accused of opening fire directly at civilians.

Analysis conducted by Sky News suggests that killings rise when aid is distributed by the GHF.

Sky’s Data & Forensics Unit found that an average of 48 deaths and 189 injuries are reported when the GHF operates two or fewer aid distributions. That number rises almost threefold when it runs five to six aid drops. 

Sky reported that between June 5 and July 1, 77 aid distributions were conducted by the GHF. Of those, 23 — or 30 percent of the total — resulted in reports of violence, and at SDS4 half of all drops saw bloodshed.

A recent report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz interviewed Israeli soldiers who said they were ordered to fire at crowds of unarmed Palestinians at the GHF sites.

The Israeli military denies the allegations, but said it is investigating incidents where civilians have been harmed.

The UN, in its most recent update on June 24, put the number of casualties at GHF sites at 410, citing data available from nearby hospitals.

The GHF has been severely criticized for the manner in which aid is distributed, with footage obtained by Sky on June 15 showing Palestinians at SDS1 crowding and rummaging among hundreds of scattered aid packages discarded on the floor.

Sky’s analysis found that aid is often delivered in significantly smaller quantities than required, with supplies running out on average after just nine minutes. At 23 percent of aid drops, supplies were exhausted before the official opening time. 

Sky reported that 86 percent of distributions were announced to people in the area less than 30 minutes in advance, and that maps and instructions distributed to locals to navigate and access the sites were inaccurate or dangerous, including telling civilians trying to reach SDS2, 3 and 4 to congregate inside areas labeled live combat zones by Israel.

In addition, the congregation areas are typically some distance from the sites, causing surges when they open as people attempt to cover the open ground to access the aid.

The shortest distance from a waiting point to an SDS is 689 meters, at SDS4, approximately 10 minutes away on foot — more than the average time before supplies run out.

Sam Rose, director of operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, called the GHF’s system a “free-for-all.”

He told Sky: “What they’re doing is, they’re loading up the boxes on the ground and then people just rush in.”

Rose added: “They (the GHF) don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t have anyone working on these operations who has any experience of operating, of administering food distributions because anyone who did have that experience wouldn’t want to be part of it because this isn’t how you treat people.”

A group of charities and humanitarian groups on Tuesday condemned the GHF’s operations, saying they violate international principles.

More than 200 groups have called for the reinstatement of the previous aid distribution system overseen by the UN.


UN expert urges states to cut Israel trade ties over ‘apocalyptic’ Gaza situation

Updated 40 min 45 sec ago
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UN expert urges states to cut Israel trade ties over ‘apocalyptic’ Gaza situation

  • Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza

GENEVA: A UN expert on Thursday called on states to impose an arms embargo and cut off trade and financial ties with Israel, which she alleged is waging a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza.

In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese said: “The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic.”

“Israel is responsible for one of the cruellest genocides in modern history,” she added, in a speech that was met with a burst of applause from the Geneva council.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Albanese’s speech.

Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to self-defense following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Its delegate was not present in the room in line with a new policy to disengage with the council which Israel says has an antisemitic bias.

Albanese, one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts to document abuses around the world, was presenting her latest report which named over 60 companies she said were involved in supporting Israeli settlements and military actions in Gaza.

“What I expose is not a list, it is a system, and that is to be addressed,” she told the council.

“We must reverse the tide,” she added, calling for states to impose a full arms embargo, suspend all trade agreements and ensure companies face legal consequences for their involvement in violations of international law.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva earlier this week said Albanese’s latest report was “legally groundless, defamatory and a flagrant abuse of her office.”