Doctors Without Borders rejects Israeli army claim of ‘terror activity’ at site of deadly attack in Gaza

Sky News revealed the findings of its investigation into the incident prompting the IDF to initiate its own ‘examination’ into the incident. (Doctors Without Borders))
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Updated 28 March 2024
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Doctors Without Borders rejects Israeli army claim of ‘terror activity’ at site of deadly attack in Gaza

  • 2 family members of staff member killed and 7 others injured by Israeli forces in February
  • Likely a tank shell ‘fired directly into the building,’ according to a media probe

DUBAI: Israeli forces have been accused of intentionally, and without provocation, attacking a Doctors Without Borders aid shelter housing 64 people in Al-Mawasi, Gaza, on Feb. 20 killing two relatives of a staff member and injuring seven others.

The attack came despite Israeli forces being informed of the precise location of the shelter, Doctors Without Borders, or the MSF, reportedly said. The Israeli army has claimed that there was “terror activity” at the site, which the MSF has rejected.

Sky News revealed the findings of its investigation into the incident on Wednesday, prompting the Israeli Defense Forces to initiate its own “examination” into the incident.

The news organization said it visited the site, and used on-the-ground footage, open-source techniques and interviews with witnesses and weapons experts to understand how the incident unfolded.

Witnesses told Sky News they heard loud noises that seemed to come from a tank track, while some also heard gunshots.

The evidence suggests the attack was initiated by a tank shell that entered through a window. “It’s difficult to draw definitive conclusions merely from imagery however I believe the damage is the result of a tank round being fired directly into the building,” said former British army artillery officer and director of Chiron Resources, Chris Cobb-Smith.

He dispelled any notions about it being an attack by Hamas, saying he was “unaware of any direct fire weapons of this caliber being operated by Hamas” and is “doubtful that anything of this size would have been able to be deployed and fired with the amount of IDF activity in the area.”

Witnesses and MSF members said they also heard gunfire before the building was hit.

Meinie Nicolai, general director of the aid organization, who visited the site soon after the attack, said bullets were fired at the front of the shelter.

The investigation further revealed that on the day of the attack, the Israeli army said on its Telegram channel that its forces were operating in northern, central and southern Gaza Strip and continuing “intensive operations in western Khan Younis,” but it did not mention the immediate area around the shelter.

Moreover, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee published an evacuation map on the same day of two neighborhoods further north in and around Gaza City, which did not cover the area where the shelter is located.

Emergency services arrived at the scene at least two-and-a-half hours after the attack due to security concerns, according to the investigation.

The injured were taken to the International Medical Corps Field hospital in Rafah, said the MSF.

“We are outraged and deeply saddened by these killings,” said Nicolai in February.

“These killings underscore the grim reality that nowhere in Gaza is safe, that promises of safe areas are empty and deconfliction mechanisms unreliable,” she added.

The IDF, which has launched its own investigation, said that it “fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring,” but did not provide any evidence.

The MSF said in a statement on Wednesday it “refutes any allegations of terror activity occurring in MSF-run structures.

“The shelter was used by humanitarian personnel and their family members, identified by an MSF flag, and notified to the Israeli authorities.”

In a statement, the IDF added: “After the incident, reports were received of the death of two uninvolved civilians in the area. The IDF regrets any harm to civilians and does everything in its power to operate in a precise and accurate manner.”

Under international humanitarian law, medical facilities and units must be respected and protected in all circumstances.

Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale Law School, told Sky News that medical facilities are “presumed to be civilian objects and not subject to targeting during armed conflict.”

She added that if the IDF intentionally targets a civilian object, it counts as “potentially a war crime.”

Last week, the IDF launched an operation in and around Al-Shifa, saying senior Hamas operatives were based at the sprawling compound. Days of heavy fighting have followed, with the military reporting about 170 Palestinian militants killed and hundreds more arrested or questioned.


Ray-Ban Meta glasses to launch in the UAE

Updated 09 May 2025
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Ray-Ban Meta glasses to launch in the UAE

  • Release ‘marks beginning of an effortless, more connected future,’ senior Meta official says
  • Collection features different styles and lens variations, including prescription lenses

DUBAI: Meta and optical multinational EssilorLuxottica have announced that the Ray-Ban Meta collection will be available in the UAE from May 12.

The glasses, when paired with a smartphone, allow users to take hands-free pictures and videos, listen to audio with open-ear speakers, and use the inbuilt Meta AI assistant.

The launch “marks the beginning of an effortless, more connected future — one that empowers people to stay in the moment while staying connected to the things and people that matter most,” Fares Akkad, regional director for Middle East and Africa at Meta, told Arab News.

The glasses feature an ultrawide 12-megapixel camera, which can take photos and 1080-pixel videos of up to three minutes. Users can also stream live via the glasses to Instagram or Facebook for up to 30 minutes.

Meta AI, the company’s AI assistant, is built into the glasses and can be used through voice prompts to help with tasks such as recommending music or clicking a picture.

In the coming months, users in the UAE will also be able to use Meta AI to ask questions about their surroundings, such as identifying landmarks or translating street signs, as well as live translation of conversations in English, French, Italian and Spanish. However, live translation for Arabic is not supported yet.

Akkad said: “Just a few years ago, the idea of wearing glasses that could take pictures and videos with voice command, translate to different languages, and become a seamless, helpful assistant everywhere you go felt like something out of science fiction.

“Today, it is a tangible reality.”

Users will be able to regularly update the software on the glasses to enable more features as they are rolled out. These include timers, alarms, calendar and email access.

The Ray-Ban Meta collection features different styles and lens variations, including prescription lenses.

It will be available at all Ray-Ban and partner stores in the UAE from May 12 with prices starting at AED1,330 ($360).

 


India tells X to block over 8,000 accounts, mainly Pakistani

Updated 09 May 2025
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India tells X to block over 8,000 accounts, mainly Pakistani

  • Move appears to be part of India’s sweeping crackdown targeting social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations
  • X said it disagreed with the demands but it had begun the process to withhold the specified accounts in India

WASHINGTON: India has ordered X to block more than 8,000 accounts, the platform said Thursday, adding that it was reluctantly complying with what it described as government-imposed “censorship.”
The move appears to be part of India’s sweeping crackdown targeting social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations amid heightened tensions and deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
The order, which X said includes demands to block international news organizations and other prominent users, comes a day after Meta banned a prominent Muslim news page on Instagram in India at New Delhi’s request.
“X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees,” the site’s global government affairs team said in a statement.
It added that in most cases, the government had not specified which posts from the accounts violated Indian laws, and in many others, it provided no evidence or justification for the blocks.
The Elon Musk-owned platform said it disagreed with the demands but it had begun the process to withhold the specified accounts in India.
“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech,” the statement said.
“This is not an easy decision, however keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians’ ability to access information.”
The move comes amid fierce fighting between India and Pakistan, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-run side of the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Pakistan rejects the charge.
At least 48 people have been killed on both sides of the border in escalating violence since India launched air strikes on Wednesday that it said targeted “terrorist camps.”
Both countries accused each other on Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks.
X said it could not make the Indian executive orders public due to legal restrictions, but it encouraged the impacted users to seek “appropriate relief from the courts.”
It did not name the affected users, but in recent days the Indian media has reported that the country has blocked the X accounts of Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan’s former prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan.
India has also banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content, including Pakistani news outlets.
Pakistani Bollywood movie regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also off limits in India, as well as a wide range of cricketers — including star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and retired players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram.
Rising hostilities between the South Asian neighbors have unleashed an avalanche of online misinformation, with social media users circulating everything from deepfake videos to outdated images from unrelated conflicts, falsely linking them to the ongoing fighting.


Ireland’s RTE urges talks on Israel’s Eurovision participation amid growing pressure

Updated 09 May 2025
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Ireland’s RTE urges talks on Israel’s Eurovision participation amid growing pressure

  • European Broadcasting Union ‘whitewashing’ Israeli war crimes
  • EBU must ban Israel like it did with Russia in 2022, say activists

DUBAI: Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE has invited the European Broadcasting Union for talks on Israel’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, as pressure mounts from dozens of former contestants demanding the country’s exclusion.

RTE’s Director-General Kevin Bakhurst has expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the situation of Israeli hostages, emphasizing the need for RTE to remain objective in its coverage of the war.

He also pointed to political pressure on Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, from the Israeli government.

Israel, a Eurovision participant since 1973, is set to compete in this year’s contest, running from May 13 to 17, in Basel, Switzerland, with singer Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack at the Nova music festival.

Earlier this week, in an open letter, 72 former Eurovision contestants called on the EBU to ban Israel and its national broadcaster, KAN, from this year’s contest.

They cited the country’s war in Gaza and accused the union of “normalizing and whitewashing” alleged Israeli war crimes.

They argued that Israel’s participation would be inconsistent with the EBU’s decision to ban Russia in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine.

The EBU previously said it acknowledges the concerns but aims to keep Eurovision a positive, inclusive event that transcends politics and unites people through music.


Israel detains Palestinian journalist amid press freedom concerns

Updated 08 May 2025
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Israel detains Palestinian journalist amid press freedom concerns

  • Ali Al-Samudi, 58, would remain in custody until October due to ‘considerations for the security of the region and public safety,’ Israeli military said

RAMALLAH: Israel’s military said on Thursday it would hold a Palestinian journalist arrested last month in administrative detention, raising fresh concerns over press freedom.

Ali Al-Samudi, 58, would remain in custody until October due to “considerations for the security of the region and public safety,” the military said in a newly published decree.

The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and the Palestinian Prisoners Club denounced the decision and Samudi’s treatment since his arrest on April 29.

His detention, they said in a joint statement, was part of Israel’s increasing use of administrative detention against journalists since the Gaza war began.

They said the practice had “intensified dramatically.”

Samudi is a freelance journalist who works with several outlets, including Al Jazeera.

He was with Shireen Abu Akleh when she was killed by gunfire in Jenin on May 11, 2022. He was shot and wounded in the shoulder.

The Prisoners Club says Israel has detained 50 Palestinian journalists since the Gaza war began on Oct. 7, 2023, with 20 held under administrative detention.

The practice, a legacy of the British Mandate, allows Israel to detain people without charge, with detentions renewable indefinitely.

The commission and the club held Israel responsible for Samudi’s life and fate, saying he “suffers from several health issues and previous injuries.”

The Journalists’ Syndicate and Palestinian human rights organizations have reported the killing of more than 200 journalists in the Gaza Strip.

Other journalists have gone missing during the ongoing war, while Israel continues to prevent foreign journalists from entering Gaza.

In a statement published last week, the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association noted that “never in Israel’s history has the government imposed sweeping restrictions on the media for such an extended period.”

Between 2024 and 2025, Israel went down 11 places on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, from 101 to 112 respectively.


Israel attacks kill 2 Gaza journalists in separate operations

Updated 09 May 2025
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Israel attacks kill 2 Gaza journalists in separate operations

  • Yahya Subaih died hours after posting photo of newborn daughter
  • Another local journalist, Nour Abdu, was killed in separate attack

LONDON: Palestinian journalist Yahya Subaih was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Wednesday, just hours after celebrating the birth of his daughter.

Subaih was among at least 11 people killed when Israeli warplanes struck a restaurant in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City. Dozens more were injured in the attack, according to local media reports.

Another local journalist, Nour Abdu, was reportedly killed while covering an attack early on Wednesday morning at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City.

That strike killed 16 people, according to officials at Al-Ahli Hospital, while strikes in other areas killed at least 16 others.

The Government Media Office in Gaza condemned what it described as the “systematic targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists,” and called on the international community to act.

In a statement, the office urged global powers “to put serious and effective pressure to stop the crime of genocide, protect journalists and media professionals in the Gaza Strip, and stop the crime of killing and assassinating them.”

Subaih, who worked with multiple media outlets, had shared a photo on social media just hours before his death, cradling his newborn daughter. “A little princess has brightened our world,” he wrote.

Footage circulating online shows Subaih wearing the same clothes he wore in the photo with his daughter.

His death adds to the growing number of media professionals killed in Gaza, which has become the most dangerous place in the world for journalists since Israel’s war on the enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023.

According to the Costs of War project by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the current conflict is the deadliest ever recorded for journalists.

More than 170 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began, with some estimates placing the figure as high as 214.

The overall death toll from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has surpassed 52,000 people, most of them women and children, with more than 118,000 injured, according to the territory’s health authorities.