[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Germany, Portugal say time not ripe to recognise Palestinian state

Germany and Portugal express reservations about recognizing a Palestinian state, citing lack of clarity on territory and unresolved issues, preferring a negotiated two-state solution.

en.prothomalo.com

Germany, Portugal say time not ripe to recognise Palestinian state
AFPBerlin
Published: 24 May 2024, 21: 53

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro address a joint press conference after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany on 24 May, 2024AFP

The leaders of Germany and Portugal said Friday the time was not ripe to recognise a Palestinian state, after three other European nations announced plans to do so.

"We have no reason to recognise the Palestinian Authority as a separate state now," Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a press conference after talks with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

"There is no clarity about the territory of the state and other questions related to it," he said.

"What we need is a negotiated solution between Israel and the Palestinians that amounts to a two-state solution... but we are still a long way from there," he said.

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[Saif]

World Court's order on Rafah does not rule out entire offensive, Israel says

Israel considers that an order by the World Court to halt its military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza allows room for some military action there, Israeli officials said

www.thedailystar.net

World Court's order on Rafah does not rule out entire offensive, Israel says

Photo: AFP

Israel considers that an order by the World Court to halt its military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza allows room for some military action there, Israeli officials said.

In an emergency ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide, judges at the International Court of Justice ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its assault on Rafah, where Israel says it is rooting out Hamas fighters.

"What they are asking us, is not to commit genocide in Rafah. We did not commit genocide and we will not commit genocide," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel's N12 TV on Saturday.

Asked whether the Rafah offensive would continue, Hanegbi said: "According to international law, we have the right to defend ourselves and the evidence is that the court is not preventing us from continuing to defend ourselves."​

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[Saif]

An open letter on Gaza from Bangladesh

From Bangladesh and across the world, 126 Bangladeshi scholars, teachers and researchers condemn Israel's war in Gaza.

www.thedailystar.net

An open letter on Gaza from Bangladesh

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by the occupier in seven months, most of whom are women and children. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

As we write this, Israel has embarked on the final phase of its genocidal war in Gaza, bombing Rafah where more than a million Palestinians have been driven by repeated evacuations from the rest of the Gaza Strip. Today, they have nowhere left to go.

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by the occupier in seven months, most of whom are women and children. Hundreds of thousands more are injured. More than a million people have lost their homes, and the infrastructure of life has been obliterated by the occupation's indiscriminate bombing. Netanyahu's policy of forced starvation has created a famine in Gaza. International organisations are unable to carry out adequate relief operations in the face of Israeli bombings and Zionist mobs preventing the entry of aid trucks. Genocidal actions are being carried out in the West Bank as well. Entire villages have been literally burned down by Zionist settlers backed by soldiers, bulldozers, and tanks.

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[Saif]

Macron discusses Gaza war with Arab ministers

France’s president, Qatar’s prime minister and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan held talks Friday on the Gaza war and ways to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel...

www.newagebd.net

Macron discusses Gaza war with Arab ministers
Agence France-Presse . Paris 25 May, 2024, 22:51

Emmanuel Macron

France's president, Qatar's prime minister and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan held talks Friday on the Gaza war and ways to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the French presidency said.

French president Emmanuel Macron organised the meeting amid growing international concerns over the Israel-Hamas war. It came a few hours after the UN's top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah.

Efforts to revive a 'two-state' solution to the wider Middle East conflict and humanitarian efforts for Gaza dominated the talks.

The five countries also discussed how to 'increase and deepen their cooperation' and 'the effective implementation of the two-state solution, the only effective way to guarantee the peace and security of the state of Israel and to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians,' the statement added.

Macron and France's Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne were joined at the meeting by Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and foreign ministers Sameh Shoukry of Egypt, Ayman Safadi of Jordan and Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the Elysee said.

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[Saif]

Hamas claims to have taken Israeli soldier 'prisoner'

The Palestinian group targeted Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabalia camp and "all their members were killed

en.prothomalo.com

Hamas claims to have taken Israeli soldier 'prisoner'
AFP Palestinian Territories
Published: 26 May 2024, 11: 27

A woman and boy walk with belongings past barbed-wire fences as they flee from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 11 May, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas.AFP

The armed wing of Hamas said it had taken "prisoner" at least one Israeli soldier in an ambush on Saturday in the Gaza Strip, a claim Israel denied.

The Palestinian group targeted Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabalia camp and "all their members were killed, wounded or taken prisoner," said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Hamas also broadcast images of a soldier being dragged along the ground, presenting the soldier as a captured Israeli. The images could not be immediately authenticated by AFP.

In a statement on Telegram, the Israeli army said it "clarifies that there is no incident in which a soldier was abducted".

Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded Rafah on Saturday, as the government dismissed an order by the top UN court to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city.

At the same time, renewed international efforts were underway aimed at securing a ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas's unprecedented 7 October attack on Israel.

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[Saif]

Famine should be declared in Gaza Strip

At least 70 organisations are calling on relevant authorities and international institutions to officially declare a famine in the Gaza Strip, where there is a rapid spread of famine, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Famine should be declared in Gaza Strip
Say rights organisations as Israel using starvation as a 'weapon of war' against Palestinian people

A Palestinian man walks past a destroyed building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, amid the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Israel prepared to allow around 200 aid trucks into Gaza through Kerem Shalom at the southeastern edge of the Palestinian enclave, bypassing the main Rafah crossing that has been blocked for weeks. Photo: AFP

At least 70 organisations are calling on relevant authorities and international institutions to officially declare a famine in the Gaza Strip, where there is a rapid spread of famine, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor yesterday.

It said that food insecurity is increasing across the enclave because of Israel's use of starvation as a "weapon of war" against the Palestinian people – something the organisations say is part of a genocide, a charge Israel has denied.

"The organisations stated that food security levels have significantly declined as a result of the Israeli army's ground operation in Rafah City, south of the Gaza Strip, which began on May 7 and was preceded the day before by blocking the entry of humanitarian aid trucks through the Rafah crossing" the statement read.

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[Saif]

Israel not ‘akin’ to Hamas

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan justified his decision to request arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defence minister in an interview with a British newspaper published yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Israel not 'akin' to Hamas
Says ICC prosecutor

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan justified his decision to request arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and defence minister in an interview with a British newspaper published yesterday.

Khan said on Monday that he was seeking warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohamed Deif, on suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

His announcement sparked the ire of Israel and its allies the United States and United Kingdom, all of which criticised Khan for putting together Hamas and Israel, which has carried out a relentless military campaign in Gaza since October 7.

"It's a precarious moment internationally and if we don't hold on to the law, we have nothing to cling onto," Khan, who rarely speaks publicly, told the Sunday Times newspaper.

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[Saif]

Norway hands over papers for diplomatic recognition to the Palestinian prime minister

Norway on Sunday handed over diplomatic papers to the Palestinian prime minister in the latest step toward recognising a Palestinian state, a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. Ireland and Spain made a concerted pledge with Norway to recognise a Palestinian state, a historic move th

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Norway hands over papers for diplomatic recognition to the Palestinian prime minister
Published :
May 26, 2024 19:53
Updated :
May 26, 2024 19:53

Norway on Sunday handed over diplomatic papers to the Palestinian prime minister in the latest step toward recognising a Palestinian state, a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel.

Ireland and Spain made a concerted pledge with Norway to recognise a Palestinian state, a historic move that increases Israel's isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza, reports AP.

The handover of papers by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to the prime minister was made in Brussels, where Mohammad Mustafa is also meeting with foreign ministers of European Union nations and high-level EU officials on Monday to drum up support for the Palestinians. Norway itself is not part of the EU.

The diplomatic move by the three nations was a welcome boost of support for Palestinian officials who have sought for decades to establish a statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and still controls.

"Recognition means a lot for us. It is the most important thing that anybody can do for the Palestinian people," said Mustafa. "It is a great deal for us."

The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland — which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state — is planned for Tuesday.

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