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

[Saif]

Netanyahu says Rafah strike a 'tragic accident', vows to defeat Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a deadly strike that hit a displacement camp in Gaza's Rafah was a "tragic accident", which his government was investigating

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Netanyahu says Rafah strike a 'tragic accident', vows to defeat Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a deadly strike that hit a displacement camp in Gaza's Rafah was a "tragic accident", which his government was investigating.

"In Rafah, we evacuated a million uninvolved residents and, despite our best efforts, a tragic accident happened yesterday," Netanyahu told parliament.

He added that "we are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions" after Gaza's health ministry reported 45 dead as the strike late Sunday sparked a fire that tore through a tent city for displaced Gazans.

The ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip also said that 249 people were wounded.

Israel faced a wave of international condemnation on Monday over the Rafah strike, including from across the region as well from the European Union, France and the United Nations.

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[Saif]

Gaza civil defence says 21 dead in new Israeli strike on Gaza camp

A civil defence official in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday killed at least 21 people, days after a similar strike that sparked global outrage

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Gaza civil defence says 21 dead in new Israeli strike on Gaza camp

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation in Rafah, as seen from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 28, 2024.

A civil defence official in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday killed at least 21 people, days after a similar strike that sparked global outrage.

Mohammad al-Mughayyir said they were killed in an "occupation strike targeting the tents of displaced people west of Rafah." Hamas said an Israeli strike had caused "dozens of martyrs and wounded" in the area.

It came as Israeli tanks penetrated the heart of Rafah, according to Palestinian officials, despite widespread condemnation over an air strike on a crowded camp in the southern Gaza city that killed 45 people two days earlier.

Israeli tanks were "stationed on the Al-Awda roundabout in the centre of the city of Rafah", one witness said.

A Palestinian security source said tanks were in central Rafah, where Israeli troops launched a controversial ground assault earlier this month.

"People are currently inside their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones," one resident, Abdel Khatib, said.

With an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting at 1915 GMT due to discuss Sunday's strike on the displaced camp, the situation remains tense in Rafah.

In a statement issued hours before the meeting, Israel's military said the weapons used in Sunday's strike "could not" have caused the deadly blaze in the Rafah camp.

"Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size," said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Sunday evening's strike, which medics said also wounded hundreds of civilians, drew worldwide condemnation.

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[Saif]

Gaza matters and democracy is functional

THE Democracy Perception Index issued its 2024 report on May 8, revealing important and interesting shifts in global perceptions about democracy, geopolitics and international relations...

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Gaza matters and democracy is functional
Ramzy Baroud 28 May, 2024, 21:31

| Counter Punch/chuttersnap

THE Democracy Perception Index issued its 2024 report on May 8, revealing important and interesting shifts in global perceptions about democracy, geopolitics and international relations.

The conclusions in the report were based on the views of over 62 thousand respondents from 53 countries — roughly representing 75 per cent of the world's total population.

The survey was conducted between February 20th and April 15th, 2024, when the world was largely consumed by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

It is important to note that the Index, though informative, is itself conceived in a biased context as it is the product of a global survey conducted by western-based companies and organizations.

In fact, the results of the Democracy Perception Index were published ahead of a scheduled 2024 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, whose speakers will include Hillary Clinton, US Republican senate leader Mitch McConnell and President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The first speaker listed on the conference website is Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the founder and chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation — which commissioned the Index.

All of this is reflected in the kind of questions which are being asked in the survey, placing greater emphasis on whether, for example, ties should be cut with Russia over Ukraine, and China over a war that is yet to take place in Taiwan.

These major shortcomings notwithstanding, the outcome of the research remains interesting and worthy of reflection.

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[Saif]

Rafah on fire: Is the cult of the US and Israel above international law?

The world is now slowly opening its eyes to the genocide in Gaza, coming to terms with the need for Israel's accountability.

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Rafah on fire: Is the cult of the US and Israel above international law?

Fire rages on following an Israeli strike on an area designated as a safe zone for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 26, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

On Tuesday, a new round of negotiations were reportedly set to start for a ceasefire to facilitate the exchange of detainees in Gaza. The talks were set to happen after a shocking, blood-soaked overnight attack by Israel in Rafah, where burnt bodies, including those of children, could be seen being pulled out by rescuers. In all the previous attempts made to reach temporary truces and a limited exchange of hostages and prisoners, there was a feverish race between the chances of success and failure. Benjamin Netanyahu has always been winning, and the mediators have been continuing the attempts without success.

But the horror in Rafah has sparked global outrage, as it should. The truth of Israel's cruelty is coming out day after day. UN Chief Antonio Guterres is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike that Netanyahu terms a "tragic mistake." When will this tyrant, Netanyahu, pay reparations for his lies that have killed thousands and thousands of innocents? The new attempt at a ceasefire will not be the last, but its failure will open new gates to continue the war, bleeding, destruction and funerals—not only for the Palestinians, but for Israel as well. The future is bleak and frightening.

On the optimistic side, the world is now slowly opening its eyes to the genocide in Gaza, coming to terms with the need for Israel's accountability, the need to recognise Palestinians' right to self-determination. All those who have unilaterally supported Israel are now shocked with the extent of its cruelty. After the strikes in Rafah, French President Emmannuel Macron said he was outraged. Germany, a staunch supporter of Israel, described the "images of charred bodies," as "unbearable."

Netanyahu and the US are becoming increasingly isolated. Prior to the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, the US and Israel threatened anyone who attempted to end their megalomaniac killings of the Palestinians on Palestinian land.

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[Saif]

Israeli airstrike on Rafah kills 12 Palestinians, Gaza medics say

Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in a dawn airstrike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday and fighting raged in several other areas of the coastal enclave, Gaza medics said. Israel pressed on with its offensive on Rafah a day after saying its forces had taken control of a buffer zon

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israeli airstrike on Rafah kills 12 Palestinians, Gaza medics say
REUTERS
Published :
May 30, 2024 19:55
Updated :
May 30, 2024 19:55

Palestinians make their way as they inspect the damages after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Jabalia refugee camp, following a raid, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 30, 2024. Photo : Reuters/Osama Abu

Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in a dawn airstrike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday and fighting raged in several other areas of the coastal enclave, Gaza medics said.

Israel pressed on with its offensive on Rafah a day after saying its forces had taken control of a buffer zone along the nearby border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, giving it effective authority over Gaza's entire land frontier.

It said the buffer zone's capture had cut off a route used by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas to smuggle arms into Gaza during more than seven months of war, which has laid waste to much of the territory and raised fears of famine.

Gaza medical sources said the 12 Palestinians, whom it said were civilians, had been killed and an unspecified number of others wounded in an Israeli airstrike as they tried to recover the body of a civilian in the centre of Rafah.

Another Palestinian civilian was killed in an airstrike on Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City in the north of the densely populated enclave, the medics said.

Israel reported clashes in southern, central and northern Gaza but did not immediately comment on the reported deaths in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians took refuge earlier in the war.

Israel has kept up raids on Rafah despite an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top UN court, to halt its attacks. Israeli forces say they are trying to root out Hamas fighters and rescue hostages being held there, and the ICJ also called for the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and land war in Gaza, with 53 of those killed in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run enclave's health ministry said.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas fighters crossed from Gaza into southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killed 1,200 people and abducted more than 250, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli military said a soldier had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing to 292 Israel's combat losses since its first Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 20.

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[Saif]

Biden presents new Israel ceasefire plan, calls on Hamas to accept

US President Joe Biden on Friday said Israel had proposed a Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, and called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict

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Biden presents new Israel ceasefire plan, calls on Hamas to accept

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Middle East in the State Dining room at the White House in Washington, US, May 31, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein

US President Joe Biden on Friday said Israel had proposed a Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, and called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict.

"It's time for this war to end and for the day after to begin," said Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the Gaza conflict, now in its eighth month.

Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the militant Hamas movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled, with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister's office or from Hamas on Biden's remarks.

The new proposal Biden laid out on Friday is made up of three phases; the first would be a ceasefire lasting for six weeks.

During this time, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and hostages, including the elderly and women, would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian civilians would return to Gaza, including northern Gaza, and 600 trucks would bring humanitarian aid into Gaza each day, Biden said.

In the second phase, Hamas and Israel would negotiate terms of a permanent end to hostilities. "The ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue," the president said.

The third phase would include a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.

The proposal has been relayed to Hamas by Qatar, Biden said.

The president called on those in Israel who were pushing for "indefinite" war to change their minds.

"I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan. And will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition. They've made it clear. They want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years and hostages are not a priority for them. Well, I've urged leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes," Biden said.

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​

 

[Saif]

Gaza pounded after Biden pushes Israeli ceasefire plan

Israeli forces hammered Rafah in southern Gaza with tanks and artillery Saturday, hours after US President Joe Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap toward...

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Gaza pounded after Biden pushes Israeli ceasefire plan
Agence France-Presse . Rafah 02 June, 2024, 01:11

Israeli forces hammered Rafah in southern Gaza with tanks and artillery Saturday, hours after US President Joe Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap towards a full ceasefire.

Shortly after Biden's announcement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his country would still pursue the war until it had reached all its aims.

He reiterated that position on Saturday, saying that 'Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel'.

Hamas, meanwhile, said it 'views positively' the Israeli plan laid out by Biden.

In his first major address outlining a possible end to the nearly eight-month war, the US president said Israel's three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.

It would also see the 'release of a number of hostages... in exchange for (the) release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners'.

Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate for a lasting ceasefire—but the truce would continue so long as talks are ongoing, Biden said.

The US leader urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer.

'It's time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,' he said.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken called his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Friday to press the deal.

UN chief Antonio Guterres 'strongly hopes' the latest development 'will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace', his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the offer 'provides a glimpse of hope and a possible path out of the war's deadlock', while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed a 'balanced and realistic' approach to end the bloodshed.

Saudi Arabia stressed its 'support for all efforts aimed at an immediate ceasefire' and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Indonesia, meanwhile, said it was ready to send 'significant peacekeeping forces' and medical personnel to Gaza if a ceasefire is agreed.

But Netanyahu took issue with Biden's presentation of what was on the table, insisting on Friday the transition from one stage to the next was 'conditional' and crafted to allow Israel to maintain its war aims.

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[Saif]

Egypt to host talks with Israel, US over Rafah crossing

Egypt will host Israeli and US officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for aid into the besieged Gaza Strip...

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Egypt to host talks with Israel, US over Rafah crossing
Agence France-Presse . Cairo 02 June, 2024, 02:07

Members of the NYPD detain people at the Brooklyn Museum where Pro-Palestinian demonstrators associated with the 'Within Our Lifetime' protest group rallied on Friday in New York City. Demonstrators started at Barclays Center and marched to the Brooklyn Museum where they occupied the inside lobby and the outside demanding that the Brooklyn Museum divest from investments in Israel. | AFP photo

Egypt will host Israeli and US officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, Egyptian state-linked media said.

Al-Qahera News, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, quoted on Saturday a unidentified senior official as saying Cairo was demanding 'a total Israeli withdrawal' from the terminal on Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

'An Egyptian-American-Israeli meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday) in Cairo to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing', the official said.

The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces seized its Palestinian side in early May, reducing aid flows into the war-torn territory to a trickle.

Since then, Egypt and Israel have blamed each other for the blocking of aid deliveries through Rafah. The Egyptian authorities have refused to coordinate with the Israelis, preferring to work with international or Palestinian bodies.

After talks with US President Joe Biden last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed to temporarily divert UN aid to the Kerem Shalom crossing, near Rafah but on Gaza's border with Israel.

Biden on Friday revealed a multi-phase plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip proposed by Israel, saying it was 'time for this war to end'.

The official quoted by Al-Qahera said that Egypt was undertaking 'intensive efforts' to 'resume negotiations' for a truce 'in light of the recent American proposition'.​