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

[Saif]

Gaza battles flare as Israel slams arrest warrant bid for 'war crimes'

Israeli forces battled Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed a bid for an international arrest warrant against him on charges of war crimes in the Palestinian territory

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Gaza battles flare as Israel slams arrest warrant bid for 'war crimes'

Photo: AFP
Israeli forces battled Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed a bid for an international arrest warrant against him on charges of war crimes in the Palestinian territory.

US President Joe Biden backed Netanyahu in condemning as "outrageous" the bid by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor who also sought warrants against leaders of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Norway, Ireland, Spain to recognise Palestinian state

Norway, Ireland and Spain announced on Wednesday that they will recognise a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys

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Norway, Ireland, Spain to recognise Palestinian state
AFPOslo
Updated: 22 May 2024, 14: 39

Protesters hold a Palestinian flag as they gather outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as judges rule on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands, 26 January, 2024.Reuters file photo

Norway, Ireland and Spain announced on Wednesday that they will recognise a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys.

Ireland's leader said his nation would recognise Palestine as a state but did not specify timing, while leaders of Norway and Spain said their nations would do so as of 28 May.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store made the announcement in Oslo, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris in Dublin.

Israel immediately announced it was recalling its envoys to Ireland and Norway for "urgent consultations".

"Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, adding that he planned to do the same with he Spanish ambassador.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

North Gaza hospitals barely operational

North Gaza’s last two functioning hospitals, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, are barely operational, doctors and the World Health Organization said Tuesday with the Israel’s offensive in Gaza now in its eighth month.

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North Gaza hospitals barely operational
Say medics, WHO as Israeli forces fire on the facilities

North Gaza's last two functioning hospitals, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, are barely operational, doctors and the World Health Organization said Tuesday with the Israel's offensive in Gaza now in its eighth month.

Hospital officials said Israeli forces had fired on the facilities and that snipers had been deployed near one of them.

"Today marks the third day of the siege on Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza," the hospital's acting director Dr Mohammad Saleh told AFP.

He reported that Israeli forces had been "firing at the hospital buildings" and that "snipers" have taken up position in nearby houses.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

What is the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict?

The Gaza war has put renewed focus on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still seen by many countries as the path to peace even though the negotiating process has been moribund for a decade. More than seven months into the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian war yet, the US has sa

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

What is the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict?
REUTERS
Published :
May 22, 2024 20:06
Updated :
May 22, 2024 20:06

An Israeli tank manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Israel on January 24, 2024 — Reuters/File

The Gaza war has put renewed focus on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still seen by many countries as the path to peace even though the negotiating process has been moribund for a decade.

More than seven months into the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian war yet, the US has said there is no way to solve Israel's security issues and the challenge of rebuilding Gaza without steps towards a Palestinian state.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Ship targeted by ‘missile’ attack off Yemen

A missile attack targeted a commercial vessel transiting southwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah without causing any damage or casualties, maritime security firms said yesterday.

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Ship targeted by 'missile' attack off Yemen

A missile attack targeted a commercial vessel transiting southwest of Yemen's port city of Hodeidah without causing any damage or casualties, maritime security firms said yesterday.

The vessel was "suspiciously approached" 68 nautical miles (125 kilometres) off Hodeidah, Ambrey said, without identifying the ship or the flag that it was flying.

"The vessel had undergone what she described as a 'missile attack' at the location," it added, noting that "no injuries or damages were reported".

The UK Maritime Trade Operations also reported an incident at the same location, with "a missile impacting the water in close proximity" to the ship.​

 

[Saif]

Impact of recognition of a Palestinian state

RECENTLY, calls for the western world to recognise a Palestinian state in its own right have been getting louder...

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Impact of recognition of a Palestinian state
24 May, 2024, 00:00

Members of the government and MPs applaud as Spain's prime minister delivers a speech to announce that Spain will recognise Palestine as a state on May 28, at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid on May 22. | — Agence France-Presse/Thomas Coex

Whether or not to recognise a Palestinian state is a decade-old debate. Advocates say the move would have legal and symbolic power, but critics argue it would not change the situation on the ground, writes Cathrin Schaer

RECENTLY, calls for the western world to recognise a Palestinian state in its own right have been getting louder.

Although Germany does not consider current Palestinian territories a unified state, a majority of countries at the United Nations do — 139 out of a total of 193. What's significant this time, though, is that recognition is apparently being reconsidered by the US, a country that has previously vetoed almost every attempt to recognise a Palestinian nation.

The UK also seems to be thinking about it even though, in the past, the country has been just as opposed to the move as the US.

'What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own', British foreign secretary David Cameron said in February.

Spain, Norway and Ireland today all committed to recognising a Palestinian state.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes, says ready for new truce talks

Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes, expresses readiness for truce talks with Hamas amid mounting international pressure for ceasefire and recognition of Palestinian statehood.

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Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes, says ready for new truce talks
AFP
Published: 24 May 2024, 08: 44

A Palestinian man walks on the rubble of a destroyed house in Nuseirat following Israeli bombardment overnight on 23 May, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza StripAFP

Israel launched devastating air strikes on Gaza Thursday, while also expressing readiness to resume stalled talks on a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas to pause the war raging since 7 October.

The Gaza Strip's civil defence agency said two pre-dawn air strikes had killed 26 people, including 15 children, in Gaza City.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said one strike hit a family house, killing 16 people, in the Al-Daraj area, and another killed 10 people inside a mosque compound.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

World reacts to ICJ order for Israel to halt Rafah assault

Israel was ordered by the World Court on Friday to halt its military assault on the city of Rafah during the Gaza war

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World reacts to ICJ order for Israel to halt Rafah assault

A protester draped in a Palestinian flag holds up a sign at a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on the day of a ruling on South Africa's request to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive in Gaza as part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands May 24, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Johanna Geron

Here are some reactions:

HAMAS OFFICIAL BASEM NAIM
"We welcome the decision by the World Court that calls on the Zionist occupation forces to end its military aggression on Rafah. We believe it is not enough since the occupation aggression across the Gaza Strip and especially in northern Gaza is just as brutal and dangerous.

"We call upon the UN Security Council to immediately implement this demand by the World Court into practical measures to compel the Zionist enemy to implement the decision.

"We welcome the court's request to allow investigation committees to reach the Gaza Strip to investigate acts of war of genocide against the Palestinian people and Hamas pledges to cooperate with investigation committees."

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY SPOKESPERSON NABIL ABU RUDEINEH

"The presidency welcomes the decision issued by the International Court of Justice, which represents an international consensus on the demand to stop the all-out war on Gaza."

ISRAEL FINANCE MINISTER BEZALEL SMOTRICH

"Those who demand that the State of Israel stop the war, demand that it decree itself to cease to exist. We will not agree to that."

OPPOSITION LEADER YAIR LAPID

"The ICC arrest warrants are a complete moral failure, we cannot accept the outrageous comparison between Netanyahu and (Hamas leader) Sinwar, between the leaders of Israel and the leaders of Hamas.

"The fact that the court in the Hague did not make the connection in its ruling between the cessation of fighting in Rafah and the return of the hostages and Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism is a moral collapse and a moral disaster."

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

World Court orders Israel to halt assault on Gaza’s Rafah

Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Reading out a ruling by the International Court of Justice or World Court, the body’s president Nawaf Salam said provisional measures ordered by the court in March

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

World Court orders Israel to halt assault on Gaza's Rafah
REUTERS
Published :
May 24, 2024 19:46
Updated :
May 24, 2024 19:46

Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) presides over the International Court of Justice (ICJ), during a ruling on South Africa's request to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive in Gaza as part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands May 24, 2024. Photo : Reuters/Johanna Geron

Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Reading out a ruling by the International Court of Justice or World Court, the body's president Nawaf Salam said provisional measures ordered by the court in March did not fully address the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave now, and conditions had been met for a new emergency order.

"Israel must immediately halt its military offensive" in Rafah, he said.

The court backed a South African request to order Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, a week after Pretoria called for the measure in a case accusing Israel of genocide.

Outside, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved flags and played a rap on a boom box calling for a free Palestine.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case's accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defence and targeted at Hamas militants who attacked Israel on Oct 7.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

How can Bangladesh negotiate peace between Hamas and Israel?
It is United Nations Security Council which should do that.

 

[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.

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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

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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."​

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.

 

[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.

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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...

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

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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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.
​

 

[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.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[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'.​

 

[Saif]

ফিলিস্তিনের প্রতি সংহতি, যুক্তরাজ্যের ‘ডক্টরেট’ ডিগ্রি ফিরিয়ে দিলেন শহিদুল আলম

২০২২ সালের ৮ জুলাই লন্ডনের রয়্যাল ফেস্টিভাল হলে তিনি এই ডিগ্রি গ্রহণ করেন।

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ফিলিস্তিনের প্রতি সংহতি, যুক্তরাজ্যের 'ডক্টরেট' ডিগ্রি ফিরিয়ে দিলেন শহিদুল আলম
২০২২ সালের ৮ জুলাই লন্ডনের রয়্যাল ফেস্টিভাল হলে তিনি এই ডিগ্রি গ্রহণ করেন।

আলোকচিত্রী শহিদুল আলম। ছবি: সংগৃহীত

ফিলিস্তিনের প্রতি সংহতি জানিয়ে যুক্তরাজ্যের ইউনিভার্সিটি অব আর্টস লন্ডনের (ইউএএল) সম্মানসূচক 'ডক্টরেট' ডিগ্রি ফিরিয়ে দিয়েছেন আলোকচিত্রী ও মানবাধিকারকর্মী শহিদুল আলম।

রোববার দৃক পিকচার লাইব্রেরি লিমিটেডের এক সংবাদ বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে এ তথ্য জানানো হয়েছে।

এতে বলা হয়, ফটোগ্রাফি ও অ্যাক্টিভিজমে অসামান্য অবদানের স্বীকৃতিস্বরূপ ইউনিভার্সিটি অব আর্টস লন্ডন শহিদুল আলমকে একটি সম্মানসূচক ডক্টরেট প্রদান করে। ২০২২ সালের ৮ জুলাই লন্ডনের রয়্যাল ফেস্টিভাল হলে তিনি ডিগ্রিটি গ্রহণ করেন।

বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে শহিদুল আলম বলেন, 'সেসময় আর্ট এবং ডিজাইনের ক্ষেত্রে ইউএএল ছিল বিশ্বের শীর্ষ দুই বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের একটি। আমি আনন্দের সঙ্গে ইউএএলের চ্যান্সেলর গ্রেসন পেরির কাছ থেকে ডিগ্রিটি গ্রহণ করেছিলাম, কারণ ইউএএল একাডেমিক স্বাধীনতা এবং মতপ্রকাশের স্বাধীনতার প্রতি প্রতিশ্রুতিবদ্ধ ছিল। গ্রেসন পেরির ভাষায়, বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়টি ছিল বিশ্বে ক্ষমতাশালীদের অশান্তি তৈরি করার বড়সড় কারখানা।'

তিনি বলেন, 'পরবর্তীতে যদিও বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ভাইস চ্যান্সেলরের দায়িত্ব গ্রহণ করেন জেমস পুরনেল নামে একজন স্বীকৃত জায়নবাদী, কিন্তু ইউএএলের শিক্ষার্থীরা ফিলিস্তিনের সঙ্গে সংহতি প্রদর্শন ও বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় প্রশাসনকে গাজায় যুদ্ধবিরতির আহ্বান জানানোর দাবিতে ব্রিটেনের শিক্ষার্থীদের মধ্যে এগিয়ে আছে দেখে আমি আশ্বস্ত হয়েছিলাম।'

শহিদুল আলম জানান, এই স্বস্তি কেটে যায় যখন তিনি দেখেন যে, ইউএএল প্রশাসন এবং বিশেষ করে বর্তমান ভাইস চ্যান্সেলর শিক্ষার্থীদের অবস্থান থেকে যোজন যোজন দূরে।

তিনি বলেন, 'শিক্ষার্থীরা বারবার বলছেন তাদের কণ্ঠরোধ করা হচ্ছে, তাদের ছকে ফেলা হচ্ছে, তারা উপেক্ষিত। শিক্ষার্থীরা বলছেন পুমা, করনিট, এলভিএমএইচ, লো'রেলসহ ইসরায়েল ওশানোগ্রাফিক অ্যান্ড লিমনোলজিক্যাল রিসার্চ, শেনকার ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিং এবং বেজালেল একাডেমি অব আর্টস অ্যান্ড ডিজাইনসহ অন্যান্য ইসরায়েলি বা ইসরায়েল-অনুষঙ্গী সংস্থা এবং প্রতিষ্ঠানের সঙ্গে পার্টনারশিপের মাধ্যমে ইউএএল ইসরায়েলের দখলদারিত্ব, বর্ণবাদ এবং চলমান গণহত্যার অংশীদার। তারা এই অংশীদারত্বের অবসান দাবি করছে।'

শহিদুল আলম বলেন, 'এই পরিপ্রেক্ষিতে আমি ইউনিভার্সিটি অব আর্টস লন্ডনের সঙ্গে যুক্ত থাকতে চাই না।'

সম্মানসূচক 'ডক্টরেট' ডিগ্রি ফিরিয়ে দেওয়ার বিষয়টি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়কে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে জানিয়েছেন বলেও উল্লেখ করেন তিনি।​

 

[Saif]

Palestinian mothers search for milk

Amira al-Taweel scoured pharmacies in northern Gaza for milk to feed her child, but could not find a single bottle to satisfy his hunger.

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malnutrition hits Gaza
Palestinian mothers search for milk

People take part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Banda Aceh, Indonesia yesterday, as Israel continues to pound Gaza Strip. Photo: REUTERS

Amira al-Taweel scoured pharmacies in northern Gaza for milk to feed her child, but could not find a single bottle to satisfy his hunger.

"Youssef needs treatment and milk, but there' none available in Gaza," the 33-year-old mother told AFP at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza where her son was admitted suffering from malnutrition.

"I feed him, but no milk as it's not available. I feed him wheat (flour) which makes him bloated," she said, as Youssef lay on a narrow bed, his frail body receiving desperately needed medication through intravenous tubes in his feet.

At least 32 people, many of them children, have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began on October 7.

But aid agencies warn that the situation is even worse when it comes to children. On Saturday, the World Health Organization said that more than four in five children had gone a whole day without eating at least once in 72 hours.

The rise in malnutrition among Gaza's children is largely a result of humanitarian aid that enters the Palestinian territory not reaching its intended destination, aid agencies said.

At Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, mothers were concerned about their malnourished children.

After Youssef and another baby boy, Saif, were admitted, their mothers sat next to them, worrying about how long they could survive on the food the hospital provides.​

 

[Saif]

More than half of Gaza structures damaged

Some 55 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since the Israeli offensive began in the Palestinian territory eight months ago, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.

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More than half of Gaza structures damaged
Says UN after preliminary satellite data analysis

Palestinian sisters Samar and Sahar cry as they search for their missing mother Amira Al-Breim at the rubble of a house hit in an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo: REUTERS

Some 55 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since the Israeli offensive began in the Palestinian territory eight months ago, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.

The analysis showed more than 137,000 buildings affected, UNOSAT, the United Nations satellite analysis agency, said on X, formerly Twitter.

The estimate is based on a satellite image taken on May 3, and compared with images taken in May a year earlier, last September, and on October 15.

The fresh satellite image was also compared to images taken during several dates in November, then again during the first months of this year, UNOSAT said.

The analysis showed more than 137,000 buildings affected: UNOSAT

"According to satellite imagery analysis, UNOSAT identified 36,591 destroyed structures," the agency said in a statement.

In addition, it said it had seen "16,513 severely damaged structures, 47,368 moderately damaged structures, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures for a total of 137,297 structures".

"These correspond to around 55 percent of the total structures in the Gaza Strip and a total of 135,142 estimated damaged housing units," it said.

UNOSAT said the image comparisons showed the governorates of Deir Al-Balah, in the centre, and Gaza, in the north, had suffered the worst damage between April 1 and May 3.

Comparing satellite images on those dates indicated that an additional 2,613 structures had been damaged in Deir Al-Balah, while another 2,368 had been damaged in Gaza governorate in just over a month.

People inspect a damaged building amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in Houla village near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon yesterday. Hezbollah said yesterday it had launched a squadron of drones towards the headquarters of the Israeli military's Galilee formation. Photo: REUTERS

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/israels-attack-on-palestine/news/us-lawmakers-advance-bill-sanction-icc-over-israel-probe-3627166

US lawmakers advance bill to sanction ICC over Israel probe

The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. File Photo: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw

The US House of Representatives voted Tuesday to advance a largely symbolic bill calling for sanctions on the International Criminal Court after its prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Hague-based court's prosecutor has said Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant should be arrested on charges relating to the war in Gaza, along with three leaders of militant group Hamas.

The US House's Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act -- backed by almost every Republican and around a fifth of the Democrats -- would bar US entry for ICC officials involved with the case, revoking their visas and restricting any US-based property transactions.

"Today's vote draws a line in the sand for lawless action by ICC officials," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.

"The US firmly stands with Israel and refuses to allow international bureaucrats to baselessly issue arrest warrants to Israeli leadership for false crimes."

The legislation is considered a "messaging bill," however, as it is unlikely to be taken up by the Democratic-run Senate and could be vetoed in any case by President Joe Biden, who has said he "strongly opposes" it.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said last month he was seeking warrants for the two Israelis -- as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif -- on suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC's 124 member states will ultimately decide whether to enforce any warrants issued by its judges. Neither Israel nor the United states are members.

While the White House has criticized the ICC, and Biden called the application for arrest warrants "outrageous," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week that sanctions were not "the right approach."

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reaffirmed the policy on Tuesday, telling reporters ahead of the vote: "Our position as the administration is we don't support sanctions. We don't believe it is appropriate at this time."

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/west-has-double-standards-regarding-palestine-pm-3627126

West has double standards regarding Palestine: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday censured Western countries for their double standards towards innocent Palestinian people.

"Western countries are showing double standard regarding the Palestinians," she said. The prime minister said this while handing over a cheque of Tk 5 crore in aid of the Palestinian people.

Palestine Ambassador Yousef SY Ramadan received the cheque on behalf of his country at PM's official residence Ganabhaban. PM's speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the call on.

Hasina said that Western countries always talk about human rights and education for all. "But they do not bother about the human rights violation of Palestinians, killing innocent people in there, they kept mum here," she said.

The prime minister appreciated the four NATO member countries who recently recognised Palestine as a state. She mentioned that people of Bangladesh have soft corner for the Palestinian people.

She said that people of Bangladesh could realise the pain and sufferings of the Palestinian people from their heart because in 1971 they had gone through same kind of situation.

"We had witnessed same kind of atrocities and killing of innocent people," she said. She recalled her own experience when she was in captivity in 1971 for nine months.

She also talked about her life in exile after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. "So we could realise the pain and miseries of the Palestinian people," she said.

She mentioned that in every international forum across the globe she always expressed her concern for the Palestinian people. "In doing so I did not bother about anyone's red eyes," she said.

Ambassador Yousef Ramadan briefly described the miserable situation of his country due to the ongoing Israeli attacks. Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin and PM's Principal Secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah were among others present at the meeting.​

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

Can Bangladesh push for two state solution based on 1947 borders.

United Nations Security Council should push for Two State Solution based on 1947 borders.

 

[Saif]

Netanyahu prolonging Gaza war: Biden

US president Joe Biden swiped at Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday, saying there was ‘every reason’ to conclude the Israeli prime minister...

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Netanyahu prolonging Gaza war: Biden
Agence France-Presse . Washington 04 June, 2024, 22:15

Joe Biden

US president Joe Biden swiped at Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday, saying there was 'every reason' to conclude the Israeli prime minister was dragging out the Gaza war to save himself politically.

Biden added that he had a 'major disagreement' with Netanyahu over the post-conflict future of Gaza, and said Israel had engaged in 'inappropriate' conduct during the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack.

More broadly, the 81-year-old pitched his case in the interview as better placed than election rival Donald Trump to secure the United States as 'the world power' on issues ranging from Ukraine to Taiwan and Gaza.

Speaking to Time days before his announcement of an Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal that Netanyahu greeted coolly, Biden was asked if he believed the Israeli was dragging out the war for political self-preservation.

'There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,' Biden replied. Biden admitted that he and Netanyahu, who have had tense relations as the death toll in Gaza has soared, were particularly at odds over the need to create a Palestinian state. 'My major disagreement with Netanyahu is, what happens after Gaza's over? What, what does it go back to? Do Israeli forces go back in?' said the Democrat.

'The answer is, if that's the case, it can't work.' The defence of Ukraine against Russia's invasion has been a cornerstone of Biden's foreign policy, and he argued he was better placed than Trump to continue that in a second term.

Biden said the Russian military had been 'freaking decimated' and added: 'Peace looks like making sure Russia never, never, never, never occupies Ukraine.'

He also lashed out at his Republican predecessor, who threatened to tear up longstanding US alliances and reached out to a number of authoritarian leaders while in power. 'All the bad guys are rooting for Trump, man,' Biden said.

'Name me a world leader other than Orban and Putin who think that Trump should be the world leader in the United States of America.'

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Can Bangladesh push for two state solution based on 1947 borders.

United Nations Security Council should push for Two State Solution based on 1947 borders.

Bangladesh has been pushing for two state solution based on 1967 border by discussing it with United Nation's big players already. Bangladesh has been giving diplomatic support to Palestinian authority to the fullest extent. But Saudi Arabia's dubious role in Palestinian issue is a cause of concern for Palestinians.

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

Bangladesh has been pushing for two state solution based on 1967 border by discussing it with United Nation's big players already. Bangladesh has been giving diplomatic support to Palestinian authority to the fullest extent. But Saudi Arabia's dubious role in Palestinian issue is a cause of concern for Palestinians.

Saudi Arabia will do what is in its national interests. They also know two state solution is the only answer to the problem.

 

[Saif]

Israel bombs Gaza as mediators to discuss truce, hostage plan

Israel’s military pounded central Gaza with heavy air strikes on Wednesday as US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators planned to resume talks on a truce and hostage release deal...

www.newagebd.net

Israel bombs Gaza as mediators to discuss truce, hostage plan
Agence France-Presse . Bureij, Palestinian Territories 06 June, 2024, 00:09

Israel's military pounded central Gaza with heavy air strikes on Wednesday as US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators planned to resume talks on a truce and hostage release deal.

Tensions were high in annexed east Jerusalem where thousands of police were deployed to guard Israel's annual 'flag march' that has sparked clashes between Jews and Arabs in previous years.

The Israel-Hamas war, raging in Gaza since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack, has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

Slovenia on Tuesday became the latest country to recognise a state of Palestine, breaking with the long-held view of Western powers that Palestinians can only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

This follows the same move made last week by Spain, Ireland and Norway.

Their action, which has infuriated Israel, means that 146 out of the 193 UN member states now recognise a Palestinian state.

They include most Middle Eastern, African, Latin American and Asian countries, but not the United States, Canada, the majority of western Europe, Australia, Japan or South Korea.

In April, the United States used its veto at the UN Security Council to prevent a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member state.

Urban combat and shelling rocked Gaza's southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, the last area hit by the Israeli ground invasion launched in northern Gaza in late October.

But fighting has also flared again in central areas, where the army said 'troops have started targeted operational activity in the areas of Bureij and eastern Deir al-Balah, both above and below ground'.

'The activity started with a series of air strikes on terror targets, including military compounds, weapons storage facilities and underground infrastructure,' it said.

'During the strikes, several Hamas terrorists were eliminated.'

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Israel’s strike on UN school in Gaza kills 27

The Israeli military said Thursday it had carried out a deadly strike on a UN school in Gaza that it said housed a Hamas compound, with the militant group saying the attack killed at least 27 people.

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Israel's strike on UN school in Gaza kills 27
Agence France-Presse. Palestinian Territories 06 June, 2024, 11:46

Palestinians take to the road in Al-Maghazi as they flee their displacement camps due to heavy Israeli bombardment of the central Gaza Strip on June 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. | AFP Photo

The Israeli military said Thursday it had carried out a deadly strike on a UN school in Gaza that it said housed a Hamas compound, with the militant group saying the attack killed at least 27 people.

The military said it 'eliminated' several 'terrorists' after its jets 'conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat', in central Gaza. UNRWA is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Hamas's media office said the strike killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens more, calling it a 'horrific massacre... that shames humanity'.

Gaza's bloodiest ever war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 120 of whom remain in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead.

Israel's ensuing bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 36,586 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Israel has faced growing diplomatic isolation over its conduct of the war, with cases against it before two international courts, and several European governments recognising a Palestinian state.

Israel has frequently accused Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using schools, health facilities and other civilian infrastructure as operational centres -- charges the militants deny.

UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 employees in the territory of being involved in the October 7 attack.

Its chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said last week that Israel 'must stop its campaign against UNRWA' in an opinion article published by the New York Times.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Israel pounds Gaza refugee camp

Israeli forces bombarded a Gaza refugee camp on Friday after a deadly strike on a UN-run school there, as the war sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on...

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Israel pounds Gaza refugee camp
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 08 June, 2024, 00:48

Members of a United Nations investigation team visit a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees which was hit during an Israeli army strike the day before, in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on Friday, amid the on-going conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. | AFP photo

Israeli forces bombarded a Gaza refugee camp on Friday after a deadly strike on a UN-run school there, as the war sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel entered its ninth month.

The conflict has killed thousands, laid waste to much of the Gaza Strip, uprooted most of its 2.4 million population and put them at risk of starvation.

Efforts to mediate the first ceasefire since a week-long pause in November appear to have stalled, only a week after US president Joe Biden offered a new roadmap.

Hamas has yet to respond to Biden's proposal, while Israel has expressed openness to discussions but remains committed to its goal of destroying the Palestinian Islamist group.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, said at least 37 people were killed in Thursday's Israeli strike on the UN-run school in Nuseirat camp.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets killed nine 'terrorists' in three classrooms where about 30 militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad were hiding.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said hundreds of displaced Gazans were sheltering at the school, which was 'hit without prior warning'.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres described the strike as 'horrific', while Egypt's foreign minister Ahmed Abu Zeid condemned what he called the 'deliberate bombing of an UNRWA school'.

'Israeli violations of Palestinian rights continue day after day, in full view of the civilised world,' Zeid said on X.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Israel kills 210 Gazans to rescue four hostages

Abbas calls for emergency UNSC session on 'bloody massacre'

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Israel kills 210 Gazans to rescue four hostages
Abbas calls for emergency UNSC session on 'bloody massacre'

Israeli tank manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Israel, June 8, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen
Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza today while over 200 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in the same area, according to Hamas officials, in one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults of the war.

It was not immediately clear if the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault were part of the same operation but both took place in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat, a densely built-up and often embattled area in the eight-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territory's ruling Islamist group.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the hostage rescue operation unfolded under fire in the heart of a residential neighbourhood, where he said Hamas had been hiding captives among Gaza civilians under guard by armed militants.

Israeli forces returned fire, including with airstrikes, added the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. An Israeli special forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.


Israel named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. They were taken to hospital for medical checks and were in good health, the military said.

They were all kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the raid by Hamas-led Palestinian groups on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on Oct 7.

Since then, Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed at least 36,801 Palestinians, according to an updated tally by the territory's health ministry today.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

D-8 urges world to up pressure on Israel

An alliance of mostly Muslim-majority countries including Turkey, Egypt and Iran on Saturday demanded full Palestinian membership of the United Nations and greater...

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D-8 urges world to up pressure on Israel
Agence France-Presse . Istanbul 09 June, 2024, 01:02

An alliance of mostly Muslim-majority countries including Turkey, Egypt and Iran on Saturday demanded full Palestinian membership of the United Nations and greater international pressure on Israel amid the Gaza war.

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, which also includes Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan, called for an immediate ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, where Israel has been battling Hamas militants for more than eight months.

Foreign ministers from the group meeting in Istanbul called on the United States to lift its veto on full Palestinian UN membership and on all countries to "exert diplomatic, political, economic and legal pressure" on Israel.

They also urged states to ensure Israel complies with the International Court of Justice's decisions, withdraws from the southern Rafah governorate and guarantees the safe entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Denouncing an "ongoing genocide and grave violations of international law", the group called on states to contribute to and join legal proceedings against Israel at international courts.

The eight countries also demanded an end to arms and ammunition deliveries to Israel and that all measures be taken to protect Palestinian civilians, rejecting any attempted forced displacement.

They advocated a two-state solution based on 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and a guarantee mechanism to protect a future settlement.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants from Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,801 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.​

 

[Saif]

UN official blasts West’s double standards

The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to housing has rebuked countries he accused of bias on Israel’s offensive on Gaza following a deadly attack by Tel Aviv on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the enclave.

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ISRAEL'S DEADLY ATTACK ON GAZA REFUGEE CAMP
UN official blasts West's double standards

The UN's special rapporteur on the right to housing has rebuked countries he accused of bias on Israel's offensive on Gaza following a deadly attack by Tel Aviv on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the enclave.

"Countries that celebrate the release of four Israeli hostages without saying a word about the hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands held in arbitrary detention by Israel, have lost moral credibility for generations and don't deserve to be on any UN human rights body," Balakrishnan Rajagopal said on X about the attack that took place on Saturday.

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had launched attacks on various locations in the central part of the Gaza Strip and had successfully rescued four captives alive from two different areas.

Citing a US official, CNN reported that an American unit in Israel aided the efforts to rescue the hostages.

US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were among leaders who greeting their release even as they have also called for a truce.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed the hostage release and said reports "of another massacre of civilians are appalling... the bloodbath must end immediately".

The Gaza-based Government Media Office said that at least 274 Palestinians were killed and more than 400 injured on Saturday in severe Israeli airstrikes targeting Nuseirat refugee camp, areas east of Deir al-Balah, and al-Bureij and al-Maghazi camps in central Gaza, coinciding with a sudden incursion of vehicles east and northwest of Nuseirat.

More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began on October 7, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli offensive, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, reports Middle East Monitor Online.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge.

"My child was crying, afraid of the sound of the plane firing at us," said one Gaza woman, Hadeel Radwan, 32, recounting how they fled the intense combat as she carried her seven-month-old daughter.

"We all felt that we wouldn't survive," she told AFP. Israel's top diplomat rejected unspecified accusations "of war crimes" in the operation.​

 

[Saif]

UN Security Council backs plan for Israel-Hamas ceasefire

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution backing a proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip

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UN Security Council backs plan for Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Israel attack on Rafah

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike as Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution backing a proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Russia abstained from the vote, while the remaining 14 council members voted in favor. The US had finalised its text on Sunday after six days of negotiations among the council.

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire plan on May 31 that he described as an Israeli initiative. Some Security Council members questioned whether Israel had accepted the plan to end the fighting in Gaza.

The resolution welcomes the new ceasefire proposal, "which Israel accepted, calls upon Hamas to also accept it, and urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition."

"We're waiting on Hamas to agree to the ceasefire deal it claims to want," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council before the vote. "With every passing day, needless suffering continues."

The resolution also goes into detail about the proposal, and spells out that "if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue."

The council in March demanded for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.

For months, negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a ceasefire. Hamas says it wants a permanent end to the war in the Gaza Strip and Israeli withdrawal from the enclave of 2.3 million people.

Israel is retaliating against Hamas, which rules Gaza, over an October 7 attack by its militants.

More than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, according to Israeli tallies. More than 100 hostages are believed to remain captive in Gaza.

Israel launched an air, ground and sea assault on the Palestinian territory, killing more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.​

 

[Saif]

Many in Gaza back to eating ‘one meal per day’

Israel’s relentless bombardment and obstruction of humanitarian efforts are making it nearly impossible for aid agencies to reach starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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ISRAELI OFFENSIVE IN PALESTINIAN ENCLAVE
Many in Gaza back to eating 'one meal per day'

Israel's relentless bombardment and obstruction of humanitarian efforts are making it nearly impossible for aid agencies to reach starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The flow of aid into Gaza has remained scarce, with many people now eating "only one meal per day", said Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary.

"This is not only in the south, but also in the north" of Gaza, said Khoudary, adding that markets are largely empty and what food available is hard to afford for most people.

Khoudary has sent an update from Deir el-Balah's Al-Aqsa Hospital, where she said an extra emergency department has been opened to deal with the massive influx of injured patients.

The hospital, running on just one generator, remains flooded with sick and injured patients, and is performing surgeries on an "hourly basis", she said.

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the eastern part of Deir el-Balah, but civil defence teams were able to bring the bodies of five people who were killed in the area.

Israeli forces take a position in a street during a raid in the al-Faraa camp for Palestinian refugees near Tubas city in the occupied West Bank yesterday. Photo: AFP
There have been a couple of air strikes in the area after the Israeli forces withdrew, as well as intensive artillery shelling throughout the night.

Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud has spoken to residents of the Nuseirat refugee camp who witnessed the Israeli military's operation there on Saturday that killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians.

Anaas Alayan, one resident of the camp, said Israeli special forces committed mass "executions" on the street. "I went down to the street and found bodies everywhere," he told Al Jazeera.

The military, which rescued four Israeli captives during the operation, killed at least 274 Palestinians, including at least 64 children during the day-time assault, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The camp is now left with a "trail of destruction", according to Mahmoud.

With many of Gaza's water wells and pipelines destroyed in the offensive, accessing water has become a daily struggle for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

Anas al-Jamal, a pregnant woman in the enclave, tells Al Jazeera she has to leave her home every day to search for water to carry home. "The water scarcity is severely affecting me because I'm supposed to rest and avoid strenuous physical activity," al-Jamal told Al Jazeera. "We're really struggling."

Israel's military offensive has killed at least 37,124 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.

The toll includes at least 40 deaths over the past 24 hours, the ministry said yesterday.

The offensive has brought widespread devastation to Gaza and displaced most of its 2.4 million inhabitants, reports AFP.​

 

[Saif]

Baby Ahmad was beheaded by Israel, with a US bomb

AHMAD Al-Najjar was a happy one-year old child from Gaza. He loved trampolines, balls, and cats. Born as the youngest of his four siblings, his father liked to call him ‘bobba’ or ‘baby.’..

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Baby Ahmad was beheaded by Israel, with a US bomb
11 June, 2024, 00:00

Photo of 18-month-old Ahmad Al-Najjar (right), photo of his father holding up his beheaded corpse (left) (screenshot). | Scheerpost.com

On Sunday night, May 26, Ahmad became the symbol of the unspeakable horror of genocide in Gaza after Israel bombed his family tent in north Rafah, writes Seraj Assi

AHMAD Al-Najjar was a happy one-year old child from Gaza. He loved trampolines, balls, and cats. Born as the youngest of his four siblings, his father liked to call him 'bobba' or 'baby.'

On Sunday night, May 26, Ahmad became the symbol of the unspeakable horror of genocide in Gaza after Israel bombed his family tent in north Rafah, killing him along with his mother, Faten, his sister, Houda, and his brother, Arkan. Though he was bombed beyond recognition, Ahmad was the most recognisable victim of the tents massacre in Rafah, which burned alive, beheaded, and killed at least 45 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and wounded hundreds others.

Rafah's tents massacre was one of the most heinous assaults on Palestinian civilians in recent memory. International media and Palestinian sources reported that Israel blitzed the camp where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in tents with seven massive US bombs weighing 2,000 pounds each. Meanwhile, weapons experts told CNN and The New York Times that they identified the remains of Boeing-made GBU-39s in the rubble.

The bombarded refugee tents had been designated by Israel as a 'safe area' for civilians. Rafah was described by UNICEF officials as 'a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza.' It was believed to be Gaza's last refuge, and the limit of the Biden administration's 'red line' in Gaza. This grim reality, however, did not prevent the Biden administration from shipping thousands of bombs and weapons to Israel, despite Israel's repeated threats to invade Rafah. As Israeli forces were pounding Rafah's refugee camps, US presidential candidate Nikki Haley was in Israel signing 'finish them' on the very US bombs that were used to slaughter children in Gaza.

It is the children of Gaza who are forced to live the most unspeakable horrors while being denied the same outrage that Israel's invented horrors have generated among US and Western politicians

Widely circulated footage from the massacre showed a night of unspeakable horror: bodies burned to ashes, charred and blackened beyond recognition; beheaded children, decapitated and ripped apart by US bombs; parents clutching their dead and burned children, screaming in horror; rescuers pulling people's charred remains from the burning tents; wounded victims transferred to the hospital with horrific and gruesome injuries.

But the most horrifying footage from that night showed a man holding up what appeared to be the body of a small child who had been beheaded. It belonged to Baby Ahmad, who was wearing black pants and an orange shirt that night. His left leg was also severed in the blast. The family never found Ahmad's head, and they buried him without it. He was put in the same body bag with his sister Houda. His mother and brother Arkan were buried in separate body bags.

His surviving brothers, Muhammad and Yamin, both saw the ravaged body of their little brother that night. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ahmad's father, Abdel Hafez, and two brothers, the only survivors of the family, speak up about the unspeakable horror they had to endure that night.

'I did not believed he was beheaded in the bombing until I saw it with my own eyes at the Tal As-Sultan clinic,' says Abdel Hafez. 'His head was separated from his body.'

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Hamas accepts UN-backed Gaza truce plan

Hamas accepts a UN resolution backing a plan to end the war with Israel in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the Palestinian group said on...

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Hamas accepts UN-backed Gaza truce plan
New Age Desk 12 June, 2024, 00:05

Children wait for food being distributed at a camp for internally displaced people where they live due to the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, amid the on-going conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. | AFP photo

Hamas accepts a UN resolution backing a plan to end the war with Israel in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the Palestinian group said on Tuesday in what America's top diplomat called 'a hopeful sign,' reports The Algemeiner.

Conversations on plans for Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends will continue on Tuesday afternoon and in the next couple of days, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv after talks with Israeli leaders. 'It's imperative that we have these plans,' he added.

Blinken met Israeli officials on Tuesday in a push to end the eight-month-old Israeli air and ground war against Hamas in Gaza, a day after president Joe Biden's proposal for a truce was approved by the UN Security Council.

Ahead of Blinken's trip, Israel and Hamas both repeated hardline positions that have undermined previous mediation to end the fighting, while Israel has pressed on with its campaign in central and southern Gaza.

The United States on Tuesday promised more than $400 million in new aid for the Palestinians at an emergency summit in Jordan, where world leaders backed a US push for a ceasefire as the only ultimate solution to help war-ravaged Gaza.

Jordan and Egypt called the urgent talks on the Dead Sea as aid groups warned conditions were worse than ever in Gaza, with virtually the whole population of more than two million people relying on sporadic aid deliveries.

On Tuesday, however, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, who is based outside Gaza, said the group, which rules the Palestinian enclave, accepted the ceasefire resolution and was ready to negotiate over the details. It was up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it, he added.

He said Hamas accepted the formula stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a swap of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

'The US administration is facing a real test to carry out its commitments in compelling the occupation to immediately end the war

in an implementation of the UN Security Council resolution,' Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Blinken said the Hamas statement was 'a hopeful sign' but definitive word was still needed from the Hamas leadership inside Israeli-besieged Gaza. 'That's what counts, and that's what we don't have yet.'

The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 as hostages.

Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities.

Biden's proposal envisages a ceasefire and release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel in stages, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the war.

Israel has said it will agree only to temporary pauses in the war until Hamas is defeated, while Hamas has countered it will not accept a deal that does not guarantee the war will end.

Blinken, speaking to reporters before departing for neighbouring Jordan, said his talks were also addressing day-after plans for Gaza, including security, governance, and rebuilding the enclave.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.
​

 

[Saif]

When did Hamas commit war crimes?

Israel and Hamas committed war crimes: UN

Report says Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses

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Israel and Hamas committed war crimes: UN
Report says Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses

PHOTO: REUTERS

A UN inquiry found on Wednesday that both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes in the early stages of the war in Gaza, and that Israel's actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses.

The findings were from two parallel reports by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), one focusing on the October 7 attacks and another on Israel's response.

Israel, which did not cooperate with the commission, dismissed the findings as the result of anti-Israeli bias. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The war began on October 7 when militants led by Hamas, the Islamist group ruling Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military retaliation has caused the deaths of more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, caused widespread hunger, and devastated housing and infrastructure. Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for months to mediate a ceasefire and free the hostages, more than 100 of whom are believed to remain captive in Gaza.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said its formal response to a US ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden on May 31 was "responsible, serious and positive" and "opens up a wide pathway" for an accord.

But an Israeli official said on Tuesday, on condition of anonymity, that Israel had received the answer via the mediators and that Hamas "changed all of the main and most meaningful parameters" and "rejected the proposal for a hostage release".

The proposal outlined by Biden envisages a ceasefire and phased release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the war.​

 

[Saif]

I stand for humanity, Coca-Cola ad only part of professional work: Zibon

A new advertisement by Coca-Cola Bangladesh added fuel to the fire of this movement.

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I stand for humanity, Coca-Cola ad only part of professional work: Zibon

Photo: Collected

Israel's genocide in Palestine has led to many Muslim countries, including Bangladesh, calling for boycott of 'Israel-backed' products. There is an ongoing social media call to boycott Coca-Cola, as users believe it to be the aforementioned type.

A new advertisement by Coca-Cola Bangladesh added fuel to the fire of this movement. The advertisement, starring Saraf Ahmed Zibon and Shimul Sharma, two popular artistes from the series "Bachelor Point," faced massive criticism on social media. People even assumed that the show's director, Kajal Arefin Ome, directed the advertisement, which he later clarified to the media that he has never directed commercials.

Later on, netizens discovered that actor and filmmaker Zibon directed the advertisement, which led to massive trolling and criticism of him on social media.

Zibon finally broke his silence, posting a status where he defended his involvement in the advertisement.

The actor shared his personal beliefs and the context of making the advertisement. Zibon stated, "I am known to everyone as a director and actor. For the past two decades, I have been involved in showbiz. Recently, Coca-Cola Bangladesh hired me to direct and act in one of their commercials. I only presented the commercial based on the information and data provided by their agency."

He then addressed the negative response following the advertisement's airing.

"After the advertisement aired, I have been receiving a lot of mixed reactions from my fans. With all due respect, I would like to reiterate that this work is only a part of my professional life," stated the actor.

In response to netizens condemning him for allegedly supporting genocide against the people of Palestine, the actor clarified that he does not support anything that goes against human rights.

"In my personal life, I have always stood against any aggression against human rights, and have been respectful of your feelings and opinions. Nowhere in this ad have I taken Israel's side, and I have never been pro-Israel. My heart has always been, and always will be, on the side of justice and humanity," concluded Zibon.

Coca-Cola's recent advertisement in Bangladesh is a stark reminder of the importance of well-executed crisis communication.
Coca-Cola Bangladesh aimed to highlight through the commercial that Coca-Cola is not an Israeli product, showcasing that it has been consumed by people in 190 countries, including Bangladesh, for 138 years.​

 

[Saif]

Hezbollah attacks 9 Israeli military sites with rockets

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said yesterday it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon’s southern border for the second consecutive day.

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Hezbollah attacks 9 Israeli military sites with rockets

Lebanon's Hezbollah said yesterday it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day.

The attacks were made in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander.

The group said in a statement it had fired volleys of Katyusha and Falaq rockets at six Israeli military locations. Its Al-Manar television reported more than 100 rockets fired at once.

Hezbollah's statement said it had also launched attack drones at the headquarters of Israel's northern command, an intelligence headquarters and a military barracks.

A security source told Reuters that involved firing at least 30 attack drones at once, making it the group's largest drone attack to date in the eight-month-old Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The group said yesterday's attack was in response to the killing. It had already carried out at least eight attacks on Wednesday in retaliation.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon - more than it lost in 2006, when the sides last fought a major war, according to a Reuters tally.​

 

[Saif]

Battles rage in Rafah

Israeli helicopters struck Gaza’s Rafah on Thursday, residents said, with Hamas militants reporting street battles in the southern city after top US diplomat...

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Battles rage in Rafah
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 14 June, 2024, 00:18

| AFP photo

Israeli helicopters struck Gaza's Rafah on Thursday, residents said, with Hamas militants reporting street battles in the southern city after top US diplomat Antony Blinken said a truce was still possible.

But the war raged on, and tensions soared on Israel's northern border with more attacks by Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah forces targeting military positions.

Israel, which has traded near-daily fire with Hamas ally Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war, said it would respond 'with force'.

Israeli ground forces have been operating in Rafah since early May, despite widespread alarm over the fate of Palestinian civilians there, including in a ruling by the International Court of Justice later that month.

Western areas of Rafah came under heavy fire on Thursday from the air, sea and land, residents said.

'There was very intense fire from warplanes, Apaches (helicopters) and quadcopters, in addition to Israeli artillery and military battle ships, all of which were striking the area west of Rafah,' one told AFP.

Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli troops on the streets in the city, near the besieged Gaza Strip's border with Egypt.

The Gaza war began after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages. Of these, 116 remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has left at least 37,232 people dead in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.

The latest toll includes at least 30 more deaths over the previous day, it said.

Efforts to reach a truce stalled when Israel began ground operations in Rafah, but US president Joe Biden in late May launched a new effort to secure a deal.

On Monday the UN Security Council adopted a US-drafted resolution supporting the plan.

Blinken, in Doha on Wednesday to promote Biden's ceasefire roadmap, said Washington would work with regional partners to 'close the deal'.

Hamas responded to mediators Qatar and Egypt late Tuesday. Blinken said some of its proposed amendments 'are workable and some are not'.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the group sought 'a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal' of Israeli troops from Gaza, demands repeatedly rejected by Israel.

The plan includes a six-week ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and Gaza reconstruction.

It would be the first truce since a week-long November pause in fighting saw hostages freed and Palestinians released from Israeli jails.

Blinken said Israel was behind the plan, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has far-right members strongly opposed to the deal, has not publicly endorsed it.

Blinken expressed hopes that an agreement could be reached.

'We have to see over the course of the coming days whether those gaps are bridgeable,' he said.

A UN investigation concluded Wednesday that Israel had committed crimes against humanity during the war, while Israeli and Palestinian armed groups had both committed war crimes.

The independent Commission of Inquiry's report is the first in-depth investigation by UN experts into Gaza's bloodiest-ever war.

Israel's foreign ministry dismissed it as 'biased and tainted by a distinct anti-Israeli agenda'.

The war has led to widespread destruction, with hospitals out of service and the UN warning of famine.

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Israeli strikes hit Gaza as truce talks fail to progress

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Friday as truce talks with Hamas members failed to progress and tensions surged on Israel’s northern border with...

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Israeli strikes hit Gaza as truce talks fail to progress
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 15 June, 2024, 00:27

Women search the rubble of a destroyed dress shop in a residential building hit by Israeli bombardment, in the Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City on Friday, amid the on-going conflict between Israel and Hamas. | AFP photo

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Friday as truce talks with Hamas members failed to progress and tensions surged on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

Witnesses reported the strikes in various parts of the Gaza Strip in the morning, particularly the centre.

At Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, men gathered over the body of an 11-year-old boy who died during bombardment of nearby Bureij refugee camp.

In a black singlet, the child lay on a floor smeared with fresh blood, a white bandage covering the top half of his face, AFP images showed.

Israel's military on Friday said troops continued operations in central Gaza, where warplanes had struck a militant cell and 'military structure' in the Zeitun area.

After projectiles were fired from northern Gaza into southern Israel on Thursday night, artillery and aircraft hit the launch sites, the army said.

The war began after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages. Of these, 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has left at least 37,232 people dead in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled

territory.

Fears of a broader Middle East conflict have surged again, with Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters, who are backed by Iran, launching waves of rockets against Israeli military targets on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hezbollah said the strikes were retaliation for the Israeli killing of one of its commanders.

Sirens sounded on Friday morning in northern Israel, where police said munitions had fallen in the Kiryat Shmona area, with no immediate sign of victims.

Since the Gaza war began, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire, which have escalated.

During a Middle East trip this week to push a Gaza ceasefire proposal, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said 'the best way' to help resolve the Hezbollah-Israel violence was 'a resolution of the conflict in Gaza and getting a ceasefire'.

At the G7 summit in Italy, US president Joe Biden called Hamas 'the biggest hang-up so far' to reaching a deal on a Gaza truce and hostage release.

Blinken has said Israel backs the plan, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose far-right government allies are strongly opposed, has not publicly endorsed it.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, a student-led protest near Israel's parliament urged the government to secure an agreement to bring the remaining hostages home.

'Ceasefire now,' read one banner.

Similar demonstrations have regularly occurred in Tel Aviv.

Biden's roadmap for the first truce since a week-long pause and hostage-prisoner release in November includes a six-week ceasefire, an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and Gaza's reconstruction.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a US-drafted resolution supporting the plan.

The World Health Organisation said more than 8,000 children aged under five in Gaza had been treated for acute malnutrition.

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