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

[Saif]

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel after fighter killed

Hezbollah retaliates with rocket fire on Israel following deadly strike in south Lebanon, escalating tensions in the region

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Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel after fighter killed
AFP Beirut
Published: 21 Jun 2024, 10: 25

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah Reuters file photo

Hezbollah said it fired "dozens" of rockets into northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly strike in south Lebanon, a day after a fiery speech from the group's leader.

Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese movement allied with Hamas, have traded near-daily cross-border fire since the Palestinian militant group's 7 October attack on Israel which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Fears of a regional war surged after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned on Wednesday that "no place" in Israel would be spared in the event of all-out war against his group, and threatened the nearby island nation of Cyprus if it opened its airports to Israel.

Hezbollah on Thursday said that "in response to the assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out in the village of Deir Kifa", fighters targeted an Israeli barracks "with dozens of Katyusha rockets".

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) had reported one dead after an "enemy drone" struck a vehicle in south Lebanon's Deir Kifa area.

Hezbollah announced that one of its fighters was killed. A source close to the group, requesting anonymity, told AFP he was killed in the Deir Kifa strike.

The Israeli military said an air strike "eliminated" a Hezbollah operative in the Deir Kifa area, saying he was "responsible for planning and carrying out terror attacks against Israel and commanding Hezbollah ground forces" in south Lebanon's Jouaiyya area.

Elsewhere, Israeli fighter jets struck "a Hezbollah surface-to-air missile launcher that posed a threat to aircraft operating over Lebanon", the army statement added.

Hezbollah claimed several other attacks on Israeli troops and positions on Thursday, while the NNA reported further Israeli strikes in south Lebanon.

'Stop the firing'

The exchanges between the foes, which last went to war in 2006, have escalated in recent weeks, and the Israeli military said Tuesday that "operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated".

After the Hezbollah leader's threats against Cyprus, Lebanon's foreign ministry said on Thursday that "relations between Lebanon and Cyprus are based on a rich history of diplomatic cooperation".

Contacts and consultations continue between the two countries "at the highest levels", a foreign ministry statement said, without making specific reference to Nasrallah's remarks.

In a conversation with his Cyprus counterpart, foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed "Lebanon's constant reliance on the positive role that Cyprus plays in supporting regional stability", the NNA reported.

Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati and British foreign secretary David Cameron discussed bilateral relations "and the situation in Lebanon and the region" in a telephone call, the premier's office said in a statement.

Also on Thursday, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said there was "no inevitability to conflict" as she visited UN peacekeepers deployed in the Lebanese border town of Naqura.

"It is crucial for all sides to stop the firing and for the parties to commit to sustainable solutions in line with Security Council Resolution 1701," she said in a statement.

The resolution ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and called for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in the country's south.

The cross-border violence since October has killed at least 479 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also including 93 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in the country's north.​

 

[Saif]

Israel bombs Gaza as fears grow of wider war

Israel bombed Gaza on Friday as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of wider war.

www.newagebd.net

Israel bombs Gaza as fears grow of wider war
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territory 22 June, 2024, 01:01

Israel bombed Gaza on Friday as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of wider war.

Five municipal workers died 'during an Israeli bombing' of a garage in Gaza City, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.

In southern Gaza, AFPTV captured an overnight strike on a residential district of Khan Yunis city. A ball of fire and sparks flared, followed by grey smoke before residents inspected damage in the dusty darkness.

Just before midnight Thursday, Israel's army said it had 'successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon'.

Early Friday, Lebanese official media reported fresh Israeli strikes in the country's south.

This came after Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon.

One of the group's operatives was killed in that strike, Israel said.

Hezbollah claimed several other attacks on Thursday.

The Israeli military said its jets had struck Hezbollah sites and had fired artillery 'to remove threats in multiple areas in southern Lebanon'.

Experts are divided on the prospect of a wider war, almost nine months into Israel's campaign to eradicate Iran-backed Hezbollah's ally Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

Exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel have escalated in recent weeks and the Israeli military said Tuesday that plans for an offensive in Lebanon 'were approved and validated'.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said 'no place' in Israel would 'be spared our rockets' in a war, and also threatened nearby European Union member Cyprus.

The United States has appealed for de-escalation.

Deadly violence on the Lebanon border began after the October 7 attack by Hamas militants from Gaza against southern Israel. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,431 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

The war has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure and left residents short of food, fuel and other essentials.

On June 16 the army said it would implement a daily 'tactical pause of military activity' in a southern Gaza corridor to facilitate aid delivery.

But on Friday Richard Peeperkorn, of the World Health Organisation, said 'we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in'.

Israel's military on Friday identified two more soldiers killed during fighting in the territory, bringing to more than 310 the military toll since ground operations began.

The Gaza war's regional fallout has also impacted Yemen, whose Iran-backed Huthi rebels have for months attacked ships on vital trade routes surrounding the Arabian Peninsula country.

The Huthis and Hezbollah say they are acting in response to Israel's actions in Gaza.

The United States on Thursday again hit back. US Central Command said its forces had destroyed several Huthi drones, both sea-based and aerial.

US officials say a deal to curb fighting in Gaza would by extension help resolve the Hezbollah-Israel violence, but mediation efforts have not produced a deal.

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

 

[Saif]

Israeli strikes kill at least 42 in Gaza

At least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office said. One Israeli strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 peo

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israeli strikes kill at least 42 in Gaza
Published :
Jun 22, 2024 21:30
Updated :
Jun 22, 2024 21:30

At least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office said.
One Israeli strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in a strike on houses in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood.

The Israeli military released a brief statement saying: "A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the area of Gaza City."

It said more details would be released soon.

Hamas did not comment on the Israeli claim to have hit its military infrastructure. It said in a statement the attacks targeted the civilian population and vowed in a statement "the occupation and its Nazi leaders will pay the price for their violations against our people."

Footage obtained by Reuters showed dozens of Palestinians rushing out to search for victims amid the destroyed houses. The footage showed wrecked homes, blasted walls, and debris and dust filling the street in Shati refugee camp.

Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The offensive has left Gaza in ruins, killed more than 37,400 people, of whom 101 were killed in the past 24 hours, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left nearly the entire population homeless and destitute.

More than eight months into the war, Israel's advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces had yet to seize: Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.

Residents said Israeli tanks deepened their incursion into western and northern Rafah areas in recent days. On Saturday Israeli forces bombed several areas from air and the ground, forcing many families living in areas described as humanitarian-designated zones to leave northwards.

The Israeli military said forces continued "precise, intelligence-based" targeted operations in Rafah, killing many Palestinian gunmen and dismantling military infrastructure.

On Friday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Mawasi in western Rafah and 50 wounded. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.

The Israeli military said that the incident was under review. "An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi," it said.​

 

[Saif]

Food piles up at Gaza crossing in south

Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat.

www.thedailystar.net

Food piles up at Gaza crossing in south
Aid agencies say they are unable to work due to continued Israeli strikes, breakdown of public order

Palestinians carry a casualty outside the headquarters of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) following an Israeli strike in Gaza City yesterday. Israel's offensive since October 7 has left Gaza in ruins, killed almost 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left nearly the entire population homeless and destitute. Photo: REUTERS

Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat.

More than eight months of offensive have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and repeated UN warnings of famine.

Desperation among Gaza's 2.4 million population has increased as fighting rages, sparking warnings from agencies that they are unable to deliver aid.

Israel says it has let supplies in and called on agencies to step up deliveries.

"The breakdown of public order and safety is increasingly endangering humanitarian workers and operations in Gaza," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said in a briefing later on Friday.

"Alongside the fighting, criminal activities and the risk of theft and robbery has effectively prevented humanitarian access to critical locations."

But Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks of aid into southern Gaza, trading blame with the United Nations over why the aid is stacking up.


It shared aerial footage of containers lined up on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing and more trucks arriving to add to the stockpile.

With civil order breaking down in Gaza, the UN says it has been unable to pick up any supplies from Kerem Shalom since Tuesday, leaving crucial aid in limbo.

A deputy UN spokesman this week said the crossing "is operating with limited functionality, including because of fighting in the area".

William Schomburg, International Committee of the Red Cross chief in Rafah, said arranging lorries from the Egyptian side in particular was complicated.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli forces tie injured Palestinian to jeep in raid

Israeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

www.thedailystar.net

Israeli forces tie injured Palestinian to jeep in raid

Israeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

A video circulating on social media and verified by Reuters showed a Palestinian resident of Jenin, Mujahed Azmi, on the jeep that passes through two ambulances.

The Israeli military in a statement said Israeli forces were fired at and exchanged fire, wounding a suspect and apprehending him.

Soldiers then violated military protocol, the statement said. "The suspect was taken by the forces while tied on top of a vehicle," it said.

The military said the "conduct of the forces in the video of the incident does not conform to the values" of the Israeli military and that the incident will be investigated and dealt with.

The individual was transferred to medics for treatment, the military said. Reuters was able to match the location from corroborating and verified footage shared on social media that shows a vehicle transporting an individual tied on top of a vehicle in Jenin. The date was confirmed by an eyewitness interviewed by Reuters.

According to the family of Azmi, there was an arrest raid, and he was injured during the raid, and when the family asked for an ambulance, the army took Mujahed, strapped him on the hood and drove off.​

 

[SamaK]

'Your Lord has proclaimed, 'Call upon Me, I will respond to you',' Allah says in Surah Ghafir, verse 60.

 

[Saif]

Israel’s offensive shatters Palestinian pupils’ dream

Teenagers across the Gaza Strip should have been taking their final exams this month, a last hurdle before university and lifelong dreams, but the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory has crushed those hopes.

www.thedailystar.net

Israel's offensive shatters Palestinian pupils' dream
85pc of educational facilities are out of service in Gaza

Children look on from a damaged building at al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo: AFP

Teenagers across the Gaza Strip should have been taking their final exams this month, a last hurdle before university and lifelong dreams, but the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory has crushed those hopes.

According to the education ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, 85 percent of educational facilities in the territory are out of service because of the offensive.

"I was eagerly awaiting the exams, but the offensive prevented that and destroyed that joy", said Baraa al-Farra, an 18-year-old student displaced from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

"At first we were waiting in the hope that the offensive would end and we would catch up," he said.

But "we don't know how long it will last or how many years it will deprive us of our educational lives."

The Education Cluster, a UN-backed organisation, estimated in a report this month that more than 75 percent of Gaza's schools would need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to reopen.

Many have been turned into shelters for Gaza's displaced and others have been damaged in bombardment.

Liliane Nihad, an 18-year-old displaced to Khan Yunis from Gaza City, in the territory's north, said she and her fellow students had "been waiting 12 years to take these exams and pass and feel happy and enter university... but we have been deprived of all that by this damned offensive".

Nihad said she had been hoping to study English and to get a doctorate, "but all of that has evaporated".

Displaying their anger at the situation, dozens of students and teachers held a protest in Gaza City's Al-Rimal neighbourhood on Saturday. "We demand our right to take high school exams" and "We want books, not bombs" they chanted, while empty chairs were laid out to symbolise those students killed in the offensive.

In the West Bank, violence has further escalated since the start of the Gaza offensive. According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, 20 high school students are among the hundreds of Palestinians killed there.

Wafa reported that 89,000 students from Gaza and the West Bank had been expected to take high school exams this year. Back in Gaza, however, there will be no exams at all.

The UN, citing the Palestinian ministry of education, said about 39,000 high school students in Gaza are unable to take their tests.

Sulaf Mousa, an 18-year-old from Al-Shati Camp west of Gaza City, hit by a deadly air strike on Saturday, said he had hoped to study medicine and become a doctor.

"Now, we hope we will survive the offensive and not lose more than we have already lost," Mousa said.​

 

[Saif]

‘There are no safe centimetres left in Gaza’

A UN humanitarian worker described the suffering she witnessed first-hand in Gaza, where she saw children mutilated and families bombed out of their homes, in an emotional testimony Tuesday.

www.thedailystar.net

'There are no safe centimetres left in Gaza'
UN aid worker narrates trauma of desperate civilians

Palestinian children gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid food scarcity, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo: REUTERS

A UN humanitarian worker described the suffering she witnessed first-hand in Gaza, where she saw children mutilated and families bombed out of their homes, in an emotional testimony Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva following a three-month stint in the territory, Yasmina Guerda of the UN humanitarian agency OCHA described the desperation from the viewpoint of civilians under the Israeli military's assault.

"You have 10-15 minutes to evacuate your building because it's going to be bombed. Your little kids are sleeping... You wake them up," she said. "You take one last look at your room and say a permanent goodbye, because you know it will be dust."

As horrifying as that sounds, she stressed that this is the "best-case scenario", since many others are not warned before an attack.

Guerda met people whose homes were destroyed by Israel's operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp to secure the release of four hostages earlier this month. Gaza's health ministry said at least 274 Palestinians were killed during the operation.

The next day at a hospital, Guerda met children who lost limbs in the attack. "Many of whom reminded me of my own two little toddlers. They were staring into the void, too shell-shocked to produce a sound or a tear," she said.

For Guerda, there are no "living conditions" there. "What they have... are survival conditions, and barely. They are holding on by a thread."

She said aid workers were trying to "quantify the suffering with figures", looking at the total number of displaced people, the litres of water they get per day, or the truckloads of aid that make it across the border.

"But it doesn't matter," she said. "Those numbers, they're never near enough ... (for) a population that has lost nearly everything."

The fighting has displaced much of Gaza's 2.4 million population. "There are no safe centimetres left in Gaza," Guerda added.​