GAZA: Israel carried out fresh strikes on Gaza Sunday as its leaders came under growing pressure to secure the release of hostages still held in the Hamas-run territory more than two months after the October 7 attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced protests on Saturday by relatives of hostages who called for an urgent deal to secure their freedom after the army admitted mistakenly killing three captives in Gaza.
The trio were among an estimated 250 people taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 raids into Israel, which also killed about 1,140 people, according to the Israeli authorities’ latest figures.
According to Hamas, Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 18,800 people, mostly women and children.
At a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday, relatives of hostages gathered to plea with the government for a deal.
“Take us into consideration and come up with a plan now (for negotiation),” said Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, at the protest.
More than 100 of the Israelis and foreigners seized by Hamas and other militants on October 7 were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce last month, mediated by Qatar.
Netanyahu doubled down on his war effort on Saturday, telling reporters of the three hostages’ deaths: “It broke my heart. It broke the whole nation’s heart.”
“With all the deep sorrow, I want to clarify: the military pressure is necessary both for the return of the kidnapped and for achieving victory over our enemies,” he added.
On Sunday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the central city of Deir Al-Balah.
Witnesses also reported Israeli air and artillery strikes on the southern municipality of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip’s second city.
Also on Saturday, Netanyahu appeared to address Qatari efforts toward a new truce.
“We have serious criticisms of Qatar, about which I suppose you will hear in due course, but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said.
In a statement, Qatar reaffirmed on Saturday its “ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause.”
But Hamas said on Telegram it was “against any negotiations for the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said late Saturday he was traveling to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar to highlight Washington’s “commitments to strengthening regional security and stability.”
News platform Axios said Israeli spy chief David Barnea met Friday in an unspecified European location with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who helped negotiate the earlier truce.
New threat: Hunger
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has left much of the territory in ruins, with the UN estimating 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by the war.
The UN said this week that hunger and desperation were driving people to seize humanitarian aid being delivered to Gaza, warning of a “breakdown of civil order.”
International aid organizations have struggled to get supplies to desperate Gazans.
“I would not be surprised if people start dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease, weak immunity,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The agency reported a “prolonged communications blackout” across Gaza that started on Thursday night and has continued over the past 48 hours.
US President Joe Biden, whose administration provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, has voiced growing concern over civilian deaths.
UK Foreign Minister David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock wrote in The Sunday Times that the “need is urgent” for a “sustainable cease-fire” in Gaza.
In the face of mounting international pressure, Israel announced a “temporary measure” to allow aid deliveries directly to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Fierce fighting raged in Gaza on Saturday, with the Israeli army saying it had raided two schools which it said were Hamas hiding places in the northern Gaza City.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said a Christian mother and daughter were shot dead by an Israeli soldier on the grounds of the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic church.
“Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the Sister’s Convent. One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety,” the patriarchate said in a statement.
In the city of Khan Yunis, dozens of journalists took part in a funeral for Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who was killed in an Israeli strike, according to his news organization.
More than 60 journalists and media staff have died since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Broader conflict
The war continues to be felt across the Middle East and has raised fears of a broader conflict.
Israel has exchanged regular fire with militants, mainly the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah, across its northern border with Lebanon.
The Israeli army said on Saturday a soldier was killed and two others wounded in the Margaliot area on the Lebanese boundary. A spokesperson confirmed to AFP the casualties were caused by a “hostile aircraft.”
The conflict has also caused major disruption to the key Red Sea shipping lane between Asia and Europe, with two more major firms announcing they were redirecting their vessels following repeated attacks by Yemeni rebels allied with Hamas.
The action by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and CMA CGM follows similar moves on Friday by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
It comes after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched repeated attacks on passing vessels in recent days.
The rebels also launched a wave of 14 one-way attack drones on Saturday, all of which were “shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,” the US military’s Central Command said.
Israel strikes Gaza as pressure grows to free more hostages
https://arab.news/zae4s
Israel strikes Gaza as pressure grows to free more hostages
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced protests by relatives of hostages who called for urgent deal to secure their freedom
- Israeli air and artillery strikes reported on the southern municipality of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis
Netanyahu says Israeli Gaza proposal allows return of all hostages, elimination of Hamas
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office said on Friday that Israel had authorized negotiators to present a Gaza truce deal after US President Joe Biden revealed details of a three-phased ceasefire plan he said was proposed by Israel.
“The Israeli government is united in the desire to return our hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal,” the statement said.
“Therefore, the prime minister has authorized the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving this goal, while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our hostages and the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.”
Hamas says it ‘positively’ views Gaza Biden ceasefire proposal; EU chief also finds it to be ‘realistic'
- Hamas’ position signals a change in attitude from the group, which in recent months had accused the US obstructing attempts for a ceasefire
- Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu over red lines in Gaza has set up a potential showdown between the two leaders
GAZA: Hamas on Friday said it had a positive view of the contents of a three-phase ceasefire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
“Hamas confirms its readiness to deal positively and in a constructive manner with any proposal that is based on the permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal (of Israeli forces) from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction (of Gaza), and the return of the displaced to their places, along with the fulfillment of a genuine prisoner swap deal if the occupation clearly announces commitment to such deal,” the group said in a statement.
Hamas’ position signals a change in attitude from the group, which in recent months had accused the US of siding with Israel and obstructing attempts for a ceasefire.
“Hamas sees Biden’s position now more focused on pressuring Israel to return to negotiations with a different attitude, or they (Israel) could risk clashing with the Americans,” a Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts told Reuters.
Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu over red lines in Gaza has set up a potential showdown between the two leaders, raising questions about whether the US might restrict military aid if Israel continues its offensive in the now-devastated enclave.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel had authorized negotiators to present a Gaza truce deal after Biden revealed details of the ceasefire plan.
Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 36,280 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked the enclave in response to an Oct. 7 Hamas assault in southern Israel. The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
EU chimes in
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the Israeli roadmap toward a ceasefire in Gaza announced by US President Joe Biden as a “significant opportunity” to bring the war to an end.
“I wholeheartedly agree with Biden that the latest proposal is a significant opportunity to move toward an end to war and civilian suffering in Gaza. This three-step approach is balanced and realistic. It now needs support from all parties,” the European Commission president said on social media.
UN demands full aid access in Sudan
- Aid workers continue to face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access, committee says
GENEVA: UN agency chiefs have demanded unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver aid throughout war-torn Sudan, saying time was running out to prevent widespread famine.
In a joint statement, the heads of multiple UN agencies urged all parties in the conflict to immediately stop denying and obstructing humanitarian actions.
“Let us be clear: If we are prevented from providing aid rapidly and at scale, more people will die,” the statement from the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee said.
“Without an immediate and major step change, we will face a nightmare scenario: A famine will take hold in large parts of the country. More people will flee to neighboring countries in search of sustenance and safety. More children will succumb to disease and malnutrition.”
The joint statement was penned by the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, along with the heads of the UN agencies for food, health, human rights, refugees, migration, agriculture and children, among others.
The committee is the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum in the UN system, bringing together the heads of 19 organizations, some of which are from outside the UN.
Fighting in Sudan broke out in April last year between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian disaster.
The statement said 18 million people were acutely hungry, 3.6 million children were acutely malnourished and famine was closing in on millions of people.
Nearly 2 million people have escaped to neighboring countries while millions more are displaced within Sudan.
FASTFACT
The joint statement was penned by the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, along with the heads of the UN agencies for food, health, human rights, refugees, migration, agriculture and children, among others.
“Despite the tremendous needs, aid workers continue to face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access by parties to the conflict,” said the statement from the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
“Aid workers are being killed, injured and harassed, and humanitarian supplies are being looted.”
The statement said movement across conflict lines to parts of Khartoum, Darfur, Al-Jazira and Kordofan had been all but cut off since mid-December.
The UN agency chiefs made a series of demands, including an immediate ceasefire, protection for civilians and an end to human rights violations.
“Facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access through all possible crossline and cross-border routes to allow civilians to receive humanitarian aid. Immediately cease all acts denying, obstructing and interfering with, or politicizing, humanitarian action,” they said.
“Simplify and expedite administrative and bureaucratic procedures related to the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told a media briefing in Geneva that the conditions for aid delivery were “very, very poor, and it’s very, very dangerous.”
“We want these generals to find a way to solve their differences not by violence that kills, maims, rapes hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.
The UN also said it was concerned by limited donor support, having received only 16 percent of the $2.7 billion it needs for Sudan.
In conflict-torn Libya, artist’s family turns home into museum
TRIPOLI: A seemingly ordinary villa in the heart of Tripoli holds a lifetime of works by the late Libyan artist Ali Gana, whose family has turned his house into a unique museum.
In the North African country still grappling with divisions and conflict after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, “art comes last,” said Hadia Gana, the youngest of the artist’s four children.
A decade in the making and with the help of volunteers, she had transformed the classic-style Tripolitan villa her father had built, before passing in 2006 at age 70, into “the first and only museum of modern art in Libya,” Gana said.
Bayt Ali Gana — “Ali Gana’s House” in Arabic — finally opened this year, and seeks to offer both retrospection and hope in a country constantly threatened by violence and where arts and culture stand largely neglected.
“It is seen as something superfluous,” Gana said, adding that galleries in the country often focus solely on selling pieces rather than making art more accessible.
Once past a lush garden, visitors reach the museum’s permanent exhibition of paintings, sculptures and sketches by the masterful Ali Gana.
Other rooms include temporary exhibitions, and offer space for seminars and themed workshops.
Set on a wall, an old shipping container houses an artist residency for “curators and museologists” whose skills are scarce in Libya, said Hadia Gana.
Libyan artists had long been subject to censorship and self-censorship under Qaddafi’s four-decade rule, and “we could not express ourselves on politics,” recalled Gana, 50, a ceramic artist.
Art “must not have barriers,” she said, proudly standing in the family-owned space for artistic freedom.
Bayt Ali Gana appears timeless, though the villa bears some signs of the unrest that followed the overthrow and death of Qaddafi.
A road sign riddled with bullets hangs from the gate that separates the museum from the private residence.
Mortar shells turned upside down sit among flowers in the garden, where visitors are offered cold drinks or Italian espressos in a setting that replicates Cafe Said, once owned by Ali Gana’s father in the old medina of Tripoli.
During the unrest that began in 2011, Hadia Gana said she feared “losing everything if a rocket hit the house.”
Then came the idea of creating a museum in the hopes of conserving her father’s precious works and archives.
Sporadic fighting, water or electricity cuts, and forced isolation due to the Covid pandemic have piled challenges on the family’s mission, while the Ganas steered clear of state funding or investors to maintain the independence of their nascent institution.
Gradually, the house morphed into a cultural center celebrating Ali Gana’s calling to “teach and educate through art,” said his daughter.
It “is not a mausoleum,” but a hub of creativity and education, she said.
Gana’s archives also document traditional crafts and trades, some of which have completely disappeared by now.
After taking power in a 1969 coup, Qaddafi had imposed a ban on all private enterprise, and “for 40 years, crafts became an outlawed activity,” said the late artist’s oldest son Mehdi, who now lives in the Netherlands.
He said that in his lifetime, Ali Gana took on a mission to “build archives in order to link Libya’s past to a possible future.”
It is “the nature of the family” to preserve and share knowledge, said matriarch Janine Rabiau-Gana, 84.
Hadia Gana lamented that while museums should be educational spaces, “here in Libya, we don’t have that notion yet.”
She said she wanted to avoid “making it a museum where everything is transfixed.”
Instead, “I wanted something lively, almost playful, and above all a place that arouses curiosity in all its beauty.”
Iran denies using Swedish gangs to target Israel
STOCKHOLM: Iran’s Embassy in Stockholm has denied accusations it was recruiting criminal gang members, some of them children, as proxies to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli interests in Sweden.
“Paying attention to the source of this information clearly shows that it is false,” the embassy said in a statement on its website, adding that media coverage based on documents from Israel’s secret services was “false and baseless.”
Tensions have flared between Israel and Iran since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, and the two states have fought a shadow war of killings and sabotage attacks for years.
On Thursday, Sweden’s intelligence agency said Iran was “using criminal networks in Sweden to carry out acts of violence against other states, groups or people in Sweden that it considers a threat.”
The service, commonly known as Sapo, said these were particularly aimed at “Israeli and Jewish interests, targets and operations in Sweden.”
Several hours before Sapo’s announcement, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter or DN cited documents from Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad as saying that the heads of two Swedish gangs had both been recruited by the Iranian regime.
“Unfortunately, some Swedish media have quoted the false and baseless claims of media and institutions affiliated with this brutal regime (Israel) and published false and fabricated reports against Iran,” the Iranian Embassy’s statement added.
The embassy said it “expects the Swedish media not to trust the claims and reports published by the Israeli regime” and to work for “an end to the crimes of the Zionist regime in Palestine.”
The diplomatic spat comes two weeks after night-time gunfire was reported outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, and three months after police found a live grenade lying on the grounds of the Israeli compound.
