GAZA CITY: Palestinians launched boats from Gaza on Tuesday to protest Israel's blockade, a move likely to further raise tensions after mortar fire from the enclave earlier in the day and weeks of deadly unrest.
One main boat carrying around 20 people accompanied by a group of smaller ones departed from the fishermen's port in Gaza City, AFP journalists reported and organisers said.
There were conflicting statements about whether the boats would seek to break Israel's blockade, which currently allows them to travel nine nautical miles (16 kilometres) off the coast.
Some organisers said they would only protest, while other participants said they wanted to move past the limit.
It was not clear how Israel's military would respond and it was yet to comment on the protest.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel's army said some 28 mortar shells were launched toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, with most intercepted by the country's air defence system and no injuries reported.
One mortar shell exploded near a kindergarten building, a military spokesman said. No children were believed to be there at the time.
It appeared to be the largest such barrage from Gaza targeting Israel since a 2014 war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond "powerfully" to the mortar fire.
The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli blockade for more than a decade, with Israel saying it is necessary to prevent the Palestinian enclave's militant Hamas rulers from obtaining means to attack.
The boat protest comes after weeks of deadly demonstrations and clashes along the Gaza-Israel border, beginning on March 30.
The protests have called for Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation to be allowed to return to their former homes now inside Israel.
They peaked on May 14, when at least 61 Palestinians were killed as tens of thousands of Gazans protested and clashes erupted on the same day of the US transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Demonstrations and clashes have continued at a low level since then. At least 121 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the unrest.
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Palestinians launch boats from Gaza to protest Israeli blockade
Palestinians launch boats from Gaza to protest Israeli blockade
- One main boat carrying around 20 people accompanied by a group of smaller ones departed from the fishermen's port in Gaza City
- It was not clear how Israel's military would respond and it was yet to comment on the protest
Iraq’s parliament delays presidential vote
- Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, who ususally put forward a candidate for president, asked to postpone the vote
- Once elected, the president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament postponed the election of the country’s president on Tuesday to allow Kurdish rivals time to agree on a candidate.
The parliament delayed the session, the official INA press agency reported, without saying whether a new date had been agreed.
The agency reported earlier that speaker Haibat Al-Halbussi received requests from Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), to postpone the vote to “allow both parties more time” to reach a deal.
By convention, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is a Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Under a tacit agreement between the two main Kurdish parties, a PUK member holds the Iraqi presidency, while the president and regional premier of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region is selected from the KDP.
But this time the KDP named its own candidate for Iraq’s presidency: Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Once elected, the president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, expected to be former premier Nouri Al-Maliki.
On Saturday, the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties with varying ties to Iran that holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed Maliki.
But his nomination appeared to stoke concern in Washington.
The 75-year-old shrewd politician is Iraq’s only two-term premier (2006-2014) since the 2003 US invasion.
Seen as close to Iran, Al-Maliki left power in 2014 following heated pressure from Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government in Iraq.
An Iraqi source close to the Coordination Framework told AFP that Washington had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
Another Iraqi source confirmed the letter, adding that the Shiite alliance had still moved forward with its choice, confident that Al-Maliki could allay Washington’s concerns.
Iraq has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance between the two foes.
Iraq’s new premier will be expected to address Washington’s longstanding demand that Baghdad disarm Tehran-backed factions, many of which are designated terrorist groups by the US.
The parliament delayed the session, the official INA press agency reported, without saying whether a new date had been agreed.
The agency reported earlier that speaker Haibat Al-Halbussi received requests from Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), to postpone the vote to “allow both parties more time” to reach a deal.
By convention, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is a Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Under a tacit agreement between the two main Kurdish parties, a PUK member holds the Iraqi presidency, while the president and regional premier of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region is selected from the KDP.
But this time the KDP named its own candidate for Iraq’s presidency: Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Once elected, the president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, expected to be former premier Nouri Al-Maliki.
On Saturday, the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties with varying ties to Iran that holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed Maliki.
But his nomination appeared to stoke concern in Washington.
The 75-year-old shrewd politician is Iraq’s only two-term premier (2006-2014) since the 2003 US invasion.
Seen as close to Iran, Al-Maliki left power in 2014 following heated pressure from Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government in Iraq.
An Iraqi source close to the Coordination Framework told AFP that Washington had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
Another Iraqi source confirmed the letter, adding that the Shiite alliance had still moved forward with its choice, confident that Al-Maliki could allay Washington’s concerns.
Iraq has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance between the two foes.
Iraq’s new premier will be expected to address Washington’s longstanding demand that Baghdad disarm Tehran-backed factions, many of which are designated terrorist groups by the US.
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