RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: By suspending badly-needed fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip after deadly overnight clashes, Israel has cast doubts on the viability of the hard-won measure aimed at helping the Palestinian people and easing tensions.
The deal, brokered by the United Nations and backed by the United States, Israel and others, had seen thousands of liters of Qatari-bought fuel trucked into Gaza daily to boost the impoverished territory’s electricity supply.
But only days after being brought into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman late Friday ordered the deliveries to stop after clashes on the Gaza-Israel border.
Despite hopes the fuel would help ease months of deadly violence, thousands of protesters gathered again Friday at the border fence. The Israeli army said five people were shot dead after “an organized attack” on an army post, using an explosive device which destroyed part of the fence.
The Gaza health ministry said seven Palestinians were killed.
The fuel deal had been reached without the agreement of the officially recognized Palestinian government, in what diplomats said was a first for Gaza — which is controlled by the rival Palestinian faction, Hamas.
And it had also raised questions on whether Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is slowly being sidelined.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Abbas has semi autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank, but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a near-civil war in 2007.
But the PA has long been the only address for most international powers and a senior official declared Thursday it would no longer work with the UN envoy who brokered the deal.
The UN and other parties say they are merely seeking to improve the desperate humanitarian situation in the strip, under a crippling Israeli blockade for a decade.
More than two thirds of Gaza’s two million residents rely on aid, while there are only four hours of mains electricity a day.
Great efforts were made to convince Abbas to agree to the fuel deal, UN and diplomatic sources said, with a decision ultimately made to work around him.
“The humanitarian imperative is more important than the relationship with the PA,” one diplomat said.
There has been criticism of the PA that it has done little to ease the suffering of Gazans over the past decade and Abbas has even taken punitive measures against the strip to squeeze Hamas.
But the Palestinian Authority fears the United States, which is due to announce a peace proposal, and others may seek to further split Gaza from the West Bank, dimming already slim hopes for a two-state solution between a Palestinian entity and Israel.
Western diplomats fear Abbas may now take new steps, or even cut off some ties with international powers.
“We could end up choosing between working with the PA and easing the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” one diplomat in Jerusalem warned.
Abbas has not set foot in Gaza since the PA’s 2007 polls defeat there, with multiple rounds of reconciliation talks failing.
The Islamist Hamas has since fought three wars with Israel and Western powers consider it a terrorist organization. A return to power of the Abbas government in Gaza is seen as a key step to achieving an independent Palestinian state.
But in Gaza, Hamas has organized months of often violent border protests, with nearly 200 Palestinians and one Israeli killed since March 30.
In a recent rare interview Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar encouraged world powers to work with it to ease the suffering.
Egypt and the United Nations had sought a deal whereby Hamas ended the protests in exchange for an easing of Israel’s crippling blockade. But Abbas was opposed, seeing it as tacit recognition of Hamas’s control over Gaza.
Under the limited agreement which came into force on Tuesday Qatar, a longtime Hamas backer, was to pay $60 million for fuel to be brought into Gaza over six months to fuel the strip’s sole power plant.
At least six trucks have entered the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, bringing more than 200,000 liters of diesel, and there had been plans for it to reach up to 15 trucks a day.
On Thursday senior Palestinian official Ahmed Majdalani said UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov, architect of the deal, was “no longer acceptable” to the PA, accusing him of exceeding his mandate.
“There is a deep paranoia in Ramallah that this UN initiative is part of a broader conspiracy between Israel, the US and the UN to have a mini-state in Gaza and sideline Abbas,” Hugh Lovatt of the European Council of Foreign Relations think tank told AFP.
“In Europe there is no desire to sideline the PA, but there is recognition that it has created obstacles to improving the situation in Gaza.”
Abbas has also boycotted the US administration since US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017. Palestinians consider the eastern part of the city their capital.
Suspended Gaza fuel deal shreds tough diplomatic efforts
Suspended Gaza fuel deal shreds tough diplomatic efforts
- The fuel deal had been reached without the agreement of the officially recognized Palestinian government
- More than two thirds of Gaza’s two million residents rely on aid
US and Egyptian presidents warn of danger of military escalation in Rafah
- The leaders say an Israeli assault on the Gazan city would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and have repercussions on security and stability across the region
CAIRO: The Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on Tuesday discussed the efforts being made by Egypt to encourage a ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of hostages.
Ahmed Fahmy, a spokesperson for the presidency, said the two leaders expressed concern about the potential danger of a threatened Israeli military escalation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, which has become the final refuge for more than a million Palestinians displaced by fighting from other parts of the territory. They said it would add a further, catastrophic dimension to the already worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and have wider repercussions on security and stability across the region.
The war began with the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, in which 1,170 people were killed, according to a tally by news agency Agence France-Presse. The militants also took about 250 hostages; Israeli authorities estimate 129 of them are still being held in Gaza, including 34 believed to be dead.
During Biden’s telephone call to El-Sisi, the Egyptian president stressed the need for humanitarian aid workers to be granted full and unrestricted access to Gaza, and highlighted the intensive efforts Egypt has been making in support of the aid effort.
The presidents agreed on the importance of preventing any regional expansion of the conflict, and reaffirmed that a two-state solution to the long-running dispute between Israel and Palestine is the best way to achieve peace, security and stability in the Middle East.
They also highlighted the strategic partnership between Egypt and the US, and their continuing efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation at all levels.
UNICEF demands immediate ceasefire in southern Lebanon, protection of children
- Israeli airstrikes destroy houses, wounding individuals
- Students from the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University called on their administrations “to boycott companies and institutions supporting Israel”
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Disaster Risk Management Unit announced that the total death toll from Israeli attacks since Oct. 8 has reached 438 people.
According to the latest report issued by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, eight children were among the dead and 75 children were among the 1,359 people injured since the escalation of hostilities.
The UN Children’s Fund expressed its concern over “the continuing hostilities in southern Lebanon that are taking a devastating toll on the population, forcing around 90,000 people, including 30,000 children, from their homes.”
UNICEF called for “an immediate ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians,” and indicated that “the increase in armed conflict has damaged infrastructure and civilian facilities, causing severe damage to basic services that children and families depend on, including nine water stations serving 100,000 people at least.
“More than 70 schools are currently closed, affecting around 20,000 students and significantly affecting their education. Around 23 healthcare facilities — serving 4,000 people — are closed due to the hostilities.”
UNICEF’s representative to Lebanon, Edouard Beigbeder, expressed the organization’s deep concern. “As the conflict impacting the south of Lebanon is in its seventh month, we are deeply alarmed by the situation of children and families who have been forced from their homes and the profound long-term impact the violence is taking on children’s safety, health, and access to education.
“As long as the situation remains unstable to this extent, more children will suffer,” Bigbeder warned. “Protection of children is an obligation under the International Humanitarian Law and every child deserves to be safe.”
In a statement, UNICEF indicated that before the outbreak of the conflict, basic services in Lebanon, including health and education systems, were in danger of collapsing after years of overwork. The unprecedented economic and financial crises that have hit the country since 2019 have exacerbated existing economic vulnerabilities.
Following the displacement of residents from the southern border region, UNICEF, in collaboration with its partners, has been providing “crucial aid to affected families seeking refuge in shelters. Emergency cash assistance, facilitated in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs, has been extended to meet the immediate needs of 85,000 individuals. Some displaced children have managed to resume their education in official schools, receiving essential supplies and transportation support.”
On Tuesday, hostilities persisted intermittently on the southern front between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.
An Israeli airstrike targeted a house along the Kafr Kila — Al-Adisa road, destroying it and causing severe damage to nearby properties and homes. Additional Israeli airstrikes struck homes and commercial establishments in the towns of Aita Al-Shaab, Yaroun, Jebbayn, the outskirts of Naqoura, Alma Al-Shaab, and Jabal Al-Labouneh.
In solidarity with Gaza and echoing student activism in US universities, Lebanese university students organized sit-ins on campus or nearby areas, brandishing Lebanese and Palestinian flags and demanding the liberation of Palestine and a cessation of attacks on southern Lebanon.
Students from the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University in Beirut called on their administrations “to boycott companies and institutions supporting Israel.”
Similar demonstrations unfolded in several private universities across Lebanon, including Beirut Arab University, Lebanese International University, Saint Joseph University, Haigazian University, and Holy Spirit University of Kaslik.
Iran commutes a tycoon’s death sentence to 20 years in prison
- Babak Zanjani was sentenced to death in 2016 over a number of charges
- An appeal for amnesty by Zanjani was reviewed and his death sentence was “commuted to a 20-year prison term
TEHRAN: Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday that it commuted a death sentence for a tycoon to 20 years in prison after he returned around $2.1 billion in assets from illegally selling oil abroad, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Babak Zanjani, 48, was sentenced to death in 2016 over a number of charges, including money laundering, forgery and fraud that disrupted the country’s economy.
IRNA quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying that an appeal for amnesty by Zanjani was reviewed and his death sentence was “commuted to a 20-year prison term after approval by the Supreme Leader.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state matters and occasionally issues pardons.
Jahangir said as part of Zanjani’s 2016 sentence, he had the right to an amnesty or commutation of his death sentence if he returned the assets, compensated for damages and expressed regret for wrongdoing. The spokesman said that Zanjani cooperated with the judiciary to locate the assets abroad in recent years while he was in prison, and all the money was returned.
Zanjani was arrested in 2013 shortly after the election of then President Hassan Rouhani as part of a crackdown on alleged corruption during the rule of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Authorities said then that Zanjani owed more than 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) for oil sales he made on behalf of Ahmadinejad’s government. Zanjani was one of Iran’s wealthiest businessmen, with a fortune worth an estimated $14 billion.
The commutation of Zanjani’s sentence indicates that Iran’s government is in need of revenue after years of US sanctions on the country.
In 2018, then President Donald Trump pulled the US out of a nuclear deal with Iran that had aimed to lift sanctions on Iran in return for the capping of the country’s nuclear activities. Since then, Iran has found it difficult to sell its crude, the country’s main source of foreign revenue. After Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the deal, Iran’s rial currency tumbled.
In 2014, Iran executed another billionaire businessman, Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, for a $2.6 billion state bank scam in Iran.
UN chief says ‘incremental progress’ toward averting Gaza famine
- Guterres said a major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is a lack of security for aid workers and civilians
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said there has been “incremental progress” toward averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in the northern Gaza Strip, but much more is urgently needed.
He specifically called on Israel to follow through on its promise to open “two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan.”
Guterres also told reporters that a major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is a lack of security for aid workers and civilians.
“I again call on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA, throughout Gaza,” he said.
Houthis claim attacking US, Israeli ships
- Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that their armed forces launched a number of explosive-laden drones at two US Navy warships in the Red Sea
- Militia also targeted the MSC Orion commercial ship with drones in the Indian Ocean
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has claimed responsibility for four strikes on international commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, including one on a ship destined for Oman.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Tuesday that their armed forces launched a number of explosive-laden drones at two US Navy warships in the Red Sea and targeted the MSC Orion commercial ship with drones in the Indian Ocean, which they claimed was related to Israel.
The MSC Orion is a container ship flying the Portuguese flag and traveling from Portugal’s Sines port to Oman’s Salalah port, according to websites that provide information on ship whereabouts and identities.
Oman is one of few nations to host Houthi officials, and its delegations have visited Houthi-controlled Sanaa to push for peace in Yemen.
The Houthis said they also targeted the Cyclades commercial ship for reaching the Israeli Eilat port on April 21, violating earlier instructions to ships in the Red Sea not to go to Israel.
Since November, more than 100 ships sailing in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden have been attacked by hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis in support of the Palestinian people against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The Houthi assaults have prompted the US to organize an alliance of naval task forces and start airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The US Central Command said in a statement that the Houthis fired on Monday three anti-ship ballistic missiles and three drones from areas under their control at the MV Cyclades, which it said is owned by Greece and sails under the flag of Malta, with no reported damage to the ship.
Also on Monday, US CENTCOM forces destroyed one airborne unmanned aerial vehicle launched by the Houthis against the US Navy ships USS Philippine Sea and USS Laboon in the Red Sea.
“There were no injuries or damages reported by US, coalition, or merchant vessels. It was determined the UAV presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region,” US CENTCOM said.
The EU military operation in the Red Sea, known as the Eunavfor Aspides Operation, said its Fasan frigate shot down one drone on Monday while guarding a commercial ship in the Red Sea from multiple attacks from Houthi-controlled regions of Yemen.
Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council, accused the Houthis on Tuesday of not being serious about achieving peace in Yemen and of using the UN-brokered truce to regroup and prepare to restart the war.
In a meeting of Yemen’s military officials in the central city of Marib, Al-Alimi vowed that the Yemeni government would drive the Houthis from the areas under their control, including Sanaa, and thwart their attempts to restart the conflict.
“The Houthi militia has shown that it is not a genuine partner in peacemaking, but rather views peace talks as a kind of deceit and preparation for fresh conflicts,” Al-Alimi said, according to the official news agency SABA.
Hostilities in Yemen’s flashpoints have generally abated since April 2022, when the UN-brokered ceasefire went into effect. The Yemeni government, however, said that the Houthis continue to wage lethal assaults on its troops in Marib, Dhale, Taiz, and other locations, and to mobilize personnel and military equipment outside of contested towns.
Meanwhile, six Yemeni troops were killed and 11 injured on Monday after an improvised explosive device placed by Al-Qaeda militants blew up their vehicle in the Moudia district in the southern province of Abyan.
The targeted troops were members of a military unit allied to the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council, which has been fighting Al-Qaeda in Abyan and Shabwa for months.
