UK’s Labour slams Israel over destruction of media building

Smoke billows as an air bomb is dropped on the Jala Tower during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza city controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, on May 15, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 15 May 2021
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UK’s Labour slams Israel over destruction of media building

  • ‘Targeting of media offices in Gaza completely unacceptable. Press freedom is a fundamental right’

LONDON: Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Saturday branded an Israeli airstrike that leveled a media building in Gaza as “completely unacceptable,” as up to 100,000 protesters marched through central London to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The high-rise building, which hosted offices for journalists from international outlets such as the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, was destroyed on Saturday afternoon.

The strike leveled the building an hour after people were told to evacuate. It followed an earlier Israeli attack in Gaza City that killed eight children and two other Palestinians from an extended family.

“The targeting of media offices in Gaza by Israeli air strikes is completely unacceptable. Press freedom is a fundamental right,” said Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy.

“The devastating escalation of violence — including Hamas rocket attacks on Tel Aviv and air strikes on the Gaza City refugee camp — has cost more civilian lives and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” she added.

“The UK must join our international partners in calling for an immediate ceasefire, an end to all rocket attacks and air strikes, and work with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to prevent this dangerous situation deteriorating further.”

Labour MP Diane Abbott told the crowd at the London demonstration: “We must remember we’re part of an international movement. This is a worldwide movement for justice.”

She added: “Palestinian people are having their land seized ... and they’re now being killed in their homes. All of this is illegal.”


Ethiopia demands Eritrea ‘immediately withdraw’ troops from its territory

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Ethiopia demands Eritrea ‘immediately withdraw’ troops from its territory

  • Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught
  • In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has ordered neighboring Eritrea to “immediately withdraw its troops” from Ethiopian territory, accusing Asmara’s forces of an “incursion” and working with “rebel groups” along its northwestern border.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught. In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil — allegations Asmara denies.
“Developments over the last few days indicate that the Government of Eritrea has chosen the path of further escalation,” foreign minister Gedion Timothewos told his Eritrean counterpart in a letter dated Saturday.
He demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of collaboration with rebel groups.”
These actions were “not just provocations but acts of outright aggression,” he said.
But he said that he believed the “cycle of violence and mistrust” could still be broken through diplomacy.
The Eritrean government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed countries, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The two governments cooperated against rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-2022 conflict, but fell out over the peace accord, from which Eritrea was excluded.