Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah

Palestinian children gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid food scarcity in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 26 June 2024
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Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah

  • Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes

CAIRO: Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza’s southern edge, where around half of the enclave’s 2.3 million people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.
Israel says that it is close to destroying the last remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah, after which it will move to smaller scale operations in the enclave.
Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah.
The Israeli military said in a statement its forces killed a Hamas militant who had been involved in the smuggling of weapons through the border between Rafah and Egypt. It said jets struck dozens of militant targets in Rafah overnight, including fighters, military structures and tunnel shafts.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians and wounded others near the northern Jabalia camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, medics said.
Residents and Hamas media said the casualties were among a group of people who gathered outside a store to get an Internet signal to communicate with relatives elsewhere in the enclave.
In Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, tank shells struck an apartment, killing at least five people and wounding others, medics said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Hostage deal plea
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 Israeli offensive in retaliation has so far killed 37,658 people, of them 60 in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday, and has left the tiny, heavily built-up Gaza Strip in ruins.
The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but officials say most those killed have been civilians. Israel has lost 314 soldiers in Gaza and says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
More than eight months into the war, international mediation backed by the US has failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any deal must bring an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
Orly Gilboa, whose 20-year-old daughter Daniela is being held hostage in Gaza, called on Israeli leaders to accept the deal and on the international community to pressure Hamas to do the same.
“The deal is there to be signed and implemented. I’m asking my own government to stand behind its own proposal, to be brave as our girls are, to save them, to save us. Time is running out,” she told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Severe food shortage
In the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians complained of a severe lack of food and soaring prices, and health officials said thousands of children were suffering from malnutrition that has already killed at least 30 since Oct. 7.
“There is only flour and canned food, there is nothing else to eat, no vegetables, no meat, and no milk,” said Abu Mustafa, who lives in Gaza City, with his family.
Their house was struck in the past week by an Israeli tank, that destroyed most of the upper floor.
“Apart from the bombing, there is another Israeli war taking place in northern Gaza, starvation. People meet in the street and many can’t recognize one another because of weight loss and older looks,” Abu Mustafa told Reuters via a chat app.
Gaza remains at high risk of famine, though delivery of some aid has limited the projected spread of extreme hunger in northern areas, a global monitor said on Tuesday.
More than 495,000 people across the Gaza Strip are facing the most severe, or “catastrophic,” level of food insecurity, according to an update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) a global partnership used by the United Nations and aid agencies.
Wrapping up a visit to Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was fighting against Hamas, not the people of Gaza.
“We are committed, and I am personally committed, to facilitating the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to Gaza. We only fight those who seek to harm us,” Gallant said in a video statement.


Explosives put in devices before they arrived in Lebanon, says Lebanon’s UN mission

Updated 5 sec ago
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Explosives put in devices before they arrived in Lebanon, says Lebanon’s UN mission

UNITED NATIONS: A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities into the communications devices that blew up in Lebanon this week found that they were implanted with explosives before arriving in the country, according to a letter sent to the UN Security Council by Lebanon’s mission to the United Nations.
The authorities also determined the devices, which included pagers and hand-held radios, were detonated by sending electronic messages to the devices, says the letter, seen by Reuters on Thursday. Israel was responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks, Lebanon’s UN mission said.
The 15-member Security Council is due to meet on Friday over the blasts.
The attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment on Tuesday and Wednesday killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals and wreaking bloody havoc on the militant group.
Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency, which has a long history of carrying out sophisticated attacks on foreign soil.

US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon

Updated 5 min 2 sec ago
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US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon

“I am not tracking any force posture changes in the Eastern Med or in the Central Command area of responsibility,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said
“We’ve never wanted to see a wider regional conflict“

WASHINGTON: There are no changes to US military posture in the Middle East, the Pentagon told reporters on Thursday when asked about recent deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers.
Lebanon and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group have blamed Israel for attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals and wreaking bloody havoc on the militant group.
“I am not tracking any force posture changes in the Eastern Med or in the Central Command area of responsibility,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in a press briefing.
The Pentagon said that any attack that escalates tensions in the Middle East will not be helpful.
“In pretty much every call the secretary always reiterates the need (that) we want to see regional tensions quell,” Singh said when asked about Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin’s call on Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart. “We’ve never wanted to see a wider regional conflict.”
Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.
The Pentagon was pressed on the potential for a Gaza ceasefire deal amid escalating regional tensions and said Washington did not believe a deal was falling apart. The spokesperson added that the US felt as of now the conflict was contained to Gaza.
President Joe Biden laid out a three phase Gaza ceasefire proposal on May 31. The deal has run into obstacles since.
Critics have urged Washington to use its leverage by conditioning military support to Israel but the US has maintained its support for its ally.
The attacks in Lebanon have raised concerns about the widening of Israel’s war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. Israel’s assault on Gaza followed a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Houthis abduct 5 former ruling party members in Sanaa 

Updated 23 min 35 sec ago
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Houthis abduct 5 former ruling party members in Sanaa 

  • All five are senior members of the General People’s Congress, the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh
  • UN envoy urges militia to release detained colleagues to restore hope and trust

AL-MUKALLA: Armed Houthis abducted five tribal leaders, academics and officials after raiding a house in Sanaa, the latest seizures following accusations of criticism and incitement of revolution celebrations.

The group stormed a house in Assafi’yah and arrested Amen Rajeh, a tribal leader and deputy minister of youth, along with Ali Jarmal, Saeed Al-Ghoules, Ahmed Al-Ashari and Nayef Al-Najjar.

All five are senior members of the General People’s Congress, the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. An anonymous source said they were captured for inciting the public to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the Sept. 26 revolution and for online criticism of the Houthis. The Yemeni revolution of September 1962 ended centuries of Zaidi Imamate rule in northern Yemen and laid the groundwork for establishing the Yemen Arab Republic.

The source, a GPC journalist, said: “The September 26 revolution ended the backward Imamate rule, and the Houthis supported that reactionary regime.”

In recent days, the Houthis have raided the homes of people in Sanaa, Ibb, and other areas under their control who have called for revolution celebrations. Residents and local media have reported the abductions of several people, including online activists.

The seizures come as Houthi leaders are asking Yemenis in areas under their control to take to the streets on Saturday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the military takeover which triggered the current war.

At the same time, Yemen’s human rights minister, Ahmed Arman, told Arab News the Houthis had distributed leaflets in the streets of Sanaa, Amran and other areas in northern Yemen, urging the public to assist in identifying spies for Western countries.

One leaflet, shared on X, read: “It is our responsibility as free and honorable Yemenis to report spies for America, Israel, Britain, Holland, and Germany to security authorities and intelligence agencies because they pose the greatest threat to the state, religion, and Islamic nation.”

Following raids on homes and workplaces, the Houthis abducted dozens of people working for UN agencies, international rights and aid organizations, and diplomatic missions, accusing them of using their humanitarian work to spy for US and Israeli intelligence services.

The UN and other organizations have vehemently denied the allegations and called for their employees’ immediate release.

On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced the end of a trip to Iran after “frank and constructive” talks with Iranian officials about peace efforts to end the war in Yemen and the abduction of UN workers.

In a statement, Grundberg said: “Throughout all my engagements, I prioritized lending my voice to the secretary-general’s urgent call to release all detained colleagues. Their release must happen without delay to restore the hope and trust needed for moving forward.”


UN to add nutrients to second round of Gaza polio vaccinations

A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Updated 19 September 2024
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UN to add nutrients to second round of Gaza polio vaccinations

  • The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90 percent of children under 10 years of age

UNITED NATIONS: The second round of a vaccination campaign to protect 640,000 children in Gaza against polio will also deliver micronutrients — essential vitamins and minerals — and conduct nutritional screening, a senior UN Children’s Fund official said.
Discussions are also underway about the feasibility of adding further vaccinations to the campaign, including a measles immunization, said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s deputy executive director for humanitarian action and supply operations.
“There are over 44,000 children born in the last year and who haven’t received their basic immunization,” he said on Thursday.
The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90 percent of children under 10 years of age, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Monday.
It was carried out in phases over two weeks during humanitarian pauses in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas. A second round of the polio vaccinations has to be carried out within four weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
A high risk of famine persists across Gaza as long as the war continues and humanitarian access is restricted, according to an assessment by a global hunger monitor published in June.
“In the same way that we’ve been able to reach all children with polio vaccines, we need to move and use the same modality to reach children with their basic vaccines, with some of the nutrition and hygiene interventions that are essential to save their lives,” Chaiban told reporters after visiting Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
“Those are lifesaving interventions and the parties have shown that they can line up when necessary. It needs to happen again,” he said.


Blinken urges against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives to deliver remarks.
Updated 19 September 2024
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Blinken urges against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast

  • France, US are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular: Blinken

PARIS: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday urged against “escalatory actions by any party” in the Middle East, following the explosions of devices of Lebanese group Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
“France and the United States are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular,” Blinken said after talks in Paris with his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne.
Blinken said this was especially important at a time when the international community was continuing work to agree a ceasefire in Gaza to end the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“We continue to work to get a ceasefire for Gaza over the finish line... We believe that remains both possible and necessary. But meanwhile we don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party that makes that more difficult,” Blinken said.
Sejourne, making one of his final public appearances ahead of a cabinet reshuffle that will see him sent to Brussels as France’s new EU commissioner, said both France and the United States were “very worried about the situation” in the Middle East.
He said both the United States and France were coordinating to “send messages of de-escalation” to the parties.
“Lebanon would not recover from a total war,” he said.
Fears of a major war on Israel’s northern border have increased after thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ communication devices exploded across Lebanon, killing 37 people and wounding nearly 3,000 more across two days.