TEL AVIV: An Israeli museum that hid some of its most valuable artworks after the October 7 attack has now stashed away even more, fearing a strike by Iran.
Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt are among the treasures moved by Tel Aviv Museum of Art to the “safe” — a secured basement meant to shield them from missiles.
Museum staff moved many of the masterpieces at the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Palestinian group Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7.
Now, as Israel braces itself for a threatened bombardment by Iran and its proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, they have moved other pieces that were at risk.
It has left some galleries vacant, with blank walls decorated only with empty hooks and the small, printed descriptions for the artworks that previously hung there.
“In the last three, four, five days, when this new threat from Hezbollah and from Iran came on the table again, we understood that we needed to take other precautions,” said museum director Tania Coen-Uzzielli.
“So, we took down several other works of art and the ones we felt that were most in danger.
“And since the situation is not going to be clear, and this threat is always there, we feel that the safe place for them is downstairs in the shelters.”
Some items are on display in a protected space on a lower level, but the most valuable pieces are stored in rows of large, metal grills in the “safe.”
“We have some works by Picasso... from different periods,” said Nathalie Andrijasevic, assistant curator of modern art, rolling out one storage rack.
“They are all usually in the gallery, they are all usually hung right next to each other. Here they are still next to each other, but in a completely different setting.”
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,929 people, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
“On October 7, we didn’t know what’s going on. We just knew that something horrible was going on throughout the country,” Andrijasevic said.
“Rockets were firing non-stop. And we were just super-scared that rockets will penetrate the ceiling of the galleries and cause damage to our works.
“And recently, during the past week, we’ve been taking down some more because of the imminent attack that is supposed to happen. Hopefully it will not happen.”
Fearing Iran attack, Israeli museum hides top artworks
https://arab.news/9r347
Fearing Iran attack, Israeli museum hides top artworks
- Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt are among the treasures moved by Tel Aviv Museum of Art to the “safe“
- Now, as Israel braces itself for a threatened bombardment by Iran and its proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, they have moved other pieces that were at risk
Egypt’s foreign minister visits Moscow to strengthen ties
- Badr Abdelatty emphasized the importance of strengthening investment and trade relations between the two countries
- Abdelatty also met with several representatives of the Egyptian community in the Russian Federation
CAIRO: Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, visited Moscow intending to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Abdelatty’s visit included discussions with senior Russian officials to advance bilateral cooperation and exchange views on various issues of common interest.
On the first day of his visit, Abdelatty visited the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow and met staff from the diplomatic mission and various technical offices.
He also met with several representatives of the Egyptian community in the Russian Federation during his visit to Moscow.
Tamim Khallaf, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Abdelatty emphasized the state’s commitment to safeguarding the interests of Egyptians abroad during his meeting with representatives of the Egyptian community in Russia.
He reviewed Egypt’s foreign policy perspective on regional challenges and crises, highlighting the ministry’s focus on supporting the national economy, attracting investments, and increasing development projects.
The minister also listened to the community representatives’ views and suggestions, noting their important role in strengthening the strong ties between the two countries.
Abdelatty highlighted the importance of providing the highest level of care in delivering all services to visitors at the mission, whether Egyptian citizens or foreigners, in the most efficient and timely manner.
He met Anton Alikhanov, Russian minister of industry and trade. During the meeting they discussed the latest developments related to joint development projects.
Abdelatty emphasized the importance of strengthening investment and trade relations between the two countries in various fields and working to facilitate the increase of Egyptian exports to Russia.
First Palestinian ambassador to Spain submits credentials
- King Felipe VI welcomed Housni Abdel Wahed to the royal palace in Madrid
- Spain along with Ireland and Norway have formally recognized a Palestinian state
MADRID: The first Palestinian ambassador to Spain presented his credentials on Monday to Spanish King Felipe VI after Madrid in May formally recognized a Palestinian state.
The head of state welcomed Husni Abdel Wahed to the royal palace in Madrid for the traditional ceremony for newly appointed foreign ambassadors to Spain, according to images published by the royal palace on social network X.
Wahed had been the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Madrid since 2022 and he enjoyed a similar status to that of an ambassador but he officially changed rank after Spain along with Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The three countries said at the time they hoped their decision would spur other European countries to follow suit and accelerate efforts toward securing a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has condemned the decision, saying it bolsters Hamas, the militant Islamist group that led the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the staunchest critics in Europe of Israel’s Gaza offensive, announced earlier this month that a bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine would be held before the end of the year.
The October 7 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Iran’s president says direct talks with US possible if it abandons its hostility
- “We are not hostile toward the US, they should end their hostility toward us by showing their goodwill in practice,” said Pezeshkian
- He also said Tehran has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen’s Houthis, a day after the Iran-backed group said a missile it fired at Israel was a hypersonic one
DUBAI: Iran could hold direct talks with the United States if Washington demonstrates “in practice” that it is not hostile to the Islamic Republic, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday.
Pezeshkian was responding to a question at a news conference in Tehran on whether Tehran would be open to direct talks with the US to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.
Former US president Donald Trump reneged on that deal in 2018, arguing it was too generous to Tehran, and restored harsh US sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to gradually violate the agreement’s nuclear limits.
“We are not hostile toward the US, they should end their hostility toward us by showing their goodwill in practice,” said Pezeshkian, adding: “We are brothers with the Americans as well.”
After taking office in January 2021, US President Joe Biden tried to negotiate a revival of the nuclear pact under which Iran had restricted its nuclear program in return for relief from US, European Union and UN sanctions.
However, Tehran refused to directly negotiate with Washington and worked mainly through European or Arab intermediaries.
He also said Tehran has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen’s Houthis, a day after the Iran-backed group said a missile it fired at Israel was a hypersonic one.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on the Houthis who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time.
“It takes a person a week to travel to Yemen (from Iran), how could this missile have gotten there? We don’t have such missiles to provide to Yemen,” Pezeshkian said.
However, last year Iran presented what it described as Tehran’s first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, with state media publishing pictures of the missile named “Fattah” at a ceremony.
Israeli minister says time running out for diplomatic solution with Hezbollah in Lebanon
- “The possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out,” Gallant told Austin in a phone call
- As long as Hezbollah continued to tie itself to the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been engaged for almost a year, “the trajectory is clear,” he said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.
Gallant’s remarks came as the White House Special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel to discuss the crisis on the northern border where Israeli troops have been exchanging missile fire with Hezbollah forces for months.
“The possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out,” Gallant told Austin in a phone call, according to a statement from his office.
As long as Hezbollah continued to tie itself to the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been engaged for almost a year, “the trajectory is clear,” he said.
The visit by Hochstein, who is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, comes amid efforts to find a diplomatic path out of the crisis, which has forced tens of thousands on both sides of the border to leave their homes.
On Monday, Israeli media reported that the head of the army’s northern command had recommended a rapid border operation to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
While the war in Gaza has been Israel’s main focus since the attack by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 last year, the precarious situation in the north has fueled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran.
A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war at present but would fight if Israel launched one.
Israeli officials have said for months that Israel cannot accept the clearance of its northern border areas indefinitely but while troops remain committed to Gaza, there have also been questions about the military’s readiness for an invasion of southern Lebanon.
However, some of the hard-line members of the Israeli government have been pressing for action and on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a longtime foe of Gallant, called for him to be sacked.
“We need a decision in the north and Gallant is not the right person to lead it,” he said in a statement on the social media platform X.
Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed in the exchanges of fire, which have left communities on both sides of the border as virtual ghost towns.
The two sides came close to all-out war last month after Israeli forces killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut in retaliation for a missile strike that killed 12 youngsters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
On Monday, Israel’s defense ministry said it had approved the distribution of 9,000 automatic rifles to civilian rapid response units in northern Israel and the Golan Heights.
UNRWA chief: Gaza polio vaccination coverage has reached 90 percent
- More than 446,000 Palestinian children in central and south Gaza were vaccinated
GAZA: Polio vaccination coverage in Gaza has reached 90 percent, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency said on Monday, adding that the next step was to ensure hundreds of thousands of children got a second dose at the end of the month.
The campaign to vaccinate some 640,000 children in Gaza under 10 years of age against polio, which began on Sept. 1, presented major challenges to UNRWA and its partners due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
It followed confirmation by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month that a baby had been partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the Palestinian territory in 25 years.
More than 446,000 Palestinian children in central and south Gaza were vaccinated earlier this month before a campaign to vaccinate a final 200,000 children in north Gaza began on September 10 despite access restrictions, evacuation orders and shortages of fuel.
The first round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza ended successfully, UNRWA’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said, adding that 90 percent of the enclave’s children had received a first dose.
“Parties to the conflict have largely respected the different required “humanitarian pauses” showing that when there is a political will, assistance can be provided without disruption. Our next challenge is to provide children with their second dose at the end of September,” he wrote on X.
Israel began its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 7 last year after Hamas led a shock incursion into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The resulting assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry, and reduced much of the territory to rubble.
