Current Final

Category: FOREIGN

  • New York police arrest hundreds at Jewish protest urging Gaza ceasefire

    New York police arrest hundreds at Jewish protest urging Gaza ceasefire

    Hundreds of people were arrested Friday when police broke up a large demonstration of mostly Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over the main hall of Grand Central station in protest of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, police and organizers said.

    The New York Police Department said at least 200 people had been arrested, while protest organizers put the number at more than 300.

    Photos from the scene showed long lines of young people standing in handcuffs and wearing black sweatshirts with the words “Not In Our Name” and “Cease Fire Now” printed in white.

    The massive sit-in was called by the group Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City, which said thousands of its members had attended the protest, blocking the main concourse of the city’s central rail station.

    Pictures showed the terminal packed with protesters who held up banners reading “Palestinians should be free” and “Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.”

    Organizers called the peaceful sit-in “the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years.”

    Rabbis launched the event by lighting Shabbat candles and reciting the Jewish prayer for the dead, known as the kaddish.

    “While Shabbat is typically a day of rest, we cannot afford to rest while genocide is unfolding in our names,” said Rabbi May Ye, in a statement released by organizers.

    “The lives of Palestinians and Israelis are intertwined, and safety can only come from justice, equality, and freedom for all,” the rabbi said.

    Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on 7 October, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.

    The Hamas-run health ministry said Friday that Israeli strikes on Gaza had now killed 7,326 people, more than 3,000 of them children.

  • Palestinian Health Ministry provides credible casualty figures: UN

    Palestinian Health Ministry provides credible casualty figures: UN

    While US President Joe Biden has questioned the reliability of the death toll coming from Gaza, the United Nations has verified that the figures provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health have a history of being credible.

    “In the past, the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip, these figures were considered as credible and no one ever really challenged these figures,” the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said while speaking to the media on Friday.

    On Thursday, the Health Ministry released a 212-page document with names and identity numbers of those killed in Israeli air raid since October 7, having collected the data from morgues and hospitals.

    The list consists of 6,747 people killed in the Israeli attacks, including 2,665 children whereas 529 bodies are yet to be identified.

    Anadolu Agency has said that 8,400 people have been killed including at least 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.

  • ‘Soon many more will die’: What do we know about day 21

    ‘Soon many more will die’: What do we know about day 21

    At least 480 killed in Israeli attacks in past 24 hours

    More than 481 people have been killed in the last 24 hours alone as Israel continues air raids, reports Gaza’s health authority.

    In total 7,028 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the latest conflict, 66 per cent of them women and children, according to the authority.

    More information on Israel’s ground raid in Gaza

    The Israeli army’s spokesperson has said that during the past day, infantry, armoured and engineering forces, with air support, conducted a concentrated raid in the centre of the Gaza Strip as part of preparations for the “next stages of the war.”

    “The raid began yesterday in broad daylight, and all the forces I mentioned participated in it as combat forces, and it ended successfully in the hours of this morning,” the spokesperson said, adding that there were no casualties among Israeli forces, who exited Gaza after the conclusion of the operation.

    10 doctors, 10 trucks enter Gaza

    10 foreign doctors and 10 trucks carrying water, food and medicine have been sent to Gaza through the Rafah border.

    This means that 84 trucks have been sent to Gaza since the allowance of aid after October 7 – which authorities consider as a mere “drop in the ocean”.

    Hospital workers still require medical supplies and fuel on urgent basis to operate generators while thousands of injured await medical aid.

    ‘Soon many more will die’ from Gaza siege: UN

    The United Nations has warned that “many more will die” because of Israel’s “total blockade” of the Gaza Strip as medical services are “crumbling”.

    “People in Gaza are dying – they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of [the] siege imposed on the Gaza Strip,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

    “Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage.”

    1,000 unidentified bodies under Gaza debris

    According to estimates received by the World Health Organization, at least 1,000 unidentified people, who have not been added to the death toll, are still buried under the rubble of the destroyed building in Gaza.

    “We also get these estimates that there are still 1,000 plus people under the rubble which have not been identified yet,” said the UN health agency’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, Richard Peeperkorn.

    As of yet, more than 7,000 have been killed in Israeli air raids since October 7.

  • India ‘Shocked’ At Qatar Death Penalty For 8 Citizens

    India ‘Shocked’ At Qatar Death Penalty For 8 Citizens

    India said Thursday that eight of its citizens had been sentenced to death by Qatar in a case that media reported involved high-ranking ex-naval officers accused of spying.

    New Delhi said it would “take up the verdict with Qatari authorities” and would continue to “extend all consular and legal assistance” to the prisoners, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

    “We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” the statement added.

    “We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement.”

    Al Dahra is a Gulf-based company that offers “complete support solutions” to the aerospace, security and defence sectors, according to its website.

    There was no immediate confirmation from the Qatari authorities.

    India’s foreign ministry gave no further details on the eight condemned or their alleged crimes.

    “Due to the confidential nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,” the ministry statement added, saying it was “exploring all legal options”.

    However, several Indian media outlets reported that among those sentenced were ex-naval officers -– including former captains and commanders -– and that the men had been arrested in Doha in August 2022.

    The Times of India, Hindustan Times and the Press Trust of India all reported that the men were arrested for an “alleged case of espionage”.

  • Biden has ‘no confidence’ in Gaza death toll: What do we know about day 20

    Biden has ‘no confidence’ in Gaza death toll

    In his latest statement, US President Joe Biden has said that he has “no confidence in the number that Palestinians are using” to report on the death toll in the Gaza Strip, which, according to the Palestinian health ministry, is over 6,500.

    “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” Biden said.

    Previously, US intelligence officials also doubted the reported killings of 471 people in Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing on October 17. While the official number was provided by the Gazan authorities, the US believed the number fell between 100 and 300.

    According to the latest update by Al jazeera, the health ministry in the besieged enclave has claimed that killings in Gaza have crossed 7,000 as a result of Israeli air strikes including 2,913 children, 1,709 women and 397 elderly, the health ministry in the besieged enclave reported.

    West Bank

    Israel continues to raid Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, arresting more than 1,450 since October 7 and killing more than 100.

    Netanyahu talks about ground attacks on Gaza

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel is getting ready for a ground operation in Gaza, however, he has not said when it is to start.

    “We are in a war for our sovereignty, for our existence, and we have set ourselves two fundamental objectives: to eradicate Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities and to do everything possible to bring the hostages … back home,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

    Another failed UN Security Council resolution on Gaza

    A US-led resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses” ended up in vain as Russia and China vetoed whereas the United Arab Emirates voted against it.

    Albania, France, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States voted in favour while Brazil and Mozambique abstained.

    China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote that, “The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire, an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue,

    “At this moment, ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. It means the life and death of many civilians.”

    Previously, a Russia-led resolution urging for “humanitarian ceasefire” also failed to get enough votes in favour as only Russia, China, UAE, and Gabon voted in favour while UK and the US opposed it.

    Countries that abstained included Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland

    12 aid trucks sent but no fuel

    The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported to have received 12 trucks with food, medicine and medical supplies.

    Only 74 trucks have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip since October 7 while fuel is yet to be supplied.

    Credit: Al Jazeera

  • Israel picks fight with United Nations: What do we know about day 19

    Israel picks fight with United Nations: What do we know about day 19

    Israel versus the United Nations

    Israel has refused to issue visas to United Nations officials after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres obliquely condemned Israeli orders to evacuate Gazans from the north to the south. Above all, he also said Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 did not happen “in a vacuum” as the Palestinians have been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation”.

    According to Al Jazeera’s reporter Gabriel Elizondo, Israel was “furious” and its officials called on the UN chief to resign.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who was at the debate, “was so upset”, said Elizondo, “that he cancelled a meeting with the secretary-general that was supposed to happen Tuesday afternoon”.

    Additionally, the UN had been raising concerns over the lack of fuel in Gaza and the potential pause in its operations. In response to one of the UN’s posts on Tuesday, the Israeli military suggested the UN should approach Hamas for fuel supplies.

    The Israeli military claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that Hamas has more than 500,000 litres of fuel in tanks inside Gaza.

    “Ask Hamas if you can have some,” the military wrote.

    103 killed in occupied West Bank

    Increasing Israeli raids since October 7 in the occupied West Bank have resulted in 103 deaths.

    Syrian army attacked by Israel

    The Israeli military claims to have targeted Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launches, asserting that it was a response to Syrian aims at Israel.

    “Lebanon was never an aggressor”: Ambassador

    During the UN Security Council meeting, Lebanon’s ambassador, Hadi Hachem, stated that his country “is exerting every effort to disassociate” from this “bloody conflict”.

    He added that Lebanon was never an aggressor.

    “It has always been a victim of aggression by Israel since the [1960s].”

    Referring to Gazans, he said “There is no law or doctrine that justifies the systematic killing of a population that lives in an open-air prison for more than a half a century.”

    Hachem also shed light on the killings of 13 journalists in Gaza (including the killing of Lebanese journalist Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon) because of Israeli attacks, “proof” of Israel’s “policy to suppress freedoms”.

    Earlier in the debate, the US accused Iran and its proxies of destabilising the region, claims the Iranian ambassador categorically rejected.

    600,000 Palestinians displaced

    The UN is reportedly sheltering nearly 600,000 Palestinians who have been internally displaced in 150 facilities whereas at least 40 UNRWA installations have been affected following Israeli attacks.

    “Our shelters are four times over their capacities. Many people are sleeping on the streets as current facilities are overwhelmed,” the agency said in a post shared on X.

  • More than 2,000 children have been killed in Israeli air strikes since Oct 7: What do we know about day 18

    More than 2,000 children have been killed in Israeli air strikes since Oct 7: What do we know about day 18

    704 Palestinians killed in last 24 hours

    The health ministry in the besieged enclave reports that Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours have killed 704 in Gaza.

    More than 19,000 displaced in Lebanon after border clashes

    The Israel-Palestine escalation has spread beyond borders. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported the displacement of 19,646 people while the United Nations has also estimated that more than 19,000 have been internally displaced in Lebanon after October 7 amid cross-border attacks.

    Friction between Hezbollah and the Israeli military is also feared to escalate.

    Killing of children

    Among the 5,087 people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, more than 2,000 of them are children, the health ministry in the besieged enclave states.

    Between Sunday and Monday alone, 182 children were killed among the total of 436 Palestinians.

    Six more UN staff killed in Israeli bombing

    The UN Relief and Works Agency has lost six more staff members in Israeli bombing of Gaza, taking the death toll to 35.

    Occupied West Bank

    96 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces since October 7 and settlers while at least 1,800 have been wounded.

    Israel claims to have detained 500 Palestinians, allegedly linked to Hamas.

    Similarly, almost 1,500 people are trapped under the rubble in Gaza and rescue teams are unable to rescue all as Israel continues to target medical teams while authorities lack necessary equipment.

    Gaza not receiving enough relief supplies

    According to the UN, only 54 trucks with relief supplies have been allowed into Gaza since Saturday.

    Tamara al-Rifai, communications chief of the United Nations Palestine refugee relief agency UNRWA, deemed it as a drop in the ocean.

    He also highlights that fuel for generators has not been sent in the shipments whereas rice and lentils delivered cannot be cooked without the water and gas which are needed for cooking.

    Obama on Israel

    Former President Obama issued a new statement on Israel-Palestine escalation.

    In his statement, Obama condemns the October 7 attacks launched by Hamas, calling it an “unspeakable brutality” and supports Israel’s right to defend itself but under “international law.”

    “But even as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters. In particular, it matters — as President Biden has repeatedly emphasized — that Israel’s military strategy abides by international law, including those laws that seek to avoid, to every extent possible, the death or suffering of civilian populations,” Obama wrote.

    Obama also warns that blocking supplies into Gaza can put support for Israel at risk.

    “The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” he wrote.

    Obama further stresses on dismissing antisemitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian narratives. And while he believes that Israel has “every right to exist,” he also notes that Palestinians have “also lived in disputed territories for generations.”

    “But if we care about keeping open the possibility of peace, security and dignity for future generations of Israeli and Palestinian children — as well as for our own children — then it falls upon all of us to at least make the effort to model, in our own words and actions, the kind of world we want them to inherit,” he concluded.

    Macron arrives in Israel on ‘solidarity’ visit

    The French president Emmaneul Macron also paid a visit to Tel Aviv to “express” France’s “solidarity” with Israel.

    Referring to October 7 attacks by Hamas, the President stated that “what happened will never be forgotten.”

    On the other hand, Israeli President Isaac Herzog asserts that his country is committed to “destroying” its adversaries, adding that, “We demand the immediate release of all our citizens,”

    Shedding light on Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah, he stated that “We are following very closely the situation,”, adding that Lebanon was “playing with fire”.

    “If Hezbollah drags us into a war it should be clear that Lebanon will pay the price”.

    Credits: Al Jazeera

  • COAS Gen Asim Munir meets Ambassador of Palestine

    COAS Gen Asim Munir meets Ambassador of Palestine

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir met the Ambassador of Palestine to Pakistan, Ahmad Jawad Rabei, at General Headquarters today.

    COAS offered his condolences on the loss of Palestinian lives in the ongoing war Israel has declared on Gaza.

    According to the official statement, “COAS expressed grave concern over unabated violence and willful, indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians by the Israeli Defence Forces in the war. Incessant attacks on civilian population, schools, universities, aid workers, hospitals and the forced exodus of Palestinians from Gaza are manifest crimes against humanity.”

    He also reasserted the need to call for immediate cessation of hostilities, open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza, protect civilians and adhere to the International Humanitarian Law.

    COAS also highlighted Pakistan’s “principled support for an independent, viable and contiguous state of Palestine established on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”.

    “Pakistan believes that the fresh spate of violence in Gaza is the result of unabated repression, continued human rights violations and state-sponsored sacrilege of Al Aqsa mosque. Conflating this war with terrorism would be naïve; taking a narrow and self-serving view of the issue as an isolated attack, obscures brutal oppression spanning decades that has led to this outcome” he said.

    “At this critical juncture, it is imperative that the international community mobilizes to put an early end to unfolding human tragedy due to disproportionate and unlawful use of force by Israeli Defence Forces and desist from encouraging them to continue perpetrating atrocities in manifest violation of all norms of civility and humane conduct”.

  • Palestinian death toll crosses 5,000: What do we know about day 17

    Palestinian death toll crosses 5,000: What do we know about day 17

    The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli onslaught has reached at least 5,087, the Health Ministry has confirmed, whereas 15,273 have been wounded.

    In the past 24 hours alone, at least 436 people, including 182 children, were killed.

    Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Gaza’s Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals. WAFA reports that a number of missiles hit the area surrounding Al-Shifa Medical Complex where currently the largest number of wounded are being treated as well as the largest number of medical staff working in the Gaza strip.

    The vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital, on the other hand, has been attacked for the second time.

    Al Jazeera reports that as per Palestinian officials, Israel has been directly threatening hospitals with evacuation, bombings, or bombing nearby areas, and creating uncertainty in the healthcare system.

    China’s call for ceasefire

    China’s Middle East special representative has asserted to do “whatever is conducive” to encourage a dialogue to lead to ceasefire and peace in the Middle East.

    China’s state media reported that Zhai Jun deemed the situation in Gaza as “very serious” and raised concerns over a potential escalation of conflict into the neighbouring countries, calling it “worrisome”.

    China attended the Cairo peace committee and has been in communication with foreign ministers including from Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Norway, as well as representatives from the UN and EU.

    Zhai also mentioned that China has been helping with emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestinians through the UN and via bilateral channels to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

    Two Hezbollah cells in Lebanon attacksTwo alleged Hezbollah cells in Lebanon were targeted by Israeli forces on Monday.

    123 Palestinians detained in occupied West Bank

    Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank have detained 123 Palestininas in the ongoing Israeli raids.40 people are said to be workers from the Gaza Strip.Israel, on the other hand, claims that 37 of the arrested are “Hamas members”.

  • 120 premature babies are at risk: What do we know about day 16

    120 premature babies are at risk: What do we know about day 16

    Here is an update on day 16:

    • Israeli military claims to have attacked dozens of Hamas targets throughout last night, killing two Hamas fighters.

    “Throughout the day, dozens of tunnel shafts, munitions warehouses, headquarters and operational military bases were destroyed,” the army said, adding that mosques were also targeted as they were used by Hamas’s operatives.

    • Israeli forces have killed five more Palestinians in occupied West Bank, increasing the death toll to 90 since October 7, says Palestinian Ministry of Health.
    • The United Nations have reported that at least 120 premature babies in incubators are at risk after Israel cut fuel access into Gaza. “We have currently 120 neonates who are in incubators, out of which we have 70 neonates with mechanical ventilation, and of course this is where we are extremely concerned,” said UNICEF spokesperson Jonathan Crickx.

    Similarly, Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed thay more than 1,700 children have been killed by Israeli attacks so far.

    • Israeli attacks in Gaza have also destroyed 31 mosques, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments.
    • Wafa news agency has reported that the Israeli forces have arrested at least 58 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this morning. Since October 7, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been arrested.