Tag: Gaza

  • Nine months of genocide: Israel attacks UN school as US gives it ‘every right to attack’

    Nine months of genocide: Israel attacks UN school as US gives it ‘every right to attack’

    Israeli strikes hammered a Gaza refugee camp on Friday after a deadly strike on a UN-run school, as the genocide entered its ninth month. Meanwhile, the US White House spokesperson, Mathew Miller, in a slip of the tongue, said, “Israel has a right to try and target those civilians” in response to questions about an attack on a UN school in central Gaza that killed dozens of people. 

    Asked by Anadolu about the spokesperson’s remarks, the State Department said Miller misspoke and that he intended to say “Hamas” rather than “civilians.” A footnote with the correction is expected to be added to the official department transcript of Thursday’s briefing.

    Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza said at least 37 people were killed in Thursday’s Israeli strike on the UN-run school in Nuseirat camp.

    The Israeli army said its fighter jets killed nine “terrorists” in three classrooms where about 30 militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad had been hiding.

    The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said hundreds of displaced Palestinians had been sheltering at the school which was “hit without prior warning”.

    UN Secretary-General chief Antonio Guterres described the strike as “another horrific example of the price that civilians are paying”.

    Strikes across Gaza

    The United States, which provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid, urged its ally to be “fully” transparent about the strike.

    “The government of Israel has said that they are going to release more information about this strike, including the names of those who died in it. We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

    Journalist Hind Khoudary reported that Israel attacked the school late in the night when the people were asleep.

    On Friday, strikes targeted various areas across the Gaza Strip.

    A day after the school was hit, the Nuseirat refugee camp faced renewed Israeli artillery shelling and air strikes, reported AFP.

    A medical source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the Isa family home near a medical centre in the Bureij refugee camp was targeted, leaving several wounded.

    Witnesses also confirmed Israeli strikes in the east of Deir al-Balah, as well as intensive fire from Israeli army vehicles east of the Bureij camp, where a blaze raged at a roundabout.

    In Gaza City, casualties were reported from an Israeli missile strike on the Ashram family home near Al-Salam mosque, according to a medical source at Baptist Hospital.

    Six people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli strike on the Wafati home in Maghazi camp, said a medical source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

    Air force jets also targeted the Al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah, sources in the city on the southern border with Egypt said.

    Gaza also came under fire from the sea, with Israeli warships bombarding homes in the fishermen’s port area, among others, west of Gaza City, an AFP correspondent said.

  • Speak up for Gaza: Malala wants to share stories from Palestine after being part of ‘We Are Lady Parts’

    Speak up for Gaza: Malala wants to share stories from Palestine after being part of ‘We Are Lady Parts’

    In the second episode of the new season of ‘We Are Lady Parts,’ viewers got a big surprise: a guest appearance by women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai.

    The Channel 4 comedy follows an all-women Muslim punk band trying to make it big. The main characters, Amina, Saira, Ayesha, Momtaz, and Bisma, are the show’s heart. Malala, the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history, made a special appearance, stunning the audience.

    In the episode, Bisma’s daughter, Imani, is suspended for throwing eggs at a teacher who removed slavery from the curriculum. She tells her mother, “I did what Malala would do.” This inspired the band to write ‘Malala Made Me Do It,’ with lyrics praising Malala’s bravery.

    Malala appears in a fantasy scene, wearing a beaded dress and a crystal-studded cowboy hat, riding a fake horse in a western-themed setting.
    Malala shared her experience with Vogue, revealing she is a fan of the show. She praised its representation of Muslim characters as leads. At a film premiere, she met the show’s creator, Nida Manzoor, and expressed her admiration for the series. When Manzoor suggested the cameo, Malala was unsure but agreed after seeing the team’s preparations.

    On filming day, Malala enjoyed the experience, from the costume fittings to horse riding with a ladder’s help. She appreciated the detailed costume design, which included a custom dupatta.

    Malala also spoke passionately about global issues, especially the crisis in Gaza, calling for humanitarian aid and peace. She emphasized the importance of shows like “We Are Lady Parts” in connecting people through stories.

    Reflecting on her cameo and the song ‘Malala Made Me Do It,’ Malala expressed pride in its message about education and speaking out. She hopes the new season brings joy to viewers and highlights the importance of humanizing and connecting with others.

    Malala also mentioned her role as an executive producer on the documentary ‘Bread and Roses,’ which focuses on Afghan women fighting for their rights since the fall of Kabul. She hopes the film will raise awareness and support women’s rights in Afghanistan.

  • Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    MALE: The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of the president said on Sunday, announcing a national rally in “solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons, and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.

    President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.

    Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010. However, normalisation attempts were scuttled following the toppling of President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

    Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza attack.

    Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to 528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

    In response to the ban, an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman urged citizens to avoid travel to the Maldives.

  • Israel pounds Gaza after Biden outlines ceasefire plan

    Israel pounds Gaza after Biden outlines ceasefire plan

    Israeli forces hammered Rafah in southern Gaza with tanks and artillery on Saturday, hours after US President Joe Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap towards a full ceasefire.

    Shortly after Biden’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his country would still pursue the war until it had reached all its aims.

    He reiterated that position on Saturday, saying that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel”.

    A permanent ceasefire without those conditions being met was “a non-starter”, he said.

    Hamas, meanwhile, said it “views positively” the plan laid out by Biden.

    In his first major address outlining a possible end to the conflict, the US president said Israel’s three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.

    It would also see the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for (the) release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners”.

    Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate during those six weeks for a lasting ceasefire — but the truce would continue while the talks remained underway, Biden said.

    The US leader urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer. “It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” he said, in comments echoed by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

    Israel insists on war aims

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Friday to press the deal.

    UN chief Antonio Guterres “strongly hopes” the latest development “will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the Israeli offer “provides a glimpse of hope and a possible path out of the war’s deadlock”, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed a “balanced and realistic” approach to end the bloodshed.

    Saudi Arabia stressed its “support for all efforts aimed at an immediate ceasefire” and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. 

    Indonesia, meanwhile, said it was ready to send “significant peacekeeping forces” as well as medical personnel to Gaza if a ceasefire is agreed.

    But Netanyahu took issue with Biden’s presentation of what was on the table, insisting on Friday the transition from one stage to the next in the proposed roadmap was “conditional” and crafted to allow Israel to maintain its war aims.

    “The prime minister authorised the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving (the return of hostages), while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved,” Netanyahu’s office said.

    “The exact outline proposed by Israel, including the conditional transition from stage to stage, allows Israel to maintain these principles.”

    Israel has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7.

    Rafah Massacre

    Israel sent tanks and troops into Rafah in early May, ignoring concerns over the safety of displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city on the Egyptian border.

    On Saturday, residents reported tank fire in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in west Rafah, while witnesses in the east and centre of Rafah described intense artillery shelling.

    “From the early hours of the night until this morning, the aerial and artillery bombardment has not stopped for a single moment”, a resident from west Rafah told AFP on condition of anonymity.

    “There are a number of occupation (Israeli) snipers in high-rise buildings overseeing all areas of Tal al-Sultan… making the situation very dangerous”, the resident added.

    There was also shelling and gunfire from the Israeli army in Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to an AFP reporter.

    Before the Rafah offensive began, the United Nations said up to 1.4 million people were sheltering in the city.

    Since then, one million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said.

    The Israeli seizure of the Rafah crossing has further slowed sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza’s 2.4 million people and effectively shuttered the territory’s main exit point.

    ‘Everything is ashes’

    Israel said last week that aid deliveries had been stepped up.

    But Blinken acknowledged on Friday that the humanitarian situation was “dire” despite US efforts to bring in more assistance.

    The World Food Programme said daily life had become “apocalyptic” in parts of southern Gaza since Israel began its assault on Rafah in early May.

    The genocide in Gaza has killed at least 36,379 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

    In northern Gaza, witnesses said that after carrying out a three-week operation in the town of Jabalia and its neighbouring refugee camp, troops had ordered residents of nearby Beit Hanun to evacuate ahead of an imminent assault.

    The Israeli army said troops “completed their mission in eastern Jabalia and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip”.

    Jabalia shopkeeper Belal al-Kahlot said there was nothing left of his store after the Israeli operation. “Everything is ashes.”

    The Israeli military announced the deaths of two soldiers in Gaza, taking to 294 the number of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in late October.

  • Countries vote to give Palestinians more rights at WHO

    Countries vote to give Palestinians more rights at WHO

    The World Health Organization’s top decision-making body voted Friday to grant Palestinians additional rights, echoing a similar decision in May by the United Nations General Assembly.

    Countries gathered for this week’s World Health Assembly, the annual gathering in Geneva of the WHO’s 194 member states, overwhelmingly approved a draft resolution on “aligning the participation of Palestine” in the WHO with its participation in the United Nations.

    A full 101 of the 177 countries with voting rights backed the text, with five opposed.

    The resolution, presented by a group of mainly Arab and Muslim countries along with China, Nicaragua and Venezuela, called for the Palestinians, which already have observer status at the WHO, to be granted virtually all the same rights as full members.

    The vote came after UN members voted in New York in May to grant Palestinians more rights in the global body, after their drive for full membership was blocked by the United States.

    At the WHA in Geneva, Palestinian officials and their backers did not attempt to ask for full membership.

    Several diplomatic sources suggested that was due to concern that a vote for Palestinian membership would trigger an automatic suspension of US funding to the WHO.

    The text approved Friday instead handed the Palestinians, among other things, “the right to be seated among member states… the right to submit proposals and amendments… (and) to be elected as officers in the plenary and the main committees of the Health Assembly”.

    But it noted that “Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the Health Assembly or to put forward its candidature to WHO’s organs”.

    Israeli genocide against Palestinians has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

  • Ariana Grande calls for donations for Palestine after Rafah Massacre

    Ariana Grande calls for donations for Palestine after Rafah Massacre

    American singer Ariana Grande has recently shown support for Palestine by sharing a donation link to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund on her Instagram story.

    She has also signed the #artists4ceasefire call and has been actively supporting Palestinian content on her social media platforms, including Instagram posts that condemn the events in Gaza as genocide.
    Some of her fans were disappointed at by her because they thought she should use her position to draw more attention to the injustices happening place in Palestine.

  • Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian track ‘Hind’s Hall’ rules the music charts

    Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian track ‘Hind’s Hall’ rules the music charts

    Joining the many celebrities speaking up for Palestinians, American rapper Macklemore has found success with his latest song, ‘Hind’s Hall.’ The track openly condemns Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    According to The Guardian, ‘Hind’s Hall’ is named after a Columbia University building that student protesters renamed from Hamilton Hall, to honour Hind Rajab, a five-year-old child killed by Israeli military in Gaza.

    “If students in tents posted on the lawn / Occupying the quad is really against the law / And a reason to call in the police and their squad / Where does genocide land in your definition, huh?” Macklemore raps, pointing out the police crackdown on student protests in the US. Students across college campuses made headlines for standing in solidarity with people suffering in Gaza.

    Making a splash on several Billboard charts, Forbes reported that in its first week, ‘Hind’s Hall’ sold 6,773 copies. The song achieved high positions on several charts thanks to strong sales, marking a notable win for the Grammy-winning rapper.

    ‘Hind’s Hall’debuted at number 7 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart. This is only the second time Macklemore has reached the top 10 on this list without his former collaborator, Ryan Lewis.

    The track also topped the Rap Digital Song Sales chart, which ranks the best-selling rap-only tracks in the country. Although it didn’t hit number 1, it came close behind Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

    ‘Hind’s Hall’ also performed well on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart, debuting at number 3. True to his values, Macklemore announced that proceeds from the song will go towards helping Palestinian refugees.

  • ‘Burning children alive can never be justified’; Dua Lipa demands ceasefire

    ‘Burning children alive can never be justified’; Dua Lipa demands ceasefire

    British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa is once again calling for an urgent and permanent ceasefire as Israel’s military actions in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where numerous Palestinian civilians have reportedly lost their lives in recent days. Dua Lipa is once more advocating for an immediate and enduring ceasefire.

    On May 28, the pop star posted an Artists for Ceasefire image with the hashtag “#AllEyesOnRafah” on her Instagram Story, stating, “Burning children alive can never be justified.” The harsh condemnation of Israel followed Israel’s massacre in Rafah where videos showed children decapitated and burnt alive.

    Lipa said, “The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide, please show your solidarity with Gaza.”
    She signed an open letter from Artists for Ceasefire, encouraging President Joe Biden to support peace in Gaza, a few weeks after the strikes on October 7. She was among many celebrities who supported the initiative. She freely expressed her thoughts on the fight three months later in her January cover story for Rolling Stone.

    On Monday, 45 people were killed in a fire that started in a tent camp in the Gazan city of Rafah due to an Israeli attack. This led to international protest from leaders around the world, who requested the enforcement of a ICJ ruling to stop Israel’s genocide

    Health officials in Gaza stated that women, children, and the elderly made up more than half of the deceased and that the number of fatalities was probably going to increase due to those who had serious burns.
    Over 45 million users, including local and international celebrities, shared the viral ‘All eyes on Rafah’ story on Instagram.
    At least 36,171 Palestinians have been killed and 81,420 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.

  • Danish student protest in support of Gaza successful, Copenhagen university agrees to divestment

    Danish student protest in support of Gaza successful, Copenhagen university agrees to divestment

    Copenhagen University has decided to stop investing in companies operating in Israeli settlements, Reuters has reported.

    Amid student protests pressuring the campus to cut financial and institutional ties with Israel, the University of Copenhagen says that it will stop investing in companies doing business in the occupied West Bank.

    The university has announced that it will, as of May 29, divest its holdings worth a total of about 1 million Danish crowns ($145,810) in Airbnb, Booking.com, and eDreams.

    The university also said that it would work with fund managers to manage its investments and ensure they comply with a United Nations list of companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

    The University of Copenhagen has a yearly revenue of over 10 billion crowns, some of which is invested in bonds and equities.

  • Israel supporters, including Piers Morgan, changing stance after Rafah massacre

    Israel supporters, including Piers Morgan, changing stance after Rafah massacre

    Israel’s bombing of refugee tents in Rafah on Sunday night left the world horrified. As videos and images of decapitated children, Palestinians burning alive and bodies reduced to char appeared on social media, a wave of outrage spread across the globe.

    Among those who publicly spoke up were many supporters of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including British television presenter Piers Morgan, who became a caricature of himself by continuously asking his pro- Palestinian panelists to “condemn Hamas”.

    On Sunday night, he tweeted, “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific.
    I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.
    Stop this now @netanyahu”.

    Over in America, ‘free-speech activist’ Brianna Wu stopped her non-stop support of Israel to quote tweet Morgan’s tweet:
    “I agree with this.

    I said at the beginning that invading Rafah would be a mistake of historic proportions and would make it difficult for people to stand with Israel.

    None of this is going to make anyone safer.”

    As other Israel supporters scrambled to condemn the incident in Rafah, the internet was having none of it. Many reminded Piers of his complicity in the genocide.

    Even Andrew Tate popped up in the replies to simply say “Told you.”