Tag: Gaza

  • Bella Hadid’s red carpet support for Palestine

    Bella Hadid’s red carpet support for Palestine

    American supermodel Bella Hadid used her platform at the Cannes Film Festival to show solidarity with her ancestral land, Palestine. She wore a vintage dress with a red and white chequered pattern, similar to the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. The outfit was a powerful statement of support for the Palestinian people.

    A bold representation of resilience The keffiyeh, a traditional headscarf from the Middle East, has become a strong symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance. Its unique pattern has been seen on famous people, protesters, and even in political settings around the world, showing support for Palestine.

    In keeping with her heritage, Hadid whose father Mohamed Hadid is Palestinian, stepped out on the French Riviera donning an old Michael and Hushi outfit. Hadid has long been an advocate of the ‘Free Palestine’ cause.Hadid rocked a vintage dress made from traditional Palestinian keffiyeh fabric, complete with tassels, from the 2001 runway. She kept the look simple yet chic with red sandals, a hair scrunchie, tinted sunglasses, and gold hoops (earnings)Reposting a picture of the dress from the designer’s original post on her Instagram story, Hadid reaffirmed her support for Palestine with the caption “Free Palestine forever.”

  • UK police arrest 16 protesting against Israeli genocide of Gaza at Oxford University

    UK police arrest 16 protesting against Israeli genocide of Gaza at Oxford University

    UK police have arrested 16 people at a protest organised by a pro-Palestinian student group at Oxford University, in the latest flare-up on a prestigious campus over the genocide in Gaza.

    Thames Valley Police said the individuals were arrested Thursday on suspicion of aggravated trespass, while one was also held on suspicion of common assault.

    It follows protests in recent weeks at more than a dozen UK universities, including at world-renowned Oxford and Cambridge, emulating similar actions on campuses in the United States and elsewhere.

    Demonstrators opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza have made various demands, including that universities sever academic and financial ties with the country.

    In Oxford, the arrests came after students entered a university administrative building on Thursday morning, claiming they had “exhausted all other avenues of communication” with administrators.

    “Instead of engaging in dialogue with her students, the vice-chancellor chose to evacuate the building, place it on lockdown, and call the police to make arrests,” a spokesperson for the Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) protest group said.

    “We demand the administration meet with us to negotiate immediately.”

    Videos posted on social media showed people sitting on the ground in front of a police van being dragged away by officers, as onlookers chanted “shame”.

    Oxford University said in a statement that demonstrators had “gone beyond” peaceful protest, and that had “culminated in forced entry and temporary occupation” of some university offices.

    It added that OA4P had “escalated their protest actions from mainly peaceful to direct action tactics”, creating a “deeply intimidating environment” to community members, including Jewish students and staff.

    The university’s union, which represents academics, lecturers and staff, condemned “bringing in police to violently arrest” students who were “engaged in peaceful protest”.

  • Israel army says retrieved bodies of three Gaza hostages

    Israel army says retrieved bodies of three Gaza hostages

    The Israeli military said Friday its forces had retrieved the bodies of three hostages in an overnight operation in the northern Gaza Strip’s Jabalia.

    The bodies of Israeli hostage Chanan Yablonka, Brazilian-Israeli Michel Nisenbaum and French-Mexican Orion Hernandez Radoux “were rescued overnight” and their families were notified after forensic identification, the military said in a statement.

    Both Yablonka, 42, and Hernandez Radoux, 32, were abducted from a music festival when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, triggering the ongoing war.

    Nisenbaum, a 59-year-old resident of the Israeli town of Sderot near Gaza, was last contacted on his way to an army base on the border to pick up his granddaughter on the day of the attack.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing domestic pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages, said in a statement Friday that “together with the Israeli people, my wife Sara and I bow our heads in deep sorrow and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time”.

  • Israel recalls its envoys to Ireland, Norway, Spain

    Israel recalls its envoys to Ireland, Norway, Spain

    Israel recalled its ambassadors to Ireland, Norway and Spain on Wednesday and also summoned their envoys in protest at the three governments’ recognition of a Palestinian state.

    Foreign Minister Israel Katz charged that all three countries were rewarding the Palestinian group Hamas for their October 7 attack which sparked the Gaza war.

    “The twisted step of these countries is an injustice to the memory of the 7/10 victims,” he said in a statement.

    Israel’s envoys were being recalled from Dublin, Oslo and Madrid for “urgent consultations” and threatened “serious consequences”, the minister added.

    Katz said that the three countries’ ambassadors were also being summoned for a “conversation that would rebuke” their governments’ decision to recognise a Palestinian state by May 28.

    Israeli genocide against Palestinians has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

    Katz said he would show the three ambassadors a video of the kidnapping of female Israeli soldiers during the Hamas attack.

    “They decided to award a gold medal to the murderers and rapists of Hamas,” Katz said. “We will demonstrate to them what a twisted decision their governments took.”

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Spain, Norway, Ireland recognise Palestine state in historic move

    Spain, Norway, Ireland recognise Palestine state in historic move

    Spain, Norway and Ireland have officially recognised the Palestinian state on Wednesday, paving the way for other European countries to do the same.

    The momentous development comes as yet another setback to Israel after the ICC announced this week that it will seek arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant for war crimes.

    “Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain are announcing that we recognise the state of Palestine,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced at a news conference, adding that other countries will join them within a few weeks.

    Israel reacted by announcing that it has recalled its ambassadors to Norway and Ireland. The occupying country’s ambassador to Spain had already been recalled in November last year.

    During the news conference, Harris said that he viewed the two-state solution as the only viable pathway for peace and security for the peoples of Israel and Palestine.

  • High-speed car runs over Gaza camp in Islamabad, killing two

    High-speed car runs over Gaza camp in Islamabad, killing two

    A high-speed vehicle rammed into a Save Gaza camp in Islamabad at Express Chowk, killing two workers while two more have been injured.

    The camp was organised by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami.

    The police took the driver into custody.

    The accident was reportedly a result of barbed wires getting stuck in the tires of the vehicle.

    Senator Khan has called for an FIR to be registered against the driver.

    “This is not a political sit-in. The purpose of the sit-in is to wake the government up and raise our voice in favour of Palestine”, he said.

  • Modi claims to have stopped war in Gaza during Ramzan

    Modi claims to have stopped war in Gaza during Ramzan

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently appeared in an interview with a group of journalists and claimed that he played an instrumental role in stopping the war in Gaza for the month of Ramzan.

    In a video clip that surfaced on X (formerly Twitter), shared by ALT News journalist Muhammad Zubair Modi asserted that in the holy month of Ramzan, he sent a special envoy to Israel in order to convince the Israeli Prime Minister to at least stop the war in Gaza for the month. “Kam se kam Ramzan mein Gaza mein bambari na karein,” Modi stressed. He also stated that the Israeli Premier tried to follow his advice but he did make the effort.

    Modi went ahead to point out that, “Here you guys accuse me of politics against the Muslims but, Modi attempted to stop the bombardment in Gaza. Now I don’t want publicity for this.”

    The claim is being taken with a large pinch of salt by social media users.

  • Five Israeli soldiers killed by their own tanks in Gaza

    Five Israeli soldiers killed by their own tanks in Gaza

    Israel said Thursday that five of its troops were killed by friendly fire in Gaza, as a rift emerged inside the war cabinet on how the Palestinian territory should be ruled in future.

    The army said that the five soldiers were killed when two Israeli tanks mistakenly fired shells at the building they were in during operations in the northern Jabalia refugee camp on Wednesday.

    “Five soldiers of the 202nd Paratrooper Battalion were killed last night in a mass casualty incident as a result of fire by our forces,” the military said, adding that seven other troops were wounded.

    AFP reporters, witnesses and medics said Thursday that Israeli warplanes again targeted areas across Gaza overnight, including in Gaza City and its southern Zeitun area, Jabalia and the Nuseirat refugee camp.

    The military’s main focus has been Rafah near the Egyptian border, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered an offensive in defiance of US warnings that more than a million civilians sheltering there could be caught in the crossfire.

    Netanyahu on Wednesday argued that “we have to do what we have to do” and insisted that mass evacuations there had averted a much-feared “humanitarian catastrophe”.

    Washington — long Israel’s main political, diplomatic and military supporter — has repeatedly urged its ally to take greater steps to protect and aid civilians, and to make a post-war plan for Gaza to avoid being mired in a long counter-insurgency campaign.

  • Famous Italian chef Rubio attacked by Zionists for supporting Palestine

    Famous Italian chef Rubio attacked by Zionists for supporting Palestine

    Italian Chef Gabriele Rubini was attacked by Zionist supporters of Israel outside his home after he publicly expressed support for Palestine.

    He posted a video of himself, face drenched in blood, explaining how he was attacked just outside his home. The caption of the video said, “Terrorists. They waited for me outside my house, six of them, and cut the gate wires to massacre me.”

    A large group of his followers extended their heartfelt wishes to him and showed solidarity with him in a march. He thanked them by writing, “Thanks girls, thanks guys. We smile in the face of terrorists and continue straight until the liberation of Palestine”.

    The Chef later posted a selfie with a swollen eye and making a victory sign. The post said, “Thank you all for the support”. It went on to explain, “In the end, stitches on my head where they gave me the hammer, cuts and abrasions where they hit me with bricks, fracture of the facial orbit where the 60 targeted punches ended up.” He pledged to not stop talking about the oppression faced by Gazans, “And we start again”, he asserted, “A hug to the Jewish community.”

  • Ireland to recognise Palestinian statehood ‘this month’: minister

    Ireland to recognise Palestinian statehood ‘this month’: minister

    Ireland is certain to recognise Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the country’s foreign minister said Wednesday, without specifying a date.

    “We will be recognising the state of Palestine before the end of the month,” Micheal Martin, who is also Ireland’s deputy prime minister, told the Newstalk radio station.

    In March the leaders of Spain, Ireland, Slovakia and Malta said in a joint statement that they stand ready to recognise Palestinian statehood.

    Ireland has long said it has no objection in principle to officially recognising the Palestinian state if it could help the peace process in the Middle East.

    But Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has given the issue new impetus.

    Last week EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Spain, Ireland and Slovenia planned to symbolically recognise a Palestinian state on May 21, with others potentially following suit.

    But Ireland’s Martin shied Wednesday from pinpointing a date.

    “The specific date is still fluid because we’re still in discussions with some countries in respect of a joint recognition of a Palestinian state,” said Martin.

    “It will become clear in the next few days as to the specific date but it certainly will be before the end of this month.

    “I will look forward to consultations today with some foreign ministers in respect of the final specific detail of this.”

    Last month during a visit to Dublin by Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the countries would coordinate the move together.

    “When we move forward, we would like to do so with as many others as possible to lend weight to the decision and to send the strongest message,” said Harris.

    Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people in the besieged strip, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.