Israel economy grew 3.4% in Q1 as war against Hamas weighs
The Central Bureau of Statistics said in an initial estimate on Sunday that gross domestic product (ILGDPP=ECI), opens new tab grew by an annualised 3.4% in the January to March period from the fourth quarter, largely in line with a 3.5% consensus in a Reuters poll. On a per capita basis, GDP gained 2.2% in the first quarter.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas' cross-border attack on southern Israel in October 2023. A ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 this year ended in mid-March, although a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon since late November has held up.
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The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Palestinian schools teach kids to glorify suicide bombers who kill Jews, reveals dossier as PM plans to recognise state
PALESTINIAN schools teach children to glorify suicide bombers who slaughter Jews, a shocking dossier reveals. Kids are taught to look up to terrorists in classroom textbooks and even learn to add up by calculating how many 'martyrs' have died. 2 2 The Palestinian Authority (PA) - which runs the West Bank - also spends hundreds of millions of pounds a year on a 'Martyrs Fund". This pays monthly salaries to the families of Palestinians who have died or are in jail for carrying out attacks on Israelis. A prisoner's pay increases the longer the jail term. The families of those serving 30 years or more can get up to 3,400 US dollars - the equivalent of £2,500. The shocking revelations are contained in a dossier shared exclusively with The Sun on Sunday. They will spark fresh criticisms of Sir Keir Starmer's decision to recognise an independent state of Palestine in September unless Israel signs up to a peace process. Michael Rubin, Director of Labour Friends of Israel, backed the creation of a Palestinian state - but said the PA must clean up its act before it can be founded. He said that under leader Mahmoud Abbas the PA is 'authoritarian, riddled with corruption, and commits shocking human rights abuses'. He added: 'The PA must clean up its act if we're going to recognise a Palestinian state. 'We need to tell it to abolish the morally repugnant payment of 'salaries' to terrorists, quit glorifying suicide bombers in schoolkids' books, and stop naming its schools after Nazi collaborators.' The PA's South Hebron Directorate of Education posted a photo of a children's book about female suicide bomber Hanadi Jaradat. She killed 21 Israelis and injured over 50 more when she blew herself up at a restaurant in Haifa in 2003. In another shocking example, a grade 5 textbook Palestinian terrorist Dalal al-Mughrabi is celebrated for her heroism. She carried out the 1978 Coastal Road massacre which killed 38 Israelis, including 13 children. Earlier this year, Mr Abbas said he will end payments to the families of Palestinian 'martyrs'. The PM has defended his decision to set the UK on a course to recognise Palestine. Speaking earlier this week, he said: 'We do need to do everything we can to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where we are seeing the children and babies starving for want of aid which could be delivered. 'That is why I've said unless things materially change on the ground, we'll have to assess this in September, we will recognise Palestine before the United Nations general assembly in September.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Evyatar David's family condemns Hamas video of emaciated Israeli hostage
The family of Israeli hostage Evyatar David held by Hamas in Gaza has accused the group of deliberately starving him as part of a "propaganda campaign"."He is being starved purely to serve Hamas's propaganda," the family said on Saturday, a day after Hamas released a video showing an emaciated David in a narrow concrete 24, has been in captivity since his seizure by Hamas at a music festival in southern Israel on 7 October 2023."We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza - a living skeleton, buried alive," the family statement added. The hostage's family also urged the Israeli government and the world community to do "everything possible to save Evyatar".In the video released by Hamas, Evyatar David is heard saying "I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water" and is seen digging what he says will be his own its attack on Israel nearly two years ago, Hamas seized 251 hostages. David is one of 49 hostages who Israel says are still being held in Gaza. This includes 27 hostages who are believed to be dead. Israel has been accused by aid agencies of pushing Gaza towards famine by weaponising food in its war against Hamas - an allegation it has said there is "no starvation" and it is not imposing restrictions on aid entering Gaza - claims rejected by its close allies in Europe, the UN and other agencies active in the Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was "continuing the series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip".It said that 90 aid packages containing food for residents in southern and northern Gaza had been airdropped in the past few hours as part of co-operation between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, France and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said seven more people, including a child, died of malnutrition in the territory on health ministry said the total number of malnutrition deaths since the start of the war has reached 169, including 93 on Saturday in Gaza, the health ministry said at least 83 had been killed and 1,079 injured as a result of Israel's military offensive in the past 24 Hospital in Nuseirat told the BBC it had received the bodies of three people killed by Israeli forces near an aid distribution point on Salah al-Din street, south of the Wadi Gaza area in central Gaza, run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The hospital said at least 36 people were IDF said its troops "fired warning shots" hundreds of metres away from the aid distribution site, and not during its operating hours, after a crowd did not comply with their calls not to advance towards them "in a manner that posed a threat"."The IDF is not aware of any casualties as a result of the warning shots, and the details of the incident are still being examined," it said there was "nothing at or near our sites today". It understood that UN/World Food Programme (WFP) aid convoys were in the area of the incident, which have been drawing large crowds that have overrun and taken food off BBC has asked WFP for journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, making it difficult to verify claims. Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the group to release its remaining Israeli blockade was partially eased after 11 weeks amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, but shortages of food, medicine and fuel remain, aid agencies have launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed. The Hamas-run health authorities say 60,430 people have been killed as a result of the Israeli military campaign.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Starmer's gesture politics on Palestine and why a vote for Corbyn's new party will put Nigel Farage in Downing Street
JEREMY Corbyn's party hasn't even launched yet and it is already calling the shots with this government – starting with the recognition of Palestine. Keir Starmer is terrified Jeremy and his band of pro-Gaza MPs will hoover up the Muslim vote and cost Labour the next election. 6 6 So in a jaw-dropping speech on Tuesday, he announced the UK will recognise an independent state of Palestine unless Israel signs up to a ceasefire and long-term peace process. It was an astonishing change in position from Keir, who just days earlier dismissed the stance as gesture politics. So what changed? The grim facts on the ground in the Middle East remained the same. Hamas is still refusing to release the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 and held in cold, dank tunnels buried deep underneath Gaza. They have been there for more than 660 days. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu still shows no signs of being willing to accept a two-state solution. And innocent civilians in Gaza are paying the price for Hamas' reign of terror. Appalling images of starving children desperately queuing for food have haunted our TV screens and newspaper pages. The only thing that has changed is the news Corbyn is launching a new party to challenge Labour. No10 denies Keir is tearing up 75 years of foreign policy because he is running scared of Jezza. Moved by appalling images of emaciated children, he is launching a last-ditch bid to get Netanyahu to re-engage with the peace process, they say. But recognising the state of Palestine will not put food into the belly of a single hungry child in Gaza. It will not release a single hostage snatched by Hamas as they slept in their beds or danced at a music festival. And it will not bring the Middle East a single step closer to peace. It is the very essence of gesture politics Keir Starmer claims to despise. Biggest danger There is no doubt the new Corbyn party poses a massive challenge for Keir. They plan to target seats with big Muslim populations. There are fears inside Labour that 'London could fall'. Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner are being targeted. Zarah Sultana — a former Labour MP who has switched to Corbyn's party — will run against Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in Birmingham Ladywood. The loss of all three of these Cabinet big beasts would be a catastrophe for Labour. Sources close to Jeremy say the party could win around ten seats at the next election. Others reckon the number could be higher — more like 20. But the biggest danger to Labour is not the number of seats the party takes, but the number of votes. Pollsters More In Common say the new party could get ten per cent of the vote, mainly from current Labour and Green supporters. By nibbling at Labour's vote, Corbyn and his crew could hand Nigel Farage's Reform Party a seven-point lead — and a majority in Parliament. So vote Jeremy, get Nigel Farage in No10. Labour Party chiefs are expected to hammer this attack line on a Corbyn-led party. Keir Starmer was also under huge pressure from his own party and base to recognise Palestine. Over 100 Labour MPs had signed a letter demanding he do it. A large chunk of the Cabinet had urged him to do the same. But Keir has spent years painting himself as morally upright and principled standing loftily above the self-interest that motivates others. Now the Prime Minister looks like he is recognising Palestine to save his own political skin. As one party insider put it: 'Keir used to say country first, party second. Where does this decision leave that?' How Ozzy helped Jacob to rock up on reality TV AT first glance Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ozzy Osbourne do not have much in common. One is a pinstripe-suit-wearing former Tory MP best known for his love of Brexit and devout Catholicism. 6 The other was a heavy metal wildman famous for biting the head off a bat on stage and being so desperate for drugs he once snorted a line of ants off the roadside. So it was a bit surprising to see the Moggster dedicate a whole section of his GB News show to tributes to the late, great Prince of Darkness. But Jacob actually owes much of his success to Ozzy. The Osbournes was the original family reality TV show – featuring Ozzy, wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack. Their lives were slightly bonkers, very loving – and made for intoxicating viewing. Twenty years later, Jacob followed in Ozzy's footsteps with Meet The Rees-Moggs, a reality TV show about his equally eccentric and loving family. Paying tribute to the Brummie rocker on telly, Mogg hailed him as 'a charismatic figure who had great charm and was at the top of his field'. He added: 'We will pray for his soul.' Judging by the rocker's hell-raising antics, I reckon that will take quite a few Hail Marys, Jacob. CUT OFF PHONE THEFTS STRICTLY dancer Michelle Tsiakkas has become the latest victim of mobile phone thieves to go public. The ballroom dancer was walking through London's Covent Garden in June when a thug on an e-bike snatched her phone. 6 When will this criminal scourge end? As a Londoner, I'm appalled to see how muggers are terrorising the capital on their green e-bikes. A phone is stolen in London every six minutes. That is a shameful statistic. When victims call the police they are just fobbed off and told officers are too busy to investigate – even when the phone has a tracker on it. Within days these mobiles are sold on by criminal gangs and end up around the world in places like China. Enough is enough. Police must take a zero-tolerance approach to these phone snatchers. I don't mind the rental e-bikes which have popped up all over the capital. But they are too easy for thugs to fiddle so they can ride them without paying – and to carry out their muggings. These businesses must step up and improve security. And if London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants a legacy he should hurry up and clean up the streets of our capital. Or his time in City Hall will go down in history as one of failure. MENUS JABBED HESTON BLUMENTHAL has revealed he is on the fat jab, and he's not the only one. The celebrity chef says so many Brits are on Ozempic and Wegovy it risks wrecking the restaurant trade. The days of charging diners through the nose for giant tasting menus might be over, he warns. It costs £395 per person to tuck into the 11-course tasting menu at Blumenthal's own restaurant, The Fat Duck. Looks like the fat jab will shrink Heston's bank balance as well as his waistline. POPE'S BLACK MAGIC Pope Leo XIV is said to have toasted St Patrick's Day this year with a pint of the black stuff. 6 Perhaps the pontiff's love of Irish stout should come as no surprise. He is a Yank after all – and they are known to be huge fans of the Irish tipple. We were always big fans of Guinness in my family. My grandad, Jim O'Sullivan (no awards for guessing where he came from), swore by the medicinal qualities of a pint of Guinness. Whenever me or my brother were feeling sick when we were kids he would suggest taking a long glug of Guinness. It is packed full of iron and would get our strength up, he said in his thick Cork accent. It sounds like The Pope agrees. Drinking Guinness is God for you! The mega-rich Brits are said to be part of a consortium trying to take over the controversial porn site. The property tycoons are considering pumping hundreds of millions of pounds in the project. Well, no one ever became poor overestimating our interest in sex. CHEAP AS LIPS CLOBBERED by the cost-of-living crisis, us girls are turning to small treats like lipstick to give ourselves a little lift. Britain's 'prestige lip market' has grown by 16 per cent in the past six months, according to the market research company Circana. I never leave my flat without a full face of make-up. But last time I bought a lippy it set me back £30, which isn't exactly cheap as chips. Although I guess it's cheaper than a week in Marbella.
