Israeli strikes kill 22 in Gaza, church late pope often called is damaged
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church
The death toll from an attack on a Catholic church in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels has risen to 34, officials said. The incident took place in the place of worship in Komanda, Ituri province. Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator, said: 'The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church.' At least five other people were killed in an earlier attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where a search is ongoing. 'They took several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number,' Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri, told reporters. Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with guns and machetes. The military has confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the total death toll at more than 40. Mr Duranthabo said attackers stormed the church in Komanda town at around 1am. Several houses and shops were also burnt. Lt Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 were killed in the church attack. Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around seven miles from the centre of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive. Mr Duranthabo condemned the attack 'in a town where all the security officials are present'. He added: 'We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.' Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the so-called Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath. The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighbouring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Mary Robinson says Gaza situation is 'unconscionable' as she calls for urgent ceasefire
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has said what is happening in Gaza is "unconscionable" and there is "utter urgency" for a ceasefire, as she called for stockpiles of food, water, and medical supplies to be distributed. The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also called for all hostages to be released and said "we need a parallel approach" to the situation. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Robinson said: "This is how I feel about it. Recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu telephoned Pope Leo to apologise for the injury to Fr Gabriel Romanelli when a Catholic church was bombed in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu has not apologised for the more than 17,000 children killed in Gaza, he has not apologised for the many more children left without limbs, and left without family members. "He has not apologised for all the children of Gaza who have been traumatised by this totally disproportionate war, and are now hungry to the point of starvation." According to Ms Robinson, the Nazis in the Second World War "dehumanised the Jews so they could exterminate them in gas chambers. And that's why we have to have the humanitarian and the political side by side." More sanctions Ms Robinson said there should be "more sanctions on the leaders who are responsible", and she also said "there should be no arms supplied to continue this war, which has been involved in so many war crimes". The former president, along with two other members of the Elders, will be among those attending and speaking at a conference on the matter in New York this week. She believes this conference could be a "turning point." She said the Elders would use their "maximum morals, persuasion, and advocacy to really urge the foreign ministers to take the necessary steps". She said she hoped there would be recognition, and notably by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, of the state of Palestine. "The United Kingdom and France, France in particular, are on the verge of recognising, and that is what we must urge them to do when we meet in New York." She added: "What France and the United Kingdom have been saying is: 'We don't want to do it as a symbol, we want to do it at the right moment.' Well now is the right moment, because otherwise it is all going to be too late and we are going to have the starving, genocidal killing on our doorstep, on our watch. Speaking about solutions, Ms Robinson said the Elders were in favour of an approach which had "both Israeli and Palestinian support, not at the political level, but at the academic and civil society level". "It's called a land for all. It's a two-state collaborative, two-state solution for the states of Palestine and Israel together. One state with two states within it. And that's a possibility. There are other possibilities, but there must be a political way forward. That's what's been absent. 'And then we deal urgently and as urgently as possible with the humanitarian situation. And that is utterly critical, and I think it's vital that the talks result in a ceasefire in order for humanitarian access, which is piled up outside and just inside Gaza, to be distributed to starving people.' Read More Israeli official says Gaza ceasefire proposal from Hamas is 'workable'
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Hope of a new era for Syria shattered as sectarian conflict continues in southern city of Sweida
Fighting has engulfed Sweida, a southern city with a majority Druze population. Neighbouring Israel, facing pressure from its own Druze population, has taken a violent stand. Missiles have rained down on government forces in Sweida and in central Damascus. In this whirl of shrapnel and shelling, hopes for a new era of peace in a nation long torn apart by dictatorship and a 14-year civil war are quickly fading. Instead, Syria appears on the brink of being dragged into yet another civil and international conflict. 'Eighty per cent of the population are now refugees in the surrounding villages. It's a disaster,' said Samer, (not his real name) a Druze journalist who spent years clandestinely reporting from Sweida during Syria's bloody civil war. Samer spoke to The Independent from a partially functioning hospital in Sweida, where he said hundreds of the injured and dead were taken. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of his life. Samer described how bloody battles have raged between Syria's Druze fighters and local Bedouin armed factions. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze. The Independent has repeatedly reached out to multiple branches of the new government for comment and has yet to receive a reply. The authorities keep making the wrong choices Residents of the area claimed that Druze citizens had been shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by troops who appear to be government forces – videos shared online show people in military fatigues shooting men on their knees. In one video, which fact-checking website Verify Syria said it has verified, a group of men in fatigues forced three men to jump off a balcony of a multi-storey building as they are shot. The death toll is still climbing. Outside of combatant deaths in battle, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said more than 320 people have been killed in summary executions, other forms of violence, and Israeli strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group, has reported a total death toll of at least 940 people. The UN says at least 87,000 people have been displaced within Sweida governorate and towards neighbouring Daraa. Much-needed humanitarian and medical aid is unable to enter the region due to ongoing clashes. ADVERTISEMENT The surge in violence underlines the challenges facing interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. He has struggled to assert control over the south and areas near the Israeli border. While Mr Sharaa has been buoyed by rapidly improving ties with global powers, the violence has highlighted lingering sectarian tensions and widespread distrust among minority groups towards his Islamist-led government. 'Instead of pursuing an inclusive, reconciliatory approach to reintegrate Sweida into the Syrian state … the authorities keep making the wrong choices,' said Armenak Tokmajyan, non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Centre. He said that, while there had been rounds of dialogue with powerful Druze leaders, the discussions were largely focused on disarming them. 'Despite divisions within the Druze community, most … were unwilling to hand over their weapons without clarity on the future shape of the state. Then came the recent escalation, which I think could have been averted had the authorities exercised self-restraint and not immediately resorted to violence.' We want to live as citizens, without fear of others. That's it Amid this chaos, Israel has entered the fray. 'The Israelis took all the weapons from the people,' says Ahmed Hassoun, head of the municipality of Hader, a Druze town less than 5km from the border with Israeli-occupied Golan. 'Most days they are here. It's become a fact for us. We can do nothing. Their forces are coming in and out. We are helpless. We are just civilians. What can we do with this reality?' In Sweida, Samer said that Israel's claims that it has come to the 'rescue' of the Druze has only stoked pre-existing sectarian tensions that have simmered and flared throughout the 14-year civil war. 'Just a few months after liberation, Israel has mixed the cards in the south,' he added. On Friday, an Israeli official said it had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days. But many fear that this is just temporary and that Israel is trying to leverage internal domestic turmoil in Syria to keep it weak. In Sweida, where a tentative ceasefire is fast collapsing, the biggest fear is yet more massacres. 'There is a ceasefire in place, but five minutes ago government forces attacked one area by drones,' says Samer, with desperation. 'The Druze people just want safety. They don't want to be afraid of other factions and sects. They don't want to separate from the rest of Syria. We want to live as citizens, without fear of others. That's it.'
