Under Israeli attack, Iran has ‘legitimate' right to self-defense: Erdogan
'It is a very natural, legitimate and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel's thuggery and state terrorism,' the Turkish leader said, a day after referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as 'the biggest threat to the security of the region.'
The long-range blitz began early Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to hit back with missiles and drones, including hypersonic missiles.
'These attacks were organized while the Iranian nuclear negotiations were taking place,' Erdogan said.
'Israel, which possesses nuclear weapons and does not recognize any international rules.. did not wait for the negotiations to end, but carried out a terrorist act without waiting for the result,' he added.
Iran says at least 224 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, which have targeted nuclear and military facilities, while Iranian fire on Israel has claimed at least 24 lives and wounded hundreds more, Netanyahu's office said.
'We are closely following Israel's terrorist attacks on Iran. All our institutions are on high alert regarding the possible effects of these attacks on Turkey," Erdogan said.
'We are making preparations for every kind of scenario,' he said.
'Nobody should dare to test us.'
On Monday, Erdogan said he had ordered the defense industry to increase production of medium and long-range missiles to 'increase its level of deterrence' in light of the air war between Israel and Iran.
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A settler accused of killing a Palestinian activist is to be freed, as Israel still holds the body
TEL AVIV: An Israeli settler accused of killing a prominent Palestinian activist during a confrontation captured on video in the occupied West Bank will be released from house arrest, an Israeli court ruled Friday. The video shot by a Palestinian witness shows Yinon Levi brandishing a pistol and tussling with a group of unarmed Palestinians. He can be seen firing two shots, but the video does not show where the bullets hit. Witnesses said one of the shots killed Awdah Hathaleen, an English teacher and father of three, who was uninvolved and was standing nearby. The Israeli military is still holding Hathaleen's body and says it will only be returned if the family agrees to bury him in a nearby city. It said the measure was being taken to 'prevent public disorder.' The confrontation occurred on Monday in the village of Umm Al-Khair, in an area of the West Bank featured in 'No Other Land,' an Oscar-winning documentary about settler violence and life under Israeli military rule. In a court decision obtained by The Associated Press, Judge Havi Toker wrote that there was 'no dispute' that Levi shot his gun in the village that day, but she said he may have been acting in self-defense and that the court could not establish that the shots killed Hathaleen. Israel's military and police did not respond to a request for comment on whether anyone else may have fired shots that day. Multiple calls placed to Levi and his lawyer have not been answered. The judge said Levi did not pose such a danger as to justify his continued house arrest but barred him from contact with the villagers for a month. Levi has been sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries over allegations of past violence toward Palestinians. President Donald Trump lifted the US sanctions on Levi and other radical settlers shortly after returning to office. A total of 18 Palestinians from the village were arrested after the incident. Six remain in detention. Eitay Mack, an Israeli lawyer who has lobbied for sanctions against radical settlers, including Levi, said the court ruling did not come as a surprise. 'Automatically, Palestinian victims are considered suspects, while Jewish suspects are considered victims,' he said. Levi helped establish an settler outpost near Umm Al-Khair that anti-settlement activists say is a bastion for violent settlers who have displaced hundreds since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of turning a blind eye to settler violence, which has surged since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, along with attacks by Palestinians. In a 2024 interview, Levi said he was protecting his own land and denied using violence. Some 70 women in Umm Al-Khair said they were beginning a hunger strike on Friday to call for Hathaleen's body to be returned and for the right of his family to bury him in the village. Israel's military said in a statement to the AP that it would return the body if the family agrees to bury him in the 'nearest authorized cemetery.' Hathaleen, 31, had written and spoke out against settler violence, and had helped produce the Oscar-winning film. Supporters have erected murals in his honor in Rome, held vigils in New York and have held signs bearing his name at anti-war protests in Tel Aviv.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
A stain on the face of humanity
The US is finally admitting that Gazans are starving. In the space of less than 24 hours, President Donald Trump shifted positions, from saying that he was not sure people are starving in Gaza to stating that there is 'real starvation' in the Israeli-blockaded enclave. In a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland on Monday, Trump said that the US would set up 'food centers' in Gaza as he acknowledged Israel 'has a lot of responsibility' for limiting aid to the Strip. His admission puts him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday denied that people are starving in Gaza. In March, Israel pulled out of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, negotiated through the US, and imposed a full blockade on more than 2 million Gazans. It stopped all aid trucks from entering the Strip, thereby denying civilians access to essential supplies such as food, baby formula, medicine, fuel and water. Israel has used starvation as a weapon from Day 1 of its onslaught on Gaza. Its officials are on record admitting and supporting the blockade. Far-right Cabinet ministers have objected to any proposal that would reopen the border crossings to allow hundreds of aid trucks to enter the beleaguered enclave. On the few occasions that aid trucks have been admitted, Israel attacked and killed aid workers, including foreign nationals. It accused Hamas of stealing the aid, but the US Agency for International Development debunked that claim. Israel banned the leading UN agency, UNRWA, which is responsible for delivering food and medicine to the Palestinians. It bombed food warehouses in Gaza and created a human-made humanitarian catastrophe that — so far — has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children and infants from acute malnutrition. And when pressure was put on Israel and the US to offer an alternative to the UN and other organizations, Netanyahu created the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-Israeli entity manned by armed contractors and protected by the Israeli army, which took responsibility for feeding more than 2 million souls. The outcome is tragic and, to say the least, criminal. So far, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been gunned down by Israel and the armed contractors as they huddled like animals to receive meals. But even then, Israel poured cement into water wells, denied hospitals access to fuel and medication, and continued to strike safe zones where hapless civilians were ordered to move by the Israeli army for their safety. The irony is that, even as Israel knowingly and deliberately pushed the Strip into starvation, Western governments, including the US, did nothing to stop it. It was only when the harrowing images of emaciated babies went viral on social media that real pressure was put on Israel. Netanyahu last week announced a humanitarian pause, allowing aid trucks into the Strip and facilitating airdrops. But while hundreds of trucks traveled from Egypt into an Israeli-controlled border point, only 100 were allowed in. Aid agencies estimate that between 500 and 700 trucks are needed daily to contain the humanitarian crisis. Netanyahu must be ordered to end the humanitarian crisis and stop weaponizing food and medicine. Osama Al-Sharif The so-called humanitarian pause is a lie. Israel continues to bomb Gaza, mainly killing civilians, while the few functioning hospitals lack fuel, food, water and medication. Now, Trump wants to establish food centers in Gaza. Israel will find ways to sabotage that effort. What Trump fails or refuses to say is that Israel must open the border crossings to let aid trucks in without conditions. Netanyahu must be ordered to end the humanitarian crisis and stop weaponizing food and medicine. Israel lost all sympathy for its war as it waged an open genocide on Gaza. The objective was never to defeat Hamas but to destroy Gaza and displace its people. US, Egyptian, Qatari and even Israeli negotiators know that Hamas was ready to deliver the hostages if Israel would commit to ending the war. However, Netanyahu and his far-right government partners have other ideas. They openly talk about reoccupying and colonizing Gaza. They have no sympathy for the high civilian toll and push for forcing Gazans to leave at any price. Israel's image in the West has been tarnished and no one believes it can ever be repaired. If and when the war stops and independent journalists and investigators enter the Strip, the complete picture of the horrors Israel has created there will become clear. Even Israeli reports now believe the final death toll in Gaza will be double or triple the current figures. Despite all the war crimes that Israel has committed in Gaza, the Palestinians are not leaving. Israel has had to abandon its grotesque proposal to set up a so-called humanitarian city on the remains of Rafah — a concentration camp no different to the ones the Nazis built for European Jews ahead of their 'final solution.' The images of starving Palestinian children are a stain on the face of humanity, but they will especially haunt Israelis and those who enabled this genocide. It could be brought to an end today. Trump must tell Israel to do so. Trump's admission that Gazans are starving and that the war must end requires bold action. Such action must be done in collaboration with Western countries that have leverage remaining over Israel. Ending the humanitarian crisis is a priority. This collective message must be sent to Netanyahu as soon as possible. Ending the blockade is the first step. This must be followed by a plan to end the war, retrieve the hostages and end Hamas' control of the Strip. Israel must pull out and allow an interim authority to take over, as was previously suggested. Gazans need protection and Israel needs assurances that Oct. 7 will never happen again. This is a moment where Hamas must put the safety and interests of the Palestinian people, who have paid a dear price over the past 22 months, ahead of its own. But even then, that is not enough. The Palestinian question must be addressed and a resolution to decades of war and death must be found. The core of instability in the region has always been linked to Israel's denial of Palestinian self-determination and rejection of the two-state solution. The need for international momentum to relaunch a genuine peace process has never been more urgent. Trump is in a position to change the current trajectory not only in Gaza, but in Israel and the West Bank as well. The Palestinian issue is, at its heart, not humanitarian but political and the time has come to address it.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Family of Palestinian-American boy held by Israel ask US govt for help securing his release
LONDON: A Palestinian-American family is trying to secure the release of a 16-year-old detained by Israel for more than five months, The Guardian reported. Muhammad Zaher Ibrahim was detained at the family's home in the occupied West Bank in February when he was 15, accused by Israel of throwing rocks at soldiers. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to Megiddo Prison in Israel where, his family say, he has lost a significant amount of weight while awaiting trial. The family splits its time between their home in the West Bank town of Silwad and the city of Palm Bay, Florida. His father Zaher Ibrahim wrote to his local Congressman Mike Haridopolos asking for help in securing his son's release. 'The Megiddo Prison is notorious for brutality and suffering,' Zaher Ibrahim wrote to Haridopolos on a form seen by The Guardian. 'We are kindly asking for some support in this matter. We have exhausted all efforts locally here in Israel and have no other option than to ask our local Florida office officials to reach out on our behalf.' Haridopolos's office said it had been informed by the State Department that the US Embassy in Israel is 'following standard procedures' on the matter. A spokesperson for the department said it has 'no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens.' Muhammad Ibrahim's detention first came to prominence after his cousin Sayfollah Musallet was allegedly killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in July. Musallet, 20, who was also a US citizen, had been visiting relatives when he was beaten to death. There are hundreds of Palestinian children in detention in Israeli jails, many without charge or contact with their families. According to Defense for Children International-Palestine, as of March this year that figure was 323 aged 12-17 years. Between 2005 and 2010, 835 Palestinian children in that age bracket were tried for stone-throwing by Israeli military courts. Only one was acquitted. Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the West Bank-based accountability program director at Defense for Children International-Palestine, told The Guardian: 'Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are totally disconnected from the outside world. They (Israel) will not recognize whether you are American, Somalian or whatever your citizenship.' Abu Eqtaish said since Oct. 7, 2023, conditions in Israeli jails for Palestinians have worsened, adding: 'Now they are stricter in punishment and sentences. We encounter problems knowing about living conditions inside prisons. There's no family presence. Lawyer visits are very restricted.' A State Department official told the Ibrahim family via email that embassy staff had visited him in prison but faced contact restrictions put in place by Israel. During one welfare check, he was found to have lost 12 kg in weight. In another, staff reported that he was receiving treatment for scabies contracted in jail. In a statement, a State Department spokesperson told The Guardian that it 'works to provide consular assistance which may include visiting detained US citizens to ensure they have access to necessary medication or medical attention and facilitating authorized communications with their family or others.'
