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Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Huckabee hits back at Western countries that 'side' with terror group Hamas
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee lashed out at almost 30 Western countries who on Monday called for Israel to end the war in Gaza, saying in a post on X that "when Hamas thinks you do good work, you are doing evil." "How embarrassing for a nation to side w/ a terror group like Hamas & blame a nation whose civilians were massacred for fighting to get hostages released," wrote Huckabee after Hamas – whose Oct. 7, 2023, mass terror attack on Israel sparked the ongoing war in Gaza – said it welcomed "the contents of the joint statement issued by the United Kingdom Government along with 25 other countries, calling for an immediate end to the war on the Gaza Strip." The U.S. and EU-designated terror group also reiterated its claims that Israel was carrying out a "policy of starvation" on the coastal enclave amid unverified reports that people have died due to hunger-related reasons. Fox News Digital has not been able to independently verify such reports. "The statement's condemnation of the killing of over 800 Palestinian civilians at the gates of U.S.-Israeli-controlled aid checkpoints underscores the brutality of this mechanism," Hamas wrote following a statement issued by the U.K. Foreign Office and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy. "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths," read Lammy's statement, which was also signed by the foreign ministers of 28 countries. "If Hamas embraces you – you are in the wrong place," Israel's Foreign Minister Gidon Saar responded on X. "Hamas's praise for the statement by the group of countries is the best proof of the mistake they made – part of them out of good intentions and part of them out of an obsession against Israel." Since launching a new model for food aid distribution in the war-torn strip in early May, Israel and the U.S. have come under fire from the international community over near-daily reports of people dying while attempting to receive aid or not receiving any aid at all. Israel has refuted claims that there is hunger in Gaza or that it is using starvation as a tactic of the now 22-month-old war. Rather, officials have said they are working to prevent Hamas from stealing aid being distributed by veteran, mostly U.N.-run, humanitarian agencies and sold for exorbitant prices in a bid to continue funding terror operations. Israel, which is tasked with securing routes to four aid centers run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, has also denied that its soldiers intentionally kill Palestinian civilians but is rather issuing warning shots as a measure of crowd control. The GHF has so far delivered some 85 million meals since it started its aid operation in May. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "deplored the growing reports of both children and adults suffering from malnutrition and strongly condemned the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing and injuring of people attempting to get food." "As someone who has spent over 40 years in Israel's Security Establishment – both as IDF Chief of Staff & Minister of Defense, I can say this unequivocally: Not only has Israel never starved or targeted civilians, but it goes above and beyond to protect civilians in the most complex of war zones like Gaza," Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz wrote on X. "We must be clear – culpability for harm inflicted to civilians rests on terrorist Hamas and Hamas only," he added. On Tuesday, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, said in a statement that "twenty-one children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in various areas across the Gaza Strip." "Every moment, new cases of malnutrition and starvation are arriving at Gaza's hospitals," he said. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv who has been monitoring the situation in Gaza closely, told Fox News Digital that he was "not aware of a single official report that people died because of starvation or hunger." "I'm not familiar with any such report, but I am familiar with many warnings that were published by international organizations about the catastrophe that exists in Gaza and how in two months or so, 40 or 50,000 people will die because of hunger, but nobody has died because of hunger, because there is no hunger," he said, adding, "if there are some local problems of supply, it is because of Hamas – not because of the IDF." Michael, who is also a fellow at the Misgav Institute in Jerusalem, pointed out that Hamas "loots, robs and steals the humanitarian aid, partially for themselves, to feed themselves and the rest is sold in very high prices to the local population in order to make money." Israel's goal of weakening Hamas's grip on the Strip – and on aid agencies – appeared to be working on Monday, with The Washington Post reporting that the terror group "is facing its worst financial and administrative crisis in its four-decade history" and is struggling to find the resource it needs to continue fighting Israel or rule Gaza. Quoting a former high-level Israeli intelligence officer, and current Israel Defense Forces officers, the report said that Hamas could no longer pay its fighters or rebuild its underground terror tunnels, where it is believed to be holding some 50 hostages, both alive and dead, who kidnapped during its Oct. 7 attack.
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Canadian rescued from Tel Aviv building hit by missile, Anand says
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick A Canadian embassy staff member was rescued from a building in Tel Aviv that was struck by a missile, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Saturday. In a post on X, Anand thanked Israeli firefighters for helping evacuate the Canadian, who was inside the building when it was hit during Iran's recent attacks. 'She was eventually rescued, along with other occupants of the building, and is safe and sound,' Anand wrote. Anand also said that she spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gidon Saar on Saturday and reiterated Canada's support for Israel's right to defend itself against such attacks. Iran and Israel have been trading fire since Israel's unprecedented attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets on Friday. Iran launched a retaliatory missile strike toward Israel later that day.
India Gazette
01-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
EAM Jaishankar extends greetings to Israel on their Independence Day
New Delhi [India], May 1 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday extended his greetings to his Israeli counterpart Gidon Saar on the 77th anniversary of their Independence. Jaishankar said he valued India-Israel friendship and trust, while sharing an old picture of theirs. In a post on X, he said, 'Greetings to FM Gidon Saar, the Government and people of Israel on the 77th anniversary of their Independence. Value our strategic partnership and deep trust.' Earlier in the day, President Droupadi Murmu extended her greetings to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Israel's independence on behalf of the people of India. 'On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Israel's independence, I join the people of India in conveying our best wishes to His Excellency President Isaac Herzog, and the people of Israel,' Rashtrapati Bhavan stated in a post on X. In response, Herzog thanked Murmu and acknowledged India and Israel's friendship. In a post on X, he said, 'Thank you, President Murmu, for your kind words and support. I truly appreciate the deeply rooted friendship between Israel and India, and all the Israeli people.' The annual Independence Day ceremony of Israel opened with a large dance number, as per The Times of Israel. An announcer intermittently read aloud the final letters of fallen soldiers to their families. Meanwhile, as per The Times of Israel, investors, lawyers, and tech look proud of the nation's achievements in the field of technology despite political and economic uncertainty driven by the contentious planned judicial overhaul and the war with the Hamas terror group. Over the last 19 months, Israeli startups have been grappling with the ongoing callup of employees to perform reserve duty, staff shortages, and funding woes amid the continued uncertainty about the duration and extent of the war, which broke out after Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, massacring some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251, as per The Times of Israel. (ANI)
