Latest news with #IsraelPalestine
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
The Australian writer denied entry to the USA
Alistair Kitchen has a warning for those planning travel to the United States. During a stopover in Los Angeles the Australian writer was pulled from the customs line, detained for 12 hours and questioned about his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. He tells Jesse about the experience, and what happened next.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
The Judgment of History Won't Save Gaza
On Oct. 25, 2023, the Egyptian Canadian novelist Omar El Akkad shared on social media a video of a devastated, rubble-strewn Gaza street, the kind of image that at that time, still retained the power to shock. He added, 'One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.' In time, the post became a book, with a striking cover for the British edition that reprinted the original text as its title. In the United States, the cover bore a shorter version of the title: 'One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.' This month, as Israel began its sudden offensive against Iran and just before American bombers joined in — opening up the possibility of a much-expanded and much-extended regional conflict, or perhaps even World War III — I found myself staring at those book covers, and wondering … will they? Or is the world more likely to just move on, now? When the first Israeli strikes hit Iran on June 13, it seemed to open a new chapter in the global unraveling of the last few decades, in which the relative stability of what was once called an 'American-led international order' gave way to something both more violent and more chaotic. But it may also have marked the closing of a chapter: one in which Israel's conduct in Gaza was the subject of ongoing, if sporadic and not necessarily consequential, moral scrutiny. As recently as last month, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, was calling the war in Gaza unjustifiable on television, and the prime minister of Spain was calling Israel a 'genocidal state' in the Spanish Parliament. The leaders of France, Canada and Britain jointly released a statement calling the suffering of Gazans 'intolerable,' the amount of humanitarian and food aid 'inadequate' and 'unacceptable' and, although they acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, a recent escalation 'wholly disproportionate' — and threatening concrete action if Israel did not suspend its offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid. Along with Australia, Norway, Canada and New Zealand, Britain also sanctioned two Israeli officials — Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — for 'repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities,' freezing their assets and blocking them from entering their countries. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Hamas says Gaza ceasefire talks ‘intensified in recent hours'
GAZA: A senior Hamas official told AFP Wednesday that talks for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group 'intensified in recent hours' with mediator countries.'Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours,' Taher Al-Nunu said, adding that the group had 'not yet received any new proposals' to bring an end to the war now in its 21st month.
Arab News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Israeli-backed group seeks at least $30m from US for aid distribution in Gaza
WASHINGTON: A US-led group has asked the Trump administration to step in with an initial $30 million so it can continue its much scrutinized and Israeli-backed aid distribution in Gaza, according to three US officials and the organization's application for the money. That application, obtained by The Associated Press, also offers some of the first financial details about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its work in the territory. The foundation says it has provided millions of meals in southern Gaza since late May to Palestinians as Israel's blockade and military campaign have driven the Gaza to the brink of famine. But the effort has seen near-daily fatal shootings of Palestinians trying to reach the distribution sites. Major humanitarian groups also accuse the foundation of cooperating with Israel's objectives in the 20-month-old war against Hamas in a way that violates humanitarian principles. The group's funding application was submitted to the US Agency for International Development, according to the US officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The application was being processed this week as potentially one of the agency's last acts before the Republican administration absorbs USAID into the State Department as part of deep cuts in foreign assistance. Two of the officials said they were told the administration has decided to award the money. They said the processing was moving forward with little of the review and auditing normally required before Washington makes foreign assistance grants to an organization. In a letter submitted Thursday as part of the application, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation secretary Loik Henderson said his organization 'was grateful for the opportunity to partner with you to sustain and scale life-saving operations in Gaza.' Neither the State Department nor Henderson immediately responded to requests for comment Saturday. Israel says the foundation is the linchpin of a new aid system to wrest control from the United Nations, which Israel alleges has been infiltrated by Hamas, and other humanitarian groups. The foundation's use of fixed sites in southern Gaza is in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to use aid to concentrate the territory's more than 2 million people in the south, freeing Israel to fight Hamas elsewhere. Aid workers fear it's a step toward another of Netanyahu's public goals, removing Palestinians from Gaza in 'voluntary' migrations that aid groups and human rights organizations say would amount to coerced departures. The UN and many leading nonprofit groups accuse the foundation of stepping into aid distribution with little transparency or humanitarian experience, and, crucially, without a commitment to the principles of neutrality and operational independence in war zones. Since the organization started operations, several hundred Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in near-daily shootings as they tried to reach aid sites, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Witnesses say Israeli troops regularly fire heavy barrages toward the crowds in an attempt to control them. The Israeli military has denied firing on civilians. It says it fired warning shots in several instance, and fired directly at a few 'suspects' who ignored warnings and approached its forces. It's unclear who is funding the new operation in Gaza. No donor has come forward. The State Department said this past week that the United States is not funding it. In documents supporting its application, the group said it received nearly $119 million for May operations from 'other government donors,' but gives no details. It expects $38 million from those unspecific government donors for June, in addition to the hoped-for $30 million from the United States. The application shows no funding from private philanthropy or any other source.
Mint
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Who was Saeed Izadi? Israeli airstrikes kill Iranian commander behind October 7 Hamas attack
Israel Iran Conflict: The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had killed Saeed Izadi, a veteran commander in the overseas arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, in an attack inside an apartment in Iran's Qom province. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement said that Izadi was the leader of the Palestine Corps of the overseas arm, also known as Quds Force. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) also released a statement later, confirming the details of the killing as well as Izadi. 'Saeed Izadi, a founder of the Iranian regime's plan to destroy Israel, was eliminated in a precise IDF strike in the area of Qom,' the IDF said in a post on X. The news comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran entered its ninth day, when Tel Aviv launched a massive wave of strikes on Iran, arguing that Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. The Israeli military said in its statement that Saeed Izadi was the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force – which acts as a key coordinator between the Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Iranian regime. 'Izadi was also the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, a key coordinator between the Iranian regime and Hamas, and one of the main orchestrators of the October 7 massacre,' it said. He was responsible for military coordination between the senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian regime with key figures in Hamas. The military further said, 'As part of his role, Izadi was responsible for increasing the financial funding from Iran to Hamas for terrorist activities against Israel.' During the Israel Palestine war, Saeed Izadi was also responsible for directing Hamas forces operating from Lebanon. 'Since then, he has been committed to rebuilding Hamas' military wing and ensuring that Hamas remains the controlling authority in Gaza,' the IDF said in the statement. Izadi maintained direct contact with Palestinian terror organisations in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, the Israeli military claimed. The Israeli military campaign has combined targeted assassinations of key Iranian military personnel, destruction of Iran's air defences and repeated strikes on nuclear sites.
