No, this al-Sharaa-Netanyahu meeting did not take place
Issued on: Modified:
04:59 min
From the show
A viral picture is going around allegedly showing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting and shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The photo is fabricated and originates from a parody account. Even though this photo is fake, a Sharaa-Netanyahu is reportedly in the works for the upcoming UN session. We explain in this edition of Truth or Fake.
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France 24
26 minutes ago
- France 24
US imposes sanctions on UN human rights expert investigating Israeli abuses in Gaza
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it is issuing sanctions against an independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel 's 21-month war in Gaza. The State Department's decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, follows an unsuccessful US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post. It also comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington this week to meet with President Donald Trump and other officials about the war in Gaza and more. It's unclear what the practical impact the sanctions will have and whether the independent investigator will be able to travel to the US with diplomatic paperwork. Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she has described as the ' genocide ' by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the US, which provides military support to its close ally, have strongly denied that accusation. The US had not previously addressed concerns with Albanese head-on because it has not participated in either of the two Human Rights Council sessions this year, including the summer session that ended Tuesday. This is because the Trump administration withdrew the US earlier this year. In recent weeks, Albanese has issued a series of letters urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 02:03 She has also been a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, for allegations of war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several large US companies as among those aiding what she described as Israel's occupation and war on Gaza. 'Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media. 'We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.' Albanese's July 1 report focuses on Western defense companies that have provided weapons used by Israel's military as well as manufacturers of earth-moving equipment that have bulldozed Palestinian homes and property. It cites activities by companies in the shipping, real estate, technology, banking and finance and online travel industries, as well as academia. 'While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault, this report shows why Israel's genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many,' her report said. A request for comment from the UN's top human rights body was not immediately returned. Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva, where the 47-member Human Rights Council is based, called Albanese's report 'legally groundless, defamatory, and a flagrant abuse of her office' and having 'whitewashed Hamas atrocities.' Outside experts, such as Albanese, do not represent the United Nations and have no formal authority. However, they report to the council as a means of monitoring countries' human rights records. Albanese has faced criticism from pro-Israel officials and groups in the US and in the Middle East. The US mission to the UN issued a scathing statement last week, calling for her removal for 'a years-long pattern of virulent anti-Semitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias.' The statement said Albanese's allegations of Israel committing genocide or apartheid are 'false and offensive.' Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, celebrated the US action, saying in a statement Wednesday that Albanese's 'relentless and biased campaign against Israel and the United States has long crossed the line from human rights advocacy into political warfare.' It is a culmination of a nearly six-month campaign by the Trump administration to quell criticism of Israel's handling of the war in Gaza. Earlier this year, the administration began arresting and trying to deport faculty and students of US universities who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities. The war between Israel and Hamas began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians. Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say. 'We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while also profiteering from the killing machine devised to perform it,' Albanese said in a recent post on X. 'No one is safe until everyone is safe.'
France 24
40 minutes ago
- France 24
Israel's Bedouin communities use solar energy to stake claim to land
Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation. The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid. Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels. Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hardline government officials. Demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities plague Bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction. But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organisation Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim. "It secures their land rights forever," he told AFP. "It's the only way to settle the Bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy," he added, calling it a "win, win". For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it. Land recognition Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognised by the government. Villages that are not formally recognised are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land. Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away. A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads. "Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognised villages," Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organisation Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev. "Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades." Tribes just want to "live in peace and dignity", following their distinct customs and traditions, he said. Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in Bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among Bedouins across the Negev. Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added. "Then everyone will benefit -- the landowners, the country, the Negev," he said. "This is the best way to move forward to a green economy." Positive energy In Um Batin, a recognised village, residents are using solar energy in a different way –- to power a local kindergarten all year round. Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played. Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order. "It was not clean or comfortable here before," said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten. "Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television." Hani al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was "very positive". "Without power you can't use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy," he said. The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna. Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more. "We need people to collaborate with us to move this forward," he said, adding that he would "love to see a solar energy system in every village".
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
US issues sanctions against UN investigator probing abuses in Gaza
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