
UN special rapporteur lashes out at Israeli claims killed Al Jazeera reporter was Hamas member
Irene Khan told Al Jazeera, 'If they had real evidence [of this], do you not think that they would put it out, up front, right away in the international arena? Of course they would. But why are they not doing that? Because they don't have that evidence,' she said.
'They simply [say] that any journalist who is reporting on Gaza must be a 'Hamas member', just as anyone who criticises Israel has to be 'anti-Semitic'.
'That's the way that Israel silences the world from criticising them or holding them to account.'

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The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Hamas negotiators in Cairo to discuss blueprint for 'comprehensive' Gaza deal
A Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil Al Hayah was in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss a 'comprehensive' deal to end the Gaza war and ensure the release of hostages held by the militant group, sources told The National. Israel 's declared plan to reoccupy Gaza, however, is casting a dark shadow on the discussions in Egypt, with the sources entertaining little hope that their outcome could persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's government to change course. US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the prospect of any deal to end the war, saying he did not believe Hamas will release Israeli hostages unless the situation in Gaza changed, according to American news website Axios. The Israeli plan to reoccupy Gaza has drawn international condemnation and many have cast doubts on its effectiveness in both stopping Hamas and freeing the hostages. But Israeli officials have said the offensive could take several weeks to begin, which could leave a window for a renewed push in ceasefire talks. Mr Trump stopped short of directly endorsing Israel's plans to expand its offensive, but said he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's argument that more military pressure on Hamas was required. He told Axios it was going to be 'very rough to get them' because Hamas 'are not going to let the hostages out in the current situation'. A Hamas official told The National that a delegation from the group led by Mr Al Hayah was in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators. 'We in Hamas deal positively, with full flexibility and responsibility, with the mediators, but what is obstructing the agreement is Netanyahu and his fascist government, as well as the American administration,' said the official, Mahmoud Taha, who is based in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. On Tuesday, sources told The National the proposed comprehensive deal provides for the release of all 50 hostages still held by Hamas – only 20 of them are believed to be still alive – and Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. Also covered are the laying down and storage of Hamas's weapons under international supervision, the governance of postwar Gaza, and reconstruction, according to the sources. The flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza is also provided for in the proposed deal, they added. They said the departure of Hamas leaders from Gaza to live in exile abroad with their families is also on the table. The proposed deal also envisages the training by Jordan and Egypt of up to 150 Palestinian security and intelligence operatives to patrol Gaza, as well as providing basic training for a new Palestinian police force, they said. An Arab force made up of personnel from Egypt, Jordan and possibly Gulf Arab nations would also be sent to Gaza to ensure that the terms of a deal are observed, said the sources. That force, which would operate under the UN umbrella, would remain there until legislative and presidential elections are held. Mr Taha, the Hamas official, rejected the proposals for an Arab force. 'Talk about bringing in Arab military forces … is not official. We have seen it in the media, but it is not official,' he said. 'The Palestinian factions and the Palestinian people alone decide who is in Gaza … We do not accept external interference, and this is Hamas' position.' Hamas-Egypt dispute Tuesday's talks between the Egyptian mediators and Hamas negotiators were the first public face-to-face contact between the two sides since a row erupted late between them late last month, over what Cairo viewed as criticism by the militant group that it was not doing enough to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The sources said a Turkish mediation led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who visited Cairo last week, has ended the row. They gave no details. The first salvo in the row came from Hamas's aid arm – the Central Emergency Committee – which said Egypt's account of its aid efforts for Gaza was 'essentially an excuse to cover its negligence in assuming a humanitarian, moral and Arab duty towards Gaza'. The statement, parts of which were mocking, added: 'It's time that Egypt, with all its weight and prestige, shift away from the logic of 'neutral mediation' to a decisive moral position on the side of Gaza.' The accusations were repeated by Mr Al Hayah. Writing on the group's Telegram account, he said: 'People of Egypt, its leaders, army, clans, tribes, scientists, Al Azhar, churches and elite: Will you let your brothers in Gaza die of hunger when they are near you across the border?' The accusation that Egypt is not doing enough for the Palestinians in Gaza has been publicly countered by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and a slate of pro-government pundits and talk show hosts, who angrily accused Hamas of being a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group outlawed in Egypt since 2013. The essence of the Egyptian argument is that Egypt's Rafah land crossing with Gaza is controlled from the Palestinian side by Israel. Nothing can go through the crossing without Israel's advance approval. Egypt has, over the past two weeks, taken part in air missions to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, joining several other countries, including Jordan, the UAE, Italy and the UK. The Gaza war was sparked by an October, 2023 attack led by Hamas against southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taken another 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a devastating military campaign that has to date killed more than 61,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, according to authorities in the coastal enclave.

The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Latest: Hamas delegation is in Cairo in bid to salvage ceasefire talks
Israeli strikes kill at least 89 Palestinians in 24 hours Five more Palestinians die of hunger, taking total deaths from starvation to 227 France must take stronger measures against Israel, say ex-ambassadors Trump believes Hamas won't release hostages in 'current situation' Israeli opposition chief backs general strike 'in solidarity' At least 61,599 Palestinians killed and 154,088 wounded in Gaza since war began


Khaleej Times
5 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Israeli planes, tanks bombard Gaza City overnight, killing 11
Israeli planes and tanks continuously bombarded eastern areas of Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics said on Tuesday, with Hamas leader Khalil Al Hayya due in Cairo for talks to revive a US-backed ceasefire plan. The latest round of indirect talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July with Israel and Hamas trading blame over the lack of progress on a US proposal for a 60-day truce and hostage release deal. Israel has since said it will launch a new offensive and seize control of Gaza City, which it captured shortly after the war's outbreak in October 2023 before pulling out. Militants regrouped and have waged largely guerrilla-style war since then. It is unclear how long a new Israeli military incursion into the sprawling city in north Gaza, now widely reduced to rubble, could last or how it would differ from the earlier operation. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, expected to be launched in October, has increased a global outcry over the widespread devastation of the territory and a hunger crisis spreading among Gaza's largely homeless population of over two million. It has also stirred criticism in Israel, with the military chief of staff warning it could endanger surviving hostages and prove a death trap for Israeli soldiers. It has also raised fears of further displacement and hardship among the estimated one million Palestinians in the Gaza City region. Witnesses and medics said Israeli planes and tanks pounded eastern districts of Gaza City again overnight, killing seven people in two houses in the Zeitoun suburb and four in an apartment building in the city centre. In the south of the enclave, five people, including a couple and their child, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Khan Younis and four by a strike on a tent encampment in nearby coastal Mawasi, medics said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports and that its forces take precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Separately, it said on Tuesday that its forces had killed dozens of militants in north Gaza over the past month and destroyed more tunnels used by militants in the area. More deaths from starvation, malnutrition Five more people, including two children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said. The new deaths raised the number of deaths from the same causes to 227, including 103 children, since the war started, it added. Israel disputes the malnutrition fatality figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas-led militants stormed over the border into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures, in the country's worst ever security lapse. Israel's ground and air war against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, left much of the enclave in ruins and wrought a humanitarian disaster with grave shortages of food, drinking water and safe shelter. Netanyahu, whose far-right ultranationalist coalition allies want an outright Israeli takeover and re-settlement of Gaza, has vowed the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated. A Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire talks said Hamas was prepared to return to the negotiating table. However, the gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm, which it has ruled out before a Palestinian state is established. An Arab diplomat said mediators Egypt and Qatar have not given up on reviving the negotiations and that Israel's decision to announce its new Gaza City offensive plan may not be a bluff but served to bring Hamas back to the negotiating table.