Israeli far right leaders discuss Gaza ‘riviera' plans
JERUSALEM : Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly 'riviera', as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.
The meeting, titled 'The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality', was held in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, under the auspices of some of its most hardline members.
It saw the participation of firebrand finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as activist Daniella Weiss, a vocal proponent of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, among others.
The name of the event evokes a proposal floated by US President Donald Trump in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into 'the Riviera of the Middle East' after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control.
The idea drew swift condemnation from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the 'Nakba', or catastrophe – the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.
Participants in Tuesday's Knesset meeting discussed a 'master plan' drafted by Weiss's organisation to re-establish a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza.
The detailed plan foresees the construction of housing for 1.2 million new Jewish residents, and the development of industrial and agricultural zones, as well as tourism complexes on the coast.
Eight Israeli settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral decision to 'disengage' from Gaza following years of violence between settlers, Palestinian armed groups and the army.
For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has urged the resettlement of the Strip.
Those voices have become louder after Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, with advocates presenting resettlement as a way to maintain tighter security control over the area.
The Oct 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's ensuing military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has reached catastrophic proportions after 21 months of conflict and a two-month aid blockade imposed by Israel.
Israel began easing the blockade in late May, but extreme scarcities of food and other essentials persist, and cases of malnutrition and starvation are becoming increasingly frequent, according to local authorities, NGOs and AFP journalists on the ground.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
UN aims to aid Gaza's starving during Israel's humanitarian pause
GENEVA: The United Nations has announced plans to maximise aid delivery to Gaza's starving population following Israel's decision to establish secure land routes for humanitarian convoys. The World Food Programme confirmed sufficient food supplies are available to feed Gaza's 2.1 million residents for nearly three months. UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher stated the organisation would work to reach 'as many starving people as we can' during the temporary pause. Israel's one-week suspension of military operations aims to facilitate aid distribution amid worsening hunger. Fletcher welcomed Israel's move to ease restrictions, including lifting customs barriers on essential supplies from Egypt and securing convoy routes. Initial reports indicated over 100 aid trucks were collected on Sunday, though Fletcher stressed the need for sustained efforts. 'We need faster clearances, multiple daily convoy trips, and safe routes avoiding crowded areas,' he said. The WFP emphasised the critical need for food aid, revealing that a third of Gaza's population has gone days without eating, while 470,000 endure famine-like conditions. Monthly, 62,000 tonnes of food assistance are required to sustain Gaza's two million residents. Israel has pledged to expedite truck clearances and ensure no armed forces interfere with convoys. The WFP hopes these measures will accelerate food distribution. Meanwhile, UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned Israel's failure to meet its obligations as an occupying power, describing Gaza as a 'dystopian landscape of deadly attacks and total destruction.' Turk criticised the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for chaotic aid distribution, citing over 1,000 Palestinian deaths near its sites since May. - Reuters
Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Why Saudi Arabia's execution numbers are surging in 2025
DUBAI, July 28 — Saudi Arabia has escalated its use of capital punishment, executing more than 200 people so far this year — putting the kingdom on track to surpass last year's record. Experts say the surge in executions comes as the Gulf state aims to crack down on drug trafficking. The Arab world's largest economy is also one of the biggest markets for captagon, an illicit stimulant that was Syria's largest export under Bashar al-Assad — according to the United Nations. Assad was ousted in December. Saudi Arabia is on course for breaking its record of 338 people put to death last year — the highest since public records first documented the cases in the early 1990s. Here's a quick rundown of what to know about the death penalty's use in Saudi Arabia. Why the surge now? Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 144 people for drug-related offences — representing a vast majority of the 217 people put to death this year. Analysts link the spike to the kingdom's 'war on drugs' launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested only now being executed following their legal proceedings and convictions. Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the use of the death penalty in narcotics cases for around three years. It executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, according to an AFP tally. Since launching its war on drugs, the country has increased the presence of police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, where millions of pills have been confiscated and dozens of traffickers arrested. 'It's clear that Saudi Arabia opted to double down on arrests... and harsh penalties for those perceived to be affiliated with drug trades inside Saudi Arabia,' said Caroline Rose, a senior analyst at the New Lines Institute in Washington. Saudi officials did not respond to AFP's questions regarding this issue. Who is being executed? Foreigners are largely bearing the brunt of the campaign to date. Saudi Arabia has long relied on millions of foreign workers to help build its vast infrastructure projects, serve as domestic help for families and staff hotels and other sectors linked to the hospitality industry. 'Foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable to due process and fair trial violations in the context of the death penalty,' said Jeed Basyouni, from the London-based rights organisation Reprieve. So far this year, 121 foreigners have been executed — mostly for drug-linked crimes. Earlier this month, Amnesty International lambasted the spike in executions. 'We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty,' said Kristine Beckerle, the group's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. Saudis are also being executed, with three put to death in the past week after being convicted of terrorism charges. This year, 96 Saudis have been executed out of the 217 individuals put to death. Is it working? Well, it's hard to say. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef vowed at the start of the campaign that 'drug dealers and smugglers will not survive it'. And last month, Saudi public security director Mohammed al-Bassami said the war on drugs 'has achieved tangible positive results, with strong blows to drug dealers and smugglers', according to the prominent Okaz newspaper. However, there is little data provided to back up these claims and daily arrests continue. 'There is no evidence to substantiate the use of the death penalty as a deterrent, particularly for drug crimes,' said Reprieve's Basyouni. Do the executions clash with reforms? Saudi Arabia is spending big on tourist infrastructure and top sports events such as the 2034 World Cup as it tries to diversify its oil-reliant economy. But activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Vision's 2030 reform agenda. Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted. The kingdom drew global condemnation after the 2018 murder and dismemberment of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After briefly unsettling US relations, President Donald Trump has whole-heartedly embraced Saudi Arabia and focused more on signing business deals than criticising its rulers over rights issues. During a tour of the Gulf countries in May, Trump gushed over the crown prince saying: 'I like you too much!'. — AFP
Malay Mail
14 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Iran executes two opposition members accused of attacks; Amnesty alleges torture, unfair trial
DUBAI, July 27 — Iran executed two members of the banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq group for attacking civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan said today, amid criticism from Amnesty International over a 'grossly unfair' trial. Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, identified as 'operational elements' of the MEK, were sentenced to death in September 2024 — a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied their request for a retrial, Mizan said. 'The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group's goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres,' the report said. The defendants were indicted with 'moharebeh' — an Islamic term meaning waging war against God — destroying public property and 'membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security.' Amnesty International said that Ehsani-Eslamloo and Hassani were arrested in 2022 and maintained their innocence during a trial which the rights group called 'grossly unfair and marred by allegations of torture and forced confessions.' 'According to informed sources, agents interrogated them without lawyers present and subjected them to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement, to extract self-incriminating statements,' it said in January. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of people executed in Iran rose to at least 901 in 2024, the highest number since 2015. The MEK, known in English as People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, was a powerful leftist-Islamist group that staged bombing campaigns against the shah's government and US targets in the 1970s but ultimately fell out with the other factions of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, the MEK has opposed the Islamic Republic and its leadership in exile has been Paris-based. The group was listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union until 2012. — Reuters
