‘Famine is knocking on the door': Oxfam director issues dire warning about Gaza
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Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: Rewarding terrorists makes no one safer
Prime Minister Mark Carney, along with the leaders of many other countries, has condemned Israel's intention to militarily occupy Gaza City, saying it will further endanger Palestinians and Israeli hostages. The problem with that, in our view, is that recognizing a Palestinian state – as Canada and these other countries intend to do at the United Nations next month – will do exactly the same thing, by rewarding terrorism. A recent interview with senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad by Al Jazeera television, translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), proves the point. Hamad said Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 has led directly to international support for a Palestinian state and that it was not terrorism but resistance. In light of the fact Hamas' ultimate goal is to rid Israel of its Jewish population, can Carney explain how recognizing an independent Palestinian state, which Hamas views as a victory resulting from its terrorism, is going to make Palestinians and Israeli hostages safer? Given that Carney says Canada's support for a Palestinian state is conditional on Hamas disarming, freeing the hostages and being banned from participating in the electoral process to create one, it's hard to understand what our position is. Is Carney saying Canada won't support a Palestinian state next month at the UN, unless Hamas has already freed the hostages, disarmed and committed to not interfering in a Palestinian election next year administered by Hamas' main rival – the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas? LILLEY: Videos of hostages show the horror Carney is effectively backing GOLDSTEIN: Carney touts Palestinian leader accused of Holocaust denial as his man in Mideast EDITORIAL: PM's terrible choice to create Palestine Abbas – the man Carney and other world leaders are counting on to preside over the electoral process to create a Palestinian state – is an 89-year-old periodic Holocaust denier who then-Liberal foreign minister Chrystia Freeland condemned for antisemitism in 2018. That was when Abbas blamed Jews for bringing the Holocaust on themselves by engaging in money lending, for which he apologized in the face of international condemnation, before repeating the argument in 2023. Polls show he's deeply unpopular with Palestinians, who consider the Palestinian Authority corrupt and want him to resign. How any of this is going to make Palestinians and the hostages safer – particularly since neither Hamas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want a two-state solution – is increasingly difficult to understand.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Thousands protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli govt move to expand Gaza war
Thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an end to the war in Gaza, a day after the Israeli government vowed to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City. Demonstrators waved signs and held up pictures of hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory as they called on the government to secure their release. AFP journalists at the rally estimated the number of attendees to be in the tens of thousands, while a group representing the families of hostages said as many as 100,000 people participated. Authorities did not provide an official estimate for the size of the crowd, though it dwarfed the ones at other recent anti-war rallies. "We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place," Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP. On Friday, Netanyahu's security cabinet greenlighted plans for a major operation to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of domestic and international criticism. Foreign powers, including some of Israel's allies, have been pushing for a negotiated ceasefire to secure the hostages' return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision. In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said "we are not going to occupy Gaza -- we are going to free Gaza from Hamas". The premier has faced regular protests over the course of 22 months of war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead. - 'A new crime' - The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday lambasted Israel's plan to expand its operations in Gaza. According to a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, PA president Mahmud Abbas said the plan "constitutes a new crime", and stressed "the urgent need to take action to stop it immediately". He also emphasised "the importance of enabling the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip". In the same meeting that approved the Gaza City plan, the security cabinet adopted a set of principles for ending the war in Gaza that included establishing a new "administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority". The PA, conceived as a first step towards a Palestinian state, exercises limited administration over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but does not have a presence in Hamas-run Gaza. Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 37 people were killed by Israeli fire across the territory on Saturday, including 30 civilians who were waiting to collect aid. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel -- which triggered the war -- resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. bur-ds/smw
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Qatari prime minister in Spain over Gaza
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with the Qatari prime minister in Spain on Saturday to discuss a new proposal to end the war in Gaza and the entry of aid into the territory, a Qatari official and source familiar with the meeting told CBS News. According to the sources, the main aim is a discussion of making "workable" a new joint Egyptian-Qatari proposal on the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Two Arab officials told the Associated Press that the new ceasefire framework would include the release of all hostages — dead and live — all at once in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Of the 251 hostages who were abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, 50 remain, of which 20 are believed to be alive in Gaza. The rest were released or returned during previous temporary ceasefire deals. A week ago, Witkoff visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza that is privately run by the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. He also met with the families of Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv. During that meeting, Witkoff offered other ways to free the hostages and make Gaza safe, the Hostages of Missing Families Forum said. "We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part. We will do what's right for the Gazan people," Witkoff said in the meeting, according to the Forum. The meeting in Spain comes as there is growing international condemnation of Israel's decision for a military takeover of Gaza City, while little appears to have changed immediately on the ground. On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel's Security Cabinet had approved a plan for the Israeli military to take over Gaza City. In a statement, Netanyahu's office said the Israel Defense Forces would prepare to take over Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside of combat zones. Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has reportedly warned that expanding operations would endanger the remaining living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel's army after nearly two years of regional wars. On Saturday, a joint statement by nine countries, including Germany, Britain, France and Canada, said that they "strongly reject" Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it will worsen the "catastrophic humanitarian situation," endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. They said any attempts at annexation or settlement in Gaza violate international law. A separate statement by more than 20 countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, called Israel's decision a "dangerous and unacceptable escalation." Meanwhile, Russia said Israel's plan will aggravate the "already extremely dramatic situation" in Gaza. The U.N. Security Council planned an emergency meeting on Sunday. And Germany has said it won't authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza until further notice. Meanwhile, some families of hostages were rallying to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid new fears over the hostages. "The living will be murdered and the fallen will be lost forever" if the offensive goes ahead, said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza. She called on Israelis, including the powerful Histadrut labor union, to "help us save the hostages, the soldiers and the state of Israel" and appeared to call for a general strike: "Shut the country down." Officials at Nasser and Awda hospitals said that Israeli forces killed at least 11 people seeking aid in southern and central Gaza. Some had been waiting for aid trucks, while others had been approaching aid distribution points. Israel's military denied opening fire and said that it was unaware of the incidents. The military secures routes leading to distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Two witnesses told the AP that Israeli troops fired toward crowds approaching a GHF distribution site on foot in the Netzarim corridor, a military zone that bisects Gaza. One witness, Ramadan Gaber, said that snipers and tanks fired on aid-seekers, forcing them to retreat. Israel's military said that at least 106 packages of aid were airdropped Saturday as Italy and Greece joined the multicountry effort for the first time. Footage from Italy's defense ministry showed not only packages being parachuted over Gaza but the dry and devastated landscape below. Israel alleges, without giving evidence, that Hamas systematically diverts aid from the existing U.N.-led system, which denies it. That system has called for more of the trucks waiting outside Gaza to be allowed not just into the territory, but safely to destinations inside it for distribution. More than 61,300 Palestinians have died in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between fighters or civilians. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war Brennan contributed to this report.
