Congress issues whip for 3 days in Lok Sabha with Op Sindoor debate slated in House
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Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
As famine grips civilians in Gaza, Hamas refuses to disarm without Palestinian state
Indirect ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel have once again ended in a deadlock as both sides remain entrenched in their positions over core demands, while humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate rapidly. Last week, talks aimed at brokering a 60-day truce and a potential hostage-release agreement failed to yield progress. Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating the negotiations, recently endorsed a joint declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution. The proposal included a demand that Hamas relinquish its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, a move that Hamas firmly rejected. In a statement released Saturday, Hamas reiterated it would not disarm unless an 'independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital' is established. Hamas asserted that it cannot surrender its right to 'armed resistance' without a fundamental political resolution, Reuters reported. Israel has long made Hamas' disarmament a non-negotiable condition in any agreement to end hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described the idea of a Palestinian state as a 'threat to Israel's security', insisting that military control over Palestinian territories must remain in Israeli hands. He also denounced efforts by countries like the UK and Canada to recognise Palestinian statehood as a response to the war's devastation, calling such moves a 'reward for Hamas.' The recent conflict began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, Israel's military response has transformed much of Gaza into a wasteland, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian authorities, and triggering what the UN now confirms is a full-scale famine. The dire humanitarian toll in Gaza was underscored this week by official recognition from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) panel, a coalition of UN and aid agencies. In a stark warning, the IPC declared that 'the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip' and called for a ceasefire to prevent further 'catastrophic human suffering.' Jamil Mughari, a 38-year-old resident of Maghazi in central Gaza, told The Guardian that his children have 'lost nearly half of their body weight.' 'My daughter, who is five years old, now weighs only 11 kg. My son Mohammad has become just skin and bones,' he said. 'I myself used to weigh 85kg, and now I'm down to 55.' Mughari described collapsing from exhaustion while searching for food. His family, displaced seven times since the war began, survives on sporadic meals of lentils and water. 'We don't receive any food aid from soup kitchens. Those are only for certain camps, in small quantities,' he said. Food distribution remains chaotic and dangerous. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates four food distribution sites, opens for only minutes a day, drawing massive crowds. Mourners have carried away bodies of civilians killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering Gaza through the Zikim crossing. In a conversation with The Guardian, Mansoura Fadl al-Helou, a 58-year-old widow, said she is too frail to reach food lines and won't allow her son to go, fearing he won't come back alive. 'Only my one son is here, but I always stop him from going near the aid trucks because of the danger posed by the army.' Abu al-Abed, a father of seven from Deir al-Balah, described his youngest daughter as so malnourished that her ribcage bones are visibly protruding. 'They suffer from dizziness and fatigue because of the lack of food. If I, their father, feel this way, how much worse must it be for them?' He said he had lost faith in the global response. 'If we had asked them to protect the rights of animals in Gaza, they would have responded immediately. But when it comes to the rights of the Palestinian people, no one remembers us or feels for us.' (With inputs from The Guardian and Reuters)
Economic Times
24 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Rahul Gandhi claims BJP wins since 2014 rigged, mum on Congress
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party rigged elections since 2014. He alleged manipulation of up to 100 seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Gandhi stated that he has evidence of vote tampering. He recalled an alleged warning from Arun Jaitley. Mallikarjun Kharge raised concerns about voter list revisions in Bihar. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday triggered a political storm by alleging that most elections won by the BJP since 2014 were fraudulent and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term was only possible due to large-scale rigging in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls . Addressing a legal conclave organised by the Congress's legal cell, Gandhi claimed the BJP manipulated up to 100 seats in the recent general election and said his party would soon present doubled down on his recent attack on the Election Commission, claiming he always had doubts about the fairness of BJP's sweeping victories since 2014. "I always had a suspicion that something was wrong, right from 2014... We don't get a single seat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. This was surprising to me," he said. Citing "atom bomb-level" evidence of vote tampering, Gandhi alleged that even a rigging of 10-15 seats would have changed the outcome. "Although our suspicion is closer to 70, 80, 100 seats," he also said an upcoming Congress-led event in Karnataka would expose fake voters, claiming that in one seat alone, 1.5 lakh of 6.5 lakh voters were a controversial aside, Gandhi recalled an alleged warning from late BJP leader Arun Jaitley over his support to the farm law protests. "When I was fighting the farm laws, Arun Jaitley ji was sent to me to threaten me," he said. "He told me, 'If you carry on opposing the govt, we will have to act against you.' I looked at him and said, 'I don't think you know who you're talking to'."The remark raised eyebrows as the farm law agitation began in 2020, more than a year after Jaitley's death in August 2019. However, Gandhi positioned the anecdote as part of his broader message of defiance, saying he had told his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that he wasn't afraid of "playing with fire".Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also targeted the government over the ongoing voter list revision in Bihar. "If 6.5 to 10 million voters are being excluded in a state of 70 million, it's not an error - it's a calculated move to remove the marginalised from the democratic process," he legal head Abhishek Manu Singhvi echoed the concern, warning that the Constitution was being twisted into a "tool of domination". He said it was the Congress that had built Indian democracy "not just in form but in spirit", and would now be called upon to defend Gandhi made no comments about the State elections that his party won in between.
India.com
24 minutes ago
- India.com
D K Shivakumar makes BIG statement, says Congress kept India united, Gandhi family kept party..., Rahul will be...
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday hailed the Congress and said that India remained united because of the party and the Gandhi family has kept the party together as he urged INC workers to contribute as a team to ensure the exit of the BJP in 2029. He also urged the lawyers community to help protect the right to vote of every Indian by creating legal banks in every constituency, as suggested by Rahul Gandhi. Speaking at the valedictory session of a national legal conclave on 'Constitutional Challenges: Perspectives and Pathways', Shivakumar said, 'The Congress' history is the country's history, and the Congress' strength is the country's strength. The Gandhi family has kept the Congress united, and the Congress has kept the country united.' The eight-time legislator from Karnataka recalled the days when he was lodged in Tihar jail and lauded the role played by lawyers in helping him come out of it. He also thanked Sonia Gandhi for visiting him in Tihar jail when he was there and make him the Karnataka Congress chief after that helped the party break the 'double engine government' in the state. 'This is not just a political agenda, we all have to join together. Joining together is the beginning and all of you teaming together is progress. You all have to work together and again in 2029 you have to bring back the country back to shape,' Shivakumar said as he exhorted workers to come together to fight the BJP. 'With lot of commitment, the Congress party has saved this country, the day is not far. You all have to have a proper agenda and in 2029 you should see when Rahul Gandhi becomes the prime minister of the country. This is what your commitment should be,' he said. Key Takeaways from DK Shivakumar Speech: The Congress' history is the country's history, and the Congress' strength is the country's strength. The Gandhi family has kept the Congress united, and the Congress has kept the country united This is not just a political agenda, we all have to join together. Joining together is the beginning and all of you teaming together is progress. He lauded the 'sacrifice' made by Sonia Gandhi to make Manmohan Singh the prime minister. With lot of commitment, the Congress party has saved this country, the day is not far. You all have to have a proper agenda and in 2029 you should see when Rahul Gandhi becomes the prime minister of the country The Karnataka deputy chief minister said the message by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge at the conclave was clear that when our Constitution and our right to vote are in big danger, all lawyers who believe in democracy and Constitution have to create a legal bank in every assembly and district, to protect and save the right of every voter. 'This is what he is starting his voice on August 5 in Freedom Park in Karnataka,' he said about the details of Rahul Gandhi's programme of providing information on alleged anomalies in the voter lists in one constituency in Karnataka that has been investigated by the Congress workers there.
