
Vatican: Pope, Israeli PM speak by phone after Gaza church strike
The pontiff also renewed his appeal for negotiations, a ceasefire and the end of the war, while reiterating his concern for the 'dramatic humanitarian situation' in Gaza, it said in a statement.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
WSJ editor sparks backlash over claim IDF gave Hamas ‘safe haven' in Gaza
LONDON: Elliot Kaufman, a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, has drawn sharp criticism after suggesting that the Israeli military allowed Hamas to operate unimpeded in Gaza for nearly two years. The comment came in the wake of Israel's first evacuation notice issued to residents of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023. In a post on X, Kaufman wrote: 'For 21 months, Israel has essentially allowed Hamas a safe haven inside Gaza. That's no way to fight a war, but Israel believed hostages were held in this area, and minimizing risk to them has always taken priority.' The remarks were widely condemned for appearing to overlook the scale of destruction in Gaza, where over 70 percent of buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and humanitarian agencies warn of looming famine due to Israel's blockade of aid. The Palestinian death toll is nearing 60,000, about half of them women and children, according to Gaza health authorities, fueling global outrage over Israel's ongoing military campaign. 'If Hamas is kept safe, then who are the tens of thousands they have been killing?' one user responded online. Pro-Palestinian group Writers Against the War in Gaza — which recently published a report criticizing The New York Times for alleged links between its senior staff and pro-Israel lobbying groups — said Kaufman's post reflects the WSJ's 'zero journalistic standards.' The group accused the outlet of allowing 'literal state stenography for Israel with no consequences.' Does the Wall Street Journal have zero journalistic standards anymore, or are Editorial Board members allowed to do literal state stenography for Israel with no consequences? — Writers Against the War on Gaza (@wawog_now) July 20, 2025 Kaufman has faced growing criticism over what some see as his consistent alignment with Israeli policy. Following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack and Israel's subsequent military response, he has voiced support for the Israeli government's actions and denounced pro-Palestinian activism. Earlier in July, Kaufman sparked further backlash over an article promoting a so-called peace plan involving a Palestinian sheikh and a proposal to have Hebron break away from the Palestinian Authority, effectively sidestepping any future Palestinian statehood. Palestinian activist Issa Amro described the piece as a 'dangerous fabrication' and criticized Kaufman for 'shockingly poor journalism or deliberate misinformation.' Kan's Palestinian affairs correspondent Elior Levy dismissed it as nonsense. 'Words come cheap, and these recycled statements have led to nothing (in the past),' Levy wrote on X. 'I advise The Wall Street Journal to focus more on Wall Street and less on Hebron.' Over the weekend, the WSJ found itself at the centre of the news after US President Donald Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the journal for at least $10 billion over publication of a bombshell article on his friendship with the infamous alleged sex trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein.


Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Belgian king denounces Gaza abuses in unusually direct remarks
BRUSSELS: Belgium's King Philippe described abuses in Gaza as a 'disgrace to humanity' in a speech on the eve of Monday's national day, unusually direct remarks on international affairs from a monarch who traditionally avoids public politics. 'I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves,' he said speaking at his palace in Brussels. 'The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis.' It was the first time Philippe has spoken out so strongly and unambiguously about a conflict in public. Belgium's federal government has been more reserved in its criticism of the conflict in Gaza. The king's role in Belgium is limited to giving advice, support, and warnings to the government without making any political decisions. Israel launched its assault on Gaza following an October 2023 attack on Israeli towns by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials there. Much of the territory has been laid to waste and Israel has restricted food and other supplies. Israel denies that its forces commit abuses in Gaza and says restrictions on supplies are needed to prevent aid from being diverted by militants.


Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel's annexation playbook and the looming explosion
Israel is meticulously following a textbook model of instigating unrest in the West Bank. The latest provocation consisted of stripping the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality of its administrative powers over the venerable Ibrahimi Mosque. Worse, according to Israel Hayom, it transferred these powers to the religious council of the Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement, an extremist settler body. Though all Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories can be qualified as extremists, the approximately 7,500 inhabitants of Kiryat Arba represent a more virulent category. This settlement, established in 1972, serves as a strategic foothold to justify subjecting Hebron to stricter military control than virtually any other part of the West Bank. Kiryat Arba is infamously linked to Baruch Goldstein, the US-Israeli settler who, in February 1994, unleashed a horrific attack. He opened fire at Muslim worshippers as they knelt for dawn prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque, mercilessly killing 29. This bloodbath was swiftly followed by another, with the Israeli army brutally cracking down on Palestinian protesters in Hebron and across the West Bank, murdering an additional 25 Palestinians. In 1994, Israel decided that the Palestinian mosque, a site of profound religious significance, should be grotesquely divided: 63 percent allocated to Jewish worshippers and a mere 37 percent to Palestinian Muslims. Since that calamitous decision, oppressive restrictions have been systematically imposed. These include pervasive surveillance and, at times, unjustifiable, extended closures of the site, leaving it solely for settler use. The Ibrahimi Mosque is a microcosm of something far more sinister that is underway across the West Bank Dr. Ramzy Baroud The latest decision, described by Israel Hayom as 'historic and unprecedented,' is profoundly dangerous. It places the fate of this historic Palestinian mosque directly in the hands of those fanatically keen on acquiring the holy site in its entirety. But the Ibrahimi Mosque is merely a microcosm of something far more sinister that is underway across the West Bank. Israel has exploited its war in Gaza to dramatically escalate its violence, carry out mass arrests, confiscate vast tracts of land, systematically destroy Palestinian farms and orchards, and aggressively expand illegal settlements. Though the West Bank, previously largely subdued by joint Israeli military pressure and Palestinian Authority crackdowns, was not a direct party to the Oct. 7, 2023, assault or the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, it has inexplicably become a major focus for Israeli military measures. In the first year of the war, more than 10,400 Palestinians were detained in Israeli army crackdowns, with thousands held without charge. Furthermore, hundreds of Palestinians have been forcibly ethnically cleansed, largely from the northern West Bank, where entire refugee camps and towns have been systematically destroyed in protracted military campaigns. Israel's overarching aim remains the strangulation of the West Bank. This is achieved by severing communities using ubiquitous military checkpoints, imposing total closures of vast regions and cruelly suspending work permits for Palestinian laborers, who are almost entirely dependent on the Israeli jobs market for survival. This insidious plan also explicitly targets all Palestinian holy sites, including the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque. Even when these shrines were nominally accessible, age restrictions and suffocating military checkpoints make it difficult, at times utterly impossible, for Palestinians to worship there. In August 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that his relentless violent campaign against the West Bank was part of Israel's confrontation of the 'broader Iran terror axis.' Practically, this statement served as a green light for the Israeli army to treat the West Bank as an extension of its ongoing genocide in Gaza. By the middle of this month, more than 900 Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, with at least another 15 murdered by settlers. Israel's actions are not a sudden deviation but are consistent with a long-standing, insidious scheme Dr. Ramzy Baroud As Palestinians were pushed further against the wall, with no centralized strategy by their leadership to meaningfully resist, Israel exponentially increased its illegal settlement construction and brazen legalization of numerous outposts, many built illegally even by Israeli government standards. Israel's actions in the West Bank are not a sudden deviation but are consistent with a long-standing, insidious scheme. This includes a plan solidified by the Knesset in 2020 that 'allows' Israel to officially annex the West Bank. Israel's ultimate goal has always been to confine the majority of Palestinians to Bantustan-like enclaves, while asserting full control over the vast majority of the region. In August 2023, extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir articulated this sinister vision: 'My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs.' More coercive measures swiftly followed, including Knesset laws to significantly curtail UNRWA operations and further legislation to entrench de facto annexation. In May, Smotrich audaciously announced 22 more settlements. On July 2, 14 Israeli ministers made a public call on Netanyahu to immediately annex the West Bank. In fact, every action Israel has undertaken, especially since the commencement of its devastating genocide in Gaza, has been carefully calculated to culminate in the irreversible annexation of the West Bank — a process that would inevitably be followed by declaring native inhabitants personae non gratae in their own homeland. This level of systemic pressure and oppression will ultimately lead to a popular explosion. Though suppressed by the brutality of the Israeli army, the terror of armed settlers and the suppressive actions of the PA, the breaking point is fast approaching. Those in the West who preach hollow calls for calm and de-escalation must understand that the region is hurtling toward the brink. Neither diplomatic platitudes nor sterile press releases will avert the catastrophe. They are advised to act decisively against Israel's destructive policies — and they must act immediately.