Deescalating Iran/Israel conflict dominates G7 agenda
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Hezbollah dismisses Lebanon's move to restrict arms as ''a grave sin'
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militant and political movement, says it will disregard a decision by Lebanon's government to task the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms."We will treat this decision as if it does not exist," Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday, describing it as a "grave sin".The comments come despite mounting international pressure for the group to Iranian-backed group was significantly degraded in last year's war with Israel but has, so far, refused to give up its arsenal, despite calls from the US and domestic rivals. Hezbollah also said that the Lebanese cabinet's decision to try and confine arms supply and production to state forces was the result of American "diktats".It added that it was open to dialogue and discussions on "the national security strategy", but not "in the context of aggression".On Tuesday, Lebanon's cabinet asked the military to present a plan that will see all arms brought under state control by the end of the plan is to be presented to the cabinet by the end of this month for discussion and approval, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told a press conference after the six-hour cabinet meeting. In June, American officials presented a roadmap to Lebanese authorities that proposed Hezbollah's full disarmament in exchange for Israel halting its strikes and withdrawing troops from five locations in southern Lebanon, which have been occupied despite a ceasefire deal reached in November. The group's leader, Naim Qassem, in a televised address while the cabinet meeting was underway, said Hezbollah would not discuss "the issue of the weapons" while Israeli attacks continue, accusing Israel of breaching the terms of the ceasefire. Israel says its attacks are to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping and its weakened status, Hezbollah still enjoys significant support among Lebanon's Shia Muslim population, and discussions around its disarmament risk elevating tensions in the country, where many still remember the 1975-1990 civil war.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Hamas still pays out salaries and rewards supporters
After nearly two years of war, Hamas's military capability is severely weakened and its political leadership under intense pressure. Yet, throughout the war Hamas has managed to continue to use a secret cash-based payment system to pay 30,000 civil servants' salaries totalling $7m (£5.3m).The BBC has spoken to three civil servants who have confirmed they have received nearly $300 each within the last week. It's believed they are among tens of thousands of employees who have continued to receive a maximum of just over 20% of their pre-war salary every 10 weeks. Amid soaring inflation, the token salary - a fraction of the full amount - is causing rising resentment among the party faithful. Severe food shortages – which aid agencies blame on Israeli restrictions - and rising cases of acute malnutrition continue in Gaza, where a kilogramme of flour in recent weeks has cost as much as $80 - an all-time high. With no functioning banking system in Gaza, even receiving the salary is complex and at times, dangerous. Israel regularly identifies and targets Hamas salary distributors, seeking to disrupt the group's ability to from police officers to tax officials, often receive an encrypted message on their own phones or their spouses' instructing them to go to a specific location at a specific time to "meet a friend for tea".At the meeting point, the employee is approached by a man - or occasionally a woman - who discreetly hands over a sealed envelope containing the money before vanishing without further employee at the Hamas Ministry of Religious Affairs, who doesn't want to give his name for safety reasons, described the dangers involved in collecting his wages. "Every time I go to pick up my salary, I say goodbye to my wife and children. I know that I may not return," he said. "On several occasions, Israeli strikes have hit the salary distribution points. I survived one that targeted a busy market in Gaza City."Alaa, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, is a schoolteacher employed by the Hamas-run government and the sole provider for a family of six."I received 1,000 shekels (about $300) in worn-out banknotes - no trader would accept them. Only 200 shekels were usable - the rest, I honestly don't know what to do with," he told the BBC. "After two-and-a-half months of hunger, they pay us in tattered cash."I'm often forced to go to aid distribution points in the hope of getting some flour to feed my children. Sometimes I succeed in bringing home a little, but most of the time I fail."In March the Israeli military said they had killed the head of Hamas's finances, Ismail Barhoum, in a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. They accused him of channelling funds to Hamas's military remains unclear how Hamas has managed to continue funding salary payments given the destruction of much of its administrative and financial senior Hamas employee, who served in high positions and is familiar with Hamas's financial operations, told the BBC that the group had stockpiled approximately $700m in cash and hundreds of millions of shekels in underground tunnels prior to the group's deadly 7 October 2023 attack in southern Israel, which sparked the devastating Israeli military were allegedly overseen directly by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed - both of whom have since been killed by Israeli forces. Anger at reward for Hamas supporters Hamas has historically relied on funding from heavy import duties and taxes imposed on Gaza's population, as well as receiving millions of dollars of support from Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing which operates through a separate financial system, is financed mainly by Iran. A senior official from the banned Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most influential Islamist organisations in the world, has said that around 10% of their budget was also directed to Hamas. In order to generate revenue during the war, Hamas has also continued to levy taxes on traders and has sold large quantities of cigarettes at inflated prices up to 100 times their original cost. Before the war, a box of 20 cigarettes cost $5 - that has now risen to more than $ addition to cash payments, Hamas has distributed food parcels to its members and their families via local emergency committees whose leadership is frequently rotated due to repeated Israeli has fuelled public anger, with many residents in Gaza accusing Hamas of distributing aid only to its supporters and excluding the wider has accused Hamas of stealing aid that has entered Gaza during the ceasefire earlier this year, something Hamas denies. However BBC sources in Gaza have said that significant quantities of aid were taken by Hamas during this Khaled, a widow left caring for three children after her husband died of cancer five years ago, told the BBC: "When the hunger worsened, my children were crying not only from pain but also from watching our Hamas-affiliated neighbours receive food parcels and sacks of flour. "Are they not the reason for our suffering? Why didn't they secure food, water, and medicine before launching their 7 October adventure?"
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Starmer defends Palestine recognition plan but hits out at Hamas
The Prime Minister said there was a 'sense of revulsion' about the suffering in Gaza as he defended his plan to potentially recognise a Palestinian state. Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to meet certain conditions, including addressing the humanitarian crisis, implementing a ceasefire and reviving the prospect of a two-state solution. But he insisted the move was not a propaganda boost to Hamas, saying the 'terrorist organisation' could play 'no part in any future government'. The Prime Minister's approach has been criticised by the Israeli government and a protest over his stance is due to take place in London at the weekend. Demonstrators, including some British family members of hostages still held by Hamas, will march on Downing Street calling for the release of the remaining hostages before any talk about the recognition of Palestine. Asked if he had given Hamas a public relations boost by talking about recognition, Sir Keir told Channel 5: 'They should release the hostages straight away and they should play absolutely no part in the governance of Palestine at any point.' He said the hostages taken during the October 7 2023 attacks had been held for a 'very, very long time in awful circumstances, unimaginable circumstances, and Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and that's why I'm really clear about Hamas'. Sir Keir added: 'We do, alongside that, have to do all that we can to alleviate the awful situation on the ground in Gaza. We need aid in volume and at scale.' People have seen the 'images of starvation' in Gaza, he said, adding that 'the British public can see it and there's a sense of revulsion of what they're seeing'. The Government had to do 'everything we can' to get aid in, working with other countries 'and it's in that context that I set out our position on recognition'. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said on Tuesday that 'Keir Starmer has made a mistake' and 'what we need to focus on now is a ceasefire and getting the hostages home'. Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli ambassador to the UK, said the actions of Hamas 'must never be rewarded'.
