UK police hold 55 at rally for banned Palestine Action
The crowd in Parliament Square had been waving placards supporting the group that was banned this month under anti-terrorism legislation, the force said in a post on X.
People from the rally, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, were taken away in police vans.
MPs proscribed the group earlier this month after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against the UK's support for Israel.
Membership of Palestine Action now carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The group has called the decision "authoritarian" and a challenge to the ban will be heard at London's High Court on Monday.
Palestine Action is among groups that have regularly targeted military firms and other companies in the UK linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Police have arrested scores of the group's supporters at rallies across the UK since the ban came in.
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ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Israel sends tanks into central Gaza's Deir Al-Balah for the first time
Israeli tanks have pushed into southern and eastern areas of the Gazan city of Deir Al-Balah for the first time, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be held. Gaza medics said at least three Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in tank shelling that hit eight houses and three mosques in the area, and which came a day after the military ordered residents to leave, saying it planned to fight Hamas militants. The raid and bombardment pushed dozens of families who had remained to flee and head west towards the coastal area of Deir Al-Balah and nearby Khan Younis. Thousands of displaced people are living in Deir Al-Balah, including Medical Aid for Palestinian (MAP) staff. MAP's Interim CEO Steve Cutts said the latest forced displacement order is "yet another attack on humanitarian operations" and a "deliberate attempt to sever the last remaining threads of Gaza's health and aid system". He said that MAP had to suspend critical services provided to the Palestinian population, including a primary health clinic serving hundreds of civilians every day. "With Israel's systematic targeting of health and aid workers, no-one is safe," he said. "Not only are we prevented from carrying out our lifesaving work to support Palestinians, we are also unable to protect our own teams." In Khan Younis earlier on Monday, an Israeli air strike killed at least five people, including a man, his wife, and their two children in a tent, medics said. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents. Israel's military said it had not entered the districts of Deir Al-Balah subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing "to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area". Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive. Families of the hostages expressed their concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from the army of how it would protect them. The military escalation comes as Gaza health officials warned of potential "mass deaths" in the coming days due to mounting hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, according to the territory's health ministry. Health officials said hospitals were running out of fuel, food aid, and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations. Health ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day, and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion because of hunger. At least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they waited for UN aid trucks to enter Gaza. Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands of people in northern Gaza to remove what it said was "an immediate threat". It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated, and it "certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks". The new raid and escalating number of fatalities appeared to be complicating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with US backing. A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave, and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks underway in Qatar. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough. UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff as food prices have increased 40-fold. "Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale," it said in a post on social media site X. Israel's military said on Sunday that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community". The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. Reuters/ABC
The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Countless' Gazans killed while awaiting aid: UN agency
A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences."
West Australian
21 hours ago
- West Australian
Israeli army chief sees 'potential' for a hostage deal
Israel's Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir believes a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip war and an agreement to release hostages held by Hamas are increasingly possible. "Your achievements in the field as part of Operation Gideon's Chariots are advancing Hamas' defeat and creating the potential for a hostage deal," Zamir said on Sunday during a visit to troops in the Gaza Strip, according to military sources. In indirect negotiations in Qatar, Israel and Hamas have been struggling for months to reach compromises that would enable a 60-day ceasefire and the release of hostages. Diplomats from Qatar, Egypt and the United States are acting as mediators. Israeli media recently reported progress but a breakthrough does not yet appear to be in sight. Zamir said that the army command was prepared for all scenarios. "We will implement new operational formats that will amplify our strengths, reduce vulnerabilities and deepen operational gains," he explained, without elaborating on those strategic options. The scenarios would be presented to the political leadership for a decision, he added. According to Israeli estimates, 50 people abducted from Israel are still being held in the Gaza Strip, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their release - in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails - is to be staggered according to the plans. During the temporary ceasefire, the parties to the conflict will then negotiate an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and the release of the last hostages. with Reuters
