Latest news with #Kan11
Roya News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
New report reveals disturbing details of sexual assault at "Israel's" Sde Teiman prison
An "Israeli" investigative program has uncovered disturbing details about the sexual and physical abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention center, exposing acts of extreme violence allegedly carried out by members of an elite military unit. The report, aired Monday by Kan 11's Zman Emet, included surveillance footage documenting an incident from July 2024 in which several soldiers from Force 100 — the unit tasked with guarding Palestinian political prisoners — were seen participating in a violent assault. The footage appears to show soldiers taking turns attacking the detainee, raising serious concerns about systematic abuse within the facility. Following an investigation by "Israeli" military police, several soldiers were taken into custody. In February 2025, the Military Advocate General filed formal charges against five of them, accusing them of severe physical abuse. According to a report by Channel 12 News, the indictment details harrowing accounts of the victim's injuries. The detainee was allegedly stabbed near the anus with a sharp object and subjected to repeated beatings that caused multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal rectal damage. During the internal "Israeli" investigation, one of the soldiers claimed that the detainee had resisted the assault, 'tried to bite someone and grabbed a taser,' according to official statements. The case has sparked renewed criticism from human rights advocates, who have long warned of mistreatment inside Israel's detention facilities. Sde Teiman, in particular, has drawn international attention in recent months due to its use as a temporary holding site for Palestinian detainees from Gaza.
Egypt Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Netanyahu chooses war – and his political survival – as Israelis demand hostage deal
CNN — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept up appearances for nearly 19 months: Freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas, he insisted, stood equally atop the pyramid of Israel's war goals. Even as members of his right-wing governing coalition threatened to topple his government if he agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Even as he himself threw up eleventh-hour obstacles to reaching such a deal. And even as evidence mounted that Israel's military operations had both directly and indirectly led to the killing of Israeli hostages. Amid all those contradictions, Netanyahu insisted both objectives were just as important. But not anymore. Now, Netanyahu is unabashedly prioritizing war – and the survival of his government – over the fate of 59 hostages still in Gaza and the will of most Israelis. A week after calling the defeat of Israel's enemies the 'supreme objective' of the war, Netanyahu is turning that rhetoric into action: calling up tens of thousands of reservists to pummel, seize and occupy large swaths of Gaza – what the prime minister calls the 'final moves' against Hamas. Israeli officials say the plan won't be implemented immediately, giving Hamas at least another week-and-a-half to agree to another limited hostage and ceasefire deal on Israel's terms – with some insisting that is the government's preference. The deadline, they say, is the conclusion of US President Donald Trump's visit to the region next week. But such a deal is unlikely to materialize in that timeframe and these are no longer idle threats. The right-wing ministers who have sabotaged previous ceasefire deals and long called for conquering Gaza are now celebrating, viewing the newly approved plans as the first step toward their vision of occupying and ultimately annexing the enclave. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich now vows that there will be 'no retreat from the territories we have conquered, not even in exchange for the hostages.' For Netanyahu, that means political security – taking Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's repeated threats to leave the government and force new elections off the table, keeping him in the prime minister's office. It also means going against the will of a clear majority of Israelis – 56% according to Israel's Kan 11 and 69% according to Channel 12 – who support a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages. Hamas has repeatedly said it is open to such an all-in-one deal, hoping to salvage its position of power in Gaza, but the Israeli government has rejected any end to the war that leaves the group armed and governing the strip. For the families of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu's decision has been a gut punch, one they fear won't just delay the return of their loved ones but actively endanger them. 'It seems the government has placed defeating Hamas above rescuing and returning the hostages, because doing so would require stopping the war,' Anat Angrest, the mother of captive Israeli soldier Matan Angrest, told Haaretz. 'Ministers are sending soldiers into harm's way and putting the hostages at further risk, when all that was needed was a pause to develop a real strategic plan. What's happening now is a war fueled by revenge and conquest, not by a genuine desire to save lives.' 'It doesn't reflect the will of the people, or the Jewish heart,' she said. Israeli army tanks near the border with the Gaza Strip, on May 5, 2025. Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images The expanded Israeli assault in Gaza won't just bring the risk to the hostages of more Israeli bombs. Hamas has repeatedly said it will execute hostages if Israeli forces close in on their positions, a threat it carried out last August in murdering six of them. Israel's plan to displace nearly all of Gaza's population to its southern part while continuing to starve the rest of the strip of humanitarian aid could also endanger the hostages' access to the already limited food they are given. Notably, in the days before the Israeli security cabinet greenlit the expanded war effort, Netanyahu's wife and close adviser, Sara, sought to downplay the number of living hostages. When Netanyahu said last week that 'up to 24' hostages held in Gaza are still alive, his wife chimed in: 'Fewer.' Her comments reflected what Israeli officials told CNN are 'grave concerns' about three of those hostages – the same language previously used to refer to hostages who were eventually confirmed dead. For the people of Gaza, Netanyahu's decision threatens catastrophe beyond the dire humanitarian crisis already gripping the besieged territory. The expanded Israeli assault guarantees another mass forced displacement of Palestinians, more death and destruction and the continued use of starvation as a weapon of war. Even as Netanyahu's decision to prioritize destroying Hamas over the fate of the remaining hostages becomes clear, the Israeli military's ability to achieve its aims vis-à-vis the group remain uncertain. The factors that have allowed Hamas to survive and stay in power in Gaza after nearly 19 months of war still remain, and Israeli national security analysts remain skeptical that tens of thousands of additional troops will fundamentally change the dynamics of the conflict. Sending them with the goal of occupying large swaths of Gaza could drive up Israeli military casualties, with the risk of bogging the military down for years in a counterinsurgency morass. Perhaps that is why Netanyahu did not barrel headfirst down the path he has now chosen. Trump's return to power allowed Netanyahu to shed the guardrails imposed on him by President Joe Biden during the first 15 months of the war. But even as Trump and his administration made clear they would not seek to constrain Israel's military actions in Gaza, Netanyahu did not immediately pursue the expanded war his right-wing allies have been clamoring for. But in a fulcrum moment, he has now chosen – a decision that will shake the Gaza Strip, forever altering the fate of more than 2 million Palestinians and 59 hostages.
The National
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Qatar rejects Netanyahu's criticism of Gaza mediation efforts
Qatar hit out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday after he criticised Doha's mediation efforts in the Gaza war, with the Gulf state saying he was using 'false slogans to justify crimes against innocent civilians'. On Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu said in a post on X that 'the time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it's on the side of civilisation or if it's on the side of Hamas barbarism'. Qatar hosts the political office of Palestinian militants Hamas and helped brokered a truce between the group and Israel that came into effect in January. The ceasefire collapsed in mid-March and attempts to reach a new deal have so far failed. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari called Mr Netanyahu's comments 'inflammatory' and said they 'fall far short of the most basic standards of political and moral responsibility'. 'Portraying the ongoing aggression against Gaza as a defence of 'civilisation' recalls the rhetoric of regimes throughout history that have used false slogans to justify their crimes against innocent civilians,' Mr Al Ansari wrote on X. He added that 138 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza had been released through mediation and not Israeli military operations, saying these efforts were being 'unjustly criticised and targeted'. He also questioned Mr Netanyahu's assertion that Israel stood 'on the side of civilisation'. 'The Palestinian people in Gaza are experiencing one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times, from a stifling blockade and systematic starvation, to the deprivation of medicine and shelter, to the use of humanitarian aid as a weapon of political pressure and blackmail. Is this the 'civilisation' they are trying to promote?' Mr Al Ansari said. Mr Netanyahu has been under pressure from far-right politicians in Israel, without whom he would lose his governing coalition, to press on with the latest Gaza offensive. He has been increasingly strident in his calls to continue the war since fighting restarted in March. 'Israel will win this just war with just means,' he said in his latest post on X. On Saturday, Israel's public broadcaster Kan 11 said tens of thousands of reservists were being called up ahead of moves to further expand the offensive in Gaza. Quoting unidentified officials, it said Israel's security cabinet was expected to approve the plan on Sunday. Since the fighting resumed in the enclave on March 18, at least 2,396 people have been killed, according to the Gaze Health Ministry, bringing the overall death toll from the war to more than 52,000. Hamas and other Palestinian militants are still holding 58 hostages, 34 of whom the Israeli military says are dead. Several thousand Israelis staged a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding the government secure their freedom.
Egypt Independent
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Israel calls up thousands of reservists, plans to expand Gaza offensive amid stalled hostage talks
CNN — Israel's military will mobilize thousands of reservists in the coming days, it said Saturday, in what appears to be an expansion of its offensive in Gaza as talks aimed at securing a ceasefire languish. The call-up follows reports that the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Friday presented a plan to intensify pressure on Palestinian militant group Hamas to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Israel's public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that Zamir's plan included evacuating Palestinian civilians from northern and central Gaza ahead of expanded operations in those areas, mirroring tactics used earlier this year in southern Gaza's Rafah. Citing unnamed officials, Kan 11 said Netanyahu's Security Cabinet was expected to approve the plan Sunday. The news has prompted concern among families of the 59 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Most of the hostages were taken during Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked 18 months of Israeli bombardment that has killed more than 50,000 people in Gaza. In what it described as 'an urgent and heartfelt' appeal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters warned Saturday that 'any escalation in the fighting will put the hostages — both the living and the deceased — in immediate danger.' 'The vast majority of the Israeli public views the return of the hostages as the nation's highest moral priority,' it added. Negotiations to secure the release of the remaining hostages have been stalled for weeks. Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly collapsed. Hamas is demanding a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has accused Hamas of rejecting 'reasonable offers.' Hope for a diplomatic resolution appeared to dim further over the weekend as Netanyahu accused Qatari mediators of 'playing both sides' in the negotiations and calling on the Gulf state to 'decide if it's on the side of civilization or if it's on the side of Hamas barbarism,' claiming Israel is fighting 'a just war with just means' in Gaza. It's unclear what prompted Netanyahu's claim, but the statement follows reports in Israeli media that Qatar had pressured Hamas to reject an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire deal. Qatar dismissed the claim Sunday, calling the accusation a distortion of its diplomatic efforts and accused Israel of using humanitarian aid as a 'tool of political coercion' as a total Israeli blockade of aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave enters its third month. 'Is this truly the model of 'civilization' being promoted?' its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari wrote in a post on X. 'A legitimate question must be raised: Were the releases of no fewer than 138 hostages achieved through so called 'just' military operations, or through the very mediation that is now being unjustly criticized and undermined?' he added. On Thursday, Netanyahu said explicitly for the first time that defeating Israel's enemies was more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages, in remarks that drew a backlash from representatives of their families. Previously, he had described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel's war in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office announced Saturday it was rescheduling Netanyahu's May 7-11 visit to Azerbaijan 'to a later date.' Citing an 'intense diplomatic and security schedule,' it said the change came following 'developments in Gaza and Syria.' This story has been updated with further information.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel calls up thousands of reservists, plans to expand Gaza offensive amid stalled hostage talks
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday it will mobilize thousands of reservists in the coming days, in what appears to be an expansion of its offensive in Gaza. The move, which comes amid a deadlock in ceasefire talks, follows reports that the IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Friday presented a plan for intensifying pressure on Palestinian militant group Hamas to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Israel's public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that Zamir's plan included evacuating Palestinian civilians from northern and central Gaza ahead of expanded operations in those areas, mirroring tactics used earlier this year in southern Gaza's Rafah. Citing unnamed officials, Kan 11 said Netanyahu's Security Cabinet was expected to approve the plan Sunday. The news has prompted concern among families of the 59 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. In what it described as 'an urgent and heartfelt' appeal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters warned Saturday that 'any escalation in the fighting will put the hostages — both the living and the deceased — in immediate danger.' 'The vast majority of the Israeli public views the return of the hostages as the nation's highest moral priority,' it added. Negotiations to secure the release of the remaining hostages have been stalled for weeks. Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly collapsed. Hamas is demanding a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has accused Hamas of rejecting 'reasonable offers.' On Thursday, Netanyahu said explicitly for the first time that defeating Israel's enemies was more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages, in remarks that drew a backlash from representatives of their families. Previously, he had described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel's war in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office announced Saturday it was rescheduling Netanyahu's May 7-11 visit to Azerbaijan 'to a later date.' Citing an 'intense diplomatic and security schedule,' it said the change came following 'developments in Gaza and Syria.' This is a developing story and will be updated.
