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Business Standard
25-05-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 38 people including children
Further details also emerged of the local doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday AP Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip) Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including a mother and her two children sheltering in a tent, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north. Further details also emerged of the local doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday. Gaza's Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies. Israel has been pursuing a new plan to tightly control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected. Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of over 2 million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Experts say it would likely violate international law. The new strike on the tent housing displaced people that killed the mother and children occurred in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Only one of paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children survived the Israeli strike on their home Friday near the southern city of Khan Younis. Both the 11-year-old and al-Najjar's husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt. The charred remains of the other children were brought to the morgue in a single body bag, said a fellow paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan. The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother, Ismail al-Najjar, was the first to arrive at the scene. They were innocent children," the brother said, with the youngest 7 months old. "And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions. Israel on Saturday said, The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review." It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 people. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, often multiple times. A missile from the Houthis Separately, Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict. The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Food security group warns Israeli blockade raises famine threat in Gaza
May 12 (UPI) -- Gaza is under the threat of widespread famine as nearly 500,000 Palestinians are facing catastrophic food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported on Monday. About 96% of the population in the Gaza strip is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as Phase 4, the organization says. About 22% are classified as facing catastrophic acute food insecurity -- Phase 5 -- which is described as "an extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities." "Goods indispensable for people's survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks," the organization said, according to the United Nations. "The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. In a scenario of a protracted and large-scale military operation and continuation of the humanitarian and commercial blockade, there would be a critical lack of access to supplies and services that are essential to survival." This comes two months after Israel instituted a total blockade of Gaza, cutting off humanitarian aid. The United States has thrown its support behind a plan to deliver private aid to Gaza, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Friday. He did not say when aid will begin to arrive. "It is going to require the partnership not only of governments but of [non-government organizations], charitable organizations and nonprofits from around the world," Huckabee said. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification shared skepticism of the plan for Israel to distribute aid into Gaza, citing "significant access barriers for large segments of the population." It adds that the proposal is highly insufficient. The organization warns that the Gaza Strip is likely to fall into a Phase 5 risk of famine by the end of September if Israel's large-scale military operation continues. "The latest announcements suggest that this worst-case scenario is becoming more likely," the IPC's report says. U.N. High Commissioner for Humanitarian Rights Volker Turk echoed IPC's skepticism of Israel's plan. Turk said in a statement that it threatens the existence of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "This would only compound the misery and suffering inflicted by the complete blockade on the entry of basic goods for almost nine weeks now," Turk said in a statement. "Gaza's residents have already been deprived of all lifesaving necessities, particularly food, with relentless Israeli attacks on community kitchens and those trying to maintain a minimum of law and order. Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime." Israel's bombardment of Gaza continued throughout the weekend into Monday. A school for Palestinian refugees, operated by the United Nations, was struck in the attacks on Saturday. Four people were killed in a bombing at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency facility in North Gaza on Friday. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports 52,862 Palestinians have been killed and 119,648 have been injured in the conflict.
Straits Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
‘Incensed' Columbia chief blasts protesters after 80 arrests
The pace and forcefulness of the response by Columbia University marks a shift from 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS NEW YORK - The crackdown was swift and the message was unequivocal: Columbia University has little tolerance for protesters who spark chaos on campus. The New York City school's acting president, Ms Claire Shipman, said she was 'incensed' after masked demonstrators on May 8 burst into the school's main library and draped Palestinian flags along its walls, disrupting 900 students studying for final exams. By the end of the day, the police were called in, protesters were cleared out and 80 people were arrested. 'We, at Columbia, value freedom of speech, robust debate, and peaceful protest. Today's disruption of Butler Library was not that,' Ms Shipman said in a video. 'There is a clear line between legitimate protest and actions that endanger others and disrupt the fundamental work of the university. The disciplinary proceedings will reflect the severity of the actions.' The pace and forcefulness of the response by the university marks a shift from 2024, when Columbia was criticised for equivocation, inaction and tolerance of antisemitism as protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza gripped the Morningside Heights campus. It took almost a year for the school to issue expulsions and multi-year suspensions to students involved in the takeover – and vandalism – of a different campus building in April 2024. Ms Shipman's comments reflect the rapid changes in the political, cultural and financial landscape over the past year. After defeating Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, US President Donald Trump embarked on a campaign targeting elite universities that he says promote left-wing ideals at the expense of conservative values. His administration has yanked US$400 million (S$520 million) in funding to Columbia, accusing it of an inadequate response to complaints of antisemitism since the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel. On May 9, the reaction from at least one part of the Trump administration appeared to be shifting. Its Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism praised Shipman for her swift action, striking a far different tone than earlier missives aimed at Harvard University and, initially, Columbia. 'She has stepped in to lead Columbia at a critical juncture and has met the moment with fortitude and conviction,' the task force said in a statement on May 9. 'We are grateful for the public safety officers who acted swiftly, and at a danger to themselves, to secure the library.' Strategy shift The tenor and strategy of the protesters has also transformed. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group that has led the protests, has gone from demanding support for Palestine and divestment from Israel to backing armed resistance. When demonstrators took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia in 2024, they demanded that it be renamed 'Hind's Hall', a reference to a child killed in Gaza. On May 8, they invoked the name of Basel Al-Araj, a Palestinian activist killed by Israel's defense forces in 2017 for allegedly preparing attacks against the Jewish state. US Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican who's demanded the resignation of college presidents for their handling of campus protests, initially cited demonstrations on May 8 as validation for Trump's freezing of taxpayer dollars. 'Columbia must act – enough is enough,' she said. Once the arrests were made, Ms Stefanik lauded police for 'restoring law and order' on the campus. In a subsequent appearance on Fox News, she reiterated her praise for the law enforcement but didn't specifically credit Ms Shipman for the action. The Department of Justice was happy to see arrests made, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview. 'What remains to be seen is whether those crimes by these offenders are appropriately prosecuted or not, and we're monitoring that.' Diminished drive Protests across the US have diminished in size but are sporadically breaking out, only to face quick repercussions. In April, around 200 protesters at Yale University gathered on the campus's main plaza to form a tent encampment in protest of Israel's national security minister, Mr Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was scheduled to give a talk off campus, according to Yale Daily News. The university gave warnings to disperse and threatened possible arrest, and the encampment dissolved before midnight. The Trump task force on antisemitism said it was 'cautiously encouraged' by Yale's actions. Earlier this week at the University of Washington, demonstrators who oppose Israel's campaign in Gaza set waste bins on fire, blocked streets and took over the new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building that was built with help from a $10 million Boeing Co. gift. At least 30 people were arrested at the Seattle campus. University President Ana Mari Cauce condemned what she said was a 'violent and illegal occupation' of the facility, and stated that any students found to be among those responsible would face 'appropriate consequences for their actions.' The task force said it would probe the events at the university. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Why didn't Ireland stand up for Palestine at the ICJ?
Last week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague held five days of hearings for yet another case against Israel and its campaign in Gaza . This time, the fate of the Palestinians and the sanctity of the United Nations (UN) were at stake. Forty-one states and four international organisations presented arguments to determine whether Israel has violated its obligations regarding its treatment of UN agencies and their representatives and the rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. While Ireland submitted a strongly worded statement to the court denouncing Israel's multiple violations of international law, it is one of only six states that have made submissions but did not also present oral arguments. Whether or not this is part of a carefully balanced political strategy designed not to strain further the increasingly fraught relationship with the United States, failure to appear in the Peace Palace gives the impression of lacklustre support for the Palestinian people and undercuts our stated position of solidarity. READ MORE The request for an advisory opinion on the obligations of Israel in relation to the UN and its agencies, including the provision of aid to the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, arises from the General Assembly. Led by Norway , a resolution to send this question to the ICJ was passed by 137 votes in December. The death of 291 UN personnel, many of whom worked in Gaza as part of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Unrwa) – along with allegations that UN workers and facilities have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military – has put the organisation at the centre of this case. The situation was exacerbated by Israel's defiance of the court's previous orders to halt the military campaign and supply humanitarian assistance. The result has been the further devastation of the Palestinian people. Opening the proceedings, the UN legal counsel Elinor Hammarskjöld, a relative of the former UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld who was killed in Congo in 1961, pointed out that no aid has entered Gaza since March 2nd. In effect, as argued by the Palestinian representatives, Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war with catastrophic effects. Already devastated by the military campaign (more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the onslaught began, according to Palestinian health officials), with Israel's blocking of humanitarian supplies , the Palestinians who remain are slowly starving to death. [ Gaza: At least 57 Palestinians have starved to death under Israeli blockade, say aid agencies Opens in new window ] A sizeable majority of submissions to the court condemned Israel's actions. Among the states who did so were Norway and Spain , who have been increasingly vocal in their support for Palestine. They are also Ireland's leading European allies on this question since they recognised Palestinian statehood at the same time as Ireland in 2024 . Spain has worked closely with Ireland to push the EU to do more on this issue. So why did Ireland not join our European allies and stand up for Palestine at the ICJ? It may have something to do with the increasingly tempestuous transatlantic relationship. The US president Donald Trump has been resolute in his support of Israel in its actions against the Palestinians. Recently he stated that he 'fully supports' the resumption of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military activities in Gaza and has warned Hamas that there 'would be all hell to pay' if the remaining hostages are not released. For Ireland, the shifting sands of the transatlantic relationship, formerly one of the buttresses of Irish foreign policy, has been threatened by a mercurial Trump. As he is highly critical of our trade surplus and has a trigger-happy approach to tariffs that would severely affect our economy, maintaining the 'special relationship' with the US has become a central focus for the Government. Ireland's outspoken position on Palestine is a pressure point with the US, particularly among Republicans. During US senate hearings last week for Edward Walsh, President Trump's nominee as ambassador to Ireland, Republican senator for Idaho Jim Risch declared that by recognising Palestinian statehood, Ireland was ' much out of step ' with the US on Israel. The comment would have done little to assuage Government fears of a growing tension with the US. Such a perception in Washington would certainly have been exacerbated by a public argument in support of Palestine at the UN's highest court. It seems that even defining issues such as Palestine are secondary to the desire not to aggravate the untethered occupant of the White House. For its part, Israel has become even more intransigent. It did not appear at the ICJ last week. Even before proceedings began, Israel violated the ceasefire conditions by continuing to bomb Gaza, saying it would do so until Hamas releases all remaining hostages. Israel has couched its actions in the tacit legality of the Knesset, which passed two laws in 2024 demanding the cessation of Unrwa activities, the implementation of which represents a violation of Israel's obligations under the UN charter. This has raised the criticism that no matter how many advisory opinions and judgments the court declares, and regardless of how many resolutions the UN passes, Israel will continue to violate international law, rendering the UN essentially hamstrung. However, it is precisely when such grievous violations of international law and human rights take place that institutions such as those of the UN are most needed. Most states that argued before the court reiterated the importance of protecting both the Palestinians and the immunity and privileges of the UN. Ireland's absence from the Peace Palace last week is a missed opportunity to show that we stand beside the Palestinian people on the grounds of international law – not just in the face of public opinion. Alanna O'Malley is associate professor at the Leiden University Institute for History
Al Manar
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Manar
The Phantom of the Embassy: How Lebanon's Resistance Outmaneuvered an Empire
April 18, 1983, the walls of the US embassy erected as a hive for dozens of CIA agents and their collaborators operating on Lebanese soil on in accordance and association with the Israeli enemy are reduced to rubble, burying those inside. This would be the first of many messages sent by the burgeoning Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement that would later become Hezbollah to the US empire and its allies. These attacks, including a massive organized bombing against the US marine base in the Beirut International Airport eventually lead to a complete withdrawal of US presence in the then war-torn Lebanese state. A US presence that just like any other, sought nothing more than to exploit chaos in its own favor, to consolidate power and broker alliances for itself within the upper and lower echelons of the country. It is tradition for US marines to celebrate the fallen of every campaign the US army has undergone. According to retired Marine Colonel Chuck Dallachie the Marine Corps celebrates everything. Everything, that is, except for Beirut. 'Because it was a mistake,' said Dallachie, who served there in 1983. 'The Marine Corps does not celebrate mistakes.' US President Ronald Reagan denounced the 'vicious terrorist bombing' as a 'cowardly act,' saying, 'This criminal act on a diplomatic establishment will not deter us from our goals of peace in the region', as if peace was ever a goal of any current or former US administration. But let's not look at the past, the present-day embassy we have in our own country today is proof enough that there is never only diplomacy hidden behind the doors of any US embassy. We've discussed fairly in previous pieces how large and expansive the US embassy in Lebanon is, resembling nothing more than a military base. Instead, let's talk about the real reason the embassy of 1983 was a target of the most brilliant strategic minds in Hezbollah. Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer who worked across West Asia, has been unequivocal about the true function of U.S. embassies. In his memoir See No Evil, Baer revealed that 'every American embassy is a nest of spies', with CIA operatives operating under diplomatic cover to recruit assets, gather intelligence, and influence local politics. He explained that the station chief—often the second-most powerful figure in an embassy—runs covert operations while diplomats provide a façade of legitimacy. Baer, who served in Lebanon during the civil war, noted that the 1983 embassy was no exception, functioning as a command center for monitoring Lebanese factions, arming proxies, and coordinating with Israel. His admissions confirm what resistance groups long understood: US embassies are not neutral diplomatic missions but forward bases for imperial subversion. Robert Baer's own assignments in Lebanon laid bare the CIA's manipulative role in the country's turmoil. During his tenure in the 1980s, Baer was tasked with cultivating intelligence networks, bribing warlords, and tracking Palestinian and resistance movements—all under the guise of diplomatic work. In his memoir See No Evil, he admitted that the CIA's chief concern was not stability, but ensuring Lebanon remained a battleground where US and Israeli interests could dominate. His missions included arming right-wing militias, sabotaging Syrian influence, and gathering targeting data—activities that blurred the line between espionage and warfare. Baer's revelations underscore a critical truth: the 1983 embassy bombing did not target 'innocent diplomats,' but a nerve center of covert operations that had long been meddling in Lebanon's bloodshed. In an article by Eugene Matos and Adrian Zienkiewicz for the Diplomat Magazine: 'Diplomacy and its legal protection, practices and communication cables, diplomatic bags, have partially, if in theory alone, institutionalized aspects of espionage'. They go on to mention several examples, including in the very beginning of the article, of international CIA agents being completely pardoned of any criminal charges for capital crimes such as murder, espionage, and for what the US calls 'enhanced interrogation', but for the layman it is simply called 'torture'. The article goes on to discuss the multiple aspects of 'Diplomatic Espionage', giving details as to how embassies all over the world, especially US embassies, exploit the hospitalities of their host countries to monitor everything there is to monitor within the country. So, considering the 5000 US embassy staff members operating on Lebanese soil and the history so well put by Baer, should we really have any doubts as to what they're truly here for? We must not forget that Baer's authority on this subject and its details is highlighted by his ultimately failed manhunt of our great leader and strategist Hajj Imad Moghniyeh, one of the singular minds of the resistance who was jointly responsible for all three bombing operations mentioned herein. Robert Baer's hunt for Hajj Imad—monikered by his rivals as the elusive 'phantom operative'—exposed the CIA's obsession with dismantling Lebanon's resistance. In See No Evil, Baer recounts how Hajj Imad, a master of evasion, outmaneuvered the CIA at every turn, using disguises, encrypted communications, and a network of safe houses to vanish into Beirut's streets. The agency, desperate for revenge after the 1983 attacks, tracked Moghniyeh for over a decade, even plotting kidnappings and assassinations, all of which failed. Baer admitted that Hajj Imad's ability to operate undetected proved the CIA's blindness to the resistance's discipline and tradecraft, a humiliating lesson in asymmetrical warfare. Most importantly, his account confirms what the 1983 bombing first signaled: 'No amount of US espionage could crush a movement rooted in its people's will'. To conclude, the mountains of evidence linking US embassies to global espionage may be worth looking at for a truthful look into the realities of US diplomacy, but it's enough to simply listen to how representatives, such as the David Star-Studded Deputy Morgan Ortagus, carry themselves these days, for they may have realized that their tried and tested diplomatic veneers now require too much effort to maintain. Instead, they've seemed to relegate themselves to what Donald Trump thinks diplomacy is all about: Insulting respected community leaders, politicians, and generals through vain social media posts akin to teenagers.
