Latest news with #REUTERSJERUSALEM
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israel admits to supporting anti-Hamas armed group in Gaza
Palestinian boys perform Eid al-Adha prayers inside the ruins of the destroyed Al-Albani Mosque in Khan Younis. PHOTO: REUTERS JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Mr Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Mr Abu Shabab as the leader of a 'criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks'. Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Mr Netanyahu's direction, was 'giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons'. 'What did Lieberman leak?... That on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What is bad about that?' Mr Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on June 5 . 'It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers.' Dr Michael Milshtein , an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in 'all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that'. Army spokesman Brigadier-General Effie Defrin on June 6 confirmed the military supported arming local militias in Gaza but remained tight-lipped on the details. 'I can say that we are operating in various ways against Hamas governance,' General Defrin said during a televised press conference when questioned on the subject, without elaborating further. Gangster Dr Milshtein said that Mr Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and that his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli 'collaborator and a gangster'. 'It seems that actually the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it was a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, to give them weapons and money and shelter' from army operations, Milshtein said. He added that Hamas killed four members of the gang days ago. The ECFR said Mr Abu Shabab was 'reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys'. Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had 'chosen betrayal and theft as their path' and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of 'clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of' Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Mr Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had 'never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation'. 'Our weapons are simple, outdated and came through the support of our own people,' it added. Dr Milshtein called Israel's decision to arm a group such as Mr Abu Shabab 'a fantasy, not something that you can really describe as a strategy'. 'I really hope it will not end with catastrophe,' he said. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Netanyahu says ready for Gaza ‘temporary ceasefire'
Palestinian workers unloading sacks of flour from an aid truck at a bakery in Khan Younis on May 21. PHOTO: REUTERS JERUSALEM - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a 'temporary ceasefire' in Gaza on May 21, as international pressure intensified over Israel's renewed offensive and aid blockade in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. 'If there is an option for a temporary ceasefire to free hostages, we'll be ready,' he said, noting that at least 20 hostages held by Hamas and its allies were still believed to be alive. But he reaffirmed that the Israeli military aimed to bring all of Gaza under its control by the end of its operation. 'We must avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action,' he said. His remarks came hours after Israeli troops fired what the army called 'warning shots' near a delegation of foreign diplomats visiting the occupied West Bank, triggering global condemnation and fresh diplomatic tension. The Palestinian foreign ministry accused Israeli forces of 'deliberately targeting by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation' near the flashpoint city of Jenin. A European diplomat said the group had travelled to the area to witness the destruction caused by months of Israeli military raids. The Israeli army said 'the delegation deviated from the approved route' and entered a restricted zone. Troops opened fire to steer the group away, it said, adding no injuries were reported and expressing regret for the 'inconvenience caused'. The incident drew condemnation from Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay and the European Union. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on Israel to investigate the shots and to hold those responsible 'accountable'. 'Unbearable' Anger mounted over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Palestinians are scrambling for basic supplies after weeks of near-total isolation. Palestinian rescue teams said overnight Israeli strikes had killed at least 19 people, including a week-old baby. A two-month total blockade was only partially eased this week, with aid allowed into the territory for the first time since March 2, a move leading to critical food and medicine shortages. Israel said 100 trucks with aid entered Gaza on May 21 through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel, following 93 the day before which the United Nations has said had been held up. Mr Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary general, said that as of 1600 GMT on May 21 (4am, May 22, Singapore time) 'none of the supplies have been able to leave the Kerem Shalom loading area' due to security concerns. Humanitarian groups have said that the amount falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis. A US-backed private group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, that will use contractors, said meanwhile that it will start moving aid into the territory in 'coming days'. The United Nations and traditional agencies have said they will not cooperate with the foundation which some have accused of working with Israel. The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation. Ms Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as 'unbearable'. 'No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven't received anything,' she said. 'We're grinding lentils and pasta to make some loaves of bread, and we barely manage to prepare one meal a day.' Pressure on Israel The army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza's Hamas rulers, whose Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war. Israel has faced massive pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza. European Union foreign ministers agreed on May 20 to review the bloc's cooperation accordi, which includes trade, with Israel. Israel's foreign ministry has said the EU action 'reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing'. Sweden said it would press the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador. Pope Leo XIV described the situation in Gaza as 'worrying and painful' and called for 'the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid'. Germany defended a key EU-Israel cooperation deal as 'an important forum that we must use in order to discuss critical questions' over the situation in Gaza. In Gaza, Israel resumed its operations across the territory on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Hamas' October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead. Gaza's health ministry said on May 20 that at least 3,509 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,655. In neighbouring Lebanon, authorities said Israeli strikes killed three people on Wednesday as Israel said it targeted Hamas's allies Hezbollah in the south – the latest in a series of attacks despite a ceasefire with the Iran-backed militant group. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israel strikes near Damascus presidential palace over Druze violence
Armed Druze men stand at a checkpoint in Jaramana, south-east of Damascus, Syria. PHOTO: REUTERS JERUSALEM - Israel's military said on May 2 it launched air strikes near the presidential palace in Damascus after the country's defence minister threatened intervention if Syrian authorities failed to protect the Druze minority. Syria's Druze spiritual leader has condemned a 'genocidal campaign' against his community after sectarian clashes killed 102 people. The violence poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities in Syria who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel has since then attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on May 2 announced its 'fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the palace' in the capital Damascus, a military statement said. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri had denounced the sectarian violence near Damascus as an 'unjustifiable genocidal campaign'. He called in a statement on May 1 for immediate intervention by 'international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes'. The Druze killings come after a wave of massacres in March in Syria's Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast in which security forces and allied groups killed more than 1,700 civilians, mostly from Assad's Alawite community, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on May 1 called for 'national unity' as 'the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival'. 'Any call for external intervention, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further deterioration and division,' he wrote on X. Israel sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists and has warned them to protect the Druze minority, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying his country could otherwise respond 'with significant force'. Israel carried out strikes near Damascus on April 30 and has also sent troops into the demilitarised buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights. Two wounded Syrian Druze have been evacuated to northern Israel for treatment, according to the Israeli military. 'Reprehensible' violence At a meeting of Druze leaders, elders and armed groups in the city of Sweida, the community agreed it was 'an inseparable part of the unified Syrian homeland', a spokesperson said. 'We reject partition, separation or disengagement,' the spokesperson added. The Syrian Observatory said the fighting this week had involved security forces, allied fighters and local Druze groups. The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said the 102 death toll included 30 government loyalists, 21 Druze fighters and 10 civilians, including Sahnaya's former mayor, Mr Husam Warwar. In the southern Druze heartland province of Sweida, it said 40 Druze gunmen were killed, 35 in an 'ambush' on the Sweida-Damascus road on April 30. The monitor told AFP the fighters were killed 'by forces affiliated with the ministries of interior and defence and gunmen associated with them'. The violence was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous. AFP was unable to confirm the recording's authenticity. US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on May 1 the violence and rhetoric against the Druze community in Syria was 'reprehensible and unacceptable', and called on the interim authorities to hold perpetrators accountable. Truces were reached April 29 in Jaramana and a day later in Sahnaya, both areas near Damascus. The Syrian government announced it was deploying forces in Sahnaya to ensure security, and accused 'outlaw groups' of instigating the clashes. However, Mr Hijri said he no longer trusts 'an entity pretending to be a government... because the government does not kill its people through its extremist militias... and then claim they were unruly elements after the massacres'. 'The government (should) protect its people,' he said. The Druze gathering on May 1 urged the government to engage 'the judicial police in Sweida, drawing from the province's own residents' on the issue. Syria's new authorities, who have roots in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network, have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with pressures from radical Islamists. On April 30, a foreign ministry statement vowed to 'protect all components' of Syrian society, including the Druze. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
