Latest news with #RaneenSawafta
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Amid Gaza war, Israel defence exports jump 13% in 2024 to record $15 billion
A remote controlled machine gun is attached to an Israeli military vehicle during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 4, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo JERUSALEM - Israel's defence exports rose 13% in 2024 to a record of nearly $15 billion, led by missiles, rockets and air-defence systems with over half the deliveries going to European militaries, the government said on Wednesday. Military exports, the Defence Ministry said in a statement, have more than doubled over the past five years, reaching nearly $15 billion in value in 2024. The ministry said that since the outbreak of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel's defence industries have operated in emergency mode with round-the-clock arms production while also maintaining manufacturing for foreign clients. "The new record in Israeli defence exports, achieved during a year of war, reflects more than anything else the growing global appreciation for Israeli technology's proven capabilities," said Defence Ministry Director-General Amir Baram. "Israeli systems have resonated throughout the Middle East this past year. More nations want to protect their citizens using Israeli defence equipment." The ministry said there was significant growth in contracts from Europe last year, where exports accounted for 54% of the total, up from 36% in 2023. Asia-Pacific was next at 23% with the United States at 9%. Missile, rocket and air defence systems comprised 48% of defence exports, followed by vehicles and armoured personnel carriers at 9%, and satellites and space systems, radar and electronic warfare, manned aircraft and avionics at 8% each. Some 57% of contracts amounted to more than $100 million. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Guardian
14-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Holi celebrations and a lunar eclipse: photos of the day
A serviceman operates a drone from a shelter in the Donetsk region Photograph: The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade/AFP/Getty Images Passengers stand on the wing of an American Airlines plane as they are evacuated after it caught fire while at a gate at Denver international airport in Colorado Photograph: Branden Williams/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian man walks in a damaged room after an settlers' attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters Former footballer Gerard Pique leaves the court after testifying in Majadahonda. Pique has been summoned to testify as an indicted suspect in a corruption case related to the relocation contract of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia Photograph: Óscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images Men gesture on the day Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif hosts Druze leaders from Syria, in the first Druze delegation from Syria since the 1973 war. Julis is a Druze village and local council in the Northern District of Israel. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters Journalists gather outside the national congress, hanging cameras on its gates in protest after photojournalist Pablo Grillo was critically injured while covering a demonstration. Grillo was struck in the head by a teargas canister when security forces deployed crowd-control measures, leaving him hospitalised. Press freedom organisations and colleagues condemned the incident, calling for accountability and stronger protections for journalists in conflict zones Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Members of Enoch Burke's family are ejected from the Ireland Funds 33th National Gala dinner at the National Building Museum. Hecklers disrupted the event involving the taoiseach. Burke is a teacher from County Mayo who has been in a long-running court battle after he refused to use the pronouns preferred by a student transitioning to a different gender Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Girls are smeared with coloured powder during Holi celebrations Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images Contestants trim dogs' hair during a pet dog cosmeticians contest at the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation in Seoul Photograph: Yonhap/EPA People view the full moon before dawn as a section moves into shadow during a lunar eclipse Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Middle East Eye
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
In Pictures: Emotional scenes as freed Palestinian prisoners reunite with families
Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza and the West Bank today to greet the 110 prisoners, including 30 children, that were released from Israeli prisons earlier today. The prisoners were released in exchange for three Israeli and five Thai captives that were held in Gaza by Hamas. A woman kisses a freed Palestinian prisoner as he is welcomed in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip after being released from an Israeli prison, on 30 January 2025 (Ramadan Abed/Reuters) (Raneen Sawafta/Reuters) (Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli troops to remain in Jenin refugee camp, defence minister says
By Raneen Sawafta and James Mackenzie JENIN, West Bank/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops will remain in the Palestinians' Jenin refugee camp once the large-scale raid they launched last week is complete, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday as a crackdown in the occupied West Bank extended into a second week. Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones and armoured vehicles have been fighting sporadic gunbattles with Palestinian militants while carrying out searches in the streets and alleyways for weapons and equipment. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. "The Jenin refugee camp will not be what it was," Katz said during a visit to the refugee camp. "After the operation is completed, IDF forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return." He did not give details and a military spokesperson declined to comment. The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned what it called Katz's "provocative" statement and called for international pressure on Israel to stop the operation, which has already been condemned by countries including France and Jordan. Israeli forces went into Jenin immediately after the start of a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, saying it aimed to hit militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which receive support from Iran. Israel regards the West Bank as one part of a multi-front war against Iranian-backed groups established around its borders, from Gaza to Lebanon and including the Houthis in Yemen, and it turned its attention to the area immediately after the halt to fighting in Gaza. At least 17 Palestinians, including six members of armed militant groups and a two-year-old girl, have been killed in Jenin and the surrounding villages during the operation, according to Palestinian officials. The military said forces had killed at least 18 militants and detained 60 wanted individuals, dismantling over 100 explosive devices and seizing a weapons manufacturing workshop. An investigation into the death of the girl is still ongoing, a spokesperson said. Within the camp, dozens of houses have been demolished and roads have been dug up by special armoured bulldozers, driving thousands of people from their homes. Water has been cut and Palestinian officials say at least 80% of the camp's inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes. "It's terrifying, the explosions the fires, the houses which were demolished," said Intisar Amalka, a displaced camp resident who said her nephew's car had been destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer. SPREAD OF ARMY ROADBLOCKS SNARL PALESTINIAN LIFE The Jenin refugee camp, a crowded township built for descendants of Palestinians who fled their homes or were driven out in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of the state of Israel, has been a centre of militant activity for decades and the target of repeated raids by Israeli troops. Just prior to the latest raid, security forces of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in parts of the West Bank, conducted a weeks-long operation of its own in a bid to reassert control in Jenin. As the fighting in Gaza has subsided, at least for the moment, Israeli forces have stepped up operations across the area, setting up checkpoints and roadblocks which have made travelling even short distances between towns and villages an hours-long trial for Palestinians. Elsewhere in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces have been carrying out an operation in Tulkarm, another volatile city where they have clashed repeatedly with militants recently, moving into the city itself as well as into its refugee camp. The West Bank, a kidney-shaped stretch of land about 100 kilometres (62 miles) long, was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and is seen by Palestinians as the core of a future independent state, along with Gaza. It has seen a surge in violence since the start of the war in Gaza in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, many of them armed gunmen but also including stone-throwing youths or uninvolved civilians, and thousands have been arrested. Palestinian attacks in the West Bank and Israel have also killed dozens of Israelis. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; editing by Mark Heinrich)
