Latest news with #Shabak
Egypt Today
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
Israeli forces kill 79 Gaza residents in one day as Shabak chief nominee vows ‘forever' war
Men in Gaza perform the funeral prayers for victims killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza who are wrapped in coffins for burial - WAFA CAIRO – 24 May 2025: Israeli forces have killed at least 79 Palestinians and injured 211 others in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the enclave's health ministry on Saturday. Daily fatalities among Palestinian residents to Gaza due to the Israeli war have increased over the past week since Israel launched a new operation to seize the entire enclave, displace the population toward the south and release dozens of captives still held there. The war in Gaza has so far killed more than 53,900 people, according to the ministry, including 3,747 since the Israeli forces resumed the operations on 18 March, shattering a ceasefire that brought home dozens of captives held by Hamas in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The families of the captives in Gaza on Saturday slammed alleged remarks by Israeli Prime Minister's newly-picked head of the Shin Bet (Shabak) David Zini that 'I oppose hostage deals. This is a forever war.' Channel 12 cited his remarks without providing a specific date, noting that this is a position that he repeatedly mentioned over the past year. The war continues despite global condemnation and pressures by some of Israel's closest allies in the west to end military operations and resume aid deliveries. Israel, who is facing unprecedented pressures from its closest allies over its handling of the war in Gaza, has pledged to resume a 'minimal' amount of humanitarian aid into the enclave after nearly three months of blockade#Egypt #Africa #MENAhttps:// — Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) May 21, 2025 Italy's Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto emphasized on Thursday that Netanyahu 'is wrong in killing thousands of innocent Palestinians,' warning that such actions 'risk damaging Israel itself.' The European Union last week announced reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which spans political and economic ties between the two sides. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, France and Canada have called on the Israeli government to halt its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. In a joint statement, the three countries threatened 'concrete actions' against Israel in case of its failure to abide by the international humanitarian law. As Israel escalated its military operations, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addressed the 34th Arab League summit held in Baghdad last week and called for global pressure on Israel to 'halt the massacre in Gaza.' Moreover, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called for a halt to the deadly military strikes in Gaza, stating on Saturday that 'we no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer.' Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris accused Israel of conducting 'genocidal activity' and 'a consistent pattern of war crimes,' stating that his country will consider a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories.
Shafaq News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Future Nineveh: Key member warns of withdrawal
2025-05-10T05:18:55+00:00 Shafaq News / The Future Nineveh Alliance, which includes factions backed by the Shiite Coordination Framework within the Nineveh Provincial Council, is facing growing internal tensions following accusations of marginalization and political exclusion. In an audio message obtained by Shafaq News Agency, Iraqi lawmaker Wadd Qaddo, a member of the alliance, warned that continued sidelining of representatives from Hamdaniya district and Bashiqa subdistrict could lead to a formal withdrawal from the coalition. "The alliance has brought results for others, but we have yet to see any return for our efforts," Qaddo said. He pointed specifically to the situation in Bashiqa, claiming it remains under the dominance of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) despite ongoing participation by minority representatives. Qaddo also expressed frustration with Nineveh Provincial Council Chairman Ahmed al-Hasoud. "I've tried to reach him for the past two days without any response, although we had daily contact when he was facing questioning and possible dismissal," he said, describing the silence as troubling and suggestive of a breakdown in internal coordination. Issuing a direct warning, Qaddo stated, "If this continues, we will withdraw from the alliance and assume a neutral stance. We will pursue our interests with any party willing to engage—we refuse to be used as a stepping stone for others." He also cautioned that unless grievances are addressed, the alliance risks losing coherence and influence. The Nineveh Provincial Council is composed of 29 members representing a diverse array of ethnic and religious communities. The two leading blocs are the Unified Nineveh Bloc, aligned with the Sunni Arab majority and supported by the KDP, and the Future Nineveh Alliance, which includes Shabak, Yazidi, Christian, and other minority factions backed by the Shiite Coordination Framework.
Al Jazeera
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Sacrifice' captives: Israel divided over end of ceasefire in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political problems have been piling up. More court proceedings in his corruption trial, public anger at his attempts to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service and a push from outside – and inside – his government to end the ceasefire in Gaza. And so on Tuesday, he returned to war. Those problems seem less important, for now. His appearance in court was postponed, the protests planned against his dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet have been overshadowed and the politicians pushing for war have been satisfied. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the consequences of Netanyahu's decision have been horrifying with more than 400 Palestinians killed in just one night of bombing and the knowledge that this is likely just the start of more death and destruction. Alon Pinkas, former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera that the overnight strikes ordered by Netanyahu were purely 'about survival politics' for the prime minister, intended to distract 'from the dismissal of the head of Shabak [Shin Bet]'. The strikes had 'zero military significance [and] no political end', he added. Netanyahu has been repeatedly accused by his opponents of having consistently manipulated Israel's war on Gaza to his own political ends. Former United States President Joe Biden suggested as much in an interview in June, saying there was 'every reason' for people to draw the conclusion that Netanyahu was prolonging the war for political reasons. War will 'bury' the captives But continuing the war and unilaterally ending the two-month ceasefire puts Netanyahu and his government at odds with an important constituency: the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza. This group, whose voices are still respected by many Israelis, have seen each of the escalations ordered by Netanyahu and his far-right government as coming at the expense of their loved ones. There are 59 captives remaining in Gaza – both alive and dead – who were due to be released under the original terms of the ceasefire agreed with Hamas. A statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Tuesday echoed the sentiments of many in suggesting that Israeli leaders had no intention of honouring the ceasefire. It added that the government had decided to 'sacrifice' the captives and the resumption of the bombing would 'bury' them in Gaza. 'The hostage families demand a meeting this morning [Tuesday] with the prime minister, the defence minister and the head of the negotiating team in which [the officials] will clarify how they can guarantee that hostages won't be affected by the military pressure and how they are planning to get them home,' the group said. 'Why aren't you fighting in the negotiations room? Why have you backed out of an agreement that could have brought everyone home?' the forum asked the government. One former captive held in Gaza, Noa Argamani, reacted to the news that Israeli attacks on Gaza had resumed with a broken-hearted symbol. Argamani was released after an Israeli military operation in June in which more than 270 Palestinians were killed. Her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, remains a captive in Gaza. Argamani was among a group of former captives who met US President Donald Trump this month. It is unclear whether the families of the captives and those released will be able to move him to pressure Israel to come back to the negotiating table. Standing Together, a progressive group made up of Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel, told Al Jazeera that it had already received 'hundreds' of calls protesting against the strikes and was prepared to mobilise thousands at the suggestion of a full-scale renewal of fighting in Gaza. 'We are refusing to participate in a war that neglects and will kill our hostages,' Standing Together Co-Director Alon Lee Green said. 'We refuse to kill and be killed in Gaza. We refuse to fight for this illegitimate government that is only fighting now to remain in power, despite what most people want.' Far-right support From its onset, the ceasefire has been criticised by many of those within Israel now cheering its apparent collapse. Far-right former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in the wake of the strikes that he would return to the government after resigning in January in protest against the ceasefire terms. Another member of the cabinet, ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose January resignation over the ceasefire agreement was only averted after apparent reassurances from Netanyahu that he expected to break it, has also celebrated the Gaza killings. Writing on social media, Ben-Gvir described the renewed attacks on Gaza – the majority of whose victims were children, women and the elderly – as the 'right, moral, ethical and most justified step'. Smotrich thanked God for a return to conflict, writing that the new wave of fighting would 'look completely different' from the military campaign that has already killed more than 60,000 Palestinians. Israel will 'need to remobilise with strength, faith and determination until victory with God's help', Smotrich said. US position The US has expressed its full support for Israel's actions, even as the latter reneged on an agreement that Washington was one of the brokers of. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had proposed an extension of the first phase of the three-stage ceasefire but supported Israel in changing the terms of the agreement and acknowledged Israel's 'red line' against allowing Hamas to keep its weapons. The US also stood by as Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and cut electricity this month to the one remaining desalination plant in an attempt to coerce Hamas into accepting Israel's new terms – which ignored any talk of a permanent ceasefire. The US, along with other guarantor nations, had previously promised to ensure that Israel would honour the terms of the ceasefire and maintain negotiations on a second phase and an eventual third phase that would end the war. 'Things are very different now,' Mitchell Barak – an Israeli pollster and former political aide to several senior Israeli political figures, including Netanyahu – told Al Jazeera, 'We have a new [US] administration that says, 'Release the hostages now – or else.'' 'The Islamic Resistance [Movement], Hamas, can no longer use the ceasefire, or even the hostages, as a bargaining chip,' he said of negotiations on the second stage. 'They're alone. They don't have any friends left, not in the White House, not in the Congress and not even on college campuses,' he said of the crackdown on support for Palestine across many US educational institutions. 'Trump has been clear: 'Finish the job.' The US will back anything that Israel chooses to do to achieve that end,' he said.
