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Sydney Morning Herald
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Total failure': Israel's return to war has heaped ruin on Gaza and done little for Israelis
Israel's blockade of food from March until May led to a rise in hunger across the territory. Since ending some restrictions in late May, Israel has largely reconstituted the way that food is distributed. In doing so, Israel made it more dangerous for Palestinians to get that food. Hundreds have been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers along the routes to new distribution sites. The outcome has resulted in a rare level of censure from Israel's allies. Key partners such as Britain and Germany called for the war to end. France said it would recognise a Palestinian state. The secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, called the situation 'a moral crisis that challenges the global conscience.' Loading Before Israel started the blockade and broke the truce, Palestinians in Gaza were already suffering some of the worst conditions in a century of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. A vast majority of the population was displaced, and most of the buildings in the territory were damaged, according to the United Nations. Then the resumption of war felt as if someone had 'shut off the last source of life,' said Karam Rabah, a civil servant in central Gaza. 'We thought we'd survived the worst, then it got even worse.' The truce from January to March had brought some respite, said Rabah, who is paid by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas. 'Children went back to some kind of learning; families returned to their homes,' he said. Then the fighting restarted, and 'homes that had survived were suddenly gone, and even food became scarce,' he added. 'I never thought that I would fight for a kilogram of flour for my kids.' As Palestinians suffer on one side of the border, Israelis on the other side are questioning what has been achieved through the return to war. As in earlier phases of the conflict, the war's protraction has allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep his ruling coalition intact, extending his tenure. A New York Times investigation has found that Netanyahu has dragged out the war partly for political reasons, in order to avoid upsetting key far-right partners who threatened their resignation if the war ended. Netanyahu denies the accusation, saying he has continued the war in the Israeli national interest. But his critics say the war's extension is at odds with the interests of Israeli hostages. It brings added risk to Israeli soldiers, who are still regularly killed in Gaza in service of a strategy that, to many, feels fruitless. It is a strain on reservist soldiers, who are repeatedly called up from their day jobs. And it has heightened the risk to Israelis travelling overseas, who increasingly report hostility from the people they meet, in addition to the criticism levelled at Israel from foreign governments and officials. 'There's a diplomatic tsunami against Israel like nothing anyone has ever seen,' said Shira Efron, a Tel Aviv-based analyst for Israel Policy Forum, a research group in New York. During a recent work trip to Washington, Efron said, she detected an unusual level of frustration in meetings with officials and analysts usually supportive of Israel. 'It was very clear from American politicians on both sides of the aisle – even Republican politicians and affiliated national security experts – that there is complete disapproval of the images coming from Gaza,' she said. 'Even those who think Hamas was at fault for the situation thought that Israel needs to change its position. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you don't want to see children starve.' Even Israelis who broadly support the government's return to war say that the approach has not achieved its goal. Their solution, however, is different: In their view, Israel should have attacked far harder than it did in the past months and must do so now. For months, the Israeli military has largely stayed away from the most densely populated areas of Gaza, where the remaining Israeli hostages are believed to be held. Right-wing Israelis say that Israel should invade and occupy those areas, even if it endangers the hostages. 'We need to stop everything, occupy the strip from end to end,' Moshe Saada, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's party, said in a television interview on Monday. Others say that Israel was right to break the truce in March, but wrong to do so without a clearly communicated plan for how Gaza would be governed in the future. 'Israel needs to fight until Hamas is defeated,' said Jonathan Conricus, a former Israeli military spokesperson. It is failing to do so, Conricus said, because of 'an incoherent Israeli strategy, tremendous international and regional pressure against Israel, and Hamas's willingness to leverage the suffering of the civilian population for its own cynical benefit'. Israel needs to 'strategically regroup, formulate a plan to defeat Hamas and provide a regionally and internationally acceptable solution for the future of the Gaza Strip,' said Conricus, an analyst for the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a research group in Washington.
The Age
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Total failure': Israel's return to war has heaped ruin on Gaza and done little for Israelis
Israel's blockade of food from March until May led to a rise in hunger across the territory. Since ending some restrictions in late May, Israel has largely reconstituted the way that food is distributed. In doing so, Israel made it more dangerous for Palestinians to get that food. Hundreds have been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers along the routes to new distribution sites. The outcome has resulted in a rare level of censure from Israel's allies. Key partners such as Britain and Germany called for the war to end. France said it would recognise a Palestinian state. The secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, called the situation 'a moral crisis that challenges the global conscience.' Loading Before Israel started the blockade and broke the truce, Palestinians in Gaza were already suffering some of the worst conditions in a century of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. A vast majority of the population was displaced, and most of the buildings in the territory were damaged, according to the United Nations. Then the resumption of war felt as if someone had 'shut off the last source of life,' said Karam Rabah, a civil servant in central Gaza. 'We thought we'd survived the worst, then it got even worse.' The truce from January to March had brought some respite, said Rabah, who is paid by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas. 'Children went back to some kind of learning; families returned to their homes,' he said. Then the fighting restarted, and 'homes that had survived were suddenly gone, and even food became scarce,' he added. 'I never thought that I would fight for a kilogram of flour for my kids.' As Palestinians suffer on one side of the border, Israelis on the other side are questioning what has been achieved through the return to war. As in earlier phases of the conflict, the war's protraction has allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep his ruling coalition intact, extending his tenure. A New York Times investigation has found that Netanyahu has dragged out the war partly for political reasons, in order to avoid upsetting key far-right partners who threatened their resignation if the war ended. Netanyahu denies the accusation, saying he has continued the war in the Israeli national interest. But his critics say the war's extension is at odds with the interests of Israeli hostages. It brings added risk to Israeli soldiers, who are still regularly killed in Gaza in service of a strategy that, to many, feels fruitless. It is a strain on reservist soldiers, who are repeatedly called up from their day jobs. And it has heightened the risk to Israelis travelling overseas, who increasingly report hostility from the people they meet, in addition to the criticism levelled at Israel from foreign governments and officials. 'There's a diplomatic tsunami against Israel like nothing anyone has ever seen,' said Shira Efron, a Tel Aviv-based analyst for Israel Policy Forum, a research group in New York. During a recent work trip to Washington, Efron said, she detected an unusual level of frustration in meetings with officials and analysts usually supportive of Israel. 'It was very clear from American politicians on both sides of the aisle – even Republican politicians and affiliated national security experts – that there is complete disapproval of the images coming from Gaza,' she said. 'Even those who think Hamas was at fault for the situation thought that Israel needs to change its position. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you don't want to see children starve.' Even Israelis who broadly support the government's return to war say that the approach has not achieved its goal. Their solution, however, is different: In their view, Israel should have attacked far harder than it did in the past months and must do so now. For months, the Israeli military has largely stayed away from the most densely populated areas of Gaza, where the remaining Israeli hostages are believed to be held. Right-wing Israelis say that Israel should invade and occupy those areas, even if it endangers the hostages. 'We need to stop everything, occupy the strip from end to end,' Moshe Saada, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's party, said in a television interview on Monday. Others say that Israel was right to break the truce in March, but wrong to do so without a clearly communicated plan for how Gaza would be governed in the future. 'Israel needs to fight until Hamas is defeated,' said Jonathan Conricus, a former Israeli military spokesperson. It is failing to do so, Conricus said, because of 'an incoherent Israeli strategy, tremendous international and regional pressure against Israel, and Hamas's willingness to leverage the suffering of the civilian population for its own cynical benefit'. Israel needs to 'strategically regroup, formulate a plan to defeat Hamas and provide a regionally and internationally acceptable solution for the future of the Gaza Strip,' said Conricus, an analyst for the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a research group in Washington.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hamas members accused of assaulting Palestinian journalists in Gaza
Members of the Islamist group Hamas assaulted three Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said. The incident occurred near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza while the journalists were working, the West Bank-based syndicate said in a statement. The group blamed Hamas "security personnel" for the attack but did not provide further details. Those targeted included a cameraman for the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and a correspondent for Turkey's Anadolu news agency, the syndicate said late Sunday. A photo released by the group showed one of the journalists with visible injuries to his upper arm. The information could not be independently verified. The professional organization said condemned the attack "in the strongest terms." Foreign journalists have been largely barred from entering Gaza since the war began in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Local Palestinian reporters remain the main source of on-the-ground reporting from the besieged coastal territory.
Otago Daily Times
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
First-hand view of peacemaking challenge in the ‘Holy Land'
West Bank-based Kiwi journalist Cole Martin asks who are the peacemakers? As a Kiwi journalist living in the occupied West Bank, I can list endless reasons why there is no peace in the "Holy Land". I live in a refugee camp, alongside families who were expelled from their homes by Israel's violent establishment in 1948 — never allowed to return and repeatedly targeted by Israeli military incursions. Daily I witness suffocating checkpoints, settler attacks against rural towns, arbitrary imprisonment with no charge or trial, a crippled economy, expansion of illegal settlements, demolition of entire communities, genocidal rhetoric, and continued expulsion. No form of peace can exist within an active system of domination. To talk about peace without liberation and dignity is to suggest submission to a system of displacement, imprisonment, violence and erasure. I often find myself alongside a variety of peacemakers, putting themselves on the line to end these horrific systems — let me outline the key groups. — Palestinian civil society and individuals have spent decades committed to creative non-violence in the face of these atrocities — from court battles to academia, education, art, co-ordinating demonstrations, general strikes, hīkoi (marches), sit-ins, civil disobedience. Google "Iqrit village", "The Great March of Return", "Tent of Nations farm". These are the overlooked stories that don't make catchy headlines. — Protective Presence activists are a mix of about 150 Israeli and international civilians who volunteer their days and nights physically accompanying Palestinian communities. They aim to prevent Israeli settler violence, state-sanctioned home demolitions, and military/police incursions. They document the injustice and often face violence and arrest themselves. Foreigners face deportation and blacklisting — as a journalist I was arrested and barred from the West Bank short-term and my passport was withheld for over a month. — Reconciliation organisations have been working for decades to bridge the disconnect between political narratives and human realities. The effective groups don't seek "co-existence" but "co-resistance" because they recognise there can be no peace within an active system of apartheid. They reiterate that dialogue alone achieves nothing while the Israeli regime continues to murder, displace and steal. Yes there are "opposing narratives", but they do not have equal legitimacy when tested against the reality on the ground. — Journalists continue to document and report key developments, chilling statistics and the human cost. They ensure people are seen. Over 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza. High-profile Palestinian Christian journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in 2022. They continue reporting despite the risk, and without their courage world leaders wouldn't know which undeniable facts to brazenly ignore. — Humanitarians serve and protect the most vulnerable, treating and rescuing people selflessly. Over 400 aid workers and 1000 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza. All 38 hospitals have been destroyed or damaged, with just a small number left partially functioning. NGOs have been crippled by USAID cuts and targeted Israeli policies, marked by a mass exodus of expats who have spent years committed to this region — severing a critical lifeline for Palestinian communities. All these groups emphasise change will not come from within. Protective presence barely stems the flow. Reconciliation means nothing while the system continues to displace, imprison and slaughter Palestinians en masse. Journalism, non-violence and humanitarian efforts are only as effective as the willingness of states to uphold international law. Those on the frontlines of peacebuilding express the urgent need for global accountability across all sectors; economic, cultural and political sanctions. Systems of apartheid do not stem from corrupt leadership or several extremists, but from widespread attitudes of supremacy and nationalism across civil society. Boycotts increase the economic cost of maintaining such systems. Divestment sends a strong financial message that business as usual is unacceptable. Many other groups across the world are picketing weapons manufacturers, writing to elected leaders, educating friends and family, challenging harmful narratives, fundraising aid to keep people alive. Where are the peacemakers? They're out on the streets. They're people just like you and me. — Cole Martin is a New Zealand journalist in the West Bank.
Miami Herald
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Hamas Takes Aim at Rival ‘Outcast' Group Amid Gaza Infighting
A senior Hamas official has slammed a rival Palestinian militia in Gaza, telling Newsweek the group has received direct support from Israel and has ties to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) and criminal organizations. The opposition faction, known as the Popular Forces and led by Rafah native Yasser Abu Shabab, has entered the spotlight in recent weeks for its open calls to challenge Hamas' authority in Gaza some 20 months into its war with Israel. The Popular Forces' rise has been surrounded with controversy as current and former Israeli officials had claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was actively backing the group to undermine Hamas from within its territory—an allegation confirmed by the premier himself on Thursday. The Popular Forces have denied any connection, claiming they operated under the mandate of the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority (PA). The group has previously been accused of looting humanitarian assistance throughout the conflict, while former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has claimed that the Popular Forces had also fostered ties with ISIS. As Abu Shabab and his militia continue to fend off the allegations, Basem Naim, Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson, asserted that the group had little influence in Gaza, marking an apparent blow to Israel's efforts to challenge Hamas' rule in the territory. "For more than 20 months, Israel has failed to create a Palestinian alternative to the resistance to achieve its goals in Gaza, whether by creating chaos or administering the Gaza Strip," Naim told Newsweek. "Now, it is trying again, through a group of criminals and extremists, to create an alternative." "This group is ostracized among Palestinians," he added, "some of whom are agents, others drug dealers, thieves, or extremists linked to ISIS." Naim argued "Israel will not succeed again" in its strategy, " as they forget [German physicist Albert] Einstein's definition of insanity: "using the same inputs and expecting different outputs." "These groups pose no threat to anyone and are Palestinian outcasts," Naim said. "The only thing they are capable of is murder and banditry." Newsweek has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Popular Forces for comment. The Popular Forces first garnered media coverage in May 2024 as the IDF conducted an offensive in the southern city of Rafah. It has sometimes operated under the title of the "Counter-Terrorism Service." In a December interview with The New York Times, Abu Shabab acknowledged that his group had been involved in stealing humanitarian aid from convoys after being accused by multiple truck drivers, aid workers and locals. He argued then that these actions were undertaken out of a necessity to survive at a time when Hamas also stood accused of raiding supplies and reselling them to raise funds, something Hamas has denied. The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank describes the Popular Forces as a "Palestinian armed group and criminal gang," estimated to have "have several hundred members, drawn primarily from Abu Shabab's clan which has reported ties to ISIS." Hamas, on the other hand, is estimated by the IDF to have had a pre-war strength of around 30,000 fighters. Lieberman, now head of the Yisrael Beiteinu opposition party, was the first to draw a purported connection between the Popular Forces and ISIS, which has a presence in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that borders Gaza, during an interview on Thursday with Israel's Kan Bet radio station. Lieberman described the Popular Forces and its leader as being linked to the Hamasha clan, referring to them as "lawless criminals who in recent years wanted to give themselves an ideological angle or spin, so they became Salafi and began identifying with ISIS." He warned that any weapons delivered by Israel to the Popular Forces "will eventually be turned against us." French newspaper Le Monde reported that Abu Shabab was a prominent member of the Bedouin Tarabin tribe, which is present in both Gaza and Sinai. Allegations of ties between the Popular Forces and ISIS have also since been voiced by other prominent Israeli opposition figures such as Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and The Democrats head Yair Golan. Following Lieberman's revelation, Netanyahu downplayed the notion of his former minister having leaked information, acknowledging that "on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas." "What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. "It is only good. It is saving lives of Israeli soldiers." The Popular Forces have repeatedly denied receiving support from Israel. In a post to a Facebook page attributed to the group that same day, the Popular Forces warned that "Israeli media has published false allegations claiming that our Popular Forces received weapons from the occupation." "We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering—one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the group said. "Our weapons are simple, outdated, and came through the support of our own people," the group added, "through the sacrifices of families, the donations of civilians, and the determination of young men who found no other way but to protect the aid from being stolen and to defend the families of eastern Rafah." Abu Shabab reiterated this denial during an interview published Sunday with IDF Radio, though he did not rule out the potential for coordination on humanitarian issues. He also rejected alleged ties with ISIS, saying such "rumors are intended to damage our reputation and create a situation of hostility between us and Israel and the Arab countries." Abu Shabab's open calls for civilians to seek protection from his group and oppose Hamas have made him and his organization a target for Gaza's most powerful faction. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Abu Shabab was arrested by Hamas for a time until managing to escape amid Israeli airstrikes. A number of Popular Forces personnel have also reportedly been killed and detained by Hamas, including in operations conducted in recent days. A Quds News Network report published Monday and shared with Newsweek by Naim stated that a Popular Forces member with the initials "A.N." and described as Abu Shabab's right-hand man had been arrested, accused of killing a police officer before the start of the war in Gaza and of colluding with Israel. A report by Palestinian outlet Al-Resalah described the detainee as a "takfiri"— a term used by critics to describe adherents of extremist interpretations of Salafi Islam, such as ISIS—who had previously traveled to Sinai, according to unnamed security sources. The report also identified another leading member of the Popular Forces as Ghassan al-Dahini, who was said to have pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015 and to have participated in the March 2007 kidnapping of BBC News journalist Alan Johnston, who was released that July. While Hamas and ISIS are both widely viewed as Islamist militant groups designated terrorist organizations by Israel and the United States, they clash ideologically and often condemn one another. The former has its roots as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement in the 1980s and seeks to establish an Islamist Palestinian state in place of Israel, while the latter emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the early 2010s, seeking to establish a multinational caliphate spanning vast territory across Africa, Asia and Europe. Since taking over Gaza in a violent rift with the PA's leading nationalist Fatah faction in 2007, Hamas has sought to suppress Salafi jihadi groups tied to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Amid the current war, sparked by a Hamas-led surprise attack against Israel in October 2023, Hamas has coalesced with groups across a broad ideological spectrum, from fellow Islamists to far-leftists. They include Palestinian Islamic Jihad; the Popular Resistance Committees; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command; the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades; and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement. These factions have increasingly participated in joint operations against the IDF, and the coalition has thus far largely withstood wartime pressure. At the same time, following several instances of rare protests among Gaza residents calling for Hamas to end the war, pressure has also built on the group to produce results amid deadlocked negotiations being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine recently urged Hamas "to intensify efforts, in cooperation with the Arab mediators, to reach an agreement to halt the aggression—even if only for 60 days." A spokesperson for the group later told Newsweek that the message "was an attempt by us to reach a 'partial step' that would guarantee a ceasefire, open the crossings, and meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza because we observed that living conditions had worsened and that the specter of famine was beginning to loom large." Meanwhile, Netanyahu has also faced mounting pressure from the international community and domestic voices to reach a ceasefire. But with talks being hosted in Qatar dragging on without a breakthrough, Israel and the United States have yet to outline a clear plan for what Gaza's postwar governance would look like despite asserting that Hamas would have to be removed from power. Israeli Deputy Consul General in New York Tsach Saar has previously told Newsweek that neither Hamas nor Israel would be in control of Gaza in a postwar landscape. Last week, he reiterated this stance, telling Newsweek that "it's not for us to determine who is going to be there the day after [the war is over]." "We are making sure that it's not going to be Hamas," Saar said. "And when Hamas is defeated, we will have to work together with our allies, with regional countries, surrounding countries, neighboring countries to find a solution for the day after." President Donald Trump's administration has said relatively little about its ally's announced ties to the Popular Forces in Gaza. U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Thomas Pigott declined to delve into the specifics of the issue when asked by reporters on Thursday but reiterated the broader U.S. policy on the conflict. "What I can say is our approach and our policy remains that we stand with Israel, and we stand for peace," Pigott said. "And those are our goals that we want to see." In addition to providing Israel with extensive military and political support throughout the war, the U.S. has also backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as the only organization approved by Israel to distribute aid in the territory. While an unnamed diplomatic official cited by CNN on Sunday claimed that Abu Shabab had established some level of direct or indirect contact with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization denied any connection in comments shared with the outlet. Related Articles Hamas Ally Calls on Group to Accept 'Partial' Ceasefire in GazaGreta Thunberg Boat Tracker as 'Freedom Flotilla' Sails Toward GazaHamas Says US Ceasefire Veto Violates 'American Values'Israel Fears Arms Race in Fight to Remain Middle East's Only Nuclear Power 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
