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Israeli hostage families near Jerusalem in march of solidarity and protest

Israeli hostage families near Jerusalem in march of solidarity and protest
Families and friends of about 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza call for their return as they begin a five-day "March for the Hostages" from Tel Aviv to the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on Nov. 14, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 17 November 2023
Reuters
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Israeli hostage families near Jerusalem in march of solidarity and protest

Israeli hostage families near Jerusalem in march of solidarity and protest
  • The procession left Tel Aviv three days ago
  • Police blocked off parts of the main highway as the marchers began to ascend the foothills leading to Jerusalem
Updated 17 November 2023
Reuters
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JERUSALEM: The families of Israeli hostages and thousands of supporters marched toward Jerusalem on Friday, increasing pressure on the government to secure the captives’ release nearly six weeks after Hamas militants abducted them and took them into Gaza.
The procession left Tel Aviv three days ago. Police blocked off parts of the main highway as the marchers began to ascend the foothills leading to Jerusalem.
They held up pictures of their loved ones, waved Israeli flags, and chanted “We won’t give up, we demand the hostages’ release!“
Hamas fighters took around 240 people hostage during their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The captives — ranging from babies to grandparents — are believed to be held in tunnels deep under the Gaza Strip.
Israeli and Arabic media have reported on negotiations to secure the release of at least some of the hostages, but there has been no confirmation from any side of an imminent deal.
“Hear our shout. Bring them back home now,” said Yuval Haran, who walked with a placard showing seven members of his family who were taken hostage, including his three-year-old niece.
“How can you put a price on a three-year old girl? We need them back now, at any price.”
The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, met up with the marchers and called for the unconditional release of the hostages.
“We work for this on all political and diplomatic levels and we just ask you to keep the hope alive,” he said, speaking through a megaphone. “In our hearts and our minds we are with you.”
At one point cabinet minister Miki Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, showed up and was largely met by jeers, with the crowd yelling “Shame!” and “Take responsibility!“
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy to come here. I knew I would get yelled at,” he said during a conversation with some of the marchers. “But it doesn’t matter. I came here to tell you, as clearly as possible, that we will do everything — everything — to bring everyone home.”
The families and their supporters say they will end the march of about 60 km (37 miles) on Saturday in front of Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem.

Topics: War on Gaza Israeli Hostages Hamas Tel Aviv

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Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor
Updated 48 min 51 sec ago
AFP
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Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor
  • Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since 2011, targeting pro-Iranian groups
  • Latest airstrikes targeted an area housing scientific research centers and weapons experts
Updated 48 min 51 sec ago
AFP

DAMASCUS: Israeli strikes in central Syria killed at least seven people late Sunday, including three civilians, a war monitor reported.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes there, targeting pro-Iranian groups in particular.
“The number of dead in the Israeli strikes on the Masyaf region stands at seven, namely three civilians, including a man and his son who were in a car, and four unidentified soldiers,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a vast network of sources inside the country.
The attack also wounded at least 15 others and destroyed military facilities in the area, the Observatory said.
“Thirteen violent explosions rang out in the zone housing scientific research centers in Masyaf where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” the group said in an earlier statement.
The Syrian state news agency Sana had previously reported five killed and 19 wounded near Masyaf, citing a medical source.
“Around 11:20 p.m. (2020 GMT) on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the northwest of Lebanon targeting a number of military sites in the central region,” Sana reported, citing a military source.
“Our air defense shot down some missiles.”
Israeli air raids in Syria have intensified since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
At the end of August, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the central region of Homs in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory said.
A few days later, the Israeli military said it had killed an unspecified number of fighters belonging to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria near the Lebanese border.

Topics: Syria Israel

US, UK aircraft bomb Houthi-held area as militia claims downing US drone

US, UK aircraft bomb Houthi-held area as militia claims downing US drone
Updated 09 September 2024
Saeed Al-Batati
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US, UK aircraft bomb Houthi-held area as militia claims downing US drone

US, UK aircraft bomb Houthi-held area as militia claims downing US drone
  • A Houthi-run news agency reported the strikes but did not say if there had been any loss of life
  • Houthis have targeted over 100 commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea since late last year
Updated 09 September 2024
Saeed Al-Batati

AL-MUKALLA: US and UK warplanes have blasted Houthi sites in Yemen’s Ibb province after the Yemeni militia claimed to have shot down a new US drone.

The Houthi-run official news agency reported on Sunday that American and British warplanes carried out three airstrikes on the Maytam region, north of Ibb province, the latest in a series of military operations against the Houthis in response to their attacks on ships.

The Houthis did not provide information on the targeted area in the region, or if there were any human or property damages.

Since early this year, US and UK forces have launched strikes on Houthi-held Yemeni provinces including Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Ibb, and others, targeting missile and drone launchers and storage facilities, as well as explosive-laden drone boats ready to attack ships in international shipping lanes off Yemen.

This comes as Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed on Saturday night that the Yemeni militia had shot down a US military MQ-9 drone engaged in “hostile activities” over the central province of Marib, the eighth such claim since the start of their anti-ship campaign in November.

The Houthis did not immediately publish a video of the operation to back up their claim, something they routinely do hours or days later.

The Houthis earlier claimed to have shot down the same kind of US drone over Hodeidah, Saada, and Marib using locally produced missiles.

Since late last year, the Houthis have launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and drone boats at over 100 commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean, claiming to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel’s war in Gaza.

During their campaign, the Houthis captured one commercial ship, sank two others, and set fire to numerous more.

The Greek-flagged Sounion oil ship carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil is still burning and abandoned in the Red Sea, having been repeatedly struck by Houthi fire.

Rescuers who visited the ship last week determined that it was too dangerous to relocate and looked at various possibilities for defusing the hazard on-site.

At the same time, the EU naval operation in the Red Sea, EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, said on Saturday that its three naval units had defended 230 ships on the major commerce artery, shot down 17 drones, two drone boats, and four ballistic missiles, and rescued 29 sailors since the mission began in February.

In a separate development, the Houthis said on Saturday that lightning bolts had killed 160 people in regions under their control since the beginning of the year, including 22 deaths in strikes during the last two days.

The most recent round of torrential and intense rains, which started in late July, has killed over 100 people, displaced thousands of families, destroyed hundreds of houses, and washed away roads and other infrastructure throughout Yemen, mainly in the country’s central highlands and western coastal provinces.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting between Yemeni government troops and the Houthis has erupted in hilly parts of the southern province of Lahj, killing or injuring numerous combatants from both sides.

Local media reported on Sunday that joint government soldiers from the Security Belt and the Giants Brigades recovered two areas in the Al-Musaymir District of Lahj that had fallen to the Houthis in recent days.

During the fighting, a Yemeni government soldier was killed, as well as an undetermined number of Houthis.

Despite a dramatic decline in hostilities in Yemen since April 2022 under the UN-brokered ceasefire, the Houthis have continued to wage lethal attacks on government soldiers in Taiz, Lahj, Dhale, and Marib.

Topics: Houthi

Iraq, US agree on phased pullout of coalition troops

Iraq, US agree on phased pullout of coalition troops
Updated 09 September 2024
AFP
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Iraq, US agree on phased pullout of coalition troops

Iraq, US agree on phased pullout of coalition troops
  • Pullout to be completed from Bagdad and other parts of federal Iraq by September 2025 and from Kurdistan by September 2026, says Iraq defense chief
  • The US has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Daesh group
Updated 09 September 2024
AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraq and the United States have agreed on a phased pullout of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition but have yet to sign a final agreement, the Iraqi defense minister said Sunday.
The US has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Daesh group.
They have been engaged in months of talks with Baghdad on a withdrawal of forces, but fell short of announcing any timeline so far.
On Sunday, Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet Al-Abbassi told pan-Arab television channel Al-Hadath that the coalition would pull out from bases in Baghdad and other parts of federal Iraq by September 2025 and from the autonomous northern Kurdistan region by September 2026.
The pullout is “two-phased” and “maybe we will sign the agreement within the next few days,” Abbassi said.
He added that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had said in a meeting that “two years were not enough” to carry out the withdrawal.
“We refused his proposal regarding an (extra) third year,” Abbassi said.
Coalition forces have been targeted dozens of times with drones and rocket fire in both Iraq and Syria, as violence related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since early October has drawn in Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.
US forces have carried out multiple retaliatory strikes against these groups in both countries.
The Daesh group seized parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, and was defeated by Baghdad three years later and in Syria in 2019.
But jihadist fighters continue to operate in remote desert areas although they no longer control any territory.
Iraqi security forces say they are capable of tackling Daesh remnants unassisted, as the group poses no significant threat.

Topics: Iraq US troops in Iraq Daesh Islamic State

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Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven: war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven: war monitor
Updated 09 September 2024
AFP
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Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven: war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven: war monitor
  • In the most high-profile attack on Syria since the war in Gaza began, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in April, a strike that Iran said killed seven military advisers, including three senior commanders
Updated 09 September 2024
AFP

DAMASCUS: Israeli strikes in central Syria killed at least seven people late Sunday, including three civilians, a war monitor reported.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes there, targeting pro-Iranian groups in particular.
“The number of dead in the Israeli strikes on the Masyaf region stands at seven, namely three civilians, including a man and his son who were in a car, and four unidentified soldiers,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a vast network of sources inside the country.
The attack also wounded at least 15 others and destroyed military facilities in the area, the Observatory said.
“Thirteen violent explosions rang out in the zone housing scientific research centers in Masyaf where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” the group said in an earlier statement.
The Syrian state news agency Sana had previously reported five killed and 19 wounded near Masyaf, citing a medical source.
“Around 11:20 p.m. (2020 GMT) on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the northwest of Lebanon targeting a number of military sites in the central region,” Sana reported, citing a military source.
“Our air defense shot down some missiles.”
Israeli air raids in Syria have intensified since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
At the end of August, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the central region of Homs in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory said.
A few days later, the Israeli military said it had killed an unspecified number of fighters belonging to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria near the Lebanese border.

 

 

Topics: War on Gaza Palestine Gaza Syria Iran

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Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner

Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner
Updated 09 September 2024
AP
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Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner

Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner
  • The tally reported on Sunday gave Tebboune a total vote share that was far more than the 87 percent that Vladimir Putin won in Russia’s March elections and the 92 percent that Ilham Aliyev got in Azerbaijan’s February contest
Updated 09 September 2024
AP

ALGIERS, Algeria: After being declared the winner of Algeria’s election, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined his two challengers in criticizing the country’s election authority for announcing results that contradicted earlier turnout figures and local tallies.
The claims of irregularities mar what had earlier appeared to be a landslide victory for the 78-year-old head of state.
The country’s independent election authority on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94.7 percent of Saturday’s vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who received only 3.2 percent and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who got just 2.2 percent.
Hours later, Tebboune joined his opponents in questioning the reported results with the three campaigns jointly issuing a statement accusing the country’s election chairman of announcing contradictory results.
In a country where elections have historically been carefully choreographed affairs, such astonishing questions about irregularities shocked Algerians who expected Tebboune to win in a relatively uneventful fashion.
It’s unclear what will follow all three candidates casting doubt on irregularities and whether they will prompt legal challenges or delay the final certification of the result.
The tally reported on Sunday gave Tebboune a total vote share that was far more than the 87 percent that Vladimir Putin won in Russia’s March elections and the 92 percent that Ilham Aliyev got in Azerbaijan’s February contest.
But efforts from Tebboune and members of his government to encourage voter turnout to project legitimacy appeared to have fallen short, with less than one out of every four voters participating.
Election officials on Sunday reported 5.6 million of the country’s roughly 24 million voters had turned out to vote. Such high abstention rates, which remain unofficial, would surpass the 2019 presidential election when 39.9 percent of the electorate participated.
Officials did not explain why they had earlier announced 48 percent voter turnout at the time of polls closing. Before the three candidates joined in questioning the discrepancy, both of Tebboune’s challengers raised questions about it, citing their own tallies.
Aouchiche called it “strange.” Ahmed Sadok, Cherif’s campaign manager, blasted delays and the way the figure was calculated.
“It’s a shame. It’s an attack on the image of Algeria, which will become the laughing stock of nations,” Sadok said earlier in the day.
He also said there had been a failure to deliver vote-sorting records to the candidates’ representatives and that said the party had recorded instances of proxy group voting and pressure put on poll workers to inflate certain figures.
Claims of irregularities cap off an election season that outraged activists and civil society groups. Human rights advocates railed against the campaign season’s repressive atmosphere and the harassment and prosecutions of those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups.
Some denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo. Amnesty International last week condemned Algeria’s “brutal crackdown on human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in the run up to the country’s presidential elections.”
Before the candidates questioned the results, Tebboune’s supporters and detractors each had drawn conclusions from the results.
Pro-Tebboune university professor Abdellaoui Djazouli said on public television that the result was a resounding endorsement of Tebboune’s program.
“The president has more legitimacy to continue his action to better establish his project for the new Algeria,” he said on public television.
But his runaway victory fueled criticism from pro-democracy activists who have long seen elections as tools that the country’s political elites have used to give off an appearance of popular support.
Many said the loudest message to come out of the election came from those who chose to abstain out of fear that the election would only entrench and legitimize “le pouvoir” — a term used to describe the military-backed elites who run the country.
“The vast majority of the Algerian people have just given ‘le pouvoir’ a lesson in democracy,” said Nassira Amour, a teacher and leading figure from Algeria’s pro-democracy movement.
“The majority did not vote ... This electoral masquerade is a victory for the Hirak,” Amour added, referencing the pro-democracy movement that swept the country in 2019.
That year, after Hirak protesters flooded the streets of Algerian cities, the military ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after two decades in power. The interim government that replaced him heeded calls from military leaders to hold elections later that year, angering protesters who saw expediting elections as a way to calm discontent and sidestep demands for civilian-led, non-military rule.
Tebboune, considered the military’s candidate, won his first-term in a widely boycotted election during which crowds sacked voting stations and police broke up demonstrations. Despite his early overtures and pledges to listen and usher in a “New Algeria,” Hirak protesters continued weekly demonstrations demanding deeper reforms.
Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.

 

Topics: Algeria President Abdelmadjid Tebboune

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