Artist’s mural in Gaza commemorates ‘buried dreams’ of Palestinian children
Calligrapher and photojournalist Bilal Khaled dedicated his artwork to the children of Gaza
Updated 23 February 2024
Arab News
GAZA: A Palestinian calligrapher and photojournalist has left a poignant “message to the world” via a large mural he painted on a building in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Bilal Khaled’s artwork, titled “Buried Dreams,” is dedicated to the children killed in an Israeli strike on the property.
At approximately 2.5 meters tall, the mural adorns the crumbling walls of the leveled building.
Photojournalist and calligrapher Bilal Khaled
He said: “I needed a mental breather from the genocide atmosphere and the smell of human remains, and at the same time, I wanted to leave a message for the world using the art that fascinates me – Arabic calligraphy.”
Khaled pointed out that he had included the word ahlam – Arabic for dreams – in the piece to commemorate the dreams of Gaza’s children.
“At least 13 people died in this building when an explosive barrel was dropped here. Many dreams have been buried under the rubble of this building,” he added.
Since Oct. 7, when Israel launched its bombing campaign in Gaza in retaliation for a deadly Hamas attack, more than 12,400 Palestinian children have been killed in strikes, according to Gaza health officials.
More than 600,000 children are trapped in Rafah on the Egyptian border after having fled with their families from other parts of the embattled Palestinian enclave.
On why he called his mural “Buried Dreams,” Khaled said: “These are the simple dreams of (Gaza’s) children, who want to live, have a home, and wear clean clothes. (The children of Gaza) have even lost the right to life.”
A missile fired by Houthi rebels targets central Israel as airstrikes hit displaced area in Gaza
No injuries from the missile or falling debris, but some people suffered injuries when running to shelters
Updated 4 sec ago
AP
JERUSALEM: A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted central Israel early Tuesday, causing sirens to blare and people to flee into bomb shelters. Several Israeli strikes also hit the Gaza Strip overnight and early on Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a phased ceasefire agreement The Israeli military said it made several attempts to intercept a missile launched from Yemen and “the missile was likely intercepted.” The Magen David Adom emergency service in Israel said 11 people injured while running to shelters. Israel’s military also said an earlier missile was intercepted before it entered Israeli territory. Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, have launched direct attacks on Israel and some 100 commercial ships as part of their campaign over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The rebels did not immediately acknowledge the attack, though it can take hours or even days for them to claim an assault. In central Gaza, at least six people — two women and their four children aged between 1 month and 9 years old — were killed by Israeli strikes that hit an area in Deir al Balah where displaced people live in tents. One woman — the mother of two of the boys killed — was pregnant. The other woman was killed together with her daughter and son. The information was confirmed by Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, which received the bodies.
Some Israeli soldiers refuse to keep fighting in Gaza
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue fighting in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed
Ishai Menuchin, spokesperson for Yesh Gvul, a movement for soldiers refusing to serve, said he works with more than 80 soldiers who have refused to fight and that there are hundreds more who feel similarly but remain silent
Updated 14 January 2025
AP
JERUSALEM: Yotam Vilk says the image of Israeli soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip is seared in his mind.
An officer in the armored corps, Vilk said the instructions were to shoot any unauthorized person who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Gaza. He saw at least 12 people killed, he said, but it is the shooting of the teen that he can’t shake.
“He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” Vilk, 28, told The Associated Press.
Vilk is among a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month conflict and refusing to serve anymore, saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines. While the movement is small — some 200 soldiers signed a letter saying they’d stop fighting if the government didn’t secure a ceasefire — soldiers say it’s the tip of the iceberg and they want others to come forward.
Destroyed buildings inside the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
Their refusal comes at a time of mounting pressure on Israel and Hamas to wind down the fighting. Ceasefire talks are underway, and both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have called for a deal by the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue fighting in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed. Several said they were ordered to burn or demolish homes that posed no threat, and they saw soldiers loot and vandalize residences.
Soldiers are required to steer clear of politics, and they rarely speak out against the army. After Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel quickly united behind the war launched against the militant group. Divisions here have grown as the war progresses, but most criticism has focused on the mounting number of soldiers killed and the failure to bring home hostages, not actions in Gaza.
Yuval Green, center, and Yotam Vilk, left, take part in a panel discussion for soldiers refusing to serve in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
International rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is investigating genocide allegations filed by South Africa. The International Criminal Court is seeking the arrests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Israel adamantly rejects genocide allegations and says it takes extraordinary measures to minimize civilian harm in Gaza. The army says it never intentionally targets civilians, and investigates and punishes cases of suspected wrongdoing. But rights groups have long said the army does a poor job of investigating itself.
The army told AP it condemns the refusal to serve and takes any call for refusal seriously, with each case examined individually. Soldiers can go to jail for refusing to serve, but none who signed the letter has been detained, according to those who organized the signatures.
Soldiers’ reactions in Gaza.
Yotam Vilk, who served in an armored unit in the Gaza Strip and is now one of a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month conflict, poses for a portrait in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
When Vilk entered Gaza in November 2023, he said, he thought the initial use of force might bring both sides to the table. But as the war dragged on, he said he saw the value of human life disintegrate.
On the day the Palestinian teenager was killed last August, he said, Israeli troops shouted at him to stop and fired warning shots at his feet, but he kept moving. He said others were also killed walking into the buffer zone — the Netzarim Corridor, a road dividing northern and southern Gaza.
Vilk acknowledged it was hard to determine whether people were armed, but said he believes soldiers acted too quickly.
Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees in Gaza, on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP)
In the end, he said, Hamas is to blame for some deaths in the buffer zone — he described one Palestinian detained by his unit who said Hamas paid people $25 to walk into the corridor to gauge the army’s reaction.
Some soldiers told AP it took time to digest what they saw in Gaza. Others said they became so enraged they decided they’d stop serving almost immediately.
Yuval Green, a 27-year-old medic, described abandoning his post last January after spending nearly two months in Gaza, unable to live with what he’d seen.
He said soldiers desecrated homes, using black markers meant for medical emergencies to scribble graffiti, and looted homes, looking for prayer beads to collect as souvenirs.
The final straw, he said, was his commander ordering troops to burn down a house, saying he didn’t want Hamas to be able to use it. Green said he sat in a military vehicle, choking on fumes amid the smell of burning plastic. He found the fire vindictive — he said he saw no reason to take more from Palestinians than they’d already lost. He left his unit before their mission was complete.
Green said that as much as he loathed what he witnessed, “the cruelty was at least in part provoked by the havoc wreaked by Hamas on Oct. 7, which people can forget.”
He said he wants his actions in refusing to serve to help break the vicious cycle of violence on all sides.
The soldiers’ refusal as an act of protest
Soldiers for the Hostages — the group behind the letter troops signed — is trying to garner momentum, holding an event this month in Tel Aviv and gathering more signatures. A panel of soldiers spoke about what they’d seen in Gaza. Organizers distributed poster-size stickers with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Max Kresch, an organizer, said soldiers can use their positions to create change. “We need to use our voice to speak up in the face of injustice, even if that is unpopular,” he said.
But some who fought and lost colleagues call the movement a slap in the face. More than 830 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war, according to the army.
“They are harming our ability to defend ourselves,” said Gilad Segal, a 42-year-old paratrooper who spent two months in Gaza at the end of 2023. He said everything the army did was necessary, including the flattening of houses used as Hamas hideouts. It’s not a soldier’s place to agree or disagree with the government, he argued.
Ishai Menuchin, spokesperson for Yesh Gvul, a movement for soldiers refusing to serve, said he works with more than 80 soldiers who have refused to fight and that there are hundreds more who feel similarly but remain silent.
Effects on soldiers
Some of the soldiers who spoke to AP said they feel conflicted and regretful, and they’re talking to friends and relatives about what they saw to process it.
Many soldiers suffer from “moral injury,” said Tuly Flint, a trauma therapy specialist who’s counseled hundreds of them during the war. It’s a response when people see or do something that goes against their beliefs, he said, and it can result in a lack of sleep, flashbacks and feelings of unworthiness. Talking about it and trying to spark change can help, Flint said.
One former infantry soldier told AP about his feelings of guilt — he said he saw about 15 buildings burned down unnecessarily during a two-week stint in late 2023. He said that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t have fought.
“I didn’t light the match, but I stood guard outside the house. I participated in war crimes,” said the soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity over fears of retaliation. “I’m so sorry for what we’ve done.”
Macron says new Lebanon PM represents ‘hope for change’
Lebanon has been managed by a caretaker government for the past two years, and Salam’s backers hope he can reduce the militant group Hezbollah’s domination of Lebanese politics and strengthen the central government
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
PARIS: France on Monday hailed the appointment of Nawaf Salam as Lebanon’s new prime minister, saying he had the will to help the war-scarred country emerge from its deep economic crisis.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun picked Salam, the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice, as prime minister.
“A hope for change is rising,” France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on X, wishing him “success in forming a government in the service of all Lebanese people.”
A majority of Lebanese lawmakers endorsed Salam to form a government for a country whose economy has been battered by the conflicts engulfing its neighbors.
Lebanon has been managed by a caretaker government for the past two years, and Salam’s backers hope he can reduce the militant group Hezbollah’s domination of Lebanese politics and strengthen the central government.
Macron’s office said Salam was “recognized for his integrity and his skills.”
He “has already expressed in the past his desire to lead the reforms that the Lebanese and the international community expect to put Lebanon back on the path to restoring its sovereignty and the reforms necessary for the economic recovery of the country.”
Macron’s office said he hoped Salam’s government could be both “strong” and “represent all the diversity of the Lebanese people.”
The agreement on a new prime minister “opens extremely promising prospects” to overcome Lebanon’s financial crisis, it said.
“It is about rebuilding trust and we are in a framework that will allow us to reassure international donors, carry out the expected reforms and build a financing framework,” the French presidency said.
Macron is expected to visit Lebanon shortly to show his support for the new leadership.
He has recently also spoken to Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, to Najib Mikati, the outgoing prime minister, and to Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community.
Turkiye’s Erdogan launches ‘Year of the Family’ with an attack on the LGBTQ+ community
Despite its low profile in Turkiye, the LGBTQ+ community has emerged as one of the main targets of the government and its supporters in recent years
Updated 14 January 2025
AP
ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the launch of Turkiye’s “Year of the Family” on Monday with an attack on the LGBTQ+ community and the announcement of measures to boost birth rates.
Citing the “historical truth that a strong family paves the way for a strong state,” Erdogan unveiled a series of financial measures to support young families.
The president returned to themes he has espoused before about LGBTQ+ people, including the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ movement as part of a foreign conspiracy aimed at undermining Turkiye.
“It is our common responsibility to protect our children and youth from harmful trends and perverse ideologies. Neoliberal cultural trends are crossing borders and penetrating all corners of the world,” he told an audience in Ankara. “They also lead to LGBT and other movements gaining ground.
“The target of gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family. Criticism of LGBT is immediately silenced, just like the legitimate criticisms of Zionism. Anyone who defends nature and the family is subject to heavy oppression.”
Despite its low profile in Turkiye, the LGBTQ+ community has emerged as one of the main targets of the government and its supporters in recent years.
Pride parades have been banned since 2015, with those seeking to participate facing tear gas and police barricades. In recent years, meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ+ rallies have received state support.
Turning to the “alarming” decline in the population growth rate, Erdogan said Turkiye was “losing blood” and recalled his 2007 demand that families have at least three children.
The president also pointed to people getting married later in life and rising divorce rates as causes for concern. Turkiye’s annual population growth rate dropped from 2.53 percent in 2015 to 0.23 percent last year.
“If we do not take the necessary measures, the problem will reach irreparable levels. In such an environment, population loss is inevitable,” he added.
To combat the threat to the family, Erdogan revealed policies such as interest-free loans for newlyweds; improved monetary allowances for the parents of new-born children; financial, counselling and housing support to encourage new families; and free or low-cost childcare.
UAE president welcomes Azerbaijani counterpart to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
President Ilham Aliyev reaffirms his country’s dedication to enhancement of growing ties with the Emirates in various sectors
Updated 14 January 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, on Monday greeted Ilham Aliyev, his counterpart from Azerbaijan, who is visiting the Emirates to take part in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
During their meeting at Qasr Al-Shati in the capital, the leaders discussed ways in which cooperation between their countries might be enhanced in terms of the economy, investment, development, renewable energy and climate action.
They also examined key aspects of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and its role in efforts to enhance global awareness of the challenges related to sustainability, the Emirates News Agency reported. Aliyev also reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s dedication to growing ties with the UAE in various sectors.
Other officials present at the meeting included Mohammed Murad Al-Balushi, the Emirati ambassador to Azerbaijan, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week began on Jan. 12 and continues until Jan. 18.
