US pushes alternatives to Rafah invasion in Hamas war talks with Israel

US pushes alternatives to Rafah invasion in Hamas war talks with Israel
Palestinians inspect the damage to a building after overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (AP)
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Updated 02 April 2024
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US pushes alternatives to Rafah invasion in Hamas war talks with Israel

US pushes alternatives to Rafah invasion in Hamas war talks with Israel
  • The potential operation in the city has exposed one of the deepest rifts between Israel and its closest ally, funder and arms supplier

WASHINGTON: Top American and Israeli officials held virtual talks Monday as the US pushed alternatives to the ground assault against Hamas under consideration by Israelis in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a move the US opposes on humanitarian grounds and that has frayed relations between the two allies.
President Joe Biden and his administration have publicly and privately urged Israel for months to refrain from a large-scale incursion into Rafah without a credible plan to relocate and safeguard noncombatants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel I forces, which are trying to eradicate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, must be able to enter the city to root out the group’s remaining battalions.
The more than two-and-a-half-hour meeting by secure video conference was described by both sides as constructive and productive, as Washington encourages the Israelis to avoid an all-out assault on the city, where an estimated four battalions of Hamas fighters are dispersed among more than 1.3 million civilians. The White House has instead pushed Israel to take more targeted actions to kill or capture Hamas leaders while limiting civilian impacts.
The potential operation in the city has exposed one of the deepest rifts between Israel and its closest ally, funder and arms supplier. The US has already openly said Israel must do more to allow food and other goods through its blockade of Gaza to avert famine.
“They agreed that they share the objective to see Hamas defeated in Rafah,” the US and Israeli teams known as the Strategic Consultative Group said in a joint statement released by the White House. “The US side expressed its concerns with various courses of action in Rafah. The Israeli side agreed to take these concerns into account and to have follow up discussions between experts overseen by the SCG. The follow-up discussions would include in person SCG meeting as early as next week.”
The virtual meeting came a week after planned in-person talks were nixed by Netanyahu when the US didn’t veto a UN resolution thaThe potential operation in the city has exposed one of the deepest rifts between Israel and its closest ally, funder and arms supplier.t called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired the meeting for the US side. The Israeli side was led by Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Minister for Strategic Affairs and Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer.

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Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city

Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city
Updated 38 sec ago
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Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city

Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli strike Sunday on Haret Saida, a densely populated area near the southern city of Sidon.
“The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in an initial death toll of three people killed and nine others injured,” the ministry said. The strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning.
Also on Sunday, an Israeli strike hit the town of Ghaziyeh, south of Sidon, the official National News Agency (NNA) said.
That strike hit a residential building, according to an AFP correspondent, who said a child was rescued from beneath the rubble.
The health ministry did not provide a death toll.
Several Israeli strikes also hit near a governmental hospital in Tebnin, a town in the south Lebanon district of Bint Jbeil.
Strikes have previously been reported in the Bint Jbeil area since war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah began more than a month ago.
The latest strikes caused significant damage to the hospital facility, according to Tebnin mayor Nabil Fawaz.
Fawaz told AFP that the hospital may be put of service as a result of the damage but an official decision has yet to be taken.
Sunday’s raids on south Lebanon came without an evacuation warning.
The Israeli army on Sunday had called for the evacuation of the eastern Baalbek region ahead of expected strikes there.
Israel escalated its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in south Lebanon, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley from September 23, after a year of cross-border fire. A week later it sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
The war has killed more than 1,930 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, though the real toll may be higher due to gaps in the data.

Israel army issues new evacuation call for Lebanon’s Baalbek region

Israel army issues new evacuation call for Lebanon’s Baalbek region
Updated 03 November 2024
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Israel army issues new evacuation call for Lebanon’s Baalbek region

Israel army issues new evacuation call for Lebanon’s Baalbek region
  • The latest evacuation call came as the military’s Home Front Command activated sirens at regular intervals along the border
  • Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah have been locked in a deadly war since September 23 that has killed more than 1,900

Jerusalem: The Israeli military on Sunday called for the evacuation of the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon, warning that it was ready to strike Hezbollah targets there and in nearby Douris.
The latest evacuation call came as the military’s Home Front Command activated sirens at regular intervals along the border as dozens of projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory since Sunday morning.
“You are currently located near the facilities and assets associated with Hezbollah, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be targeting in the near future,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X addressed to residents of Baalbek and Douris.
The Israeli air force intercepted several projectiles that were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, while some fell in open areas, the military said in a statement.
On Thursday, rocket fire from Lebanon killed seven people in the town of Metula in northern Israel, including four Thai farmers.
Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah have been locked in a deadly war since September 23 that has killed more than 1,900 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
Israel’s military says 38 soldiers have been killed in the Lebanon campaign since it began ground operations on September 30.
Clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants first erupted on October 8 last year when the Lebanese group began firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas, a day after the Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s sweeping military response against Hamas has led to the deaths of 43,314 Palestinians in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations consider to be reliable.


Turkiye seeks deeper Africa ties at summit

Turkiye seeks deeper Africa ties at summit
Updated 03 November 2024
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Turkiye seeks deeper Africa ties at summit

Turkiye seeks deeper Africa ties at summit
  • Fourteen African countries attended the latest ministerial meeting in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti
  • Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who presided over the summit, said trade with the continent surpassed $35 billion last year

Nairobi: Turkiye on Sunday said it was committed to deepening relations with Africa, which it and called on to back diplomatic support for Palestinians, as it held its latest African summit in Djibouti.
Turkiye has invested heavily across Africa in recent years, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan carrying out 50 visits to 31 countries during his two decades in power.
Fourteen African countries attended the latest ministerial meeting in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti this weekend.
They included Angola, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who presided over the summit, said trade with the continent surpassed $35 billion last year and Turkiye’s direct investments now totalled $7 billion.
“Turkiye is employing a comprehensive and holistic approach in terms of enhancing our trade and economic partnership with the continent,” Fidan said in a speech.
Turkiye has become the fourth largest arms supplier to sub-Saharan Africa and helped train armed forces in many countries.
In recent months, it has attempted to mediate a feud between Ethiopia and Somalia, and struck a mining deal with Niger.
Fidan reiterated support for the African Union to become a permanent member of the G20, and for reform of the United Nations Security Council.
“We should continue our efforts to make the UN more relevant and capable of confronting the complex challenges of the century. Security Council reform is critical in this sense,” he said.
Fidan also called for greater African involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“We believe that Africa can play an instrumental role in supporting the Palestinian cause and in stopping Israel,” he said.
“We appreciate the African countries that stand with Palestine,” he added, highlighting South Africa’s recent move to file evidence of “genocide” committed by Israel to the International Criminal Court.
The next Turkiye-Africa Summit is due to be held in 2026.


Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it
Updated 03 November 2024
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Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it
  • The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year
  • Israel has been carrying out another offensive there in recent weeks that has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands

CAIRO: Palestinian officials say an Israeli drone strike on a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated for polio wounded six people, including four children. The Israeli military denied responsibility.
The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year. Israel has been carrying out another offensive there in recent weeks that has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.
It was not possible to resolve the conflicting accounts. Israeli forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in Gaza over the course of the war, saying Hamas uses them for militant purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza City early Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after a United Nations delegation left the facility.
The World Health Organization and the UN children’s agency, known as UNICEF, which are jointly carrying out the polio vaccination campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike.
“The reports of this attack are even more disturbing as the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is one of the health points where parents can get their children vaccinated,” said Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for UNICEF.
“Today’s attack occurred while the humanitarian pause was still in effect, despite assurances given that the pause would be respected from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.”
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that “contrary to the claims, an initial review determined that the (Israeli military) did not strike in the area at the specified time.”
A scaled-down campaign to administer a second dose of the polio vaccine began Saturday in parts of northern Gaza. It had been postponed from Oct. 23 due to lack of access, Israeli bombings and mass evacuation orders, and the lack of assurances for humanitarian pauses, a UN statement said.
The administration of the first dose was carried out in September across the Gaza Strip, including areas of northern Gaza that are now completely sealed off. Health officials said the campaign’s first round, and the administration of the second dose across central and southern Gaza, were successful.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from areas of north Gaza toward Gaza City in the past few weeks, but around 15,000 children under the age of 10 remain in northern towns, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, which are inaccessible, according to the UN
The final phase of the polio vaccination campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the agencies said, but “achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints.”
They say 90 percent of children in every community must be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.
The campaign was launched after the first polio case was reported in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in the leg. The World Health Organization said the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but aren’t showing symptoms.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children.


UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments
Updated 03 November 2024
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UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Saturday had a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to review ties between the two nations and the latest regional developments.

They also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation to advance the shared ambitions of both countries and their peoples, WAM news agency reported.

The two leaders exchanged views on regional and international issues, and underscored the need for concerted efforts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East and avoid additional crises.