Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations

Update Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations
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A Palestinian child cries during a polio vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Update Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations
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A displaced Palestinian mother, Wafaa Abdelhadi, walks past the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike as she returns to her shelter with her daughters Lynn and Roueida, after they got vaccinated against polio, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip September 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Update Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations
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A displaced Palestinian mother, Wafaa Abdelhadi, carries her daughter Lynn as she waits to get her vaccinated against polio, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip September 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 03 September 2024
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Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations

Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 33 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations
  • Among those killed were four women in the southern city of Rafah and eight people near a hospital in Gaza City in the north
  • WHO said that it was ahead of its targets for polio vaccinations in Gaza on Tuesday, day three of a mass campaign, and had inoculated about a quarter of children under 10

CAIRO: Israeli forces killed 33 Palestinians across Gaza in the past 24 hours as they battled Hamas-led militants, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday, but brief pauses in fighting allowed medics to conduct a third day of polio vaccinations for children.
Among those killed were four women in the southern city of Rafah and eight people near a hospital in Gaza City in the north, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said. Others were killed in separate air strikes across the territory, it said.
The Israeli military said it killed eight Palestinian gunmen, including a senior Hamas commander who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, at a command center near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.
A statement said Ahmed Fozi Nazer Muhammad Wadia had taken command of a “massacre of civilians carried out by Hamas terrorists” in Israel’s Netiv HaAsara community near the Gaza border. There was no response from Hamas.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were battling Israeli forces in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, and also in Rafah and Khan Younis in the south.
Nevertheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it was ahead of its targets for polio vaccinations in Gaza on Tuesday, day three of a mass campaign, and had inoculated about a quarter of children under 10.
The campaign, which was hastened by the discovery of the first polio case in a Gazan baby last month, relies on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in specific areas of the besieged enclave.
Diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire and release foreign and Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return many Palestinians jailed by Israel have stalled, however.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israeli troops would remain in the Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of Gaza, one of the main sticking points in reaching a deal to end the fighting and return hostages.
Hamas, which wants an agreement to end the war and see Israeli forces out of all of the Gaza Strip, says such a condition, among some others, would prevent a deal. Netanyahu says war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.

POLIO CAMPAIGN
The United Nations, in collaboration with the local health authorities, embarked on the third day of a complex campaign to vaccinate around 640,000 children in Gaza.
Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva that it had vaccinated more than 161,000 children under 10 in the central area in the first two days of its campaign, compared with a projection of around 150,000.
“Up until now things are going well,” he said. “These humanitarian pauses, up until now they work. We still have 10 days to go.” He said that some children in southern Gaza were thought to be outside the agreed zone for the pauses and that negotiations continued in order to reach them.
Palestinians say a key reason for the return of polio is the collapse of the health system and the destruction of most Gaza hospitals. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes, which the Islamist group denies.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, when its fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the enclave’s health ministry said on Monday.


Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages

Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages
Updated 10 sec ago
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Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages

Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages
BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Monday that the Israeli military has been incapable of occupying even a single village in Lebanon since launching cross-border ground operations six weeks ago.
Israeli troops on September 30 began what the military called “localized and targeted raids” against Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern border area, a week after escalating air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“After 45 days of bloody fighting, the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village,” Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told a news conference in south Beirut, a stronghold of the movement and a repeated target of Israeli air raids.
Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, had on October 23 issued a similar statement that said Israel’s army “has not been able to fully establish its control or completely occupy any village” in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said its aim is to make its northern border safe for the return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced when Hezbollah began cross-border fire, which it described as support for Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza, more than a year ago.
On November 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops at the Lebanon border that the operation aimed to push Hezbollah back over the Litani River.
He said a second goal was to stop any attempt to rearm and the third was “to respond firmly to any action taken against us,” according to his office.
On Monday Hezbollah spokesman Afif said the group’s fighters had repulsed Israeli troops in Khiam, about six kilometers (four miles) from the border.
He added that the Israelis also failed in attempts “to penetrate on several fronts at Bint Jbeil,” about 17 kilometers southwest of Khiam.
Footage verified by AFP last week showed massive detonations in the village of Mais Al-Jabal, between Bint Jbeil and Khiam. Similar aerial scenes have been captured from several border villages since Israel sent in ground troops.
Hezbollah accuses Israel of seeking to create a “no man’s land” on the frontier.
Afif denied that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had diminished the group’s missile stock.
He asked how that could be the case “when we targeted the suburbs of Tel Aviv several days ago” and employed for the first time Fateh missiles.
The group announced on November 6 that it had begun to use Fateh-110 Iranian-made surface-to-surface guided missiles.
In a March report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies described Hezbollah as “probably the most heavily armed non-state group in the world,” with an estimated 120,000-200,000 rockets and missiles.
Asked about ceasefire prospects, Afif said that since the election of Donald Trump last week to the United States presidency, there were “contacts between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and other capitals.”
But he said, “according to my information nothing official has reached Hezbollah or the Lebanese state.”
Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders but Afif said the group remains “ready for a long war.”

‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking

‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking
Updated 17 min 19 sec ago
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‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking

‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking
  • Corruption is endemic in the state institutions of oil-rich Iraq

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s anti-corruption agency on Monday announced an investigation into a prime ministerial aide over an alleged audio recording in which he referred to a bribe as being too small.
Corruption is endemic in the state institutions of oil-rich Iraq, but the top echelons of power often evade accountability.
The aide, Abdel Karim Al-Faisal, denied the accusation and has denounced on Facebook the “fabricated” audio clip.
In the recording obtained by Iraqi media, a man alleged to be Faisal criticized his interlocutor, during a phone call, for the bribe being “only $1 million.”
The Commission of Integrity anti-graft body said in a statement it was acting under a directive from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in opening “an investigation into an audio recording attributed to the head of the Commission of Advisers to the Prime Minister’s Office.”
It added that it was acting “in coordination with a criminal court judge handling anti-corruption cases.”
AFP was not able to authenticate the recording.
In the past few weeks several leaks of alleged recordings have shaken Iraq.
Last month, the chief of the tax bureau, Ali Alawi, was suspended for 60 days after an investigation opened following such a leak. An audio recording attributed to him led to accusations that he had granted tax reductions.
He was also placed in detention, a source with the Commission of Integrity told AFP, under cover of anonymity.
The former head of the integrity commission himself was fired, only to be given an advisory post at the justice ministry.
This came after judicial authorities in September had announced a probe into the integrity commission chief over alleged audio recordings attributed to him and related to suspected bribery.
It is not unknown in Iraq for public officials to try to settle scores by trading accusations.
One of the country’s biggest-ever corruption cases involved the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds from 2021 to 2022.
At the end of August, the judiciary issued arrest warrants for a businessman alleged to be the main suspect in that case, and for a former government official.


Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears

Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears
Updated 29 min 48 sec ago
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Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears

Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears
  • The meeting will come amid hopes of a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza suffering a setback with Qatar suspending its mediation role in the negotiations

WASHINGTON: Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday in Washington, the State Department said, as a deadline set by Washington to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza nears.
The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), according to the department’s public schedule, which did not offer further details.
Hopes for a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its role as a mediator in negotiations. Israel separately said on Monday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon.
The US government said in an Oct. 13 letter that Israel had 30 days to take specific steps to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel’s military assault in the last 13 months has displaced nearly the entire population, caused a hunger crisis and led to allegations of genocide at the World Court, which Israel denies.
Since that letter, Blinken has urged Israel to substantially increase humanitarian aid. Earlier this month, he spoke to Dermer and discussed a diplomatic solution in Lebanon as well as ending the war in Gaza, according to the State Department.
Some analysts say Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration may no longer have enough leverage after Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election. He is set to take office on Jan. 20.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 43,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel’s separate military operations in Lebanon have killed over 3,000 and displaced over a million. Israel says it is targeting Lebanese Hezbollah militants. 


Tunisian ex-presidential candidate’s jail time now 35 years

Tunisian ex-presidential candidate’s jail time now 35 years
Updated 11 November 2024
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Tunisian ex-presidential candidate’s jail time now 35 years

Tunisian ex-presidential candidate’s jail time now 35 years
  • Zammel, a former lawmaker, businessman and head of a small liberal party, received around seven percent of the presidential vote

TUNIS: Former Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was sentenced on Monday to two years and eight months in prison, raising his cumulative jail time to 35 years following previous trials.
Zammel, one of only two candidates allowed to stand against President Kais Saied last month, was arrested in early September, on the same day that the electoral authorities had approved his candidacy.
A court in Marouba, near the capital Tunis, “increased by two years and eight months” his sentence, after he was convicted of falsifying endorsements to stand in the election, his lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi said.
Zammel, 47, has now been handed down cumulative sentences of 35 years in jail, Messaoudi said, adding that the former candidate was being prosecuted in 37 different cases.
Each endorsement alleged to have been falsified is grounds for opening a new case, he added.
Zammel, a former lawmaker, businessman and head of a small liberal party, received around seven percent of the presidential vote, whereas Saied won more than 90 percent, according to the Tunisian election board, ISIE.
Saied was democratically elected president in 2019 but two years later staged a sweeping power grab, dissolved parliament and revised the constitution.


Lebanon PM urges global support for state, not factions

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) upon his arrival in Riyadh. (AFP)
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) upon his arrival in Riyadh. (AFP)
Updated 11 November 2024
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Lebanon PM urges global support for state, not factions

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) upon his arrival in Riyadh. (AFP)
  • “Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future,” Mikati said

RIYADH: Lebanon’s prime minister on Monday urged the international community to support the state, not factions operating in the country, and in a thinly veiled swipe at Iran, urged countries to stop interfering in its affairs.
At a summit of Arab and Islamic countries, Prime Minister Najib Mikati demanded that countries stop “interfering in its internal affairs by supporting this or that group, but rather support Lebanon as a state and entity.”

He warned that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatens its existence, as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.
“Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future,” he told the summit in Riyadh.