The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he’s seen

A man cycles as smoke from Israeli bombardment rises behind him in an area that was ordered to be evacuated by the Israeli army in the southeast of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on Sep. 8. (AFP)
A man cycles as smoke from Israeli bombardment rises behind him in an area that was ordered to be evacuated by the Israeli army in the southeast of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on Sep. 8. (AFP)
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Updated 10 September 2024
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The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he’s seen

A man cycles as smoke from Israeli bombardment rises behind him in an area that was ordered to be evacuated by the Israeli army.
  • Guterres said: “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the UN”

UNITED NATIONS: The UN chief said Monday that the United Nations has offered to monitor any ceasefire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
Secretary-General António Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.
But he said “the UN will be available to support any ceasefire.” The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and “from our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we’ve put on the table,” he said.
“Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”
Israel’s military assault on Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, has stretched for 11 months, with recent ceasefire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and violence in the West Bank reaching new highs.
Stressing the urgency of a ceasefire now, Guterres said: “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations. I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.”
The war has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count though it says about half of the dead have been women and children. Israel says at least 17,000 militants are among the dead.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon reacted to Guterres’ comments saying, “It is disappointing to see the UN advocate for a ceasefire without mentioning the hostages and without condemning Hamas.”
“A ceasefire cannot – and will not – take place so long as our remaining hostages taken from us on Oct. 7 remain in captivity in Gaza,” he said in a statement. “I urge the UN Security Council to urgently convene and condemn Hamas in the strongest possible terms and demand the release of all 101 hostages in Gaza.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused the UN of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of UN humanitarian operations in Gaza, including accusing UN workers of collaborating with Hamas. He also has voiced skepticism about peacekeeping missions, saying only Israel can protect itself.
Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Netanyahu has pushed back against pressure for a ceasefire deal and declared that “no one will preach to me.”
Israel’s UN Mission spokesperson did not immediately respond to calls or a text message seeking comment.
Looking beyond an agreement, Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only viable, “it’s the only solution.”
The United States and others support Palestinian statehood in lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, but Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in Israel’s history, has opposed calls for a two-state solution.
Guterres asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.
“It means that you have 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,” he said. “Is it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in South Africa in the past?“
He was referring to South Africa’s apartheid system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population marginalized and segregated people of color, especially Black people.
“I do not think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect — mutual respect of their rights,” Guterres said. “So the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if we want to have peace in the Middle East.”
The Palestinians have circulated a draft UN resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months. The proposed General Assembly resolution follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In the wide-ranging interview, the UN chief painted a grim global picture, saying, “Our world is in total disarray — I would say in total chaos.”
Conflicts are spreading and the most dramatic ones like Ukraine and Gaza have no end in sight, he said. Climate change is having devastating effects and artificial intelligence is developing without serious guardrails.
At the same time, Guterres said, “we see dramatic inequalities” and developing countries struggling, many submerged in debt and without resources to educate their children and or provide basic infrastructure.
The secretary-general has invited world leaders to a summit in the days before their annual high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly later this month to recommit to working together to meet those challenges and reform multilateral institutions established after World War II, including the UN
Guterres said Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk region shows that the war, now in its third year, will not end quickly or easily.
“The situation in Ukraine is stuck, and I do not see a ceasefire in the immediate future,” he said.
The secretary-general also said UN humanitarian operations are in crisis because needs have increased dramatically “with the proliferation of conflicts, proliferation of natural disasters, with climate change moving fast.” But funding has not.
Unfortunately, the priorities of the world’s leaders “do not correspond to the real needs of humankind at the present moment,” he said.

 


Israel faces backlash for defacing Lebanese war memorials

Israel faces backlash for defacing Lebanese war memorials
Updated 11 sec ago
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Israel faces backlash for defacing Lebanese war memorials

Israel faces backlash for defacing Lebanese war memorials
  • At least 2 memorials honoring victims of Hula massacre targeted
  • Incidents are latest in series of alleged attacks on cultural, religious heritage sites

LONDON: Israel’s reported defacing of war memorials in Lebanon has ignited widespread outrage online, with critics accusing Tel Aviv of yet another “immoral” act during its ongoing conflict.

“A memorial in the village of Hula, commemorating the massacre committed by the Israeli army in 1948, defaced & desecrated with the above Hebrew graffiti, by Israel’s most immoral army in the world,” said Lebanese-British journalist and author Hala Jaber on X.

According to online reports, which Arab News could not independently verify, Israel’s Golani Brigade allegedly vandalized a memorial in Hula — a southern Lebanese village — dedicated to victims of a 1948 massacre. Graffiti sprayed on the memorial reportedly read: “A good Shiite is a dead Shiite.”

The desecration has drawn sharp criticism, with users on social media highlighting the act as emblematic of broader issues within Israeli society.

A user said: “Netanyahu represents a large part of Israelis … no, the war and the atrocities committed by Israel are not only the work of Netanyahu … the evil of Israeli society is much deeper.”

L’Orient-Le Jour quoted Hula City Council Chairman Chakib Koteich confirming the vandalism, as well as the destruction of a monument commemorating the same massacre.

Funded by Lebanon’s Southern Council, the memorial was unveiled in 2002 in a ceremony led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

The memorial honored victims of the Oct. 31, 1948, Hula massacre, in which members of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group, disguised as Arab Relief Army soldiers, surrounded and attacked the village.

Over two days, 80 residents — men, women, children, and the elderly — were killed and the village’s 250 homes destroyed.

The incidents are the latest in a series of alleged attacks on cultural and religious heritage sites in Lebanon and Gaza since October 2023.

Local media reported in November that Israeli forces had destroyed cemeteries and historic burial sites in southern Lebanon, including the ancient shrine of Prophet Benjamin in the village of Mhaibib.

Israeli forces were earlier accused of demolishing a memorial to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at the entrance to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

UNESCO recently placed 34 Lebanese heritage sites under “enhanced protection,” citing targeted strikes near World Heritage landmarks in Baalbek and Tyre. These areas, both Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds, are home to ancient Roman ruins of global cultural significance.

The outrage comes as the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza.

While the suspects are unlikely to face trial, the announcement could alter the dynamics of the current conflict, although its broader implications remain uncertain.


Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border
Updated 15 min 4 sec ago
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Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

MASNAA, Lebanon: Stuck in no man’s land on the war-hit Lebanon-Syria border, cab driver Fadi Slika now scrapes a living ferrying passengers between two deep craters left by Israeli air strikes.

The journey is just 2 km, but Slika has no other choice — his taxi is his only source of income.

“My car is stuck between craters: I can’t reach Lebanon or return to Syria. Meanwhile, we’re under threat of (Israeli) bombardment,” said the 56-year-old.

“I work and sleep here between the two holes,” he said.

A dual Lebanese-Syrian national, Slika has been living in his car, refusing to abandon it when it broke down until a mechanic brought a new engine.

His taxi is one of the few that has been operating between the two craters since Israeli strikes in October effectively blocked traffic on the Masnaa crossing.

The bombed area has become a boon for drivers of tuk-tuks, who can navigate the craters easily. 

A makeshift stall, the Al-Joura (pit in Arabic) rest house, and a shop are set up nearby.

Slika went for 12 days without work while waiting for his taxi to be fixed. The car has become his home. A warm blanket covers its rear seats against eastern Lebanon’s cold winters, and a big bag of pita bread sits on the passenger side.

Before being stranded, Slika made about $100 for trips from Beirut to Damascus.

Now, an average fare between the craters is just $5.50 each way, though he said he charged more.

On Sept. 23, Israel intensified its aerial bombing of Lebanon and later sent in ground troops, nearly a year after Hezbollah initiated limited exchanges of fire in support of Hamas amid the Gaza war.

Since then, Israel has bombed several land crossings with Syria out of service. 

It accuses Hezbollah of using what are key routes for people fleeing the war in Lebanon to transfer weapons from Syria.

Amid the hardship of the conflict, more than 610,000 people have fled from Lebanon to Syria, mostly Syrians, according to Lebanese authorities.

Undeterred by attacks, travelers still trickle through Masnaa, traversing the two craters that measure about 10 meters deep and 30 meters wide.

On the other side of the road, Khaled Khatib, 46, was fixing his taxi, its tires splattered with mud and hood coated in dust.

“After the first strike, I drove from Syria and parked my car before the crater. When the second strike hit, I got stuck between the two holes,” he said, sweat beading as he looked under the hood.

“We used to drive people from Damascus to Beirut. Now, we take them from one crater to another.”

Khatib doesn’t charge passengers facing tough times, he said, adding he had been displaced from southern Beirut, hammered by Israeli raids since September. He moved back to his hometown near the Masnaa crossing.

Despite harsh times, a sense of camaraderie reigns.

The drivers “became like brothers. We eat together at the small stall every day ... and we help each other fix our cars,” he said.

Mohamed Yassin moved his coffee stall from the Masnaa crossing closer to the pit after the strike, offering breakfast, lunch, and coffee. “We try to help people as much as possible,” he said.

Farther from the Lebanese border, travelers crossed the largest of the two crevasses, wearing plastic coverings on their shoes to avoid slipping in the mud.

A cab driver on a mound called out, “Taxi to Damascus!” while tuk-tuks and trucks ferried passengers, bags, and mattresses across.

Nearby, Aida Awda Mubarak, a Syrian mother of six, haggled with a tuk-tuk driver over the $1 fare.

The 52-year-old said she was out of work and needed to see her son after the east Lebanon town where he lives was hit by Israeli strikes.

“Sometimes we just can’t afford to pay for a tuk-tuk or a cab,” she said.


Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself

Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself
Updated 49 min 42 sec ago
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Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself

Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself
  • “No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us — and it will not prevent me — from continuing to defend our country in every way,” Netanyahu said
  • The premier is accused alongside his former defense minister Yoav Gallant of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity“

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court over his conduct of the Gaza war would not stop him defending Israel.
“No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us — and it will not prevent me — from continuing to defend our country in every way,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “We will not yield to pressure,” he vowed.
The premier is accused alongside his former defense minister Yoav Gallant of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
He described Thursday’s decision as a “dark day in the history of nations.”
“The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which was established to protect humanity, has today become the enemy of humanity,” he said, adding that the accusations were “utterly baseless.”
Israel has been fighting in Gaza since October 2023, when a cross-border attack by Hamas militants resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Its retaliatory campaign has led to the deaths of 44,056 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.
UN agencies have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including possible famine, due to a lack of food and medicines.
The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu said the court was accusing Israel of “fictitious crimes,” while ignoring “the real war crimes, horrific war crimes being committed against us and against many others around the world.”
In addition to Netanyahu and Gallant, the court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military wing chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was killed in an air strike last July.
Hamas has never confirmed his death.
Netanyahu mocked the court’s decision to issue a warrant for “the body of Mohammed Deif.”


Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant
Updated 21 November 2024
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Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant
  • Crosetto believed the ICC was “wrong” to put Netanyahu and Gallant on the same level as Hamas
  • It was not a political choice but Italy was bound as a member of the ICC to act on the court’s warrants

ROME: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday his country would be obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.
The ICC earlier also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif.
Crosetto — whose country holds the G7 rotating presidency this year — told RAI television’s Porta a Porta program that he believed the ICC was “wrong” to put Netanyahu and Gallant on the same level as Hamas.
But he said that if Netanyahu or Gallant “were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them.”
It was not a political choice but Italy was bound as a member of the ICC to act on the court’s warrants, Crosetto said.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier been more cautious, saying: “We support the ICC, while always remembering that the court must play a legal role and not a political role.
“We will evaluate together with our allies what to do and how to interpret this decision.”


Israeli strikes kill 47 people in eastern Lebanon, official says

Israeli strikes kill 47 people in eastern Lebanon, official says
Updated 21 November 2024
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Israeli strikes kill 47 people in eastern Lebanon, official says

Israeli strikes kill 47 people in eastern Lebanon, official says
  • Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said at least 47 were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region
  • In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israeli strikes killed at least 47 people in eastern Lebanon on Thursday, a Lebanese official said, pressing the campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group as a US mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks in Israel.
US mediator Amos Hochstein, who said a ceasefire was “within our grasp” during a visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. There were no immediate statements.
Indicating there were still gaps to close, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut had sought changes to the US ceasefire proposal, to include ensuring a speedier withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon.
The diplomacy marks the most serious attempt yet to end the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional spillover of the Gaza war that erupted more than a year ago.
Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said at least 47 were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region. Posting on X, he said rescue operations were underway. The region bordering Syria is an area of Lebanon where Shiite Islamist Hezbollah holds sway.
Beirut shook as Israeli airstrikes hit the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs about a dozen times, sending up clouds of debris, in some of the most intense airstrikes yet.
Residents have largely fled the area since Israel went on the offensive against Hezbollah in September.
The Israeli army said its strikes were against Hezbollah infrastructure and that it had mitigated civilian harm through advance warnings and other steps.
In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel’s MDA medical service said.
“The Israeli government is not safeguarding my security, my residents or the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation like this,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told public broadcaster Kansas
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified,” the military said in a statement.
Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal town.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station, citing its correspondent, confirmed rocket fire toward Nahariya and the surrounding area.
White House envoy Hochstein left for Israel after declaring progress in two days of talks in Lebanon with officials including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, endorsed to negotiate by Hezbollah. Speaking before he left Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close an agreement if possible.

BATTLE OF KHIYAM
The diplomacy aims to end a conflict that has inflicted massive devastation in Lebanon since Israel began its offensive, mounting airstrikes across wide parts of the country and sending troops into the south.
Footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed thick smoke rising from the town of Khiyam in southern Lebanon, some 6 km (4 miles) from the border, a focal point of ground battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Hezbollah, which has suffered major blows since Israel began its offensive in September, has kept up rocket fire into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters are battling Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
The casualty toll since Oct. 2023 stands at 3,583 people killed in Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry says, most of them killed during the Israeli offensive since September. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry said 25 fatalities were reported on Wednesday.
Hezbollah strikes have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israel.