Unions file ILO complaint over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian workers since Gaza war

Unions file ILO complaint over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian workers since Gaza war
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Unions file ILO complaint over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian workers since Gaza war

Unions file ILO complaint over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian workers since Gaza war
  • Complaint addresses exclusion of 200,000 Palestinian workers
  • Unions claim unpaid wages and compensation at ILO

GENEVA: A group of 10 global trade unions filed a complaint on Friday against Israel with the International Labour Organization, alleging that its treatment of Palestinian workers since the Gaza war began had breached a global treaty.
Criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian workers, under scrutiny for decades, has increased at the Geneva-based UN labor body since the war started on Oct. 7.
The complaint summarised in a statement sent to journalists focuses on Israel’s exclusion of some 200,000 Palestinian migrant workers, which Israel justifies on security grounds. It claims unpaid wages and other compensation for them and other Palestinian workers which the unions say could amount to billions of dollars.
“The sudden unemployment of Palestinians working in Israel has left hundreds of thousands destitute,” said Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation, one of the unions that signed the complaint.
“Israel must comply with its international legal obligations and ensure these workers receive their owed wages immediately,” Cotton said.
Israel has blamed its treatment of Palestinian workers from Israel on Hamas, saying the militant group had targeted commuter routes on and after the Oct. 7 attacks in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis.
The trade unions who filed the complaint say they represent some 207 million workers in over 160 countries across a range of sectors including catering, agriculture and industry.
Other trade union groups signing onto the complaint include Education International and the Building and Wood Workers’ International.
The groups allege violations of the 1949 Protection of Wages Convention which Israel has ratified along with around 100 other countries, according to the UN agency’s website.
Under ILO rules, the body can set up a so-called tripartite committee composed of government and employers’ and workers’ groups to examine alleged violations of the convention. This could eventually lead to an investigation and even sanctions, as occurred in Myanmar in the 1990s.


Israel strike kills 5 Syrian soldiers near Lebanon: state media

Israel strike kills 5 Syrian soldiers near Lebanon: state media
Updated 3 sec ago
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Israel strike kills 5 Syrian soldiers near Lebanon: state media

Israel strike kills 5 Syrian soldiers near Lebanon: state media
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli warplanes targeted a crossing that links Syria’s Qusayr area to Lebanon
Damascus: An Israeli air strike on Friday killed five Syrian soldiers near the border with Lebanon, the official news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack... on one of our military positions near Kfar Yabus on the Syrian-Lebanese border,” SANA quoted the source as saying, adding that five Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.
The raid came a day after the Israeli army said its warplanes struck “infrastructure along the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli warplanes targeted a crossing that links Syria’s Qusayr area to Lebanon, causing “a number of wounded.”
The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was the first such strike on Syria since Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah this week.

The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes

The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes
Updated 32 min 20 sec ago
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The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes

The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes
  • Here is what we know about the slain commanders

Beirut: Israel has killed several top Hezbollah commanders in a series of targeted strikes on the Iran-backed movement’s stronghold in Beirut.
Here is what we know about the slain commanders.
A strike on July 30 killed Fuad Shukr, the group’s top military commander and one of Israel’s most high-profile targets.
Shukr, who was in his early 60s, played a key role in cross-border clashes with Israeli forces, according to a source close to Hezbollah.
The two sides have traded near-daily fire across the frontier since Hezbollah ally Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
Shukr helped found Hezbollah during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war and became a key adviser to its chief, Hassan Nasrallah.
Shukr was Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, and Nasrallah said he had been in daily contact with him since October.
Israel blamed Shukr for a rocket attack in July on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children in a Druze Arab town. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
In 2017, the US Treasury offered a $5 million reward for information on Shukr, saying he had “a central role” in the deadly 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
A strike on September 20 killed Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with 15 other commanders.
According to Lebanese officials, the attack killed a total of 55 people, many of them civilians.
A source close to Hezbollah described Aqil as the second-in-command in the group’s forces after Shukr.
The Radwan Force is Hezbollah’s most formidable offensive unit and its fighters are trained in cross-border infiltration, a source close to the group told AFP.
The United States said Aqil was a member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, the movement’s highest military body.
The US Treasury said he was a “principal member” of the Islamic Jihad Organization — a Hezbollah-linked group behind the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people and an attack on US Marine Corps in the Lebanese capital the same year that killed 241 American soldiers.
On September 25, a strike killed Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, who commanded several military units including a guided missiles unit.
“Kobeissi was an important source of knowledge in the field of missiles and had close ties with senior Hezbollah military leaders,” the Israeli military said.
Kobeissi joined Hezbollah in 1982 and rose through the ranks of the group’s forces.
One of the units he led was tasked with manning operations in part of the south of Lebanon, which borders Israel.
A strike on September 26 killed Mohammed Srur, the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit since 2020.
Srur studied mathematics and was among a number of top advisers sent by Hezbollah to Yemen to train the country’s Houthi rebels, who are also backed by Iran, a source close to Hezbollah said.
He had also played a key role in Hezbollah’s intervention since 2013 in Syria’s civil war in support of President Bashar Assad’s government.
Hezbollah will hold a funeral ceremony for Srur on Friday.
Other commanders killed in recent strikes include Wissam Tawil and Mohammed Naameh Nasser.


Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war

Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
Updated 27 September 2024
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Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war

Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
  • With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions

TEHRAN: As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands.
With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions.
Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people.
Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages.
Despite the surge in hostilities, Iran appears determined to avoid direct military confrontation.
“Iran is not going to be pulled into war,” said Hamid Gholamzadeh, an Iran-based political expert.
Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group said Iran’s strategy was to project power, without directly engaging, especially as escalation could benefit Israel and impact the US election.
“Iran does not want to play into its arch-enemy’s hands,” said Vaez, noting Iran’s priority was securing sanctions relief and some economic stability.
Even during its first-ever direct attack on Israel in April — retaliation for an air strike Tehran’s embassy annex in Damascus — most missiles were intercepted by Israel’s defenses or allied forces.


In New York, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of warmongering while positioning the Islamic republic as restrained.
He suggested Iran had held back retaliation after the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, fearing it could derail US efforts for a Gaza ceasefire.
“We tried to not respond. They kept telling us we were within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so,” he said.
“But we never reached that elusive peace. Every day Israel is committing more atrocities.”
This measured approach echoes Iran’s response earlier this year during heightened tensions with Israel. Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones after the Damascus strike, but most were intercepted.
Analysts say Iran is flexing its muscles amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, without provoking a US response.
Iran continues to face Western sanctions, especially since the United States, under then-president Donald Trump, withdrew from a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018.
European nations have also slapped sanctions on Iran, accusing it of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for the Ukraine war.
Iran denied the accusations, with Pezeshkian saying in New York that Iran was “willing to sit down with the Europeans and the Americans to have a dialogue and negotiations.”
Vaez said any Iranian escalation could strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even possibly help Trump return to power.
This “would be highly detrimental for Iranian interests,” he said.
Despite its restraint, Iran continues to back Hezbollah. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Tehran would “not remain indifferent” to Israeli attacks.
Iran also urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action, warning of “dangerous consequences” for Israel.
Israel has targeted senior Hezbollah commanders since the Gaza war began.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week lamented the loss of Hezbollah’s fighters but said it would not bring the group “to its knees.”
Afifeh Abedi, a political researcher, said Iran was evaluating its support for Hezbollah, but noted the group’s “signficant human resources.”
Gholamzadeh added that Hezbollah’s resources ensure it will not be easily defeated.
“Hezbollah needs to be supported, but this support does not mean that they might be defeated if there is no support,” he said.
Vaez said last week’s attack on Hezbollah’s communications may have weakened the group, but it would not be completely “paralyzed even if the first two tiers of its leadership were... eliminated.”
This vulnerability, he said, could be one of the reasons for Iran and Hezbollah’s “reluctance to enter a full-fledged war.”


Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon

Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon
Updated 27 September 2024
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Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon

Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon
  • Tel Aviv pushing world to war, says Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani
  • Greater collective effort from the international community needed

Washington: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has blasted Israel as an “occupation entity” that routinely violates international laws as it wages “brutal” war on Gaza and Lebanon, and urged the international community to act against Tel Aviv.

Speaking at the 79th UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, Al-Sudani said conflict in the Middle East has intensified as a result of Israel’s unfettered actions.

Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in the killing of 41,000 people mainly women and children. And its attacks in Lebanon have killed hundreds and injured thousands, said Al-Sudani.

He expressed “disappointment” in the UN and Security Council for not deterring Israel’s “aggression” against the people of Palestine and Lebanon.

Al-Sudani said the UN faces a critical test of its ability to ensure “international security, stability and human rights.”

“Today we are witnessing the UN charter and international laws being violated and the right of self-determination is ignored,” he said.

“The world is being pushed toward full-scale confrontation and conflict while the Security Council is powerless and without a role.”

He said that while there have been commendable individual efforts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East, a greater collective effort from the international community was needed.

“In occupied Palestine, we are witnessing a people who are being attacked by an occupying military force displacing millions without being deterred and killing thousands of people.”

Al-Sudani added that Israeli officials were acting with impunity. “Public statements of mass-starving of people and even using nuclear weapons against them by senior officials of the occupation entity go on without any measures to deter them.”

He said the Palestinian people should be protected from the Israeli military occupation. However, Israel’s actions have rendered international law merely “ink on paper.”

On Lebanon, Al-Sudani said Iraq would support its neighbor, and continue to send medical and other aid to the country.

“Iraq today and its government and its people, under the directive of the supreme religious authorities stands with Lebanon and its brotherly people as

it faces a new page of brutal aggression that seeks to plunge the region into a brutal conflict which is something we have warned against,” he said.

On domestic issues, Al-Sudani said his government was working to rebuild the economy and improve public services.

The ultimate aim was to transform Iraq into a regional trade hub between the Middle East and Europe.


Lebanese FM calls for urgent international help amid Israeli attacks

Lebanese FM calls for urgent international help amid Israeli attacks
Updated 27 September 2024
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Lebanese FM calls for urgent international help amid Israeli attacks

Lebanese FM calls for urgent international help amid Israeli attacks
  • Crisis threatens international peace, security, Abdallah Bou Habib tells UN General Assembly
  • ‘Has Israel not had enough of the endless war since 1948? When will it be time for Israel to give a real opportunity for peace?’

NEW YORK CITY: Lebanon’s foreign minister on Thursday stressed the urgent need for international intervention to address the crisis in his country, which has seen Israeli attacks kill 700 citizens since Monday.

“Lebanon is currently enduring a crisis which is threatening its very existence,” Abdallah Bou Habib told the UN General Assembly.

The crisis “will transform into a black hole that will engulf regional (and) international peace and security” if the world continues to remain “immobile,” he said.

Bou Habib welcomed the joint declaration by the US and France on Wednesday for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and demanded that all possible measures be adopted for it to be implemented.

He said what Lebanon is experiencing is “a consequence of the absence of a lasting (and) sustainable solution,” and “not the cause of an absence of a sustainable solution. The cause is the occupation.”

Despite the UN’s inability to protect Lebanon from Israeli aggression, Bou Habib said his country remains committed to the organization’s role as a “frontline of defense.”

Lebanon has repeatedly made efforts for peace, he added, citing the 2022 maritime demarcation deal and the country’s proposed framework for peace along its border with Israel.

However, “Israel has continuously eluded the issue or disregarded the matter,” which is why “we’re seeking refuge in the decisions under international law,” he said, reiterating Lebanon’s call for a “ceasefire on all fronts.”

Bou Habib also asked for international support in “reinforcing the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River,” and delivering equipment needed to increase troop numbers in the area.

He emphasized Lebanon’s commitment to peace and security, saying despite its economic crisis, the government has decided to send 100,000 additional soldiers to the south of the country.

He expressed gratitude for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which has “significantly contributed to stability and peace in the region” since its inception.

“Has Israel not had enough of the endless war since 1948? When will it be time for Israel to give a real opportunity for peace?” Bou Habib asked.

He said Lebanon and other Arab countries have “clearly, without any ambiguity, categorically embraced peace” through the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, and it is now “incumbent upon Israel” to choose peace and break the cycle of violence in the region.