Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning

Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning
A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Nov. 13, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 14 November 2024
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Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning

Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning
  • Israel carried out two strikes on Ghobeiry and a large one on Shouaifat Al-Omrousiya
  • Repeated Israeli air strikes on south Beirut have led to a mass exodus of civilians

BEIRUT: Air strikes hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Thursday after an Israeli warning to evacuate parts of the Hezbollah bastion, AFPTV images showed.
A plume of grey smoke rose over the area after the latest strike since Israel sharply intensified its campaign against the Iran-backed militant group in September.
Shortly before the strike, Israel had issued a warning to residents to evacuate their homes.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests against which the (Israeli military) will operate in the near future,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee said.
His post on X included a map identifying buildings in the Shouaifat Al-Omrousiya and Ghobeiry areas.
Israel carried out two strikes on Ghobeiry and a large one on Shouaifat Al-Omrousiya, which lies on the southern outskirts of Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Repeated Israeli air strikes on south Beirut have led to a mass exodus of civilians, although some return during the day to check on their homes and businesses.
NNA also reported heavy Israeli bombardment of the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Thursday.
Several blocks of flats in the town barely three kilometers (two miles) from the Israeli border were destroyed by air strikes or shelling, it said.


Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria

Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria
Updated 13 sec ago
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Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria

Erdogan says Turkiye prepared if US withdraws from Syria
ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye is prepared if the United States decides to withdraw troops from northern Syria, broadcaster CNN Turk and other media cited him as saying on Wednesday.
In an interview with reporters on his way back from the G20 summit in Brazil, Erdogan said Turkiye’s security is paramount and it is holding talks with Russia on the issue of Syria.

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village
Updated 40 min 36 sec ago
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40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village

PORT SUDAN: A medic on Wednesday said 40 people were killed “by gunshot wounds” during a paramilitary attack on the Sudanese village of Wad Oshaib in the central state of Al-Jazira.
Eyewitnesses in the village told AFP the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, attacked the village on Tuesday evening. “The attack resumed this morning,” one eyewitness said by phone Wednesday, adding that paramilitary fighters were “looting property.”


Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says

Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says
Updated 20 November 2024
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Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says

Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says
  • The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager

ISTANBUL: Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment seeking a prison sentence of 72 to 240 years for the chief executive of lender Denizbank for the alleged fraud of soccer stars, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager. Denizbank has denied any role in wrongdoing.
Anadolu on Tuesday reported Denizbank CEO Hakan Ates and former assistant general manager Mehmet Aydogdu, who faces similar charges, had denied the allegations against them in the indictment, prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office.
Responding to the widely reported details on the indictment, Denizbank said late on Tuesday: “We have not received any information regarding the prosecutor’s investigation reflected in some press and publication outlets today.”
The bank said the disclosure of the indictment details violated the confidentiality of the case. Details of indictments are regularly released via Anadolu news agency.
Denizbank said last week that Aydogdu had resigned.
“I do not accept the allegations,” CEO Ates is quoted as saying in the indictment.
Aydogdu was quoted as saying: “I have no connection with or knowledge of the matter.”
No arrests have been made or court appearances set in relation to the new indictment.
Under the case opened last year, prosecutors sought a 216-year prison term for Secil Erzan, the former branch manager charged with defrauding soccer celebrities including Turan, a former Barcelona midfielder, and Galatasaray goalkeeper Muslera.
According to last year’s indictment, Erzan defrauded some $44 million from 18 individuals, promising substantial returns on their investments in a “secret special fund.” There are 24 complainants in the latest indictment.
Erzan convinced them to invest in the fund in part by telling them that former Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim had also invested, according to that indictment.
Erzan has been jailed as the case against her continues.


Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza as hospital in north of the region makes distress call

Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza as hospital in north of the region makes distress call
Updated 20 November 2024
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Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza as hospital in north of the region makes distress call

Israeli strikes kill 15 in Gaza as hospital in north of the region makes distress call
  • Palestinian officials say Israeli forces kill 15 in Gaza
  • Palestinian civil emergency says one staffer killed in air strike

CAIRO: Israeli forces killed at least 15 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including a rescue worker, health officials said, as tanks deepened their incursion in the area and blew up homes, according to residents.
Medics said at least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the area of Jabalia, in northern Gaza, earlier on Wednesday. They said at least 10 people remained missing as rescue operations continued. Another man was killed in tank shelling nearby, they said.
In the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, the Palestinian civil emergency said an Israeli air strike targeted one of their teams during a rescue operation, killing one staff and wounding three others.
The death raised the number of civil emergency service members killed since Oct 7, 2023, to 87, it said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the two incidents.
Adding to the challenges facing the health care system in north Gaza areas, the civil emergency service said their vehicles were hardly operational because of shortages of fuel and equipment, citing Israel’s continued refusal to allow them to bring the needed supplies.
In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said one man was killed and others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the eastern territory of the city.
Residents in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun, where the army has operated since early last month, said forces blew up dozens of houses in the three areas, adding to fears Israel was seeking to clear residents to create a buffer zone, something Israel denies.
Israel said it sent forces into the two towns and refugee camp to fight Hamas militants launching attacks and to prevent them from regrouping. It said it had killed hundreds of them since Oct 5.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad armed wing claimed they killed many Israeli soldiers in anti-tank and mortar fire as well as ambushes by explosive devices during the same period.
Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the north of the enclave, said the hospital came under Israeli fire on Tuesday.
“The health care system is still operating under extremely harsh conditions. Following the arrest of 45 members of the medical and surgical staff and the denial of entry to a replacement team, we are now losing wounded patients daily who could have survived if resources were available,” said Abu Safiya.
“Unfortunately, food and water are not allowed to enter, and not even a single ambulance is permitted access to the north. Yesterday, the hospital was bombed across all its departments without warning, as we were trying to save an injured person in the intensive care unit,” he added.
Speaking during a visit to Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas would not rule the Palestinian enclave after the war had ended and that Israel had destroyed the Islamist group’s military capabilities.
Netanyahu also said Israel had not given up trying to locate the 101 remaining hostages believed to be still in the enclave and he offered a $5 million reward for the return of each one.
Qatar, a key ceasefire mediator alongside Egypt, said it informed Hamas and Israel it will stall its mediation efforts unless the two warring parties showed “willingness and seriousness” to reach a deal.
Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Netanyahu vowed the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.
The 2023 attack on Israel, which shattered Israel’s aura of invincibility, marked the country’s bloodiest day in its history, with 1,200 people killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel responded with its most destructive offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 44,000 people and wounding 103,898, according to the Gaza health ministry, and turning the enclave into a wasteland of rubble with millions desperate for food, fuel, water and sanitation.


France says window of opportunity open for Lebanon ceasefire

France says window of opportunity open for Lebanon ceasefire
Updated 20 November 2024
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France says window of opportunity open for Lebanon ceasefire

France says window of opportunity open for Lebanon ceasefire
  • A Hezbollah official said any US-brokered ceasefire deal between the group and Israel must end fighting swiftly

PARIS: France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that US-led efforts for a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon had created the chance for a lasting ceasefire and he called on both sides to accept a deal on the table.
“There is a window of opportunity that’s opening for a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon that would allow the return of those displaced, ensure the sovereignty of Lebanon and the security of Israel,” Jean-Noel Barrot told Europe 1 radio.
“I call on all sides with whom we are in close contact to seize this window.” 

Meanwhile, a Hezbollah official said on Wednesday that any US-brokered ceasefire deal between the group and Israel must end fighting swiftly and must preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty, an apparent reference to Israel’s stance that it will keep striking the Iran-backed group even with a truce in place.
Speaking to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, Mahmoud Qmati said that he was neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic about the prospects of a truce.