You are here

  • Home
  • Pope Francis slams ‘cruelty’ of strike killing Gaza children
War on Gaza

Pope Francis slams ‘cruelty’ of strike killing Gaza children

Update Pope Francis slams ‘cruelty’ of strike killing Gaza children
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed mored than 45,200, mostly women and children. (AFP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/c75hm

Updated 21 December 2024
AFP
Follow

Pope Francis slams ‘cruelty’ of strike killing Gaza children

Pope Francis slams ‘cruelty’ of strike killing Gaza children
  • ‘Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war. I want to say it because it touches my heart’
  • The Holy See has recognized the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations
Updated 21 December 2024
AFP
Follow

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as “cruelty,” a day after the territory’s rescue agency said an Israeli air strike killed seven children from one family.

Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike killed 10 members of a family on Friday in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.

“Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised. Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” he told members of the government of the Holy See.

“I want to say it because it touches my heart.”

Violence in the Gaza Strip continues to rock the coastal territory more than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, even as international mediators work to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.

The Israeli military said it had struck “several terrorists who were operating in a military structure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization and posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.”

“According to an initial examination, the reported number of casualties resulting from the strike does not align with the information held by the IDF,” it added.

Francis, 88, has called for peace since Hamas’s unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza.

In recent weeks he has hardened his remarks against the Israeli offensive.

At the end of November, he said that “the invader’s arrogance... prevails over dialogue” in “Palestine,” a rare position that contrasts with the tradition of neutrality of the Holy See.

In extracts from a forthcoming book published in November, he called for a “careful” study as to whether the situation in Gaza “corresponds to the technical definition” of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.

The Holy See has recognized the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.

Topics: War on Gaza Pope Francis Gaza Israel

Related

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
Middle-East
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
Israel media report accuses troops of indiscriminate killing of Gaza civilians
Media
Israel media report accuses troops of indiscriminate killing of Gaza civilians

Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23

Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23

Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23
Updated 6 sec ago
FRANKFURT, Germany: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition, saying it was the only way to give the country a stable government capable of tackling its problems.
Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.
Steinmeier said he made the decision because it was clear after consultation with party leaders that there was no agreement among Germany’s political parties on a majority for a new government in the current parliament.
“It is precisely in difficult times like these that stability requires a government capable of taking action and a reliable majority in parliament,” he said as he made the announcement in Berlin.
“Therefore I am convinced that for the good of our country new elections are the right way.”
Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days. Leaders of several major parties agreed earlier on the election date of Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.
Steinmeier warned about outside interference in the poll, saying it is “a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as was evidently the case recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on platform X.”
A top Romanian court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round.
The campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party.
Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.
The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.
Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.
It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.

Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed

Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed
Updated 19 min 11 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed

Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed
  • Pro-government website Caliber cites unnamed officials as saying they believed a Russian missile fired from a Pantsir-S air defense system downed the plane
Updated 19 min 11 sec ago
AFP

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Friday that it would not comment on the deadly crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane until an inquiry was completed, after reports the jet was targeted by a Russian air defense missile.
The Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau, an oil and gas hub, on Wednesday after going off course for undetermined reasons.
Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died.
“An investigation is underway, and until the conclusions of the investigation, we do not consider we have the right to make any comments and we will not do so,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea.
An investigation is underway, with the pro-government Azerbaijani website Caliber citing unnamed officials as saying they believed a Russian missile fired from a Pantsir-S air defense system downed the plane.
Azerbaijan Airlines said Friday that it was suspending flights to a total of seven Russian cities, “taking into account flight safety risks,” after earlier saying it had stopped flights to Grozny and to Makhachkala in Dagestan, which neighbors Chechnya.
Rasim Musabekov, an Azeri lawmaker, urged Russia to apologize for the incident.
“They have to accept this, punish those to blame, promise that such a thing will not happen again, express regrets and readiness to pay compensation,” Musabekov said in an interview. “We are waiting for Russia to do this.”
He said the plane “was damaged in the sky over Grozny and asked to make an emergency landing.”
“According to all the rules of aviation, they should have allowed this and organized it.”
Instead the plane was not allowed to land at Grozny or nearby Russian airports and was “sent far away” across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan with “GPS switched off,” Musabekov said.
If air defenses were operating near Grozny airport, “they should have closed the air space. The plane should have been turned around as it approached Grozny. Why wasn’t this done?” he added.
Some aviation and military experts said the plane might have been accidentally shot by Russian air defense systems because it was flying in an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.

Topics: Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Airlines Russia

Related

Airport ground staff assist Azerbaijani citizens, who survived the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 passenger jet.
World
Russia missile suspected in Azerbaijani plane crash, Moscow warns against ‘hypotheses’
Azerbaijan mourns 38 killed in plane crash in Kazakhstan
World
Azerbaijan mourns 38 killed in plane crash in Kazakhstan

Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky

Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky
Updated 23 min 9 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky

Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky
Updated 23 min 9 sec ago
Reuters

KYIV: Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, has sent its first batch of food aid to Syria, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
Zelensky said that 500 metric tons of wheat flour were already on their way to Syria as part of Ukraine’s humanitarian “Grain from Ukraine” initiative in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Programme.
“The wheat flour is planned to be distributed to 33,250 families or 167,000 people, in the coming weeks,” Zelensky said on X, adding: “Each package weighs 15 kilograms and can feed a family of five for one month.”
After the ouster of Bashar Assad, a close Russian ally, Ukraine has said it wants to restore relations with Syria.
Kyiv traditionally exports wheat and corn to countries in the Middle East, but not to Syria.
During Assad’s era, Syria imported food from Russia. But Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended because of uncertainty, Russian and Syrian sources said earlier this month.
Ukraine’s exports were disrupted by Russia’s February 2022 invasion, which severely reduced shipments via the Black Sea. Ukraine has since broken a de facto sea blockade and revived exports from its southern port of Odesa.

Topics: Fall of Assad Ukraine

Related

Israel strikes ‘infrastructure’ on Syria-Lebanon border
Middle-East
Israel strikes ‘infrastructure’ on Syria-Lebanon border
Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
Middle-East
Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills

Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine’s army

Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine’s army
Updated 27 December 2024
AFP
Follow

Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine’s army

Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine’s army
  • Manpower problems present a critical hurdle for Ukraine, which is losing territory to Russia at the fastest rate since the early days of the February 2022 invasion
Updated 27 December 2024
AFP

UNDISCLOSED, Ukraine: Oleksandr deserted from the front line in eastern Ukraine after watching his fellow servicemen being pulverized by Russian bombardments for six months. Then, those remaining were ordered to counterattack.
It was the final straw for Oleksandr, 45, who had been holding the line in the embattled Lugansk region in the early months of the war. Even his commanding officer was reluctant to send his men back toward what looked like certain death.
So when Oleksandr saw an opening to save his life, he did.
“We wanted to live. We had no combat experience. We were just ordinary working people from villages,” the soft-spoken serviceman, who declined to give his last name, said.
His decision is just one of many cases plaguing the Ukrainian military, which has already suffered at least 43,000 losses in nearly three years of fighting, President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed this month.
The government is also struggling to recruit new troops.
Together, these manpower problems present a critical hurdle for Ukraine, which is losing territory to Russia at the fastest rate since the early days of the February 2022 invasion.
The issue was put under the spotlight in September when 24-year-old serviceman Sergiy Gnezdilov announced in a scathing social media post that he was leaving his unit in protest over indefinite service.
“From today, I am going AWOL with five years of impeccable soldiering behind me, until clear terms of service are established or until my 25th birthday,” he wrote.
The state investigation service described his statement as “immoral” and said it played into Russia’s hands. He was detained and faces up to 12 years in prison.
Figures published by the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office show that more than 90,000 cases have been opened into instances of soldiers going absent without leave or deserting since Russia invaded in 2022, with a sharp increase over the past year.
Oleksandr said that after leaving the frontline, he remembered little from the year he spent at home in the Lviv region owing to concussions he suffered while deployed.
He recounted “mostly drinking” to process the horrors he witnessed but his guilt was mounting at the same time.
He ultimately decided to return after seeing young Ukrainians enlist or wounded troops return to battle — despite pleas from his family.
His brother was beaten during the historic Maidan protests in 2013 that toppled Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin leader, and later died.
His sister was desperate. “They’re going to kill you. I would rather bring you food to prison than flowers to your grave,” he recounted his sister telling him during a visit from Poland.
It was guilt, too, that motivated Buch, who identified himself by a military nickname, to return to battle.
The 29-year-old deserted after being wounded in fierce fighting in southern Ukraine in late 2022 during the liberation of Kherson city.
“Just staying under constant shelling gradually damages your mental state. You go crazy step by step. You are all the time under stress, huge stress,” he said of his initial decision to abscond.
In an effort to address manpower shortages, Ukrainian lawmakers in August approved an amnesty for first-time offenders who voluntarily returned to their units.
Both the 47th and 53rd brigades in December announced they would welcome back servicemen who had left the front without permission, saying: “We all make mistakes.”
Prosecutors said in early December that 8,000 servicemen that went absent without leave or deserted had returned in November alone.
Still, Siver, commander of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion, known as Da Vinci, who also identified himself by his military nickname, said the number of Ukrainian troops fleeing the fighting without permission was growing.
That is partly because many of the most motivated fighters have already been killed or wounded.
“Not many people are made for war,” said Siver, describing how his perceptions of bravery had been reshaped by seeing those who stood their ground, and those who fled.
“There are more and more people who are forced to go,” he said, referring to a large-scale and divisive army mobilization campaign.
But other servicemen interviewed by AFP suggested that systemic changes in military culture — and leadership — could help deter desertions.
Buch said his military and medical training as well as the attitudes of his superiors had improved compared to his first deployment, when some officers “didn’t treat us like people.”
Siver suggested that better psychological support could help troops prepare for the hardships and stress of battle.
“Some people think it’s going to be like in a movie. Everything will be great, I’ll shoot, I’ll run,” he said.
“But it’s different. You sit in a trench for weeks. Some of them are knee-deep in mud, cold and hungry.”
He said there was no easy solution to discouraging desertion, and predicted the trend would worsen.
“How do you reduce the numbers? I don’t even know how. We just have to end the war,” he said.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Ukraine

Related

Depleted by war, Ukraine gives absconding soldiers second chance
World
Depleted by war, Ukraine gives absconding soldiers second chance
Ukraine orders Crimea military withdrawal
World
Ukraine orders Crimea military withdrawal

South Korea’s parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo

South Korea’s parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo
Updated 27 December 2024
Reuters
Follow

South Korea’s parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo

South Korea’s parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo
  • The motion led by opposition parties passed with 192 of the 300 votes amid rowdy scenes by ruling People Power Party members
Updated 27 December 2024
Reuters

SEOUL: South Korea’s parliament impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday over a short-lived martial law, plunging the country deeper into political chaos, as the Constitutional Court said it would swiftly trial suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The impeachment of Han, who has been acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14 for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, has thrown South Korea’s once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory.

The motion led by opposition parties passed with 192 of the 300 votes amid rowdy scenes by ruling People Power Party members who surrounded the speaker’s podium chanting the vote was invalid and parliament had committed “tyranny.”

Ahead of the parliamentary session, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said his Democratic Party, which has majority control of parliament, will go ahead with the plan to impeach the acting president, accusing Han of “acting for insurrection.”

“The only way to normalize the country is to swiftly root out all the insurrection forces,” Lee said in a fiery speech, adding the party was acting on the public order to eradicate those who have put the country at risk.

There has been overwhelming public support for Yoon’s removal, according to opinion polls conducted after his martial law attempt.

The plan for a vote to impeach Han was unveiled on Thursday by the main opposition Democratic Party after he declined to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court, saying it would exceed his acting role.

Until just before voting began, it was unclear how many votes were needed to impeach Han as acting leader. The threshold for a prime minister is a simple majority, while a two-thirds majority is needed for a president.

Speaker Woo Won-shik declared a simple majority would constitute parliamentary approval.

Han said in a statement after the vote that he would step aside to avoid more chaos and will await a Constitutional Court ruling on his impeachment.

By law Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will assume the acting presidency.

Choi earlier pleaded with parliament to withdraw the plan to impeach Han, saying it would do serious damage to the country’s economy.

The South Korean won retreated to 1,475.4 per dollar, down 0.53 percent at 0707 GMT ahead of the parliamentary vote.

The vote to determine Han’s fate comes on the same day the Constitutional Court held its first hearing in a case reviewing whether to overturn the impeachment and reinstate Yoon or remove him permanently from office. It has 180 days to reach a decision.

Topics: South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol Han Duck-soo

Related

South Korea opposition says it will vote to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo
World
South Korea opposition says it will vote to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo
South Korean opposition plans to impeach acting president Han, floor leader says
World
South Korean opposition plans to impeach acting president Han, floor leader says

Latest updates

Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23
Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23
SFD funds specialized hospital in Zambia with $135m
SFD funds specialized hospital in Zambia with $135m
Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed
Kremlin says no comment on Azerbaijani plane crash until investigation completed
Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky
Ukraine sends food aid to Syria, says Zelensky
Israel strikes ‘infrastructure’ on Syria-Lebanon border
Israel strikes ‘infrastructure’ on Syria-Lebanon border

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.