Palestine-Israel war
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Israeli forces detain 20 Palestinians in occupied West Bank
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said Israeli forces arrested at least 20 Palestinians, including former prisoners, from the occupied West Bank, bringing the number of detainees in the occupied territory since October 7, to 7,585.
The arrests were concentrated in the Hebron and Jericho governorates, while separate arrests took place in the Qalqilya, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem governorates, the organisation said in a statement.
The arrests were carried out with widespread abuse, including severe beatings, threats against detainees and their families, and destruction of the Palestinians’ homes.
Israeli forces raid house in Jericho, arrest several Palestinians
The Palestinian Information Center has said the Israeli army raided a house in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in the city of Jericho and arrested several Palestinians.
Israeli forces have deployed snipers in several places in the camp, Palestinian media sources reported.
Norway warns its companies against dealing with Israeli settlements
The government of Norway has advised Norwegian companies against doing any business and trade dealings with illegal Israeli settlements, warning of repercussions for violating international law.
“Norway has long maintained that Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, and undermines the prospects of achieving a future Palestinian state and a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide.
Eide added that this recommendation made it clear that Norwegian companies should be alert to the fact that engaging in any economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements could put them at risk of contributing to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights.
Gaza death toll rises
At least 31,341 Palestinians have been killed and 73,134 wounded by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
In the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks have killed 69 Palestinians, the ministry added.
Israeli tank strike killed 'clearly identifiable' Reuters reporter - UN report
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon last year by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of "clearly identifiable journalists" in violation of international law, a UN investigation into the Oct. 13 incident has found.
The investigation by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), summarized in a report seen by Reuters, said its personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than 40 minutes before the Israeli Merkava tank opened fire.
World ‘busy pretending Gaza is a humanitarian crisis’, says Amnesty chief
Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, has slammed the global community for pretending as if the crisis in Gaza is of a humanitarian nature and not one engineered by Israel.
“While the international community is busy pretending Gaza is a humanitarian crisis, Israel continues to violate international law in total impunity,” she said in a post on X, referencing Israel’s attack on one of the last remaining UN food centres in Gaza.
“Humanitarian assistance air drop and a Gaza aid port won’t address these violations. And they wont address engineered starvation,” she added.
Artists and speakers protest SXSW festival over defence sponsors, Gaza war
Dozens of acts scheduled to appear at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in the US have withdrawn in an act of protest against sponsors with ties to Israel’s war in Gaza.
As of Wednesday, at least 80 artists and panellists have pulled out of the nine-day festival, citing the involvement of several weapons companies and agencies tied to the US Department of Defense, according to the Austin for Palestine Coalition, which helped organise the protest.
Italy rejects Israel’s request for Palestinian’s extradition over rights concerns
An appeals court in Italy has refused to send a suspected Palestinian fighter to Israel, saying he risked “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” if he was extradited, the Reuters news agency reported.
A panel of three judges in the city of L’Aquila said Anan Kamal Afif Yaeesh, 36, would face “acts constituting a violation of human rights” if the extradition request was granted, Reuters reported.
Yaeesh was one of three Palestinians arrested in central Italy on Monday on suspicion they were planning to blow up illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Italian media.
US expected to impose new sanctions against occupied West Bank outposts, Axios reports
(Reuters) - The Biden Administration is expected to impose new sanctions on two illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank that were used as a base for attacks by "extremist" Israeli settlers against Palestinians, Axios reported late on Wednesday, citing three US officials.
The sanctions, expected to be imposed as soon as Thursday, are intended to send a message that the US is not only targeting individuals but also entities involved in providing logistical and financial support to attacks against Palestinians, Axios said citing one US official.
Israel strikes UN warehouse in Rafah as famine looms in Gaza
At least five people have been killed by an Israeli attack on an aid centre in Rafah run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The facility in southern Gaza is one of the last operating food distribution centres in the Palestinian enclave, and UNRWA is now calling for an independent inquiry into repeated Israeli attacks on the UN agency.
White House set to impose new sanctions on two Israeli outposts: Report
The Biden administration is set to impose new sanctions on two Israeli outposts in the occupied West Bank and three individual Israeli settlers today, outlet Axios reports, citing three US officials.
The illegal outposts – as settlements not authorised by the Israeli government are called – were not named in the report, but were used as a base for attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinian civilians, the officials said. The Israeli settlers were also unnamed.
The move would represent the first time that the US has imposed sanctions on entire outposts and not just individual settlers.
“The sanctions against the two outposts are meant to send the message that the US is targeting not only individuals but also entities that are involved in giving logistical and financial support to attacks against Palestinian civilians,” reported Axios.
Delta Air to resume direct flights to Israel from US
Delta Air Lines has announced that it will resume direct flights to Israel starting June 6, becoming the second US airline to reverse suspensions put in place in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and Israel’s war on Gaza.
Delta has said that it will restore daily flights between New York-JFK and Tel Aviv following an extensive security assessment carried out by the airline.
All major US airlines suspended direct flights to Israel following the October attacks. United Airlines was the first to resume direct flights, restoring their Newark to Tel Aviv route earlier this month.
Israel says it will ‘flood’ Gaza with humanitarian aid
Israel will attempt to “flood” Gaza with humanitarian aid using a variety of routes, a spokesman for the Israeli military said, as global pressure mounts over a looming famine in the besieged enclave.
“We are trying to flood the area, to flood it with humanitarian aid,” Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has told a group of foreign reporters. “We are learning and improving and doing different changes so as not to create a routine but to create a diversity of ways that we can enter.”
The comments came as aid agencies accuse Israel of preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, and of thwarting distribution efforts inside the enclave by destroying infrastructure and killing police officials guarding aid convoys.
Gaza ‘safe zones’ led to displacement, Israeli attacks on civilians: Report
A report published by the research group Forensic Architecture has called into question Israel’s argument at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it had introduced measures to safeguard civilian life in Gaza.
The supposed Israeli measures – which include evacuation orders and safe corridors – have been part of Israel’s defence against charges of genocide levelled against it by South Africa at the ICJ for its conduct during its war on Gaza.
But the report by Forensic Architecture said Israel’s “evacuation orders” have “produced mass displacement and forced transfer, and contributed to the killings of civilians throughout Gaza”.
It also said that information provided by Israel to Palestinians in Gaza, ostensibly to provide them with access to safe zones, has been confusing, “resulting in cases of targeting and military bombardment of routes and zones designated as ‘safe’ by the Israeli military”.
More aid to be sent from Cyprus to Gaza as sea route gains acceptance, minister says
NICOSIA (Reuters) - A second shipment of aid will be sent from Cyprus to Gaza in the coming days, its foreign minister said on Wednesday (Mar 13), citing growing acceptance the island could play a pivotal role in delivering supplies by sea to the shattered Palestinian enclave.
A ship carrying almost 200 tonnes of food aid for Gaza left Cyprus on Tuesday, launching a new but untested maritime route to get emergency supplies to a population humanitarian agencies say is at risk of starvation after five months of war.
Israel says air strike on Gaza UN food centre killed Hamas militant
GAZA (Reuters) - Israel said on Wednesday (Mar 13) that its airstrike on a UN food distribution centre in southern Gaza killed a Hamas commander who had been targeted, and Palestinian health officials said it also killed four more people including a UN worker.
The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Abu Hasna, whom it described as a Hamas militant who provided intelligence to the group on Israeli troops' positions and was "also involved in taking control of humanitarian aid and distributing it to Hamas terrorists".
Race to rush aid to Gaza as EU warns hunger 'a weapon of war'
GAZA STRIP (AFP) - Donor nations, aid agencies and charities pushed on with efforts Wednesday (Mar 13) to rush food to war-torn Gaza by land, air and sea after the EU top diplomat said starvation had become "a weapon of war".
The Israel-Hamas conflict raging since Oct 7 has caused mass civilian deaths, reduced vast areas to a rubble-strewn wasteland and sparked warnings of looming famine in the Palestinian territory of 2.4 million people.
