Israel war cabinet meets over Hamas hostage talks/node/2466066/middle-east
Israel war cabinet meets over Hamas hostage talks
Supporters and families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks block a highway in Tel Aviv during a protest calling for their return on Feb. 23, 2024. (AFP)
“There is probably room to move toward an agreement,” Hanegbi told N12 News television
“Such agreement does not mean the end of the war”
Updated 25 February 2024
AFP
JERUSALEM: Israel’s war cabinet convened Saturday after a delegation returned from talks in Paris on a hostage release and ceasefire deal in the war against Hamas.
National security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said before the telephone meeting that members would hear an update on discussions about the conflict in the Gaza Strip, which is now in its fifth month.
The Paris talks saw the head of Israel’s overseas intelligence service Mossad and his counterpart at the domestic Shin Bet security service meeting with mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
“There is probably room to move toward an agreement,” Hanegbi told N12 News television in an interview, without elaborating.
Israel wants the release of all hostages seized in the October 7 attacks, starting with all women, but Hanegbi added: “Such agreement does not mean the end of the war.”
He also indicated that Israel would not accept any deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia for a Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Saturday’s meeting would discuss “next steps in the negotiations.”
He also reaffirmed his aim for troops to go into Rafah in southern Gaza, despite widespread concern about the impact on hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled there to avoid bombardments.
An AFP reporter in Rafah said there had been at least six air strikes on the city on Saturday evening.
Israel’s air, land and sea against Hamas fighters in retaliation for their deadly October 7 on southern Israel has killed at least 29,606 people, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says.
Hamas attacked rural communities and military posts bordering the Gaza Strip, leaving at least 1,160 people dead, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Some 250 hostages were taken, of whom 130 are still in Gaza, although about 30 are thought to be dead, Israel says.
A one-week pause in fighting in November saw more than 100 hostages released, the Israelis among them in exchange for some 240 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Netanyahu has characterised Hamas’s demands for a ceasefire in Gaza as “bizarre” and vowed to press on with the military campaign until “total victory” over the group.
“Only a combination of military pressure and firm negotiations will lead to the release of our hostages, the elimination of Hamas and the achievement of all the war’s goals,” he said.
The head of Israel’s military, Herzi Halevi, visited the Gaza Strip and also said military action was the most effective way of getting back the hostages.
Combat was “leverage,” he told troops. “We need to continue and apply it strongly... to use it to release the hostages,” he added.
In Tel Aviv, where families and supporters of the hostages gathered again to call for their release, Orna Tal urged the government to “be responsible.”
“We think about them (the hostages) all the time and want them back alive as soon as possible,” said Tal, whose close friend Tsachi Idan was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz.
“We’ll protest again and again until they’re back,” she told AFP
Israel has a long history of pulling off complex attacks like the exploding pagers
Israel rarely takes responsibility for such attacks, and its military declined to comment Tuesday
Updated 10 sec ago
AP
JERUSALEM: Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were quick to blame Israel for the nearly simultaneous detonation of hundreds of pagers used by the militant group’s members in an attack Tuesday that killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 3,000 others, according to officials.
Many of those hit were members of militant group Hezbollah, but it wasn’t immediately clear if others also carried the pagers. Among those killed were the son of a prominent Hezbollah politician and an 8-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s health minister.
The attack came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured by the pager explosions.
Israel rarely takes responsibility for such attacks, and its military declined to comment Tuesday. However, the country has a long history of carrying out sophisticated remote operations, ranging from intricate cyberattacks to remote-controlled machine guns targeting leaders in drive-by shootings, suicide drone attacks, and the detonation of explosions in secretive underground Iranian nuclear facilities.
Here is a look at previous operations that have been attributed to Israel: July 2024
Two major militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran were killed in deadly strikes within hours of each other. Hamas said Israel was behind the assassination of its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran’s capital. Although Israel didn’t acknowledge playing a role in that attack, it did claim responsibility for a deadly strike hours earlier on Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut. July 2024
Israel targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander, Mohammed Deif, in a massive strike in the crowded southern Gaza Strip. The strike killed at least 90 people, including children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said in August that Deif was killed in the attack, though Hamas previously claimed he survived. April 2024
Two Iranian generals were killed in what Iran said was an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria. The deaths led Iran to launch an unprecedented attack on Israel that involved about 300 missiles and drones, most of which were intercepted. January 2024
An Israeli drone strike in Beirut killed Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official in exile, as Israeli troops fight the militant group in Gaza. December 2023
Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, was killed in a drone attack outside of Damascus. Iran blamed Israel. 2021
An underground nuclear facility in central Iran was hit with explosions and a devastating cyberattack that caused rolling blackouts. Iran accused Israel of carrying out the attack as well as several others against Iranian nuclear facilities using explosive drones in the ensuing years. 2020
In one of the most prominent assassinations targeting Iran’s nuclear program, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran. Iran blamed Israel. 2019
An Israeli airstrike hit the home of Bahaa Abu el-Atta, a senior Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip, killing him and his wife. 2012
Ahmad Jabari, head of Hamas’ armed wing, was killed when an airstrike targets his car. His death sparked an eight-day war between Hamas and Israel. 2010
The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010, disrupted and destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges. It was widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation. 2010
Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, a top Hamas operative, was killed in a Dubai hotel room in an operation attributed to the Mossad spy agency but never acknowledged by Israel. Many of the 26 supposed assassins were caught on camera disguised as tourists. 2008
Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s military chief, was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded in Damascus. Mughniyeh was accused of engineering suicide bombings during Lebanon’s civil war and of planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. Hezbollah blamed his killing on Israel. His son Jihad Mughniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in 2015. 2004
Hamas’ spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike while being pushed in his wheelchair. Yassin, who was paralyzed in a childhood accident, was among the founders of Hamas in 1987. His successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike less than a month later. 2002
Hamas’s second-highest military leader, Salah Shehadeh, was killed by a one-ton bomb dropped on an apartment building in Gaza City. 1997
Mossad agents tried to kill the head of Hamas at the time, Khaled Mashaal, in Amman, Jordan. Two agents entered Jordan using fake Canadian passports and poison Mashaal by placing a device near his ear. They were captured shortly afterward and Jordan’s king threatened to void a still-fresh peace accord if Mashaal died. Israel ultimately dispatched an antidote, and the Israeli agents were returned home. Mashaal remains a senior figure in Hamas. 1996
Yahya Ayyash, nicknamed the “engineer” for his mastery in building bombs for Hamas, was killed by answering a rigged phone in Gaza. His assassination triggered a series of deadly bus bombings in Israel. 1995
Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki was shot in the head in Malta in an assassination widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. 1988
Palestine Liberation Organization military chief Khalil Al-Wazir was killed in Tunisia. Better known as Abu Jihad, he had been PLO chief Yasser Arafat’s deputy. In 2012, military censors allowed an Israeli paper to reveal details of the Israeli raid for the first time. 1973
Israeli commandos shot a number of PLO leaders in their apartments in Beirut, in a nighttime raid led by Ehud Barak, who later became Israel’s top army commander and prime minister. The operation was part of a string of Israeli assassinations of Palestinian leaders that were carried out in retaliation for the killings of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
WHO chief says Israel tanks fired on Gaza aid convoy
The “incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger,” he lamented
Updated 29 min 39 sec ago
AFP
GENEVA: The World Health Organization chief on Tuesday said that Israeli tanks at the weekend had fired on an aid convoy that had been cleared to travel back from war-ravaged northern Gaza.
“Last Saturday, on the way back from a mission to the northern Gaza and after a WHO-led convoy got clearance and crossed the coast road checkpoint, the convoy encountered two Israeli tanks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy. Luckily nobody was hurt,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
The incident came just a week after the United Nations said that a convoy carrying workers for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza had been held at gunpoint at an Israeli military checkpoint.
During that encounter, in the context of a massive vaccination campaign after the first case of polio in 25 years was registered in the Palestinian territory, shots were fired and convoy vehicles were rammed by a bulldozer, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week.
The “incident and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground put the lives of our staff in danger,” he lamented.
“It is critical that Israeli forces take measures to protect humanitarian staff and assets to facilitate their work.”
In his post, Tedros hailed the teams in Saturday’s convoy who “despite the security risk” had managed to reach Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, to deliver supplies for the emergency room.
“Supplies were also delivered to support the Palestine Red Crescent Society facilities in the north, including for the treatment of noncommunicable diseases,” he said.
“The teams also facilitated the rotation of emergency medical teams.”
The United Nations health agency chief hailed the “unwavering humanitarian workers in Gaza,” who “amid extreme danger and life-threatening conditions... continue to deliver critical aid.”
They are “serving as the last hope for the survival for two million people in desperate need,” he said in his post.
“The minimum they deserve for their service is safety. The deconfliction mechanism needs to be adhered to. Ceasefire!“
The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Egypt affirms keenness on Lebanon’s security, preventing violation of its sovereignty, statement says
Hezbollah calls it biggest security breach in war with Israel
Iranian ambassador to Lebanon reportedly injured
Updated 17 September 2024
Reuters
CAIRO: Egypt affirmed its keenness on Lebanon’s security and stability and preventing the violation of its sovereignty from ‘any outside party’, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, shortly after deadly pager blasts in Lebanon that killed at least eight people.
Algeria’s president is being sworn in for a second term after lopsided election
The figures showed Tebboune leading Cherif who had run with the Movement of Society for Peace by around 75 percentage points
Updated 17 September 2024
AP
ALGIERS, Algeria: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was sworn in on Tuesday for a second term after being elected in a landslide vote marred by apathy and questions around the vote count.
The ceremony to inaugurate Tebboune’s second five-year term took place at the People’s Palace, in Club-des-Pins, a seaside resort on the west coast of the capital, Algiers. Tebboune’s two challengers, Islamist Abdellali Hassan Cherif and Socialist Youcef Aouchiche attended the ceremony that came three days after Algeria’s constitutional court certified Tebboune’s landslide victory in the Sept. 7 elections.
The court announced on Saturday after a recounting of the vote that Tebboune and his two opponents had called into question.
The figures showed Tebboune leading Cherif who had run with the Movement of Society for Peace by around 75 percentage points. Cherif won nearly 950,000 votes, or roughly 9.6 percent. Aouchiche’s Socialist Forces Front won more than 580,000 votes, about 6.1 percent.
With 7.7 million votes, the incumbent won 84.3 percent of the vote, surpassing his 2019 win by millions of votes and a double-digit margin.
Cherif and Aouchiche were criticized for participating in an election that government critics denounced as a way for Algeria’s political elite to make a show of democracy amid broader political repression.
Throughout the campaign, each of the three candidates emphasized participation, calling on voters and youth to participate and defy calls to boycott the ballot.
The nationwide turnout was 46.1 percent, surpassing the 2019 presidential election when 39.9 percent of the electorate participated, according to the court’s figures.
How an EU-led operation to salvage a burning Red Sea oil tanker hopes to prevent a major environmental disaster
Operation Aspides launched a critical salvage mission to prevent an oil spill that threatens to devastate the marine ecosystem
The Greek-flagged oil tanker, MV Sounion, was attacked by Houthi militants, raising fears of a major ecological and economic disaster
Updated 17 September 2024
Nadia Al-Faour
DUBAI: An EU-led operation to salvage a stricken oil tanker, which has been burning in the Red Sea for almost a month after coming under attack by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, reached an important milestone on Monday, potentially staving off one of the worst ecological disasters in history.
The Greek-flagged oil tanker MV Sounion was attacked by Houthi militants on Aug. 21 off the coast of Hodeidah. Carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, the tanker was left severely damaged and at risk of spilling its cargo into one of the world’s most fragile marine ecosystems.
On Sept. 14, the salvage mission, led by the EU’s Operation Aspides, finally got underway after repeated delays. On Monday, it issued a statement via the social media platform X announcing the ship had been moved.
The Sounion “has been successfully towed to a safe area without any oil spill,” the EU mission said. “While private stakeholders complete the salvage operation, Aspides will continue to monitor the situation.”
On Monday, the EU’s Operation Aspides issued a statement announcing the ship had been moved. (X/@EUNAVFORASPIDES)
Until the vessel has been safely docked and unloaded, however, the environmental and commercial threat posed by a major spill remains.
The initial attack on the Sounion involved missiles launched by Houthi militants, which struck the vessel as it navigated through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Soon after, the militants returned and detonated explosive charges, setting parts of the ship ablaze.
The attack is part of a broader Houthi campaign to disrupt global shipping as a show of solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels in the Red Sea since October 2023, killing at least four sailors.
In response to the attacks, the US and UK have mounted strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. However, these strikes have failed to deter the militia’s attacks on shipping.
A satellite image taken on August 29, 2024 and released by Maxar Technologies shows fire on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion. (AFP/Maxar Technologies)
The Sounion attack presents a multifaceted crisis. The immediate concern is the possibility of a catastrophic oil spill, potentially four times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, which spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil and devastated the local ecosystem.
The Red Sea’s marine life, including its renowned coral reefs, is especially vulnerable, and a spill could have lasting consequences, affecting species and habitats for many decades to come.
Oil-soaked sea otters lie dead on Green Island beach more than a week after the beginning of the1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, which spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil and devastated the local ecosystem. (AFP)
Julien Jreissati, Greenpeace’s Middle East and North Africa program director, warned that the Red Sea’s unique coral species, some of the most resilient to climate change, are under threat.
Should a spill occur, its “magnitude could be nearly impossible to contain, spreading contamination across vast areas of seawater and coastlines,” Jreissati said in a statement.
The long-term impact on marine life would be “devastating, with oil residues potentially persisting in the environment for years or even decades,” he said, adding that the “potential for a major environmental disaster is significant as the vessel could break apart at any time.”
IN NUMBERS
150k Tonnes of crude oil aboard the Greek-flagged MV Sounion.
80 Vessels targeted by the Houthi militia since Oct. 7, 2023.
The economic and humanitarian impact would be equally severe. The Red Sea is not only home to diverse marine life but is also a vital global shipping route, connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. A major oil spill would disrupt this passage, affecting global trade.
Furthermore, a spill could contaminate desalination plants that supply fresh water to millions in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Eritrea.
The Red Sea’s closed nature, bordered by the Suez Canal to the north and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait to the south, means that any contamination could persist in the water for an extended period.
Efforts to salvage the Sounion have been fraught with complications. The EU’s Aspides naval mission, established in February to protect merchant vessels in the region, is leading the rescue operation, working closely with private sector actors.
Early in the operation, the crew of 23 Filipinos and two Russians, along with four private security personnel, were rescued by a French vessel and taken to Djibouti.
Eighty vessels have been targeted by the Houthi militia since Oct. 7, 2023. (AFP)
Aspides initially attempted to tow the vessel earlier in September, but the mission was paused due to unsafe conditions and concerns about further damage to the tanker. It was not until mid-September that salvage crews were able to secure a connection to tow the vessel.
The towing process has been dangerous. The tanker, still smoldering and billowing smoke, had to be moved at a “painfully slow” pace to a safe location in the northern Red Sea.
Greek news agencies reported over the weekend that the rescue vessel, Aigaion Pelagos, was towing the Sounion, escorted by the rescue tug Panormitis and several frigates equipped with firefighting and oil spill recovery capabilities.
According to the Greek state news agency ANA-MPA, “three frigates, helicopters and a special forces unit” were involved in the salvage operation.
An image obtained from the US Central Command on March 6, 2024 shows a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier after it was hit by anti-ship ballistic missile launched by the Houthis. (AFP)
“Despite challenging conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 400 degrees Celsius due to the fire, the specialized salvage team successfully secured the tanker to the Aigaion Pelagos,” ANA-MPA reported.
The destination of the vessel remains undisclosed, and both ships’ radars have been turned off for safety reasons.
The complexity of the operation reflects the broader challenges faced by the international community in addressing the fallout from Houthi attacks.
While the US Navy has offered assistance, the operation is currently being managed by private entities, with no direct involvement from American forces.
A handout picture by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah Media Center shows what they say is their targeting of Chios Lion, a Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker, by unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea on July 15, 2024. (AFP)
Sabrina Singh, the deputy spokesperson for the US Department of Defense, confirmed earlier this month that the US Navy is “standing by” but has not been called into action.
The Houthi militia has justified its attacks on international shipping as part of its resistance to Israeli actions in Gaza, claiming that the Sounion belongs to a company with alleged ties to Israel.
However, the militia has also attacked multiple vessels with no ties to Israel.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree vowed further attacks as the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that triggered the Gaza war approaches, signaling that the threat to Red Sea shipping is far from over.
Oil from FSO Safer (L) is transferred to a UN vessel on July 25, 2023. (AFP)
The Sounion crisis echoes the near catastrophe of the FSO Safer, another oil tanker that posed an enormous environmental threat in the Red Sea. The decaying vessel was anchored off the coast of Yemen for years with more than 1 million barrels of oil on board.
After months of international negotiations and funding efforts, the Safer was finally unloaded in 2023 under a UN-led effort, narrowly avoiding what could have been one of the worst oil spills in history.
The Safer’s precarious condition and the drawn-out efforts to secure it illustrated the difficulty of managing such crises in conflict zones.
