Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah

Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah
Mother of the Palestinian twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza, who were born during the conflict between Israel and Hamas and were killed in Israeli air strikes, reacts during their funeral, in Rafah (REUTERS)
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Updated 03 March 2024
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Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah

Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah
  • The twins — a boy and a girl — were among five children killed in the strike on a house in Rafah
  • The members of the Abu Anza family killed in the strike were lined up in black body bags

RAFAH: Born a few weeks into the Gaza war, infant twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza were buried on Sunday, the youngest of 14 members of the same family whom Gaza health authorities say were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight.
Their mother, Rania Abu Anza, held one of the twins, its tiny body wrapped in a white shroud, to her cheek and stroked its head during the funeral on Sunday. A mourner held the second baby close by, pale blue pyjamas visible beneath a shroud.
“My heart is gone,” wept Abu Anza, whose husband was also killed, as mourners comforted her. She resisted when asked to release the body of one of the babies ahead of burial. “Leave her with me,” she said, in a low voice.
The twins — a boy and a girl — were among five children killed in the strike on a house in Rafah, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Abu Anza said she had given birth to them — her first children — after 11 years of marriage.
“We were asleep, we were not shooting and we were not fighting. What is their fault? What is their fault, what is her fault?” Abu Anza said.
“How will I continue to live now?“
Relatives said the twins had been born some four months ago, about a month into the war which began on Oct. 7, when Hamas stormed Israel, in an attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in another 253 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip since then, according to Gaza health authorities, laying waste to the territory and uprooting most of its population.
The members of the Abu Anza family killed in the strike were lined up in black body bags. A man wept over the body of one of the dead, a child wearing pyjamas. “God have mercy on her, God have mercy on her,” said another man, consoling him.
Abu Anza said she had been wishing for a ceasefire before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which begins around March 10.
US President Joe Biden has expressed hope one will be agreed by then. “We were preparing for Ramadan, how am I supposed to live my life? How?” she said.


Turkiye could benefit from rebel offensive in Syria: experts

Turkiye could benefit from rebel offensive in Syria: experts
Updated 8 sec ago
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Turkiye could benefit from rebel offensive in Syria: experts

Turkiye could benefit from rebel offensive in Syria: experts
  • Ankara and Damascus broke off ties in 2011 when the war started with Erdogan backing the militants

ISTANBUL: Turkiye could be one of the big winners from the new Syria crisis, giving it a chance to tackle its Syrian refugee problem and the Kurdish threat along its border, observers say.
Although Syrian President Bashar Assad spurned an offer of help from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara now appears to have an increasingly important role in decisions that will affect Syria’s immediate future.

Omer Ozkizilcik, an Atlantic Council associate researcher in Ankara, said Turkiye has a “complex and difficult relationship” with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist alliance that led last week’s militant offensive.
“We can clearly say there was indirect Turkish support (for the offensive) but no direct Turkish involvement,” he told AFP.
Although the attack was due to take place “seven weeks ago... Turkiye stopped the militants from launching this military offensive,” he added.
Assad’s ally Russia has also been “heavily” bombing militants positions in the northwest to stymie an attack on his government.
Charles Lister, an expert at Washington’s Middle East Institute agreed, saying “the Aleppo offensive was initially planned for mid-October but Turkiye put a stop to it.”
It was only after Ankara’s efforts to normalize ties with the Assad goverment were rebuffed as it pushed for a political solution, that Turkiye gave its green light, Ozkizilcik said.

Turkiye has pushed back against the expansion of HTS into the “security zone” in northwest Syria it has carved out for itself, and has put pressure on the radical group to drop its Al-Qaeda affiliation.
It has also pressed it to avoid attacking Christian and Druze minorities, analysts say.
“The HTS of today is not what it was in 2020,” Ozkizilcik said.
Although Turkiye has some influence over the group, Firas Kontar, a Syrian opposition figure of Druze origin and author of “Syria, the Impossible Revolution,” believes Erdogan “no longer has the means to stop HTS.”

Ankara and Damascus broke off ties in 2011 when the war started with Erdogan backing the militants.
However, since late 2022 the Turkish leader has been seeking a rapprochement, saying in July he was ready to host Assad “at any time.”
But Assad said he would only meet if Turkish forces withdrew from Syria.
Ankara is hoping a rapprochement would pave the way for the return of the 3.2 million Syrian refugees still on its soil, whose presence has become a major domestic hot potato.
“Now with the changing situation on the ground, the balance of power in Syria has shifted: Turkiye is the most powerful actor at the moment inside Syria, and Iran and Russia will likely try to negotiate with Turkiye,” Ozkizilcik said.

Since 2016, Turkiye has staged multiple operations against Kurdish forces in northern Syria which has given it a foothold in areas bordering the frontier.
The aim is to oust Kurdish fighters from the border zone, notably the YPG (People’s Protection Units) which are backed by Washington as bulwark against Daesh group jihadists.
But Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the PKK which has fought a decades-long insurgency inside Turkiye and is banned as a terror group by Washington and Brussels.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, pro-Turkiye militans on Sunday seized Tal Rifaat, a town north of Aleppo and the surrounding villages, where some 200,000 Syrian Kurds were living.
Tal Rifaat lies just outside Turkiye’s “security zone” with the move prompting Kurdish residents to flee to a safe zone further east.
Turkiye’s secret service said it had killed a PKK leader in the area.
“Turkiye has already made and probably will make many gains against the YPG terror group to secure its national security,” said Ozkizilcik.

 


Israel tells residents to evacuate areas of south Gaza

Israel tells residents to evacuate areas of south Gaza
Updated 35 min 9 sec ago
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Israel tells residents to evacuate areas of south Gaza

Israel tells residents to evacuate areas of south Gaza
  • At least 44,466 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army called on Monday for some areas of the southern Gaza Strip to be evacuated, warning that Palestinian militants were launching rockets from there.
It is the first such call in weeks relating to the south of the embattled Palestinian territory after the military turned its attention to the north in October.
“Terrorist organizations are once again firing rockets toward the State of Israel from your area,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post in Arabic on X, addressing residents of the Khan Yunis area.
“For your safety, you must evacuate the area immediately and move to the humanitarian zone,” he said, sharing a map of the area in question.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said in a statement that “one projectile that crossed into Israeli territory from Khan Yunis was intercepted” by the Israeli air force.
Hamas’s armed wing later claimed responsibility, saying it had fired rockets toward southern Israel.
Israel has destroyed large swathes of Gaza since it launched a retaliatory military offensive following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
At least 44,466 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
 

 


US welcomes Israel lifeline for Palestinian banking

A man withdraws cash from an ATM machine at Bank of Palestine in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2018. (AFP)
A man withdraws cash from an ATM machine at Bank of Palestine in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2018. (AFP)
Updated 43 min 49 sec ago
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US welcomes Israel lifeline for Palestinian banking

A man withdraws cash from an ATM machine at Bank of Palestine in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2018. (AFP)
  • US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that cutting off Palestinian banks “would create a humanitarian crisis” and voiced disappointment in October when Israel approved only a 30-day extension

WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday welcomed Israel’s one-year extension of a lifeline to Palestinian banks, after threats by the far-right finance minister to sever the connection amid the Gaza war.
The United States had pressed Israel to maintain the waiver which allows Israeli banks to work with Palestinian ones, fearing otherwise that the comparatively stable West Bank would descend into economic havoc.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. (AFP file photo)

The State and Treasury Departments in a joint statement said they welcomed the decision taken Thursday at a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet.
“Economic stability in the West Bank is essential for Israeli and Palestinian security, and correspondent banking is a key pillar of that economic stability,” the statement said.
“The United States appreciates the ongoing engagement with the Government of Israel and the Palestine Monetary Authority on this matter.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a West Bank settlement and advocates for the full annexation of the territory occupied by Israel since 1967, earlier threatened to end the waiver in retaliation for three European countries’ recognition of a Palestinian state.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that cutting off Palestinian banks “would create a humanitarian crisis” and voiced disappointment in October when Israel approved only a 30-day extension.
 

 


Lebanon parliament speaker accuses Israel of blatant breaches of ceasefire agreement

Lebanon parliament speaker accuses Israel of blatant breaches of ceasefire agreement
Updated 48 min 26 sec ago
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Lebanon parliament speaker accuses Israel of blatant breaches of ceasefire agreement

Lebanon parliament speaker accuses Israel of blatant breaches of ceasefire agreement
  • At least two people killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon 

 

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described “the Israeli occupying forces’ hostilities as blatant violations of the ceasefire agreement” as Lebanese authorities reported that at least two people were killed on Monday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

Berri called on the committee responsible for monitoring the ceasefire agreement between the Israeli army and Hezbollah to “urgently start carrying out its duties and oblige Israel to stop its violations and withdraw from the areas it invaded before anything else.”

Hezbollah “is committed to its pledges,” Berri said.

More than 54 Israeli breaches have been recorded, said Berri, who handled the ceasefire negotiations with the US envoy after being delegated to do so by Hezbollah.

Berri’s protest came as the ministry of health said one person was killed in an Israeli drone attack near the electricity plant in Marjayoun.

Lebanon’s state security said an Israeli drone strike killed a member of its forces — Cpl. Mahdi Khreis — while he was on duty in Nabatieh, 12 kilometers from the border.

State security called it a “flagrant violation” of the truce.

Security sources said Israeli attacks struck sites deep inside Lebanon. An Israeli drone fired three missiles at Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali village on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The Israeli army said it attacked military vehicles operating near Hezbollah military infrastructure in Bekaa, Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli drone struck an army bulldozer carrying out construction work at the Al-Abbara military center in the Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali area of Hermel, injuring a soldier.

The Israeli army said that it was aware of the attack and that the incident was under investigation.

Israeli breaches continued in the area invaded by the Israeli army, including demolishing houses and private and public facilities and carrying out airstrikes against Bint Jbeil, Maroun Al-Ras and Aitaroun, injuring one person.

The Israeli army imposed a curfew on residents of the invaded area for specific hours.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee continued to warn residents of this area, which includes more than 50 villages, against going back to their houses at the moment. Many residents fled the area 14 months ago.

Berri denounced “the Israeli occupying forces’ hostilities, including demolishing homes in Lebanese border villages, carrying out air raids on Lebanese territories, as well as the latest strikes in Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali, Hermel, and Jdeidet Marjayoun, which resulted in casualties.”

Berri said the Israeli actions “are blatant breaches of the ceasefire agreement, effective since 4 a.m. on Nov. 27, to which Lebanon fully adheres.”

Berri questioned “the silence of the technical committee tasked with monitoring the agreement,” highlighting Israeli offences.

He emphasized that “Lebanon and the resistance remain committed to their pledges.”

Media reports stated that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who handled the ceasefire negotiations, sent a message to Israel regarding its “violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that Israel “adheres to the ceasefire agreement.”

But, he claimed, the 60-day period for the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the areas it invaded according to the agreement is “a gradual process to ensure Hezbollah's threat is gone.”

Hagari told Sky News Arabia: “Israel’s primary concern is to ensure its security and that it is not exposed to any threats.”

He said the Lebanese people “must ensure that the border areas with Israel are free of weapons that threaten Israel's security.”

According to a security source, the Israeli forces in a new incursion infiltrated the area near the Mays Al-Jabal government hospital.

“These forces regard this location as part of their operational zone, having established a boundary restricting Lebanese residents from returning to their towns following the ceasefire implementation.” the source said, adding that the situation was expected to persist until the forces withdraw within 60 days.

Adraee reiterated the Israeli prohibition on X: “Until further notice, movement south of the line of villages: Shebaa, Al-Habbariyeh, Marjayoun, Arnoun, Yohmor, Qantara, Shaqra, Baraashit, Yater, and Mansouri, and the surrounding areas of these villages is restricted.”

He said that “anyone who moves south of this line puts themselves at risk.”

The mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement is scheduled to commence at the beginning of this week.

The monitoring committee includes the US, France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL representatives.

The French Foreign Ministry said that Paris had informed Israel of the need for all parties to respect the ceasefire agreement.

Over the past weekend, it said French authorities observed 52 violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel in the space of 24 hours.

Hezbollah, citing repeated Israeli ceasefire violations, carried out a strike on an Israeli military position late on Monday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Hezbollah's firing toward army positions "will be met with a harsh response."

Hezbollah targeted the Kfar Shuba hills within the Shebaa Farms around 6 p.m. for the first time since the ceasefire went into effect.

A political observer described Hezbollah's action as "a calculated response, as the Shebaa Farms are not included in the 1701 Agreement and therefore are not included in the ceasefire."

Israeli media reported that two missiles were detected crossing from Lebanon into the Mount Dov area and falling in an open area, and two explosions were heard in the vicinity of the Ruwaysat Al-Alam site in the Kfar Shuba Heights. 

A Hezbollah statement said that the military operation it carried out was "in response to the repeated violations by Israel of the declared cessation of hostilities agreement, which took various forms, including firing on civilians and airstrikes in different parts of Lebanon, which led to the martyrdom of citizens and the injury of others, in addition to the continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft, reaching the capital Beirut."

"Since the reviews of the relevant authorities to stop these violations did not succeed, Hezbollah carried out an initial warning defensive response targeting the Ruwaysat Al-Alam site belonging to the Israeli army in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills."

The Israeli army later carried out raids on towns within the zone it declared south of the Litani Line.

In other developments, the Lebanese government has increased its meetings to deliberate on strategies to deal with the piles of debris resulting from the Israeli demolition of residential structures.

The move came as those displaced began to return to their homes in the less-affected regions of the southern suburbs of Beirut, the South, and Bekaa.

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said: “We are faced with the challenge of reconstruction, everything that has to do with removing the rubble and where to put it. There will be full coordination with the relevant ministries and bodies.”

After a meeting with the governors, he said that the “army and general security protect the Lebanese borders.”

The minister asked the governors to “constantly cooperate with the security forces and hold sub-security council meetings to discuss what may happen.”

The Beirut Southern Suburb Union of Municipalities said it continues to work on opening main and secondary roads by pushing rubble aside.

Data, including the names of residents, were circulated and showed that Hezbollah had started counting the people who were affected and surveying the damaged areas.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Gathering of Engineers has launched a drive to “recruit engineers and architects who wish to take part in the surveying and reconstruction efforts.”


Israel continues to bombard Gaza

Israel continues to bombard Gaza
Updated 02 December 2024
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Israel continues to bombard Gaza

Israel continues to bombard Gaza
  • Palestinian medics say 20 killed in latest attack
  • A new ceasefire push is underway, officials say

CAIRO: Israeli forces bombarded houses in several attacks in the northern Gaza Strip, including one airstrike that killed at least 15 people in a home sheltering displaced people in the town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said on Monday.

The three barely operational hospitals in the area were unable to cope with the wounded from the attack, and several other people were still missing, with rescue workers unable to reach them, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said.

Residents said clusters of houses were bombed and some set ablaze in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun, three towns on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip where the Israeli army has been operating for weeks.

They said Israeli drones had also dropped bombs outside a school sheltering displaced families in Beit Lahiya, part of what residents have described as a campaign to scare people into leaving.

Palestinians say Israel’s army is trying to drive people out of the northern edge of Gaza with forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone. 

The Israeli army denies this and says it has returned to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in an area where it had previously cleared them out.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 44,400 Palestinians and displaced most of the population, Gaza officials say. Vast swaths of the enclave lie in ruins.

A former Israeli defense minister accused Israel on Sunday of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, drawing a sharp rebuke from government ranks.

Moshe Yaalon, a hawkish former general, told Israeli media that hard-liners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet were looking to chase Palestinians from northern Gaza and wanted to re-establish Jewish settlements there.

On Monday, the Israeli military rejected Yaalon’s serious claims.

“The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) operates under international law and evacuates civilians based on operational necessity for their protection,” it said.

Palestinian and UN officials said there were no safe areas in the Gaza Strip for the 2.3 million population, most of whom have been internally displaced.

In Gaza City, two Israeli air strikes killed five people, medics said.

Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week that halted fighting in a conflict that has unfolded in Lebanon in parallel with the Gaza war.

But the Gaza war itself has ground on with only a single ceasefire that lasted for a week more than a year ago.

Officials in Cairo have hosted talks between Hamas and the rival Fatah group led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the possible establishment of a committee to run post-war Gaza.

Egypt has proposed that a committee made up of non-partisan technocrat figures and supervised by Abbas’s authority should be ready to run Gaza straight after the war ends. Israel has said Hamas should have no role in governance.

An official close to the talks said progress had been made, but no final deal had been reached. Israel’s approval would determine whether the committee could fulfill its role.

Egyptian security officials have also held talks with Hamas on ways to reach a ceasefire with Israel.

A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said Hamas stood by its condition that any agreement must bring an end to the war and involve an Israeli troop withdrawal, but Hamas would show the flexibility needed to achieve that.

Israel has said the war will end only when Hamas no longer governs Gaza and poses no threat to Israelis.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday there was some indication of progress toward a deal to free Israeli hostages but that Israel’s conditions for ending the war had not changed.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal were now more likely.