By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 19 February 2024
Edit Thread

14 people wounded in Lebanon following Israeli strikes: Report

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) says 14 people in the country were wounded in Israeli air raids near Sidon earlier today. The NNA says that the strikes on Ghaziyeh injured mostly “Syrian and Palestinian workers”.

Israel says the attack targeted Hezbollah infrastructure but local reports said the raids hit civilian factories

Arab Group expresses support for Algeria’s UN resolution versus US measure

The Arab Group, a coalition of Arab states that promote common interests at the United Nations, has released a statement in support of a Security Council draft resolution by Algeria calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US has said it will not allow such a measure to pass. Washington also put forward its own resolution calling instead for a temporary pause in the fighting.

The US has argued that calling for an immediate ceasefire could upend ongoing talks in search of a deal between Hamas and Israel, but in a statement, the Arab Group said that Algeria’s resolution could strengthen those efforts “rather than jeopardizing them”. “The time has come for the Security Council, entrusted with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, to act decisively and make a resolute decision before it is too late,” the statement reads, as reported by Al Jazeera’s Rami Ayari.

Netanyahu says will submit legislation to reject calls for Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that he will submit legislation to the Knesset rejecting “international efforts to force on us a Palestinian state” amid growing calls for a two-state solution. The move follows the unanimous passage of a similar measure at the cabinet level yesterday. Netanyahu also reiterated that Israel will maintain “full security control” of the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war.

“For five months we have been running an unprecedented political campaign,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. “This campaign allowed our fighters the freedom of action to achieve all the goals of the war.”

Israel is failing to reach its goals in Gaza: Hamas

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya says Israel has failed terribly in achieving its objectives of returning the captives held in Gaza and dismantling Palestinian armed resistance in the territory. Al-Hayya dismissed Israeli claims of defeating Hamas in northern Gaza, saying the group is still fighting across the territory with strong determination.

“As the occupation has failed in eliminating the resistance’s capabilities in the north of the Strip and the central area and Khan Younis, it will fail in attempting to wrest its control over Rafah,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera.

Saudi Arabia says Rafah assault would be ‘completely unacceptable’

The kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has warned against an Israeli offensive on Rafah. “The potential prospect of military operations in Rafah, the last safe haven in the south, and without any clear mechanisms to protect the civilians; this is completely unacceptable,” bin Farhan said in an interview with France 24.

“When I talk to our partners the international community, they all agree that the pathway to stability in our region, in Palestine, and for the security for Israel is towards a Palestinian State.”

Israel ‘not serious’ about reaching a captives deal: Senior Hamas official

Khalil al-Hayya says Benjamin Netanyahu is only looking to prolong the war and suffering of the Palestinian people to save his own position as Israel’s prime minister. “The Israeli occupation refuses to allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the north and the south. The Israeli occupation is not giving any indication that it will stop this aggression,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera.

“The Israeli occupation, to this moment, has not given any guarantees that it will allow enough aid into Gaza or the rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries and infrastructure. Even the tents, the Israeli occupation has not given a clear approval to allow them in. “Then what can we agree on?”

Netanyahu had called Hamas’s demands to reach a deal that would lead to the release of the Israeli captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and secure a prolonged pause to the fighting “delusional”. But al-Hayya said that it is Israel that is using “lies” to derail the talks and avoid meeting Palestinians’ demands.

Only three days of drinking water available at Khan Younis hospital: Red Crescent

Israeli forces have targeted and damaged a water desalination station at al-Amal Hospital, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said. “Available drinking water at Al-Amal Hospital is only sufficient for three days,” the group said in a post on X.

Earlier, the PRCS said the situation inside the Khan Younis hospital was “highly dangerous due to a 28-day-long siege”.

Brazil recalls envoy to Israel following spat over Lula’s comments on Gaza

Brazil’s foreign ministry has said that the country’s ambassador to Israel has been called home, following an Israeli announcement that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would be “persona non grata” until he retracted comments drawing parallels between Israel’s war on Gaza and the Holocaust.

“Given the gravity of the statements this morning by the government of Israel, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira … has summoned the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Zonshine, to report today to the foreign ministry,” the foreign ministry said. “He also recalled the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, for consultations. He will depart for Brazil tomorrow.”

Knesset vote to expel Israeli lawmaker over support for ICJ genocide case fails

An effort by Israeli right-wing lawmakers to expel Knesset member Ofer Cassif from the legislature over his support for the ICJ case accusing Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza has failed to move forward, falling five votes short of the 90 needed.

That effort was promoted by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called Cassif a “terror-supporting Knesset member who incites against Israel in time of war”. Domestic opponents of Israel’s war in Gaza have faced intense pressure, including arrest over social media posts in support of Palestinians.

Before the vote, Cassif flatly rejected claims that he supports armed violence by groups like Hamas and said the push to expel him was part of a campaign of “political persecution and silencing of every critical voice in general and of Arab citizens and their representatives in the Knesset in particular”.


Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif, centre, takes part in a protest against efforts to displace a Palestinian family in Jerusalem on June 16, 2023

More than 200 percent increase in Israeli settler attacks on Nablus: Official

Since October 7, and compared with the same months in previous years, settler attacks have intensified by 208 percent, Nablus’s acting Governor Ghassan Daghlas has said. “The attacks have intensified, especially after more settlers were getting armed by the Israeli government, military checkpoints were closed, and barriers were imposed, tightening the siege on Nablus governorate,” Daghlas told Al Jazeera.

Twelve military checkpoints currently encircle Nablus city and its surrounding villages; the Israeli army has also installed 10 gates at the entrances to villages and towns south of Nablus, Daghlas said. “This is something we have not experienced since the second Intifada. The Israeli occupation is clear in its intention, which is to strike the beating heart of the West Bank – Nablus – which connects its centre and its north,” he added.