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SvennoJ on 24 August 2024
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Hamas condemns Israeli soldiers burning Quran in Gaza

Hamas has condemned Israeli soldiers’ burning of copies of the holy Muslim book during a raid of the Bani Saleh Mosque in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that the move, which was captured in body camera footage of a soldier, shows the “extremist nature” of Israel and its soldiers, “who are filled with hatred and criminality”.

It said the fact that soldiers regularly document their attacks in Gaza and share it on social media “clearly indicates a systematic criminal policy” managed by the Israeli government.


Israel’s latest Quran burnings a war on Islam that Biden must condemn: CAIR

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the United States, says the administration of US President Joe Biden must speak out to condemn the latest burning of the copies of the Quran and destruction of mosques by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

CAIR said the desecration of Islam’s sacred text again shows that the Israeli genocide in Gaza is targeting Islam as well as the Palestinian people.

One video of the incident reportedly shows Israeli soldiers burning and tearing copies of the Quran in the Bani Saleh Mosque in northern Gaza. In another video, Israeli forces reportedly destroy the Grand Mosque in Khan Younis, one of the oldest mosques in Gaza.

“By once again filming themselves burning Qurans and destroying mosques, the forces of the far-right Israeli government have confirmed that their war on the Palestinian people in Gaza is also a war on Islam itself,” said CAIR’s national executive director Nihad Awad.

“The Biden administration must condemn this religious desecration and suspend weapons transfers to the Israeli government to force an end to its campaign of slaughter and starvation in Gaza.”

El Ghazi to donate $560,000 of his Mainz payout to Gaza children

Anwar El Ghazi has pledged to donate $560,000 to children in Gaza, one-third of the payout he received from Mainz 05 for wrongfully terminating his contract over his support for Palestinians in the Israeli war on the besieged coastal enclave.

The Bundesliga club suspended the Dutchman over a social media post showing support for Palestinians in October. The club terminated his contract the following month.

A German court ruled last month that his contract was wrongfully terminated. El Ghazi, who signed with championship side Cardiff City this month, had a contract with Mainz until 2025.

The ruling by Mainz Labour Court ordered Mainz to pay his wages for the past nine months, totalling $1.9m. El Ghazi told The Athletic he had received a payment of $1.7m from Mainz relating to his dismissal.

On Friday, El Ghazi wrote on social media: “I would like to take this moment to thank Mainz for two things. Firstly, for the substantial financial pay-off, 500k of which will be used to fund projects for the children in Gaza.”

‘You could’ve saved them’: Israeli captive families demonstrate in Tel Aviv

The families of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip have led another large-scale weekly demonstration to call for a deal that would bring them home and to criticise the government.

“My cousin was supposed to return on the eighth day of the deal,” the cousin of one of the captives in Gaza said about the exchange agreement in late November that broke down after seven days, adding that opportunities to bring the remaining captives alive are being missed.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six captives held in the enclave who were killed months earlier likely in Israeli airstrikes. Officials say 109 captives remain in Gaza, but only 73 are believed to still be alive.