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SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Palestinians accuse Israel of Olympic Truce breach

The Palestine Olympic Committee has called for the “immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris Olympics 2024”.

In a letter to Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee, the Palestinians said Israel has been engaged in violations that include illegal colonial settlement, occupation and annexation, as well as genocidal incitement.

The letter also stressed that there has been a breach of the Olympic truce. The UN General Assembly Resolution on the Paris 2024 Olympics mandates an Olympic truce from July 19 to September 15, 2024, to ensure a peaceful environment for the Games.

“However, Israel has violated this truce within the first 24 hours by continuing its bombing on Gaza, resulting in the killing of at least 70 Palestinians. This contravention underscores the urgent need for OIC and FIFA to act in line with its statutes and promote respect for international human rights law,” the letter said.

The letter was also sent to FIFA President Gianni Infantino by the Palestine Football Association.


IOC President declines Palestinian request for Israel to be excluded from Games

Thomas Bach has said he would not be drawn into political discussions.

“The position of the IOC is very clear. We have two national Olympic committees (NOCs). Both have been living in peaceful coexistence. The Olympic Games are a competition not between countries but between athletes.”

“If we would enter into the political discussion with regard to wars and conflict, at the opening ceremony on Friday we may be in the end with 100 NOCs and not with 206 NOCs, if we would violate our political neutrality.”

Earlier, we reported that the Palestinian Olympic Committee sent a letter to Bach for Israel to be excluded from the Games.

In the letter it accused Israel of breaching the traditional Olympic truce, which should run from July 19 until after the Paralympics in mid-September, with its war in Gaza.

Double standards, Russia is still excluded...

Anti-Gaza war protesters gather in Paris ahead of Olympics



Pro-Palestine protesters have gathered on the Place de Clichy square in Paris to call for banning Israel from participating in the Olympic Games, due to start on Friday.



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SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Threat to Red Sea shipping growing: UN envoy

Recent developments in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways suggest the threat to international shipping from the Houthis is increasing.

Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy to Yemen, discussed the situation at the UN Security Council following Houthi attacks on commercial vessels and the first Israeli air raids on Yemen’s Hodeidah port.

The Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and disrupted global trade through the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war on Gaza nine months on.


Israel-Houthi confrontation at a ‘new and dangerous level’

The Houthi attacks on Israel and Israeli retaliatory attacks on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah and its oil and power facilities represent “a new and dangerous level” of violence, a UN official warns.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council, special envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg said there could be a devastating regional escalation.

“I remain deeply concerned about the continued targeting of international navigation in the Red Sea and its surrounding waterways. Recent developments suggest that the threat against international shipping is increasing in scope and precision.”



Hezbollah says it launched dozens of rockets at nothern Israel

The group has said it fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli town near the Lebanese border.

Earlier, Hezbollah claimed to have launched drone and rocket attacks on a military post in Mount Meron and a Burkan rocket at a post near the village of Margliot.

The group said the attacks were in retaliation for an Israeli drone attack on the southern Lebanese village of Shaqra in which a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was killed.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Netanyahu should accept deal on captives in Gaza: Israel’s Lapid

The Israeli prime minister should announce at the US Congress that he agrees on the agreement in full and confirm the quick return of the captives, opposition leader Yair Lapid says.

In a post on X, Lapid also said Netanyahu should thank President Joe Biden for his support and friendship during his speech in Congress.

‘Pinch of salt’: Captive’s father sceptical of Netanyahu’s deal claim

Earlier, we reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told families of captives held in Gaza that a deal to secure their release could be close.

Ruby Chen, father of dual US-Israeli citizen Itai Chen, a soldier whose body is being held in Gaza, is one of the family members who met with Netanyahu while he’s visiting the US.

“He did say that conditions were ripening but I’m taking that with a pinch of salt,” Chen told Israeli Army Radio. Chen said he hoped President Biden will apply more pressure on Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire and captive-exchange deal.

An unnamed Palestinian official close to the mediation effort accused Netanyahu of stalling on the deal, the Reuters news agency reported.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Turkey ‘welcomes’ Palestinian agreement in Beijing

The Turkish foreign ministry hailed the agreement for “national unity” made by various Palestinian factions including Fatah and Hamas.

“In light of the Israeli attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, the importance of political unity in Palestine is increasing,” it said in a statement.

Sharp disagreements on issues between Fatah and Hamas have resulted in the occupied West Bank and Gaza being politically divided since 2007.

UN chief welcomes China-brokered accord seeking Palestinian unity

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed an accord brokered by China seeking reconciliation between Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

“I think all steps towards unity are to be welcomed and encouraged,” his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said, adding that Guterres “very much welcomes the signing of the Beijing Declaration by the Palestinian factions”.

US State Dept says can be ‘no role’ for Hamas in post-war Gaza

Spokesman Matthew Miller has responded to a Beijing-brokered “national unity” agreement signed between Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian groups today.

The agreement lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule post-war Gaza and has been seen as a bulwark against any governance plans that sideline Palestinians.

Miller told reporters the United States opposes any post-war plan that includes Hamas.

“As we have made clear for months, Hamas is a terrorist organisation. … When it comes to governance of Gaza at the end of the conflict, there can’t be a role for a terrorist organisation,” Miller said.

He added the US would “like to see the Palestinian Authority governing a unified Gaza and the West Bank, but no, we cannot support a role for Hamas”.

There can be no role for the USA in post war Gaza. It's not about your support, Palestinians will decide in elections.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Pro-Palestine protesters gather at Wisconsin Harris campaign event

A small group of protesters have gathered in support of Gaza ahead of presidential contender and US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign event in Wisconsin.

The appearance later today will be Harris’s first official campaign event since US President Joe Biden stepped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nominee.

Critics have closely associated Harris with the Biden administration’s political and material support for Israel throughout the war, although some observers have suggested she may be less supportive of Israel than Biden.

Harris is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this week during his visit to Washington, DC.

Harris needs to pivot from Biden on Gaza policy: Wisconsin protester

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Wisconsin, where US Vice President Kamala Harris had just held her first presidential campaign event, protester Othman Atta said there was still time for her to win back support Biden had lost due to his response to the war in Gaza.

“We want to make sure that she resets the policy, she doesn’t follow the pro-genocidal views of Joe Biden,” Said Atta, who is Palestinian-American.

“We want her to follow international law, stop funding Israel, stop funding what they’re doing to the people of Gaza,” he said.

“Most votes are based on domestic issues, there’s no doubt about it. However, there are many Democrats, many progressives, many people who are standing on their moral principles,” he said.



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SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Amnesty warns of US complicity in war crimes as Netanyahu visits

The rights group, in a statement, said the US is “on notice of the government of Israel’s unlawful use of US-origin weapons, including in war crimes, and will be complicit in further violations committed with these weapons”.

“The US government has been presented with ample evidence from experts around the world that US-origin arms have been used in war crimes and unlawful killings by the Israeli government,” Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.

“Continued weapons transfers will make the US complicit in violations of international law committed with these arms,” he said.

The rights group noted that countries that provide arms to governments or armed groups that break international law “are not only violating their obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, but are in fact assisting these violations to commit ‘internationally wrongful acts'”.

It added that “companies manufacturing and exporting arms also have a responsibility to respect human rights and international humanitarian law throughout their value chains”.

Trump says he will meet with Netanyahu this week

In a post on Truth Social, Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday.

“During my first term, we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords – And we will have it again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Netanyahu is in Washington and due to address the US Congress on Wednesday and meet President Joe Biden on Thursday.

Trump added that Vice President Kamala Harris, who has Biden’s support to be the Democratic presidential candidate, has “no way” of stopping the death in Gaza.

Harris missing Netanyahu speech not a slight, US State Dept says

US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has catapulted to become the likely Democratic presidential nominee, will not be in attendance when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress on Wednesday.

But US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was quick to dismiss that her absence was meant to send a message.

“The reality is the vice president’s office has made clear that she had a pre-scheduled trip before the prime minister announced this date,” Miller said, pointing to a planned meeting between Harris and Netanyahu later in the week.

“And I would just ask: What is more important, being there for a speech or meeting with the prime minister and talking about how we can work together to address our concerns?"



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Jewish pro-Gaza protesters arrested at US congressional office building

Hundreds of US progressive Jewish activists have taken over the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington’s Capitol Hill, demanding an end to weapons transfers to Israel.

The protesters congregated at the site and simultaneously took off their tops to reveal red T-shirts that say “Stop arming Israel.” They chanted, “not in our name” and “let Gaza live”.

US Capitol police have started to arrest protesters as they declared the area “closed.”


Jewish pro-Gaza protesters crowd the Cannon House Office rotunda in Washington, DC on July 23

Police officers have been steadily arresting Jewish activists who gathered for a protest calling for an arms embargo on Israel and have now cleared the rotunda.

Officers moved in on the circle-shaped demonstration quickly, yanked and discarded banners decrying the “genocide” in Gaza.

Then they made their way detaining people from the outer circles making the group smaller.

Many zip-tied demonstrators continued to chant “stop arming Israel” as they were being led away.


Police arrest pro-Palestine protesters at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, on July 23

Seven major US labour unions call on Biden to halt aid to Israel

The seven unions represent millions of workers in the US. They are the American Postal Workers Union, the National Education Association, the Association of Flight Attendants, Service Employees International Union, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, United Auto Workers and United Electrical Workers.

In a letter addressed to Biden, the unions called on the administration to “halt all military aid to Israel” to move towards an immediate ceasefire.

The letter notes there has been no breakthroughs in a truce deal proposed by Biden at the end of May. It added Israel’s “refusal to minimise civilian harm and its demonstrated restriction of US humanitarian aid” warrants a halt to military support under US law.

“Mr president, the time to act decisively to end this war is now,” it said.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Israel again raiding Tulkarem after five killed in earlier operation

Israeli forces have re-entered the city in the occupied West Bank, about nine hours after withdrawing following a raid that killed five people, according to WAFA news agency.

Clashes were reported near the western Ezbet al-Jarad area and witnesses told the news agency that a residential building was under drone attack.

Five people were killed in Israel’s earlier raid, including three commanders of Palestinian armed groups, as well as a woman and a young girl.

Israeli war on Gaza drives Palestinian budget deficit up 172%: PA

The Palestinian Authority’s budget deficit is projected to surge by 172 percent in 2024 compared with 2023, according to a statement from the cabinet.

Revenues are also expected to drop by 21 percent due to the Israeli war on Gaza.

The announcement followed President Mahmoud Abbas’s approval of the emergency budget for 2024, which includes austerity measures such as reducing salaries, operational and capital expenditures, and maintaining minimal development expenditures.

The Palestinian administration’s ability to pay public sector salaries in full for over two years has been hindered by reduced aid and Israel withholding tax money it owes to the PA.

“The Israeli government has deducted about two-thirds of Palestinian tax revenues since October last year, amounting to a $937.52m decline from the previous year,” the statement said.


Two Palestinians injured in Israeli settler attack near Nablus, West Bank

A group of Israeli settlers have stormed the village of Huwara, south of Nablus, injuring at least two Palestinians, the Wafa news agency is reporting, citing Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance crews which responded.

The settlers broke windows in shops and cars, Wafa said, and were escorted by Israeli soldiers, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The latest attack comes after the International Court of Justice ruled that Israeli occupation is unlawful, with the court’s president describing Israel’s laws in the Palestinian Territories as “tantamount to the crime of apartheid”.



Israeli forces storm home of slain Palestinian, prepare it for demolition

The Israeli military has stormed the home of a deceased Palestinian man in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and planted explosives in preparation for its demolition, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.

Israeli forces shot and killed Muhammad Manasra on February 29 near the town of al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus. He was accused of killing two people in an attack at a gas station near the illegal Israeli settlement of Eli.

About 20 Israeli army vehicles, a bulldozer and some 100 soldiers have surrounded the house, according to the Wafa news agency. Clashes have erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces, resulting in one man being shot in the thigh and another being run over.

 

Israeli forces shoot second person during Qalandiya raid

Earlier, we about that a Palestinian man was shot and another was run over as about 100 Israeli soldiers raided the Qalandiya refugee camp and bulldozed a home.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society now says two people were shot during the raid, including one who was shot in the knee and another in the foot. Their condition is not currently known.

A video shared on social media shows a large number of armed Israeli soldiers and military vehicles making their way through the refugee camp during the overnight raid.

Translation: Large forces of the occupation army storm Qalandiya camp in Jerusalem in preparation for bombing the house of the martyr Muhammad Manasra.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Israel blowing up residential buildings east of Khan Younis

Israeli soldiers are blowing up residential buildings east of war-torn Khan Younis amid Israeli tank fire, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues are reporting.

The latest attacks come as Israel expanded its assault on the south of the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians and forcing thousands more people into the heavily overcrowded al-Mawasi area.


Israeli military bombs home in northern Gaza, killing five

The Israeli military has bombed a home in the al-Jurn area of Jabalia in northern Gaza, killing five people, the Wafa news agency reports.

Wafa also reports that Israeli fighter jets have bombed several sites across the Gaza Strip in recent hours, including Khan Younis, Rafah and the Bureij camp, without reporting any casualties.



SvennoJ on 23 July 2024

Heavy toll on Palestinian athletes as Paris Olympics set to begin

Weightlifting champion Mohammed Hamada, who carried the Palestinian flag at the Tokyo Olympics, lost his spot in the Paris qualifiers due to war-related hardships.

In Gaza, he carried water daily, lost 20kg (44 pounds) and injured his knee.

Palestinian sport faces immense challenges due to Israeli restrictions in the occupied West Bank and Israel’s war on Gaza, with many facilities destroyed and athletes training abroad.

Despite this, Hamada continues training in Doha and views Palestine’s participation in global sport as a significant victory amid adversity.



French president says Israeli athletes ‘welcome’ at Paris Olympics

Emmanuel Macron has rejected calls from the Palestinian Olympic Committee and some French left-wing lawmakers for a boycott of Israeli athletes at the Olympics, saying they are “welcome” at the Paris Games.

“Israeli athletes are welcome in our country. They must be able to compete under their colours because the Olympic movement has decided it,” Macron told France 2 television.

On the situation in Gaza, Macron said Israel has “the right to defend itself”, but said its continued assault on the besieged enclave was “unacceptable”.

Earlier, we reported that the Palestinian Olympic Committee sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee asking for Israel to be excluded from the games.

In the letter, it accused Israel of breaching the traditional Olympic truce, which should run from July 19 until after the Paralympics in mid-September, with its war in Gaza.

ICJ ‘apartheid’ findings mean Israel should be banned from Olympics: Advocate

Fadi Quran, the campaign director at the rights and advocacy group Avaaz, has said Israel should be barred from the Olympics due to the recent findings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is committing “apartheid and systematic discrimination”.

“The IOC has a policy prohibiting apartheid and systematic discrimination,” Quran said, which “the ICJ has confirmed that Israel is guilty of”.

Quran, who is also a Palestinian community organiser, said that ignoring a request from the Palestinian Olympic Committee to exclude Israel would “permanently stain the Paris Olympics and every member of the Olympic committee”.

The International Olympic Committee banned South Africa from participating in the Olympics from 1964 until 1992, due to its policies of racial segregation and apartheid.