Tag: Israel

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European soccer body UEFA moves toward vote to suspend Israel

European soccer body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday.

A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Such a step would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions including next year’s World Cup. Israel’s men’s team is set to resume its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy.

It is unclear whether world soccer body FIFA will support excluding Israel given the close relations between FIFA’s leader, Gianni Infantino, and President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration’s support to secure the World Cup, and process visas for players, officials and potentially hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, is seen as key to FIFA delivering a successful tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year.

A State Department spokesperson said it will work to stop any efforts that tried to ban Israel’s team from the World Cup.

FIFA’s ruling council is scheduled to meet in Zurich next week. The 37-member council includes eight from UEFA.

FIFA declined to comment on Thursday. Infantino is based this week at FIFA’s satellite office in Trump Tower in Manhattan while attending events on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly.

Calls to exclude Israel from soccer and other sports have increased in recent weeks amid an outcry over the humanitarian toll of its military campaign in Gaza. Last week Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Israel should be banned from international sports events just like Russia, which was sidelined after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Earlier this week seven independent experts working with the U.N. Human Rights Council urged FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international competitions.

UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin signaled a tougher view on Israel last month when banners saying “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” were placed on the field in front of the Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham teams ahead of the Super Cup game in Udine, Italy.

The discussion about whether to ban Israel from international sports comes as Israel faces increasing criticism and isolation over its military campaign, launched in response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last week, Israel was accused of committing genocide in Gaza by an inquiry commission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Israel’s sports and culture minister, Miki Zohar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel’s soccer federation, Moshe Zuares, have been working “intensively behind the scenes” to block efforts to oust Israel from UEFA, Zohar’s office said Thursday. “The right step now is to act responsibly with the professionals and not to make statements, and this is how all the parties involved in the efforts are acting. We will address this later.”

The decision to ban Russia in 2022 was partly driven by a swath of UEFA member federations refusing to play scheduled games against Russian opponents. No national or club team in Europe has so far refused to play an Israeli opponent, though soccer leaders in Norway and Italy have publicly expressed their unease in recent weeks.

The Norwegian soccer federation also pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the Oct. 11 game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders.

Both Italy’s Gabriele Gravina and Lise Klaveness of Norway are elected members of the UEFA executive committee which could vote on suspending Israel. Zuares, the Israeli soccer federation president, is also on the panel as is Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, a member of the Qatari government who is president of European champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Israel enraged Qatar, an influential U.S. ally that has been a key mediator throughout the war, with a Sept. 9 airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the Qatari capital.

At the Champions League final in May, PSG fans displayed a banner saying “Stop Genocide in Gaza” in French. UEFA did not open a disciplinary case despite having rules against political messaging inside stadiums.

On Wednesday evening in Greece, Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv played PAOK in the UEFA-organized Europa League. There were pro-Palestinian protests outside the stadium in Thessaloniki and a “Stop Genocide” banner displayed inside. (JapanToday)

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Tinubu unveils 2025 Easter pilgrimage, as Uzodimma sponsors 1,000 to Israel, Jordan

No fewer than 1,000 Christian pilgrims on Wednesday departed Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, Imo, for a Holy Pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan.

President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, flagged off the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission’s 2025 delayed Easter pilgrimage.

Tinubu, who described pilgrimage as “a spiritual journey of faith”, cautioned the travellers against absconding.

The president further described it as a “platform for moral transformation and spiritual rebirth.”

While noting that prayer remained a sustaining force for Nigeria, he reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting religious harmony in the country.

Tinubu said: “I, therefore, urge you to ensure you return with your batch at the end of your pilgrimage so that you can join forces with the government to build an egalitarian society where no man is oppressed.

“It is equally germane to reiterate that NCPC, under the leadership of Bishop Stephen Adegbite, has put all mechanisms in place to check abscondment.

“It will interest you to know that the Commission, in all its pilgrimages from December last year to date, has been able to achieve almost zero abscondment, so be warned,” he stressed.

Tinubu emphasised that the theme of the exercise, “Pilgrimage of Renewed Hope for Total Restoration,” aligned with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which sought to improve the quality of life of all Nigerians.

He acknowledged that some governments’ policies had been tough on citizens, but assured Nigerians that “there will certainly be light at the end of the dark tunnel.”

Tinubu said his achievements in youth empowerment, infrastructure, education, and security, as well as the reductions in insurgency, kidnapping, and banditry, could be traced to the resolve to restore peace in troubled areas.

The President also lauded Governor Hope Uzodimma’s spiritual commitment and sponsorship of 1,000 Christian pilgrims this year, just as he did in 2023.

In a remark, Uzodimma thanked the President for taking a keen interest in the physical and spiritual well-being of the Nigerian citizens and for his commitment to a better country.

The governor admonished the pilgrims to see the exercise as an opportunity to seek the face of God, pray for the state and the country.

“We will work against any abuse. As you journey to the Holy lands, carry Nigeria in your heart, pray for peace, prosperity, unity, and the President for additional wisdom and guidance,” he said.

Also speaking, Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Caleb Ajagba, urged the pilgrims not to see the trip as a mere tourist exercise.

Otti encouraged them to ask themselves the question of why they wanted to go on pilgrimage rather than see it as any other journey.

Earlier, Adegbite thanked Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, Uzodimma and Akume for their commitment towards the spiritual upliftment of the Nigerian citizens.

He commended Uzodimma for sponsoring the pilgrims, describing him as “a wonderful governor, leader par excellence, great man by all standards, beacon of hope for Imo, Pilgrimage and Nigeria.”

The NCPC boss also joined in urging the pilgrims to see the trip as purely a spiritual one and apply themselves accordingly.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that prayers were offered for the body of Christ, peace in Nigeria and the Middle East, a successful pilgrimage, and for the president, the governors, and Nigerian leaders. (Punch)

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Trump tells world leaders their countries are ‘going to hell’ in combative U.N. speech

U.S. President Donald Trump argued for lower levels of global migration and urged a turn away from climate change policies on Tuesday in a combative, wide-ranging speech to the U.N. General Assembly that leveled scathing criticism of world leaders.

The 56-minute speech was a rebuke to the world body and a return to form for Trump, who routinely bashed the U.N. during his first term as president. Leaders gave him polite applause when he exited the chamber.

He rejected moves by allies to endorse a Palestinian state amid Israel’s latest Gaza offensive and urged European nations to adopt the same set of economic measures he is proposing against Russia to force an end to the war in Ukraine.

Much of his speech was dominated by two of his biggest grievances: immigration and climate change.

Trump offered his U.S. immigration crackdown as a case study for what other world leaders should do to curb mass migration that he says is altering the fabric of nations. Human rights advocates argue the migrants are seeking better lives.

“I’m really good at this stuff,” Trump said. “Your countries are going to hell.”

Trump, who met last week with Britain’s environmentally conscious King Charles at Windsor Castle, called climate change a “con job” and urged a return to a greater reliance on fossil fuels. Scientists say climate change caused by humans is real.

“Immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe,” Trump said.

Trump’s administration plans to call for sharply narrowing the right to asylum at the United Nations later this month, Reuters reported last week, as it seeks to undo the post-World War II framework around humanitarian protection.

Trump sprinkled into his speech a litany of false and misleading statements, such as that London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to impose “sharia law” on London and that “inflation has been defeated” in the United States six days after the Federal Reserve said inflation has gone up.

European powers have spent months trying to stabilize their relationship with the U.S. leader with a focus on winning U.S. support to end the war in Ukraine. At a NATO summit in June, Trump and European leaders lavished each other with praise.

But in Tuesday’s speech, Trump mocked NATO allies for not shutting down purchases of Russian oil and said he would impose strong economic measures against Moscow.

“They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs,” he said.

“But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”

He did not detail the measures, but he has been considering a package that includes sanctions against countries that do business with Russia, like India and China. The main buyers of Russian oil in Europe are Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey.

Trump later held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who pressed for more U.S. support to resist Russian advances. Trump, asked by reporters if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace, said, “Yes, I do.”

On the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Trump rejected efforts by world leaders to embrace a Palestinian state, a move that faces fierce resistance from Israel.

“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said, repeating his call for the return of hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group.

Trump said the United States wants a ceasefire-for-hostages deal that would see the return of all remaining hostages, alive and dead.

“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to immediately negotiate peace,” he said.

He was to discuss the future of Gaza during afternoon talks with several Gulf leaders.

Trump, who has cast himself as a peacemaker in a bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize, complained that the United Nations did not support his efforts to end conflicts around the world.

He added to his complaints with personal grievances about the U.N. infrastructure, saying he and first lady Melania Trump were briefly marooned on a malfunctioning U.N. escalator and that his teleprompter was not initially working.

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations – a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump said, noting that Melania Trump nearly fell when the escalator stopped abruptly. (JapanToday)

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Macron phones Trump after US president’s motorcade blocks his car

Emmanuel Macron had to walk half an hour by foot through New York after his speech to the United Nations on recognising Palestine as a state.

Video footage shows him getting out of his car to talk to police officers after they stop his vehicle to make way for the expected arrival of the motorcade of Donald Trump, the US president.

The footage, which was captured by a reporter from the social media outlet Brut, appears to show the French president saying he needs to get to his country’s consulate.

“I’m sorry, president, I’m really sorry, everything has been frozen, there’s a motorcade coming right now,” an officer tells Macron.

The president then looks out over the empty street and replies: “If you don’t see it, let me cross. I’ll negotiate with you.”

Macron, who remains stuck behind a metal barrier, takes out his phone and appears to call Trump directly. Leaning on the barrier, he says, laughingly: “How are you? Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you.”

Macron later appears to be allowed through on foot but not in his car. Still on his phone, he proceeds to stride off down the street, past shoppers and pedestrians. The reporter from Brut said Macron walked for about 30 minutes with his security detail. He stopped and posed with passersby who asked for photographs, including one encounter with a man who kissed him on the forehead.

“The time has come to end the war in Gaza, the massacres and the death,” Macron had said during his opening speech to a special summit at the UN on Monday evening. “The time has come to do justice for the Palestinian people and thus to recognise the state of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Announcing France’s official recognition of Palestine, the president set out a plan for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force in postwar Gaza that is expected to find support in many countries but not in Israel or the US. (Guardian)

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UK, Australia, Canada recognise Palestinian state

Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of western foreign policy, triggering swift Israeli anger.

Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly which opens Monday in New York.

“Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X.

It is a watershed moment for Palestinians and their decades-long ambitions for statehood, with the most powerful Western nations having long argued it should only come as part of a negotiated peace deal with Israel.

But the move puts those countries at odds with the United States and Israel, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacting angrily and vowing to oppose it at the UN talks.

Calls for a Palestinian state “would endanger our existence and serve as an absurd reward for terrorism,” Netanyahu said Sunday.

A growing number of longtime allies have shifted positions, as Israel has intensified its Gaza offensive, vowing to eliminate the Hamas Palestinian militants.

The Gaza Strip has suffered vast destruction, a spiralling death toll and a lack of food that has sparked a major humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict which has drawn an international outcry

The UK government has come under increasing public pressure to act, with thousands rallying every month on the streets. A poll released by YouGov on Friday showed two-thirds of young Britons aged 18-25 supported Palestinian statehood.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy acknowledged at the UN in July that “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution”.

Over a century ago, the UK was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the state of Israel through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.

Three-quarters of UN members already recognise Palestinian statehood, with over 140 of the 193 having taken the step.

Starmer said in July that his Labour government intended to recognise a Palestinian State unless Israel took “substantive” steps including reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, getting more aid into the territory and confirming it would not annex the West Bank.

Starmer has also repeatedly called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages they captured in the 2023 attack, and is expected to set out new sanctions on the Palestinian militants.

Lammy told the BBC on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority, the civilian body that governs in areas of the West Bank, had been calling for the move for some time “and I think a lot of that is wrapped up in hope”.

“Will this feed children? No it won’t, that’s down to humanitarian aid. Will this free hostages? That must be down to a ceasefire.”

But he said it was an attempt to “hold out for” a two-state solution.

Palestinian foreign minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told AFP last week: “Recognition is not symbolic.”

“It sends a very clear message to the Israelis on their illusions about continuing their occupation forever,” she added.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,208 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Portugal said that it would also formally declare its recognition in New York on Sunday.

“By acting now, as the Portuguese government has decided, we’re keeping alive the possibility of having two states,” Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said. (Punch)

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Israel kills over 50 in Gaza; Qatar calls Israeli attack ‘state terror’

As the world’s attention was focused on Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Israeli forces continued their unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 50 people on Tuesday.

Among the dead are nine Palestinians, who had gathered in the enclave’s south seeking aid. Israel pressed on with its offensive in Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Palestinians to flee to the south for their lives.

The Wafa news agency reported that a drone strike on a makeshift tent sheltering displaced families at Gaza’s port killed two civilians and injured others. Warplanes also hit several residential buildings, including four homes in the al-Mukhabarat area and the Zidan building northwest of Gaza City, it reported.

Another house was reportedly bombed in the Talbani neighbourhood of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, while two young men were killed in an attack on civilians in the az-Zarqa area of Tuffah, northeast of Gaza City.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency confirmed footage showing an Israeli strike on the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Deir el-Balah. The video captured a flash of light before the mosque’s minaret was enveloped in smoke. Despite the blast, the minaret appeared to remain standing.

Israel issued new evacuation threats on Monday, releasing maps warning Palestinians to leave a highlighted building and nearby tents on Jamal Abdel Nasser Street in Gaza City or face death. It told residents to move to the so-called “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a barren stretch of coast in southern Gaza.

But al-Mawasi itself has been repeatedly bombed, despite Israel insisting it is a safe zone. At the start of the year, about 115,000 people lived there. Today, aid agencies estimate that more than 800,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s population – are crammed into overcrowded makeshift camps.

Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described al-Mawasi as a vast camp “concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair”.

“There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. Warnings of famine have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

The Palestinian Civil Defence warned that “Gaza City is burning, and humanity is being annihilated”.

The rescue agency said that in just 72 hours, five high-rise towers containing more than 200 apartments were destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless.

More than 350 tents sheltering displaced families were also flattened, it added, forcing nearly 7,600 people to sleep in the open, “struggling against death, hunger, and unbearable heat”.

More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, some 20,000 of them children, in the Israeli offensive, which has been dubbed a genocide by numerous scholars and activists. The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said that more than 1.3 million people remain in Gaza City and surrounding areas, despite Israeli attempts to push them south. It described the evacuation orders as an effort to carry out “the crime of forced displacement in violation of all international laws”.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times in 23 months of genocidal war, and an Israeli curb on aid entry, including food items, has led to starvation deaths. Last month, a UN agency declared famine in Gaza, affecting half a million people.

On Tuesday morning, Palestinians in central Gaza staged a protest against the latest evacuation orders.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that demonstrators carried banners reading, “We will not leave”, and “Not going out”.

“The primary goal of the [Israeli] occupation is displacement,” said Bajees al-Khalidi, a displaced Palestinian at the protest. “But there’s no place left, not in the south, nor the north. We’ve become completely trapped.”

Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces killed two teenagers in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency.

Mourners on Tuesday buried 14-year-old Islam Noah, who was shot while attempting to enter the besieged refugee camp. A funeral was also held for another 14-year-old, Muhammad Alawneh. Two others were wounded in the same incident.

Israel sent missiles at Doha as Hamas leaders were meeting in the Qatari capital for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal from the United States to end the war in Gaza. Hamas said five people were killed, while Qatar said a security official was also among the dead. Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination attempt.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s “reckless criminal attack” in a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani called the attack “state terrorism”.

The Qatari prime minister said Doha would continue to work to end Israel’s war on Gaza, but raised doubts about the viability of the most recent talks. “When it comes to the current talks, I don’t think there is something valid right now after we’ve seen such an attack,” he said.

Qatar has sent a letter to the UN Security Council, condemning what it calls a cowardly Israeli assault on residential buildings in Doha.

The Doha attack has drawn global condemnation, with the UN chief calling it a “flagrant violation” of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.

The White House claimed that the US had warned Qatar of the impending strike, but Doha rejected that account, insisting the warning came only after the bombing had begun.

Trump later said he felt “very badly about the location of the attack” and that he had assured Qatar that it would not happen again.

“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” (AlJazeera)

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Shooting in occupied East Jerusalem kills six, Israeli authorities say

Six people have been killed in a shooting attack in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities say, as the Israeli military’s punishing assault on besieged Gaza rages alongside an accelerated violent crackdown by the army and settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Paramedics said at least 12 people were injured and six were in “serious condition” after the shooting on Monday morning at Ramot Junction. Several others were “lightly injured by glass” and treated at the scene, Israel’s paramedic service, Magen David Adom, said.

Israeli police described the shooting as a suspected “terror attack”.

A security officer and a civilian shot and killed the perpetrators soon after the shooting began, police confirmed.

The police said the perpetrators arrived in a vehicle and opened fire at a bus station.

Israeli forces closed all checkpoints between East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank after the attack, sources told Al Jazeera.

After police said the perpetrators had come from the occupied West Bank, Israeli Army Radio reported Israeli forces imposed a military cordon on four villages in the Jerusalem governorate in the territory – Qatana, Biddu, Beit Inan and Beit Duqu – and conducted raids there.

The Israeli military said it had reinforced its forces in the wider Jerusalem area and was conducting a wide-ranging search for what it described as “accomplices” in the shooting.

Palestinians in the West Bank are preparing themselves to face collective punishment from Israel in retaliation for the attack, a Palestinian journalist said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, Leila Warah said Palestinians were “very much on edge, waiting to see what is going to happen”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are pursuing the villages where the attackers hailed from, in what was a now standard Israeli response to such attacks, said Warah.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut – reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel – said: “Israeli authorities are saying the two perpetrators are from an area in the occupied West Bank that is just west of occupied East Jerusalem. They say the two worked in tandem in this attack, that two gunmen boarded a bus – witnesses say one of them was dressed as a ticket inspector – and opened fire.”

“This attack took place near an illegal settlement of Ramot, just north of West Jerusalem, and if you look at where the Green Line is on a map, it actually bleeds into occupied East Jerusalem,” she added, referring to the generally recognised boundary between Israel and the West Bank. “These settlements are deemed illegal under international law and are buildings and structures that infringe on the rights of Palestinians and destroy territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state.”

“Israeli officials are now trying to wrap their heads around how exactly this happened, saying that they haven’t seen something like this happen in years, saying that the last shooting like this in greater Jerusalem was back in November 2023,” Salhut said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Netanyahu informed judges that he would not attend his corruption trial session scheduled for Monday due to the security developments.

Both Netanyahu and far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have visited the scene of the shooting.

“We are in an intense war against terror on several fronts,” Netanyahu said there. “I want to send condolences to the families of the dead and to the wounded. A pursuit and encirclement of the villages from which the terrorists came is under way.”

In reaction to the shooting, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has “reiterated its firm position of rejecting and condemning any targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians”. Its presidential office said in a statement from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank that the PA denounces “all forms of violence and terrorism regardless of their source”.

Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the shooting but have expressed “congratulations” for the attack.

Hamas said in a statement that the shooting was “a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and the genocide it wages against our people” and that it sends a clear message that Israel’s plans to “occupy and destroy Gaza City and desecrate Al-Aqsa Mosque will not pass without punishment”.

The group said Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “will not weaken the determination of our people and their resistance” and called for more attacks in occupied territory.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said in a short statement that the shooting was “a natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes of the Zionist enemy” in Palestinian territory.

The shooting most likely originated from the West Bank rather than from Hamas in Gaza, Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said.

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Goldberg told Al Jazeera he “seriously” doubted it had been ordered by Hamas.

If Hamas had carried out the attack, then it would mean Hamas was “trying to step up its resistance to what is beginning to look like a superimposed attempt to end the war”, he said, referring to comments from United States President Donald Trump’s administration that it is working on a solution to the war in Gaza.

Goldberg added that Israel has made some Palestinians feel that their only means of resistance is violence because Israel has done its utmost to ensure that they have no “sustainable model of politics”.

“Many Israelis ask where the Palestinian Nelson Mandela is at the moment, and the answer is either at a cemetery or in an Israeli prison. Israel has done everything it can to break any attempts on the part of the Palestinians to try and explore different paths, paths that are not violent like the ones we saw today,” he said, referring to the shooting.

Goldberg added that while Palestinians have also played a part in the failure of Palestinian politics, Israel is “by all means the stronger party” and bears most of the responsibility.

“Israel has done everything it can to break the Palestinian Authority, to arrest any semblance of a political leadership that might be amenable to a political process with Israel and to deny such a political process vehemently and repeatedly at all levels of the Israeli government,” he said. (AlJazeera)

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PM killed in Israeli strike, say Yemen’s Huthis

The prime minister of Yemen’s Huthis was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other officials earlier this week, the Iran-backed rebels announced on Saturday.

Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, is the most senior official known to have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes during the war in Gaza.

“We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi… along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy,” a Huthi statement said.

“Others among their companions were injured with moderate to serious wounds and are receiving medical care since Thursday afternoon,” it added.

The Israeli military struck in the area of Sanaa, the Huthi-held capital, on Thursday. The Huthis, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians, have frequently fired missiles and drones at Israel during the Gaza war.

Israeli forces “struck a Huthi terrorist regime military target”, the Israeli military said at the time.

The Huthis have also targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which they claim is linked to Israel during the Gaza war.

The rebel group controls large parts of Yemen, which has been gripped by war since 2014, and is part of Iran’s anti-Israel alliance alongside militant groups across much of the Middle East. (Punch)

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Israeli PM Netanyahu approves Gaza City seizure despite ceasefire talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will give final approval for the seizure of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all the remaining captives and ending the nearly two-year-old war, but on “terms acceptable to Israel”.

Speaking to soldiers near Gaza on Thursday, Netanyahu said he was still set on approving plans for seizing Gaza City, the densely populated centre at the heart of the Palestinian enclave, forcibly displacing close to 1 million people and carrying out the systematic demolitions of Palestinian homes.

“At the same time I have issued instructions to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding: “We are in the decision-making phase.”

The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after Netanyahu grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials later on Thursday.

Israeli forces have already stepped up attacks there, and thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli tanks edged closer to Gaza City over the last 10 days.

Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from mediators Qatar and Egypt, which, if accepted by Israel, could forestall the assault.

Israel’s army plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.

The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living captives held in Gaza by Hamas and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Once the temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining captives.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, has likened Netanyahu’s announcement about relaunching purported truce talks while the military escalates its assault on Gaza City to “negotiation under fire”.

“There will be no stoppage of the fighting. There will be no breaks in the genocide. Hamas is going to have to make up its mind as Israel kills dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Palestinians moving forward [and] as it transfers a million Palestinians southward in Gaza,” Bishara said.

“Israel is now dictating all the terms, and it’s not listening to anyone, and it has a green light from Washington.”

At least 48 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, including 16 aid seekers who were the latest victims of shootings at GHF aid distribution points.

Meanwhile, two more people have starved to death in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The new deaths raised the number of Palestinians who have died from Israeli-induced hunger to 271, including 112 children, since the war began.

A renewed Israeli offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the famine-struck territory. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimated that 90 percent of Gaza’s residents have been displaced, warning that shelters are deteriorating and any further displacement will worsen the catastrophic situation.

The Palestinian Ministry of Interior denounced Israel’s push to seize Gaza City as a “death sentence” for the more than one million people living there.

The Palestinian Health Ministry also released a statement responding to what it says is an Israeli push to transfer health system resources to the south of the enclave.

“The Ministry of Health expresses its rejection of any step that would undermine what remains of the health system following the systematic destruction carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities,” it said.

“This step would deprive more than one million people of their right to treatment and put the lives of residents, patients and the wounded at imminent risk.”

Some Palestinian families in Gaza City have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

“We are facing a bitter, bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else. As long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,” Rabah Abu Elias, 67, a father of seven, told the Reuters news agency.

“In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn’t an easy decision to make,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli air attacks also destroyed a tent camp in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, where many people have sought refuge. Residents said the Israeli military warned them to flee shortly before the attacks set the camp ablaze.

Families, many with children, could later be seen sifting through the ashes for the belongings they had managed to take with them during earlier evacuations.

Mohammad Kahlout, who had been displaced from northern Gaza, told The Associated Press they were given just five minutes to gather what they could and flee.

“We are civilians, not terrorists. What did we do, and what did our children do, to be displaced again?” (AlJazeera)

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Gaza talks to focus on releasing hostages all in one go, Netanyahu hints

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that Gaza ceasefire efforts are now focused on a comprehensive deal to release all the remaining hostages at once.

The plan previously being pushed was for an initial 60-day truce and partial release of living hostages.

Hamas says a delegation of its leaders is in Cairo for “preliminary talks” with Egyptian officials.

Reports say that mediators see a window of opportunity in the coming weeks to try to push a deal through.

After indirect talks between Israel and Hamas broke down last month, Israel announced a controversial plan to widen its military offensive and conquer all the Gaza Strip – including the areas where most of its two million Palestinian residents have sought refuge.

However, Israeli media do not expect the new operation to begin until October – allowing time for military preparations, including a mass call-up of reservists.

Meanwhile, intense Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza, and the Hamas-run health ministry said at least 123 Palestinians have been killed in the past day.

Witnesses say that Israel has stepped up its attacks on Gaza City in particular with air strikes destroying homes.

Footage shows large explosions caused by the strikes and demolitions in the Zaytoun area, to the east of Gaza City.

Early on Wednesday, al-Shifa Hospital said seven members of one family, five of them children, were killed when tents were targeted in Tel al-Hawa, in the south of the city. Al-Ahli Hospital said 10 people were killed in a strike on a house in the Zaytoun area, to the city’s east.

The Israeli army said it had begun new operations in Zaytoun.

Israeli military chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir also “approved the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip”, a statement released by the army said.

In an interview with the i24News Israeli TV Channel shown on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked if a partial ceasefire was still possible.

“I think it’s behind us,” he replied. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.”

“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages.”The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead – that’s the stage we’re at.”

Palestinian armed groups still hold 50 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war. Israel believes that around 20 of them are still alive.

Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to secure their release as well as over his plans to expand the war.

Last week, unnamed Arab officials were quoted as saying that regional mediators, Egypt and Qatar, were preparing a new framework for a deal that would involve releasing all remaining hostages at the same time in return for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

However, this will be difficult to do in a short time frame as Israel is demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza as well as its weapons.

This is likely to be why, at a news conference on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told journalists that Cairo was still “making great efforts” with Qatar and the US – the other mediators – to revive the earlier phased plan.

“The main goal is to return to the original proposal – a 60-day ceasefire – along with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza without obstacles or conditions,” Abdelatty said.

The Israeli prime minister says Israel’s goals have not changed. He says that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders.

Netanyahu has said that, ultimately, Israel must keep open-ended security control over Gaza. (BBC)