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The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
Harvard condemns student and faculty groups for posting antisemitic cartoon
People take photos near a John Harvard statue, left, on the Harvard University campus, Jan. 2, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Harvard University has condemned what it called a “flagrantly antisemitic cartoon” that an undergraduate group posted on social media over the weekend. It also appeared on the Instagram account of Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.
Copied from a newsletter published by students in the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the image features a Black man and an Arab man with nooses around their necks, held by a hand imprinted with the Star of David that has a dollar sign in the middle of the star.
The image was removed and the student and faculty groups apologized, but the post prompted a storm of criticism that Harvard isn’t doing enough to protect its Jewish community.
“Perpetuating vile and hateful antisemitic tropes, or otherwise engaging in inflammatory rhetoric or sharing images that demean people on the basis of their identity, is precisely the opposite of what this moment demands of us,” Alan Garber, Harvard’s interim president, said in a letter Monday to the school community.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African American Resistance Organization took responsibility for what they acknowledged is a “harmful antisemitic trope.” The image was copied from a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee newsletter and included in an infographic urging Black and Arab people to unite in protest of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
This was posted today by ‘Harvard faculty and staff for justice in Palestine.’ The cartoon is despicably, inarguably antisemitic. Is there no limit? pic.twitter.com/maMYwXJ7rz
— David Wolpe (@RabbiWolpe) February 19, 2024
“The inclusion of the offensive caricature was an unprompted, painful error — a combination of ignorance and inadequate oversight,” the student groups’ statement says. “It never should have been published to begin with. We wholeheartedly apologize for the immense harm we caused.”
The faculty and staff group also apologized after the infographic also appeared on its Instagram story, insisting that they stand against all forms of hate and bigotry, including antisemitism.
“We removed the content as soon as it came to our attention,” the faculty and staff group wrote. “We apologize for the hurt these images have caused and do not condone them in any way. ”
Garber says the university is reviewing the matter to determine exactly who was responsible and “what further steps are warranted.”
“As members of an academic community, we can and we will disagree, sometimes vehemently, on matters of public concern and controversy, including hotly contested issues relating to the war in Israel and Gaza, and the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Garber continues. “But it is grossly irresponsible and profoundly offensive when that disagreement devolves into forms of expression that demonize individuals because of their religion, race, nationality, or other aspects of their identity.”
US, partners will continue to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks – State Dept.
Forces loyal to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis take part in a mass funeral for fighters killed in battles with Saudi-backed government troops, in Yemen's capital Sanaa, on April 8, 2021. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
The United States and its partners will “continue to take appropriate action” to protect Red Sea shipping from attacks by the Houthi militia, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says.
“The United States condemns the reckless and indiscriminate attacks on civilian cargo ships by the Houthis. The Houthis are behaving like a terrorist organization,” he says in a statement.
Target of reported IDF strike in Damascus said to be Hezbollah official
People clean debris after an alleged Israeli strike on an apartment in Kfar Sousseh district, in Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2024 (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
The Kan public broadcaster reports that the target of today’s alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus was likely a senior Hezbollah official responsible for transferring weaponry from Iran to the Lebanese terror group’s fighters in the region.
Kan does not identify the official, nor does it say whether the strike against him was successful.
Likud MK backed by airport union workers threatens to torpedo state budget over planned duty free tax hike
Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo attends a Knesset committee meeting on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo threatens during a parliamentary meeting to hold up the national budget in protest of the current draft’s inclusion of a tax on airport duty-free cigarettes.
Revivo represents the spot on Likud’s list reserved for residents of the Shfela District where many faction members who are airport workers live.
UK parliament descends into chaos over Gaza ceasefire vote
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons, in central London on February 21, 2024. (JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT / AFP)
Dozens of lawmakers have stormed out of Britain’s parliament with tempers flaring as the three biggest political parties sought to outmaneuver each other over a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza.
The uproar follows a decision by the speaker to ignore precedent and allow a vote which helped the opposition Labour Party avoid a large-scale rebellion among its own lawmakers over its position on the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawmakers from the governing Conservatives and the opposition Scottish National Party (SNP) left the debating chamber in protest and some tried to take the rare step of holding proceedings in private.
The speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, eventually apologizes and said he had made his decision to allow lawmakers to vote on a range of views because he was concerned about their security after some had faced threats of violence over their stance on the war.
“It is regrettable and I apologize for the decision,” he tells parliament. “I did not want it to end like this.”
Labour, tipped to win a national election expected later this year, has been engulfed by an internal battle over its policy towards the Middle East conflict since the October 7 attack by Hamas that led to Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
The debate in parliament was initiated by the SNP, which put forward a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. Labour and the Conservatives, which have both backed Israel while expressing concern over its actions in Gaza, then proposed amendments, with different conditions they said were necessary before there should be a pause in fighting.
In an usual move, Hoyle selected both those amendments to be voted on, breaking with the precedent whereby one opposition party cannot alter another’s motion. Usually, only the government amendment would be selected.
Some lawmakers jeered the speaker when he announced his decision. One member of parliament accused Hoyle, a former Labour lawmaker, of causing a “constitutional crisis”.
The government’s Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said Hoyle had undermined parliament and the government was pulling out of proceedings.
Palestinian family killed in strike on their home in Rafah, locals say
A Palestinian man collects books after an alleged Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
Israel intensified its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza’s south and over a dozen members of one family were killed in an air strike, residents tell Reuters
Rafah residents reached by text message reported several Israeli air strikes and large explosions in the city, as well as naval boats opening fire on beachfront areas.
Reuters video journalists filmed the aftermath of a strike on the home of the Al-Noor family in Rafah, which was reduced to rubble, showing over a dozen bodies wrapped in white or black shrouds and bereaved relatives at a Rafah hospital.
Abdulrahman Juma says his wife Noor, who was from the Al-Noor family, as well as his one-year-old daughter Kinza, had both been killed in the strike, along with Noor’s parents, brother and other relatives.
Juma was holding Kinza’s body, wrapped in a bloodstained white shroud. “This one, who is on my lap, took my soul away … She is one-and-a-half years old,” he says.
Israel says Hamas militants use civilian buildings as cover and that it doesn’t intentionally target civilians.
Local residents also say Israeli tanks had advanced west from Khan Younis into Al-Mawasi, previously an area of relative safety where the army had told Palestinians to seek shelter.
The tanks reached the coastal road, effectively cutting off Khan Younis and Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip, though they retreated after a few hours, according to residents.
2 Palestinians killed in Gaza area where they were told to shelter — aid group
A Palestinian walks through the rubble of the Khatab family building after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders says two people were killed when building housing staff in the Gaza Strip was struck during an Israeli operation in an area where Palestinians have been told to seek shelter.
“While details are still emerging, ambulance crews have now reached the site, where at least two family members of our colleagues have been killed and six people wounded. We are horrified by what has taken place,” the group says in a post on X.
The attack took place in Muwasi, a sandy, mostly undeveloped strip of land along the coast that has been transformed into a sprawling tent camp with little in the way of basic services.
Doctors Without Borders, known by the French acronym MSF, does not identify the source of the fire. The Israeli military says it is looking into the reports.
Smotrich joins calls for Haredim to enlist: ‘The current situation is outrageous and cannot continue’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionist party faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 12, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appeared to join the growing calls for the ultra-Orthodox community to do more to share the burden of military service, rather than continuing to receive blanket exemptions for yeshiva students.
“The current situation is outrageous and cannot continue,” Smotrich says in public comments during a visit to a yeshiva for national religious students.
“The current reality in which [Haredim] do not serve in the army cannot continue. I think that is also clear to them,” he says.
The far-right minister argues that service in the IDF “comes first and foremost from a place of mutual responsibility, of being part of the wonderful processes of revival and rebirth in which our generation is fortunate to take part.”
“We’re talking about sharing in the burden. It’s a great privilege to take part in this mitzvah,” he continues. “The Israeli society’s claim against the community is just.”
Smotrich clarifies that the effort to enlist Haredim should be done respectfully “with a lot of love and dialogue.”
Maccabi Haifa advances in Europa Conference League
Maccabi Haifa's Frantzdy Pierrot, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League play off second leg soccer match between Gent and Maccabi Haifa at the KAA Gent Arena in Ghent, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Ten-man Maccabi Haifa have held Gent to a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff to advance to the Europa Conference League round of 16 on a 2-1 aggregate score.
Haifa had won the opening leg 1-0 in Budapest, Hungary a week ago. Israeli national and club teams are playing their home games in neutral countries because of the Israel-Hamas war.
Frantzdy Pierrot gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead with a deflected shot. Tarik Tissoudali equalized in the second half before Haifa defender Daniel Sundgren received his second yellow in the 72nd minute and was sent off.
Pierrot also scored in the opening leg.
The game was played without fans because of fears of riots linked to the war. Protests calling for a cease-fire have been taking place regularly in Ghent.
The remaining second-leg games in the third-tier competition are scheduled for Thursday.
Alabama university pauses IVF treatments after court ruling
A scientific researcher handles frozen embryonic stem cells in a laboratory, at the Univestiry of Sao Paulo's human genome research center, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 4, 2008. (MAURICIO LIMA / AFP)
An Alabama university temporarily has halted in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments after the high court in the southern US state ruled that frozen embryos outside the womb are “children.”
Hannah Echols, a spokeswoman for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), says in a statement to local media that the school was “saddened” by the impact the move would have on patients seeking IVF.
“But we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments,” Echols tells AL.com.
The university decision to pause IVF procedures comes just days after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit filed against a fertility clinic, under the state’s 1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
The suit was filed by three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed by a patient who “managed to wander into” a cryogenic nursery where they were stored and accidentally dropped several of them on the floor.
A lower court ruled the frozen embryos could not be considered a “person” or “child” and dismissed the wrongful-death claim.
But the Alabama Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling Friday, disagreed, saying “the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies on its face to all unborn children, without limitation.”
Israel, Hezbollah have window to de-escalate before IDF launches offensive, say US senators visiting Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border with Israel on February 21, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
The Israeli military and Hezbollah have a window to de-escalate tensions along Lebanon’s southern border before a possible IDF offensive against the Lebanese terror group, two Democratic US senators told Reuters on Wednesday.
Senators Chris Coons and Richard Blumenthal met Lebanese officials on a tour of the region, which has been gripped by conflict following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which responded with a heavy air, land and sea assault on Gaza.
“The next few weeks are a real hinge point — for Gaza, for Israel, for Lebanon, for the Red Sea, for Iraq,” says Coons, adding that a ceasefire deal on Gaza could have “positive consequences” for Lebanon.
“It could create that window of 45 days, quite likely during Ramadan as well, when the next steps can be taken to begin to build the confidence that could lead to a full implementation of (United Nations Security Council resolution) 1701,” he says.
That 2006 resolution ended the last major conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and says no armed factions should be present in a swathe of south Lebanon except the Lebanese army.
“I think there’s an urgency for both sides in taking this opportunity to de-escalate and to withdraw,” Coons says.
Foreign ministers and top envoys from various Western countries have visited Lebanon in recent weeks to urge a diplomatic resolution to the fighting in the south.
France submitted a written proposal to Lebanon earlier this month. US envoy Amos Hochstein has also been working on a plan, which Coons said he hoped was “making steady progress” without sharing further details.
IDF says it carried out retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah posts in southern Lebanon
Footage of the IDF carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on February 24, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
The IDF says fighter jets carried out strikes on several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in the last few hours.
The targets included a military post in south Lebanon’s Zibqin — from which a missile was fired earlier today at the northern community of Shlomi — an observation post in Khaim and other Hezbollah infrastructure, the IDF says.
The IDF adds that earlier today it also struck a Hezbollah observation post in Ramyeh and shelled an area near Aitaroun with artillery to “remove threats.”
מטוסי קרב תקפו בשעות האחרונות מטרות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
בין המטרות שהותקפו, עמדת תצפית במרחב אל-חיאם, עמדה צבאית במרחב הכפר זבקין, ממנה בוצעו שיגורים לעבר מרחב שלומי מוקדם יותר היום ומספר תשתיות טרור >> pic.twitter.com/krKPQzVdlk
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 21, 2024
UK and Jordan air drop aid to hospital in northern Gaza
An airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza by Jordan and France on January 4, 2024. (Emmanuel Macron/X)
Britain and Jordan have air-dropped four tonnes of aid including medicines, fuel and food to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza, Britain’s Foreign Office says.
The UK-funded aid is delivered by the Jordanian Air Force.
“Thousands of patients will benefit and the fuel will enable this vital hospital to continue its life-saving work,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says in a statement.
“However, the situation in Gaza is desperate and significantly more aid is needed, and fast. We are calling for an immediate humanitarian pause to allow additional aid into Gaza as quickly as possible and bring hostages home.”
United and Delta to resume flights to Israel in March and May — airports authority
A United Airlines plane taxis after a nationwide FAA computer outage temporarily grounded flights, at Newark International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey, on January 11 2023. (Ket Betancur/AFP)
The Israel Airports Authority announces that United Airlines and Delta Airlines will resume some of their flights to Israel after canceling all service during the Gaza war.
United Airlines confirms the announcement and says it will resume flights on March 3. IAA says Delta will resume flights on May 1, but the airline does not comment on the matter.
Official: Firm evidence that hostages received their meds would indicate talks can succeed
An IDF soldier shows medications meant for hostages held in Gaza found by troops at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in a video released by the military on February 18, 2024 (Screen capture)
Israeli decision-makers remain cautious about the chances for a breakthrough in negotiations for a hostage deal, but believe that firm evidence that the hostages indeed received their medications as part of a Qatari-mediated deal would be an important indicator that there is a chance for success in the ongoing talks, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does give the green light, Israel’s negotiating team could head for Paris as early as tomorrow. “This weekend will be key,” says the official.
Report: IDF advancing pilot program in Gaza City that would see Palestinians not tied to PA or Hamas govern the area
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a photo cleared for publication on February 21, 2024 (IDF)
The IDF is advancing plans to establish a local Palestinian governing body to replace Hamas in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Channel 12 reports without citing any sources.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel wants local Palestinian community leaders who are not affiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to take over the governance of Gaza after the war.
Channel 12 says Zeitoun will serve as a pilot program for this effort, adding that IDF officials have already met with a group of unnamed Palestinian community leaders who will be tasked with governing the area.
Analysts have expressed heavy skepticism of this effort, noting the likelihood that any Palestinian community leaders seen openly and unilaterally cooperating with Israel will quickly be delegitimized and possibly find their lives at risk. They point to a similar effort that was advanced by the US after it invaded Iraq two decades ago only to backfire.
While many in the security establishment believe that the PA should be tasked with leading the governmental effort, the IDF is under direction from Netanyahu’s office not to formally draft any plans for post-war governance in Gaza that involve the PA and accordingly have been left with the framework that they’re currently trying to advance in Zeitoun, officials have told The Times of Israel.
France confirms Qatari announcement that 45 hostages received meds as part of deal
People demonstrate near the International Criminal Court in The Hague after hostages' families filed a complaint, Feb. 14, 2024 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A spokesman for France’s foreign ministry says that medications sent to Gaza as part of an agreement negotiated by Qatar and France have been distributed to 45 hostages held by Hamas.
The spokesman confirms the announcement made by Qatar yesterday on the matter but similarly does not offer proof that the medications indeed reached the hostages.
Responding to the announcement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum thanks French President Emmanuel Macron of France “for his meaningful initiative and involvement in facilitating this process through Qatar.”
“We anxiously followed this effort and are grateful for the compassion and humanity displayed by President Macron on this issue. France is a true friend to the families of the hostages, and we will not forget their support in this matter,” the forum adds.
Israel said readying for second Paris summit aimed at reaching hostage deal
Jonathan Dekel-Chen (left), father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, Ruby Chen (middle), father of Itay Chen, and Ronen Neutra, father of Omer Neutra, speak to reporters after a meeting with President Joe Biden and the families of Americans who were taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attacks in Israel, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Israel is reportedly gearing up to attend another high-level summit in Paris on Friday aimed at securing a long-elusive hostage deal.
Like the first such summit in Paris late last month, this one would be attended by Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and CIA chief Bill Burns, Channel 12 says.
Before confirming its attendance, though, Israel is waiting to see more progress in the ongoing talks Egypt and Hamas are holding in Cairo.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz said earlier tonight that there are early signs of progress on the hostage front.
In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed what he calls Hamas’s “delusional” demands, ones unrelated to the Gaza conflict and that have been called “over the top” by US President Joe Biden as well.
AG asks High Court for further extension for gov’t to legislate law regulating Haredi draft exemptions
Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara attends a cabinet meeting held at the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem's Old City, May 21, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Attorney General’s Office requests a further extension from the High Court of Justice to legislate a law regulating the exemptions received by ultra-Orthodox men from military service, as the current deadline to pass such a law by March 31 rapidly approaches.
In the state’s response to petitions against the ongoing blanket military service exemptions enjoyed by Haredi men, the Attorney General’s Office says that without an extension to the government resolution from June 2023 permitting the government not to conscript ultra-Orthodox men, the state will become legally obligated to begin drafting them on April 1.
The response drafted by the State Attorney’s Office and filed by the Attorney General’s Office says that the outbreak of war after the October 7 atrocities made it impossible for the government to formulate an agreement within the coalition on the highly delicate issue and pass the necessary legislation.
Since it is now impossible to formulate and pass a law of such a societally sensitive nature by the March 31 deadline, the state says, it asks the court to merely allow it to update the court on its efforts to draw up a suitable legislative framework for increasing ultra-Orthodox enlistment by March 24.
The Attorney General’s Office says that by that date the government should have details on emerging legislation to tackle the issue, and will then request another extension for the Knesset to pass a new law by June 30.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the primary petitioners in the case, condemns the Attorney General’s Office for its response, saying it and the state were “once again trying to roll away this hot potato, which has been rolling around or 25 years, instead of deciding once and for all that there should be one conscription for everyone and one equal law for everyone, and not to try and find all types of illegal solutions which discriminate between different types of people and different types of blood.”
The High Court struck down legislation allowing for the blanket exemption of Haredi men from military service in 2017 as discriminatory, and gave the government one year to pass new legislation which would boost levels of ultra-Orthodox military enlistment. It has given the state innumerable extensions to that deadline due to elections and other reasons.
Pro-Israel megadonor Haim Saban hosts fundraiser for Biden, doesn’t attend after testing positive for COVID
Haim Saban at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, May 5, 2015. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images/via JTA)
Israeli-American Haim Saban, a Democratic Party megadonor, hosted a fundraiser in his Los Angeles home yesterday for US President Joe Biden.
In the COVID tests taken before the event, Saban tested positive and was unable to attend.
However, Biden held a private Zoom conversation with Saban from another room in his home.
“While I can’t share details from our one-on-one conversation, I can share that President Biden cares deeply about Israel, it’s in his kishkes [guts]. He cares about Israel’s security and ensuring that Israel remains a prosperous Jewish and democratic state,” Saban says in a statement.
IDF says it struck and killed Hamas terrorists firing mortars at southern Israel
Footage of an IDF strike in Gaza on February 21, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
The IDF says it struck and killed a Hamas terrorist who fired mortars at southern Israel earlier today, minutes after the attack.
The mortars fired from the Jabaliya area in northern Gaza landed in open areas in Israel, causing no injuries.
The IDF says the Gaza Division spotted the launch and called in an airstrike against the operative, which was carried out minutes later.
The IDF says it struck and killed a Hamas terrorist who fired mortars at southern Israel earlier today, minutes after the attack.
The mortars fired from the Jabaliya area in northern Gaza landed in open areas in Israel, causing no injuries.
The IDF says the Gaza Division… pic.twitter.com/WAXPZXoh7v
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 21, 2024
Gantz: Initial signs of progress on new hostage deal framework; won’t be sweeping bans on Arab Israelis at Al-Aqsa
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on February 21, 2024. (Screen capture/Channel 12)
There are “initial signs that indicate the possibility of moving forward” on a “new framework” to free the hostages, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz tells reporters in Tel Aviv after the talks appeared to hit a snag last week.
“We will not miss any opportunity to bring the [hostages] home,” he says, pledging that “no stone will be left unturned” in the effort to free those kidnapped on October 7.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to send an Israeli delegation for further hostage negotiations in Cairo, reportedly angering war cabinet members Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot of the National Unity party.
Gantz reiterates that Israel is prepared to launch its Rafah offensive during Ramadan if a hostage deal is not reached by the time the Muslim holy month starts around March 10.
He hails the Knesset vote rejecting the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
Gantz adds that the entire war cabinet is united in opposition to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s call for sweeping sanctions against Arab Israelis on the Temple Mount during Ramadan. Netanyahu indicated earlier this week that he agreed with Ben Gvir.
Gantz says the war cabinet is only considering restricting specific individuals who are are deemed dangerous.
Ukraine: No official information on Iran supplying Russia with ballistic missiles
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)
Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson says there is no official information on Iran supplying Russia with hundreds of ballistic missiles.
“So far, our official sources do not have information about receiving missiles, especially such a large number,” Yuriy Ihnat says on national TV.
Six sources have told Reuters earlier today that Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
‘Does the UN hold my son,’ asks mother after footage shows UNRWA worker dragging son into jeep on Oct. 7
Ayelet Samerano, mother of murdered hostage Jonathan Samerano, speaking at a press conference on February 21, 2024 (Screen capture)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum holds press conference to show a video of an UNRWA worker, Faisal Ali Musalam Naami, driving a white UN jeep, and dragging the body of Jonathan Samerano, killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, into the jeep to Gaza.
“Does the UN hold my son?” asks Ayelet Samerano, Jonathan’s mother. “Do they know where he is? Bring him back to me — are there any other hostages held by UN employees? Even as we’re speaking right now? Where is my son?”
Samerano was at the Nova desert rave on October 7 and had escaped to Kibbutz Be’eri when he was killed and then his body taken hostage.
Naami is implicated in the kidnapping of Samerano, says Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the forum’s legal team.
This image from video shows Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami (right) and another terrorist abducting the body of an Israeli on October 7, 2023. (Screenshot: South First Reporters)
“Hostage-taking is a war crime,” says Yeini, adding that the forum demands a comprehensive investigation into the allegations.
Daniel Shek, head of diplomacy at the forum, says that in his 30-year diplomatic career, he has seen UNRWA “do amazing humanitarian things,” but there have always been issues of misconduct in the UN organization.
“One video like this will erase all the good you’ve done,” says Shek, speaking of UNRWA, “and should erase all the good you’ve done.”
Shek adds that it’s not the role of the forum to inspect the accounts of UNRWA and talk about their corruption and management, but says the agency should “clean your house or move out.”
“Those are the two options,” Shek continues. “I cannot believe that people like this man who kidnapped Yonatan — and we know there are others. I cannot imagine there weren’t any red flags before he did something like that,” he says.
‘We should kill them all…everybody in Hamas’: GOP lawmaker tells pro-Palestinian activist
A pro-Palestinian activist confronts Rep. Andy Ogles on Capitol Hill on February 21, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles tells a pro-Palestinian activist, “We should kill them all. Does that make you feel better? Everybody in Hamas.”
He makes the remark after being confronted on Capitol Hill by the activist who told the Tennessee lawmaker that her “tax payer dollars are going to bomb those kids [in Gaza].”
Ogles was one of several Republican representatives who introduced legislation that would prohibit the US from accepting potential Palestinian refugees displaced by the war in Gaza.
US Congressman Andy Ogles was filmed telling Palestine solidarity activists, “I think we should kill them all” when talking about Hamas in Gaza ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/fODWQgvGBe
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 21, 2024
Blinken told Lula US ‘disagrees’ with Brazil calling Gaza war genocide — official
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shake hands with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, during a meeting at Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil on Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the United States disagrees with controversial remarks by the Brazilian leader comparing Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, a US official says.
Blinken “made clear we disagree with those comments” in a more than 90-minute meeting with Lula, a senior State Department official tells journalists, saying the pair had a “frank exchange” during the sit-down at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
UN blames security collapse as aid deliveries to Gaza dry up
Palestinians receive food rations at a donation point at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 2, 2024. (Said Khatib/AFP)
The flow of aid entering Gaza from Egypt has almost dried up in the past two weeks, and a collapse in security has made it increasingly difficult to distribute the food that does get through, according to UN data and officials.
Daily figures show a precipitous drop in aid supplies since February 9 reaching Gaza, where the mostly displaced population of 2.3 million is facing crisis levels of hunger.
Before the conflict, Gaza relied on 500 trucks with supplies entering daily, and even during intense fighting in January around 200 aid trucks made it through on most days.
But according to the UN figures, on Feb. 9-20 the daily average fell to just 57 trucks. On seven of those 12 days, 20 or fewer trucks made it through, including just four trucks on February 17.
Deliveries through the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza have been almost totally halted. While more trucks have occasionally arrived through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, they have frequently been disrupted by Israeli protesters seeking to block deliveries. The crossing was closed on Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 15-17.
Israel, which checks all trucks entering Gaza from both crossings, blames the United Nations for the fall-off in deliveries, and says it is prepared to speed up the clearance of aid.
The United Nations says it is becoming more difficult to distribute aid inside Gaza because of the collapse of security inside the Strip, where most residents are now hemmed into makeshift camps.
Palestinian police have stopped providing escorts for aid convoys after at least eight policemen were killed in Israeli strikes, says UNRWA director of Communications Juliette Touma.
UK Labour leader to avoid internal party revolt over Gaza truce vote
Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks on the third day of the Scottish Labour Party Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on February 18, 2024. (Andy Buchanan / AFP)
Britain’s opposition leader Keir Starmer is likely to avoid another major rebellion among his lawmakers on the Israel-Hamas war after his plan on how to reach a ceasefire in Gaza was selected to be voted on in parliament.
The Labour Party, tipped to win a national election expected later this year, has been engulfed by an internal battle over its policy towards the Middle East conflict since the Oct. 7 terror onslaught by Hamas that led to Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
Lawmakers will vote today on an opposition Scottish National Party (SNP) motion calling for an immediate ceasefire that had the potential to expose Labour’s internal divisions.
In the run-up to the vote, left-wing Labour and the governing Conservative Party put forward different versions of what conditions they said were necessary before there should be a pause in fighting.
The House of Commons speaker selected all those amendments to be voted on. This meant Labour members of parliament could vote on their party’s plan and would not have to defy their leadership by voting in support of the SNP’s amendment.
While the outcome of the vote will not be binding on the British government or be closely watched in Israel or by Hamas, it had the potential to cause problems for Starmer, who is keen to present his party as united, disciplined and ready for power.
The Labour leader initially gave full backing to Israel as it embarked on its military offensive against Hamas. But Labour members of parliament and party members have been increasing pressure on the leadership to back an immediate ceasefire.
Several Iron Dome interceptions spotted over Western Galilee following Lebanon rocket fire
Several Iron Dome interceptions are reported over the Western Galilee, following rocket fire from Lebanon on February 21, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
Several Iron Dome interceptions are reported over the Western Galilee, following rocket fire from Lebanon.
Rocket warning sirens had sounded in the communities of Metzuba, Shlomi, Hanita, and Ya’ara.
Footage posted to social media shows smoke from Iron Dome interceptor missiles that were launched over the area.
تصدي القبة الحديدية للرشقات الصاروخية في الشمال قبل قليل .
لِتَصلكُم أَهَم الأَخْبار تابِعونا ????????????وما فائدة تواجدكم مَعنا في الصَفحة وبَقية المِنصات وأنا لا أرى إِسمكم مَع مًنْشوراتِنا ????????????!!???????? #فُرات #نَصار عَبر تِلغرام: https://t.co/iSuwumPbE2 pic.twitter.com/GXLO3Br0KC
— |فرات نصار|פוראת נסאר|FURAT NASSAR (@nassar_furat) February 21, 2024
Ship abandoned in Red Sea faces unknown fate – sources
Illustrative: An Egyptian watches the British destroyer HMS Diamond pass through the Suez Canal as it sails from the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean, on December 2, 2012. (AFP)
A cargo ship abandoned four days ago in the Gulf of Aden after it was hit by missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis is still floating despite taking in water, and could be towed to nearby Djibouti, industry sources say.
Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the Iran-aligned Houthis since November. US and British forces have responded with several strikes on Houthi facilities but have so far failed to halt the attacks.
The crew of the Belize-flagged Rubymar abandoned the vessel after it was hit on Sunday, and were rescued by another commercial ship.
The vessel was taking in water and its operators were exploring options, the vessel’s maritime security company LSS-SAPU told Reuters on Monday. The vessel’s UK registered company and Lebanese-based ship manager could not be located for further comment.
A maritime advisory warned ships in the area to avoid the abandoned vessel.
A US defense official said on Tuesday that the vessel had not sunk.
Two shipping and insurance sources said towing the vessel to Djibouti appeared to be the best course of action.
“Djibouti is the only immediate option where some repairs or recovery would be feasible,” one of the sources says. “It is too risky for a ship in that condition to be towed too far or in more open waters.”
The vessel last reported its position over two days ago, and was headed to the Bulgarian port of Varna, according to data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic.
In record high, 66,000 Haredim received exemption from military service in past year
Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men walk alongside Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem on December 5, 2019. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)
Sixty-six thousand young men from the ultra-Orthodox community received an exemption from military service over the past year, in what Channel 12 says is an all-time record.
The numbers were shared by a representative from the IDF’s Personnel Directorate during a parliamentary meeting.
Of the 66,000, 540 Haredim decided to enlist since the war started.
Terrorists from Ra’anana attack last month initially wanted to target senior IDF officer — police probe
Israeli security forces work at the site of a Palestinian car-ramming and stabbing attack at a bus stop, in Ra'anana, January 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Two Palestinian terrorists who carried out a deadly car-ramming spree in the central city of Ra’anana last month initially sought to target a senior officer in the IDF Spokespersons Unit, according to a police investigation.
Police say that their investigation of the January 15 attack revealed that before the attack, one of the perpetrators spotted a known IDF spokesman sitting at a restaurant, and later tried to search for him in the city while armed with a knife.
The senior officer is identified as Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman. (Courtesy)
Amid the attack, the two terrorists, Ahmed Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidad, 44, both residents of the southern West Bank town of Bani Naim, seized three vehicles and rammed pedestrians in several locations in the city, killing an elderly woman and wounding at least 17 others.
The pair — who were working in Israel illegally — were detained following the attack, and indictments are expected to be filed against them in the coming days.
US officials deny report Biden imminently unveiling peace plan, recognizing Palestinian state
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, attends a meeting with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh, during a day of meetings about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the Jordanian capital Amman on November 4, 2023. (JONATHAN ERNST / POOL / AFP)
While there have been reports in the past week that the US is preparing to imminently unveil a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that could include the US unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state, two US officials speaking to The Times of Israel say this is far from the case. Unilateral recognition, either at the bilateral level or at the UN, would be far more difficult to pull off both legally and politically, the officials explain.
“We are not seriously discussing or considering any changes to the longstanding US policy that any recognition of a Palestinian state must come through direct negotiations between the parties rather than through unilateral recognition at the UN,” one US official says.
The two officials clarified that the US’s tougher approach regarding Israeli policy in the West Bank does not detract from its continued support of Israel’s war aims in Gaza. One of the officials pointed to the administration’s decision to veto another UN Security Council resolution Tuesday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza — a step that further isolated the US on the world stage in its defense of Israel.
They noted that Washington continues to oppose a permanent ceasefire but has in recent days begun expressing its support for a “temporary ceasefire.”
This isn’t different in principle from the “humanitarian pauses” it has been advocating for months, but the decision to begin using the word “ceasefire,” even if it is qualified as a temporary one, represents a subtle shift in the administration’s position, the officials acknowledged.
Another major tunnel network used by Hamas leaders uncovered under Gaza’s Khan Younis – IDF
Troops of the Yahalom combat engineering unit rig a tunnel with explosives in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout image published February 21, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it has uncovered another major Hamas tunnel network in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, believed to have been used by the terror group’s senior officials.
Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and additional forces under the 98th Division raided the underground passages, where they encountered several blast doors and other blockages set up by Hamas operatives, the IDF says.
The troops breached the barricades and identified Hamas gunmen in the tunnel, who were then killed in close-quarters combat and with other “special means,” according to the IDF.
The IDF says the tunnel — more than a kilometer long — included living quarters and water and electricity infrastructure. It estimates that Hamas invested millions of shekels in its construction.
“This tunnel is part of a strategic and branching underground network located below Khan Younis, which was used by senior Hamas officials and the [terror group’s] Khan Younis Brigade for hiding and combat,” the IDF says.
Iran sends Russia hundreds of ballistic missiles, sources say
This handout picture provided by the Iranian Defence Ministry on February 17, 2024 shows a Sayad-3 missile during the unveiling of the Arman defense systems at an undisclosed location. (Photo by IRANIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY / AFP)
Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, six sources tell Reuters, deepening the military cooperation between the two US-sanctioned countries.
Iran’s provision of around 400 missiles includes many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, such as the Zolfaghar, three Iranian sources say. This road-mobile missile is capable of striking targets at a distance of between 300 and 700 kilometers (186 and 435 miles), experts say.
Iran’s defense ministry and the Revolutionary Guards – an elite force that oversees Iran’s ballistic missile program – decline to comment. Russia’s defense ministry does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shipments began in early January after a deal was finalized in meetings late last year between Iranian and Russian military and security officials that took place in Tehran and Moscow, one of the Iranian sources say.
An Iranian military official says there have been at least four shipments of missiles and there would be more in the coming weeks. He declines to provide further details.
Another senior Iranian official says some of the missiles were sent to Russia by ship via the Caspian Sea, while others were transported by plane.
“There will be more shipments,” the second Iranian official says. “There is no reason to hide it. We are allowed to export weapons to any country that we wish to.”
A fourth source, familiar with the matter, confirms that Russia had received a large number of missiles from Iran recently, without providing further details.
A US official tells Reuters that Washington had seen evidence of talks actively advancing but no indication yet of deliveries having taken place.
Israeli airstrike reportedly kills woman and child in south Lebanon
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing from a site between the Lebanese villages of Odaisseh and Markaba during Israeli strikes on February 19, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
An Israeli strike killed a woman and a child in south Lebanon on Wednesday, a security source says, days after Hezbollah vowed to inflict a price on Israel for killing civilians in the conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The woman and girl were killed in the strike in Majdal Zoun, a village some 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border, according to the security source and another medical source.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has been trading fire with Israel since the Oct. 7 attack by its Palestinian ally Hamas on southern Israel, in a campaign Hezbollah claims is aimed at supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
A statement from Israeli army spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee on X says the Israeli army had carried out an attack on “a military building” in the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon, and that Israeli warplanes had launched raids on three Hezbollah operational headquarters in the south.
It does not mention Majdal Zoun, which is about an hour’s drive from Yaroun.
UK maritime agency receives reports of explosion 40 nautical miles off Yemen coast
Illustrative: Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US-led airstrikes on Yemen and in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Yemen, in Sanaa, Yemen, February 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it received reports of an explosion and a flash sighted in the southern Red Sea 40 nautical miles to the west of Yemen’s Hodeidah.
Vessels and crew in the vicinity were reported safe, UKMTO added in its advisory note.
#MARITIME SECURITY ???? ⚓️
UAS Activity – Red Sea.
It is unusual for #UKMTO to issue a standing alert for 72 hours and is likely indicative of an increased risk of attack to vessels that fit the target profile in the vicinity of the alert area. pic.twitter.com/98RLlJ7Epu
— Community Cop (@Comcop_org) February 21, 2024
Gallant: Only victory against Hamas will allow for Israel’s further integration into the region
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks to the Conference of Presidents in Tel Aviv on February 21, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells a visiting delegation of North American Jewish leaders, “Only victory against Hamas will allow us to achieve normalization and regional integration.”
“The president of Brazil was [supported] by the presidents of Bolivia and Colombia – their words are outrageous and amount to incitement. While many in the world, including some leaders, attack us, we, the Jewish people and the State of Israel, must stand strong and united. We must understand that we are fighting a just war against a brutal enemy, a terrorist organization,” Gallant says.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza and likened it to the Holocaust.
Knesset adopts Netanyahu motion against unilateral Palestinian state recognition, with over 80% voting in favor
A special session at the Knesset marking 75 years since the establishment of the parliament in Jerusalem, January 24, 2023 (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson)
The Knesset votes to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration opposing the “unilateral” creation of Palestinian state, following growing international calls for the revival of efforts to reach a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
Netanyahu’s Likud party says in a statement that 99 of 120 lawmakers voted to support the declaration passed earlier this week by the cabinet.
The Israeli position also says that any permanent accord with the Palestinians would have to be reached through direct negotiations between the sides, and not by international dictates.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who voted for the resolution, tells lawmakers that despite his support he does not believe that there was any intent on the American side to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
Swiss government advancing bill to ban Hamas over October 7 onslaught
The Switzerland national flag waves in the wind on Lake Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland Sunday, June 13, 2021. (Markus Schreiber/AP)
Switzerland’s government says it wants to ban Hamas after the Palestinian terror group’s attacks in Israel last year which killed nearly 1,200 people and sparked a war in Gaza.
Bern says it was taking action after the attacks on October 7 which killed two Swiss nationals and resulted in 253 people being taken hostage.
The Swiss government says under the new legislation Hamas and “cover or successor organizations” as well as organizations or groups that act on its behalf or in its name will be banned.
The ban aims to punish Hamas for the October attacks as well as prevent the group from using Switzerland as a safe haven or carrying out attacks in the country for example by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange.
It will also help combat terrorist financing by allowing the Swiss anti-money laundering authorities to better exchange information with counterparts abroad, the government said.
The law, which has entered a consultation phase, will be limited to five years, the government says.
Eurovision organizers reject Israel song entry as too political over Oct. 7 lyrics – report
Eden Golan. (Shai Franco)
Eurovision organizers are reportedly pushing back against the song Israel is hoping to send to the contest later this year, rejecting its lyrics as too political.
While officially the song has yet to be released, Israel Hayom reported earlier this week that the song slated to be performed by Eden Golan in Malmo in May is titled “October Rain” and is expected to reference Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Ynet reports today that the EBU believes the song is too political, as the contest’s official rules bar any political statements during the competition.
A spokeswoman for the Kan public broadcaster tells The Times of Israel only that the TV station “is involved in dialogue with the EBU in regards to the song that will represent Israel at the Eurovision.” The song was slated to be officially revealed during a TV broadcast early next month.
While some activists have issued calls to bar Israel from the Eurovision this year over the ongoing war, the EBU has continued to maintain that the country will be allowed to participate.
Herzog responds to Smotrich: ‘Disrespectful discourse is developing around the hostages’
President Isaac Herzog attends a ceremony in which Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron's tenure is extended for another 5-year term, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, December 18, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
President Isaac Herzog is the latest official to come out against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, after the far-right minister said yesterday that securing the return of the hostages was “not the most important thing” for Israel at the moment.
“A very disrespectful discourse is beginning to develop around the hostages and their families,” Herzog says, according to the Ynet news site.
“There is no greater mitzvah in Judaism than redeeming captives. One can argue about the way to reach the goal, but I call on the public and especially the elected officials to take into account the feelings of the families of the hostages,” he says. “One needs to know how to behave with maximum sensitivity, and understand that sometimes there are things that should not be said in public.”
Smotrich sparked fury when he was asked if, in his view, bringing back the 130 hostages who are still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 Hamas onslaught was the most important goal.
“No,” he replied. “It’s not the most important thing.”
“Why make it a competition? Why is it so important at the moment?” Smotrich asked. “We need to destroy Hamas. That is very important.”
Smotrich also lashed out at those who are calling for a deal that would bring the hostages home “at any price.”
New footage apparently shows Gazans protesting against Hamas
An anti-Hamas Telegram channel called “Gaza’s Liberators” shares new videos apparently documenting protests against the terror group last night in the Strip.
In the short clips, that are reportedly filmed in Rafah, the southern town where over a million displaced Gazans are sheltering from the flighting, and Jabaliya in the north of the Strip, people are seen chanting slogans against Hamas leaders, that rhyme in Arabic: “Listen listen Haniyeh, come back home from Turkey, listen listen Hamdan, come back home from Lebanon,” referring to Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh (who now lives in Qatar) and top terror group official Osama Hamdan.
In other footage shared by the channel, protesters shout “Sinwar, Haniyeh, the people are the victims,” “Bring down Hamas,” and “The people want a bag of flour.”
In both locations, the channel reports that Hamas security forces opened fire on the rallying crowds. In Jabaliya, one person was reportedly killed and three seriously wounded.
It is unclear how many people participated in the protests.
Three of the clips are shared by the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee on X, who comments: “The people of Gaza know the cause of the tragedy in the Strip and the consequences of the flood of devastation and terror generated by [Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya] Sinwar and his clique.”
Over the past weeks, videos have emerged documenting apparent anti-Hamas rallies in the Strip, including one last Friday when riots broke out after a Palestinian teen was shot dead by Hamas police as he tried to grab items from a humanitarian aid truck at the Rafah crossing from Egypt.
The displaced Palestinians in Rafah — more than half of Gaza’s population — have been sheltering in sprawling makeshift encampments near the Egyptian border amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
يا سنوار قول لهنية الشعب هو الضحية
ارحل ارحل يا سنوار
اسمع اسمع يا هنية ..ياللا روح من تركيا
اسمع اسمع يا حمدان .. ياللا روح من لبنانفيديوهات متداولة من جباليا ومن رفح لمظاهرات ضد قيادات حماس
سكان غزة يعرفون سبب المأساة في قطاع غزة ونتائج طوفان الخراب والإرهاب من انتاج… pic.twitter.com/8YjtB0BDZD
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) February 21, 2024
UK sanctions six individuals in charge of Arctic penal colony where Navalny died
A woman touches a photo of Alexei Navalny after laying flowers paying the last respect to him at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Britain imposes sanctions on six individuals in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died last week.
Those sanctioned, including the head and five deputy heads of the penal colony, will be banned from the UK and have their assets frozen, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says.
“It’s clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him,” Cameron says in a statement.
“Those responsible for Navalny’s brutal treatment should be under no illusion – we will hold them accountable.”
US opposes call at World Court for Israel to immediately withdraw from West Bank, East Jerusalem
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), holds public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, from February 19 to 26 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. (International Court of Justice)
The United States calls on the International Court of Justice not to issue an advisory opinion that Israel is legally required to immediately withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, insisting, like Israel, that the conflict must be resolved within “the established framework” for doing so.
The US is one of the only countries to have expressed opposition to the request of the Palestinian Authority and numerous other countries in the current hearings that the court rule Israel’s “military occupation” of the West Bank illegal and order Israel to take immediate steps to end it, such as the dismantlement of settlements.
“The established framework for achieving a comprehensive and enduring peace is anchored in UNSC resolutions 242 and 338. At their core these and subsequent resolutions call for the application of two inter-dependent and inseparable requirements for a just and lasting peace,” says US representative Richard Visek in the ICJ, a legal adviser in the US State Department.
“One is the withdrawal of all forces from occupied territory, the other is peace and security for states in the Middle East, through the acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of every state in the area.
“In identifying these inter-dependent requirements, the Security Council decided that the withdrawal from Israeli forces relies on and is bound together with the termination of belligerency.”
Visek argues that the court “should not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory,” and says the court can instead deal with the questions before it “within the established framework based on the land for peace principle.”
Rocket sirens sound in Metula near Lebanon border
Sirens sound in Metula near the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The towns close to the northern border have been largely evacuated of civilians since October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces began launching daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border.
The terror group says it is doing so to support Gaza amid Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group, triggered by its October 7 massacre.
Syria says air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles near Damascus
Syria’s pro-government Sham FM radio claims air defenses intercepted several Israeli missiles over areas south and southwest of the capital, Damascus.
There is no further information on what appears to be a second Israeli strike on Syria within several hours, following a strike on a Damascus suburb this morning.
IDF says it hit 3 Hezbollah command centers in south Lebanon
The IDF says a short while ago it struck three Hezbollah command centers in south Lebanon and carried out artillery shelling to “remove threats” in Alma ash-Shab and Dhayra.
Additionally, the IDF says that yesterday the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted several Hezbollah operatives entering a building in south Lebanon’s Yaroun, and quickly called in an airstrike against it.
The IDF says a short while ago it struck three Hezbollah command rooms in south Lebanon, as well as carried out artillery shelling to "remove threats" in Alma ash-Shab and Dhayra.
Yesterday, the IDF says the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted several Hezbollah… pic.twitter.com/FCd1NTpnk3
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 21, 2024
New explosions reported in Damascus, hours after alleged Israeli strike
New explosions are reported in Damascus, hours after an alleged Israeli strike on the Syrian capital.
The pro-government Sham FM radio says the cause of the new explosions is currently unknown.
Iran says none of its nationals or advisers killed in alleged Israeli strike on Damascus apartment
People clean debris after an alleged Israeli strike on an apartment in Kfar Sousseh district, in Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2024 (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
An alleged Israeli strike on a residential building in Damascus on Wednesday did not kill any Iranian nationals or advisers, Iran’s semi-official Student News Network says.
Several Israeli missiles hit the Kafr Soussa district in the Syrian capital, Syrian state media reported.
The neighborhood hosts residential buildings, schools and Iranian cultural centers, and lies near a large, heavily guarded complex used by security agencies.
There is no comment from the IDF.
High Court rejects petition against Ben Gvir’s appointment as minister
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset on November 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The High Court of Justice unanimously rejects a petition requesting that it order National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir removed from office due to his previous criminal convictions, with Justice Isaac Amit writing that although Ben Gvir’s appointment was problematic it was not “unreasonable in the extreme.”
The 12th of Heshvan tolerance organization, together with several individuals, petitioned the court against Ben Gvir’s appointment in December 2022, arguing that his appointment was unreasonable due to his alleged repeated involvement in efforts to disturb the peace, as well as having past criminal indictments, including convictions for incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization.
“There is a common thread between the various crimes for which Minister Ben Gvir has been convicted over the years, in that most of them are directly and indirectly related to the violation of public order, while the national security minister is the figure who is entrusted with maintaining the rule of law and public order,” writes Amit in the ruling.
Amit continues however to say that the considerable time that has passed since Ben Gvir was last convicted, his relative youth when he was convicted, and the fact that he told the court he has since “changed his ways,” mitigate against ordering him removed from office.
Justices Noam Sohlberg and Yechiel Kasher both concur with Amit’s ruling, specifically that there is no room for an activist ruling against Ben Gvir.
Bedouin man who saved IDF soldiers from Oct. 7 Hamas ambush gets full residency rights
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel stands with Hamid Abu Ar'ar as he shows his new Israeli ID, February 21, 2024. (Courtesy)
A Bedouin resident of the Negev who saved multiple Israel Defense Forces soldiers during Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel receives full Israeli residency rights.
Hamid Abu Ar’ar, a father of nine, heroically put himself in the line of fire to save the soldiers from a terrorist ambush shortly after his wife Fatima was murdered in front of him and his infant child on October 7.
Abu Ar’ar was born in the Gaza Strip and therefore did not have permanent status in Israel, Channel 13 reports.
“Aside from the uncompromising war on terror, we must strengthen those who show loyalty and choose life,” says Interior Minister Moshe Arbel after making the decision to issue permanent status to Abu Ar’ar.
Abu Ar’ar’s story of October 7 can be seen in the video below.
They killed a mother, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. A mother of 4 daughters who study the Quran. Which Islam are we talking about? Our Islam, my friends, does not preach this."#Hamas terrorists did not distinguish between Jews and Arabs. Watch and share the heartbreaking… pic.twitter.com/xXz3trM2ZE
— האם ראית את האופק לאחרונה? (@Horizon_lately) November 19, 2023
Navalny’s mother files lawsuit in Russian court demanding release of her son’s body
In this grab taken from video provided by the Navalny Team on February 20, 2024, Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya speaks, near the prison colony in the town of Kharp, Russia. (Navalny Team via AP)
The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has filed a lawsuit at a court in the Arctic city of Salekhard contesting officials’ refusal to release her son’s body, Russia’s state news agency Tass reports.
A closed-door hearing has been scheduled for March 4, the report says, quoting court officials.
Lyudmila Navalnaya has been trying to retrieve her son’s body since Saturday, following his death in a penal colony in Russia’s far north a day earlier. She has been unable to find out where his body is being held, Navalny’s team reports.
Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll passes 29,300 with 69,333 injured
A Palestinian man collects books after an alleged Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 29,300 people have been killed there during the war between Hamas and Israel.
A ministry statement says a total of 118 people died in the past 24 hours, while another 69,333 have been wounded since the war erupted on October 7, sparked by the terror group’s massacre in southern Israel.
The figures issued by the Hamas-run health ministry cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 12,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Poll: Most Israelis – Jewish and Arab – think ‘absolute victory’ against Hamas in Gaza unlikely
A new poll finds that most Israelis — Jewish and Arab alike — don’t believe that “absolute victory” is possible in the war with Hamas in Gaza.
An Israel Democracy Institute wartime survey finds 51% of Jewish respondents and 77.5% of Arab Israelis believe there is a low likelihood of the war ending with such a victory.
The poll also finds differences along the Israeli political spectrum, with 84% of left-wing respondents, 63% of centrist respondents and 55% of right-wing respondents agreeing that the likelihood of “absolute victory” is low.
The poll results come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel was “within touching distance of absolute victory.”
The poll also finds that 63% of Jewish Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, while 73% of Arab Israelis support it.
IDF’s top lawyer warns commanders against ‘unacceptable cases of conduct’ by troops in Gaza
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, Israel Defense Forces military advocate general, in Jerusalem on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 )
The IDF’s top lawyer, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, issues a warning to commanders against illegal acts carried out by troops in the Gaza Strip.
“We have encountered unacceptable cases of conduct that deviate from IDF values and protocols,” the IDF’s military advocate general writes in a missive.
She says they include “inappropriate statements which encourage unacceptable phenomena; unjustified use of force, including against detainees; looting, which include the use or removal of private property for non-operational purposes; and destruction of civilian property contrary to protocols.”
“Some incidents go beyond the disciplinary domain, and cross the criminal threshold,” she warns.
“These acts and statements, on the part of individuals who do not represent the whole, are contrary to the IDF being a professional, moral, and dignified army, and they have no place in the IDF,” Tomer-Yerushalmi says.
She says the acts also “cause the State of Israel and the IDF strategic damage in the international arena, the seriousness of which is difficult to overstate.”
Tomer-Yerushalmi says the cases are being investigated, after which the Military Advocate General’s Office will decide if criminal or disciplinary measures need to be taken.
The IDF lawyer’s comments come the day after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi sent a missive to troops telling them that the army is “not on a killing spree,” not acting out of revenge nor carrying out genocide in Gaza, with the war against Hamas in its fifth month.
Israeli official: No decision on sending team to Cairo without proof Hamas ‘softened’ its stance
Families of Israelis held in Hamas captivity protest calling for the government to find a solution to have the hostages released, outside IDF military headquarters in Tel Aviv, February 20, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that no decision has been made yet to send a delegation to Cairo for further talks on a hostage release deal.
Earlier today, a Saudi newspaper reported that an Israeli delegation would be in Cairo within hours.
The official says that Israel is being “cautious” and is waiting for proof that Hamas positions have softened before sending negotiators.
Syrian report: Israeli warplanes launched missiles at Damascus building from over Golan Heights
People check the damage on a building reportedly hit in an alleged Israeli air strike in the Kafr Sousa district of the Syrian capital Damascus on February 21, 2024. (Louai Beshara/AFP)
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency says Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a Damascus apartment building from over the Golan Heights, quoting a Syrian military source.
Two civilians are reported dead and another injured in this morning’s alleged Israeli strike the Damascus suburb of Kafar Sousah.
Damage was also caused by the strike.
Palestinian terror prisoner serving 10 life sentences dies in hospital; circumstances to be probed
The Israel Prison Service says a Palestinian terror prisoner died in the hospital yesterday.
IPS says that the convict, identified by sources as Khaled Jamal Shawish, was taken from Nafha Prison to Kaplan Hospital yesterday, where he died a short while later.
It says the reason he was taken to the hospital is restricted due to health privacy.
“As with any incident of this type, the circumstances will be investigated,” IPS says.
Shawish, 53, from the West Bank’s Jenin, was handed 10 life sentences over his involvement in a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s.
Lapid after Smotrich hostage comments: ‘We’ll do almost anything to bring our children and parents home’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset on February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says in a speech that “the path to victory starts with our commitment to the hostages,” a day after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the hostages are “not the most important thing.”
“It is part of what separates us from our enemy,” Lapid told the Conference of Presidents annual mission.
“Hamas doesn’t care if its people are killed. But we will do almost anything to ensure that our children and parents come home.”
Lapid continues his oblique attack on Smotrich and others in the coalition, saying, “In the past few years, Israel’s democracy has been attacked from within, and weakened from within, including by people who sit in the government today.”
The former prime minister argues that these figures weakened Israel and thereby encouraged Hamas to attack: “They looked at us and said, ‘If Israel is not as democratic, it is also not as strong,’ and they attacked our homes and murdered our children.”
Lebanese media reports multiple airstrikes, sonic booms close to border with Israel
Lebanese media reports alleged Israeli airstrikes in the south of the country, as unverified photos and videos posted on social media show a large cloud of smoke and a number of smaller blasts in what appears to be a residential area.
Lebanon 24 also quotes unnamed local sources as saying they heard sonic booms from Israeli aircraft.
The strikes are reported in Iqlim al-Tuffah and Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Israel.
Syrian state media: At least 2 dead in alleged Israeli strike on Damascus apartment building
An apartment in Damascus targeted in an alleged Israeli airstrike on February 21, 2024 (SANA)
At least two people have been killed in an alleged Israeli attack on Damascus, according to Syrian state television.
“An Israeli attack with a number of missiles targets the Kafr Sousa residential neighborhood in the capital Damascus,” Syria’s state TV reports.
State news agency SANA also publishes images of the purported aftermath of the attack, showing the outside of multi-story building partially blackened and windows blown out, with a fire visible in one apartment that appeared to have been targeted.
While Israel does not, as a rule, comment on specific strikes in Syria, it has admitted to conducting hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed terror groups attempting to gain a foothold in the country over the last decade. The Israeli military says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for those groups, chief among them Hezbollah. Additionally, airstrikes attributed to Israel have repeatedly targeted Syrian air defense systems.
Alleged Israeli airstrike targets apartment in Damascus high-rise
Images from the scene of an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria’s capital Damascus show damage to an apartment in a high-rise building.
The pro-government Sham FM radio says there are preliminary reports of casualties in the strike.
The strike took place in the suburb of Kafar Sousah, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Images from the scene of the Israeli airstrike in the Damascus suburb of Kafar Sousah, according to Syrian media. pic.twitter.com/NeCsZzfQlU
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 21, 2024
IDF says troops killed 3 gunmen, detained 14 terror suspects in overnight Jenin raid
The IDF says troops killed three Palestinian gunmen, detained 14 terror suspects, and carried out an airstrike amid a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin overnight.
The operation was carried out by the Duvdevan commando unit, Haruv reconnaissance unit, and Border Police officers.
The IDF says the troops also seized weapons and located explosive devices hidden under the roads in Jenin.
The airstrike amid the raid was carried out against a group of Palestinian gunmen shooting at the troops, according to the IDF.
במהלך המבצע איתרו הלוחמים אמצעי לחימה וחשפו מטענים שהוטמנו מתחת לצירים במטרה לפגוע בכוחותינו.
כמו כן, במהלך המבצע כלי טיס של צה"ל תקף מחבלים שירו לעבר הכוחות, זוהו פגיעות>> pic.twitter.com/BlX8eYYKAV
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 21, 2024
In other areas of the West Bank, another 26 wanted Palestinians were detained, the IDF says.
Since October 7, troops have arrested more than 3,200 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,350 affiliated with Hamas.
Saudi report: Israeli delegation to arrive in Cairo after Hamas ‘softened its positions’
Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza rally outside the Defense Ministry and military headquarters in Tel Aviv, February 20, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
An Israeli delegation is set to arrive in Cairo in the next few hours amid renewed hopes for a temporary ceasefire and a hostage deal, a Saudi newspaper reports.
According to the Asharq Al-Awsat report, cited by the Ynet news site, “there is progress in Egypt’s discussions with Hamas regarding the deal. Hamas has softened its positions and Egypt is working to achieve similar flexibility with the Israeli delegation as well.”
There is no immediate comment from Israel on the report.
Yesterday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in the Egyptian capital after negotiations for a potential temporary ceasefire and hostage deal mediated by American, Qatari and Egyptian officials had apparently stalled.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the terror group’s demands as “delusional.”
Explosions in Damascus suburb amid alleged Israeli airstrike — Syrian state media
Syrian media outlets report an alleged Israeli airstrike in the capital Damascus.
The state-run SANA news agency claims Israel targeted the suburb of Kafar Sousah.
Multiple explosions are heard in the area.
Images posted to social media show smoke rising from behind a building.
No further details are immediately available.
תחנת הרדיו SHAM FM המזוהה עם משטר אסד מדווחת על פיצוצים באזור דמשק וכי המידע הראשוני מצביע על כך שמדובר בתקיפה ישראלית באזור העיר pic.twitter.com/4IwThqRYwq
— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) February 21, 2024
IDF launches widescale raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun as fighting intensifies in Khan Younis
Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released for publication on February 21, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF confirms it has launched a new large-scale raid on Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, killing Hamas operatives and locating weapons in the process, while troops continue to battle the terror group in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
The IDF says the Israeli Air Force and 215th Artillery Regiment carried out strikes against dozens of Hamas targets in Zeitoun, including observation posts, weapon depots, and tunnels.
The 401st Armored Brigade then entered the neighborhood, raiding suspicious buildings.
During the operation so far, dozens of Hamas operatives have been killed in clashes and by airstrikes, according to the IDF.
The IDF says troops have also found weapons inside homes in the area.
The operation in Zeitoun comes after the IDF largely defeated Hamas’s fighting force in northern Gaza, withdrew its forces, and began to focus on smaller raids in designated areas.
Meanwhile in Khan Younis, the IDF says, troops are “deepening” the fighting against Hamas in the southern Gaza city.
The IDF says the Givati Brigade led an offensive in new areas in eastern Khan Younis, killing many Hamas operatives in the process; the Paratroopers Brigade and Commando Brigade are expanding operations in western Khan Younis; and the 7th Armored Brigade directed airstrikes on two Hamas gunmen on a motorcycle.
Iran accuses Israel of being behind attack on gas pipelines
Flames leap into the air after a natural gas pipeline explodes outside the city of Boroujen in the western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, early February 14, 2024. (Reza Kamali Dehkordi/Fars News Agency via AP)
Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji accuses Israel of being behind an attack on gas pipelines which occurred last week, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.
“The enemy intended to disrupt households’ gas supplies … but within two hours our colleagues worked to counter the Israeli plot which only damaged several pipes,” Owji says.
Last week, the New York Times reported Israel was behind the pair of attacks on major gas pipelines inside Iran, which disrupted the flow of gas to millions of people. The report cited two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A Western official told the newspaper that the strike was largely symbolic, causing minimal harm and being easy to repair, but sent a message that Israel can cause significant damage.
If confirmed, the strike would amount to an escalation by Israel, which has been linked to numerous strikes in Iran over the years, but primarily against the country’s nuclear program, as well as assassinations of senior figures.
Report details systematic ‘sadistic sex crimes’ committed by terrorists on Oct. 7
The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, November 20, 2023 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Sexual violence was committed in a systematic and deliberate manner by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7 and has continued to be be perpetrated against the hostages held in Gaza, according to a report by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.
The report says that there were multiple perpetrators, sexual assaults were carried out in front of victims’ relatives and amid murders, and that there were uniquely sadistic practices, Hebrew-language media reports.
According to the report, there were instances of sexual violence carried out in four arenas — the onslaught against the Nova festival, on the communities close to the Gaza border, on military bases, and, ongoing, against the hostages held in Gaza.
The report details rape committed while the victims were threatened with weapons, with multiple instances of gang rape by terrorists.
According to Channel 12, the report says that rapes were frequently carried out in front of the spouses, relatives or friends of the victims. Terrorists additionally hunted down men and women who tried to escape from the Nova festival.
The report says women, girls and men were all targeted for sexual assault, and that in most cases, the victims were murdered after or even during the rape.
The document was compiled by researchers who analyzed both confidential and public information, including the testimonies of eyewitnesses, interviews with those involved in the rescue and treatment of victims, media reports and information submitted to the association.
“The report, which will be submitted to the decision makers at the UN, leaves no possibility of it being denied or ignored. The terrorist organization Hamas has chosen to harm the State of Israel with two clear strategies – taking citizens hostage and sadistic sex crimes,” says Orit Sulitzeanu, head of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.
“It is no longer possible to remain silent. We expect the international organizations to take a clear position. It is impossible to stand on the sidelines. Remaining on the other side will be remembered as a historic stain on all those who chose to remain silent and deny the sexual crimes committed by Hamas,” she says.
UK maritime agency says it received report of drones in shipping area near Yemen
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it received a report of heightened Uncrewed Aerial System activity 40 nautical miles west of Yemen’s Hodeidah.
The area is where the Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking shipping lanes as a protest against Israel’s military operations in Gaza against the Hamas terror group.
IDF soldier killed, 3 others seriously wounded during fighting in Gaza
Staff Sgt. Avraham Wovagen whose death in Gaza fighting was announced February 21, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF announces the death of a soldier killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, bringing the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 237.
He is named as Staff Sgt. Avraham Wovagen, 21, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Netanya.
Wovagen was killed during clashes with Hamas operatives.
Separately, as a result of an anti-tank missile, a soldier of the 932nd Battalion and a reservist of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit were seriously wounded in northern Gaza.
In southern Gaza, a soldier of the Givati Brigade was seriously wounded as a result of an explosive device.
Presidents of Colombia, Bolivia back Brazil’s Lula after Holocaust comparison
Handout picture released by the press office of Colombia's then president-elect Gustavo Petro (R) shows him meeting with Bolivia's President Luis Arce (L) before his inauguration ceremony in Bogota, on August 7, 2022. (Gustavo Petro's Press Office/AFP)
After comparing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva receives backing from his counterparts in Colombia and Bolivia, two fellow South American countries to have criticized the Jewish state.
“In Gaza there is a genocide and thousands of children, women and elderly civilians are cowardly murdered. Lula has only spoken the truth and truth must be defended or barbarism will annihilate us,” Colombia’s Gustavo Petro says on X.
Bolivia’s Luis Arce, on the same forum, expresses solidarity with Lula who he says was merely “telling the truth about the genocide that is committed against the brave Palestinian people.”
He adds: “History will not forgive those who are indifferent to this barbarity.”
The United States has said it disagreed with Lula’s comments. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet Lula on Wednesday while in Brazil for the G20.
US military blames Houthis for attacking bulk carrier bound for Yemen’s Aden
CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthis on February 19 fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier bound for Yemen’s port of Aden, the US Central Command says.
One of the missiles detonated near the ship, which is linked to humanitarian aid, causing minor damage, CENTCOM says in a statement.
Houthis Target Ship Linked to Humanitarian Aid
On February 19, between 12:30 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier bound for the port of Aden in… pic.twitter.com/uOH8FFwo9j
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 21, 2024
China’s UN envoy lashes out at US for vetoing Gaza ceasefire resolution
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun speaks during a Security Council meeting on Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City on December 8, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/AFP)
China has expressed its “strong disappointment” over the United States blocking a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Xinhua reports on Wednesday, citing China’s permanent representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun.
“China expresses its strong disappointment at and dissatisfaction with the US veto,” Xinhua reports Zhang Jun as saying.
“The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one,” Zhang says, adding that objection to a ceasefire in Gaza is “nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter.”
Brazil’s FM accuses Israel Katz of ‘lying’ as diplomatic spat over Holocaust comparison escalates
Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira arrives for a meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (not pictured) at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia on January 19, 2024. (Sergio Lima/AFP)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s foreign minister accuses his Israeli counterpart of “lying” as a diplomatic spat escalates over President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comparison of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.
Mauro Vieira, whose country is hosting a G20 foreign ministers meeting this week, says statements by Israel Katz are “unacceptable in their nature and lying in their content” as well as “outrageous.”
Israel has reacted furiously after Lula said the conflict in the Gaza Strip “isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” and compared it to “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lula had “crossed a red line,” and Katz declared the Brazilian leader “persona non grata in the state of Israel so long as he doesn’t retract his remarks and apologize.”
Katz summoned Brazil’s ambassador Frederico Meyer for a meeting Monday at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem.
Brazilian ambassador to Israel Frederico Meyer, left, and Foreign Minister Israel Katz tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Michael Dimenstein/GPO)
In a tit-for-tat move, the Brazilian foreign ministry then summoned the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshinem, and recalled Meyer from Tel Aviv for consultations.
On Tuesday, Katz took to X to describe Lula’s comparison as “delusional.”
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