Headline

Gaza War Rages On Christmas Eve As Biden Urges Caution

Published

4 months ago

December 24, 2023

Israel pushed on Sunday with its military campaign to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attacks, as the focus of the deadly combat shifted to southern Gaza where most displaced Palestinians are trapped.

US President Joe Biden stressed the “critical need” to protect civilians, in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel would “continue the war until all of its goals have been achieved”, officials said.

As heavy fighting raged on, the Israeli army said it had struck another 200 targets in the past 24 hours in the besieged Palestinian territory where it is seeking to defeat Hamas and free remaining hostages.

The army said 153 troops had died in Gaza since it launched its ground invasion on October 27. Ten soldiers were lost in battles on Saturday, one of the deadliest days for the Israeli side.

“This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza,” said Netanyahu. “The war is exacting a very heavy price… but we have no choice but to keep fighting.”

The army said soldiers had raided a northern Gaza compound near schools, a mosque and a clinic and found “explosive belts adapted for children, dozens of mortar shells, hundreds of grenades and intelligence documents”.

Hamas rejected those claims as lies meant “to justify their massacring of innocent civilians and their destructive aggression that has affected the entire infrastructure… in the already blockaded Gaza Strip”.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 and its Islamist militants killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The gunmen also seized around 250 hostages, 129 of whom are believed to remain in Gaza following the exchange of captives for Palestinians prisoners during a week-long truce late last month.

Israel’s withering military campaign, including massive aerial bombardment, has killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.

Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents and forced into the south of Gaza even as ground fighting comes closer.

Near the far southern Gaza city of Rafah, Umm Amir Abu al-Awf, 27, suffered wounds to her hand and legs in a strike on her house early Sunday.

“Who won?” she said. “Nothing has been achieved except killing civilians… They keep saying Rafah is safe. It is not safe. Nowhere is safe. Every house has a martyr and injured.”

‘More hatred, less peace’
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus indicated that forces were close to gaining operational control in northern Gaza and that now “we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza”.

Fighting has raged in the main southern city of Khan Yunis, the birthplace of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza and the man Israel holds most responsible for the October 7 attack.

Elsewhere, Palestinian rescuers scrambled again to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble of a destroyed residential building, after a strike hit in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

“I was praying when a huge explosion occurred,” said Yazan Moqbel, a wounded man whose sister was still under the broken concrete. “Rubble fell on us. I didn’t know what happened.”

The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, urged an end to the suffering in the third month of the war.

“For aid to reach people in need, hostages to be released, more displacement to be avoided and above all stop the appalling loss of lives, a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“War defies logic and humanity, and prepares a future of more hatred and less peace.”

On Friday, the United States allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that effectively called on Israel to allow “immediate, safe and unhindered” deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza “at scale”.

World powers had wrangled for days over the wording and, at Washington’s insistence, toned down some provisions — including removing a call for a ceasefire.

One displaced Gazan, Ahmad al-Burawi, now living in Rafah in southern Gaza, said: “We just want to return to our lands, that’s all. We want a solution… People are dying.”

Silent Christmas

As the war rages on, Christians around the world celebrate Christmas Eve, and festivities are usually held in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem where they believe Jesus was born.

But this year the city is almost deserted, with few worshippers around and no Christmas tree erected, after church leaders decided to forego “any unnecessarily festive” celebrations, in solidarity with Gazans.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas voiced hope Christmas would mark “a cessation of the Israeli war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as across the occupied Palestinian territories”.

The Gaza war has heightened tensions across the Middle East, where Israel faces a range of enemies — Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen that have voiced strong support for Hamas.

Cross-border fire has erupted almost daily between Israel and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement.

And Yemen’s Huthi rebels have fired at cargo vessels in the Red Sea, leading the United States to build a naval taskforce to deter the missile and drone strikes.

The US military said four drones had targeted the USS Laboon, but had been shot down, and that an Indian-flagged tanker was hit and sent out a distress call.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri, denied the Islamic republic was orchestrating the campaign, saying the Huthis act on their “own decisions and capabilities”.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in an interview published Sunday, branded Iran “a thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world”.

AFP

Headline

Pop Star Justin Bieber Sparks Concern After Seen Crying Amid Rumours Of Rift With Wife

Published

3 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has stirred concern among fans after posting a series of emotional selfies on Sunday, that has been linked to the rumoured split with his wife.

The 30-year-old singer took to Instagram over the weekend to share multiple photo dumps, offering glimpses into various aspects of his life.

From his surprise appearance at Coachella, where he performed during Tems’ set, to moments of leisure such as playing golf, enjoying the beach, smoking, and trying on different trainers, Justin Bieber’s posts provided a look into his world.

It was, however, one particular set of images that garnered significant attention from fans.

In a close-up series of selfies, Bieber appeared visibly distressed, with tears streaming down his face.

The pop star stared solemnly into the camera, his emotions laid bare for all to see, as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Despite the intimate portrayal of his emotions, Bieber offered no explanation or caption for his tearful display, leaving fans puzzled and concerned about his well-being.

Justin Bieber’s personal life has come under the spotlight since the recent rumors surrounding his marriage to wife Hailey Bieber (neé Baldwin), 27.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, has faced speculation about the state of their relationship on multiple occasions.

Concerns were raised recently when Hailey’s father, Stephen Baldwin, 57, requested “prayers” for the couple, fueling speculation about potential marital troubles.

Headline

400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

24 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

“We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

“Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

Headline

Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.