GAZA CITY: Israel approved the major expansion of a Jewish settler enclave in the heart of East Jerusalem on Wednesday, issuing building permits for 176 new units.
Palestinians immediately condemned the project, which a Jerusalem municipality spokeswoman said was approved by the city’s planning committee, as a violation of international law.
The announcement came less than a week after Israel confirmed approval for the construction of several hundred additional settler enclaves for Jewish communities in the West Bank, drawing condemnation from Palestinians and the EU.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas that are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians.
Israel’s persistent engagement in settlement activities has been universally condemned and is illegal under international law. Last December, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling on Israel to immediately cease its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The issue was one of the main reasons why peace talks between Israel and Palestine collapsed in 2014 and have not taken place since.
Construction of the new units will nearly triple the number of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem’s Nof Zion community, which is surrounded by Palestinian houses in the Jabel Al-Mukaber neighborhood, in territory that Israel captured and annexed in the 1967 war and which Palestinians seek as part of a state they want to establish in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“We are unifying Jerusalem through actions on the ground,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement about the settlement expansion.
Adnan Al-Husseini, the Palestinian minister of Al-Quds affairs, told Arab News, “The Israeli move is disrespectful of international efforts to resume the peace negotiation.”
He urged the international community not to “turn a blind eye,” and stressed the need to hold Israel “accountable and not to allow them to go unpunished.”
Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported that Nabil Abu Rudeineh, official spokesman of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, had condemned the Israeli announcement, stressing that all settlements are illegal according to UN resolutions.
He called on Washington to intervene immediately in order to salvage the peace process.
Israel approves new settler homes in East Jerusalem
Israel approves new settler homes in East Jerusalem
Turning plastic into fuel: Photos of Gaza’s youth surviving with makeshift burners
- The fuel they produce is used locally, often for generators or transport, and sold at a lower price than commercial alternatives
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: South of Gaza City, along the Sea Road that runs beside the Mediterranean, Palestinian youth are producing fuel by melting plastic in makeshift burners. With limited access to commercial fuel, they collect plastic waste, process it in metal drums to extract crude fuel, and then bottle and sell it to passersby.
The work unfolds in the open air, where black smoke billows from the burners, blanketing the roadside. The area is lined with small tents where the youth store materials and rest between shifts. Horse-drawn carts and pedestrians regularly pass through the smoke-filled stretch, moving between northern and southern Gaza.
Most of those involved in the trade are displaced and have few other sources of income. The fuel they produce is used locally, often for generators or transport, and sold at a lower price than commercial alternatives.
Though the process is simple, it involves long hours and exposure to fumes and open flames. For these youth, it has become a way to earn money and support their families in a difficult and unstable environment.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
France condemns deadly ‘Israeli fire’ near Gaza aid point
- The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups
- The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives
PARIS: France on Tuesday condemned what it called deadly “Israeli fire” against civilians in Gaza, after rescuers accused Israeli forces of killing 21 people as they waited for aid.
“France condemns the Israeli fire that last night hit civilians gathered around an aid distribution center in Gaza, causing several dozen dead and wounded,” the foreign ministry said, appearing to refer to an incident early on Tuesday in central Gaza that the Israeli military says was “under review.”
In a second such incident, a civil defense spokesman also reported Israeli fire killing a further 25 people seeking rations in south Gaza later in the day.
According to figures issued on Tuesday by the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, a territory run by the Hamas Islamist group, at least 516 people have been killed and nearly 3,800 wounded by Israeli fire while seeking rations since late May.
The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups.
The aid is being distributed by US- and Israeli-backed privately run aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace UN agencies.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
“France reiterates its full support for United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners, who have proven their integrity and ability to deliver aid in full respect of humanitarian principles,” the ministry said.
“Humanitarian aid must not be exploited for political or military purposes,” it added.
“France calls on the Israeli government to allow immediate, massive, and unhindered access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.”
Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal
- The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27
- Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity
ALGIERS: Algeria’s prosecutor general sought at an appeal hearing on Tuesday 10 years in prison for novelist Boualem Sansal, doubling his current sentence, an AFP journalist in the courtroom reported.
The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27.
A verdict is expected on July 1.
Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity.
This came after he said in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the 1830-1962 colonial era.
The statement was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty and echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim.
On Tuesday, Sansal appeared before the judge without legal representation after authorities said he wished to defend himself.
“The Algerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience,” he told the court during the roughly 20-minute hearing, seemingly in good health. “This makes no sense.”
Defending the remarks he made to French far-right media on Algeria’s borders, he said: “Fortunately, after independence in 1962, the African Union declared that inherited colonial borders are inviolable.”
Also questioned on some of his books, Sansal answered: “We are holding a trial over literature? Where are we headed?“
According to his relatives, Sansal has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and many feared his health would deteriorate in prison.
French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” toward Sansal.
But Algiers has insisted that the writer has been afforded due process.
His conviction and sentence further frayed ties between Paris and Algiers, already strained by migration issues and Macron’s recognition last year of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front.
Charges against the writer include “undermining national unity,” “insulting state institutions,” “harming the national economy,” and “possessing media and publications threatening the country’s security and stability.”
UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire
- In call with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan says he hopes agreement will enhance security, peace across Middle East
LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday.
Sheikh Mohamed told President Masoud Pezeshkian he hoped the agreement would “serve as a foundation for enhancing stability, security and peace across the Middle East,” the Emirates News Agency reported.
Sheikh Mohamed added it was important to “ensure the success of the agreement in a way that benefits all the countries and peoples of the region.”
Pezeshkian gave thanks for the UAE’s position during Israel’s recent airstrikes against Iran.
The ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump came into force on Monday, a day after Iran attacked a US military base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of its nuclear sites.
The UAE on Monday “condemned in the strongest terms” the Iranian attack on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which saw almost all of the missiles intercepted.
Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran
- Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross
- Rubio, in his call with FM Rashid Meredov, expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday thanked Turkmenistan and promised cooperation with the authoritarian state after it let US citizens cross through as they fled Iran following Israeli strikes.
Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross but agreed over the weekend following appeals from Washington, officials said.
Rubio, in his call with Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, “expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Rubio said he “looks forward to further partnership with Turkmenistan, including expanding economic and commercial ties,” she said.
Washington has organized evacuation flights for its citizens in Israel, but has limited capacity in Iran due to the lack of diplomatic relations.
Most US citizens in Iran are dual nationals and hundreds have left since Israel launched its military campaign on June 13, another State Department official said.
Around 200 Americans had voiced an interest in going through Turkmenistan, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran, although so far only “tens” have proceeded through that route, the official said.
“We’re communicating to all of the US citizens... in Iran looking to go to Turkmenistan that that border is open,” the official said on customary condition of anonymity.
With flights unavailable, the vast majority have gone through Azerbaijan, with some also going through Armenia and Turkiye, the official said.
President Donald Trump, who has prioritized cracking down on immigration, earlier this month banned virtually all Iranian citizens and partially restricted nationals of Turkmenistan from entering the United States.
The visa restrictions continue to apply to Iranian nationals who leave even if they are family members of US citizens, the State Department official said.
Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran but voiced frustration at implementation.
