PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Scuffles broke out on Wednesday between Israeli authorities and protesters who feared preparations were underway to raze a Bedouin village in a strategic part of the occupied West Bank, despite international calls for a reprieve.
Protesters, including some waving Palestinian flags, tried to block a bulldozer and scuffled with police at Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem. Some climbed onto the bulldozer in protest.
Israeli police said 11 people were arrested. Israeli rights group B'Tselem said they included the organisation's own head of field research.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 35 people injured, with four taken to hospital. Police said the wounded included three officers, including one taken to hospital.
Police said stones were thrown at officers.
The incident came after activists said the Israeli military had issued a warrant to the 173 residents of Khan al-Ahmar on Tuesday, authorising soldiers to seize access roads to the village.
Heavy equipment was seen around the village on Wednesday, prompting speculation a road was being prepared to facilitate its evacuation and demolition.
"Today they are proceeding with infrastructure work to facilitate the demolition and forcible transfer of residents," Amit Gilutz, spokesman for B'Tselem, told AFP.
Israeli authorities say the village and its school were built illegally, and in May the supreme court rejected a final appeal against its demolition.
But activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits, as the documents are almost never issued to Palestinians for building in parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civilian affairs.
Israel authorities say they have offered villagers an alternative site.
The village is made up mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is traditionally the case with Bedouin villages.
It is unclear when the demolition will take place.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat condemned the demolition plans and appealed to the international community.
"Are we coming to see one day that Israel can be held accountable?" he asked journalists in Ramallah.
"If not, it means you're pushing this region towards a deeper hole of violence and counter-violence and extremes."
Britain's minister of state for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, visited the village in May and called on the Israeli government to show restraint.
He warned that any forced relocation "could constitute forcible transfer of people as far as the United Nations is concerned."
Forcible transfer is considered a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Khan al-Ahmar is located east of Jerusalem near several major Israeli settlement blocs and close to a highway leading to the Dead Sea.
Activists are concerned continued Israeli settlement construction in the area could effectively divide the West Bank in two.
In another Bedouin village in the same region, Abu Nuwar, Israel carried out a series of demolitions Wednesday on what it described as illegally built structures.
B'Tselem said nine residential structures and three agricultural ones were demolished, leaving 62 people homeless.
The Israeli defence ministry's COGAT unit for civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories said the demolitions had taken place after the "owners of the buildings failed to utilise the planning procedures to their fullest extent".
"This despite the fact that they were given the opportunity to enquire in the matter and were told that if they did not, the illegal construction would be demolished," it said in a statement.
Clashes as Israel gets set to raze West Bank Bedouin village
Clashes as Israel gets set to raze West Bank Bedouin village
- Heavy equipment, including at least one bulldozer, were seen around the village
- Israeli authorities say the village and its school were built illegally and in May
Trump says US will stop bombing Houthis after agreement struck
- “They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said
- There was no immediate response from the Houthis
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US will stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen after the Iran-aligned group agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
In an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump announced the Houthis have said that they no longer want to fight but did not elaborate on the message.
“They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said.
There was no immediate response from the Houthis.
The Houthis have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The US president said Washington will take the Houthis’ word that they would not be blowing up ships any longer.
Tensions have been high since the Gaza war began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on the Houthis after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.
The bodies of a Belgian mother and her son were recovered in southern Jordan after flash flooding
- The mother and children had been part of a group of 18 tourists
- Fourteen tourists, all Czechs, were rescued on Sunday
AMMAN: Search and rescue teams recovered the bodies of a Belgian mother and her son on Monday in Jordan, police said a day after the woman and her three children were reported missing in flash flooding. The other two children were found alive.
Sunday’s flooding in southern Jordan also led to the evacuation of hundreds of tourists from the Petra archaeological site, the country’s main tourist attraction.
The mother and children had been part of a group of 18 tourists who had been on an adventure trip in Wadi Al-Nakhil when they were caught up in the flash flood, Ma’an district local governor Hassan Al-Jabour told state media broadcaster Al-Mamlaka TV.
Fourteen tourists, all Czechs, were rescued on Sunday. Rescue crews located two of the children alive late Sunday, Al-Jabour said. The search and rescue operation was suspended at about 2 a.m. because of the complicated weather conditions and terrain. The bodies of the woman and her son were found Monday morning after the search resumed, he said.
Further details about the family and the ages of the children weren’t immediately available.
Jordan often experiences flash flooding as heavy seasonal rains send torrents of water through dry desert valleys. At least three people died in 2021 when floodwaters swept away their car, while more than 30 people in the Dead Sea region and other parts of Jordan were killed in flash flooding in 2018.
UAE president stresses regional peace during meeting with Turkish foreign minister
- Leaders examined the strategic relationship between Ankara and Abu Dhabi
LONDON: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the Qasr Al-Shati palace in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
They examined the strategic relationship between Ankara and Abu Dhabi, seeking ways to enhance it according to their mutual interests, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Sheikh Mohamed and Fidan discussed regional and international issues, highlighting developments in the Middle East. They stressed the necessity of fostering regional peace and stability in a way that benefits all nations.
The meeting was attended by several senior officials, including Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the deputy chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al-Nahyan, the adviser to the UAE president; Ali bin Hammad Al-Shamsi, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council for National Security; and Khalifa Shaheen Al-Marar, the minister of state.
Emir of Qatar discusses ties in phone call with India PM Modi
- The leaders shared perspectives on regional and international developments of mutual concern
LONDON: The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call on Tuesday.
The leaders discussed ways to strengthen the relationship between Doha and New Delhi. They also shared perspectives on regional and international developments of mutual concern, according to the Qatar News Agency.
Sheikh Tamim visited India last February to enhance bilateral collaboration between the two countries in areas such as trade, investment, energy, and finance.
UN urges probe into 'disturbing' video of abducted Libyan MP
- UNSMIL said it was “alarmed” by Ibrahim el-Dirsi’s “enforced disappearance”
- It described circulating images of his detention as “disturbing“
TRIPOLI: The UN mission in Libya on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into images of an abducted member of the country’s eastern-based parliament that showed signs of torture.
In a statement, UNSMIL said it was “alarmed” by Ibrahim el-Dirsi’s “enforced disappearance” and described circulating images of his detention as “disturbing.”
Dirsi, a member of the Libyan house of representatives, was kidnapped in May 2024 in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city which he represents.
The North African country has been mired in unrest since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
It remains split between the UN-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, and a rival eastern administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
On Monday, Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV aired photos and a video showing Dirsi, apparently in a prison cell, wearing only shorts and chained with a padlock around his neck.
UNSMIL said it had asked UN digital forensic experts to verify the footage’s authenticity.
Tripoli’s GNU described the conditions in the images as “degrading, shocking and inhumane.”
It criticized the “so-called General Command,” referring to Haftar’s forces, after the video appeared to show Dirsi pleading for forgiveness.
The pro-Haftar Al-Masar TV channel quoted lawmakers as saying the images were “fabricated” and “produced using artificial intelligence.”
The eastern-based interior ministry blamed “unidentified criminals affiliated with a gang,” saying the case was under “thorough investigation.”
UNSMIL also condemned “widespread and systemic abuses in detention facilities by law enforcement and security actors in Benghazi, Tripoli, Sabha, and other locations across Libya.”
It said “arbitrary detentions, abductions, torture, enforced disappearances and deaths in custody are serious human rights violations and may constitute international crimes that can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.”
“Libyan authorities must ensure these practices immediately cease and that perpetrators are brought to justice,” the statement added.
In 2019, Siham Sergewa, another representative in Benghazi, was abducted from her home shortly after criticizing Haftar on television. She remains missing.
