Netanyahu’s call to block creation of Palestinian state sparks fury, condemnation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2-R) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem, on June 25, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 26 June 2023
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Netanyahu’s call to block creation of Palestinian state sparks fury, condemnation

  • PM’s comments show Israel rejects international law, Palestinian presidency spokesperson says
  • Will encourage ‘terrorist elements to commit more crimes,’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs says

RAMALLAH: All settler colonialism in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegitimate and illegal, Palestinian officials said on Monday.

Anger and frustration have been growing in response to Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state

He reportedly told a closed-door meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel must block Palestinians’ aspirations for an independent state and that “we are preparing for post-Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.”




Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi (C-R) inspects the damage at the site of an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Turmus Ayya near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on June 24, 2023. (AFP)

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, said that establishing an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital was the only solution to achieve security and stability.

The Palestinian state existed, was recognized by more than 140 countries and only needed the end of the occupation to embody its independence, he said.

Netanyahu’s statements showed the world Israel’s true intentions, which reject international legitimacy and international law, and that no Israeli partner wanted to achieve peace based on international legitimacy, Rudeineh added.

BACKGROUND

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Netanyahu’s statements as official recognition of the Israeli government’s hostile policy toward peace and rejection of the resolutions of international legitimacy and the implementation of the principle of the two-state solution.

The reported remarks provided new confirmation of the absence of a peace partner in the Israeli regime, it said.

The ministry pointed to the deliberate sabotage by Israel of all regional, international and US agreements, understandings and efforts to restore the political horizon for resolving the conflict.

It added that Netanyahu’s refusal to establish an independent Palestinian state was the political explanation for the violations of the occupation army, settler militia and terrorist elements and their crimes against Palestinian citizens, their land, properties, homes, crops and sanctities throughout the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.

The ministry added that Netanyahu’s position encouraged “terrorist elements to commit more crimes of stealing Palestinian land, deepening settlements and planting more random outposts to undermine any opportunity to establish an independent Palestinian state.”

It called on the US administration to deal with Netanyahu’s anti-peace position “very seriously” and to take the necessary sanctions, pressures and measures to protect the opportunity to implement the two-state solution principle.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, a former representative of Palestine to the UN, told Arab News that the Israeli government did not want a settlement and would “lead the region to hell.”

“Neither Netanyahu nor the Israeli right nor any power in the universe can deny the Palestinians’ right to an independent state,” he said.

Palestinian political analyst Ghassan Al-Khatib told Arab News that, for the first time, Netanyahu’s words were consistent with his actions and observed behavior, as he had been closing the door to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Today he is emphasizing his extreme right-wing policy, which refuses to give up Israeli control over any part of the Palestinian territories,” he said.

Netanyahu’s position had created a “new reality” for Palestinians and the international community, Al-Khatib added.

“What is important is what will be the international community’s position on that.”

Hamas joined the condemnation of Netanyahu’s statement, reaffirming its stance that Israel’s occupation is based on genocide, ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism.

“Such remarks require the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to reconsider their compromise track and fruitless negotiations with the Israeli occupation authorities and end all security collaboration,” it said.

All forms of normalization had encouraged the Israeli authorities to commit further atrocities, it added.

“We call on the international community, the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to condemn such positions, as they violate the most basic human rights and all relevant resolutions, and threaten peace and security in the region.”

Palestinian officials are also frustrated by Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida and US presidential candidate who said the West Bank “is not occupied lands but rather belongs to the Jews, according to the Torah.”

Al-Kidwa told Arab News that the governor’s position was “immoral, denying the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and their national existence and violating a system of international laws that recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state, and encouraging extremist Israeli groups to deny the rights of the Palestinians.”

He described DeSantis as “an opportunistic person.”

Meanwhile, on the eve of Eid Al-Adha, Israel’s military authorities launched a campaign of arrests in the West Bank and incursions into the homes of prisoners and ex-prisoners in several towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Committee for the Families of Jerusalemite Prisoners, said Israeli security forces focused on the areas of Silwan, Al-Isawiya, Jabal Al-Mukaber, Al-Sawwana, Al-Tur, the Old City and Beit Hanina.

After searching and destroying homes and their contents, the military seized money and vehicles, he said.

Israeli security forces also handed a notification to the released prisoners after seizing their money worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It said: “The money that the prisoners receive from the Palestinian Authority is money that was obtained as a wage and reward for committing terrorist operations and encourages terrorism.”

Israeli authorities began a campaign to confiscate and seize the funds of Jerusalemite prisoners in 2020.

 


Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

Updated 2 sec ago
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Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

TEL AVIV: An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza, as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival and his “body is still held captive by Hamas.”
The forum said Shtivi had just arrived at the festival site when the attack began.
“On October 7, Idan arrived at the Nova Festival in the early morning to document his friends’ performances and workshops,” the forum said in a statement.
“However, he never made it inside. When the attack began, Idan helped two strangers he had just met escape from the site. This selfless choice ultimately led to his abduction.”

Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel

Updated 07 October 2024
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Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel

GAZA: The Israeli military said Monday that at least four projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip just minutes after the country began to formally commemorate last year’s October 7 attacks.
“Following the sirens that sounded at 06:31 in several communities near the Gaza Strip, four projectiles were identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip. Three of the projectiles were intercepted by the IAF (air force) and a fallen projectile was identified in an open area,” the military said in a statement.
The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired rockets into southern Israel at “enemy gatherings” at Rafah crossing, Kerem Shalom crossing and kibbutz Holit near the border with Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had also prevented an “immediate threat” from Hamas’ intentions to fire rockets.
“The IAF (air force) struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip,” the military said.
“Furthermore, overnight, the IAF and IDF (Israeli army) artillery struck targets in the central Gaza Strip that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.”
The military said sirens also sounded in the Upper Galilee area of northern Israel, with no let-up in the daily rocket fire from neighboring Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah militants.
Earlier on Monday the military said it had also intercepted two “suspicious aerial targets” that were launched from the east.


Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

Updated 07 October 2024
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Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque killed at least 19 people.
A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began.
Israel’s military confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the northern city of Haifa, though it was not immediately clear whether shrapnel from “fallen projectiles” was from rockets or interceptors. Hezbollah said it tried to hit a nearby naval base. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated 10 people, most of them hurt by shrapnel.
Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week. The widening conflict risks further drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.
Israel is on high alert ahead of memorial events for the Oct. 7 attack, while rallies continue around the world marking the anniversary.
Israel bombards southern Beirut
Beirut’s skyline lit up again late Sunday with new airstrikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on Sept. 23. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

Israel confirmed the strikes and says it targets Hezbollah. The militant group, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, has called its months of firing rockets into Israel a show of support for the Palestinians.
A separate Israeli strike earlier Sunday in the town of Qamatiyeh southeast of Beirut killed six people, including three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
“It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything,” resident Haytham Al-Darazi said. Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it “a night of terror.”
One strike killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. “This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women,” said a neighbor, Ali Al Hajj.
Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group from its border so tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.
The Israeli military is now setting up a forward operating base close to a UN peacekeeping mission on the border in southern Lebanon, a UN official told The Associated Press. The base puts peacekeepers at risk, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
UNIFIL, created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions ahead of the ground incursion.
New evacuation orders in northern Gaza
An Israeli strike hit a mosque where displaced people sheltered near the main hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir Al-Balah. Another four were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter near the town. The military said both strikes targeted militants. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue.
Israel’s military announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, home to a refugee camp dating to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel has carried out several operations there only to see militants regroup. The military said three soldiers were severely wounded in Sunday’s fighting in northern Gaza.
Israel reiterated its call for the complete evacuation of heavily destroyed northern Gaza, where up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained.
“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.” A later statement said three projectiles were identified crossing from northern Gaza into Israeli territory, with no injuries reported.
Frantic residents fled again. “Since Oct. 7 to the present day, this is the 12th time that I and my children, eight individuals, have been homeless and thrown into the streets and do not know where to go,” said one, Samia Khader.
The Civil Defense — first responders operating under the Hamas-run government — said it recovered three bodies, including a woman and a child, after a strike hit a home in the Shati refugee camp.
Residents mourned. Imad Alarabid said on Facebook an airstrike on his Jabaliya home killed a dozen family members, including his parents. Hassan Hamd, a freelance TV journalist whose footage had aired on Al Jazeera, was killed in shelling on his home in Jabaliya. Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al-Sharif confirmed his death.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They still hold around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
UK advises against travel while France seeks partial arms embargo on Israel
The United Kingdom on Sunday advised its citizens against non-essential travel to Israel due to the violent clashes in the Mideast. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also advised against all travel in parts of northern and southern Israel, most of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
Last week the UK advised its citizens against all travel to Lebanon.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his call for a partial arms embargo on Israel, which had prompted an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had described such calls by Macron as a “disgrace.” Macron’s office insisted that “France is Israel’s unfailing friend” and called Netanyahu’s remarks “excessive.”
Later on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders had spoken and agreed to promote “a dialogue” on the matter. Macron’s office called the discussion “frank” and said both leaders “accepted their divergence of views.”

 


Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

Updated 07 October 2024
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Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

  • Beirut’s skyline lit up again late Sunday with new airstrikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh
  • Israel’s military confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the northern city of Haifa

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque killed at least 19 people.
A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began.
Israel’s military confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the northern city of Haifa, though it was not immediately clear whether shrapnel from “fallen projectiles” was from rockets or interceptors. Hezbollah said it tried to hit a nearby naval base. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated 10 people, most of them hurt by shrapnel.
Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week. The widening conflict risks further drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.
Israel is on high alert ahead of memorial events for the Oct. 7 attack, while rallies continue around the world marking the anniversary.
Israel bombards southern Beirut
Beirut’s skyline lit up again late Sunday with new airstrikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on Sept. 23. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

 

Israel confirmed the strikes and says it targets Hezbollah. The militant group, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, has called its months of firing rockets into Israel a show of support for the Palestinians.
A separate Israeli strike earlier Sunday in the town of Qamatiyeh southeast of Beirut killed six people, including three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
“It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything,” resident Haytham Al-Darazi said. Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it “a night of terror.”
One strike killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. “This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women,” said a neighbor, Ali Al Hajj.
Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group from its border so tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.
The Israeli military is now setting up a forward operating base close to a UN peacekeeping mission on the border in southern Lebanon, a UN official told The Associated Press. The base puts peacekeepers at risk, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
UNIFIL, created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions ahead of the ground incursion.
New evacuation orders in northern Gaza
An Israeli strike hit a mosque where displaced people sheltered near the main hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir Al-Balah. Another four were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter near the town. The military said both strikes targeted militants. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue.
Israel’s military announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, home to a refugee camp dating to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel has carried out several operations there only to see militants regroup. The military said three soldiers were severely wounded in Sunday’s fighting in northern Gaza.
Israel reiterated its call for the complete evacuation of heavily destroyed northern Gaza, where up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained.
“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.” A later statement said three projectiles were identified crossing from northern Gaza into Israeli territory, with no injuries reported.
Frantic residents fled again. “Since Oct. 7 to the present day, this is the 12th time that I and my children, eight individuals, have been homeless and thrown into the streets and do not know where to go,” said one, Samia Khader.
The Civil Defense — first responders operating under the Hamas-run government — said it recovered three bodies, including a woman and a child, after a strike hit a home in the Shati refugee camp.
Residents mourned. Imad Alarabid said on Facebook an airstrike on his Jabaliya home killed a dozen family members, including his parents. Hassan Hamd, a freelance TV journalist whose footage had aired on Al Jazeera, was killed in shelling on his home in Jabaliya. Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al-Sharif confirmed his death.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They still hold around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
UK advises against travel while France seeks partial arms embargo on Israel
The United Kingdom on Sunday advised its citizens against non-essential travel to Israel due to the violent clashes in the Mideast. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also advised against all travel in parts of northern and southern Israel, most of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
Last week the UK advised its citizens against all travel to Lebanon.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his call for a partial arms embargo on Israel, which had prompted an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had described such calls by Macron as a “disgrace.” Macron’s office insisted that “France is Israel’s unfailing friend” and called Netanyahu’s remarks “excessive.”
Later on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders had spoken and agreed to promote “a dialogue” on the matter. Macron’s office called the discussion “frank” and said both leaders “accepted their divergence of views.”
 

 

 


Iran air traffic resumes after suspension: state media

A Mahan Air passenger plane takes off from Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran. (AP file photo)
Updated 07 October 2024
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Iran air traffic resumes after suspension: state media

  • Iran on Tuesday launched around 200 missiles in its second direct attack on Israel, in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region, along with a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities announced Monday the resumption of air traffic after flight cancelations at some airports over “operational restrictions,” state media reported, as Israel vowed to retaliate for an Iranian missile strike.
Flights have been operational again since 11:00 p.m. (1930 GMT) Sunday and were being “carried out in accordance with the flight schedule,” said Jafar Yazarloo, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, quoted by the IRNA state news agency.
Iran on Tuesday launched around 200 missiles in its second direct attack on Israel, in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region, along with a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Ever since, Israel has said that it will respond to Iran’s attack.
Iran initially closed its airspace for less than two days, from Tuesday night until Thursday morning.
The aviation body announced then that both domestic and international flights were grounded for security reasons until the reopening.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has advised European airlines to avoid Iranian airspace until October 31, with the situation under ongoing review.