CAIRO: Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 11 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave said on Sunday, as Israeli planes bombarded several northern, central and southern areas.
A school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip was among buildings hit, killing four people and wounded several others, Gaza medics said.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants operating from a command center embedded in a compound that had previously served as Um Al-Fahm School. It accused Hamas of exploiting civilian facilities and its population for military purposes, which Hamas denies.
In another strike, three people were killed in a house in Gaza City, medics said. Four others were killed in three separate airstrikes in Nuseirat and Khan Younis in central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces pursued their operations in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and in Gaza City’s suburb of Zeitoun, where forces blew up several houses, according to residents and Hamas media.
On Sunday the Israeli military said forces continue the fight in a “multi-front war” and are operating in Gaza to bring Israeli and foreign hostages home and to “dismantle” Hamas.
It said troops discovered and dismantled an underground tunnel route that is approximately 1km long near residential buildings and civilian spaces in central Gaza, adding that they found several rooms and equipment used by Hamas for prolonged periods.
Fighting and Israeli military activities in Gaza have declined in the past week as Israel escalated its military offensive against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Friday. The group announced Nasrallah’s death on Saturday.
Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced by the war, in which 41,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing about 250 hostages, going by Israeli tallies.
Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza
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Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza
- Almost 41,600 Palestinians killed in Gaza since Oct 7
- Israeli army says it struck a Hamas command center
Houthis abduct 428 Yemenis during September revolution anniversary crackdown
- Rights Radar, a human rights organization based in Amsterdam, reported on Sunday that the Houthis have arrested people in 10 provinces
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has detained 428 people during a crackdown on commemorations of the 62nd anniversary of the country’s 1962 revolution, a human rights group said.
Rights Radar, a human rights organization based in Amsterdam, reported on Sunday that the Houthis have arrested people in 10 provinces under their control since early last week for commemorating the Sept. 26 revolution in the streets, honoring it on social media, or calling on the others to celebrate.
During the crackdown, the Houthis physically and verbally assaulted people, abducted them, and have prevented them from contacting or seeing their families, according to the organization.
“Rights Radar has called on the Houthi militia to release all those abducted and detained during these campaigns immediately and to end the ongoing prosecutions related to these celebrations, as security forces are still pursuing dozens in many areas under Houthi control,” it said in a statement.
The province of Ibb had the most detentions, with 179, followed by Sanaa with 109, Dhamar with 56, Hodeidah with 37, and Taiz with 13 cases.
Mahweet, Amran, Hajjah, Al-Bayda, and Dhale also saw people abducted by the militia.
The revolution deposed northern Yemen’s Zaidi Imamate rulers, who had controlled the country for centuries, and paved the way for establishing the Yemen Arab Republic.
Yemenis say that the Houthis and Imamate rulers share the same ideologies that restricted the country’s rule to Hashemite families.
The Houthis have accused the revolutionaries of being tools for the US and other countries to undermine security in areas under their control, as well as to put pressure on them to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The American Center for Justice also said on Saturday that the Houthis launched a “large-scale” campaign against Yemenis commemorating the anniversary, resulting in the abduction of hundreds of people, including lawyers, human rights activists, political party leaders, and others in Ibb, Hodeidah, Dhamar, Sanaa, and Amran.
The center said that the Houthis deployed heavy military vehicles and forces dressed in military uniforms and civilian clothing to disperse gatherings, accusing the Houthis of violating international and local laws protecting people’s rights to free expression and peaceful assembly.
The center “calls on the international community and human rights organizations to pressure the Houthi group to end all forms of repression against Yemenis, immediately release all detainees, and ensure the right of citizens to express their opinions and participate in national celebrations without fear or intimidation,” it said.
Jordan and Ireland explore trade and investment cooperation
- The meeting between Mohammad Shoha and Marianne Bolger covered key sectors such as industry, technology, renewable energy, and agriculture
LONDON: The chairman of Jordan’s Irbid Chamber of Commerce met with the Irish ambassador to the kingdom on Sunday to discuss strengthening trade and investment relations between the two countries.
The meeting between Mohammad Shoha and Marianne Bolger covered key sectors such as industry, technology, renewable energy, and agriculture, Jordan News Agency reported.
During the talks, Shoha underscored the pivotal role of the chamber in supporting and developing the region’s commercial sector, which boasts a membership of around 16,000 businesses.
He highlighted the vitality of the Jordanian market and the ambition of local traders and investors to expand their operations both domestically and internationally.
Shoha also emphasized the chamber’s role in acting as a bridge between the Jordanian government and the private sector. He stressed the importance of dialog in overcoming obstacles and seizing new opportunities for growth.
While acknowledging the impact of regional political instability on investment, Shoha expressed confidence in Jordan’s ongoing efforts to attract foreign capital.
He said that, under the leadership of King Abdullah II, the government was focused on removing investment barriers by continuously updating laws, legislation, and infrastructure to enhance the business environment.
Bolger affirmed Ireland’s commitment to expanding its trade ties with Jordan and extended an invitation to Jordanian investors to visit Ireland to explore the country’s investment climate and opportunities.
Both sides exchanged views on promoting sustainable cooperation and building strategic partnerships aimed at fostering economic growth and enhancing trade and investment ties between the two nations.
Israel launches strikes on Yemeni Houthi targets
- Israeli military said in a statement that dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, attacked power plants and a sea port at the Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports
TEL AVIV: Israel launched strikes at Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday after the Houthi militants fired missiles at Israel over the past two days, marking a fresh exchange in another front of the regional conflict.
The Israeli military said in a statement that dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, attacked power plants and a sea port at the Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports.
The strikes caused power outages in most parts of the port city of Hodeidah, residents said.
“Over the past year, the Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability, and disrupt global freedom of navigation,” the statement said.
Yemen’s Houthi militants have fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, since the
Gaza war
began with a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
In their latest attack, the Houthis said they had launched a ballistic missile on Saturday toward the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, which Israel said it intercepted. Israel also intercepted another Houthi missile on Friday.
The Houthi movement earlier mourned Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, its ally in an Iran-backed alliance opposing Israel, following his death in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.
Pope Francis, asked about Israeli strikes, slams attacks that go ‘beyond morality’
- Pontiff said countries cannot go “over the top” in using their military forces
- “War is immoral. But the rules of war give it some morality,” he said
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT: Pope Francis, asked on Sunday about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as well as non-combatants, criticized military attacks that he said go “beyond morality.”
On the flight back to Rome from Belgium, the pontiff said countries cannot go “over the top” in using their military forces. “Even in war there is a morality to safeguard,” he said. “War is immoral. But the rules of war give it some morality.”
Responding to a question during an in-flight press conference about Israel’s latest strikes, the 87-year-old pope said: “Defense must always be proportionate to the attack. When there is something disproportionate, you see a tendency to dominate that goes beyond morality.”
Francis, as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, often makes calls for an end to violent conflicts, but is usually cautious about appearing to determine the aggressors. He has spoken more openly in recent weeks about Israel’s military actions in its nearly year-long war against Hamas.
Last week, the pope said Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon were “unacceptable” and urged the international community to do everything possible to halt the fighting. In a Sept. 28 press conference, he decried the deaths of Palestinian children in Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Francis said on Sunday he speaks on the phone with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza “every day.” He said the parishioners tell him about conditions on the ground, and “also the cruelty that is happening there.”
Israel army says ‘more than 20’ Hezbollah members killed alongside Nasrallah
- Ibrahim Hussein Jazini and Samir Tawfiq Dib who were “among Nasrallah’s closest associates” had been killed
BEIRUT: The Israeli military said on Sunday the strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week in Beirut also “eliminated” more than 20 other members of the Lebanese armed group.
“More than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks, who were present at the underground headquarters in Beirut located beneath civilian buildings, and were managing Hezbollah’s terrorist operations against the state of Israel, were also eliminated,” the military said in a statement that listed some of them.
According to the statement, Ibrahim Hussein Jazini and Samir Tawfiq Dib who were “among Nasrallah’s closest associates” had been killed.
“Due to their proximity to him, they served a significant role in the day-to-day operations of Hezbollah and Nasrallah in particular,” it said.
Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed Nasrallah’s death, and on Sunday said Ali Karake, the group’s top commander in south Lebanon, were killed in the Friday attack.
Other names listed by the Israeli military include Abed Al-Amir Muhammad Sablini and Ali Naaf Ayoub.
In recent days, Israel has shifted the focus of its military operations from Gaza to Lebanon, after nearly a year of low-level cross-border fire with Hezbollah, killing hundreds in Lebanon.
The group began firing on Israel in what it described as a show of solidarity with ally Hamas a day after the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
