PARIS/WASHINGTON: Thousands of protesters took to the streets in major cities around the world on Saturday demanding an end to bloodshed in Gaza and the wider Middle East as the start of Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary.
About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London while thousands gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila, Cape Town and New York City. Demonstrations were also held near the White House in Washington, protesting US support for its ally Israel in military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
Protesters at Times Square in New York City wore the black-and-white keffiyeh scarf and chanted slogans like: “Gaza, Lebanon you will rise, the people are by your side.” They held banners demanding an arms embargo against Israel.
The latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
“Unfortunately, in spite of all our good will, the Israeli government does not take any notice, and they just go ahead and continue their atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and in Yemen, and also probably in Iran,” said protester Agnes Kory in London.
“And our government, our British government, unfortunately is just paying lip service and carries on supplying weapons to Israel,” she added.
In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, at least 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Sunday morning near the US embassy demanding that Washington stop supplying weapons to Israel.
In London, counter-demonstrators waved Israeli flags as pro-Palestinian marchers walked by. There were 15 arrests on the sidelines of the protests, according to police, who did not specify whether those detained were from either group.
In Rome, police fired tear gas and water cannons after clashes broke out. Around 6,000 protesters defied a ban to march in the city center ahead of the Oct. 7 anniversary of Hamas’ attack.
In Berlin, a protest drew about 1,000 demonstrators with Palestinian flags, who chanted: “One Year of Genocide.”
German demonstrators also criticized what they called police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters. Israel supporters in Berlin protested against rising antisemitism. Scuffles broke out between police and pro-Palestinian protesters.
Over the past year, the scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza has drawn some of the biggest global protests in years, including in the US, that saw weeks of pro-Palestinian college campus encampments.
Advocates have raised concerns over alarming antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric in some protests and counter-protests related to the conflict. Rights advocates have warned about rising threats against Muslims and Jews around the world.
Israel’s supporters have expressed offense over some slogans that they say question Israel’s right to exist as a nation. Pro-Palestinian protesters point to violence such as an incident in which a mob in California attacked an encampment of demonstrators in April.
The war in Gaza has spread through the region, drawing in Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Israel has sharply escalated a campaign in recent weeks in Lebanon that has killed hundreds, wounded thousands and displaced over a million. Israel says it is attempting to dismantle Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles against Israel this week to which Israel has not yet responded. Israeli operations have also escalated in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza.
In Paris, Lebanese-French protester Houssam Houssein said: “We fear a regional war, because there are tensions with Iran at the moment, and perhaps with Iraq and Yemen.” Houssein added: “We really need to stop the war because it’s now become unbearable.”
Israel has faced wide international condemnation over its actions in Gaza, and now over its bombarding of Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government is acting to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas and Washington says it supports Israel’s right to self-defense.
US government agencies warned on Friday that the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks may motivate individuals to engage in violence. Officials in some states, including New York, raised security measures out of caution.
In Manila, activists clashed with anti-riot police after they were blocked from holding a demonstration in front of the US embassy in the Philippine capital against Washington’s support for Israel.
International diplomacy backed by the US has so far failed to clinch a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Hamas wants an agreement that ends the war while Israel says fighting can end only when Hamas is eradicated.
Thousands around the world protest Middle East war as Oct. 7 anniversary nears
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Thousands around the world protest Middle East war as Oct. 7 anniversary nears
- 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in London
- Protesters oppose Israel’s Gaza actions, worry about spreading conflict
WFP halts food shipments to Houthi-held parts of Yemen after militia seize warehouse
- WFP said 62 percent of households it surveyed couldn’t get enough food
- The seizure was the latest friction between the Houthis and the United Nations
CAIRO: The World Food Program has halted food shipments to Houthi-held areas of Yemen and suspended food distribution there after the militants looted one of its warehouses in the north, its deputy director said Thursday.
The suspension is a further blow in the war-torn country, where hunger has been growing. In February, the WFP said 62 percent of households it surveyed couldn’t get enough food, a figure that has been rising for the past nine months. It estimates that some 17 million people – early half Yemen’s population — are food insecure.
Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director and chief operating officer, told The Associated Press that Houthis seized the warehouse in the northern region of Saada in mid-March and took around $1.6 million in supplies.
The seizure was the latest friction between the Houthis and the United Nations. The militants in recent months have detained dozens of UN staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
UN agencies, including the WFP, had already halted operations in Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold, in February after seven WFP staffers and another UN worker were detained, and one of the WFP members died in prison. It continued low-level operations in other parts of Yemen under the Houthis’ control.
After the seizure of the warehouse, the WFP halted shipments of new supplies to Houthi-held areas, Skau said.
“The operating environment needs to be conducive for us to continue,” he said. “We cannot accept that our colleagues are being detained, and much less so that our colleagues are dying in detention. And we cannot accept our assets are being looted.”
“It’s something we don’t take lightly because the needs are massive,” he said. “The humanitarian implications of this are deep and extensive … It’s clear the food security situation is deteriorating.”
Yemen has been torn by civil war for more than a decade. Houthi militants hold the capital Sanaa and much of the north and center of the country, where the majority of its population of nearly 40 million live. The internationally recognized government controls the south and west.
Throughout the war, Yemen has been threatened by hunger, nearly falling into full-fledged famine. The impoverished nation imports most of its food.
Skau said the WFP is seeking Houthi permission to distribute food that remains in other warehouses in the north. He said that if UN workers are released, it could resume programs distributing food to some 3 million people in Houthi-held areas.
The WFP is also providing food assistance to some 1.6 million people in southern Yemen, areas controlled by the government and its allies.
But the organization has warned its programs there could be hurt after US President Donald Trump’s administration has cut off funding for WFP’s emergency programs in Yemen.
A WFP official said the organization was reducing its staff in Yemen, and that around 200 employees – 40 percent of its workforce – have been given a month’s notice. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel situation.
“We have now a challenge in the south when it comes to the funding,” Skau said. “But we’re hoping that that can be resolved moving forward.”
Hamas ready to release all remaining hostages for end to Gaza war, Hamas’ Gaza chief says
- Al-Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team for indirect talks with Israel, said the group refused an interim truce deal”
- “Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda”
CAIRO: Hamas’ Gaza chief said the group was ready to immediately negotiate a deal to swap all hostages for an agreed number of Palestinians jailed by Israel as part of a broader deal to end the war in the enclave.
In a televised speech, Khalil Al-Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team for indirect talks with Israel, said the group refused an interim truce deal.
“Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners (hostages). We will not be part of passing this policy,” said Hayya, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Egyptian mediators have been working to revive the January ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza before breaking down last month, but there has been little sign of progress with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the lack of a deal.
The latest round of talks on Monday in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said.
Hayya said that Hamas accepted a proposal by the mediators, Qatar and Egypt, to release some hostages in return for Palestinians jailed by Israel and begin talks on implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement that includes ending the war and Israeli forces’ withdrawal from Gaza.
He accused Israel of offering a counterproposal with “impossible conditions.”
Jordanian mobile bakery provides bread to Palestinians amid Gaza flour shortage
- The initiative is part of Jordan’s ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza
- It produces about 3,500 loaves per hour and over 75,000 loaves daily
LONDON: A Jordanian mobile bakery has been left as one of the few operational bakeries in the Gaza Strip as fuel and flour run low after Israel barred aid entering Palestinian enclave in mid-March.
The Jordanian bakery was dispatched to Gaza in December to supply bread to the Palestinians amid an acute flour shortage that led to most bakeries’ shutdown.
It has teamed up with the World Central Kitchen, an international organization that provides meals to Palestinians in Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian suffering caused by ongoing Israeli military operations.
The bakery produces about 3,500 loaves per hour and over 75,000 loaves daily, crucial for reducing food insecurity in the coastal enclave, the Petra news agency reported.
The initiative is part of Jordan’s ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza, whether through land or airlifts, it added.
The WCK, which saw seven of its aid workers killed by an Israeli drone strike in April 2024, affirmed its commitment to supporting the people of Gaza during this critical period.
UN envoy calls for swift political compromise to end prolonged crisis in Libya
- In her first in-person Security Council briefing, Hanna S. Tetteh says Libyan leaders broadly agree on need for elections but remain divided on the process for them
- On humanitarian matters, she denounces the targeting of migrants and aid workers, linking a surge in xenophobic rhetoric to increased violence, arrests and deaths
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s top envoy for Libya, Hanna S. Tetteh, warned the Security Council on Thursday that continued political gridlock and institutional fragmentation risk plunging the country further into instability, unless urgent compromise can be achieved and a unified path to elections agreed.
Addressing council members in person for the first time since her appointment in February as the secretary-general’s special representative for Libya, Tetteh noted that although the country’s leaders broadly agree on the need for elections, deep divisions remain over whether they should be preceded by the development of a constitutional framework or proceed under existing arrangements.
“Political will for compromise is crucial to develop a consensual road map resolving Libya’s political crisis and completing the transition,” she said.
“Elections must be integrated into a comprehensive political framework promoting state-building by unifying and strengthening institutions.”
Tetteh reported that the UN Support Mission in Libya has been facilitating consultations through an advisory committee tasked with addressing electoral challenges. The committee, which held sessions in Benghazi and Tripoli, is expected to submit its report by the end of this month.
“We will assess these options and use them as a foundation for forging consensus on the next steps of the Libyan-led and owned political process,” she added.
Although a fragile 2020 ceasefire agreement continued to hold for now, Tetteh warned that military tensions continue to run high, particularly in the south of the country where clashes in Qatroun have resulted in heavy casualties. She also noted that recent armed mobilizations among western factions in Tripoli have raised fears of renewed violence.
“The situation will remain fragile until there is political will to unify security and military forces under a shared vision,” Tetteh said.
She also highlighted worsening economic conditions marked by currency depreciation, inflation and disputes over oil revenues. A recent decision by Libya’s National Oil Corporation to halt oil-
for-fuel transactions was welcomed for promoting transparency, but disagreements continue, particularly following the Central Bank’s devaluation of the national currency, the dinar.
“Several stakeholders have suggested an audit of key Libyan state institutions by a top-five international firm,” Tetteh said. “This would help address lapses in financial management and promote accountability.”
On the humanitarian front, Tetteh decried the targeting of migrants and aid workers, and linked a surge in xenophobic rhetoric to increased violence, arrests and even deaths.
“The targeting of humanitarian organizations, migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees must stop,” she said.
She also expressed concern about arbitrary detentions, with legal professionals and political opponents among those targeted. She called for the immediate release of all individuals held without due process, and for the adoption of legislation to protect women from violence.
“Women in Libya face significant challenges and violence without adequate social or legal protection,” Tetteh said as she highlighted the need for swift passage of the long-delayed Protection of Women Against Violence Law.
The voter registration process recently concluded for municipal elections in 62 cities and towns, including Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha. More than 570,000 people registered, 31 percent of them women.
Tetteh hailed this as a “crucial step for grassroots democratic governance” but noted several cases of interference and called for legal procedures to be respected.
She also pressed for resolution of political standoff within the High Council of State Presidency, warning that it undermines national governance.
“Every day, ordinary Libyans face recurring crises: economic, security and political,” Tetteh said. “The aspirations and needs of the Libyan people are held captive by protracted divisions and harmful unilateral actions.”
She concluded with a stark warning to the international community: “Inaction will be more detrimental than the cost of change.”
Tetteh urged the Security Council and the wider international community to unify behind a political plan to support democratic governance and sustainable development in Libya.
US withdrawing hundreds of troops from Syria, NYT reports
- The military is reducing troop levels to about 1,400 from 2,000
DAMASCUS: The United States has started drawing down hundreds of troops from the northeastern part of the Syrian Arab Republic, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
The military is shuttering three of its eight small operating bases, reducing troop levels to about 1,400 from 2,000, the Times reported, citing two senior US officials.
