Author: Gulf News Week
Leading genocide scholars formally declare that Israel’s war on Gaza meets the UN’s definition of genocide.The world’s top genocide scholars have formally declared that Israel’s war on Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, marking a landmark intervention from leading experts in the field of international law.The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a 500-member body of academics founded in 1994, passed a resolution on Monday, stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfil the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.“This is a definitive…
The US denial of visas for Palestinian officials who were to attend the UN General Assembly is yet another move to silence Palestinians.As world leaders are preparing to gather in New York for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, one nation will not have any representatives: the Palestinian people. That is because the United States Department of State has decided to deny visas to Palestinian officials seeking to attend the UNGA session.Since 1947, the US has mostly honoured its “headquarters agreement” with the UN, granting visas — albeit limited in scope — to officials…
Authorities say more than 800 people have died as floods and rubble hinder rescue efforts.A magnitude 6 earthquake has hit Afghanistan near its border with Pakistan.The death toll from Sunday night’s disaster has risen to more than 800 people, according to the government. Flooding and debris have hampered rescue efforts.Here is more about what happened and why Afghanistan is vulnerable to earthquakes:What happened?At 11:47pm (19:47 GMT) on Sunday, the earthquake shook Nangarhar and Kunar provinces in eastern Afghanistan. It was 8km (5 miles) deep, making it a shallow tremor.Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage because the epicentre of the…
The missile attack comes amid Houthi pledges to target Israel-linked shipping over its ongoing war in Gaza.Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a tanker in the Red Sea, days after Israeli air strikes killed its prime minister and several senior officials.The group on Monday said it directly hit the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, which is Israeli-owned, according to the maritime security company Ambrey.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which monitors shipping in the region, disputed the claim, reporting the missile missed its target on Sunday.“The crew witnessed a splash in close proximity to their…
More settler attacks also take place across the territory, with a Palestinian husband and wife hurt in the violence.The Israeli army has carried out raids and arrests across the occupied West Bank, with incidents reported in the cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah.Multiple Palestinians were detained in the territory on Sunday, according to the Wafa news agency, including a child and a young man in the town of Yabad.Reports suggested that a 37-year-old man was also arrested in the town of Beit Fajjar, while a 25-year-old man was taken into Israeli custody in the town of Nilin near Ramallah.Several…
Once teeming and crowded with residential buildings, Gaza City is home to one million now facing forcible displacement.Israel has stepped up its destruction of Gaza City as it plans to seize Gaza’s largest urban centre and forcibly displace around one million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south, as it killed at least 78 people across the besieged enclave since dawn, including 32 desperately seeking food.On Sunday, in Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported a fire in tents near al-Quds Hospital after Israeli shelling. At least five people were killed and three wounded when a residential apartment was hit…
Israel has repeatedly targeted the Houthis in recent months as tensions with the group increase over the war in Gaza.The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, has denounced Israel and signalled defiance, hailing assassinated government leaders as “the martyrs of all Yemen”, the day after the group confirmed the death of its prime minister and other cabinet ministers.“The Israeli enemy, with its crimes and savagery, does not spare even children, women and defenceless civilians,” he said during his first speech on Sunday since the Israeli strikes, according to Houthi media.“The crime of targeting ministers and civilian officials is added to…
Everything you need to know about UNIFIL and the renewal of its mandate until the end of 2026.The United Nations Security Council voted on Thursday to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, until the end of 2026 and then to begin an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” over the course of 2027.The winding down of UNIFIL has been pushed heavily by Israel and the United States, who accuse the group of providing political cover for Hezbollah since the 2006 war and failing to work to disarm Hezbollah, despite that not being the UN body’s…
Washington is pressing Baghdad to dismantle pro-Iranian paramilitary groups. The move is risky, but it may pay off.Over the past two years, Iran’s network of allies in the Middle East has taken painful blows. In Syria, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad collapsed. In Lebanon, Hezbollah was forced to lay down its arms under a United States-brokered ceasefire and now faces pressure to disarm. In Yemen, the Houthis were forced to stop disrupting maritime traffic through the Red Sea after massive bombardment of infrastructure and civilian areas by US forces. On Thursday, an Israeli attack killed their prime minister, Ahmed…
Vessels expected to reach Gaza in mid-September in third attempt by sea to end a war that has killed over 63,000 Palestinians.The Global Sumud Flotilla has left the Spanish port city of Barcelona, with the stated goal of “breaking Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza”.The boats started moving out of the port at approximately 3:30pm on Sunday, with crowds of activists, support staff, and well-wishers there to see the crews off.Mauricio Morales, reporting from on board the Familia, one of the Flotilla boats, said: “The turnout was overwhelming, I think nobody was expecting so many people to wave goodbye to the…