Author: Gulf News Week
Al-Jaleel NGO provides vital aid to disabled Palestinians but faces demolition under Israeli military plans in Jenin.The Al-Jaleel Society for Care and Community-based Rehabilitation has provided essential services to disabled Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp for decades. But now, after repeated Israeli attacks, the centre has been destroyed, and its staff have discovered that it sits in an Israeli-designated demolition zone. Al-Jaleel’s staff have received no official notice, but in early June, the Israeli army published an aerial map showing several buildings in the area that were set to be destroyed, including the rehabilitation centre. Zaid Am-Ali, senior advocacy officer…
Israel continues to bomb Syria, ostensibly in support of Druze forces in the southwest, even after ceasefire is declared.What started as a local conflict in southern Syria between local Druze and Bedouin communities over the weekend escalated on Wednesday into Israel bombing Syria’s Ministry of Defence and other targets in the capital Damascus. At least three people were killed in the Damascus attacks, the Syrian Ministry of Health said. Other Israeli air attacks on Wednesday hit the southwestern provinces of Suwayda and Deraa. Suwayda – where the majority of the population are members of the Druze religious group – had…
The Trump administration says the new investments will create 30,000 US jobs.Bahrain’s crown prince is set to invest more than $17bn in the United States. The White House outlined the new deal before a meeting between Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and US President Donald Trump. Sitting with the crown prince of Bahrain, he described the Gulf nation as a “fantastic ally.” He said they would discuss trade and other topics. The prince said they would announce investments in the United States, which “builds upon a legacy that we’re very proud of”. As part of the investment, Bahrain…
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party says it will leave the government in response to dispute over mandatory military service.A key partner in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says it is quitting, dealing a major blow to the Israeli prime minister that could leave him heading a minority coalition in parliament. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party said on Wednesday that it was leaving the cabinet in protest against lawmakers’ failure to guarantee future exemption from military conscription for religious students. “Shas representatives … find with a heavy heart that they cannot stay in the government and be a part of it,” said the group in…
A roundup of key international reactions after Israeli air strikes near the defence ministry and presidential palace in Syria’s capital.Israel has launched several air strikes in the heart of the Syrian capital, Damascus, as clashes continued in the southwestern city of Suwayda after a truce between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defence on Wednesday, hours after he had demanded Syrian government forces withdraw from Suwayda. Another strike hit near the presidential palace, on the outskirts of the city. At least one person…
Conditions worsen with widespread hunger, life-altering injuries and near-total displacement and destruction.Gaza’s children and elderly are bearing the brunt of the devastation inflicted by Israel’s war on the enclave, as the United Nations warns of a sharp rise in amputations, long-term disabilities and severe hunger. More than 40,000 children have been injured since the conflict began, and nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times. Amid worsening conditions, aid workers are also reporting a sharp rise in malnutrition among children, and growing hardship for elderly people, who are even less able to access food, care and…
Gaza’s Health Ministry says tear gas was fired on Wednesday at crowds of Palestinians at aid facility in Khan Younis.At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in the latest carnage at the GHF aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, with most of the victims reported to have died in a stampede. Gaza’s Ministry of Health has disputed the allegation from the controversial United States- and Israel-backed organisation that armed agitators were responsible for the incident on Wednesday morning at the site in Khan Younis. In an earlier statement, the GHF had said 19 victims were trampled and another was stabbed…
Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters as fallout from sectarian violence in Suwayda reaches Damascus.Israel has struck the headquarters of the Syrian military and close to the presidential palace in the capital Damascus, compounding a volatile situation on the ground and following through on its threats over clashes between Syrian government troops and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday that the Israeli military had struck the entrance of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus. The strikes came hours after Katz’s threat to the Syrian government to withdraw…
Pyongyang is reportedly planning to deploy thousands more troops to back Russia, the latest sign ties are being strengthened amid war.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wept as he threw himself over the coffin of a soldier draped in the national flag, one of six or so who were lined up in a row. Photographs of him mourning were shown at a gala performance at a theatre in Pyongyang late last month, celebrating the anniversary of a mutual defence pact signed by Kim and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The soldiers had been killed in action fighting alongside Russian forces…
US nurse tells of Israeli authorities confiscating supplies of baby formula being brought into Gaza by medical workers.One in every 10 children screened in clinics in Gaza run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, is malnourished, as child hunger surges across the territory amid the continuing Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid. Israel’s punishing prevention of aid entering Gaza has led to “severe shortages of nutrition supplies”, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday, describing the situation for starving children as “engineered and man-made”. Lazzarini said the UN must be allowed to do its work in Gaza, particularly…