Author: Gulf News Week

Protesters decry Tom Barrack visit amid Hezbollah disarmament push, warning to journalists not to act ‘animalistic’.US envoy Tom Barrack has cut his visit to southern Lebanon short, according to the Lebanese government’s official news agency.The altered trip on Wednesday came amid protests against Washington’s push to disarm Hezbollah, as well as continued outrage over Barrack’s recent derision of journalists in the country.The National News Agency reported that Barrack was flown by helicopter to a Lebanese army barracks in Marjayoun, near the Israeli border, where troops were deployed in advance of his arrival on Wednesday.However, scheduled visits to nearby Khiam, a…

Using spatial analysis and open-source research, Forensic Architecture unpacks the architecture of Israel’s genocidal starvation of Gaza.A new investigation (PDF) by research group Forensic Architecture (FA) has found that the Israeli military has pursued a deliberate strategy of starvation that has pushed Gaza towards famine. The report details how Israel has weaponised aid, forcing Palestinians to travel long distances to reach military-run distribution centres in the south of the Strip, while opening fire on those same civilians as they seek aid.Researchers documented attacks on civilians, the destruction of infrastructure such as food warehouses, and looting by Israeli-backed gangs.Between March 18…

UN agency warns children in North Darfur city remain cut off from aid and protection as fighting continues to rage.The city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur has become an “epicentre of child suffering”, with starvation, mass displacement, and relentless violence taking a catastrophic toll following nearly 17 months under siege, the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) has warned.At least 600,000 people – half of them children – have been forced to flee el-Fasher and surrounding camps in recent months amid the ongoing siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to the agency. The RSF has been fighting…

Calls for an investigation come after Sebutinde says, ‘The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel.’ She also dissented in the ICJ’s provisional order in January 2024.The International Commission of Jurists has filed a formal request for an investigation into International Court of Justice (ICJ) Vice President Julia Sebutinde over her recent comments about Israel.The commission, which advocates for human rights and rule of law worldwide, argued that Sebutinde’s position on Israel reveals a bias that brings judicial integrity into question. Sebutinde, who is one of the 17 judges in the ICJ genocide case against…

At least 80 people are wounded, including several shot with live ammunition, medical sources say.Dozens of people have been injured in an Israeli military raid on the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to medical sources.At least 80 people were wounded, including several who were hit with live ammunition, during the raid that began early on Wednesday, medical sources told media.The Palestine Red Crescent Society told media that its teams treated 36 people, including some who suffered tear gas inhalation.The raid began about 3am (00:00 GMT), residents said, with soldiers storming several neighbourhoods of the…

There is no final agreement between the IAEA and Iran yet, says Iranian foreign minister, but talks will continue.Iran says the return of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) does not mark the resumption of full cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.Inspectors from the IAEA have entered Iran with the consent of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.“No final text has yet been approved on the new cooperation framework with the IAEA and views are being exchanged,” Abbas Araghchi said, in comments cited by the state broadcaster.He noted that “the changing of…

The Palestinian group says no fighters were killed in the Israeli military’s double-tap attack on Nasser Hospital.Hamas has said that none of the 21 people killed in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital was a member of the Palestinian movement, after the Israeli military claimed it had targeted a Hamas surveillance camera and killed six fighters in its attack on the medical facility.In a statement reported by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, Hamas challenged the Israeli government’s account that claimed to name six fighters killed in the attack, which has drawn global condemnation for targeting journalists, medics, rescue workers…

Israel made the claim after Australia’s PM said Iran directed two attacks on a Jewish community, which Tehran denies.Australia has dismissed a claim that Israeli interventions prompted the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra, after the premier blamed Tehran for directing anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.“Complete nonsense,” Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told ABC Radio on Wednesday, when asked about Israel claiming credit for Australia’s decision to order Tehran’s ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, to leave the country.Albanese said on Tuesday that Australia had reached “the deeply disturbing conclusion” through “credible intelligence” that…

Tom Barrack’s remarks to journalists trigger calls for an apology and media boycott.A top US diplomat has triggered outrage and calls for an apology in Lebanon after telling a group of local journalists to “act civilised”.Tom Barrack, the United States ambassador to Turkiye and the special envoy for Syria, made the comments on Tuesday after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut to discuss plans for the disarmament of Hezbollah.Briefing local media after the meeting, Barrack, who is of Lebanese descent, chided reporters for shouting out questions all at once, and appeared to draw a link between their behaviour and…

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes across Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December.Six Syrian army officers have been killed in Israeli drone strikes south of Damascus, Syria’s state-run El Ekhbariya TV reported, a day after Syria condemned a new Israeli “military incursion” outside the capital.Israeli drones targeted Syrian army positions in the Damascus countryside near the city of al-Kiswah, the broadcaster reported early on Wednesday.Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes targeting military sites and assets across Syria.Israel also expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan…