Author: Gulf News Week

Knockback deals potential blow to US diplomat Thomas Barrack’s efforts to press on with ‘go-forward plan’ for Israel-Lebanon peace.Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem appeared to dismiss a proposal that his group disarm, as presented by the United States to Lebanon’s leadership last month. Qassem argued on Friday that the Israeli army would expand in Lebanon if there was no “resistance” in the country. “We will not surrender or give up to Israel; Israel will not take our weapons away from us,” he said in a video message. Qassem’s comments dealt a potential blow to US diplomat Thomas Barrack’s efforts last month…

Many across the world are rounding on Israel’s war on Gaza, with states in the ‘Global South’ leading the way.International public opinion continues to turn against Israel for its war on Gaza, with more governments slowly beginning to reflect those voices and increase their own condemnation of the country. In the last few weeks, Israeli government ministers have been sanctioned by several Western countries, with the United Kingdom, France and Canada issuing a joint statement condemning the “intolerable” level of “human suffering” in Gaza. Earlier this week, a number of countries from the Global South, “The Hague Group”, collectively agreed…

Crisis compounded after United States, which provided 40 percent of UNHCR funding last year, slashed its contribution.More than 11 million refugees risk losing access to humanitarian aid owing to a “dramatic” funding crisis, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The extent of UNHCR’s funding shortfall was revealed in a report released on Friday, which said it had so far received only 23 percent of this year’s goal of $10.6bn, projecting an overall budget of only $3.5bn by the end of the year to meet the needs of 122 million people. “Our funding situation is dramatic,” Dominique Hyde, director of…

Abu Obeida says there will be no guarantee of a return to partial deals if Israel leaves the negotiating table again.The spokesperson of the military wing of Hamas has said Israel rejected a ceasefire agreement that would release all captives held in Gaza, and pledged that the group is prepared for a lengthy war if there is no deal. Abu Obeida, the longtime spokesperson of the Qassam Brigades, said in a nearly 20-minute prerecorded video released on Friday that the group had in recent months offered a “comprehensive deal” that would release all captives at once – but it was…

Support from the PKK and Turkiye’s politicians signals a change after decades of conflict, but pitfalls remain.“We voluntarily destroy our weapons … as a step of goodwill and determination,” said senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Bese Hozat, speaking in front of a gathering of the group’s fighters. The footage, filmed last Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, then shows the fighters – about 30 of them – placing their weapons inside a cauldron, where they were set alight. The ceremony may have been symbolic, but it capped what might be one of the most consequential periods in…

As Israel kills tens of thousands, its defenders go after anyone who dares to speak out – from Francesca Albanese to Omer Bartov.We are living in truly extraordinary times. We recently witnessed the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, being sanctioned by the United States for doing her job – that is, documenting Israel’s abuses against Palestinians during its ongoing military assault on Gaza. But with more than 58,000 Palestinians killed to date in Gaza, the case for Israel is weaker than ever. So, for Israel’s sake, we need to…

Gaza City and tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, have been hit by Israel.At least 26 Palestinians have been killed since dawn across Gaza in Israeli attacks, medical sources have told media, as the besieged and bombarded enclave’s decimated health system, overwhelmed by a daily flow of wounded, is forcing doctors to make decisions on who to treat first. In the latest killings on Friday, three people died in an Israeli attack on the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City. Five people were also killed in an Israeli air attack in Jabalia an-Nazla, in northern Gaza. Earlier, an…

Qatar’s emir has condemned Israel’s days of attacks on Syria in a phone conversation with Syria’s president.Syrian security forces are preparing to redeploy to Suwayda to quell fighting between the Druze and Bedouin tribes, the Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson has said. Israel has previously warned the Syrian government to withdraw from the south and its forces carried out an attack Friday on Syria’s Palmyra-Homs highway, targeting a convoy of Bedouin fighters who were reportedly making their way towards restive Suwayda in the south of the country, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News. This comes just two days after Israel…

In the wake of Sayfollah Musallet’s killing, media details past attacks on US citizens and Washington’s response.Washington, DC – The family of Sayfollah Musallet, the United States citizen who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last week, is calling for justice. Musallet’s relatives want Washington to launch its own investigation into the incident to ensure accountability. The Florida-born 20-year-old is the ninth US citizen to be killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers since 2022. None of the previous cases have led to criminal charges or US sanctions against the perpetrators. That lack of response is…

Palestinians recount chaos, suffocation during the GHF stampede and the extreme hunger that drove them to risk their lives.Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – Eighteen-year-old Hani Hammad never imagined that his daily search for flour would end with him suffocating and being trampled. On Wednesday morning, he left his tent in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where he’s been displaced from Rafah along with his seven siblings, heading to a food distribution point run by the much-criticised, United States-backed GHF. “We left at dawn and stood among the thousands gathered. About 5am [02:00 GMT], they [US staff and…