WORLD - The African Mirror

Oct

11

2023

UN rights chief condemns Israeli ‘siege’ of Gaza, militants’ taking of hostages

WORLD

ISRAELI retaliatory air strikes against the Hamas militant group struck residential buildings and schools across the Gaza Strip, U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk said, adding that "sieges" were illegal under international law. Turk also condemned "horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups" and said the militants' abduction of hostages was also forbidden under international law. The Israeli military said on Monday it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground assault in response to the devastating weekend attacks by Hamas gunmen.…

Oct

11

2023

By ANDREW OSBORN

Russia accuses US of nuclear testing site activity, says it won’t test unless US does

WORLD

RUSSIA accused the United States of carrying out preparations at its nuclear test site in Nevada but said that Moscow would not restart its own nuclear testing programme unless Washington did. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the charge as Russia's lower house of parliament urgently studies how to revoke Moscow's ratification of a landmark treaty banning nuclear tests and as tensions with the West are at their highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. A U.S. State Department spokesperson rejected Ryabkov's allegation, calling it "a disturbing effort by Moscow to heighten nuclear risks and raise tensions in the context of…

Oct

10

2023

By SAMIA NAKHOUL and JONATHAN SAUL

How Hamas duped Israel as it planned devastating attack

WORLD

A careful campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its devastating attack, enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on the Middle East's most powerful army. Saturday's assault, the worst breach in Israel's defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps and convincing Israel it did not want a fight. While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group's fighters were being trained and drilled, often…

Oct

10

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and DAN WILLIAMS

Israel goes on war footing after major Hamas attack

WORLD

THE Israeli military said it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, signs it could be planning a ground assault there to defeat Hamas after it launched a humiliating attack. In a further signal of Israel's rapid shift onto a war footing, a cabinet member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party said it could set up a national unity government joined by opposition leaders within hours. Hamas' armed wing said it fired rockets towards Jerusalem in response to Israel's bombing of civilian homes in Gaza. Four people in an…

Oct

10

2023

By The African Mirror

Israel and Palestinian war: What you need to know right now

WORLD

THE Israeli military said it struck hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip overnight and had sent four combat divisions south where it continued to battle the Islamist militants. The death toll from the fighting stands at 1,100. ISRAEL TARGETS GAZA * Fighting between Israeli forces and Islamist group Hamas was ongoing at seven or eight locations near Gaza two days after Hamas gunmen killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more in the deadliest raid into Israeli territory since Egypt and Syria's attacks in the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago. Hamas fighters also continued to…

Oct

09

2023

By MAAYAN LUBELL and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Israel retaliates after Hamas attacks, deaths pass 1,100

WORLD

ISRAEL pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing hundreds of people in retaliation for one of the bloodiest attacks in its history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more. Hamas fighters' rampage through Israel towns on Saturday was the deadliest such incursion since Egypt and Syria's attacks in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago and has threatened to ignite another conflagration in the never-ending conflict. Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children, in keeping with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge…

Oct

09

2023

By MOHAMMAD YUNUS YAWAR

Afghan earthquakes kill 2,445, Taliban say, as deaths mount

WORLD

MORE than 2,400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. They were among the world's deadliest quakes this year after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February. Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to Reuters that the toll had risen to 2,445 dead, but he…

Oct

09

2023

By GRAHAM KEELEY

Tens of thousands protest against possible Catalan amnesty deal

WORLD

WAVING Spanish and Catalan flags, tens of thousands of people marched through Barcelona to protest against a potential amnesty deal that Spain's Socialists must strike over Catalonia's 2017 separatist bid if they want to form a government. The protest, organised by the anti-separatist organisation Societat Civil Catalana, took place five days after Spain's acting Socialist prime minister was nominated to seek the backing of other political parties for a new mandate. Pedro Sanchez needs the support of Catalan separatist parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which want the unpopular amnesty in exchange for votes in parliament. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of…

Oct

08

2023

By MAAYAN LUBELL, NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and AMMAR AWAD

‘Sea of bodies’ in Israel, scores dead in Gaza as shock Hamas attack unleashes war

WORLD

GUNMEN from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns killing and capturing scores of civilians and soldiers in a surprise assault, met by Israel with massive retaliatory air strikes that killed scores in the Gaza Strip. The worst attack on Israel for decades unleashed a war that both sides vowed to escalate. At least 200 Israelis were reported killed and 1,100 wounded by gunbattles raging in more than 20 locations inside Israel. In Gaza, health officials reported more than 230 people killed and 1,600 wounded. "Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known," Prime Minister…

Oct

08

2023

By The African Mirror

World reacts to surprise attack by Hamas on Israel

WORLD

THE Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years. Here is some global reaction. UNITED STATES "There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand in solidarity with the government and people of Israel, and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement released by the State Department. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: "Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism." UNITED NATIONS…