Palestinians - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By SINAN ABU MAYZER. NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI. BASSAM MASOUD

Palestinians prepare for Ramadan in the shadow of Gaza war

PALESTINIANS prepared for Ramadan in a sombre mood with heightened security measures by Israeli police and the spectre of war and hunger in Gaza overshadowing the normally festive Muslim holy month as talks to secure a ceasefire stalled. Thousands of police have been deployed around the narrow streets of the Old City in Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of worshippers are expected every day at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, one of the holiest sites in Islam. The area considered the most sacred place by Jews who know it as Temple Mount, has been a longstanding flashpoint for trouble and was one…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa asks World Court for more measures against Israel

NEWS

SOUTH Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order additional emergency measures against Israel, which it says is breaching the measures already in place, the U.N.'s top court said. In its application, South Africa warned that Palestinians in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees. In a statement issued Wednesday the South African presidency warned that the people of Gaza cannot wait. "The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively…

Mar

2024

By RILEY SPARKS, HAJAR HARB and OMAR NABIL ABDEL HAMID

In northern Gaza, Palestinians eat grass to survive Israeli siege and food shortages

WORLD

ON 29 February, the killing of more than 100 people waiting for food aid in Gaza City put a spotlight on the extreme deprivation and violence facing those who have remained in the north of the enclave during Israel’s nearly five-month-long military campaign and siege. Israeli authorities acknowledged that troops shot some people in the crowd that gathered on a coastal road to receive aid from a rare delivery to the north, but claimed most of the casualties were caused by a stampede or were run over by the aid trucks. Witnesses and doctors treating the wounded, however, said many of the victims appeared to have…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa condemns Israel over deaths of Palestinians awaiting aid

NEWS

SOUTH Africa said that the killing of Palestinians awaiting aid in Gaza breached the World Court's provisional orders in a legal case in which Pretoria has accused Israel of committing genocide in the coastal enclave. Gaza health authorities said on Thursday Israeli forces had killed over 100 Palestinians trying to reach a relief convoy. Israel blamed most of the deaths on crowds that swarmed around aid trucks, saying most victims were trampled or run over though an Israeli official said Israeli troops had "in a limited response" later fired on crowds they felt posed a threat. "South Africa condemns the massacre of 112…

Mar

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Dozens killed waiting for aid in Gaza, overall death toll passes 30,000

WORLD

GAZA health authorities said more than 100 Palestinians had been shot dead by Israeli forces as they waited for aid delivery, but Israel challenged the death toll and said many of the victims had been run over by aid trucks. At least 112 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the incident near Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said, as the death toll in nearly five months of war passed 30,000. Medics said they could not cope with the volume and severity of the injuries. Dozens were taken to Al-Shifa hospital, which is only partially operational after Israeli raids. The loss…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Israel presses on with settlement plans despite US criticism

WORLD

ISRAELI Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged to continue expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying international pressure on Israel to stop building on land Palestinians see as the core of a future independent state. Late on Tuesday, Smotrich announced the approval of a new settlement called Mishmar Yehuda, in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements located south of Jerusalem, and said work would continue on authorizing further settlements. "We will continue the momentum of settlement throughout the country," he said in a statement. The move comes just days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington considered…

Feb

2024

By JEFF MASON

Biden: Israel agrees to halt military activity over Ramadan, risks losing world support

WORLD

U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed not to engage in military activities during Ramadan in the Gaza Strip, where it is at war with Hamas militants, and said the Jewish state risked losing support from the rest of the world as Palestinians die in high numbers. Biden, who made his remarks during an appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers," said Israel had committed to making it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza's south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas. Biden, whose remarks were recorded on Monday and broadcast on Tuesday, said…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Egypt setting up area at Gaza border which could be used to shelter Palestinians, sources say

NEWS

EGYPT is preparing an area at the Gaza border which could accommodate Palestinians in case an Israeli offensive into Rafah prompts an exodus across the frontier, four sources said, in what they described as a contingency move by Cairo. Egypt, which denied making any such preparations, has repeatedly raised the alarm over the possibility that Israel's devastating Gaza offensive could displace Palestinians into Sinai - something Cairo says would be completely unacceptable- echoing warnings from Arab states such as Jordan. The United States has repeatedly said it would oppose any displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza. One of the sources said Egypt…

Feb

2024

By ANAIT MIRIDZHANIAN and NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa says all states must stop funding Israel’s military

NEWS

ALL states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel's military actions in Gaza after the World Court made clear those actions could be genocidal, South Africa's foreign minister said. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. It stopped short of demanding a ceasefire and has not yet ruled on the core of South Africa's case, whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. That ruling could take years.…

Jan

2024

By FADI SHANA, NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and DAN WILLIAMS

Israeli tanks pound hospital districts in south Gaza, displaced set to flee anew

WORLD

ISRAELI tanks battered areas around two hospitals in Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis on Thursday, forcing displaced people into a new desperate scramble for safety, residents said, in an escalating offensive Israel says is targeting Hamas militants. In Gaza City in the north of the embattled enclave, 20 Palestinians were killed and 150 injured when were hit by an Israeli strike while queuing to collect food aid, said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Gaza health officials said at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in the…