The soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met her family…reports Asian Lite News
In a major boost, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have freed a soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from the Gaza Strip.
The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA), in a joint statement on Monday, said that they have freed Private Ori Megidish during IDF ground operations in Gaza.
The soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met her family.
The joint statement said that the IDF and the ISA will continue to do everything it takes in order to release the hostages.
IDF Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets have attacked and destroyed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The IDF in a statement on Tuesday said that it has destroyed all the weapons used by the Hezbolllah.
The Israel army had already said that it was ready to fight with the Hezbollah also if there are provocations from that end.
The IDF is already engaged in fighting the Hamas in Gaza, but being a professional force, is always prepared for a multipronged fight if Israel is attacked from all sides.
Harris, who has been engaged in discussions and phone conversations concerning the Middle East crisis, expressed full support for the government’s plans…reports Asian Lite News
United States Vice President Kamala Harris stressed that Washington has “absolutely no intention” of sending troops to Israel or Gaza amid the ongoing conflict, CNN reported on Sunday.
“We have absolutely no intention, nor do we have any plans, to send combat troops into Israel or Gaza, period,” Harris said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday when asked about the potential for US troops to be drawn into a war in the region.
Harris, who has been engaged in discussions and phone conversations concerning the Middle East crisis, expressed full support for the government’s plans. Harris said that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself while also advocating for the protection of civilians, as reported by CNN.
“By most estimates, at least 1,400 Israelis are dead. Israel, without any question, has a right to defend itself,” she said.
“That being said, it is very important that there be no conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians. The Palestinians deserve equal measures of safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows,” CNN quoted Harris as saying.
Earlier on Sunday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed the developments in Gaza.
Biden reiterated that Israel has every right to defend its citizens from terrorism. The two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release of hostages. Biden underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza.
Amid concerns about the conflict spreading beyond Gaza, Harris also repeated Biden’s warnings to Iran not to get involved.
“Don’t,” she said. “One word. Pretty straightforward.”
Regarding questions about the possibility of President Biden not completing his term and who might replace him, Harris stated that she wouldn’t engage in “hypotheticals” and affirmed her focus on the job at hand.
“I’m not going to engage in that hypothetical because Joe Biden is very much alive and running for re-elections,” she said.
“I hear from a lot of different people, a lot of different things. But let me just tell you, I’m focused on the job. I truly am. Our democracy is on the line. … And I, frankly, in my head do not have time for parlour games when we have a president who is running for re-election. That’s it,” Harris added. (ANI)
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says that Washington will hold Israel accountable if it violates the law of armed conflict…reports Asian Lite News
The Joe Biden administration has emphasised that the fact that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields in Gaza, does not lessen Israel’s responsibility of protecting the civilians.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS, that the US is “very focused” on how Hamas is using civilians as human shields in Gaza as Israel continues to bombard the territory. Sullivan said Hamas are “hiding behind civilians” as Israel vows to eliminate the group.
“They’re putting rockets and other terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas. That creates an added burden for the Israeli Defence Forces,” he said.
“But it does not lessen their responsibility to distinguish between Hamas and innocent civilians and to protect the lives of innocent civilians as they conduct this military operation. That’s true of striking from the air. It is true of going in on the ground, and this is something that we talk about with the Israelis on a daily basis,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan reiterated that the US has maintained that all innocent lives in Israel and Gaza should be protected.
When asked if the US is requesting the Israeli military “to be more limited in its tactics or more strategic” since the US provides weapons and aid every year to Israel, Sullivan said that they will hold Israel accountable if it violates the law of armed conflict.
“The United States of America, when we transfer weapons to another country, whether it’s Israel or anyone else, requests, requires an assurance that those weapons will be used in accordance with the law of armed conflict, and we seek accountability to ensure that that is the case, we will continue to do that,” Sullivan said.
He added, “And we do not stand for the killing of innocent people, whether it be Palestinian, Israeli or otherwise. And we weep and grieve for every last life and will continue to do so”.
1. An injured child is carried into a hospital after wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua/IANS)
‘Preventing aid getting to Gaza could be a crime’
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned Sunday that blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza could constitute a crime.
“Impeding relief supplies as provided by the Geneva Conventions may constitute a crime within the court jurisdiction,” Karim Khan told reporters in Cairo.
He was speaking after a visit to Egypt’s Rafah crossing, where he said trucks full of desperately needed goods remained stuck and unable to cross into Gaza.
“I saw trucks full of goods, full of humanitarian assistance stuck where nobody needs them, stuck in Egypt, stuck at Rafah,” he said.
“These supplies must get to the civilians of Gaza without delay.”
Rafah is the only entry point through which international aid is currently able to trickle into the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, which is facing a near-total siege and relentless Israeli bombardment.
Israel imposed the siege and unleashed its massive bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 230 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel’s strikes have since then killed more than 8,000 people, half of them children, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory said.
Since limited aid deliveries resumed through the Rafah crossing on October 21, a total of 117 trucks have entered. Prior to the siege, some 500 trucks carrying aid and other goods entered Gaza every day.
Khan said he wanted “to underline clearly to Israel that there must be discernible efforts without further delay to make sure civilians (in Gaza) receive basic food, medicines.”
On Sunday the United Nations warned it feared a breakdown of public order after looting at food aid centers in Gaza run by its agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said the situation was “growing more desperate by the hour” as casualty numbers increase and essential supplies of food, water, medicine and shelter dwindle.
Khan said his office had an ongoing investigation into “any crimes committed on the territory of Palestine and any crimes committed, whether it’s by Israel and Palestine or whether it’s acts committed on the territory of Palestine or from Palestine into Israel.”
“This includes current events in Gaza and also current events in the West Bank,” Khan said. He said he was “very concerned also by the spike of the number of reported incidents of attack by settlers against Palestinian civilians” in the territory Israel has occupied since 1967.
Khan also stressed that hostage-taking was a breach of the Geneva Conventions. “I call for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel and for their safe return to their families,” he said.
The British lawyer said “Israel has clear obligations in relation to its war with Hamas, not just moral obligations but legal obligations” to comply with the laws of conflict.
“These principles equally apply to Hamas in relation to firing indiscriminate rockets into Israel,” he said. Set up in 2002, the ICC is the only global independent tribunal to probe the world’s worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
President Biden briefed President Sisi on US efforts to ensure that regional actors do not expand the conflict in Gaza and also on continuing efforts to secure the release of hostages….reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden on Sunday spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and appreciated Egypt’s leading role in efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Gaza.
According to a White House statement, the two leaders committed to the significant acceleration and increase of assistance flowing into Gaza beginning today and then continuously.
They also discussed the importance of protecting civilian lives, respect for international humanitarian law, and ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza are not displaced to Egypt or any other nation.
President Biden briefed President Sisi on US efforts to ensure that regional actors do not expand the conflict in Gaza and also on continuing efforts to secure the release of hostages.
The two leaders affirmed their commitment to work together to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East including the establishment of a Palestinian state, the White House statement added.
Notably, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was opened earlier this month so that the humanitarian aid can be passed into the crisis-stricken area.
Several trucks carrying food, medicine, and water have entered the enclave, however, so far fuel has not been allowed to enter Gaza.
Gaza, home to over 2 million civilians, faces the ongoing threat of severe dehydration and starvation due to Israel’s persistent bombardment and complete blockade.
The UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has expressed concern on escalating issues of hunger and disease in Gaza.
“Supplies on the market are running out while the humanitarian aid coming into the Gaza Strip on trucks from Egypt is insufficient. The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meagre and inconsistent” said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA also said that to date, just over 80 trucks of aid crossed into Gaza in one week. UNRWA teams in Gaza however reported that internet services and connections were restored.
Earlier on Sunday, Biden also held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed developments in Gaza. Biden reiterated that Israel has every right to defend its citizens.
The two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release of hostages. Biden underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza.
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel, Biden and Netanyahu have several times held talks over the phone. The US has condemned Hamas’s attack on Israel and has supported Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’s action on October 7.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden visited Israel to show Washington’s support for Tel Aviv amid its ongoing conflict with Hamas. Prior to this, two top officials; Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin also visited Israel. (ANI)
UN called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and increasing aid supplies to Gaza…reports Asian Lite News
As Gaza faces shortage of essentials, people were forced to give salty water to their kids, UN children aid agency UNICEF said.
The shortage that Gaza was facing has been raised to another level, UNICEF spokesperson Toby Fricker was quoted as saying by BBC.
Talking about the aid supplies, Fricker said aid supplies are coming but are minimal.
He called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and increasing aid supplies to Gaza.
On Sunday, more than 30 aid trucks entered Gaza, the largest humanitarian aid convoy to the territory since limited deliveries were allowed, the UN said.
Following this, Musk made the announcement stating, “Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”…reports Asian Lite News
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Saturday announced that his satellite-based communications system Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.
Musk made the announcement on his official social media platform ‘X’, in reply to a statement by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where she stated that Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable.
She further stressed in her post that journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered and the US historically denounced this practice.
Following this, Musk made the announcement stating, “Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”
According to The Times of Israel, aid groups said that they are unable to communicate with their teams in the Gaza Strip after phone and internet services collapsed during Israeli bombardment as they intensified the ground operation.
Starlink, operated by Musk-owned company SpaceX, has also been deployed in Ukraine shortly after the country was invaded by Russia in February 2022, reported The Times of Israel.
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter last year and renamed it ‘X’, experts said that the platform has become not just unreliable but actively promotes falsehoods.
Earlier, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that X has removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts, stating “There is no place on X for terrorist organisations”.
“X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform. There is no place on X for terrorist organisations or violent extremist groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real-time, including proactive groups,” said the social media platform’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino.
Amid the ongoing conflict, last week, Musk said all Tesla Superchargers in Israel are free.
Tesla Supercharger is a high-voltage direct current fast-charging network built by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc for electric cars. (ANI)
This comes at a time when Israel continues its ground operations in Gaza….reports Asian Lite News
United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain on Saturday said that they lost contact with its teams in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Taking to X, Cindy McCain stated, “We have lost contact with our teams in #Gaza. The silence is deafening. As conflict rages on, I am extremely worried for the safety of all humanitarian workers and civilians. We are at a tipping point. Humanity must prevail.”
This comes at a time when Israel continues its ground operations in Gaza. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday said that the IDF has stepped up its operations in Gaza and the fight will continue until they get any new orders, reported Israeli-based i24NEWS.
“I’ve now completed the daily situation assessment. I have summarized the directions of action regarding the main efforts, the military effort, the effort to free the hostages, the civilian effort, and the humanitarian effort,” he said.
Emphasizing that Israeli Defence Forces passed a stage in the war tonight, Gallant said that the grounding guards are shaken, reported i24 NEWS.”
In the other sectors, we are preparing to protect the civilians of Israel to maintain their safety. We do this in the north, in the centre, and everywhere else. And we begin this broadcast by heading down south,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces has issued an advisory for Gaza residents, warning them to relocate south “immediately”, saying that the window “to act” is closing as Israel continues to expand its operations in Gaza.
In a video posted on social media platform X, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, IDF Spokesman, has urged the residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to temporarily relocate south and added that moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end.
He said, “Attention. Citizens of Gaza, listen carefully. This is an urgent military advisory from the Israel Defense Forces. For your immediate safety, we urge all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to temporarily relocate south. Let me repeat. We urge all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to locate south immediately. This is a temporary measure. Moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end.”
“Hamas puts your life in danger by placing weapons and forces within civilians in Gaza, including schools, mosques and hospitals,” he warned the residents, as he spoke.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday met representatives of families whose loved ones have been held captive in Gaza. After meeting them, Netanyahu said that Israel “will exercise exhaust every possibility” to bring about their return, The Times of Israel reported.
He told the families that freeing the hostages was a chief goal of the war. He said, “The key is the level of pressure.” Netanyahu said, “The greater the pressure, the greater the chances [of freeing the captives]”, The Times of Israel reported. He also told them that there was no avoiding a major ground incursion, including to ratchet up pressure on Hamas.
On Friday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that WHO has lost touch with its staff, health facilities, health workers, and the rest of its humanitarian partners on the ground in Gaza. He called for immediate protection of all civilians and full humanitarian access.
Taking to X, Ghebreyesus stated, “We have lost touch with our staff in Gaza, with health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground. This siege makes me gravely concerned for their safety and the immediate health risks to vulnerable patients. We urge immediate protection of all civilians and full humanitarian access.”
Similarly, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said UNICEF lost touch with its colleagues in Gaza. Taking to X, Russell stated, “We have lost touch with our colleagues in Gaza. I’m extremely concerned about their safety and another night of unspeakable horror for 1M children in #Gaza. All humanitarians and the children and families they serve MUST be protected.”
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is facing a “total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians.”
In a post shared on X, Guterres stated, “The humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians. Needs are growing ever more critical & colossal. Food, water, medicine & fuel must be allowed to reach all civilians swiftly, safely & at scale.”
The anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which organised the demonstration, put the number of arrests at more than 300….reports Asian Lite News
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested after a “sit-in” on the main concourse of New York’s Grand Central Station, one of the city’s major transport hubs, demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The protesters, wearing black T-shirts reading ‘Ceasefire now’ and ‘Not in our name’, unfurled banners calling for freedom for Palestinians and an end to the bombardment of Gaza.
“No more weapons. No more war. Ceasefire is what we’re fighting for,” they chanted, punching the air. Banners were hung from the concourse’s sweeping staircase, and across the departures board.
“Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living,” read one. The New York Police Department said it had arrested at least 200 protesters at the rally, which led to the temporary closure of the station.
The anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which organised the demonstration, put the number of arrests at more than 300. Photos and videos showing police in the station alongside dozens of protesters whose arms had been tied behind their backs.
JVP said thousands had taken part in what it described as an “emergency sit-in”.
“HUNDREDS OF JEWS AND ALLIES ARE GETTING ARRESTED IN WHAT IS LIKELY THE BIGGEST MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE NYC HAS SEEN IN TWO DECADES,” the group wrote in a post on Instagram.
Rabbis launched the event by lighting Shabbat candles and reciting the Jewish prayer for the dead, known as the kaddish. “While Shabbat is typically a day of rest, we cannot afford to rest while genocide is unfolding in our names,” Rabbi May Ye, was quoted as saying in a statement released by the organisers.
“The lives of Palestinians and Israelis are intertwined, and safety can only come from justice, equality, and freedom for all,” the rabbi said.
The rally in New York came hours after Israel said its military was stepping up its air and ground attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, and cut off communication networks.
The latest violence erupted after Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people and taking some 200 Israelis and foreigners captive.
Israel responded by declaring war and launching a relentless bombardment of the territory, which is home to about 2.3 million people. At least 7,326 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks.
Israeli soldiers operate an artillery battery from a position at the Israeli-Gaza border. (Photo Ilia Yefimovich dpa)
As the death toll in Gaza rose to 7,000, still counting, its unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. …reports Asian Lite News
Israeli troops and tanks launched hours-long ground raid into northern Gaza striking several Hamas and other militant targets ahead of the widely expected ground invasion after continuous bombardment by aerial strikes failed to flush out the kidnappers and their hostages from their underground cellars, the media reported.
The Israel ground raid came amid the UN warning that Gaza was on the verge of running out of fuel forcing it to restrict relief efforts in the territory, which is under a complete siege, since Hamas’ bloody rampage across southern Israel ignited the war earlier this month on October 7, threatening to expand across the Gulf region, TIME magazine reported.
As the death toll in Gaza rose to 7,000, still counting, its unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More loss of lives is anticipated if Israel launches an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, Palestinian officials feared. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Wednesday that more than 750 people were killed over the past 24 hours, higher than the 704 killed the previous day. Lines blur on how many civilians were killed and how many military personnel or militants, agencies were quoted by TIME as saying.
Wednesday saw the tragic demise of the wife, son, daughter and grandson of Wael Dahdouh, a veteran Al-Jazeera correspondent in Gaza. The Qatar-based network showed footage of his grief upon entering a hospital and seeing his dead son.
Dahdouh and other mourners attended the funerals on Thursday wearing the blue flak jackets used by reporters in the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of operating among civilians in densely-populated Gaza. And that it hits only Hamas targets indicating civilian casualties could be collateral damage as Palestinian militants fire rocket barrages into Israel from civilian bases such as school, colleges and mosques using civilians as human shields.
Israel’s on the vengeance streak since the bloody attack on its soil on October 7 vowing the crush of Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has made it clear it has no intention of reoccupying the Gaza territory it once left with soldiers and settlers in 2005.
“That could prove a daunting challenge, since Hamas is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with political and charity organizations as well as a formidable armed wing,” TIME said .
During the overnight raid, soldiers killed fighters and destroyed militant infrastructure and anti-tank missile launching positions, the military said. It said that no Israelis were wounded. There was no immediate confirmation of any Palestinian casualties.
Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said the limited incursion was “part of our preparations for the next stages of the war”.
Already, four hostages have been released by Hamas at Qatar’s intervention. Qatar is also conducting delegate negotiations with Hamas for further release of hostages.
Israel also said it had carried out around 250 airstrikes across Gaza in the last 24 hours, targeting tunnel shafts, rocket launchers and other militant infrastructure. The Gaza Health Ministry claims more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war — a figure that includes the disputed figure from an Hospital with rival claims of Hamas accusing Israel of aerial strike and Israel showing footage of a misfired rocket from a car park outside the hospital.
In the three-week long war, this figure released by the Palestinian Health authorities is three times more than the number of Palestinians killed in the six-week-long Gaza war in 2014.
The ministry’s toll includes more than 2,700 minors and more than 1,500 women. The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government. Hamas also holds at least 224 hostages in Gaza.
Israel has allowed 60 trucks with aid to enter from Egypt’s border Rafah, which aid workers find is insufficient compared to what was being brought in before the war broke out.
Israel has banned fuel supply into Gaza depriving hospitals that’s running on generators fearing it would not reach the intended beneficiaries but were seized by the Hamas for running their war machinery.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.(Photo :twitter.com/elicoh1)
Israeli ambassadors stationed in Turkey have been told to return to Israel, reports Asian Lite News
Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has said that he has ordered the return of the diplomatic representatives from Turkey in order to conduct a reassessment of Israel-Turkey relations.
“Against the background of the harsh statements from Turkey, I ordered the return of the diplomatic representatives from Turkey in order to conduct a reassessment of Israel-Turkey relations,” Cohen posted on X.
According to The Times of Israel, a review of diplomatic relations with Turkey is demanded by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, following the “harsh” condemnation of Israel’s military operation against Hamas by Turkish leaders.
Israeli ambassadors stationed in Turkey have been told to return to Israel, according to Cohen.
Last week, Israel recalled its diplomats from the country as it also called on Israeli citizens to leave due to terror threats, according to The Times of Israel.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed Hamas as ‘mujahideen’ defending their lands, as he announced the cancellation of his visit to Israel.
While addressing a conference of his AK party faction in parliament a few days back, the Turkish President said that Israel “can view Hamas as a terrorist organisation along with the West. The West owes you a lot. But Turkey does not owe you anything,” The Times of Israel reported.
Speaking out against Israel, Erdogan also stated that he is cancelling plans to visit Israel because of its “inhumane” war.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a group of mujahideen defending their lands,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.
“We had a project to go to Israel, but it was cancelled, we will not go,” Erdogan added.
Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Turkey, Hakan Fidan has said that Israel committed “a crime against humanity” in its war in Gaza while speaking in Qatar, The Times of Israel reported.
“Targeting our Palestinian brothers, including children, patients and the elderly, even in schools, hospitals and mosques, is a crime against humanity,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, during a Security Council meeting, the UN chief said, “It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” claiming that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
He added, “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced; and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
Lambasting the UN chief after his remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen stated, “Mr. Secretary-General, in what world do you live?” He rebutted as he addressed the Security Council. “Definitely, this is not our world.”
"These kids witnessed horror that cannot be described… Mr. Secretary General: In what world do you live? Definitely this is not our world,"
Following this, Cohen also cancelled a private meeting with Guterres, saying that there is “no place” for a “balanced approach”.
The October 7 attacks by Hamas killed at least 1,400 Israelis and wounded more than 4,500. The major offensive included the firing of thousands of rockets at Israel and the infiltration of the Jewish state by terrorist forces. (ANI)
