UAE provides aid to displaced Palestinians from evacuated Khan Younis
Shelter tents, food baskets and emergency supplies were distributed to support displaced families
Since the evacuation began, the UAE volunteer teams have set up and equipped tents and distributed food baskets for the displaced
Updated 17 August 2024
Arab News
GAZA: The UAE has provided aid to Palestinians displaced from east Khan Younis amid Israeli evacuation orders of the area, state news agency WAM reported.
Shelter tents, food baskets and emergency supplies were distributed to support the displaced families in their new areas.
Since the evacuation began, the UAE volunteer teams have set up and equipped tents and distributed food baskets for the displaced. So far, more than 13,000 tents have sheltered 72,000 people.
The number of food parcels distributed has exceeded 300,000, reaching families across various areas of the Gaza Strip.
In Turkiye, a vote of confidence for Istanbul’s embattled ex-mayor
Of 15 million people who voted for Imamoglu, 13.2 mn were not members of the deposed mayor's opposition CHP party, said Istanbul city hall
The vote was a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Iits challenger to President Erdogan
Updated 24 March 2025
AFP
ISTANBUL: “We won’t give in to despair,” insisted 38-year-old Aslihan, referring to the massive protests sweeping across Turkiye since the arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
She was waiting in line to vote in a long-planned primary organized by the main opposition CHP to choose Imamoglu as its presidential candidate.
Following his arrest, the party opened the poll beyond its 1.7 million members to anyone who wanted to vote, turning it into a de facto referendum.
In the end, some 15 million people voted, of whom 13.2 million were not party members, said Istanbul city hall, which organized the vote. It extended voting by three-and-a-half hours because of the turnout.
Widely seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the 53-year-old’s lightning arrest and jailing has sparked Turkiye’s biggest protests in more than a decade.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and voters of all ages began flocking to vote at 5,600 ballot boxes installed in 81 cities.
But the party said “millions” had turned out, pushing it to extend the closing time from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. due “overwhelming turnout.”
“Whenever there’s a strong opponent (to Erdogan), they are always jailed,” shrugged a 29-year-old voter called Ferhat, who like many, did not want to give his surname.
“There is a dictatorship in Turkiye right now, nothing else, it’s politics in name only.”
“We’ve come to support our mayor,” said her neighbor Kadriye Sevim inside a tent set up outside City Hall, the epicenter of the massive protests since Imamoglu’s March 19 arrest.
“No power has the right to do this to Turkish youth or the people in Turkiye. We will stand against this until the end,” said Ece Nazoskoc, an 18-year-old student.
Similar crowds were seen waiting to vote in Kadikoy, a trendy district on the Asian side of the city, as well as in Kasimpasa, a working-class neighborhood on the Golden Horn estuary where Erdogan spent his childhood.
The scenes were repeated across the country, from the capital Ankara to Diyarbakir in the mainly-Kurdish southeast, and to Thrace in the far northwest near the Greek and Bulgarian borders.
“We all voted, it was like a party! The CHP people manning the ballot boxes said it was really busy with lots of people from other parties,” grinned Sevil Dogruguven, 51, who works in the private sector in the northwestern city of Edirne.
“In the countryside near Thrace, people even came to the town halls to cast their ballots,” she told AFP.
In Ankara, Nurcan Kabacioglu, a retired 57-year-old teacher, was defiant.
“There is no such thing as a hopeless situation, just discouraged people. I never gave up hope,” she said.
Others were feeling a new sense of hope.
“This is the first mass protest since the Gezi protests,” said Aslihan, referring to a small 2013 environmental protest against the destruction of a city park that snowballed into vast nationwide rallies in one of the biggest threats to Erdogan’s rule.
“After Gezi, we got used to the feeling of hopelessness but the injustice we’re seeing now (and the subsequent protests) have given us new hope,” she said.
“I feel much stronger and more hopeful. But I feel this is our last chance,” she told AFP.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war
Updated 24 March 2025
AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.
The military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested. ‘Displacement under fire’
Israel’s military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.
“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”
“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna. Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence. Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began. New settlements in the West Bank
Israel’s Cabinet passed a measure creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.
Hamas source says Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
Ismail Barhoum was undergoing medical treatment in Gaza hospital
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, another senior member of its political bureau
Updated 24 March 2025
AFP
GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed a member of Hamas’s political bureau as he underwent treatment in hospital, a source in the Islamist movement said, after Israel confirmed it targeted “a key terrorist.”
“The Israeli army assassinated Hamas political bureau member Ismail Barhoum,” the Hamas source said, requesting anonymity to speak more freely.
“Warplanes bombed the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Barhoum was receiving treatment after sustaining critical injuries in an air strike targeting his home in Khan Yunis at dawn last Tuesday.”
AFP photos showed the building of about four-storys largely undamaged except for fire blazing in one section off a stairwell.
Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday when Israel resumed air strikes in the territory after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Barhoum had been targeted in the strike.
The Israeli military said it hit the hospital with “precise munitions” following extensive intelligence-gathering.
It said the target was a key member of “the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound.”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces “have just targeted the surgery building inside the Nasser Medical Complex, which houses many patients and wounded individuals, and a large fire has erupted at the site.”
The ministry later confirmed that one person had been killed and said many others were injured, including some medical staff. The entire department was evacuated, the ministry said in a statement.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency said the hospital’s emergency department had been targeted.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.
Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach
Sheikh Meshal said 'national identity is at the top of our priorities'
He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions
Updated 24 March 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, addressed the nation in a televised speech, urging Kuwaiti citizens to embrace the democratic approach and adhere to constitutional references, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
His speech to the Kuwaitis was on Sunday evening during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
He emphasized that "national identity is at the top of our priorities. It belongs to every genuine Kuwaiti keen on his country's progress and the elevation of its status."
He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions, which included the suspension of some constitutional articles.
Sheikh Meshal said that Kuwait was managing national unity and citizenship issues in accordance with the law while avoiding political bidding and external pressures.
"I affirm commitment to reforming, strengthening stability, and upholding the country's supreme interests, continuing to combat corruption and confronting anyone who attempts to tamper with the nation's security and stability," he said.
He warned that "advocates of division and the instigators of sedition are trying to confuse matters, spread rumors, and distort statements, to divide the ranks and cause discontent."
He called Kuwaitis to adhere to national unity and "work with a spirit of responsibility to preserve the security and stability of the homeland," KUNA reported.
He said he was closely monitoring the work of state agencies, ensuring accountability and urging the government to speed up development projects in health, education, and housing.
"I am certain, with a reassured soul, an optimistic spirit and great confidence in the authentic Kuwaiti people's ability to overcome challenges," he said.
On an international level, Sheikh Meshal emphasized that Kuwait will maintain its diplomatic approach with friendly nations in favor of justice.
He said that the Palestinian cause will remain a top priority in Kuwait's foreign policy, as the country supports the Palestinian people in achieving all their legitimate rights.
Palestinians, watchdog group denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements
Peace Now says that aside from creating new settlements, the Israeli Security Cabinet made a decision that would lead to the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza
The decision brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said the watchdog group
Updated 14 sec ago
Agencies
JERUSALEM: The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned on Sunday an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, upgrading existing neighborhoods to independent settlement status.
Israel’s Cabinet passed a measure Sunday creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said that aside from creating new settlements, the Security Cabinet made a decision that would lead to the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
2. The first decision, to establish an administration tasked with enabling Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave Gaza, is an indelible stain on Israel. When life in a certain place is made impossible by bombing and siege, there is nothing “voluntary” about people leaving.
“The second decision, to recognize 13 settlements in the West Bank as independent settlements, exposes Israel’s long-standing lie that it does not establish new settlements, but only ’neighborhoods,’ of existing settlements,“ Peace Now wrote on the X platform.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said the watchdog group. They will now receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, it added.
3. The second decision, to recognize 13 settlements in the West Bank as independent settlements, exposes Israel’s long-standing lie that it does not establish new settlements, but only “neighborhoods” of existing settlements.
The decision by Israel’s security cabinet was a show of “disregard for international legitimacy and its resolutions,” said a statement from the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader and settler who was behind the cabinet’s decision, hailed it as an “important step” for Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Smotrich is a leading voice calling for Israel to formally annex the West Bank — as it did in 1967 after capturing east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. (AFP file photo)
“The recognition of each (neighborhood) as a separate community... is an important step that would help their development,” Smotrich said in a statement on Telegram, calling it part of a “revolution.”
“Instead of hiding and apologizing, we raise the flag, we build and we settle,” he said.
“This is another important step toward de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” added Smotrich, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.
In its statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry also mentioned an ongoing major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, saying it was accompanied by “an unprecedented escalation in the confiscation of Palestinian lands.”
الخارجية: مصادقة الاحتلال على فصل 13 حي استيطاني والاعتراف بها مستوطنات مستقلة استخفاف بالشرعية الدولية وقراراتها
تدين إنشاء إدارة إسرائيلية عسكرية لتسهيل تهجير شعبنا من القطاع
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The occupation’s approval of the separation of 13 settlement… pic.twitter.com/DC0NotKfJq
The 13 settlement neighborhoods approved for development by the Israeli cabinet are located across the West Bank. Some of them are effectively part of the bigger settlements they belong to while others are practically separate.
Their recognition as separate communities under Israeli law is not yet final.
Hailing the “normalization” of settlement expansion, the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for the municipal councils of West Bank settlements, thanked Smotrich for pushing for the cabinet decision.
According to EU figures, 2023 saw a 30-year record in settlement building permits issued by Israel.
