Worst direct violence since 2014 war as Israeli forces seek out Hamas tunnels over Gaza border. | |||||
GAZA
CITY - Hamas's leader in Gaza said Friday his Islamist movement did not
seek war with Israel but would resist incursions into the Palestinian
enclave, following the worst cross-border violence since the 2014 war.
Three
days of mortar and tank fire between Israel and Palestinian militants,
as well as Israeli air strikes, have raised concerns of a new conflict
in the Hamas-run territory.
Ismail Haniyeh accused Israeli forces of intruding nearly 200 metres (yards) into Gazan territory.
"We
are not calling for a new war, but we will not under any circumstances
accept these incursions," he said in a Friday prayer sermon in the Gaza
Strip.
Earlier in the day Israeli aircraft carried out
their fourth air raid on the Palestinian enclave since Wednesday,
attacking sites at Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza and near Khan Yunis in
the south of the territory, witnesses said.
There were no reports of any casualties.
The Israeli army confirmed only one strike, saying it was a reaction to cross-border mortar fire.
"In
response to the ongoing attacks against Israeli forces, Israel Air
Force aircraft targeted a Hamas terror infrastructure," an army
statement said.
Since Wednesday, Hamas and other
militant groups have fired at least 12 mortar rounds across the
frontier, while Israeli tanks stationed on the border have fired
repeatedly at what the army said were Hamas targets.
The
Palestinian fire targeted Israeli forces searching along the border,
and short distances inside Gaza, for infiltration tunnels leading into
southern Israel -- among the most feared weapons of Hamas fighters
during the 2014 conflict.
On Thursday, Zeina Al-Amour, a
54-year-old Palestinian woman, became the first fatality of the
flare-up after Israeli tank fire hit her home, medics said.
The
violence has raised concerns for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,
the Islamist rulers of Gaza, that has held since the 50-day war in 2014
left 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis dead.
- Living in fear -
On both sides of the border, residents said they were living in fear of a wider conflict.
"In
the night there is the sound of mortars, bombs, planes," said Jehan
Berman, a resident of kibbutz Kerem Shalom which is only 40 metres
(yards) from the border with Gaza.
"We're tired. We're still recovering from the last war and the next one is already at our door," he told AFP.
Kerem
Shalom is close to where the army has uncovered two Hamas tunnels,
allegedly stretching into Israeli territory, in recent weeks, the most
recent discovery coming on Thursday.
Destruction of the
tunnels became one of Israel's primary goals during the 2014 war, with
more than 30 eliminated, according to the army.
Since the conflict, Hamas has continued to build what it calls "resistance tunnels."
Citing
Hamas activities, Israel maintains a tight blockade on Gaza which human
rights groups say is collective punishment against its more than 1.8
million residents.
Ali al-Moghrabi, 40, a tailor from
Gaza City's Al-Hanan Zeitun neighbourhood which was bombed on Thursday,
said he still had not recovered from the last conflict.
"We
do not want war, but the occupier (Israel) never stops," he said.
"People are already suffering from the blockade, unemployment and
poverty."
Hanane Akkaoui, a 53-year-old mother, said she was scared for her children.
"Bombs don't differentiate between civilians and resistance (fighters)," she said.
Hamas
has accused Israeli soldiers of incursions into Gazan territory in
recent days, saying this constitutes a violation of the 2014 truce.
The
Israeli army admits it has operated inside Palestinian territory but
said it was within 100 metres of the border, where it says it has
operated since the 2014 war.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet on Friday to discuss
the latest developments, public radio reported.
A
spokesman for Netanyahu's office said only that "an update was provided
by security officals on IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activities of the
past few days and the exposure of the tunnel."
Army
spokesman Peter Lerner said on Thursday that Israel had "no interest
whatsoever" in a military escalation but added that it would continue to
act against Hamas as "it continues to breach Israeli sovereignty and
build tunnels."
Israeli media reported on Friday that a
pending report on the conduct of the 2014 war is set to be highly
critical of Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and others.
Yediot
Aharonot newspaper said the report by the state comptroller, a national
watchdog, would conclude that during the conflict "the security
establishment did not have a comprehensive plan for dealing with Hamas's
offensive tunnels."
|
Saturday, 7 May 2016
Hamas says not seeking war, but will resist Israeli incursions
Libya, Tunisia pledge cooperation against terrorism
Tunisia increasingly wary as IS use Libyan stronghold in Sirte to push closer to border. | |||||
TRIPOLI
- Neighbours Libya and Tunisia, which have been hit by a string of
jihadist attacks, pledged on Friday to cooperate in the fight against
terrorism.
"We will conquer terrorism but it will take
time and cooperation," Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid told a joint
news conference in Tripoli hours after his arrival in the Libyan
capital.
The head of Libya's new unity government,
Fayez al-Sarraj, agreed on the need to bolster bilateral cooperation
against jihadists active in both countries.
"We spoke about security coordination for the battle against terrorism," Sarraj told reporters.
"What happened yesterday in the Abu Grein area... was very close," he added.
On
Thursday jihadists from the Islamic State group advanced on the town of
Abu Grein east of Tripoli and overran a key crossroads in an assault
during which a suicide bomber killed two policemen.
The crossroads spills onto the coastal highway that stretches further east to the border with Tunisia.
IS
launched the assault from their stronghold in Sirte, which they
captured last June and where they have set up a training camp for Libyan
and foreign militants.
The Libyan news agency LANA
said Tunisia and Libya are expected to set up a joint committee tasked
with controlling the main Ras Jedir border crossing between the two.
Last
year a string of deadly attacks claimed by IS killed dozens of
holidaymakers in Tunisia and dealt a devastating blow to its tourism
industry.
Officials have said the attacks were planned in Libya.
Tunisia
has built a 200-kilometre (125-mile) barrier stretching about half the
length of its border with Libya in an attempt to prevent militants from
infiltrating.
In March, Tunisia closed two border
crossings with Libya for two weeks in response to a deadly jihadist
attack on a town near the frontier.
Thousands of
Tunisians are believed to have gone abroad to join jihadist groups, many
to Libya which plunged into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled
and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
IS has exploited this chaos and established a stronghold in Libya, where it has claimed bombings and executions.
|
Syria regime fails to end mutiny at Hama prison
Activists say most of prisoners at Hama jail are political detainees linked to Syrian opposition. | |||||
BEIRUT
- A raid by Syrian security forces on a riot-hit prison in the central
city of Hama has failed to end a mutiny involving around 800 inmates, a
monitor said Saturday.
Ten guards were taken hostage
after the violence broke out on Monday following an attempt to transfer
detainees to another prison near Damascus where numerous executions of
inmates have been reported.
Activists say most of the prisoners at the Hama jail are political detainees linked to the opposition.
Inmates
"continued their mutiny on Saturday after the assault failed," said the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor.
"Tensions
remained high," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, "and security
forces remained inside the prison but outside the cells".
Security forces had stormed the prison on Friday firing bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas, according to the Observatory.
They also arrested relatives of prisoners gathered outside the building concerned about their fate, it said.
The raid led to injuries among several inmates and "cases of fainting and choking" from the tear gas, the monitor reported.
Video
footage posted on social networks showed a corridor filled with flames
and smoke as a voice is heard giving the date as May 6 and the location
as the central prison in Hama.
The sound of bursting
tear gas grenades can be heard as inmates chant "Allahu Akbar!" (God is
greatest) while others are heard coughing. It was not possible to verify
the authenticity of the footage.
Syrian activist group
the Local Coordination Committees has said inmates are protesting
against death sentences handed to dozens of prisoners and also against
conditions inside the jail.
Water and power supplies
remained cut off inside the jail on Saturday, according to the
Observatory, which said the authorities had released 46 prisoners since
the protest began.
Syria's main opposition group
involved in peace talks on Friday called on international organisations
"to intervene to prevent an imminent massacre" of prisoners.
The
High Negotiations Committee urged the international community to
"shoulder its responsibilities" and stop the regime from carrying out
"reprisals against the detainees".
France warned of the
risk of "deadly reprisals by the regime" and urged Damascus's allies to
exert pressure "to avoid another massacre in Syria".
More
than 200,000 people have spent time in regime prisons since 2011,
according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources
inside Syria for its information.
Tens of thousands of
political detainees are reported to have died of torture, of which the
Observatory says it has verified 14,000 cases.
More
than 270,000 people have died since the Syrian conflict started with the
brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
|
More than ‘50 mass graves’ found in ex-ISIS territory in Iraq
UN envoy says evidence of ‘heinous crimes’ committed by jihadists in Iraq are being uncovered as territory is retaken from ISIS. | |||||
UNITED
NATIONS - More than 50 mass graves have been discovered in territory
formerly controlled by Islamic State group fighters in Iraq, including
three burial pits in a football field, the UN envoy said Friday.
Jan
Kubis told the Security Council that evidence of the "heinous crimes"
committed by the jihadists in Iraq were being uncovered as territory is
retaken from ISIS.
"More than 50 mass graves have been discovered so far in several areas of Iraq," he said.
Iraqi
forces, with backing from the US-led coalition that carries out daily
air strikes against ISIS, have retaken significant ground from the
jihadists in recent months.
In the city of Ramadi,
three graves containing a total of up to 40 sets of remains were found
in a football field on April 19, said Kubis.
Ramadi was
declared liberated when Iraqi forces seized the main government
compound back from the ISIS late last year, but the city was completely
retaken only in February.
The envoy said the
humanitarian crisis was worsening in Iraq, with nearly a third of the
population, or over 10 million people, now requiring urgent aid --
double the number from last year.
He projected that a
further two million people could be displaced by the end of the year by
new military campaigns aimed at driving out the Islamic State group.
Iraqi
and Kurdish forces launched an offensive in March in the province of
Nineveh, of which ISIS-controlled Mosul is the capital. The jihadists
have held Mosul since June 2014.
Kubis urged Iraqi
leaders to resolve differences that have led to street protests in
Baghdad, saying that the turmoil will only help ISIS maintain its
foothold.
"They are the ones who stand to benefit from political instability and lack of reforms," said Kubis.
Last
week, protesters in Baghdad stormed parliament after MPs again failed
to approve nominees for a cabinet of technocrats to replace the
government of party-affiliated ministers.
|
For first time, US admits troops on ground in Yemen
Pentagon acknowledges it has deployed US troops to Yemen in push to bolster Arab and local government forces battling Qaeda. | |||||
WASHINGTON
- The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time Friday it has deployed
US troops to Yemen since the country's collapse last year, in a push to
bolster Arab and local government forces battling Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula.
Spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis
said the US military has also stepped up air strikes against AQAP
fighters in the war-torn country.
A "very small number"
of American military personnel has been working from a "fixed location"
with Yemeni and Arab coalition forces -- especially the Emiratis -- in
recent weeks around Mukalla, a port city seized by AQAP a year ago,
Davis said.
"This is of great interest to us. It does
not serve our interests to have a terrorist organization in charge of a
port city, and so we are assisting in that," the spokesman added.
He
said the troops were helping the Emiratis with "intelligence support,"
but declined to say if they are special operations forces.
AQAP fighters have now fled Mukalla and other coastal areas, due to the government offensive.
While
the number of US personnel on the ground is limited, the United States
is also offering an array of assistance to partners in Yemen, including
air-to-air refueling capabilities, surveillance, planning, maritime
security and medical help.
The Pentagon previously had
more than 100 special operations forces advising the army in Yemen, but
pulled them out early last year as the country collapsed.
The US Navy also has several ships nearby, including an amphibious assault ship called the USS Boxer and two destroyers.
AQAP
took advantage of the chaos of fighting between pro-government forces
and Iran-backed rebels to expand its control in southern Yemen,
including the seizure of Mukalla.
The Pentagon announced it has carried out a recent string of strikes on AQAP in recent weeks, outside of Mukalla.
"We
have conducted four counterterrorism strikes against AQAP since April
23, killing 10 Al-Qaeda operatives and injuring another," Davis said.
The
United States periodically targets AQAP in Yemen, including a strike in
March on a training camp that killed more than 70 fighters.
AQAP, which has long been entrenched in Yemen, is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch.
The
group claimed responsibility for last year's deadly attack in Paris on
the staff of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, and has been linked to more
than one attempt to blow up aircraft bound for the United States.
The Yemen conflict has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since March last year.
|
Enda Kenny Re-Elected As Irish Prime Minister
The general election in Ireland 70 days ago was inconclusive and has led to weeks of negotiations among the parties.
Seventy days after an inconclusive general election, Enda Kenny has been re-elected as Irish Prime Minister.
His Fine Gael party won the most seats in the election, but failed to secure an overall majority.Mr Kenny has been acting Prime Minister - or taoiseach - since the vote, while talks took place between rival parties and independents on how to form a new government.
He will now lead a minority Fine Gael government after securing the support of a diverse group of independents and striking deals with opposition party Fianna Fail.
He was re-appointed with 59 votes in favour and 49 votes against.
Mr Kenny, who is 65, has become the first PM to be re-elected to the office, but this vote was the fourth attempt to confirm him in the job, and only followed last-minute negotiations.
"The circumstances of today are, of course, very different from those of five years ago when Ireland was in deep crisis, when our country's very survival was in doubt," he said.
But Mr Kenny said he accepted very many people have not felt the economy picking up in the years since.
"If economic survival was the urgent priority of the last government then using a strong economy to improve the lives, the quality of the lives of our people, must and will be the priority of the new government and that fundamental principle will be the bedrock of our policy programme," he said.
Despite driving an economic recovery, the previous Fine Gael coalition with Labour was punished at the polls by an electorate that was weary of five years of tough austerity policies.
Turkish Journalists Jailed Over State Secrets
Can Dundar and Erdem Gul are sentenced hours after Dundar was shot at
outside court by a gunman who apparently shouted "traitor".
Two Turkish journalists have been sentenced to at least five years in prison for revealing state secrets.
Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper, and
former colleague Erdem Gul were jailed over a story claiming that Turkey
was shipping weapons to militants in Syria in 2014.
Dundar was sentenced to five years and 10 months, while Gul was handed a five-year sentence.
The pair, who were acquitted of trying to topple the
government, will not go to prison immediately as they are likely to
appeal.
Speaking after the verdict, Dundar said: "We will continue to do our
job as journalists, despite all these attempts to silence us.
"We have to preserve courage in our country."
The sentencing came just hours after Dundar was shot at outside court.
The gunman apparently shouted "traitor" before firing at least three shots.
Dundar was unharmed but a reporter covering his trial was injured by a ricocheting bullet.
Crowds of journalists were waiting outside the court for the result of the closed-door hearing.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the men of
undermining the country's reputation and vowed Dundar would "pay a heavy
price".
Mr Erdogan has admitted trucks which were stopped by police
en route to the Syrian border belonged to the National Intelligence
Organisation.
He said they were carrying aid to Turks battling Syria's president and Islamic State.
Gul and Dundar had already spent 92 days in jail, almost
half of it in solitary confinement, before the constitutional court
ruled in February that pre-trial detention was unfounded because the
charges stemmed from their journalism.
Their case has led to international criticism of Turkey's press freedom record.
Some 2,000 people, including many journalists, are facing charges of insulting the president.
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