Biden and Netanyahu spoke on Thursday for first time since deaths of aid workers as pressure mounts on Sunak to withdraw arms sales
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Israel has admitted that “serious failures” were made by its forces after seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in an airstrike in Gaza.
The IDF announced on Friday that its internal investigation into the incident had concluded.
While admitting that a “grave mistake” was made, the IDF continued to claim innocence over the attack – insisting that the WCK workers were “misidentified” as Hamas militants. Two military officers have been dismissed from their positions following the findings, the IDF said.
More than 220 humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN. Scott Paul of Oxfam said on Thursday: “The killing of aid workers in Gaza has been systemic.”
The announcement comes hours after Israel agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid, after President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call that future US support for Israel would be determined by its efforts to protect civilians and aid workers.
Meanwhile, former UK foreign secretary Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel “extremists” in the party should be kicked out over their refusal to support international law.
Families in northern Gaza ‘forced to survive on a less than a can of beans a day’
There, since January, families have been surviving on an average of 245 calories a day, according to Oxfam – less than 12 per cent of the average recommended daily calorie intake.
Read the full article from chief international correspondent Bel Trew here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 07:00
How many weapons does the UK export to Israel?
The attack brought the number of aid workers killed in Israel since October to 203, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 06:00
Israel’s war has reached a tipping point – and risks spinning out of control
The Israeli army’s killing of seven international aid workers from the World Central Kitchen serves as a terrible reminder that the Israel-Hamas war has gone on for far too long.
Now is the time to end it with a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, the release of all the hostages, a return of the displaced Gazan population to their towns and villages, and the opening of a land crossing to allow unhindered flow of humanitarian aid. Plans for the rehabilitation of Gaza coupled with a carefully mapped out plan for Palestinian statehood and Israeli normalisation with Arab states must follow suit.
The discontent with Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct, his prioritising of the outrageous demands of his extreme government – while sacrificing its relationship with its greatest ally, the US, and the wider world – has finally reached a point of no return.
Read the full article from Nomi Bar-Yaacov here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 05:00
Six months into the war in Gaza, the Tories are hopelessly divided over Israel
For six months, the divided Conservatives have enjoyed the rare luxury of being united on the Israel-Hamas conflict. In contrast, Labour could not disguise its split, as many of its MPs urged Keir Starmer to take a stronger line against Israel over the horrific events unfolding in Gaza.
Now the boot is on the other foot. After the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, Labour is broadly united in calling for the UK to end arms exports to Israel if the government’s legal advice says the country is breaching international humanitarian law. (Even now, Labour’s line is still more cautious than that of the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens, who have called for an unconditional ban.)
Labour’s traditional support for the Palestinian cause created a headache for Starmer, while the Tories’ once-loud Arabist wing has long been quiet. The Conservatives are an overwhelmingly pro-Israel party, and the Conservative Friends of Israel is a very influential lobby group.
Read the full analysis here from Andrew Grice:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 04:00
Turkey arrests two more people suspected of spying for Israel
Turkish authorities have arrested two people suspected of providing information to the Israeli spy agency, a top official said Friday, in the latest in a series of such arrests in Turkey.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the suspects allegedly gathered information about people and companies of interest to Israel and passed on the data and documents to Israeli intelligence officials.
Six other people who were also detained in the operation, codenamed “Mole-3,” were released following questioning, Yerlikaya said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 03:00
Half a year into the war in Gaza, here's a look at the conflict by the numbers
The Israel-Hamas war has stretched on for half a year and become one of the most destructive, deadly, and intractable conflicts of the 21st century.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 cross-border attack, Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip, displacing the vast majority of the population and causing many to flee to Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. Food is scarce, the U.N. says famine is approaching and few Palestinians have been able to leave the besieged territory.
Here’s a look at the conflict by numbers, which mainly come from the Israeli military and prime minister’s office, the Gaza health ministry, the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Associated Press reporting.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 02:00
UK has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel, says top Tory MP
UK has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel, says top Tory MP
The UK has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel, a top ToryMP has said. Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee spoke amid concerns about how Israel may be using British-made weapons in attacks. Ms Kearns told Radio 4 Today programme on Friday (5 April): “It’s important the public understands this isn’t a political decision as some seem to want to present it as.” Saifeddin Issam Ayab Abutaha, 25, of Palestine; Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, of Australia; Damian Soból, 35, of Poland; Jacob Flickinger, 33, a US-Canadian dual citizen; along with UK citizens John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, died after the IDF struck their three-car convoy on Monday (1 April).
Holly Evans6 April 2024 01:00
For the love of God, this war must stop… and it must stop now
Some will see the recent and tragic deaths of foreign aid workers in Gaza as the definitive ‘red line’ that Israel has crossed, signifying that their military action must now cease. But that red line was crossed weeks – no, months – ago when, with the bombing of hospitals, the Gazan people lost access to proper medical care. When they began to starve because of the targeting of critical infrastructure and the inaccessibility of aid routes.
This war must stop and it must stop now.
An alternative way must be found that provides security for Israel, justice for Palestinians and peace for all. That journey starts with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and sustained humanitarian access for the provision of essential supplies to those most in need.
Read the full article from the Bishop of Southwark here:
Holly Evans6 April 2024 00:00
500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war
More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in support of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest outside the House of Parliament.
The Metropolitan Police announced details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Protestors must not “cross the line into criminality”, the Metropolitan Police has warned, adding that the force will “police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law”.
Read the full article from our crime correspondent here:
Holly Evans5 April 2024 23:00
Trump makes no mention of aid workers killed in Gaza and lashes out at Biden over Israel
“I wouldn’t listen to them. I wouldn’t take any instruction from them. Israel knows what they’re doing,” Mr Trump said.
Read the full article:
Holly Evans5 April 2024 22:00
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