International
Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Rafah attack will happen despite deal
Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Rafah attack will happen despite deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will launch an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of truce talks with Hamas.
It comes amid ongoing attempts to try to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage releases.
But at a meeting of hostages’ relatives, Mr Netanyahu said he would invade “with or without” a deal.
His comments follow renewed warnings by the US against a Rafah invasion unless civilians were properly protected.
In a phone call with Mr Netanyahu on Sunday, US President Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” on Rafah, a White House statement said. Mr Biden has previously described an invasion of Rafah as a “red line”.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said an assault on Rafah would be an “unbearable escalation”, appealing for “all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it”.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.5m population is in Rafah, having fled there to escape fighting in other parts of the territory. Conditions in the overcrowded city are dire, and displaced people there have spoken of a lack of food, water and medication.
The West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that an invasion of Rafah would be the “biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people’s history”.
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Israeli sources told the Reuters news agency on Monday that plans to attack Rafah would be shelved in favour of a “sustained period of calm” if a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israeli was reached.
Days earlier, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Channel 12 television that “if there will be a deal, we will suspend the [Rafah] operation”.
But on Tuesday Mr Netanyahu insisted that the war would continue until Israel had achieved all of its objectives in Rafah.
“The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question,” he said.
“We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory,” according to a statement issued by Mr Netanyahu’s office.
It said the families urged the prime minister and his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, to continue the war and ignore mounting international pressure. Many hostage families however have publicly demonstrated for the government to agree to a deal to return their loved ones at any cost.
About 130 hostages from among 253 kidnapped by Hamas during its unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October remain unaccounted for. At least 34 of them are presumed dead. The rest have been released or rescued.
Indirect talks have been at an impasse for weeks, although the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said on Monday that he hoped Hamas would accept what he has called Israel’s “extraordinarily generous offer” for a truce.
Meanwhile the head of the UN’s refugee organisation has warned that the looming invasion was causing people in Rafah to live in a state of “constant traumatic stress disorder”.
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“People have not yet been asked to evacuate from Rafah, but there is a sense that if there is no deal this week that could happen,” Philippe Lazzarini told reporters.
“My colleagues on the ground are describing constant state of trauma among the people.”
Mr Netanyahu also denounced as “a scandal on a historical scale” recent reports, citing Israeli officials, that the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague could be preparing to issue arrest warrants for Israeli government leaders and military commanders on charges related to the war.
“I want to make one thing clear: no decision, neither in The Hague nor anywhere else, will harm our determination to achieve all the goals of the war,” the prime minister said.
“Israel expects the leaders of the free world to come out strongly against this scandalous step, a step that will harm the self-defence capacity not only of the State of Israel, but of all democracies in the world.”
There has been no announcement from ICC Prosecutor Karim Kahn KC.
However, his office has been formally investigating alleged war crimes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since June 2014, and Mr Khan has confirmed that the investigation will cover the 7 October attack and the ensuing war.
Israel has never ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, and Mr Netanyahu insisted that the ICC had “no authority” over the country. However, the ICC ruled in 2015 that it had jurisdiction because the Palestinians had ratified the treaty.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that the US – which has also not ratified the Rome Statute – did not believe the court has jurisdiction and did not support the investigation.
Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Rafah attack will happen despite deal
International
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.
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Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.
As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
ARAB NEWS
International
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.
He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.
In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”
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Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.
He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.
Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.
He claimed she had campaigned on a promise to “get Trump” in her bid for office, an action he labelled “unethical” and “probably illegal.”
Trump also mentioned Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, alleging that Bragg initially resisted prosecuting him but was pressured into action by the Justice Department and the Democratic Party.
Describing the series of legal actions as a “low point in the history of our Country,” Trump maintained his resolve, declaring: “I persevered, against all odds, and WON.”
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
International
US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam
US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam
A United States federal jury sentenced two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years in prison for scamming certain US citizens $3,500,000.
This was mentioned in a news statement made public on the US Department of Justice website on Monday.
According to the statement, the Nigerians, Ibekie and Aniukwu mislead their victims by informing them that they had received big inheritances that required payment to claim.
The couple would then ask their victims to transfer money, promising to refund them after the inheritances were claimed.
It also stated that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.
It read, “An undercover law enforcement investigation has resulted in federal prison sentences for two Nigerian nationals residing in the Chicago suburbs who conducted online inheritance scams and other fraud schemes.
“Using aliases, Anthony Emeka Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants in order to claim it.
“In addition to the inheritance scam, the pair carried out an online romance scam that involved communicating with victims via social media and dating websites, building trust with the victims through a purported online romance, and convincing them to send money to a predetermined recipient. Aniukwu and Ibekie also orchestrated a ‘business email compromise’ scam that targeted corporate email accounts.
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“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”
According to the statement, after being arraigned on 14 charges, the duo pleaded guilty to their different alterations.
Following their guilty pleas, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday, and Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 8.
The statement continued, “A federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, 59, of Oswego, Illinois, on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison.
“Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to 10 years in prison.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer Gosha, an accomplice of the Nigerians and a US citizen, is expected to be sentenced on December 18 after pleading guilty.
“A third defendant, Jennifer Gosha, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on December 18, 2024,” the statement concluded.
US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam
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