International

Gaza: 15 killed in Israeli new year’s strike

Published

5 days ago

January 2, 2025

Gaza: 15 killed in Israeli new year’s strike

Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 15 people in the territory’s north on Wednesday, in what it called the first deadly attack of the New Year.

“The world welcomed the New Year with celebrations and festivities, while we witnessed 2025 begin with the first Israeli massacre in the town of Jabalia just after midnight,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

“Fifteen people were martyred and more than 20 were injured” in the strike on a house where displaced people were living, he said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported strike.

Since October 6, the military has been conducting a major land and air offensive in northern Gaza, particularly targeting Jabalia and its adjacent refugee camp.

The military says it is an effort to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping there and it has killed hundreds of fighters, while rescuers in the area say thousands of civilians have died.

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On Monday, UN human rights experts said the “siege” appears to be part of an effort “to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza’s annexation”.

Bassal said those living in the house were members of the Badra, Abu Warda and Taroush families who had sought refuge there.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once since the war began on October 7 last year.

The dead and wounded from the strike in Jabalia were taken to Al-Mamadani Hospital, a rescuer said.

A relative said rescuers were still searching for any survivors.

“The house has turned into a pile of debris,” said Jibri Abu Warda, adding that the strike hit at around 1:00 am (2300 GMT Tuesday).

He said the explosions shook the area, and rescuers reached the targeted house only in the morning.

“It was a massacre, with body parts of children and women scattered everywhere. They were sleeping when the house was bombed,” Abu Warda said.

“No one knows why they targeted the house. They were all civilians.”

Gaza: 15 killed in Israeli new year’s strike

Related Topics:Gaza Israeli Middle East strike

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International

Canada’s Prime Minister, Trudeau, resigns

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Trends Admin

Canada’s Prime Minister, Trudeau, resigns

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he will resign. He said this at a news conference on Monday, with a senior government source telling AFP the embattled premier had decided to leave office.

Trudeau, facing his worst political crisis since becoming premier in 2015, is scheduled to address reporters at 10:45 am (1545 GMT).

The government source told AFP that Trudeau had decided to step down, but the timeline remained uncertain.

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Trudeau’s political fortunes plunged to new depths following the surprise resignation in December of his former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of focusing on political gimmicks to appease voters, including a costly Christmas tax holiday, instead of steadying Canada’s finances ahead of a possible trade war with the United States.

Incoming US president Donald Trump has promised to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports, a measure that could prove devastating to Canada’s economy.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Trudeau, resigns

International

Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane – Azeri president

Published

6 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Trends Admin

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane – Azeri president

Azerbaijan president said on Monday that Russia was “guilty” over the downing of an airline last month that Baku says was shot by Russian air defences.

An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny.

Moscow has admitted its air defences were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised that the “incident” occurred in his country’s air space but has not responded to claims the plane was hit by Russian weapons.

“The guilt for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, according to a statement published by his office.

Aliyev was meeting surviving crew and family members of crew who died in the incident.

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The Azerbaijani leader, who is close to Putin, has issued rare fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, admission of guilt and the punishment of those found responsible for the “criminal” shooting of the plane.

On Monday he said Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put forward “cause us justifiable anger”.

Initial statements by Russia’s air transport agency that the plane had been forced to divert after a bird strike have triggered fury in Baku.

Aliyev said air defence measures for Grozny — the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the plane was set to land — were only announced after the plane had been “shot from the ground”.

“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev said.

He also questioned why the plane was sent hundreds of kilometres (miles) across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau for an emergency landing.

“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan says preliminary results of its investigation show the plane was hit accidentally by a Russian air defence missile.

Russia has opened its own criminal probe but has not said whether it agrees with Baku’s assessment.

The plane’s black boxes have been sent to Brazil for analysis.

Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane – Azeri president

International

Ukraine launches new offensive in Russia’s Kursk

Published

12 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Trends Admin

Ukraine launches new offensive in Russia’s Kursk

Ukraine has launched a counter-attack in Russia’s Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry says.

As officials in Ukraine also suggested an operation was under way, Moscow said it had met the attack with artillery and air power.

Ukrainian forces entered Kursk region in August, seizing a chunk of territory. Russian forces have pushed them back in some areas without managing to eject them entirely.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that security guarantees leading to an end to the war would only be effective if the US under Donald Trump provided them.

During a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, Zelensky praised the incoming US president’s influence and suggested Trump had the leverage to at least halt Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Trump pledged during his election campaign to quickly end the war, without giving details.

Zelensky said “Trump and I will come to an agreement and… offer strong security guarantees, together with Europe, and then we can talk to the Russians”.

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According to the Russian defence ministry, a Ukrainian assault detachment consisting of two tanks, one military engineering vehicle and 12 armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) attacked near the village of Berdin around 09:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Russian forces hit back, it said, destroying both tanks, the military engineering vehicle and seven armoured fighting vehicles. Fighting continued, it added.

Aerial video of a column of armour moving through snow-covered countryside in daylight and coming under fire, with vehicles taking hits, was published by Russian state news agency Ria.

The BBC was not immediately able to verify the Russian footage or claims.

Speaking earlier, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said there “was good news from Kursk Region” and that Russia was “getting what it deserves”.

Ukraine’s top counter-disinformation official Andriy Kovalenko said in a Telegram post on Sunday: “The Russians in Kursk are experiencing great anxiety because they were attacked from several directions and it came as a surprise to them.”

Oner Russian blogger, Yury Podolyaka, suggested the operation might have been diversionary, while another, Alexander Kots, did not rule out that the main attack could be launched somewhere else.

Kyiv’s forces are reportedly suffering from manpower shortages and have been losing ground in the east of Ukraine in recent months, as Russian troops advance.

It comes as the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched another drone attack on Ukraine overnight.

It said it had shot down 61 drones over Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyy regions

There were no direct hits, but a few houses were damaged in Kharkiv Region by an intercepted drone, the air force said.

In November, Ukraine reported its troops had engaged in combat with North Korean troops in the Kursk region.

The reported appearance of North Korean soldiers was in response to a surprise attack launched across the border by Ukrainian troops in August, advancing up to 18 miles (30km) into Russian land.

Moscow evacuated almost 200,000 people from areas along the border and President Vladimir Putin condemned the Ukrainian offensive as a “major provocation”.

After a fortnight, Ukraine’s top commander claimed to control more than 1,200 sq km of Russian territory and 93 villages.

Some of that territory has been regained by Russia.