International
Five journalists killed in latest Israeli bombardment of Gaza
Five journalists killed in latest Israeli bombardment of Gaza
At least five journalists were killed in attacks by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours in Gaza following intense bombings and air strikes across the besieged enclave.
On Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said separate Israeli strikes killed three journalists in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the territory and two in Gaza City.
This implies that at least 158 media workers have been killed since the current war erupted on October 7.
Those killed in Nuseirat were identified as Amjad Jahjouh and Rizq Abu Ashkian, both from the Palestine Media Agency, and Wafa Abu Dabaan from the Islamic University Radio in Gaza.
Abu Dabaan was married to Jahjouh. Their children were also killed during the strike, according to Al Jazeera’s team on the ground. At least 10 people were killed in that attack on Nuseirat.
Palestinian journalists Saadi Madoukh and Ahmed Sukkar were killed on Friday following an Israeli raid that targeted a home of the Madoukh family in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Before the latest deadly attacks, Israel’s war on Gaza was already considered the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers in the world.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which has a separate database on Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza, put the number of media workers killed as of July 5 at 108 since the war began, also making it the deadliest period since the group began gathering data in 1992.
Al Jazeera journalist, Hamza Dahdouh, the eldest son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was among those killed by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in January.
Hamza was in a vehicle near al-Mawasi, an Israel-designated “safe zone” that its forces have repeatedly attacked. He was with another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, who was also killed in the attack.
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An earlier Israeli attack had wounded Wael and killed his cameraperson Samer Abudaqa during a reporting assignment in southern Gaza in December.
The Guardian newspaper reported in June that at least 23 members of the Al-Aqsa network, a media channel linked to Hamas, were killed by Israeli strikes since October.
Death toll tops 38,000
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that 87 people were killed across the enclave over the last 48 hours, including the five journalists, bringing to at least 38,098 the number of people killed in the last nine months.
More than 87,700 people have been injured in Israel’s military offensive during the same period, the ministry said.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud noted the “surge in air attacks across the central area, the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and also in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood in the north”.
In eastern Khan Younis and Rafah city, at the southern edge of the Strip, bodies were being taken out of the hospital morgue for burials.
“It’s a scene that we’ve been seeing over and over for the past nine months, crying parents over the bodies of their children,” Mahmoud said. “It’s heartbreaking and it’s becoming the daily norm for people here.”
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Among the victims in the recent assaults was a worker for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after an Israeli strike hit the organisation’s warehouses north of the Maghazi camp in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad.
Another person was also killed in that attack on the UNRWA facilities.
Video footage verified by Sanad showed the arrival of their bodies, as well as those injured, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.
The UNRWA employee was wearing his jacket clearly identifying him as UN staff while working in the agency’s warehouses.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Saturday at least six policemen were killed in an Israeli bombardment that hit their car in the Saudi neighbourhood of western Rafah.
One person was also killed as a result of an Israeli bombing of a police car in Gaza’s al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah.
Five journalists killed in latest Israeli bombardment of Gaza
SOURCES: AL JAZEERA, NEWS AGENCIES
International
Israeli airstrike cuts off road linking Lebanon, Syria
Israeli airstrike cuts off road linking Lebanon, Syria
Lebanon said an Israeli air strike on the Syrian border on Friday cut off the main international road linking the two countries.
Coastal Lebanon shares a border with Israel, with which Hezbollah is at war, and Syria, where tens of thousands of people have taken refuge from the violence engulfing the country.
Israel has said Hezbollah uses the road to bring weapons across the border from Syria, with which it is allied.
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“The road that leads to the main humanitarian crossing for thousands of Lebanese into Syria is now cut off after an Israeli strike,” Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told AFP.
The official National News Agency also reported the strike, saying that “enemy warplanes hit the Masnaa area”, as the crossing is known, “cutting off the road”.
Israeli airstrike cuts off road linking Lebanon, Syria
International
Hunger protests: Russia accuses US, UK of ruining its relations with Nigeria
Hunger protests: Russia accuses US, UK of ruining its relations with Nigeria
The Russian government says the western countries are trying to destroy its relationship with Nigeria by linking the country with the recent hungry protests.
This is contained in a letter from the Russian government to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained on Friday.
Yury Paramonov, official Press Secretary of the Russian embassy in Nigeria, released the document.
Recall that during the August 1-10 nationwide protests, some protesters were seen waving Russian flag and chanting slogans, while others held placards with various messages during the protest.
Russia, a global power, was also accused of involvement in political upheavals in several West African countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
This has sparked concerns about external interference in regional affairs.
But Russia claimed that the United States, Britain and Ukraine were linking it with the protests to destroy the cordial relationship between it and Nigeria, advising the Federal Government to ignore the claims.
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The letter read in part, “In particular, statements by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Director of the British Council in Nigeria David Roberts, and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Nigeria Ivan Kholostenko have shamelessly and baselessly suggested that the use of Russian flags during recent protests is evidence of Russia’s interference and have further warned that this could happen again in the future.”
“The Embassy categorically rejects such accusations and reiterates that the Russian Federation neither had any involvement in the protests that occurred in the recent past, nor does it have any connection to any potential future demonstrations or unrest.
“Russia has always respected the sovereignty of Nigeria. We strictly adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of independent states.
“By contrast, the coordinated media campaign by Western and Ukrainian officials and outlets clearly points to their attempts to meddle in Nigeria’s internal affairs and shift the blame for any consequences onto the Russian Federation.
“We greatly value the level of relations between our two countries, support only peaceful dialogue within the legal framework as the proper means to resolve any internal disputes, and once again express our unwavering support for the leadership and the people of Nigeria.”
Yuri said the Embassy had conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s congratulations to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the occasion of Nigeria’s National Day.
“The Embassy also extends its best wishes to the people and Government of Nigeria for prosperity and stability, and we hope for continued cooperation and deepening relations between our two countries,” he said.
Hunger protests: Russia accuses US, UK of ruining its relations with Nigeria
International
Haiti gang attack leaves at least 20 dead
Haiti gang attack leaves at least 20 dead
At least 20 people including children have been killed after an armed gang attacked a small town in Haiti.
Another 50 were wounded as Gran Grif gang members rampaged through Pont-Sondé in the central Artibonite region about 71km (44 miles) north-west of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Video footage shows groups of people fleeing the violence on motorbikes and on foot. A government prosecutor described the attack as “a massacre”, reported the Associated Press.
Armed gangs have taken control of large parts of Haiti and a UN-backed policing mission, led by officers from Kenya, began in June in an attempt to wrestle back control.
The exact number of dead from the attack is not clear – local media reported that more than 50 had been killed, while a Haitian human rights group put the figure at 20 or more, AP said.
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Gran Grif is said to be one of the most violent of Haiti’s gangs. In January 2023 its members were accused of attacking a police station near Port-Sondé and killing six officers. It is also blamed for forcing the closure of a hospital serving more than 700,000 people.
The gang has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings, according to a UN report cited by AP. Both its founder and current leader are subject to US sanctions.
Thursday’s gang rampage comes almost a month after the Haitian authorities expanded a state of emergency to cover the whole of the country.
Prime Minister Garry Conille has vowed to crack down on the gangs, with the UN saying a “robust use of force” is needed.
It has approved the policing mission made up of 2,500 officers from various countries – including 1,000 pledged by Kenya.
Their deployment has been authorised for one year, with a review to be held after nine months.
Haiti gang attack leaves at least 20 dead
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