International

Israel-Gaza: Israel says it has arrested hundreds of Hamas, Islamic Jihad members

Published

11 months ago

December 23, 2023

Families have fled the Bureij refugee camp for Deir al-Balah - despite fresh accusations this area is unsafe

Israel-Gaza: Israel says it has arrested hundreds of Hamas, Islamic Jihad members

Israel says it has arrested 200 members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups in the past week and taken them into its territory for questioning.

A statement said some of the suspects had been hiding among the civilian population and surrendered voluntarily.

Israel says 700 Palestinian militants have been arrested since it launched its military operation and invasion of Gaza with the aim of eliminating Hamas.

Hamas says mostly women and children are being killed by the Israelis.

The BBC is unable to verify the claims.

Israel launched its retaliatory operation after Hamas fighters crossed from Gaza into southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

At least 20,000 people have been killed and 50,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel has kept up its bombing campaign in Gaza – ordering civilians to flee.

The UN said the latest order affected 150,000 people in the middle of the Strip.

“People in Gaza are people,” wrote Thomas White from UNWRA, the agency for Palestinian refugees. “They are not pieces on a checkerboard – many have already been displaced several times.”

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The latest evacuation order impacted people in the Bureij refugee camp, who were told to head towards Deir al-Balah city further south. A medic named Ziad told Reuters news agency he was left asking where to go, as there was “no safe place”.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Saturday that Bureij had been shelled. Additional strikes on the Jabalia and Nuseirat camps had left “dozens” dead, it said.

An adviser to the Israeli prime minister has acknowledged “terrible suffering” in Gaza – but told the BBC this was because the territory’s Hamas leadership “don’t give a hoot” for the people there.

The suffering “shouldn’t have happened” but came about after a “declaration of war” by Hamas on 7 October, said Mark Regev.

Saturday’s joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and internal security service Shin Bet said the questioning of 200 fighters followed the arrests in Gaza of “hundreds of suspects involved in terrorist activities”.

The BBC is not able to independently verify all battlefield claims. However, it did verify video earlier this month showing the detention of dozens of Palestinian men in the north Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the president of the UN Security Council has said a resolution adopted on Friday represents a crucial step towards averting a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

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On Friday, the council adopted a resolution that aimed to introduce “extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” throughout Gaza.

The vote followed days of negotiations to avoid a veto by Israel’s key ally, the US.

But the motion fell short of calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war.

The US and Russia abstained on the vote, while the 13 other members of the council – including the UK, which had previously abstained on a similar resolution – backed the text, which called for creating conditions “for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.

The resolution also demanded that parties “allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian population throughout the Gaza Strip”.

Hamas criticised what it said was an “insufficient step” to meet the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza, and accused the US of working hard to “empty this resolution of its essence”.

The resolution also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. The Israeli military urged the international community and international organisations to enforce it.

UN Secretary General António Guterres said Israel’s offensive was creating “massive obstacles” to the distribution of aid in Gaza.

Israel-Gaza: Israel says it has arrested hundreds of Hamas, Islamic Jihad members

BBC

International

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

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

Published

11 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

President-elect Donald Trump

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.

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

International

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

Published

11 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

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.