International
US issues more sanctions over Israeli ‘settler violence’ in West Bank
US issues more sanctions over Israeli ‘settler violence’ in West Bank
The United States has imposed sanctions on an Israeli settler group and a civilian security guard in the occupied West Bank amid intensifying violence against Palestinians in the territory.
The sanctions on Wednesday targeted Hashomer Yosh, which describes itself as a volunteer organisation that aims to “protect” Israeli farmers in the West Bank, and Yitzhak Levi Filant, the civilian security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement, south of Nablus.
“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
“It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank.”
It said Hashomer Yosh fenced off the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta earlier this year, preventing its displaced residents from returning to their homes.
Several Israeli media outlets have reported that Hashomer Yosh has received financial support from the Israeli government.
Washington also accused Filant of engaging in malign activities, including setting up roadblocks and conducting patrols earlier this year “to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them”.
The sanctions freeze the assets of Filant and Hashomer Yosh in the US and bar American citizens from engaging in financial transactions with them.
For years, Hashomer Yosh was able to raise funds in the US, including through JGive, a website that gathers donations for groups the Israeli government certifies as charities.
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Hashomer Yosh’s page on JGive appeared to be disabled on Wednesday. The website did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Wednesday’s measures come one day after a settler attack killed one Palestinian and injured three others near Bethlehem. Earlier in August, violent settlers also ravaged the village of Jit in the northern West Bank, killing a 23-year-old man.
The ransacking of Jit sparked international outrage and even verbal condemnation from Israeli officials. But Israel rarely ever criminally charges settlers for violence against Palestinians.
Moreover, Palestinian rights advocates say settler assaults happen under the watch – if not cooperation – of Israeli soldiers in the area.
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a US-based rights group that previously called for sanctions against Filant, welcomed Wednesday’s measures and urged penalties against Israeli officials involved in settler violence.
“Targeting the notorious Yitzhar security officer, Filant, is an important step in recognizing the institutional and state-backed nature of settler violence,” Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN, said in a statement.
“The sanctions will never put an end to settler violence unless they start targeting the state institutions and politicians who treat settlers as a tool of their expansionist policies.”
Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar said the US sanctions are “too little and maybe even too late”.
Eldar blamed far-right elements in the Israeli government, which he compared to ISIL (ISIS), for enabling settler violence.
“There are Jewish supremacists sitting in the cabinet meetings, and what they want is chaos. They are not afraid of the international community,” he told Al Jazeera.
This year, the US and some of its Western allies have sanctioned several violent settlers whom they describe as “extremists”.
But the administration of President Joe Biden has maintained its staunch support for Israel. Washington, which backs the Israeli army’s war in Gaza and deadly raids in the West Bank, authorised a $20bn arms deal with Israel earlier this month.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli military launched a large-scale offensive in the West Bank that has killed at least 10 people.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on Wednesday for the “temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians” in the West Bank to allow for the military operation, prompting fears that Israel may be planning for mass displacement orders in the territory.
The vast majority of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. The settlement enterprise in the area captured by Israel in 1967 breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from transferring “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”.
The Biden administration says the settlements are “inconsistent with international law”.
US issues more sanctions over Israeli ‘settler violence’ in West Bank
International
Nurse escapes gang-rape attempt in Indian hospital, cuts doctor’s private parts with blade
Nurse escapes gang-rape attempt in Indian hospital, cuts doctor’s private parts with blade
A month after a trainee doctor was raped and m8rdered in Kolkata, India, sparking anger and protests nationwide, a gang-rape attempt was made on a nurse at a private hospital in Bihar.
Police said one of the assaulters is a doctor who is also the administrator of the institution. However, the nurse managed to escape after inflicting a cut on his private parts with a blade.
The nurse was wrapping up work at the RBS Health Care Centre in Gangapur under the Musrighararari police station limits in Samastipur district on Wednesday night when hospital administrator Dr Sanjay Kumar (pictured) and two of his associates – all of whom were drunk – tried to r@pr her.
Trying to free herself from the clutches of Dr Kumar and the others, the nurse used a blade to slash at the doctor’s genitals.
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She managed to escape and dial the police after hiding in a field outside the hospital
Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar Pandey said a team was rushed to the hospital and, after making sure that the nurse was safe, three people were arrested, including the doctor. The other two accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar Gupta and Awadhesh Kumar.
Mr Pandey said the men had locked the hospital from the inside and turned off the CCTV cameras before trying to s3xually ass@ult the nurse.
“The presence of mind and courage shown by the survivor is praiseworthy,” he said.
The police have recovered half a bottle of liquor, the blade used by the nurse, blood-stained clothes and three cellphones.
Officials said the three men had been drinking before trying to assault the nurse and they will also be charged under prohibition laws because Bihar is a dry state.
Doctor Sanjay is also the organization minister of Hindu Samaj Party.
Nurse escapes gang-rape attempt in Indian hospital, cuts doctor’s private parts with blade
International
Israeli leaflets tell south Lebanon residents to evacuate
Israeli leaflets tell south Lebanon residents to evacuate
BEIRUT: Israel dropped leaflets over a Lebanon border village Sunday urging residents to leave, state-run media said, but Israel’s military told AFP a brigade had taken the initiative without approval.
It was the first time Israelis had told residents of south Lebanon to evacuate in 11 months of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel over the Gaza war, triggered by Hezbollah ally Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
“The Israeli enemy dropped leaflets over Wazzani calling on those in the area and its surroundings to evacuate,” the official National News Agency said, referring to a southern border village.
Wazzani mayor Ahmed Al-Mohammed shared with AFP a picture of the leaflets that showed a map of the region with the areas marked for evacuation marked in red.
The leaflet read in Arabic: “To all residents and refugees living in the area of the camps, Hezbollah is firing from your region. You must immediately leave your homes and head north of the Khiam region before 04:00 p.m. (1300 GMT). Do not return to this area until the end of the war.”
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It added: “Anyone present in this area after this time will be considered a terrorist.”
Wazzani is an agricultural region where Syrians are often hired to work the land.
Asked about the incident, an Israeli military spokeswoman said the leaflets had been dropped by drone in an area from which rockets had been fired into northern Israel.
“This was an initiative of the 769 Brigade, it was not approved by the Northern Command. An investigation has been opened,” she added.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircraft regularly drop leaflets urging residents to evacuate before an attack.
On Saturday, Hezbollah’s second-in-command Naim Qassem warned that an all-out war by Israel aimed at returning 100,000 displaced people to their homes in areas near the Lebanon border would displace “hundreds of thousands” more Israelis.
The cross-border violence since early October has killed 623 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 141 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.
Israeli leaflets tell south Lebanon residents to evacuate
ARAB NEWS
International
Deadly floods hit Central, Eastern Europe
Deadly floods hit Central, Eastern Europe
A firefighter died during a flood rescue in Austria and one person drowned in Poland, as torrential rain caused by Storm Boris continued to wreak havoc across Central and Eastern Europe.
In Romania, five people have died, while several remain unaccounted for in the Czech Republic.
The Austrian province surrounding Vienna has been declared a disaster area, with its leaders speaking of “an unprecedented extreme situation”.
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk declared a state of natural disaster.
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