Author: ALJAZEERA

Displaced Palestinians crammed into Rafah in southern Gaza are struggling to secure basic necessities as aid agencies and several world leaders have warned that a looming Israeli offensive on the city would have disastrous consequences. More than 1.5 million people, most of whom were displaced from other areas of Gaza, are sheltering in Rafah, where food and other essential supplies are scarce amid severe Israeli restrictions on the transport of food, fuel, water and humanitarian aid into Gaza. Despite the growing external pressure to halt the Rafah assault, Israel says it will press ahead with a ground offensive into the…

US says it hit three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel.The United States has conducted five strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said. It said it struck three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned surface vessel, and one unmanned underwater vessel (UUV) on Saturday. “This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began on Oct. 23,” CENTCOM said in a post on X on Sunday. CENTCOM said it had determined the missiles and vessels presented an imminent threat to US Navy…

US says it would veto an Algerian draft resolution at the UN Security Council urging ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’.The United States has said it will block another resolution that will soon be presented at the United Nations urging a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. Algeria has proposed a new resolution be put to a vote on Tuesday at the UN Security Council (UNSC) that seeks an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, while also demanding an “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. “Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it…

Bethlehem, occupied West Bank – Palestinian organisations are documenting abuses by Israel and its forces in hopes that one day it will be held accountable. Among them is the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), which works to support Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of PPS, told Al Jazeera there have been even more serious violations of human rights and international standards on the treatment of prisoners these past months. He feels, he added, that the Israeli forces’ transgressions are driven by vengeance against Palestinians since the October 7 attack by the Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Gaza…

Gaza – Aamer Saeed al-Ramlawi, 45, was the father of five children, two daughters and three sons. He was loved by many, not least by his cousin and best friend, Hassan Youssef al-Ramlawi, 33. Aamer also loved barbecuing and cooking, especially on the beach, which fit in with his obsession with seafood, especially crab. “Because my wife is an amazing seafood cook, he’d always ask for an invitation for crab soup,” Hassan told Al Jazeera with a little smile. “Before October 7, we spent most of our time together; hanging out every Thursday evening, barbequing, playing cards, and talking every…

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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the group has said in a statement. Haniyeh said on Saturday the Palestinian group would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and “lifting of the unjust siege”. “It is clear so far that the occupation [Israel] continues to manoeuvre and procrastinate on the files of interest to our people, while its position revolves around the release of prisoners held by the resistance,” Haniyeh said. He added that Israel must also free Palestinian prisoners…

Protests took place in major world cities, including London, Madrid and Istanbul.Thousands of people have taken to the streets around the world to protest against the war in Gaza as Israel pledges to go forward with its offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza. Waving pro-Palestinian flags and banners, thousands marched through the streets of Madrid, Spain to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The crowd snaked through closed-off streets in the Spanish capital from Atocha train station to the central Plaza del Sol square behind a large banner that read: Freedom for Palestine. Many carried signs that read “Peace for…

Beirut/Tripoli, Lebanon — The entrance to the Burj Barajneh refugee camp is covered in the small yellow flags of the Palestinian group Fatah displaying the faces of the late Yasser Arafat and his successor, current Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. But these are not the men of the hour. That honour is for a man whose face is unknown because he covers it with a red keffiyeh: Abu Obaida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Fatah and Hamas are opponents with presences in Lebanon, although they often have competing agendas politically or even militarily, but that does not…

There are few American journalists who so transparently embody the United States’ pompous and demeaning approach to Arab and Muslim lands and peoples as Thomas Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times since 1995. Prior to tormenting humanity with his biweekly opinions (such as that McDonald’s is the key to world peace), Friedman served in the 1980s as the Times bureau chief in Beirut and then Jerusalem. His time in the Middle East permitted him to hone his Orientalist arrogance, which earned him the starring role in a 1989 essay by none other than Edward Said, who remarked on…