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Palestinian group issues warning as Biden says Israel shouldn’t invade without ‘credible’ plan to protect civilians.Hamas has warned Israel that a ground offensive in Rafah would imperil negotiations on a truce and the exchange of captives and prisoners, as United States President Joe Biden said an assault should not go ahead without a “credible” plan to protect civilians in the city. Aid groups and foreign governments, including Israel’s key ally the US, have voiced deep concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to extend ground military operations into the far-southern Gaza city. Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is…

The military offensive in Gaza has persisted despite a United Nations court order to end plausible acts of genocide.The United Nations’ top court has ordered Israel to prevent and punish actions that could lead to or incite genocide in Gaza. But in the weeks that followed this ruling, Israeli forces have continued the devastating assault on Gaza. Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening a possible ground offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has fled to seek shelter. Palestinians are trapped, with nowhere to go. So, what can be done to end the Israeli assault?…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Doha for talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas would meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, but did not say if he would also meet leaders of Hamas, a group that has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group. The Palestinian ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, told Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday that Abbas and the emir…

Israel is determined to advance with its unspecified plans to invade the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where millions of displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his intention to extend the military operation in an interview broadcast late on Saturday. “We’re going to do it,” he declared and said that the plans are being worked on. The statement comes despite international alarm over the potential for carnage. An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians are crammed into Rafah, and hemmed in by the border with Egypt, after being ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate their homes elsewhere in the…

Iran has marked the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Gaza. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans on Sunday. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” slogans written on them. Some burned US and Israeli flags, a common sight at pro-government rallies. Processions started out from several points, converging at Azadi Square in the capital. State TV showed crowds…

Rafah, a looming Israeli ground “operation”, and the impact on more than a million trapped civilians are top headlines. But what is Rafah and what are the details around this announced Israeli “operation”? What is Rafah? Rafah straddles the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. On the Palestinian side, it is the name of Gaza’s southernmost governorate and its capital city, as well as of the crossing into Egypt’s Sinai. On the Egyptian side, it is a city in the North Sinai governorate. Palestinian Rafah is 64sq km (25sq miles) and, as Israel assaulted Gaza these past four months,…

US political scientist Stephen Walt says Israel has changed over the years, but Biden’s policy is stuck in the past.The United States’ support for Israel’s war on Gaza makes the country look ineffectual and hypocritical to the rest of the world, according to Harvard University professor Stephen Walt, co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. Walt tells host Steve Clemons that Israel and the US-Israel relationship have changed over the decades, but US President Joe Biden is holding on to a view of Israel formed in the West in the 1970s. By rejecting a ceasefire, the US looks…

The chief of the UN’s aid agency in Gaza has said that it had no knowledge of what was beneath its abandoned headquarters amid Israeli claims that a Hamas tunnel ran below the Gaza City site. Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on X late on Saturday that the agency “did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza”. Israel has previously accused UNWRA of colluding with Hamas’s military operations, prompting several donors to withdraw funding. The UNWRA chief’s comments came after the Israeli army invited journalists to visit the…

UN special rapporteur highlights global challenges faced by free speech and advocacy.In an era where freedom of expression faces unprecedented challenges globally, Irene Khan stands as a beacon of hope. With a rich background in human rights advocacy, Khan has battled against censorship, intimidation and the suppression of free speech. Her efforts underscore the importance of this fundamental human right in holding the powerful to account, even as wars and repressive regimes threaten its very existence. We explore her mission to ensure that voices worldwide can speak out without fear as Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of…