Polish MP Rails Against 'Satanic' Jews After Extinguishing Menorah

Dec 12, 2023 
By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
NEWSWEEK

A far-right politician in Poland railed against "satanic" Jewish people after using a fire extinguisher on a Hanukkah display in the country's parliament building.

The incident took place at approximately 5 p.m. local time in the Polish capital of Warsaw. A large menorah had been set up in the parliamentary building to celebrate the Jewish holiday. As seen in videos circulating online, Grzegorz Braun, a Polish MP and member of the far-right Konfederacja party grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it to put out candles on display, prompting the current government session.

Braun followed up the incident by calling Judaism a "satanic cult" after onlookers in the building told him, "You should be ashamed."

"Those who take part in acts of the satanic cult should be ashamed," Braun said.

Skandaliczne zachowanie Grzegorza Brauna w Sejmie pic.twitter.com/wWTO8vGP6F— Sebastian Napieraj (@sebastiantvn24) December 12, 2023

Szymon Hołownia, speaker of the Sejm Polish parliamentary chamber, confirmed in the aftermath of the incident that a complaint has been filed against Braun with the prosecutor's office. It has been reported that he will be excluded when the Sejm resumes its current session.

Newsweek reached out to the office of the Polish prime minister via email for comment. Attempts to reach Braun's office for comment were unsuccessful.

In the wake of the incident, Braun said that he was inviting his fellow lawmakers to take part in a "theological" debate and characterized his actions as "spontaneous." He also took to his official account on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a post from another account decrying the presence of Jewish iconography in the parliament building and spreading an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Jewish people controlling the Polish government.

Numerous figures and groups have come forward to denounce Braun's actions, including his own Konfederacja party, which released a statement online saying that it "condemns" his actions. Donald Tusk, the incoming Polish prime minister who had delivered a speech just prior to Braun's actions, also released a statement calling the MP's behavior "unacceptable."

Above, a photo of the menorah display targeted by a far-right Polish MP on Tuesday. The lawmaker followed up the incident by referring to Judaism as a "Satanic cult."

OMAR MARQUES/GETTY IMAGES

"This is unacceptable," Tusk said. "This can't happen again. This is a disgrace."
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Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, called Braun's actions "scandalous."

"There is no place for anti-Semitic attacks neither in the Polish parliament nor in Poland in general," Trzaskowski said. "I trust that the prosecutor's office will think similarly."

Mark Brzezinski, the United States ambassador to Poland, also released a statement decrying the incident.

"I am outraged by the nasty antisemitic act committed today by one of the Polish members of parliament," Brzezinski said. "The United States stands against anti-Semitism and this outrageous act must be condemned in the strongest possible terms."

Far-right Polish lawmaker uses fire extinguisher on Hanukkah candles in parliament

By Anna Koper

December 12, 2023

Grzegorz Braun, far-right Polish lawmaker from Confederation party, interacts with the media after using a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles at the parliament in Warsaw, Poland December 12, 2023. 

Dawid Zuchowicz/Agencja Wyborcza.pl 


WARSAW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community, provoking outrage and leading the speaker to exclude him from the sitting.

Footage posted on the website of private broadcaster TVN24 showed Grzegorz Braun of the Confederation party take the extinguisher before walking across the lobby of the parliament to where the candles were, creating a white cloud and forcing security guards to rush people out of the area.

Members of the Jewish community, including children, had gone to parliament at speaker Szymon Holownia's invitation for its annual Hanukkah celebrations.

The footage showed people in the vicinity covered in powder from the extinguisher.

Afterwards Braun took to the podium in the chamber where he described Hanukkah as "satanic" and said he was restoring "normality".

Asked just after the incident if he was ashamed, Braun replied: "Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed."

Magdalena Gudzinska-Adamczyk was present at the scene and footage showed her challenging Braun as he extinguished the candles.

"I feel very short of breath and have trouble speaking," she told TVN24, her face covered in white powder. "I have stopped feeling safe in this country."

Holownia excluded Braun from the sitting of parliament ahead of a confidence vote in newly appointed pro-EU prime minister Donald Tusk and said he would inform prosecutors about his actions.

He later said that Braun would lose half of his salary for three months and all parliamentary expenses for six months.

"There will be no tolerance for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism ... as long as I am the speaker of parliament," Holownia told reporters.

Braun, who has previously caused a ruckus by approaching and shouting at lawmakers as they address parliament, left the chamber, shaking hands with other far-right lawmakers.

His Confederation party had been tipped to hold the balance of power after the Oct. 15 election after a campaign in which it focused mainly on economic issues and criticising the extent of Poland's aid to Ukraine. However, in the end it only won 18 seats, up from 11 in 2019.

Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun's actions were not representative of the country and that he was "embarrassed" by them.

"Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them," he said. "For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us."

Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Poland's Catholic church said in a statement posted on social media platform X that he was ashamed of Braun's actions.

"(I) apologise to the entire Jewish community in Poland," he wrote.

Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alison Williams

New PM Tusk read out a manifesto by PiS critic who died by self-immolation

TVN24 | TVN24 News in English
12 grudnia 2023, 16:08
Autor:
Źródło:TVN24 News in English, Reuters


Poland's newly-appointed Prime Minister Donald Tusk quoted a manifesto in a speech before parliament on Tuesday (December 12) written by a critic of the former ruling party, who died after setting himself on fire in protest in 2017.

Piotr Szczęsny died on Oct. 29, 2017 after distributing his manifesto to people in front of Warsaw's Palace of Science and Culture and then setting himself on fire two years after nationalist conservatives Law and Justice (PiS) took office.

The manifesto was a protest against PiS policies, with Szczęsny saying the party was damaging the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, deepening divisions in society and discriminating against minorities.

"I will now read something that in a sense could replace my speech today. I wouldn't change much in this text, which may have already escaped our attention and memory. I really want us to remember this man and the words he wrote before he passed away. It was a manifesto, I will read it in its entirety. I am convinced that the majority of you here in parliament, just like the majority of Poles, could probably sign onto it," Tusk said before reading out the manifesto.


Piotr Szczęsny set himself on fire after distributing his manifesto in WarsawSzymon Pulcyn/PAP

PiS cast itself as a defender of Poland's sovereignty and identity that also improved living standards for millions by boosting social benefits and the minimum wage.

Critics, however, say PiS undermined judicial independence, turned state-owned media into a propaganda outlet and fomented prejudice against minorities such as immigrants and the LGBT community.

After reading Szczęsny's manifesto, Tusk appealed for unity on issues such as the rule of law, the Polish constitution and the safety of Polish territory.

"Everyone is deserving of respect. Everyone is deserving of their rights. What really builds a community is the rule of law, the constitution, and the principles of democracy, the safe border and safe territory. These are the issues that we should not argue or fight about under any circumstances. These are something that we must respect without exception, in order to be able to differ on other matters, to be able to differ safely, with respect," Tusk concluded.

Autor:gf
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Tusk in exposé: Poland will regain an EU leader status and maintain strong ties with U.S.

12 grudnia 2023, 
Autor:
gf
Źródło:TVN24 News in English, Reuters


Poland's newly appointed prime minister, Donald Tusk, said on Tuesday (Dec.12) his country will demand the full mobilisation of the West to help Ukraine, adding it will regain a leadership position in Europe and will be a strong part of NATO.

Presenting his government's plans to parliament, Tusk said Poland would be a loyal ally of the United States and a committed member of NATO, and signalled his determination to mend Warsaw's ties with Brussels after years of feuding over issues ranging from judicial independence to LGBT rights.

"Poland will regain its position as a leader in the European Union... Poland will build its strength, the position it deserves," said Tusk, later promising to "bring back billions of euros" from Brussels.

The European Commission, the EU executive, put significant funds earmarked for Poland on hold when the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party was in power because of concerns over the rule of law.

Poland has gained approval to access 5.1 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in advance payments as part of an EU programme to encourage a shift from Russian fossil fuels.

But the rest of a total of 59.8 billion euros in green transition and COVID-19 recovery funds is frozen until Warsaw rolls back a judicial overhaul implemented by PiS which critics say undermined the independence of the courts.

Despite his pro-EU line, Tusk, who was also prime minister form 2007 to 2014, said he would oppose any changes of EU treaties that would disadvantage Poland.

"Any attempts to change treaties that are against our interests are out of the question ... no one will outplay me in the European Union," said Tusk, a former president of the European Council, which groups the leaders of EU member states.

Tusk, 66, also promised his government would make defence a priority and honour previously signed arms contracts.

PiS came first in an Oct. 15 election and had the first shot at forming a government, but lacked the necessary majority to do so after all other parties ruled out working with it.

Tusk is expected to win a vote of confidence later on Tuesday, enabling his government to be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday morning.

But, in a post on X, PiS lawmaker Mariusz Błaszczak called Tusk's speech a "festival of lies", criticised it for lacking specific policy details and said: "This is a bad time for Poland."

Ukraine ties

The final months of Mateusz Morawiecki's PiS government were marked by a souring of relations with Kyiv, mainly over Warsaw's extension of a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

With concerns growing in Kyiv about its Western allies' commitment to funding its defence against Russia's invasion, Tusk said Poland would advocate for continued support.

"We will ... loudly and decisively demand the full mobilisation of the free world, the Western world, to help Ukraine in this war," he said.

Ukraine also faces the possibility that Hungary will not give the green light for it to start EU accession talks at a Brussels summit this week.

Ties between Warsaw and Kyiv have been strained by a protest by Polish truckers who have blocked some border crossings in a dispute over Ukrainian trucking firms' access to the EU.

Tusk said he would quickly resolve issues behind the protest, and that Poland would ensure its eastern border -- an external border of the EU -- is secure.

Poland has accused Belarus of orchestrating a migrant crisis on their mutual border. But human rights activists have accused Poland of mistreating migrants, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, who have sought access from Belarus.

"You can protect the Polish border and be humane at the same time," Tusk said.

He said that after he returned from this week's EU summit he would meet the leaders of the Baltic states in Estonia to discuss the Ukraine war and safe borders.

Auto union boss urges New Jersey lawmakers to pass casino smoking ban

Shawn Fain, the international president of the United Auto Workers union, recently won large raises for his workers

ByWAYNE PARRY 

Associated Press
December 12, 2023

A gambler smokes while playing a slot machine at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City N.J. on Nov. 29, 2023. On Tuesday, Dec. 12, casino workers pushing for a smoking ban at the city's nine casinos publicized a letter
The Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Shawn Fain, the international president of the United Auto Workers union who recently won large raises for his workers, is taking aim at a new target: New Jersey lawmakers who are delaying votes on a bill to ban smoking in Atlantic City’s casinos.

The head of the powerful union, which represents workers at three casinos here, is urging legislators to move the bill forward in a scheduled hearing Thursday, warning that the union will “monitor and track” their votes.

Many casino workers have been pushing for three years to close a loophole in the state's public smoking law that specifically exempts casinos from a ban. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support from lawmakers, and a promise from the state's Democratic governor to sign the measure, it has been bottled up in state government committees without a vote to move it forward.

The same state Senate committee that failed to vote on the bill last month is due to try again on Thursday. Fain's letter to the state Senate and Assembly was timed to the upcoming hearing.

The casino industry opposes a ban, saying it will cost jobs and revenue. It has suggested creating enclosed smoking rooms, but has refused to divulge details of that plan.

“Thousands of UAW members work as table game dealers at the Caesars, Bally’s, and Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City, and are exposed on a daily basis to the toxic harms of secondhand smoking,” Fain wrote in a letter sent last week to lawmakers. “Patrons blow cigarette/tobacco smoke directly into their faces for eight hours, and due to the nature of their work, table dealers are unable to take their eyes away from the table, so they bear through the thick smoke that surrounds their workplace.”

Fain rejected smoking rooms as a solution, calling the suggestion “preposterous," and said it will oppose any amendment allowing anything less than a total ban on smoking in the casinos.

Currently, smoking is allowed on 25% of the casino floor. But those spaces are not contiguous, and are scattered widely throughout the premises.

At a Nov. 30 hearing in the state Senate, several lawmakers said they are willing to consider smoking rooms as a compromise.

The Casino Association of New Jersey did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Nor did state Sen. Joseph Vitale, chairman of the committee that will conduct this week's hearing.

Chris Moyer, a spokesperson for the Atlantic City casino workers who want a smoking ban, said similar movements are under way in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Kansas, Michigan and Nevada, and noted Connecticut’s casinos are already smoke-free. Shreveport, Louisiana ended a smoking ban in its casinos in June.

“Workers should leave work in the same condition they arrived,” Fain wrote. “Union. Non-union. Factory, office, casino, or any workplace in between, worker safety must be the #1 goal of every employer and worker throughout the state.”

___

Follow Wayne Parry on X, formerly Twitter, at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

How an Army of Drones Changed the Battlefield in Ukraine

By: Franz-Stefan Gady
DECEMBER 06, 2023

Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, recently wrote in the Economist that the war against Russia had entered a stalemate in which neither side currently seems capable of a strategic breakthrough. His comments came after five months of heavy fighting, during which the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to achieve significant territorial gains. Reasons for the lack of progress include the Russians’ formidable system of layered defenses, willingness to take high losses in lives and materiel, and fierce local counterattacks. Ukraine’s initially uncoordinated and poorly executed attacks, as well as some delays in the delivery of Western weapons and limits to the amounts and types of arms given to Ukraine, surely played a role as well.

The new conventional wisdom that ever-present swarms of drones have made it almost impossible to attack and achieve success therefore needs to be qualified.

Some analysts, however, argue that the Ukrainian advance has been stopped by something much more fundamental than minefields and trenches: the changing character of warfare itself.

The advent of pervasive surveillance, these observers argue, has created a newly transparent battlefield. Ubiquitous drones and other technologies make it possible to track, in real time, any troop movements by either side, making it all but impossible to hide massing forces and concentrations of armored vehicles from the enemy. That same surveillance then makes sure that forces, once detected, are immediately hit by barrages of artillery rounds, missiles, and suicide drones. Sustaining any attempt at a breakthrough has become a most difficult proposition.

Read the full article from Foreign Policy.

Chinese Media Outlet Global Times: 'With Or Without The War In Ukraine, It Is Impossible To Eliminate Russia'

December 12, 2023
Russia, China | Special Dispatch No. 11013

On December 8, 2023, the Chinese media outlet Global Times published an article titled "US' 'Fighting A Proxy War To Avoid A Real NATO-Russia War' Rhetoric Is Absurd." According to Global Times, providing more aid to Ukraine is not "the solution to avoid the possibility of a war between the countries that have the top two strongest militaries in the world." The article goes on: "The US and NATO should understand that with or without the war in Ukraine, it is impossible to eliminate Russia. When they start to give up their agenda to fight Moscow untiringly, the world perhaps will become a place where neither Russia, Ukraine, the US, nor other NATO countries will have to worry if they will have to fight to the last drop of their people's blood."


(Source: Global Times)

Following is the Global Times' article:[1]

"Russia's Victory In This Conflict Is What The West Does Not Want To See"

"While the US is running out of money to support Kiev in its war with Moscow, in despair, President Joe Biden has turned to a seeming alarmist talk to 'scare' Congress into paying more aid to Ukraine as soon as possible. But, in fact, no matter what the future holds for Ukraine, one thing is certain: For the sake of their selfish, geopolitical interests, the US and NATO will continue regarding Russia as their biggest enemy.

"On Wednesday, a bill authorizing tens of billions of dollars in emergency spending, including aid to Ukraine, faltered in the Senate. Earlier, Biden called on Congress to pass supplemental funding for Kiev before the holiday recess. He claimed that if Moscow wins the war with Kiev, keeps going, and then attacks a NATO ally, 'then we'll have something that we don't seek and that we don't have today – American troops fighting Russian troops.'

"As some media in the US points out, this is Biden's sternest warning regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Biden acts like a cat on a hot tin roof on this issue because his fate in next year's presidential election is tightly linked to the fate of Ukraine.

"Imagine if the US, the largest single donor to Kiev and one of its firmest supporters in the world, reduces its Ukraine aid. Amid the growing war-weariness in the West, this will certainly deflate Europe's willingness to support Ukraine. In that case, how the war will end is quite obvious.

"Russia's victory in this conflict is what the West does not want to see, and it is the same for the Biden administration since it won't be able to prove its diplomatic ability to voters during a critical US presidential election year. Therefore, Biden is still going to keep pushing for more Ukraine aid as soon as possible, taking into consideration his desire to boost his votes during the upcoming election cycle and continue to wear Russia down on the battlefield.

"The Process Of Further Containing Moscow Will Never Stop"

"Biden's sensationalist words also show a consistent position from the political elite in Washington – that is, their goal of seeking a lasting containment of Russia remains the same. Right now, Ukraine is an extremely valuable strategic tool for these people to utilize. The US will certainly support Kiev because the cost of not doing so is too high. At the same time, the process of further containing Moscow will never stop.

"The confrontational pattern between NATO and the US on one side and Russia on the other has long been formed. The matter now is how deep NATO and the US want to be involved in their confrontation with Russia. At present, they are fighting a proxy war by supporting Kiev in the rear. However, since they seem to be ready to 'fight to the last drop of the Ukrainian blood,' whose blood will they use once Ukrainian blood dries?

"Washington has repeatedly emphasized that it makes every effort to avoid a head-on conflict with Moscow. The horrible scenario of 'American troops fighting Russian troops' in Biden's remarks aims to remind members of Congress that to fight a proxy war with Moscow is more economical and effective, as well as in line with US' interests, than to fight a US/NATO-Russia war. However, as another election cycle approaches, the danger is that the senators and representatives are too caught up in the game of partisan struggle to take Biden's warning very seriously.

"Nevertheless, providing more aid to Ukraine is not the solution to avoid the possibility of a war between the countries that have the top two strongest militaries in the world. The US and NATO should understand that with or without the war in Ukraine, it is impossible to eliminate Russia. When they start to give up their agenda to fight Moscow untiringly, the world perhaps will become a place where neither Russia, Ukraine, the US, nor other NATO countries will have to worry if they will have to fight to the last drop of their people's blood."



[1] Eng.chinamil.com.cn/OPINIONS_209196/Opinions_209197/16272168.html, December 12, 2023. The article was written by Li Jiayao.

Israeli activists say they received death threats for opposing Israeli attacks on Gaza

'Just because of my political views, I have received some death threats,' Israeli human rights activist Alon Ysan Cohen tells Anadolu

Turgut Alp Boyraz and Bekir Aydogan |12.12.2023 - 


- 'Just because of my political views, I have received some death threats,' Israeli human rights activist Alon Ysan Cohen tells Anadolu

- 'I cannot express how disgusted I am by what my people are doing in name of democracy,' Jonathan Gabinovic, another activist, says

TEL AVIV, Israel

Israeli human rights activists said that they received death threats for opposing attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In the attacks that have been ongoing for over two months on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army, thousands of Palestinian children and women have been killed.


While the majority of Israeli society supports these attacks, there are also a small number of Israelis who oppose the war.

One of them, Alon Ysan Cohen, told Anadolu: "I follow what is happening in Gaza, I see the suffering, I see the killing, I see the massacre. About 20,000 people (Palestinians) have been killed, maybe even more, and it breaks my heart. This is terrible! I think we need to stop immediately. I believe this is inhumane. We need to stop the suffering in Gaza."

Cohen, who shares his views on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, said: "Just because of my political views, I have received some death threats in my inbox, some very ugly curses, and very ugly personal insults. This scares me a lot when expressing my political opinion, but I still do it.”

A few weeks ago, when I opposed the war, I received death threats in my inbox again. So, speaking right now is very scary for me, but I still feel it's crucial to raise my voice against the war. Because very few people in Israel are currently speaking out against the war. I want to be one of them. I want to say that it's time for the world to stand against (war)," he added.

Cohen asserted that the only solution to the problem lies in dialogue and negotiation and said: "(War) inflicts pain on Palestinians, brings more violence here (to Israel), brings more hatred, and causes this place to descend into increasing darkness. We must stop this trend towards more darkness. We should talk, find solutions, and find a way to make this place better for everyone. We must find a way for everyone to live here equally, together, in peace, and with justice."

‘This war is absolutely unbearable’

Jonathan Gabinovic, 19, who participated in an anti-war demonstration in Tel Aviv, is one of the Israeli human rights activists raising their voices against the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Gabinovic said that as a Jew living in Israel, it is very difficult to oppose war and the killing of civilians due to societal pressure.

"In recent years, I have been increasingly exposed to the Israel-Palestine conflict. I've seen the Palestinians, I've seen their suffering, and this war is absolutely unbearable," he said.

He emphasized that the pain inflicted by the Israeli army is not limited to Gaza alone, recalling a message from a Palestinian friend living in the occupied West Bank two weeks ago: "He said that a friend's child was shot in the head by the Israeli army, not in Gaza but in the West Bank. This is a crime, this is a war crime."

He said that many people in Israel who were previously left-leaning now support right-wing parties due to this war. "They say, 'I wish I were still left-wing, but this war is unbearable, and I have to be right-wing now. I have to support my party and my people.' There is a lot of pressure from families, people on the street, the police, the army, anyone who speaks Hebrew, and everyone living here. For me, living now is one of the most challenging periods I have ever been through."

He said: "I have seen a lot of death throughout my life, but this is something entirely new and terrible. I cannot express how disgusted I am by what my people are doing in the name of democracy. We are killing children in the name of legitimate defense, and it's incredibly terrible. I can't find words to describe this in my heart. It's heartbreaking; I suffer a lot, and if I were to say that I support Palestinians, I would be silenced, threatened, or assaulted on the streets. If I speak against the war or against the soldiers."


"People in Tel Aviv are moving around the city with weapons like militants. Israel is under the command of Ben-Gvir's M16 militants, and it's very frightening. I can't go to my own city without people carrying weapons. Everyone I see right now is holding a gun. The process of getting a gun license is very easy because they want blood, they want chaos, they want control, they want power," he added.

Gabinovic went on to say that the conflict between Israel and Palestine did not start on Oct. 7 but with the rise to power of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the most radical minister in the cabinet, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

"They have been suppressing Palestinians for decades. They don't hear us and our pain. It's so difficult; I don't know how to live here, and I don't know how to say 'I am with you' to my (Palestinian) friends. I couldn't talk to them because of the horror they are experiencing. I tried, but it was very difficult to talk to them. My Palestinian friends are currently under siege," he added.


"Since the beginning of the war, 256 people have died in the West Bank. It's not Gaza; it's not a conflict zone. It's the West Bank. And since last Friday in Gaza, 900 people have died, and it's very tough," he added.

Critiquing the support the US provides to Israel, Gabinovic said: "The US sends more money here, to the Middle East, and sends a nuclear aircraft carrier to threaten and supposedly protect (Israeli) democracy. This is very shocking. It's a proxy war, and it's unbelievable."

Asked if he still has hope for peace after all these events, he said: "I want to believe that there is hope and that I can live in peace with other nations and people. However, right now, there is a very dark period in the history of Israel and Palestine. This is the bloodiest and most disgusting war in Israel and Palestine."


"To be honest, right now, I just want to stay alive. If I'm going to be shot on the street, I can't see hope. If people are going to threaten me, or if I can't talk about hope with my Arab friends, I can't see hope. Still, deep down, I see hope. I continue to fight against fascism, right-wing extremism, and occupation, but right now, it's very tough," he added.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul

Head of UN agency for Palestinians voices disappointment over Swiss cut in funds

Philippe Lazzarini says he hopes Swiss officials will rethink decision

Beyza Binnur Donmez |12.12.2023 


GENEVA

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA on Tuesday voiced disappointment over Switzerland's move to cut aid to the agency, saying he hoped the Swiss officials would change their minds.

"Disheartened by Switzerland Parliament's national council move to cut aid to UNRWA, as the agency is recognized as a major humanitarian actor in Gaza and the region," Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

"Hope the Senate will revise this decision as UNRWA is the first responder in Gaza and a lifeline for millions," Lazzarini stressed.

He underlined that he is "disappointed" by the fact that this decision came from "a country that leads on International Humanitarian Law."

"I am disappointed in this decision to cut aid to the largest and most active Humanitarian Agency on the ground in Gaza today," he said. "Cutting funds jeopardizes services during an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe."

Partners of the agency also said on X that the decision puts at risk critical operations to respond to ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

On Tuesday, the Swiss Council of States, the small chamber of the Swiss parliament in which the cantons are represented, voted unanimously to ban the Palestinian group Hamas in Switzerland.

However the final decision will be made at the National Council, the large chamber of the Swiss parliament. The vote is expected to take place next week.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 18,412 Palestinians have been killed and 50,100 others injured in the Israeli onslaught since then, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, according to official figures.

Diverted Delta passengers spend the night in remote military barracks in Canada

By Marnie Hunter, CNN
Tue December 12, 2023

Delta Air Lines passenger planes are seen parked in a file photo.

Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

CNN —

Hundreds of airline passengers bound for Detroit spent Sunday night in a remote Canadian military barracks after their Delta Air Lines jet experienced mechanical issues, the airline said.

Delta Flight 135, carrying 270 customers, three pilots and seven flight attendants from Amsterdam to the US, made the unexpected overnight detour to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador “out of an abundance of caution,” Delta said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot of the Airbus 330 “reported problems with deicing equipment and diverted to Happy Valley-Goose Bay Airport in Canada around 3:15 p.m. local time.” The FAA said it will investigate.

“Crew duty times were impacted due to weather and runway conditions at the Goose Bay airport causing the airport to suspend operations,” Delta said, and the passengers stayed overnight Sunday in military barracks in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, a community of about 8,000 residents in Central Labrador. Goose Bay Airfield is home to military and civilian operations with two major runways.

The airline worked with local officials to provide food and accommodations for passengers, and Delta said it is providing compensation to affected customers but declined to offer specifics.

“Delta sent additional aircraft to Goose Bay to bring customers to their final destination Monday. We apologize to customers for this inconvenience,” the airline said.

CNN has reached out to Goose Bay Airport, which handles an average of 160,000 passengers a year, for additional information.

Delta flight carrying 270 diverted to remote Canadian town

Delta flight 135 from Amsterdam was diverted to Goose Bay Airport on Sunday.

ByClara McMichael
December 12, 2023

A Delta Air Lines flight carrying 270 people was diverted to a remote Canadian town for nearly 24 hours due to a mechanical issue with the plane, according to the airline. The Federal Aviation Administration said there was an issue was with the plane's de-icing equipment.

Delta flight 135 from Amsterdam to Detroit diverted to Goose Bay Airport in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday.

The airport is located in the remote town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, which has a population of around 8,000 people.

According to Delta, crew duty times were impacted due to weather and runway conditions that caused the airport to suspend operations.

The airline sent a rescue aircraft but the crew of that plane timed out. Delta sent another flight to pick up the passengers but that flight was not scheduled to depart Goose Bay until Monday afternoon.

Delta said it worked with officials on the ground to provide food and accommodations for customers. The passengers stayed in military barracks overnight.

"We apologize to customers for this inconvenience as we continue to work to make them comfortable," Delta said.

The FAA said it will investigate.

Bosnian capital Sarajevo covered by smog

Data shows air pollution at 18.7 times WHO annual air quality guideline value, posing public health risk

Talha Ozturk |12.12.2023 - 

A general view of Sarajevo covered with fog of polluted air as it is hardly seen from Trebevic Mountain due to intense air pollution showing its effects during winter in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 11, 2023. 

( Samir Jordamovic - Anadolu Agency )

BELGRADE, Serbia

The arrival of winter has shrouded Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, under a blanket of air pollution, according to figures released Tuesday by air quality technology firm IQAir.

The Swiss company's data showed that air pollution in Sarajevo was 171 based on the US Air Quality Index, an indicator used by the US Environmental Protection Agency that denotes greater pollution as the reading goes up. This was also 18.7 times the UN World Health Organization (WHO) annual air quality guideline value.

Known for its historical and natural beauty, the city has become nearly invisible from the high surrounding mountains from the thick smog.

Air pollution in Sarajevo is mainly caused by the exhaust of old-model vehicles, as well as low-calorie fuels used for heating.

It is not the only city in the Western Balkans to suffer from poor air quality. The air pollution level in North Macedonia's capital Skopje is 154, according to IQAir.

Air pollution accounts for many premature deaths, poor health, and lower educational test scores, according to numerous studies.

Israel and US show sharp divisions over mounting casualties and future of war against Hamas


The Associated Press
December 12, 2023

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and the United States on Tuesday showed their sharpest public disagreement yet over the conduct and future of the war against Hamas as the two allies became increasingly isolated by global calls for a cease-fire.

The dispute emerged while Israeli forces carried out strikes across Gaza, crushing Palestinians in homes.

President Joe Biden said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” and that Netanyahu should change his government, which is dominated by hard-right parties.

Biden’s comments came as the White House national security adviser heads to Israel this week to discuss with Netanyahu a timetable for the war — and what happens if Hamas is defeated. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel next week for a visit the Pentagon said aims to show U.S. support for Israel but also to press the need to avoid more civilian casualties in Gaza.

The war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel has already brought unprecedented death and destruction to the impoverished coastal enclave, with much of northern Gaza obliterated, more than 18,000 Palestinians killed and over 80% of the population of 2.3 million pushed from their homes.

The U.S. has urged Israel to do more to reduce civilian casualties since it launched its invasion of southern Gaza at the beginning of the month. But the toll has continued to mount at seemingly the same dizzying rate.

The health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of Gaza, amid Israel’s blockade of the territory and intense airstrikes and fighting, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people in overcrowded shelters and tent camps.

DEVASTATION IN THE NORTH

Gaza City and much of the surrounding north have already suffered widespread destruction from more than two months of bombardment. Amid the rubble, Israeli ground troops are still locked in heavy combat with Palestinian fighters, more than six weeks after soldiers invaded the north.

Fierce clashes raged Tuesday in Gaza City’s Zaytoun and Shijaiya neighborhoods, as well as in Jabaliya, a densely built urban refugee camp, residents said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians remain in the north, huddled in homes or in U.N. schools-turned-shelters. As airstrikes and drones smash houses, first responders are unable to reach anyone buried in the wreckage, residents said.

“It was massive,” Mustafa Abu Taha, an agricultural worker, said of the sound of gunfire and explosions in Shijaiya, where he lives

Ama Radwan, a woman sheltering in a school in Jabaliya, said the situation was “catastrophic,” as Israeli troops tried to advance deep into the district and unleashed heavy fire against fighters.

“Whenever the resistance hit them, they hit us very hard. It has become crazy. They strike everywhere with no regard to women or children,” she said.

Outside Gaza City, Israeli troops using a controlled detonation blew up a school run by UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Footage posted online showed soldiers cheering as they watched the building collapse in a giant blast and pall of smoke.

UNRWA chief Phillippe Lazzarini confirmed the demolition in a post on X Tuesday, calling it “outrageous.” There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. On Saturday, it said militants opened fire from inside an UNRWA school in the town.

Israel also has begun flooding some Hamas tunnels, a U.S. official confirmed Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the action. Israelis said they are testing the targeted flooding of tunnels on a limited basis and are exploring the idea as one of a range of options to degrade the tunnel network, according to another U.S. official familiar with the matter.

President Joe Biden said during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that there were assertions that no hostages were in Gaza tunnels being flooded with seawater by the Israelis, but “I don’t know that for a fact.”
‘INDISCRIMINATE BOMBING’

Biden’s comments were a startlingly direct criticism of Israel even as his administration continues to give unwavering diplomatic and military support for the military campaign in Gaza in the face of mounting international outrage.

The U.N. secretary-general and Arab states have rallied much of the international community behind calls for an immediate cease-fire. But the U.S. vetoed those efforts at the U.N. Security Council last week as it rushed tank munitions to Israel to allow it to maintain the offensive.

A nonbinding vote on a similar resolution at the U.N. General Assembly passed overwhelmingly Tuesday. The vote demanding a cease-fire is largely symbolic, but it serves as an important barometer of world opinion.

Israel launched the campaign after Hamas and other militants streamed into the south on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 others hostage. About half of those remain in captivity. At least 105 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive, the army says.

Israel and the U.S. say any cease-fire that leaves Hamas in power would mean victory for the militant group, which has governed Gaza since 2007 and has pledged to destroy Israel. Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas, saying it positions fighters, tunnels and rocket launchers in dense urban areas, using civilians as human shields.

But the two allies have also had differences over the timetable of the war and over how Gaza should be ruled in the future.

In a briefing with the AP on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the current phase of heavy ground fighting and airstrikes could stretch on for weeks and further military activity could continue for months.

Netanyahu has said the military will have to keep open-ended security control of Gaza after the war ends.

The Biden administration has said Israel should not return to a military occupation and the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza as talks resume on creating a Palestinian state next to Israel.

Netanyahu appeared to firmly rule that out Tuesday, acknowledging “there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas.’”

“I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo,” he said, referring to the peace process in the 1990s that created the Palestinian Authority and was intended to reach a two-state solution. The authority governs pockets of the occupied West Bank and governed Gaza until the Hamas takeover in 2007.
STRIKES AND RAIDS ACROSS GAZA

Strikes overnight and into Tuesday in southern Gaza — where almost all of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million is now crowded — killed dozens, according to hospital records.

Islam Harb’s three children were among those killed when Israeli airstrikes flattened four residential buildings in the town of Rafah on the Egyptian border. At least 23 people were killed, including seven children and six women, according to an Associated Press reporter who saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.

“My twin girls, Maria and Joud, were martyred, and my little son, Ammar, also martyred,” Harb said.

In central Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received the bodies of 33 people killed in strikes overnight, including 16 women and four children, according to hospital records. Many were killed in strikes that hit residential buildings in the built-up Maghazi refugee camp.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, ordering all men, including medics, into the courtyard, said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry. The hospital had 65 patients in intensive care and six newborns in incubators, the U.N. said, and some 3,000 displaced people were sheltering there with little food or water.


The Israeli military says it is rounding up men in northern Gaza as it searches for Hamas fighters. Photos and videos circulating online show groups of detainees stripped to their underwear, bound and blindfolded, and some who have been released say they were beaten and denied food and water.

Asked about the hospital, the military said it “continues to act against Hamas strongholds in the north of Gaza,” including Beit Lahia and takes “all feasible precautions to mitigate harm to noncombatants.”

___

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jack Jeffery in Cairo and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed.

___

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Copyright © 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Nearly a fifth of Gaza's buildings destroyed or damaged: UN

Around 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of the population, have fled their homes as a result of the Israeli forces' aerial and ground attack against Gaza since October 7, 2023



AA

An earlier UN assessment released on November 7 said that 25,050 buildings had been damaged or destroyed or about 10 percent of the total structures in Gaza. / Photo: AA

Nearly 40,000 buildings or about 18 percent of all pre-conflict structures have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza since the conflict began, a UN assessment has showed.

The latest estimate, based on a Nov. 26 image, was produced by the United Nations Satellite Centre, where analysts examine very high resolution satellite images to find damaged buildings and publish maps that can guide relief work and rebuilding plans during natural disasters and conflicts.

Estimates such as this based on high-resolution satellite images might still under-estimate the scale of destruction since they do not show all building damage - for example, a collapsed building with an intact roof can look undamaged.

"There has been a 49 percent increase in the total number of damaged structures, highlighting the escalating impact of the conflict on civilian infrastructures," UNOSAT said in a statement.

The assessment showed the worst affected areas were the two northern governorates of Gaza and North Gaza, which collectively accounted for 29,732 buildings of the 37,379 damaged or destroyed, or about 80 percent of the total.

Massive destruction

An earlier UN assessment released on November 7 said that 25,050 buildings had been damaged or destroyed or about 10 percent of the total structures in Gaza.

UNOSAT did not estimate damage by type of building. Some figures from Gazan authorities earlier in the conflict indicated widespread damage to housing.

One estimate quoted in a UN report on October 21 estimated that at least 42 percent of all housing units had been destroyed or damaged.

Around 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of the population, have fled their homes as a result of the Israeli forces' brutal aerial and ground attack against Gaza since October 7.

Establishment of independent Palestinian state would end violence in region, says Russian Islamic leader

Continuation of violence to lead to new conflicts, says head of Russian Muftis Council

Dmitri Chirciu |12.12.2023 



MOSCOW

The establishment of an independent Palestinian state would end violence and ensure long-term peace and stability in the region, the head of the Russian Muftis Council said Tuesday.

Ravil Gaynutdin said at the 19th Muslim Forum in Moscow that Russia is in favor of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"This is the fundamental solution to end violence, ensure long-term peace and stable development in the Middle East, global security and reduce tensions around the world,” he said.

Emphasizing that the issue should be resolved politically, he said the continuation of violence would lead to new conflicts.

“Without just and comprehensive peace in the Holy Land (Jerusalem), no one's security in the region can be ensured. The Middle East issue remains one of the most complex global problems from the beginning,” he said.

He stressed that the current crisis can only be resolved by the formation of a “just world order” based on the principles of multipolarity and the balance of different centers of power.

Mahmud Erol Kilic, the head of the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), said the result of aggressive actions against Palestinians in Gaza is a clear violation of international law.

Kilic said religion should play an important role in guiding people in this period.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza has soared to 18,412, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said Monday.

At least 50,100 others have been injured, according to ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.

He said 22 hospitals and 46 primary care centers were forced out of service due to the bombardment.

“At least 296 medics were also killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7,” added al-Qudra.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza following an attack Oct. 7 by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Israeli border towns.​​​​​​​

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar

Support dwindling as Israel ramps up offensive in Gaza

By —Najib Jobain, Associated Press
By —Wafaa Shurafa, Associated Press
By —Samy Magdy, Associated Press

World Dec 12, 2023 

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces carried out strikes across Gaza overnight and into Tuesday as they pressed ahead with an offensive that officials say could go on for weeks or months, even as global calls for a cease-fire left both Israel and its main ally, the United States, increasingly isolated.

Live updates: Israel promises to keep fighting in Gaza ahead of non-binding UN cease-fire vote

The war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel has already brought unprecedented death and destruction to the impoverished coastal enclave, with much of northern Gaza obliterated, more than 18,000 Palestinians killed, and over 80% of the population of 2.3 million pushed from their homes.

The health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of the besieged enclave, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people in overcrowded shelters and tent camps.
Strikes and raids across Gaza

Strikes overnight and into Tuesday in southern Gaza — in an area where civilians have been told to seek shelter — killed at least 23 people, including seven children and six women, according to hospital records and an Associated Press reporter who saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.

Islam Harb’s three children were among those killed overnight when Israeli airstrikes flattened four residential buildings in the the town of Rafah on the Egyptian border. The family was sharing their home with nine displaced people, he said.

“My twin girls, Maria and Joud, were martyred, and my little son, Ammar, also martyred,” he said.

In central Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received the bodies of 33 people killed in strikes overnight, including 16 women and four children, according to hospital records. Many were killed in strikes that hit residential buildings in the built-up Maghazi refugee camp.

In northern Gaza, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, ordering all men, including medics, into the courtyard, said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

READ MORE: International criticism grows as Israel says it’s prepared for long fight in Gaza

The U.N. humanitarian office said the hospital has 65 patients, including 12 children in intensive care and six newborns in incubators. Some 3,000 displaced people are sheltering there, it said, all awaiting evacuation because of severe shortages of food, water and electricity.

The military says it is rounding up men in northern Gaza as it searches for Hamas fighters. Photos and videos circulating online show groups of detainees stripped to their underwear, bound and blindfolded, and some who have been released say they were beaten and denied food and water.

At another hospital in northern Gaza, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said a surgeon was wounded Monday by a shot fired from outside the facility, which it says has been under “total siege” by Israeli forces for a week.

There was no immediate comment from the military on either incident in the north.
Calls for a cease-fire

Israel launched the campaign after Hamas broke through its defenses and militants streamed into the south on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and seizing about 240 others, of which about half remain in captivity. At least 105 Israeli soldiers have died in the Gaza ground offensive, the army says.

Israel’s blockade of the territory — and intense airstrikes and ground fighting that have made aid nearly impossible to distribute — have led to severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods. The offensive has resulted in the deaths of over 18,000 Palestinians, according to health officials. They do not give a breakdown of civilians and combatants but say roughly two-thirds of the dead are women and minors.

Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas, saying it positions fighters, tunnels and rocket launchers in dense urban areas, using civilians as human shields.

The U.N. secretary-general and Arab states have rallied much of the international community behind calls for an immediate cease-fire. But the U.S. vetoed those efforts at the U.N. Security Council last week as it rushed tank munitions to Israel to allow it to maintain the offensive.

WATCH: U.S. vetoes UN resolution for cease-fire as Israel ramps up airstrikes in Gaza

A nonbinding vote on a similar resolution at the General Assembly scheduled for Tuesday would be largely symbolic.

Israel and the U.S. argue that any cease-fire that leaves Hamas in power, even over a small part of the devastated territory, would mean victory for the militant group, which has governed Gaza since 2007 and has pledged to destroy Israel.

Crushing Hamas seen as ‘tall order’

In a briefing with the AP on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the current phase of heavy ground fighting and airstrikes could stretch on for weeks and that further military activity could continue for months.

But many experts consider Israel’s aims to be unrealistic, pointing to Hamas’ deep base of support among many Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank, who see it as resisting Israel’s half-century of military rule.

Even just destroying Hamas’ military capability “will be a tall order without decimating what remains of Gaza,” said the International Crisis Group, a think tank, in a report over the weekend that also called for an immediate cease-fire.

Israeli officials have said some 7,000 Hamas militants — roughly one-quarter of the group’s estimated fighting force — have been killed and that 500 militants have been detained in Gaza over the past month. Hamas, which fired a barrage of rockets Monday that wounded one person in a Tel Aviv suburb, says it still has thousands of reserve fighters. None of the claims could be verified.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, meanwhile, has repeatedly traded fire with Israel, and other Iran-backed groups across the region have attacked U.S. targets, threatening to widen the conflict. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have targeted Israeli shipping, attacked a tanker in the Red Sea with no clear ties to the country overnight.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed.

Israel strikes across Gaza as the offensive leaves both it and the US increasingly isolated

Israeli soldiers take positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS | ap@dfmdev.com
PUBLISHED: December 12, 2023 

By NAJIB JOBAIN, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces carried out strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, crushing Palestinians in homes, as the military pressed ahead with an offensive that officials say could go on for weeks or months, even while global calls for a cease-fire leave Israel and its main ally, the United States, increasingly isolated.

The war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel has already brought unprecedented death and destruction to the impoverished coastal enclave, with much of northern Gaza obliterated, more than 18,000 Palestinians killed and over 80% of the population of 2.3 million pushed from their homes. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of Gaza, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people in overcrowded shelters and tent camps.

STRIKES AND RAIDS ACROSS GAZA

Strikes overnight and into Tuesday in southern Gaza — in areas where civilians have been told to seek shelter — killed dozens, according to hospital records.

Islam Harb’s three children were among those killed when Israeli airstrikes flattened four residential buildings in the town of Rafah on the Egyptian border. The family was sharing their home with nine displaced people, he said.

At least 23 people were killed in the strikes, including seven children and six women, according to hospital records and an Associated Press reporter who saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.

“My twin girls, Maria and Joud, were martyred, and my little son, Ammar, also martyred,” Harb said.

In central Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received the bodies of 33 people killed in strikes overnight, including 16 women and four children, according to hospital records. Many were killed in strikes that hit residential buildings in the built-up Maghazi refugee camp.

In northern Gaza, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, ordering all men, including medics, into the courtyard, said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The U.N. humanitarian office said the hospital has 65 patients, including 12 children, in intensive care and six newborns in incubators. Some 3,000 displaced people are sheltering there, it said, all awaiting evacuation because of severe shortages of food, water and electricity.

The military says it is rounding up men in northern Gaza as it searches for Hamas fighters. Photos and videos circulating online show groups of detainees stripped to their underwear, bound and blindfolded, and some who have been released say they were beaten and denied food and water.

At another hospital in northern Gaza, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said a surgeon was wounded Monday by a shot fired from outside the facility, which it says has been under “total siege” by Israeli forces for a week.

There was no immediate comment from the military on either incident in the north.

CALLS FOR A CEASE-FIRE

Israel launched the campaign after Hamas and other terrorists streamed into the south on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 others hostage, of whom about half remain in captivity. At least 105 Israeli soldiers have died in the Gaza ground offensive, the army says.

Israel’s blockade of the territory — and intense airstrikes and ground fighting that have made aid nearly impossible to distribute — have led to severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.

Palestinian health officials do not give a breakdown of civilian and combatant deaths but say roughly two-thirds of the dead are women and minors.

Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas, saying it positions fighters, tunnels and rocket launchers in dense urban areas, using civilians as human shields.

The U.N. secretary-general and Arab states have rallied much of the international community behind calls for an immediate cease-fire. But the U.S. vetoed those efforts at the U.N. Security Council last week as it rushed tank munitions to Israel to allow it to maintain the offensive.

A nonbinding vote on a similar resolution at the General Assembly scheduled for Tuesday would be largely symbolic.

Israel and the U.S. argue that any cease-fire that leaves Hamas in power, even over a small part of the devastated territory, would mean victory for the group, which has governed Gaza since 2007 and has pledged to destroy Israel.

ISRAEL-US SPLIT OVER FUTURE

While the U.S. has given wholehearted diplomatic and military support to Israel’s campaign, the two allies are wider apart over the timetable of the war and what comes afterward in Gaza if Hamas is defeated. The U.S. has also urged Israel to do more to prevent civilian casualties, but the toll in Gaza has continued to mount at seemingly the same dizzying rate.

In a briefing with the AP on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the current phase of heavy ground fighting and airstrikes could stretch on for weeks and that further military activity could continue for months.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he will speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about timetables for ending major combat in Gaza when he visits Israel later this week.

Speaking at a forum hosted by the Wall Street Journal, Sullivan said he would also speak to Netanyahu about his recent comments that the Israeli military would maintain an open-ended security control of Gaza after the war ends.

The Biden administration says it does not want to see Israel reoccupy Gaza. It has also called for a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority to Gaza and the resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Netanyahu on Tuesday acknowledged “there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’.” He ruled out a return of Palestinian Authority rule, saying “I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo,” referring to the peace process in the 1990s that created the authority in the West Bank and Gaza and was intended to reach a two-state solution.

Many experts consider Israel’s aim to crush Hamas to be unrealistic, pointing to Hamas’ deep base of support among many Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, who see it as resisting Israel’s half-century of military rule.

Even just destroying Hamas’ military capability “will be a tall order without decimating what remains of Gaza,” said the International Crisis Group, a think tank, in a report over the weekend that also called for an immediate cease-fire.

Israeli officials have said some 7,000 Hamas members — roughly one-quarter of the group’s estimated fighting force — have been killed and that 500 others have been detained in Gaza over the past month. Hamas says it still has thousands of reserve fighters. None of the claims could be verified.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, meanwhile, has repeatedly traded fire with Israel, and other Iran-backed groups across the region have attacked U.S. targets, threatening to widen the conflict. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have targeted Israeli shipping, attacked a tanker in the Red Sea with no clear ties to the country overnight.

___

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jack Jeffery in Cairo and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed.

Trudeau seeks ‘sustainable ceasefire’ in Gaza alongside Australia, New Zealand PMs

OTTAWA
THE CANADIAN PRESS

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

People search through the rubble of damaged buildings following an Israeli air strike on Palestinian houses, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 12, 2023

STAFF/REUTERS

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Israel and Hamas must work toward “a sustainable ceasefire,” starting with another pause in hostilities.

The comment comes in a joint statement with Trudeau’s Australian and New Zealand counterparts, hours ahead of a United Nations vote on whether to call for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

The statement calls for Hamas to release the hostages from its “heinous” Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and notes the group is responsible for sexual violence and “using Palestinian civilians as human shields.”

The leaders are also calling for “safe and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the Gaza Strip and for Israel to stop its siege of the territory.

The statement says Hamas cannot be allowed to govern Gaza, while adding that Israel cannot reoccupy the territory nor displace Palestinians.

The leaders also want another multi-day truce like one last month that allowed the flow of humanitarian aid and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, advocates for those hostages are on Parliament Hill today to press the government to impose sanctions on individual members of Hamas.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand back efforts towards Gaza ceasefire -statement
ReutersDecember 12, 2023


Palestinians gather outside Nasser hospital following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis, December 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Acquire Licensing Rights

OTTAWA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Canada, Australia and New Zealand support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, the prime ministers of the three countries said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians," they said in the statement.

A ceasefire cannot be one-sided and Hamas must release all hostages and stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, they added.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by David Ljunggren

Ancient Roman home with 'unparalleled' mosaic found in Italy

Rome (AFP) – Italian archaeologists have uncovered a luxurious Roman home near the Colosseum, boasting an "unparalleled" mosaic featuring shells, marble and precious glass, the culture ministry said Tuesday.

Issued on: 12/12/2023 

The domus is an early example of "luxuria", the displaying of wealth and rank through sumptuous villas and lifestyles. 

© Handout / ITALIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE/AFP

Three large ships ride waves in the mosaic towards a coastal city, its walls dotted with small towers and porticoes in a scene suggesting the owner of the more than 2,000-year-old home, or domus, had been victorious in battle.

The building, which dates to between the second half of the 2nd century BC and the end of the 1st century BC, is "an authentic treasure", Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said in a statement.

Brought to light after archaeologists discovered a series of walls in 2018, the domus is spread over several floors. So far only some rooms have been excavated, and the dig will continue well into 2024.

Set around an atrium, the domus's main room is a banquet hall styled as a grotto, which was used during the summer months, the ministry said.

The mosaic scene suggests the owner of the more than 2,000-year-old home, or domus, had been victorious in battle.

 © Handout / ITALIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE/AFP

The owner, a nobleman likely to have been a senator, would have entertained guests with "spectacular water games", thanks to lead pipes set between the decorated walls, it said.

But what "makes the discovery exceptional is... an extraordinary wall covered with a so-called 'rustic' mosaic unparalleled in terms of the chronology and the complexity of the scenes depicted," it added.
Trumpets, warships, tridents

A "complex sequence" of scenes are depicted through "different types of shells, Egyptian blue tesserae, precious glass, minute flakes of white marble or other types of stone", according to the ministry.

Among the vines and lotus leaves lie piles of weapons with Celtic-type trumpets, warships, and tridents, "alluding perhaps to a double triumph, terrestrial and naval, of the owner of the domus".

There is "a fascinating depiction" of a landscape, complete with coastal city and a cliff, simulated with travertine rock, facing "the sea ploughed by three large ships, one of which has raised sails".

"The representation of a coastal city could allude to a warlike conquest by the owner of the domus, belonging to an aristocratic personage, presumably of senatorial rank," the ministry said.

Archaeologists also uncovered a white stucco "of the highest quality" in the adjoining reception room.

"We will work intensively to make this place, one of the most evocative in ancient Rome, accessible to the public as soon as possible," said Alfonsina Russo, head of the Colosseum Archaeological Park.

The domus is spread over several levels but only a few rooms have been excavated so far. © Handout / ITALIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE/AFP

The domus is an early example of "luxuria", the displaying of wealth and rank through sumptuous villas and lifestyles.

It is also supports historical sources which describe the extensive residences of great Roman senatorial families in the north-western area of the Palatine, one of the city's seven hills.

© 2023 AFP