Far-right activists break into Gaza, try to reestablish Israeli settlement

Some make it 500 meters into Strip before being turned back; army says makeshift structures near Erez Crossing erected within Israeli territory

ISRAELI SETTERS ARE FASCIST ISLAMOPHOBES 

By JEREMY SHARONTIMES OF ISRAEL 29 February 2024, 

Settler activists erect makeshift structures within the Erez border crossing complex leading from Israel to northern Gaza but within Israeli territory, February 29, 2024. (Courtesy: Nachala Settlement Movement)

Dozens of far-right activists broke through an Israeli military checkpoint and crossed into Gazan territory on Thursday afternoon, with some making it hundreds of meters into the Strip before being corralled by troops, the army said.

The activists had gathered at the Erez crossing between northern Gaza and Israel to rally for the rebuilding of Israeli settlements in Gaza, when they “violently broke through an IDF checkpoint,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said.

Some made it around 500 meters into the Strip, while others managed to set up at least two buildings adjacent to the border fence, declaring it the rebirth of a settlement movement ended by Israel in 2005.

The IDF said those who made it inside Gaza were eventually turned back by soldiers and taken back to Israel.

Video footage published by Army Radio shows several activists seemingly well inside Gaza being rounded up by IDF soldiers.

Other settler activists set up makeshift buildings of wood and corrugated plastic beyond the walls of the Erez crossing itself, but still on Israeli territory, the IDF said.

Pictures and videos of the event show the activists putting up their structures within the Erez Crossing complex, as well as checking their cell phones and standing around.

IDF soldiers can be seen in the background, though they did not initially interfere with their activities.

 

The Nachala settlement organization, which held a major conference at the end of January to rally support and momentum for its plans to resettle Gaza, sent out images of the activists erecting two of the buildings and affixing a mezuzah to one of them in a short religious ceremony.

The activists at the site said the “settlement” was being called New Nisanit, after the former Nisanit settlement in the far northern Gaza Strip, one of 22 Israeli settlements inside Gaza evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Strip.

Israeli settlers attempt to reach the site of the former Nisanit settlement in the northern Gaza Strip, July 26, 2007. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

The IDF said that soldiers were “with the demonstrators at all times and are working to transfer them to the Israeli police forces who were called to the scene in order to arrest them.”

The Israel Police said that officers from the southern district and from the Border Police “were forced to operate within Gaza Strip territory” due to “real danger” to the lives of the activists. Nine of the activists were arrested for violating a military order and stopping a police officer from fulfilling his duty.

It has not yet been decided whether to charge those who were detained.

The protest occurred as calls were renewed in Washington for Israel to reopen the Erez Crossing to allow easier access for humanitarian aid transfers to north Gaza, after an attempt to transfer aid into Gaza City earlier in the day set off a stampede that left over 100 Palestinians dead, according to Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza. Israel said most of those killed were trampled as thousands rushed the trucks to loot them, though it admitted opening fire at a group that also rushed toward an area where troops were stationed.

The IDF did not immediately confirm if the structures set up by the settlers were removed.

Right-wing Israelis march toward Gaza in support of resettling the Gaza Strip. February 29, 2024. (Liron Moldovan/Flash90)

The construction of the structures appears to have been part of a coordinated effort by Nachala to try and build a new settlement outpost in Gaza.

The organization sent out a notice to its activists on Wednesday inviting them to join a march to the northern Gaza border to call for “renewed settlement,” and telling them to be prepared with “appropriate gear,” including “sleeping bags for those interested.”

Israeli right-wing activists pray near the Erez crossing, during a rally calling for the rebuilding of Israeli settlements in Gaza, on February 29, 2024. (Oren ZIV / AFP)

Nachala held a rally in Jerusalem in January laying out its plans to build six new settlements in the Gaza Strip through the efforts of dedicated settler groups designated to each of the proposed new settlement sites.

Eleven cabinet ministers and 15 coalition MKs participated in the conference and pledged to rebuild the settlements, with ultra-nationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling for the “voluntary” emigration of Gazans from the territory, and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi of the Likud even endorsing the forcible transfer of Palestinians from Gaza.

Settlement activists at a conference in Jerusalem to promote the construction of Jewish settlements in Gaza go up on stage in dedicated groups that seek to establish six new settlements in the coastal enclave, January 28, 2024. (Courtesy: The Nachala Settlement Movement)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the war cabinet have repeatedly said that Israel is not seeking the forced transfers of Palestinians and will not support renewed Israeli settlement of the Strip.

 

International

Commissioner for Human Rights says launching Zionist attack on Rafah violates ICJ decision [01/March/2024] GENEVA March 01. 2024 (Saba) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed on Thursday that the ground attack prepared by the Zionist enemy forces on the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip will violate the decision of the highest court of the United Nations. According to Agence France-Presse, UN Commissioner Volker Turk said before the Human Rights Council when presenting a report on the situation in the Palestinian territories, “I do not see how such an operation can be compatible with the temporary restrictive measures issued by the International Court of Justice.” Turk explained that the Zionist enemy's plan to launch a ground attack on Rafah would give a new dimension to the nightmare experienced by the people of Gaza, indicating that what is happening in Gaza is a "massacre." At the end of last January, the International Court of Justice called on the Zionist enemy to prevent any possible act of “genocide” in Gaza. The court, based in The Hague, also asked the enemy to take “immediate measures” to allow the provision of “humanitarian aid that the Palestinians urgently need” in the Gaza Strip.

Why extradition of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to US would be cataclysmic for press freedom

 

 Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London demonstrate against his possible extradition to the U.S., on February 21, 2024.
(Photo: Reuters/Isabel Infantes)


Committee to Protect Journalists
February 29, 2024

The Australian founder of the website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been fighting extradition to the U.S. from the U.K. since 2019 on charges that could strike a blow to press freedom globally.

Here is CPJ’s briefing on the legal battle to extradite Assange, the charges he would face in the U.S., and why his prosecution is worrying for journalists in the U.S. and internationally.

What are the charges against Assange?

The 18 indictments against Assange stem from WikiLeaks’ obtainment and publication in 2010 of some 400,000 classified U.S. military documents relating to its involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These leaks— the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history—included a video showing the 2007 killing in Iraq of two Reuters journalists by a U.S. military airstrike.

Prosecutors allege that Assange unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain classified information.

Manning was convicted in 2013 on espionage charges and served seven years in a military prison before President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence in 2017. Manning was again jailed in 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and freed in 2020, as the judge said her detention was no longer serving “any coercive purpose.”

Seventeen of the charges against Assange are under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has been increasingly used by the Department of Justice to prosecute whistleblowers, CPJ has documented. The other charge, under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, is that Assange “encouraged” Manning to leak classified information.

If extradited and convicted in the U.S., Assange’s lawyers have said that he faces up to 175 years in prison, although U.S. prosecutors have said the sentence would be much shorter.

When did the U.S. government indict Assange?

The Justice Department in April 2019 unsealed an indictment accusing Assange of computer hacking under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In May 2019, Assange was indicted on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his role in obtaining and publishing classified U.S. government material. In June 2020, the U.S. filed a superseding indictment against Assange that broadened the scope of the computer hacking charges.

While the leaks in question in these indictments were published while President Barack Obama was in office, his Justice Department notably declined to file charges against Assange due what it termed a “New York Times problem”—namely if it indicted Assange, a legal pathway would be created for the Justice Department to prosecute The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, and other media outlets that published the classified logs. This could allow for the prosecution of any journalists who publish leaked documents.

What’s at stake for journalism?

CPJ has long spoken out against the prosecution of Assange and the implications for press freedom globally, and repeatedly called for the charges to be dropped, including in a 2010 letter to Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

While Assange’s controversial diplomatic and military leaks have named and endangered vulnerable journalists, U.S. prosecution efforts have been described as “holding a gun to the head of investigative journalism.”

The arguments used in the indictments against Assange could establish a legal pathway for the prosecution of journalists and severely weaken the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press. Journalists’ right to report on matters of public interest without fear of censorship or retribution could be harmed.

If Assange were found guilty of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it could facilitate the criminalization of investigative journalists’ interactions with their sources.

If Assange is extradited and prosecuted in the U.S. under the Espionage Act, it would allow the U.S. government to extradite any publisher of classified information from any country with which the U.S. has an extradition agreement. It would set a harmful precedent for governments worldwide, establishing a framework whereby states can pursue journalists through the courts, no matter where they are located.

Furthermore, the prosecution of Assange in the U.S. would be a gift to authoritarian leaders who could cite Washington’s example the next time they wanted to jail an irksome journalist or publisher.

How did Assange end up in the U.K.?

Assange sought asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was wanted for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denied. Assange’s legal team feared he would be handed over for onward extradition to the U.S. for prosecution.

Assange’s lawyers told the British High Court this month that the Trump administration planned to kidnap or kill Assange to “sustain impunity for US officials in respect of the torture/war crimes committed in its infamous ‘war on terror’…”

After falling out with the Ecuadorian government, Assange was evicted from the country’s embassy in April 2019, arrested by the British police for skipping bail, and imprisoned, pending the conclusion of the U.S. extradition case.

What’s next?

The British High Court is not expected to rule on Assange’s final application to appeal until March at the earliest.

If successful, Assange will be allowed to appeal on the grounds that his extradition would be a breach of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and the U.K., which prohibits doing so for political offences.

If Assange loses at the High Court, he will have 28 days to file an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights, one of his lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, said during a briefing on the case. If Assange was granted provisional measures, it would prevent the U.K. from extraditing him until a ruling from the ECHR.

2 PKK-linked fighters killed in Iraqi airstrike blamed on Turkey

ByTurkish Minute
February 29, 2024

A Turkish drone airstrike in northwestern Iraq killed two members of a group affiliated with Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Kurdish authorities.

The fighters were members of the Sinjar Resistance Units, a group founded among the district’s Yazidi community in response to a brutal occupation by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) radical group nearly a decade ago.

There was no immediate word from the Turkish military, which has conducted deadly strikes against PKK targets in Iraq and neighboring Syria but rarely comments on individual strikes.

“A Turkish army drone targeted a vehicle of the Sinjar Resistance Units in the region of Wardiya in southern Sinjar, killing an official and a fighter who was escorting him,” the counterterrorism services of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said in a statement.

Another fighter was injured.

Sinjar and its adjacent mountains are one of the heartlands of Iraq’s Yazidi community, a non-Muslim Kurdish speaking minority that was savagely oppressed by ISIL militants when they overran the district in 2014.

The Sinjar Resistance Units were formed in 2014 with help from fellow Kurds of the PKK, which Ankara and its Western allies consider a “terrorist” organization.

The Sinjar force is also affiliated to the Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of mainly Shiite armed groups formed to fight ISIL and now integrated in the regular Iraqi armed forces.

Turkey frequently carries out ground and air offensives on positions of the PKK — which has waged a decades-long war against the Turkish state — in northern Iraq.

It also has over the past 25 years operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK.

On February 20, two civilians were killed in a strike in northern Iraq that was blamed on Turkey, security and health officials said.

 Universal connectivity gets a $9 billion private sector boost

The mobile phone industry has pledged over $9 billion towards the goal of connecting the world, said the chief of the UN International Telecommunication Union.

NEWSROOM

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

photo: Unsplash

The mobile phone industry has pledged over $9 billion towards the goal of connecting the world, said the chief of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Monday, addressing the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.“Universal meaningful connectivity is within our grasp,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “Thanks to these new commitments, millions of people will benefit from accessible and affordable connectivity across the world.”

Fresh investments from e&, China Telecom, Ooredoo and VEON build on strong industry support for the UN digital agency’s efforts to “connect the world”, she said.

Bridging the digital divide

Around 2.6 billion people remain offline worldwide, according to data from the specialized UN agency, which drives innovation in communications technology.

As telecommunications infrastructure forms the backbone of connectivity and digital transformation, it is vital for closing the global digital divide and overcoming development impediments in areas from education and health to government services and trade, the agency said.

To achieve that, ITU has called for $100 billion in overall investments by 2026 to provide the expertise and resources required to extend universal, meaningful connectivity and sustainable digital transformation to every corner of the globe.

ITU also launched Partner2Connect in 2021 to reach this goal. Today, more than 400 organizations have committed to investing over $46 billion in the coming years to realize this shared vision.

Fresh private-sector investments

The fresh commitments aim to make strides across the world.

That includes accessible and affordable network connectivity and digital services across countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia as well as providing information and communication services to over 80 million people in remote villages across China and building infrastructure in Ukraine by providing connectivity and digital services essential to the country’s reconstruction.

The UN digital agency also announced that it now has over 1,000 industry, academia and organizational members in addition to 193 Member States, a milestone in its 159-year-old history, ITU said.

“This multistakeholder model of collaboration will continue to be a strong force in the UN system to bridge the digital divide and build an inclusive, safe and sustainable digital future for all,” the ITU chief said.

Chinese intervention in the Red Sea and its relationship to the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip

Many questions and analyzes have been raised regarding the Chinese intervention in the Red Sea. Is it temporary and will Washington accept it?


BY DR.NADIA HELMY
FEBRUARY 29, 2024
MODERN DIPLOMACY

Chinese sailors watch a People’s LIberation Army Navy (PLAN) pull into Djibouti. Xinhua Photo

Many questions and analyzes have been raised regarding the Chinese intervention in the Red Sea. Is it temporary and will Washington accept it? The extent of its direct impact on the scene in the Red Sea and even the overall regional interactions in the region, and will it be a message to Iran and its Houthi arm or a message of opposition to the American-British presence?  The Red Sea is the main artery for Chinese goods to Europe, with 99% of container ships sailing between Europe and China passing through the Suez Canal before December 2023.  After the Gaza War or the outbreak of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, the Iranian-backed Houthis launched at least 34 attacks on ships passing through the waterways leading to the Egyptian Suez Canal, which is a vital route for energy and goods coming from Asia and the Middle East to Europe. Here we must understand that no less than 90% of the container ships that were passing through the Suez Canal are now changing their course around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope.

   Here, the security disturbances in the Red Sea affect regional stability, in light of the policy of alliances between Iran and the Houthi group, which implements Tehran’s goals through proxy wars in the region, with fears of Tehran using the escalation card on the Red Sea front, through pressure from the Houthi group on  International maritime traffic, and its exerting popular pressure on Arab countries, especially Egypt, in light of the Suez Canal being affected by these Houthi attacks. The Houthi attacks affected Egypt’s maritime security through the Suez Canal, especially after the signing of the initial agreement between Ethiopia and the separatist region of Somaliland regarding access to the Red Sea, the return of maritime piracy on the Somali coast, and the exacerbation of the fragile security situation in Somalia with the growth of Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks. Which led to the exacerbation of the turbulent security scene, and the spread of many regional tensions, which were exploited by terrorist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, led by Al-Shabaab in Somalia, in order to expand and control wider areas of this important sea corridor in the Red Sea.        

  Therefore, China expressed its rejection of the American-British attacks that targeted Houthi sites in Yemen, while also declaring the Chinese position of dissatisfaction with the Houthi practices, coinciding with the Chinese side’s call on the Houthi militia to abide by the provisions of the Security Council resolution and immediately stop obstructing civilian ships, and respect freedom of navigation for all countries in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks, represented by missile strikes and drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, affected many ships owned and operated by Chinese and European companies such as the Danish company Maersk. These attacks caused many international and Chinese commercial shipping companies to change their route and avoid this region, in favor of longer, more expensive, but relatively safer routes around the African continent, which led to an increase in time and cost, with a slowdown in international trade.  Here we must take into consideration that China has sent more than 150 warships to the Gulf of Aden since 2008, and after the Gaza War or Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, China sent 6 warships to the Middle East, to protect Chinese shipping traffic in that region.

  Although China does not agree with what the Ansar Allah Houthi group is doing in Yemen, it refused to join the Prosperity Alliance, and China even condemned all American-British strikes on Yemen.  Beijing also abstained from voting on Security Council Resolution 2722, and announced that this resolution did not authorize anyone to use force against Yemen. Here, China is trying to maintain the good relations it has with the Arab countries, and does not want to be counted among the American-British alliance that is ostracized by the Arab countries.

  Also, with the increase in attacks by the pro-Iranian Houthis on the movement of ships and maritime navigation in the Red Sea, Chinese trade movement around the world has been affected, especially through the Egyptian Suez Canal, due to the increasing intensity of the military presence in the Red Sea region, as China fears the possibility of wider conflicts erupting.  If Israel continues the war or expands the scope of its operations to include the Palestinian city of Rafah, China will seek to protect its interests in the Red Sea and in Africa, as it has pumped tens of billions of dollars in investments in many African countries to protect its interests. The great power conflict began immediately after the Gaza War with the militarization of the Red Sea, which began with the United States of America’s announcement on December 19, 2023 of the establishment of the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition, and then the European Union’s announcement later, specifically on February 19, 2024, of its establishment of what is known as the “ASPEEDS” force in the Red Sea, and finally with China’s intervention to protect its interests through the Chinese official announcement on February 24, 2024 about sending China’s 46th Southern Fleet to the Red Sea region, with the Chinese military fleet sailing from the port of the coastal city of Changjing in Guangdong Province in southern China, to accompany the Chinese naval fleet.  In the Gulf of Aden region in Yemen and the waters off the coast of Somalia, the work of the Chinese naval forces will be organized into three operational task forces, which will focus primarily on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden regions, and the other will focus on combating piracy in the Horn of Africa region.

   For this reason, the Chinese Ambassador to Yemen, “Chao Zheng,” warned that Chinese maritime navigation through the Red Sea would be affected by the escalating tension there, while officially demanding the need to stop the war on Gaza in order to stop these attacks against commercial ships. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also pointed out the increase in insurance prices for maritime transport and ships, with some Chinese ships forced to pass through South Africa, which raises costs and prolongs the distance and time for their arrival. Therefore, China issued a call for the need to spare the region and the world from the escalation of the tense situation in the Red Sea, because of its importance and impact.  On China, the Middle East region, and the entire world.  With the official Chinese warning that the continuation of the conflict in the Red Sea may get out of control, while calling on all concerned parties to maintain the common security of the Red Sea, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries bordering it, and not interfere in their affairs.  The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted vital trade routes for China, especially with regard to delaying the arrival of shipments and high shipping costs, given that most of China’s commercial ships tend to sail via the Cape of Good Hope route, to avoid Houthi attacks, a consideration that pushes towards strengthening China’s defense and insurance security presence in the Red Sea, ensuring that this scenario is avoided and its effects are reduced.

   Finally, we find that China’s position on what is happening in the region after the Gaza War is clear and frank, especially with what is happening specifically in the Red Sea region, where Beijing considered that the tensions taking place in the Red Sea are the result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and that the solution is to return safety to the region must put pressure on Israel to stop the war taking place there.

Dr.Nadia Helmy

Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Politics and Economics / Beni Suef University- Egypt. An Expert in Chinese Politics, Sino-Israeli relationships, and Asian affairs- Visiting Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)/ Lund University, Sweden- Director of the South and East Asia Studies Unit

 

European Central Bank into negative territory for the first time in 20 years

The European Central Bank (ECB) suffered a loss on its balance sheet in 2023 for the first time in almost 20 years.

NEWSROOM

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

photo: Unsplash

For the first time in almost two decades, the Eurozone central bank is in the red, Tagesschau from Deutschland informs. It’s not just consumers and businesses that are suffering from high interest rates; the ECB itself is also feeling the effects.

The European Central Bank (ECB) suffered a loss on its balance sheet in 2023 for the first time in almost 20 years. The central bank estimated losses at around 1.3 billion euros. The reason is an increase in interest rates as part of the fight against high inflation.

The usual distribution of profits to the eurozone’s national central banks, including the German Bundesbank, is being canceled once again. It was still a black zero in 2022 – but the ECB had already refrained from handing out money to the central banks of the 20 eurozone countries.

Prior to this, the ECB had been making significant profits for almost two decades.

In fulfilling its task of overseeing monetary policy, the ECB has been taking vigorous action since the summer of 2022 to combat the temporarily high rise in inflation and raising key interest rates ten times in a row – an unprecedented process in the history of the central bank.

The ECB is also suffering from high interest rates.

However, rising interest rates in financial markets do not come without consequences for monetary authorities: among other things, they mean that central banks have to spend more on interest, but at the same time earn less from it. Central bank assets — mostly fixed-rate securities with long maturities — also lose mathematical value.

All this is likely to continue to burden central bank balance sheets in the future, with the ECB likely to make losses over the next few years, monetary authorities said.