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Israel bombs northern Gaza house killing 13 children amid ongoing siege

Israel bombs northern Gaza house killing 13 children amid ongoing siege

An Israeli strike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp sheltering displaced Palestinians has killed at least 32 people, including 13 children, as rights groups warn of an “extremely grave situation” in northern Gaza amid weeks of ongoing military siege. “We now have a confirmed report that everybody in that house was killed. The last few remains were removed from under the rubble in the past couple of hours,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said, adding that the strike took place at 6am. Mahmoud said the attack took place “all of a sudden and without any prior warning”. According to a witness, the house was full of women and children who had been displaced from different parts of northern Gaza and had ended up in this particular building. “This is not about disarming certain groups but it’s about a systematic destruction of an entire area and turning it into more of a wasteland,” the Al Jazeera correspondent said, referring to the widespread destruction of northern Gaza due to nonstop Israeli bombardment and a military siege imposed on October 6. In a separate attack in Gaza City, an Israeli air strike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood killed Wael al-Khour, an official at the Welfare Ministry, and seven other members of his family, including his wife and children, medics and relatives said. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said more than 50 people were killed in total and 164 injured in three attacks across Gaza on Sunday. Israel has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since it launched its devastating war on Gaza in the wake of an October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,100 people and about 250 others were taken captive. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of the thousands of Palestinian deaths it had managed to verify. Military siege for weeks For the past 36 days, Israeli forces have laid siege in areas in northern Gaza, including Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, choking the entry of already scarce humanitarian supplies. Mahmoud Alsaqqa, OXFAM’s food security and livelihood lead in Gaza, said the “extremely grave situation” in the Strip is deteriorating further. This comes following a warning by the Committee of Global Experts that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and action is needed within days to avert a catastrophe. “Those residing in northern Gaza are left without any essentials for survival,” Alsaqqa told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah, as no aid or food supplies have entered the north for more than a month except for a small amount of medical supplies. “The average number of trucks coming in now is below 50. We used to have 500 trucks per day [before October 7, 2023], so you can imagine the huge needs people have compared to what’s coming in,” he said. Along with stepping up the bombardment, the Israeli army has issued new waves of forced displacement orders for residents in the north, driving people to be displaced internally from the north. Still, many have refused to leave despite the catastrophic humanitarian conditions and the near-daily shelling. Many of them told Al Jazeera that they fear leaving the area because of the risk of being attacked by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli daily Haaretz accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military of “conducting an ethnic cleansing operation in the northern Gaza Strip”. “The few Palestinians remaining in the area are being forcibly evacuated, homes and infrastructure have been destroyed, and wide roads in the area are being built and completing the separation of the communities in the northern Strip from the center of Gaza City,” it wrote in an editorial. As of November 4, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that about 100,000 people had been displaced over four weeks from the North Gaza governorate to Gaza City. Up to 95,000 people remained in North Gaza, OCHA said. The Israeli army says it wants to prevent the regrouping of Hamas fighters there. Yet, the depopulation of the northern part of the enclave and the widespread destruction have stoked fears of war crimes. On Thursday, the Israeli military sought to distance itself from comments made last week by an Israeli commander, who said Israel was closer to “the complete evacuation” of the north and that residents from there would not be allowed back once the fighting was over. Adblock test (Why?)

Qatar suspends Gaza mediation efforts

Qatar suspends Gaza mediation efforts

NewsFeed Qatar says it has suspended its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas after a lack of progress in reaching a ceasefire deal for Gaza. Published On 10 Nov 202410 Nov 2024 Adblock test (Why?)

The EU Migration Pact

The EU Migration Pact

Irregular migration into the EU has become the political football of the 21st century. Irregular migration into Europe is a complex and urgent issue driven by conflicts, economic struggles and human rights abuses in migrants’ home countries. To help things run more smoothly, the EU introduced the Pact on Migration and Asylum. However, it’s faced some political pushback, highlighting the ongoing challenge of balancing member states’ compliance with domestic pressures. Adblock test (Why?)

Here are the top 5 Democrats who could lead the party after Kamala’s fall

Here are the top 5 Democrats who could lead the party after Kamala’s fall

Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President-elect Donald Trump places the Democratic Party in an awkward position of having no clear leader in the months to come. Once President Biden and Harris leave office in January, Democrats will be without a figurehead, proving an opportunity for some of the party’s top personalities to fill the void. Here are the most likely candidates: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could play a major role in shepherding the Democratic Party through the next four years. He has led Democrats in the Senate for decades, and with Rep. Nancy Pelosi stepping back from leadership in Congress, he is the most senior Democrat left in the branch. He will now have to contend once again with a Republican majority in the Senate, however. SHUTDOWN STANDOFF LOOMS IN CONGRESS’ FINAL WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP’S RETURN TO WHITE HOUSE House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., presents a younger alternative to Schumer as Pelosi’s successor in the House of Representatives. Jeffries is sure to play a central role in Democrats’ efforts to hamper the Trump administration and congressional Republicans over the next four years. ALL EYES ON CALIFORNIA AS HOUSE MAJORITY STILL HINGES ON TIGHT RACES California Gov. Gavin Newsom is widely thought to have national ambitions, and the void left by Biden and Harris could be the opportunity he’s been looking for. Newsom loudly ruled himself out from contesting Biden’s re-election campaign early in the 2024 cycle, and he is already making plays to position himself as a standout leader against Trump. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro could also position himself as a Democratic leader. Spurned by Harris as a VP pick, he is now free from the political fallout from her loss that has also disqualified Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Shapiro enjoys an over-60% approval rating in Pennsylvania, arguably the most important state for winning the presidency. While “Mayor Pete” has played a relatively quiet role under the Biden administration as transportation secretary, the Biden-Harris departure could give him an opportunity to resume his meteoric rise within the Democratic Party. Buttigieg secured a position in the party’s top tier with his performance in the 2019 Democratic primary, but it remains unclear what role he will play after the Biden administration comes to a close.

Would the US defend Taiwan under Trump if China invades? Fox News investigates

Would the US defend Taiwan under Trump if China invades? Fox News investigates

The year 2027 has become a fixation for Washington. It’s the year that U.S. intelligence projects China will be ready and capable for an invasion of Taiwan.  It could happen sooner, as evidenced by military drills in the South China Sea. Or, it could not happen at all.  But President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on Tuesday leaves the Taiwanese wondering whether the U.S. would come to their defense under a new, non-interventionist-minded administration.  Trump’s public comments might suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of a tiny island democracy.  “I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,” Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek in June.  “You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything,” he added. In October, he once again complained about U.S. aid to Taiwan and accused the nation of “stealing” the U.S. microchip industry. “You know, Taiwan, they stole our chip business,” Trump said during his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. “They want us to protect, and they want protection. They don’t pay us money for the protection, you know. The mob makes you pay money, right? But with these countries that we protect, I got hundreds of billions of dollars from NATO countries that were never paying us.” Trump’s close advisors are far more hawkish on the Taiwan matter than the president-elect’s comments would suggest he is, according to Lyle Goldstein, director for Asia engagement at Defense Priorities.  “During Trump’s last four years there was quite a robust stance in favor of defending Taiwan through various measures taken chiefly, I think, through his advisors,” said Goldstein.  XI JINPING WARNS TRUMP US WOULD ‘LOSE FROM CONFRONTATION’ WITH CHINA AS RENEWED TRADE WAR LOOMS Asked in October if he would defend Taiwan in a China invasion, Trump told the Wall Street Journal: “I wouldn’t have to, because he respects me and he knows I’m f––– crazy.” Asked how he would convince Xi to avoid such an invasion, Trump responded: “I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you” — meaning impose tariffs — “at 150% to 200%.”  He may even ban trade between the two nations.  He spoke highly of his relationship with Xi. “I had a very strong relationship with him. He was actually a really good, I don’t want to say friend — I don’t want to act foolish, ‘He was my friend’ — but I got along with him great. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago with me, so we got to know each other great. He’s a very fierce person.” The U.S. routinely sends military equipment to Taiwan, and that is expected to continue through the next administration. In October, the Biden administration approved $2 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including radar systems and three National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems.  With rapidly improving drone capabilities, the U.S. could come to Taiwan’s aid in an invasion without deploying troops to the region. “I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue Summit. In doing so, he said, “I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”  But there is hope among restraint groups that Trump will be focused on economic warfare with China – rather than military. Trump has threatened a blanket 60% tariff on Chinese goods.  BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION “I think his approach on China will be very tough on the economic side,” said Goldstein. “But — I’m hoping anyway — easing tensions on the diplomatic and military side.” “We don’t have that alliance with Taiwan,” Goldstein went on. “We have an alliance with Japan. And with the Philippines. We may want to double down on guarding our allies . . . the Taiwan issue is a powder keg — it’s exceedingly dangerous. And we should play very cautiously here.” The U.S. has long recognized a One China policy and pursued a policy of strategic ambiguity, refusing to reveal whether it would come to Taiwan’s defense in an all-out war.  Biden seemed to want to declare his intention to defend Taiwan from China. His staff was forced to walk back a series of off-the-cuff statements that seemed to undermine strategic ambiguity.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The U.S. is standing up for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the president said at West Point in May. He added pointedly: “I’ve always been willing to use force when required to protect our nation, our allies, our core interests.”