World

Blinken, Arab leaders to satisfy over Gaza as Palestinian deaths mount

Published

3 weeks ago

November 5, 2023

GAZA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attributable to hear Arab calls for for a ceasefire in a gathering on Saturday in Jordan as Israel continued its brutal bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Gaza well being officers mentioned 15 individuals had been killed in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance. At the least 9,250 Palestinians have died in barbaric Israeli assaults.

The ambulance hit by the Israeli strike was a part of a convoy carrying injured Palestinians at Gaza’s greatest hospital, al-Shifa, well being officers within the Hamas-run enclave mentioned on Friday.

“Upon their arrival to al-Shifa, (Israel) instantly focused the convoy’s second car, committing a horrible bloodbath that claimed the lives of 15 and wounded greater than 60,” well being ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra mentioned.

Israel’s navy claimed it had recognized and hit an ambulance “being utilized by a Hamas cell” and that quite a few Hamas fighters had been killed.

“We emphasise that this space is a battle zone. Civilians within the space are repeatedly referred to as upon to evacuate southwards for their very own security,” the Israeli navy mentioned.

The Palestinian well being ministry challenged Israel over the bombing of the ambulance and demanded it present proof that the ambulance was carrying militants.

“The occupation carried out an unsightly bloodbath during which… 15 individuals had been martyred and 60 different individuals had been wounded together with quite a few the displaced,” al-Qidra mentioned.

The Israeli navy gave no proof to help its assertion that the ambulance was linked to Hamas however mentioned it supposed to launch further data.

Israel has accused Hamas of concealing command centres and tunnel entrances in al-Shifa, one thing Hamas and the hospital denies.

Israel final month ordered all civilians to depart the northern a part of the Gaza Strip, together with Gaza Metropolis, and head to the south of the enclave, which it has additionally continued to bomb.

Gaza’s residing circumstances, already dire earlier than the combating, have deteriorated additional. Meals is scarce, residents have resorted to consuming salty water, medical companies are collapsing.

On Friday morning an Israeli air strike killed three individuals, together with two ladies, in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, based on Gaza well being officers.

The UN humanitarian workplace OCHA estimates that just about 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million persons are internally displaced.

‘Persevering with full power’

Hamas has ready for a protracted warfare in Gaza and believes it could possibly maintain up Israel’s advance lengthy sufficient to power its arch-enemy to comply with a ceasefire, two sources near the organisation’s management mentioned.

The group believes worldwide strain for Israel to finish the siege might power a ceasefire and negotiated settlement during which the militant group would get a tangible concession, reminiscent of the discharge of Palestinian prisoners in change for Israeli hostages, the sources mentioned.

On a go to to the area, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and referred to as for a humanitarian pause in combating that he mentioned would facilitate work to launch hostages, enable assist into Gaza however not forestall Israel from defending itself.

In a televised handle, Netanyahu rejected the concept of a pause except hostages had been freed.

“I made clear that we’re persevering with full power and that Israel refuses a short lived ceasefire which doesn’t embody the discharge of our hostages,” Netanyahu mentioned.

A senior Biden administration official mentioned on Friday the US had “oblique engagement” geared toward liberating the hostages.

On Saturday Blinken is scheduled to satisfy the Saudi, Qatari, Emirati and Egyptian overseas ministers, in addition to Palestinian representatives in Amman, the Jordanian overseas ministry mentioned.

The Arab leaders will stress the “Arab stance calling for a right away ceasefire, delivering humanitarian assist and methods of ending the harmful deterioration that threatens the safety of the area”, the ministry mentioned in a press release.

Washington has maintained sturdy navy and political help for Israel whereas calling on its ally to take steps to keep away from civilian deaths and handle Gaza’s humanitarian disaster.

Second or third entrance

Whereas Blinken was in Israel, the chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah warned america that if Israel didn’t cease its assault on Gaza, the battle might widen right into a regional warfare.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech because the Israel-Hamas battle erupted, additionally threatened the US, hinting his group was able to confront American warships within the Mediterranean.

A closely armed ally of Hamas, Hezbollah has been participating Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border within the greatest flare-up because it fought a warfare with Israel in 2006.

“You, the People, can cease the aggression in opposition to Gaza as a result of it’s your aggression,” Nasrallah mentioned. “Whoever needs to forestall a regional warfare, and I’m speaking to the People, should shortly halt the aggression on Gaza.”

He added that Hezbollah didn’t worry the US naval firepower Washington has assembled within the area because the disaster erupted.

Different teams have entered the fray since Oct 7, with teams firing on US forces in Iraq and Syria, and Yemen’s Houthis launching drones at Israel.

World

Irish writer Paul Lynch clinches 2023 Booker Prize

Published

13 hours ago

November 28, 2023

Pakistaneo.com

LONDON: Irish writer Paul Lynch gained the 2023 Booker Prize for fiction on Sunday for his novel “Prophet Track,” a dystopian work about an Eire that descends into tyranny.

The 46-year-old pipped 5 different shortlisted novelists to the celebrated award at a ceremony in London.

He turns into the fifth Irish author to win the high-profile literary prize, which has propelled to fame numerous family names, together with previous winners Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel.

“This was not a straightforward ebook to write down,” Lynch mentioned after accumulating his award, which comes with £50,000 (round $63,000) and an enormous increase to his profile.

“The rational a part of me believed I used to be dooming my profession by scripting this novel. Although I needed to write the ebook anyway. We wouldn’t have a selection in such issues,” he added.

Lynch’s ebook is about in Dublin in a close to future model of Eire. It follows the struggles of a mom of 4 as she tries to avoid wasting her household from totalitarianism.

There aren’t any paragraph breaks within the novel, which is Lynch’s fifth.

Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan, who chaired the five-person judging panel, known as the story “a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and courageous”.

“With nice vividness, Prophet Track captures the social and political anxieties of our present second,” she mentioned.

“Readers will discover it soul-shattering and true, and won’t quickly overlook its warnings.”

The Booker is open to works of fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and printed within the UK or Eire between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023.

– Murdoch, Doyle –

None of this yr’s six finalists — which included two People, a Canadian, a Kenyan and one other Irish writer — had been shortlisted earlier than and just one had beforehand been longlisted.

The shortlisted novels, introduced in September, have been chosen from a 13-strong longlist that had been whittled down from an preliminary 158 works.

Amongst them was Irish writer Paul Murray’s “The Bee Sting”, a tragicomic saga which seems to be on the position of destiny within the travails of 1 household.

Murray was beforehand longlisted in 2010.

Kenyan author Chetna Maroo’s transferring debut novel “Western Lane” about grief and sisterhood follows the story of a teenage woman for whom squash is life.

The judges additionally chosen “If I Survive You” by US author Jonathan Escoffery, which follows a Jamaican household and their chaotic new life in Miami.

He was joined by fellow American writer, Paul Harding, whose “This Different Eden” — impressed by historic occasions — tells the story of Apple Island, an enclave off the US coast the place society’s misfits flock and construct a brand new house.

Canada was represented on the shortlist within the form of “Research for Obedience” by Sarah Bernstein. The unsettling novel explores the themes of prejudice and guilt via a suspicious narrator.

The Booker was first awarded in 1969. Final yr’s winner was Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka for “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”.

The earlier Irish winners are Iris Murdoch, John Banville, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright.

World

Hamas army wing confirms martyrdom of 4 leaders since October 7

Published

15 hours ago

November 28, 2023

Pakistaneo.com

GAZA: The army wing of the Palestinian group Hamas has claimed that 4 of its leaders have been martyred since October 7.

Al-Qassam Brigades mentioned these killed included Ahmed Al-Ghandour, a member of the Navy Council and commander of the Northern Brigade.

“The Al-Qassam Brigades is mourning a bunch of its heroic leaders, specifically Commander Ahmed Al-Ghandour, often known as Abu Anas, a member of the Navy Council, the commander of the Northern Brigade, and the leaders: Wael Rajab, Raafat Salman, and Ayman Siam,” the group mentioned in a press release.

Nonetheless, it didn’t present particulars in regards to the dates of their deaths. The group additionally declared their “dedication to the liberty path”.

The Israeli military had beforehand introduced the deaths of Hamas leaders in airstrikes on Gaza throughout its army marketing campaign. Nonetheless, most Israeli strikes have resulted in heavy civilian casualties and vital infrastructure destruction within the area.

A four-day pause within the hostilities, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, went into impact on Friday, quickly halting Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip. Within the first two days of the ‘pause’, Israel and Hamas exchanged 41 Israelis and foreigners for 78 Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Beneath the settlement, hostages will probably be launched in batches through the 4 days.

Israel launched a large army marketing campaign in Gaza following a cross-border assault by Hamas on Oct. 7. It has since martyred at the very least 14,854 Palestinians, together with 6,150 kids and over 4,000 ladies, in response to well being authorities within the enclave. The official Israeli loss of life toll stands at 1,200.

World

India’s envoy to US faces backlash from Sikh neighborhood at NYC Gurdwara

Published

16 hours ago

November 28, 2023

Pakistaneo.com

NEW YORK: A gaggle of Sikh neighborhood members confronted Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu at a New York Gurdwara who was visiting Hicksville Gurdwara in Lengthy Island on the event of Gurpurab.

Within the footage, it could possibly be seen that a variety of protesters surrounded him and began shouting and accused him of plotting the assassination of Canadian nationwide Hardeep Singh Nijjar and likewise conspiring to get one other chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murdered.

The video of the change between Sandhu and the Sikh neighborhood members has been taking rounds. The footage begins with the envoy telling the protesters that he’s visiting the gurdwara for seva (service).

US authorities thwart conspiracy to kill Pannun

Monetary Occasions reported that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill Pannun, chief of Khalistani organisation Sikhs for Justice, on American soil. Requested in regards to the report, the White Home stated the US is “treating a reported plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil with utmost seriousness” and has raised the problem with the Indian authorities “on the senior-most ranges”.

White Home spokesperson Adrienne Watson stated Indian authorities had “expressed shock and concern” within the matter and “said that exercise of this nature was not their coverage”.

Canada expels India’s envoy
Canada in September expelled New Delhi’s head of the Analysis and Evaluation Wing (RAW)— India’s international intelligence company—stationed in Ottawa accusing India’s involvement within the killing of a Khalistani chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
The already strained relations between Ottawa and New Delhi took a dramatic new low.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knowledgeable an emergency session of the parliamentary opposition that his authorities had credible proof linking Indian brokers to the killing of Khalistan chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June in British Columbia.

He referred to as within the strongest potential phrases for the Indian authorities to cooperate in clearing up the matter.