Israel Kills Two Al Jazeera Journalists

Israel killed Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami Al-Rifi in an airstrike, Wednesday evening, while covering people’s reactions around the destroyed home of the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was martyred by an Israeli missile strike where he was staying in Tehran earlier that day.

Israeli warplanes bombed the roof of a house adjacent to the destroyed home of the late martyred leader in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza with a number of other journalists. They were forced to withdraw quickly but an Israeli warplane directly targeted their car, instantly killing journalist al-Ghoul and his cameraman al-Rifi.

Earlier in the day, al-Ghoul appeared on Al Jazeera to report on people’s reactions to the assassination of political bureau chief Haniyeh.

Al Jazeera Journalist Anas al-Sharif confirmed an Israeli warplane directly bombed al-Ghoul and Al Jazeera cameraman Al-Rifi, which led to the severing of their heads according to the Palestine Information Center.

The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) condemned the killing of journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi during their coverage of the bombing of the house of the late Hamas leader and which was reduced to rubble.  

Al-Ghoul worked as a correspondent for the Al Jazeera News Channel in Gaza City, and al-Rifi worked as a photojournalist for the same satellite station for months during the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The PJPC condemned the murder of these journalists, stressing the need for urgent and immediate international intervention to stop the unprecedented Israeli targeting of media professionals in the Gaza Strip.

It stated the continued international silence on these massacres gives the Israeli army the green light to kill more Palestinian journalists. Since 7 October at least about 165 journalists were killed through Israeli fire according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

Al-Ghoul was previously arrested by the Israeli occupation forces during its second  storming al-Shifa Medical Complex last March in which it completely destroyed the hospital.

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Erdogan: Haniyeh’s Assassination is ‘Zionist barbarism’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Wednesday the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran as reported in Anadolu.

“I strongly condemn and curse the treacherous assassination carried out in Tehran against Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh,” Erdogan said on X.

It was “a despicable attempt to undermine the Palestinian Cause, the glorious resistance of Gaza, and the rightful struggle of our Palestinian brothers, aiming to demoralize, intimidate, and suppress them,” he added.

Erdogan emphasized that this assassination mirrors previous attacks on Palestinian figures like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi, asserting that “Zionist barbarism will once again fail to achieve its goals.”

He called for a united stance from the Islamic world to end the oppression in Gaza and reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to supporting the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Erdogan concluded with a prayer for Haniyeh, extending condolences to his family and the Palestinian people.

Hamas announced early Wednesday that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran.

The Iranian state television also reported Haniyeh’s death, noting that an investigation into the assassination is ongoing and that the results will be announced soon.

Israel has made no immediate announcement about the assassination according to the Turkish news agency.

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Archbishop of Canterbury Appeals to Free Layan Nassir

This is an appeal from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to the Israeli authorities to free Palestinian Christian Layan Nasser from Israeli administrative detention. She has been detained since 6 April.

I lament yesterday’s decision by an Israeli military court to renew Layan Nasir’s administrative detention for a further four months. This young Palestinian Christian from Birzeit in the West Bank has been held in detention since 6 April on classified evidence that leaves her facing unknown allegations with no way to disapprove them – not knowing when she will be released, all the time without being charged, tried or convicted…”

He continues to say: “This is an egregious state of affairs, as is the fact that her transfer outside the West Bank to Damon Prison is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. I ask the Israeli Government to look again at her case and that she be released.  The widespread and routine manner in which Israel uses administrative detention of Palestinians as an instrument of Occupation is deeply discriminatory. It cannot be legally or morally justified. May God watch over Layan during her detention and comfort her family at this testing time.” #FreeLayan

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Hezbollah Promises to Hit Back For Israeli Attack on Beirut    

Israel may have finally carried out its threat with its deadly military strike, Tuesday, on the southern suburb of Beirut.

The strike as reported by the media is devastating with pictures of large explosions trending on the social media.

Different scenarios are being draw up. Reports range from the strike being near the Hezbollah Shura headquarters, a nearby hospital and an apartment in a building belonging Fouad Shukr, a senior director of the Hezbollah’s missile accuracy project and a senior advisor to Hassan Nasrallah.

Reports also say the target through an Israeli drone with missiles was aimed at the Rabie building in Haret Hreik, a Hezbollah stronghold. The building subsequently collapsed with at least  two people reported killed.

Lebanese sources four say floors were leveled to the ground with rescue and ambulance crews continuing to remove the rubble and transport the injured with the number of injuries initially rising to 10.

However, the injuries continued to rise with a four killed and 80 injured including six children that arrived at the Bahman hospital.

While Israeli sources point to the success of the operation Hezbollah denies that Shukr was targeted and killed. The Israeli army said it targeted the commander responsible for the military operation on a school in Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights in which 12 children were killed, Saturday.

An Israeli military source said: “This is our response to the shooting of Majdal Shams…we have no intention of starting an all-out war. If Hezbollah does not respond, the event will end.”

But people in the southern suburb of Beirut are up-in-arms. They are calling for retaliation with chats of support for Hezbollah and its chief Hassan Nasrallah who is promising to hit back at Israel. He has already warned that if Beirut and the southern suburbs are hit, Tel Aviv will also be hit.

And this suggests that this is the beginning of escalation between Hezbollah and Israel that could lead to an all-out war.

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10 Israeli Soldiers Gang-rape Palestinian Prisoner

A Palestinian detainee was gang-raped by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman Prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel, according to Israeli media on Monday as reported by Anadolu.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN, citing a security source, said the detainee taken to a hospital with severe injuries to an intimate body part, which left him without the ability to walk.

KAN said Israeli Police investigators arrived at the detention facility to detain the soldiers involved in the rape.

According to Israel’s Army Radio, 10 soldiers were detained for questioning as part of an investigation into the gruesome abuse.

Several reports emerged of severe abuses against Palestinian detainees at the notorious facility since the start of Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli has become a developing story with many angles as reported by the Turkish news agency.

It reported as well, that Israeli protesters, including rightwing politicians and extremist ministers from the Itamar Bin Gvir party stormed a military base in central Israel on Monday to protest the arrest of the 10 soldiers that included an Israeli captain who supervised the rape according to Al Jazeera.

Protesters closed the Military Police base in Beit Lid town where the soldiers are held for questioning, Army Radio reported.

Masked soldiers in military uniform took part in the protest, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said.

As a response to the violent protesters filmed on TV, the leader of Israel’s Labor Party called, Monday, for jailing Knesset members who stormed the military base in the Negev desert to protest the arrest of soldiers accused of gang-raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman Prison.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “bears direct responsibility for the establishment of armed militias whose entire purpose is to undermine the foundations of the rule of law,” Yair Golan said on X.

He condemned the raid by Israeli Knesset members as an attempt “to turn the Israeli army into armed militias.”

“Those elected officials who stormed Sde Teiman must go to prison,” Golan said.

The extremist Israeli officials who took part in the protest include Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Knesset member Tzvi Succot.

For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu has lost control over his government.

“This is not a riot, this is an attempted coup by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is unable to control his government,” Lapid said.

Israeli media earlier reported that a detainee from the Gaza Strip was gang-raped by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman Prison in southern Israel stressed the Turkish news agency.

Currently, Israel’s Supreme Court is considering a petition filed by Israeli human rights organizations to close the Sde Teiman prison, where Palestinian detainees from Gaza face torture and medical neglect.

The Israeli army is believed to have detained thousands of Palestinians, including women, children, and medics since Oct. 7, 2023.

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