Tag: Egypt

‘Complete paralysis:’ Palestinian medics say disaster awaits Gaza as Israel pounds enclave with airstrikes | CNN

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CNN
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Medical and relief workers are pleading for safe passage for the 2 million civilians in Gaza as Israel pounds the enclave with airstrikes and imposes a complete siege, in response to the brutal attack launched by the militant group Hamas.

Time is running out for the residents crammed into the increasingly battered 140-square-mile territory under Israeli and Egyptian blockades, as supplies of food and water run low. Families are desperately searching for shelter as missiles flatten buildings and towers. Medical supplies are in dire shortage. And most of the enclave has already lost power, after the fuel that generates electricity ran out on Wednesday.

At least 1,417 Palestinians, including 447 children and 248 women, have so far been killed in Gaza, and 6,268 others injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at 1,200 people have been killed, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said on Wednesday. Israel also said that up to 150 hostages, including civilians, have been taken to Gaza by Hamas – which controls the strip.

Relief groups are calling for the protection of the many civilians in Gaza who continue to bear the brunt of the bloody war between Hamas and Israel, urging that an emergency corridor be established for the transfer of humanitarian aid.

Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said Israel would deprive the strip of electricity, water and fuel until Hamas returns the hostages.

“No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Katz wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “And no one will preach us morals,” he added.

Responding to a question about whether Israel is upholding the laws of warfare with its siege on Gaza, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday his country “abides by international law, operates by international law.”

“Every operation is secured and covered and reviewed legally with all due respect,” Herzog told CNN’s Becky Anderson at a press briefing in Jerusalem, adding that talk about war crimes is “totally out of context.”

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, the co-founder of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), warned the complete siege of Gaza will pollute water and reduce oxygen supplies, depleting health indicators, including infant and maternal mortality rates, poverty, starvation and the spread of waterborne diseases and gastrointestinal infections.

“You will have a very big rise of maternal mortality of women who are going to give birth under terrible conditions. We will see epidemics starting to spread in Gaza,” he said. “That’s also besides the number of people who will be killed by Israeli air strikes.

“We are heading towards a complete paralysis of the medical system there.”

Human Rights Watch earlier this week criticized Israel’s call for the complete siege as a form of “collective punishment” and a “war crime.”

The Israeli blockade on Gaza has crippled the health system inside the Palestinian enclave, medical workers told CNN, as emergency teams struggle to triage patients amid dwindling medical supplies.

Barghouti, the PMRS co-founder, said patients with pre-existing health conditions, including cancer and chronic kidney failure, are at risk of death because the siege has blocked access to fresh drugs.

The PMRS has 180 doctors, nurses and psychotherapists stationed inside Gaza, alongside thousands of volunteers, he told CNN on Wednesday.

“I receive calls around the clock from our people there [in Gaza], patients with kidney problems who need kidney dialysis, telling me that they could die in a few days,” said Barghouti, who is also the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, a political party headquartered in the occupied West Bank.

“Our medical teams are finding great difficulty moving from one place to another because, as people will say, there is no safe place at all. So it’s a disaster in front of our eyes.”

A British-Palestinian surgeon working in Gaza, Ghassan Abu-Sitta, said that unless a humanitarian corridor replenishes the system, hospitals may not make it to the end of the week.

“Unless there is a cessation of the bombing and the humanitarian corridor (opens), the Palestinian health system will not survive beyond the week,” Abu-Sitta, who was working inside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City but is now operating from a hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, told CNN.

The doctor is yet to see any aid come through.

Hospitals all over Gaza are overwhelmed with patients, he said, adding that power is limited to generators and already scarce drinking water is being transported in tanks. Concerns of diseases spreading, including cholera, are growing, Abu-Sitta added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Thursday that Gaza likely only has enough fuel for a few more hours.

“I wanted to say we are going toward a catastrophe, but we are already in the catastrophe,” ICRC’s regional director for the Middle East told reporters during a briefing in Geneva, adding that the humanitarian situation will soon become “unmanageable.”

Gaza’s health infrastructure is close to a breaking point, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, said Thursday. All beds are occupied, and there is no room for new patients in critical condition, Al-Qudra said.

Earlier Thursday the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said hospitals in Gaza “risk turning into morgues” amid power cuts.

The Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Al Kaila on Thursday called for urgent international help to field hospitals in Gaza. Medical supplies, emergency departments and intensive care units are urgently needed, she said.

With the current Israeli siege, the only corridor through which Palestinians or aid can pass in and out of Gaza is the Rafah Crossing, which connects Gaza to Egypt.

Egypt on Thursday denied reports of the crossing being closed, saying it has however sustained damage due to repeated Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian side of the border.

Palestinian officials in Gaza had said two days earlier that the crossing had been closed due to Israeli airstrikes. CNN could not independently verify whether the crossing is open or closed.

In a statement, Egypt called on international partners to send humanitarian and relief aid to Palestinians in Gaza, adding that Egyptian authorities will be receiving aid packages at the Al-Arish International Airport in north Sinai.

A Jordanian plane carrying medical aid for Gaza left for Egypt on Thursday, according to a statement from the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organization, a state-run relief agency, adding that the supplies will be delivered to medical authorities in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

It is unclear how the aid will cross the border amid airstrikes on Gaza.

CNN has reached out to the Egyptian government about the status of Rafah crossing, whether aid will be able to pass through, and whether Palestinians fleeing the conflict will be able to cross into Egyptian territory.

The US said it is in talks with Israel and Egypt about creating a humanitarian corridor through which civilians can cross.

“We’re talking to Israel about that. We’re talking to Egypt about that (getting civilians out of Gaza),” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday prior to departing for Israel.

A senior Israeli official told CNN on Wednesday talks are “underway” to allow US citizens and Palestinian civilians in Gaza to cross over into Egypt ahead of any possible land invasion of the territory by Israeli forces.

The official with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN’s Matthew Chance on Wednesday that under the proposal being discussed, all American citizens would be permitted to pass through the Rafah border crossing if they present their US passports, while the movement of other Palestinian civilians would be limited to 2,000 people a day.

Final approval of the arrangement would need to come from the Egyptians, who control the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but the Israeli official said it was “in Israel’s interests” for as many Palestinians as possible to leave Gaza.

The IDF on Wednesday said it has amassed some 300,000 reservists near the Gaza border.

“They (Hamas) will regret this moment – Gaza will never return to what it was,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier.

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October 12, 2023
West urges Israel to show restraint amid escalation fears

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Western governments are urging Israel to show restraint in its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, as fears grow that the conflict could spiral out of control.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron combined their support for Israel’s right to retaliate with a warning: That response must be fair.

“Israel has the right to defend itself by eliminating terrorist groups such as Hamas through targeted action, but preserving civilian populations is the duty of democracies,” Macron said on Thursday night. “The only response to terrorism is always a strong and fair one. Strong because fair.”

On Thursday, for the first time the United States hinted at Israel’s responsibilities. Speaking alongside Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference, Blinken said that while “Israel has the right to defend itself … how Israel does this matters.”

In a call with Netanyahu late Thursday evening, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “reiterated that the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror and agreed that Hamas can never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people,” according to a Downing Street readout. But the readout also added: “Noting that Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza, the Prime Minister said it was important to take all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid.”

These concerns were privately echoed by other Western officials, who warned that the world is facing a precarious moment.

As Israel scales up its powerful counteroffensive in Gaza, the fear in some European governments is that a full-blown regional war could erupt.

“Whatever Israel and the Palestinians do now risks contributing to the increasing bipolarization over the conflict,” one French diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly. “One big worry is the risk that the conflict spreads to the region.”

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, already called the Hamas attacks and the subsequent kidnapping of civilians “Israel’s 9/11.”

But the 2001 attacks on the U.S. also led Washington to launch a global “War on Terror,” with American-led military involvement in Afghanistan and, two years later, Iraq, with the loss of many lives. The unified international support the U.S. enjoyed in the days and weeks immediately following 9/11 splintered over President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

“Israel clearly sees this as a casus belli [an act that provokes or justifies war],” one EU official said. “There is a real danger Israel simply uses this for a major ground offensive and wipes out the whole of Gaza.”

Shock and fury

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis even publicly warned about making the same mistake.

“The shock and fury in Israel are reminiscent of the emotions in the US after 9/11,” he said on X. “That provoked a display of American unity and power. It also led to a misconceived and self-destructive war on terror. Israel may be heading down the same dangerous path.”

Hamas’ attacks against Israel last weekend, which left more than 1,200 dead, led to an incomparable wave of sympathy and outrage across the West. The Israeli flag was projected across the European Commission’s headquarters and Berlin’s Brandenburger Tor.

But already, Israel’s retribution against Hamas is being scrutinized. Its counteroffensive has killed more than 1, 500 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and put the coastal strip of land under “complete siege.”

The United Nations has already sounded the alarm. Just two days after the attacks, Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply distressed” at Israel’s announcement of a siege on Gaza. He also warned Israel that “military operations must be conducted in strict accordance with international humanitarian law.” This was echoed by the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

NGOs and Western governments now fear a humanitarian crisis, with the Red Cross warning that Gaza hospitals could turn into “morgues” without electricity.

So far, Israel seems to be doubling down.

On Thursday, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said there would be no humanitarian exception until all hostages were freed and that nobody should moralize.

Speaking to POLITICO’s transatlantic podcast Power Play, Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, said the West must continue to stand with Israel as it fights the “bloodthirsty animals” of Hamas.

Talking about Israel’s retaliatory measures in the Gaza Strip, Prosor said Israel decided to move “from containment to eradication” of Islamic jihadists. “This is civilization against barbarity. This is good against bad.”

Haim Regev, the Israeli ambassador to the EU, acknowledged on Tuesday that there were few critical voices so far. “But I feel the more we will go ahead with our response we might see more.”

Abdalrahim Alfarra, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the EU, told POLITICO on Thursday that a change in atmosphere is already underway. “It’s starting, since [Wednesday] there are several voices in the European Union itself that have started to ask Israel and Netanyahu’s government to at the least open up a passage for food aid to stop the Israeli aggression and war against the Gaza strip,” he said.

Gordian knot

Just like the U.S. response to 9/11, the escalation of the conflict risks destabilizing the entire region, Western diplomats fear.

“This whole conflict is a Gordian knot,” said one EU diplomat, describing the risk of escalation toward other countries in the region. The diplomat said the focus should now be on stabilizing the situation and to getting the parties back to the negotiating table.

“The Middle East conflict has the danger of escalating and bringing in other Arab countries under the pressure of their public opinion,” former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned, while pointing to the lessons learned from the 1973 Yom Kippur War, during which an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel.

Despite the historical peace efforts of the U.S. in the region, Washington is far from a neutral broker, as it has been traditionally a strong supporter of Israel. In previous crises in the region, Washington appeared to give Israel carte blanche in its response, but over time ramped up pressure to compel the Israeli government to agree to a cease fire.

The EU official cited above doubted whether Washington will follow that playbook this time. “Biden has no more room for maneuvering domestically after the Hamas attacks,” the EU official said. “He has to support Netanyahu all the way.”

Eddy Wax, Suzanne Lynch, Sarah Wheaton, Elisa Braun, Jacopo Barigazzi and Laura Hülsemann contributed reporting.

This article has been updated with a readout from U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s call with Benjamin Netanyahu, and to reflect the Palestinian death toll.

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Barbara Moens, Clea Caulcutt and Nicholas Vinocur

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October 12, 2023
Ukrainians in Israel — from one war zone to another

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KYIV — Viktoriia Gryshchenko, an intellectual property rights specialist from Kyiv, arrived in Israel only 10 days ago, looking forward to a temporary break from Russia’s war on her homeland.

“But I only escaped from war into another war. And I say that with a bitter smile on my face,” said Gryshchenko, who had not left Kyiv since the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine more than 19 months ago.

On the morning of October 7, she awoke in Petah Tikva, a city 10 kilometers east of Tel Aviv, just as if she were back in Kyiv on February 24, 2022, as Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel. In addition to rocket barrages, Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing hundreds and kidnapping dozens more. In response, Israel launched a large-scale assault and siege of Gaza.

“I can compare both wars. And Hamas is acting just like Russia. Identical attacks, identical atrocities,” Gryshchenko told POLITICO. “I can see this is the same evil that came to us.”

She is among more than 1,000 Ukrainians who have requested evacuation from Israel, while another 200 Ukrainian citizens are trapped in the Gaza Strip, according to Ukrainian officials. The first evacuation flight from Israel is planned for Saturday, with another one set for Sunday.

Gryshchenko hopes to get on one of the evacuation flights and then to return to Ukraine soon, despite the other war that continues to rage there.

Russian forces have been storming Avdiivka, an industrial city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, for days, aiming to encircle Ukrainian forces fighting there. Although war maps by DeepState project show Moscow’s forces have gained some ground north of Avdiivka, Ukrainian troops are still holding the line in the city, according to the Ukrainian Army General Staff.

Back in the Middle East, some 1,300 in Israel have died in the conflict so far, while officials in Gaza say more than 1,500 people have been killed there in Israel’s retaliatory strikes.

Ukrainians are among the casualties.

“The number of dead Ukrainians in Israel has increased to seven people. Consuls … are taking measures for the repatriation of the bodies,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement on Thursday. “Another nine Ukrainians are considered missing.”

“About 200 Ukrainians have declared their desire to evacuate from the Gaza Strip,” Nikolenko said. But “due to the lack of security, departure is currently impossible,” he said.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian embassies in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, as well as other involved departments of Ukraine, are making active efforts to get our people out as soon as possible,” he said.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry press service told POLITICO that Kyiv plans to evacuate Ukrainians to other countries in Europe with the first flight planned for Romania. Gryshchenko hopes to be on that first evacuation flight, and then return to Ukraine.

She said the Ukrainian embassy and consuls have been quite responsive and helpful.

“Panic is a bad helper. To solve something, you need to have a calm mind. Unfortunately, the heart and soul do not always follow this,” Gryshchenko said.

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Veronika Melkozerova

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October 12, 2023
Egypt says Israel seeks to empty Gaza, rejects corridors for civilians

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Egypt has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with the Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, according to Egyptian security sources.

Gaza, a coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to about 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian armed group Hamas took control there in 2007.

Egypt has long restricted the flow of Gaza Palestinians onto its territory, even during the fiercest conflicts.

Cairo, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, always insists the two sides resolve conflicts within their borders, saying this is the only way Palestinians can secure their right to statehood.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US had been holding consultations with Israel and Egypt about the idea of a safe passage for civilians from Gaza, which was hit by a massive Israeli assault in response to a deadly incursion by Hamas fighters into Israel.

Those consultations were continuing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

One of the Egyptian security sources, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters news agency that Egypt rejected the idea of safe corridors for civilians to protect “the right of Palestinians to hold on to their cause and their land”.

Right to return

Several Arab states still have camps for Palestinian refugees who are descendants of those who fled or left their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s 1948 creation.

The Palestinians and other Arab states have said a final peace deal needs to include the right of those refugees to return, a move Israel has always rejected.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that crucial life-saving supplies, including fuel, food and water, must be allowed into Gaza.

“We need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now,” he told reporters, thanking Egypt “for its constructive engagement to facilitate humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing and to make the El Arish airport available for critical assistance”.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric later said: “Civilians need to be protected. We do not want to see a mass exodus of Gazans.”

Egypt has been intensifying its efforts to contain the situation in Gaza, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani during a meeting in Cairo, a statement from el-Sisi’s office said.

According to the Egyptian security sources, talks between Egypt and the US, Qatar and Turkey discussed the idea of delivering humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula under a geographically limited ceasefire.

Turkey’s president said work had started to deliver aid, without elaborating.

The Rafah crossing, which is the main exit point from Gaza not controlled by Israel, has been closed since Tuesday after Israeli bombardments hit on the Palestinian side, according to officials in Gaza and Egyptian sources.

Egypt has made repeated statements this week warning against the possibility that Israel’s assault on Gaza could lead to the displacement of residents from the enclave onto Egyptian territory.

Israel’s ambassador in Egypt, Amira Oron, said in a post on social media that Israel had “no intentions in relation to Sinai, and has not asked Palestinians to move there … Sinai is Egyptian territory”.

Asked about the prospect of displacement following a meeting with Tajani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said: “Egypt was keen to open the Rafah crossing to provide humanitarian aid, food and medicine, but instability and the expansion of the conflict leads to more hardship and more refugees to safe areas, including Europe.”

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October 12, 2023
How does Hamas get its weapons? A mix of improvisation, resourcefulness and a key overseas benefactor | CNN

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CNN
—

The brutal rampage by Islamist militant group Hamas on Israel last weekend involved thousands of rockets and missiles, drones dropping explosives, and untold numbers of small arms and ammunition.

But the attack was launched from the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza, a 140-square-mile (360-square-kilometer) strip of Mediterranean coastal land bordered on two sides by Israel and one by Egypt.

It’s a poor, densely populated area, with few resources.

And it has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 17 years, when Hamas seized control, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a strict siege on the territory, which is ongoing.

Israel also maintains an air and naval blockade on Gaza as well as a vast array of surveillance.

Which begs the question: How did Hamas amass the sheer amount of weaponry that enabled the group to pull off coordinated attacks that have left more than 1,200 people dead in Israel and thousands more injured – while continuing to rain rocket fire down on Israel?

The answer, according to experts, is through a combination of guile, improvisation, tenacity and an important overseas benefactor.

“Hamas acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction and receives some military support from Iran,” the CIA’s World Factbook says.

While the Israeli and US governments have yet to find any direct role by Iran in last weekend’s raids, experts say the Islamic Republic has long been Hamas’ main military supporter, smuggling weapons into the enclave through clandestine cross-border tunnels or boats that have escaped the Mediterranean blockade.

“Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure is still massive despite Israel and Egypt regularly degrading it,” said Bilal Saab, senior fellow and director of the Defense and Security Program at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington.

“Hamas has received arms from Iran smuggled into the (Gaza) Strip via tunnels. This often included longer-range systems,” said Daniel Byman, a senior fellow with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“Iran has also been shipping Hamas its more advanced … ballistic missiles via sea, in components for construction in Gaza,” said Charles Lister, senior fellow at the MEI.

Retired general explains why he thinks Iran helped support Hamas attacks

But Iran has been a mentor, too, analysts say.

“Iran also helped Hamas with its indigenous manufacturing, enabling Hamas to create its own arsenals,” said Byman at the CSIS.

A senior Hamas official based in Lebanon gave details of the Hamas’ weapons manufacturing in an edited interview with Russia Today’s Arabic-news channel RTArabic published on their website on Sunday.

“We have local factories for everything, for rockets with ranges of 250 km, for 160 km, 80km, and 10 km. We have factories for mortars and their shells. … We have factories for Kalashnikovs (rifles) and their bullets. We’re manufacturing the bullets with permission from the Russians. We’re building it in Gaza,” Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, is quoted as saying.

For bigger items, the MEI’s Lister said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that answers directly to the country’s supreme leader, has been giving Hamas engineers weapons training for almost two decades.

“Years of having access to more advanced systems has given Hamas engineers the knowledge necessary to significantly enhance its domestic production capacity,” Lister said.

And Tehran keeps the training of Hamas’ weapons makers current, he added.

“Hamas’ rocket and missile engineers are part of Iran’s regional network, so frequent training and exchange in Iran itself is part and parcel of Iran’s efforts to professionalize its proxy forces across the region,” Lister said.

But how Hamas sources the raw materials for those indigenous weapons also shows the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the group.

Gaza has none of the heavy industry that would support weapons production in most of the world. According to the CIA Factbook, its main industries are textiles, food processing and furniture.

But among its main exports are scrap iron, which can provide material to make weapons in the tunnel network below the enclave.

And that metal in many instances comes from previous destructive fighting in Gaza, according to Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who wrote about it for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Fikra Forum in 2021.

When Gaza infrastructure has been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, what’s left – sheet metal and metal pipes, rebar, electrical wiring – has found its way into Hamas’ weapon workshops, emerging as rocket tubes or other explosive devices, he wrote.

Recycling unexploded Israel munitions for their explosive material and other parts adds to Hamas’ supply chain, Alkhatib wrote.

“The IDF’s operation indirectly provided Hamas with materials that are otherwise strictly monitored or forbidden altogether in Gaza,” he wrote.

Drone video shows Israel pounding Gaza

Of course, all of that didn’t happen overnight.

To fire as many munitions as it did on Saturday in such a short period means Hamas must have been building up its arsenal, both by smuggling and manufacturing, over the long haul, said Aaron Pilkington, a US Air Force analyst on Middle East affairs and PhD candidate at the University of Denver.

Baraka, the Hamas official in Lebanon, said the militant group had been preparing last weekend’s attack for two years.

He made no mention of any outside involvement in the planning of the attack, saying in the Russian media report only that the allies of Hamas “support us with weapons and money. First and foremost, it is Iran that gives us money and weapons.”

The analysts also say the size and scope of Hamas’ raids on Israel caught them – as well as Israeli and other countries intelligence services – off guard.

“It is important to remember that firing off a bunch of rockets is actually very uncomplicated,” Pilkington said.

“What is surprising, … is how you could set stockpile, move, set up, and fire thousands of rockets all while eluding Israeli, Egyptian, Saudi intelligence, etc. It is difficult to see how Palestinian militants could have done this without … Iranian guidance.”

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October 11, 2023
Alarm as Israel again hits Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt

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The third attack on the crossing’s Palestinian side in the last 24 hours consisted of ‘four missiles’, reports say.

Gaza’s sole border crossing with Egypt, the only entry point not controlled by Israel, has been hit again by an Israeli air raid, reports say.

The third attack on the Rafah crossing in 24 hours consisted of “four missiles” that targeted the Palestinian side of the crossing, local Egyptian group Sinai for Human Rights said on Tuesday.

Witnesses had said the second attack hit the no-man’s land between the Egyptian and Palestinian gates, damaging the hall on the Palestinian side. The Israel military said it could “neither confirm or deny” any attack on the crossing “at this point”, the AFP news agency reported.

NGO Sinai for Human Rights said Tuesday’s attacks prompted the closure of the crossing, but there was no immediate confirmation from either side.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military revised a recommendation by one of its spokespeople that Palestinians fleeing its air raids in Gaza head to Egypt.

Rafah is the sole possible crossing point into Sinai for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. The rest of the 40km-long (25-mile-long) strip of land is surrounded by Israel and the sea. The passage of people and goods is strictly controlled under a blockade of Gaza enforced by Egypt and Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel’s assault on Gaza has reportedly caused alarm in Egypt, which has urged Israel to provide safe passage for civilians from the besieged enclave rather than encouraging them to flee southwest towards Sinai, two Egyptian security sources told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Tuesday said the escalation in Gaza was “highly dangerous” and that Egypt was pushing with regional and international partners for a negotiated solution to the violence.

Egypt would not allow the issue to be settled at the expense of others, el-Sisi said in comments reported by state news agency MENA, an apparent reference to the risk that Palestinians could be pushed into Sinai.

Egypt, the first Arab country to normalise relations with Israel, has mediated between Israel and Palestinian factions during previous conflicts in Gaza and has pressed to prevent further escalation in the current fighting.

Israel has been pounding Gaza with the fiercest attacks in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, after Hamas launched a deadly and unprecedented incursion into Israel on Saturday.

On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “total blockade” of Gaza, cutting access to water, food, fuel and electricity. Such a siege of Gaza by the Israeli army, with the intent to starve a population, is a war crime under United Nations statutes.

“What it seems to me is that the measures taken, including the bombing of the Rafah crossing, hints to an intention to really starve and kill the people who are innocent inside the Gaza Strip,” UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese told Al Jazeera, adding that Palestinians in Gaza are concerned that they could experience something akin to a “second Nakba” in the days ahead.

Gaza’s health ministry on Tuesday said at least 830 people, including women and children, have been killed and more than 4,250 wounded since Saturday. At least 900 Israelis have also been killed since the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

The siege of Gaza has also raised fears that Palestinian civilians could find themselves facing an enormous onslaught, or even an Israeli ground invasion, with nowhere to flee.

Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry said Israeli bombardments on Monday and Tuesday hit an entry gate on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. The crossing was also closed from the Egyptian side and Palestinians planning to travel to Gaza retreated to north Sinai’s main city of Al Arish, Egyptian sources said.

The latest attack on Rafah follows a similar incident on Monday that partially disrupted operations at the border, though Egyptian security sources said access for registered travellers and humanitarian activity had been restored by Tuesday morning.

On Monday, about 800 people left Gaza through the Rafah crossing and about 500 people entered, though the crossing was closed for the movement of goods, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.

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October 10, 2023
Major international airlines suspend flights to Israel amid war on Gaza

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Israel aviation authority advises airlines still flying in its airspace to carry extra fuel as delays are to be expected.

Leading international airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Israel’s capital Tel Aviv amid the conflict with Hamas and escalating attacks on Gaza.

About half of all scheduled flights at the airport did not operate on Sunday and a third were cancelled as of Monday evening.

American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Egypt Air, Emirates, Finland’s Finnair, Dutch carrier KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Norwegian Air, Portugal’s TAP, Polish carrier LOT, Ryanair and United Airlines were among those suspending or reducing flight to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.

Russia banned night flights to Israel and regulators including the US Federal Aviation Authority, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Israel’s aviation authority urged airlines to use caution in Israeli airspace but stopped short of suspending flights.

Russia said it had restricted flights from going to Israel before 09:00 GMT due to what it called an “unstable political and military situation” and advised airlines to continue to monitor risks during daylight hours.

Israel’s civil aviation authority said airlines should “review current security and threat information” and had changed some air traffic routes. The authority noted that delays should be expected and advised airlines flying to Israel to carry extra fuel as a precaution.

British Airways said it was planning to continue operating flights to Israel “over the coming days with adjusted departure times”.

Virgin Atlantic said it would continue to run some flights but that customers could rebook or request a refund on their tickets.

The United Kingdom’s easyJet halted flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice. Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss and Austrian Airlines.

Airlines flying from China, Hong Kong and South Korea also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.

Hong Kong’s main carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways, said that “in view of the latest situation in Israel”, it was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

“The safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely,” the airline said on its website, adding it would provide updates on the site.

Israel’s national carrier El Al said that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, “in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces”, with all flights now departing only from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion airport.

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October 9, 2023
How did Israel miss what Hamas was planning?

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Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.

The massive assault on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas militants is as bad an intelligence fiasco for the country as 1973’s Yom Kippur War, when Egypt and Syria launched a joint offensive unforeseen by Israel’s vaunted intelligence services.

No doubt Hamas commanders chose to launch their astonishing breakout from Gaza — the 140-square-mile coastal enclave Israel closely monitors with multiple layers of surveillance — on the war’s 50th anniversary for theatrical effect.

But despite such intense digital and satellite monitoring, as well as the use of predictive and facial-recognition technologies, Hamas caught Israel’s security services as off-guard as Egypt and Syria did half a century ago.

Back then, Western intelligence services seem to have been wrong-footed just as they are now — perhaps because they’re so focused on Ukraine and Russia.

But the Yom Kippur War left a legacy of recrimination surrounding Israel’s intelligence services, with the country’s defense forces and government all eager to pass the buck. Israel’s leadership had ignored clear signs of a coming attack, erroneously believing then Egyptian leader Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat wouldn’t elect to strike because he didn’t have control of the skies.

On the eve of the offensive, the head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate Eli Zeira had even written a memo to then-Prime Minister Golda Meir, stating, “I think they aren’t about to attack; we have no proof. Technically, they are able to act. I assume that if they are about to attack, we will get better indications.”

In the years to come, we will no doubt get a better understanding of what went wrong this weekend, when Hamas militants broke through the border fence demarcating Gaza and southern Israel, allowing Iran-aligned militants to overrun Israeli military positions, abducting and slaughtering civilians as they went.

The images of Israel’s Iron Dome being overwhelmed by thousands of Hamas-fired rockets, as well as the scenes of Hamas assault teams swarming Kibbutzim and wracking passing cars with gunfire, will leave a traumatic legacy likely to shape Israeli politics for decades to come.

“This will shake Israel to its core,” said author Jonathan Schanzer. “The majority of the defenses that Israel has relied upon for the last 20 years appear to have been penetrated. So, this obviously raises significant questions about Israeli military intelligence and Mossad, ” he told POLITICO.

For now, the country’s opposition parties are all on side, calling for unity in the face of attack. “In days like these, there is no opposition and no coalition in Israel,” their leaders said in a joint statement. We “are united in the face of terrorism” and the need to strike with “a strong and determined fist,” they added, calling for retribution.

“The State of Israel is at a difficult moment. I am wishing much strength to the IDF, its commanders and fighters and the entirety of the security and rescue forces,” President Isaac Herzog wrote on social media, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “Together we will triumph over those who wish to harm us.”

But as Israel fights back, questions are already snowballing.

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that over 2,200 rockets were fired into Israel during the first few hours of the assault. Hamas infiltrated from land, sea and air, with clashes between the militant group and Israeli soldiers in over half-a-dozen areas.

So, how was none of the preparation for this assault picked up on? Hamas would have used its vast network of tunnels that link the enclave to Egypt, but how did it smuggle in the materials needed for such a huge attack without Israel catching wind of the traffic? And how did Israeli intelligence fail to notice Hamas was making and assembling thousands of home-grown Qassam rockets?

“The last time Israel was blindsided this badly was the ’73 war,” noted miliary analyst Patrick Fox. “The scope of this infiltration attack indicates a huge level of planning and preparation spanning months or years,” he added.

In some ways, it seems Israel was looking in the wrong direction. According to Jacob Dallal, an Israeli reserve officer and former IDF spokesperson, this kind of attack was expected to be mounted from Lebanon by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“The military scenario envisioned Hezbollah attacking from the north, not Hamas from Gaza. No one thought Hamas had such capacity, especially with the intelligence coverage by Israel’s Shabak and IDF Intelligence,” he wrote in the Times of Israel newspaper.

However, some now fear an attack by Hezbollah might still come, and that Israel might be facing a wider war.

Historically, most of the wars Israel has had to fight have involved battles on several fronts at once. But if Hezbollah were to launch cross-border raids from southern Lebanon while Hamas presses from Gaza, according to Schanzer and others, this would mark a far more ambitious strategic endeavor by Iranian proxies, likely orchestrated by Tehran.

And if that were to happen, “the potential death and destruction may top anything we’ve seen in decades,” warned former U.S. national intelligence official Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council.

Along these lines, Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif has since called on the “Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria” to coordinate and “start marching towards Palestine now.”

So far, Hezbollah hasn’t heeded the call, with the group’s leaders saying they’re monitoring the situation. Yet on Sunday, Hezbollah launched a strike, using artillery and guided missiles on Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border with Syria’s Golan Heights — and Israel’s military responded. Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said the artillery attack was a warning. “We tell the Israelis and the U.S. to stop this ‘stupidity’ or the whole region will be involved in the war,” he said.

However, as Israel battles Hamas and keeps a wary eye on Hezbollah, queries about how this came to pass and how Israeli intelligence got it wrong will continue to niggle away. And as in 1973, there’s likely to be a political and intelligence reckoning once the guns fall silent.

The Yom Kippur War shook Israeli’s faith in their leaders, sparking a protest movement accusing Meir’s Labor government of mismanagement. And it ultimately led to her departure from politics when her coalition lost seats and was unable to form a majority.

Will this now be the fate awaiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu too?

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October 9, 2023
Egyptian opposition claims endorsements for president are being blocked

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Foul play prevents candidates from getting support needed to challenge President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, opposition says.

Opposition parties in Egypt have said individuals seeking to support candidates to stand against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi have been obstructed from doing so.

During a press conference on Wednesday, members of the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM) presented individuals who recounted being blocked in various ways from supporting candidates. Egypt’s National Election Authority has said it has investigated complaints and that such allegations are baseless.

Under Egypt’s election system, candidates must secure the backing of at least 25,000 members of the public from 15 different governorates, or 20 members of parliament, and register their candidacy by October 14.

Rania el-Sheik said she was trying to register to support former member of parliament Ahmed Altantawy when a scuffle she said was provoked by “thugs” broke out at the notary’s office. Altantawy is currently the most prominent individual planning to stand against el-Sisi.

El-Sheik said a woman pulled her hair, while a male colleague was hit during the altercation. Elsewhere, she said others were turned away when they tried to register support.

“In every place, public employees have pre-determined reasons: the system is down, the internet isn’t working, the power is cut, your ID card isn’t showing for us,” she said.

Altantawy’s campaign has complained that people trying to register support for him have been blocked and that more than 80 of his supporters have been arrested.

Magdy Hamdan, a Conservative Party official, said he was also blocked from submitting his endorsement at one notary’s office. When he tried to enter a second, a group of men brought in some rubbish collectors and beggars and began spraying them – and him – with water.

When asked for comment by the Reuters news agency, Egypt’s state information service referred to statements by the election authority denying any violations.

The election authority has said it has instructed notary offices to extend their hours to allow people to register.

El-Sisi, who has overseen a far-reaching crackdown on dissent in Egypt, is widely expected to secure a third term in December, with rights groups expressing doubt over how free the election will be.

The former military chief was first elected in the wake of the 2013 military coup that unseated Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.

He ran virtually unopposed in that election, winning more than 96 percent of the vote. He won a similar proportion in 2018, with critics saying repeated crackdowns have prevented any meaningful challenges.

Constitutional amendments passed in a referendum in 2019 added two years to el-Sisi’s second term. They also allowed him to run for a third six-year term.

The election is set to be held over three days, between December 10 and 12, with a run-off scheduled from January 8 to 10 if no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote.

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October 4, 2023
Wael Hana, co-defendant in Robert Menendez case, arrested at JFK

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One of three businessmen federally charged with coordinating hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife was arrested Tuesday after flying into New York.

Wael Hana, 40, was taken into custody at JFK Airport, according to the Associated Press. His attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, told CBS News in a statement that Hana “returned voluntarily from Egypt so that he would have the opportunity to prove his innocence which we are confident he will be able to do after a full and fair trial.”

Hana, a New Jersey resident originally from Egypt, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, according to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes in exchange for using the senator’s power and influence to enrich and protect Hana and the two other indicted businessmen, as well as benefit Egypt’s government.

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez flanked by supporters is pictured during a full room press conference at the Hudson County Community College – North Hudson Campus in Union City, New Jersey, on Sept. 25, 2023.

Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images

Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he stepped down last week following his indictment, as required under Senate Democratic Caucus rules.

The bribes included cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and compensation, the indictment reads, and federal agents found more than $480,000 in cash during a search of the couple’s home in June 2022.

Beginning in 2018, according to prosecutors, Hana and Nadine Menendez “worked to introduce Egyptian intelligence and military officials to” the senator with the goal of establishing a “corrupt agreement.”

Among the allegations was that Hana hired Nadine Menendez at his halal meat export certification company, IS EG Halal Certified, for a “low-or-no-show” position, in exchange for the senator facilitating foreign military sales and financing to Egypt, which had been withheld for years, the indictment read.

Menendez also in 2019 intervened to protect a monopoly for Hana’s company which led to increased costs for U.S. meat suppliers and others, the charging documents said. The monopoly in turn provided a revenue stream for the bribes, prosecutors said.

Nearly two dozen Senate Democrats have called on Menendez to step down, but he has so far rejected those calls, saying that he will “be exonerated.”

The other two New Jersey businessmen charged in the case, 56-year-old Jose Uribe of Clifton, New Jersey, and 66-year-old Fred Daibes, face the same charges as Hana.

If convicted as charge, Hana could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the bribery count, and 20 years in prison for the fraud count.

— Melissa Quinn, Caroline Linton and Stefan Becket contributed to this report.

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September 26, 2023
New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez indicted on federal bribery charges

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New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez indicted on federal bribery charges – CBS News

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New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife are facing allegations stemming from a sweeping federal bribery scheme. An indictment was announced Friday. Menendez, a Democrat, is now resisting calls to resign. Scott MacFarlane has more.

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September 23, 2023
Netanyahu’s push to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court divides nation | 60 Minutes

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Netanyahu’s push to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court divides nation | 60 Minutes – CBS News

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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s push to weaken the Supreme Court set off months of unrest, tearing Israel apart. Lesley Stahl reports why protestors call his plan a profound threat to democracy.

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September 17, 2023
9/17/2023: President Zelenskyy; Into the Streets; Prime Time in Colorado

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9/17/2023: President Zelenskyy; Into the Streets; Prime Time in Colorado – CBS News

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First, Scott Pelley interviews Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then, Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court divides nation. And, Jon Wertheim interviews Deion Sanders.

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September 17, 2023
US will redirect millions of funds for Egypt to Taiwan and Lebanon | CNN Politics

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The Biden administration has notified Congress that it will withhold $85 million in aid to Egypt that had been conditioned on Cairo’s progress in its treatment of political prisoners, instead diverting that money to Taiwan and Lebanon, sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

The administration said it would redirect $55 million worth of that funding to Taiwan and $30 million to Lebanon, the sources said.

However, the administration will allow Cairo to access $235 million of the total of $320 million in foreign military financing that is conditioned on human rights issues, a senior State Department official said Thursday.

The US provides more than $1 billion in foreign military financing to Egypt and the vast majority of it is not conditional.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken “determined that it is in the US national security interest to waive certain human rights related conditions” and allow the $235 million to go to Egypt.

“What I’m describing today reflects our current assessment that Egypt’s cooperation merits the national security waiver for fiscal year 2022,” the official said.

“Our position on the very serious human rights situation in Egypt absolutely has not changed and we’re going to continue to raise those issues in Egypt consistently and at the most senior levels,” they added.

The conditions around the $85 million – “that Egypt is making clear and consistent progress in relieving political prisoners, providing detainees with due process and preventing harassment of American citizens” – cannot be waived, the official explained.

“The Secretary is determined that Egypt has not fulfilled his conditions and therefore we are reprogramming that 85 million,” the official said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the redirection of the funds.

Last month, a group of 11 House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to withhold all $320 million in conditional foreign military financing over concerns about Cairo’s human rights abuses.

“We acknowledge the historic, deeply rooted bilateral U.S. – Egypt relationship, based in shared social, economic, and political ties,” wrote the lawmakers, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks.

“Nonetheless, we are strongly concerned by reports from both the State Department as well as numerous credible human rights and civil society organizations about the persistent and continued systemic violations of human rights in Egypt,” the letter continued.

“As we continue to stand for the prioritization of basic human rights in our foreign policy and call on the Administration to adhere to the spirit and letter of the law in ensuring progress in the U.S.–Egypt relationship, we call on you to withhold the full $320 million of FY22 FMF until Egypt’s human rights record significantly improves,” it concluded.

Meanwhile, the administration has been working to bolster Taiwan’s defense capabilities in preparation for a potential conflict with China, and in July announced a new weapons package for the self-governing island valued at up to $345 million.

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September 14, 2023
US to withhold $85m military aid to Egypt over political prisoners, rights

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US Senator Chris Murphy calls for additional $235m to be withheld over Egypt’s ‘egregious human rights record’.

The United States plans to withhold $85m in military aid to Egypt owing to Cairo’s failure to uphold US conditions on freeing political prisoners and other human rights issues, a US senator said, with some of the withheld funds being redirected to Taiwan.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, also urged US President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday to withhold $235m more in military aid for what he described as Egypt’s “egregious human rights record”.

Two other sources familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency that a decision on the future of the $235m was expected soon.

“The administration rightly decided to withhold that first tranche – $85m tied to the release of political prisoners – because there’s just no question there has not been enough progress,” Murphy said.

“I would urge the administration to finish the job and withhold the full $320m … until Egypt’s human rights and democracy record improves,” he said.

Of the $85m that is being withheld from Egypt, $55m will be redirected to Taiwan, and the remaining $30m to Lebanon, according to a US State Department letter to congressional committees laying out foreign military financing.

The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On the floor of the US Senate on Tuesday, Murphy said that Egypt had jailed more political prisoners than it had released since 2022.

“Egypt has released more than 1,600 political prisoners since early 2022. That’s good news,” Murphy said.

“During that same time, they have jailed 5,000 more. So for every political prisoner that Egypt releases, three more are jailed. That’s one step forward, and three steps back,” he said.

“That’s not the kind of ‘clear and consistent progress’ in releasing political prisoners that the law requires. The administration was right to withhold the $85m.”

Human rights groups have long accused Egypt of widespread human rights abuses under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government, including torture and enforced disappearances.

Egyptian authorities have taken some steps since late 2021 that they say aim to address rights, including launching a human rights strategy and ending a state of emergency, but critics have dismissed the measures as largely cosmetic.

Some high-profile detainees have been pardoned or released, but activists say new detentions have outnumbered releases and that thousands of political prisoners remain in jail, with restrictions on free speech as tight as ever.

For decades, the US has given Egypt about $1.3bn a year in military aid to buy US weapons systems and services. More recently, the US Congress has made some aid to Egypt subject to human rights conditions.

The announced withholding of military aid is significant, said Seth Binder of the Project on Middle East Democracy rights group.

“But if the administration withholds less than it has the last two years it would in essence be saying to al-Sisi that it believes the Egyptian government has improved its rights record, which is just not true,” Binder said.

Under US law, $85m in military aid is contingent on Egypt “making clear and consistent progress in releasing political prisoners, providing detainees with due process of law, and preventing the intimidation and harassment of American citizens”.

These conditions cannot be waived by the executive branch.

A further $235m is conditioned on Egypt meeting democracy and human rights requirements. These conditions, however, can be waived if the executive branch certifies that it is in the US national security interest to do so.

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September 13, 2023
Sudan army chief visits Egypt on first trip abroad since conflict broke out

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Military cooperation and diplomacy are expected to be points of discussion between General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and President el-Sisi.

Sudan’s top military general has arrived in Egypt on his first trip abroad since the country plunged into a bitter conflict earlier this year, authorities said.

General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the governing Sovereign Council, was received by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the airport in the Mediterranean city of el-Alamein, according to the council.

The council said in an earlier statement the two leaders would discuss the latest developments in Sudan and the ties between the neighbouring countries.

War broke out in Sudan last April after simmering tensions between the military, led by al-Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere.

The RSF controls vast swaths of the capital, which has become an enormous battleground. The military command, where al-Burhan has purportedly been stationed since April, has been one of the epicentres of the conflict.

However, al-Burhan was finally able to emerge out of the structure, which the RSF said they had surrounded, last week in an operation that he said involved the air force and the navy.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said that al-Burhan’s trip abroad shows that he is focused more on the political and diplomatic aspects of the conflict and not just the military front.

“He wants to play a bigger role when it comes to these affairs, when it comes to issues of diplomacy, political relations, and issues to do with support for the military and current government that is fighting the RSF,” she said, speaking from Khartoum.

Al-Burhan was accompanied on his trip to Egypt by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers.

The head of Sudan’s defence industrial system, which has been manufacturing weapons for the Sudanese army, is also part of the delegation, Morgan said, adding that military cooperation will definitely be discussed.

Egypt has longstanding ties with the Sudanese army and its top generals. In July, el-Sisi hosted a meeting of Sudan’s neighbours and announced a plan for a ceasefire. A series of fragile truces, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, have failed to hold.

The conflict has driven the country’s healthcare system nearly to collapse and has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields, where many residents live without water and electricity.

The sprawling region of Darfur has seen some of the worst bouts of violence in the conflict, and the fighting there has morphed into ethnic clashes with RSF and allied Arab militias targeting ethnic African communities.

Clashes also intensified earlier this month in the provinces of South Kordofan and West Kordofan.

The fighting is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the United Nations human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the death toll is likely far higher.

More than 4.6 million people have been displaced, according to the UN migration agency. Those include more than 3.6 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than one million others who crossed into neighbouring countries.

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August 29, 2023
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among 6 nations to join China and Russia in BRICS economic bloc

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Iran and Saudi Arabia were among six countries set to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in the BRICS economic bloc from next year, the group announced Thursday, in a move that will likely throw more scrutiny on Beijing’s political influence in the Persian Gulf.

The United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to become new members of BRICS from 2024.

BRICS was set up in 2009 as a group of emerging market economies and has become one of the leading voices for more representation of the developing world and the Global South in world affairs.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, speaks by video link on the closing day of the BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Center in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.

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It currently represents around 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s GDP, although that is set to increase with the new members, which include three of the world’s biggest oil producers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran.

Recently, questions have been raised over if BRICS is taking an anti-West turn under the influence of China and Russia, amid Beijing’s deteriorating relationship with the United States and Russia’s stand-off with the West over the war in Ukraine.

Mohammad Jamshidi, the political deputy of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, called the decision to add his country “a historic move.”

“A strategic victory for Iran’s foreign policy,” Jamshidi wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “Felicitations to the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution and great nation of Iran.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country presently chairs BRICS, made the announcement on the six new members on the final day of the bloc’s summit in the financial district of Sandton in Johannesburg.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending the summit and were present alongside Ramaphosa for the announcement.

“This membership expansion is historic,” Xi said. “It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and development.”

“Over the years, China has stood in solidarity with developing countries through thick and thin.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to the summit after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for the abduction of children from Ukraine. He has participated in the summit virtually, while Russia was represented at the announcement in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

While Saudi Arabia had been touted as a likely new member if the five current BRICS members reached a consensus on expansion, Iran’s inclusion had been viewed as possibly politically problematic. China and Russia were pushing for expansion, but Brazil, India and South Africa, which have strong bilateral ties with the U.S., only gave their approval more recently.

The current members agreed on the final details of expansion after two days of talks in Johannesburg, although Ramaphosa said the idea had been worked on for over a year.

The BRICS leaders began their talks in Johannesburg on Tuesday night and were locked in discussions most of the day Wednesday, thrashing out the final details. BRICS is a consensus-based organization and all members have to agree on policies.

It’s the second time that BRICS has decided to expand. The bloc was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010.

In an online message, United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the BRICS announcement and said his nation would be joining an “important group.”

“We look forward to a continued commitment of cooperation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X.

Until recently, the inclusion of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together in the same economic or political organization would have been unthinkable, as tensions escalated following the collapse of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal and a series of attacks attributed to the country since.

But as the coronavirus pandemic receded, the UAE became the first to reengage diplomatically with Iran, following missile attacks on Abu Dhabi claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced they had reached a separate détente with Chinese mediation. China has sought closer relations with all three nations, particularly Iran, from which it has imported oil since the collapse of the nuclear deal.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE also have maintained relations with Russia since Moscow’s war on Ukraine, much to the chagrin of Washington, which long has provided security guarantees for the major oil-producing nations.

Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said in a statement that his country would cooperate and coordinate with the rest of the members to achieve the bloc’s aims in economic cooperation, and to “raise the voice of the Global South.”

The news was also a major boost for Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent, as its government works to reengage with many global partners and financial institutions after a devastating two-year conflict in the country’s Tigray region ended last year.

The war caused billions of dollars of damage and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, under pressure from the U.S. and European Union, has turned to other partners like China, Russia and Gulf nations for support.

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August 24, 2023
The world’s largest floating wind farm is now officially open — and helping to power North Sea oil operations

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The Hywind Tampen project is located in waters off the Norwegian coast.

Ole Berg-rusten | AFP | Getty Images

A facility described as “the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm” was officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway on Wednesday, marking the culmination of a major renewable energy project years in the making.

Located around 140 kilometers (86.9 miles) off the coast of Norway in depths ranging from 260 to 300 meters, Hywind Tampen uses 11 turbines. The wind farm produced its first power in Nov. 2022 and became fully operational this month.

While wind is a renewable energy source, Hywind Tampen helps power operations at oil and gas fields, the idea being that it will cut these sites’ carbon dioxide emissions in the process.

“Hywind Tampen has a system capacity of 88 MW and is expected to cover about 35 per cent of the annual need for electricity on the five platforms Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B and C,” Norwegian energy firm Equinor said.

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Floating offshore wind turbines are different from fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines, which are rooted to the seabed. One advantage of floating turbines is that they can be installed in far deeper waters than fixed-bottom ones.

In recent years a range of companies and major economies like the U.S. have laid out goals to ramp up floating wind installations.

Equinor, a major player in the fossil fuel industry, describes the turbines at Hywind Tampen as being “mounted on floating concrete structures with a common anchoring system.”

Alongside Equinor, partners in the Hywind Tampen project include Vår Energi, INPEX Idemitsu, Petoro, Wintershall Dea and OMV.

The project off Norway’s coast marks Equinor’s latest move in the floating wind sector. Back in 2017, it started operations at Hywind Scotland, a five-turbine, 30 MW facility it calls the planet’s first floating wind farm.

“With Hywind Tampen, we have shown that we can plan, build and commission a large, floating offshore wind farm in the North Sea,” Equinor’s Siri Kindem, who heads up the firm’s renewables business in Norway, said in a statement.

“We will use the experience and learning from this project to become even better,” she added. “We will build bigger, reduce costs and build a new industry on the shoulders of the oil and gas industry.”

Powering the oil and gas industry

The use of a floating wind farm to help power the fossil fuel industry is likely to spark significant debate at a time when discussions about climate change and the environment are at the front and center of many people’s minds.

This is because fossil fuels’ effect on the environment is considerable. The United Nations says that, since the 19th century, “human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.”

“Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures,” it adds.

The stakes are high. Speaking at the COP27 climate change summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last year, the U.N. Secretary General issued a stark warning to attendees.

“We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing,” Antonio Guterres said.

“Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.”

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August 23, 2023
Chip war: Is there an end to tit-for-tat China-US trade restrictions?

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We consider the impact as China’s export curbs on the chipmaking metals gallium and germanium take effect.

Semiconductor chips are a vital component used in devices including smartphones, electric cars, wind turbines and even missiles. They are now considered as crucial to economic production as oil.

The United States is worried China could use chip technology to further develop its military power. It unveiled export controls in October to prevent Beijing from getting the most advanced ones. That marked the start of tit-for-tat trade restrictions and upped their geopolitical rivalry.

In a recent move, China has begun to restrict the export of industry-critical materials.

Elsewhere, after the coup in Niger, millions of its citizens could pay the price of sanctions.

And can Egypt lure dollars back into its financial system?

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August 5, 2023
Fake placenames with anti-Israel messages flood Google Maps’ depiction of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt | CNN Business

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CNN
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When Google Maps users navigated to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, they might have seen placenames that included, “F**k Israel,” and “May god curse Israel’s Jerusalem.”

Cyber activists appeared to have targeted the service to post anti-Israel messages, likely by taking advantage of a feature on Google Maps that allows people to create and contribute information about businesses and landmarks that appear on the service.

CNN found dozens of anti-Israel placenames created in Arabic and English, including one in Arabic that read, “Palestine is free, may god forgive us.”

There is no evidence that any Google systems were breached or compromised as part of this stunt which, Ben Decker, CEO of online threat analysis company Memetica, described as “cyber vandalism.”

“Cyber vandalism traces its origins back to the early stages of the internet,” Decker said, “when communities would hack into and deface websites.”

Google, which also owns the map service Waze, said on Monday it was disabling its live traffic data in Israel and Gaza as Israeli forces prepare for a potential ground invasion of Gaza.

The company did not say if the action was at the request of the Israel Defense Forces. CNN reached out to the IDF for comment.

Google took the same action at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year after online researchers used live traffic data to track the movements of Russian troops.

It is unclear if the targeting of Google Maps with anti-Israeli messages was the result of the company’s decision to disable live traffic data.

After CNN shared several examples of fake anti-Israel placenames with Google on Tuesday, a company spokesperson said, “On Google Maps, we strive to strike the right balance of helping people find reliable information about local places, and reducing inaccurate or misleading content. We have clear policies for user contributions – we are actively reviewing the examples you shared and are in the process of removing policy-violating content.”

Many of the fake placenames were still live as of Tuesday evening.

Memetica’s Decker said cyber vandalism is “a politically agnostic form of hacktivism that has been used by online communities around the world.”

“The reason cyber vandalism is far more prevalent than real-world vandalism, particularly when it comes to geopolitical conflicts like Israel-Gaza, is that it can be a completely faceless and anonymous act,” he said.

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August 2, 2023