World
Egypt-Gaza border crossing opens, letting desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians for the first time since Israel sealed off the territory following Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago.
Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking filthy water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel has launched waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have failed to stem ongoing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.
The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed, and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes.
More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days. But Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on Saturday. Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza said the limited convoy “will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is currently enduring,” calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock.
The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group’s Oct. 7 incursion into Israel. It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between the two.
Hamas released Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday for what it said were humanitarian reasons in an agreement with Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has often served as a Mideast mediator.
The two had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays, the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting 203 others.
Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.”
Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group said it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others.
There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas, an Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely-populated Palestinian territory.
Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles.
Israel issued a travel warning on Saturday, ordering its citizens to leave Egypt and Jordan — which made peace with it decades ago — and to avoid travel to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, which forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. Protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza have erupted across the region.
A potential Israeli ground assault is likely to lead to a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides in urban fighting. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the war — mostly civilians slain during the Hamas incursion. Palestinian militants have continued to launch unrelenting rocket attacks into Israel — more than 6,900 projectiles since Oct. 7, according to Israel.
More than 4,100 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry run by Hamas. That includes a disputed number of people who died in a hospital explosion earlier this week.
Speaking Friday about Israel’s long-term plans for Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant laid out a three-stage plan that seemed to suggest Israel did not intend to reoccupy the territory it left in 2005.
First, Israeli airstrikes and “maneuvering” — a presumed reference to a ground attack — would aim to root out Hamas. Next will come a lower intensity fight to defeat remaining pockets of resistance. And, finally, a new “security regime” will be created in Gaza along with “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said.
Gallant did not say who Israel expected to run Gaza if Hamas is toppled or what the new security regime would entail.
Israel occupied Gaza from 1967 until 2005, when it pulled up settlements and withdrew soldiers. Two years later, Hamas took over. Some Israelis blame the withdrawal from Gaza for the five wars and countless smaller exchanges of fire since then.
Over a million people have been displaced in Gaza. Many heeded Israel’s orders to evacuate from north to south within the sealed-off enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel has continued to bomb areas in southern Gaza where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and some appear to be going back to the north because of bombings and difficult living conditions in the south.
Generators in Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, were operating at the lowest setting to conserve fuel while providing power to vital departments such as intensive care, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. Others worked in darkness. The lack of medical supplies and water make it difficult to treat the mass of victims from the Israeli strikes, he said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it had received a threat from the Israeli military to bomb Al-Quds Hospital. It said Israel has demanded the immediate evacuation of the Gaza City hospital, which has more than 400 patients and thousands of displaced civilians who sought refuge on its grounds, it said.
It was not clear if there was an agreement for generator fuel to be brought in through Rafah.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Krauss from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalist Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
World
1 dead, others injured after London-Singapore flight hit severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines says
BANGKOK (AP) — One person has died aboard a London-Singapore flight that encountered severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines said Tuesday, in which the plane apparently plummeted for a number of minutes before it was diverted to Bangkok, where emergency crews rushed to help injured passengers amid stormy weather.
The Boeing 777-300ER, with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, landed in Bangkok at 3:45 p.m. (0845 GMT), the airline said in a Facebook post.
Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 meters). Just after 0800 GMT, the Boeing 777 suddenly and sharply pitched down to 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) over the span of some three minutes, the data shows.
The aircraft stayed at 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) for just under 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour. The descent happened as the flight was over the Andaman Sea approaching Myanmar.
Emergency crews from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from Suvarnabhumi Airport, were on site to transfer injured passengers from Flight SQ321 from Heathrow off the runway for treatment. Videos posted on the LINE messaging platform by Suvarnabhumi Airport showed a line of ambulances streaming to the scene.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the airline said. “We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.”
World
Australia and New Zealand begin evacuating citizens amid violent unrest in New Caledonia
- Australia and New Zealand have sent planes to evacuate citizens stranded in violence-hit New Caledonia.
- Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed clearance from French authorities for two evacuation flights from the archipelago.
- A Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules landed in Noumea, the capital, with a capacity to carry 124 passengers.
Australia and New Zealand sent airplanes to New Caledonia on Tuesday to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens from the archipelago, where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.
Hours later, a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules touched down in Noumea, the capital. The plane can carry 124 passengers, according to the Defense Department.
FRENCH SECURITY REINFORCEMENTS EASE VIOLENT UNREST IN NEW CALEDONIA
“We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia. It did not immediately confirm whether the Australian-organized flights would also evacuate other stranded foreign nationals, believed to number in the thousands.
New Zealand’s government also announced that it had sent a plane to New Caledonia to begin evacuating about 50 of its citizens.
“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days — and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the government,” Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on subsequent flights in coming days.”
FRANCE GRAPPLES TO REGAIN CONTROL OF VIOLENT UNREST IN NEW CALEDONIA AS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 4
Noumea’s international airport remains closed to commercial flights. Its reopening will be reassessed on Thursday.
At least six people have died and hundreds more have been injured since violence erupted last week in New Caledonia following controversial electoral reforms passed in Paris.
About 270 suspected rioters have been arrested as of Tuesday, and a 6 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew is in effect for the archipelago of about 270,000 people, which is a popular tourist destination with its idyllic beaches and climate.
France has sent in over a thousand security personnel, with hundreds more due to arrive Tuesday, to try to quell the unrest and restore control.
Armed clashes, looting, arson and other violence turned parts of Noumea into no-go zones. Columns of smoke billowed into the sky, hulks of burned cars littered roads, businesses and shops were ransacked and buildings became smoking ruins.
There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks who are seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France.
The unrest erupted May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French Constitution to make changes to New Caledonia voter lists. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that would, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.
Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize Kanaks who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.
World
Germany's FM visits Kyiv amid Russian offensive on Ukraine's east
Annalena Baerbock renewed calls for partners to send more air defence systems to Ukraine, although Germany’s own deliveries have been slow.
Germany’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in the latest public display of support for Ukraine by its Western partners.
Annalena Baerbock renewed Berlin’s calls for partners to send more air defence systems as Ukraine’s depleted troops are trying to hold off a fierce Russian offensive along the eastern border in a critical phase of the war.
“The Russian attacks are directly targeted at the civilian infostructure. Infrastructure like electricity is what you need for daily life, and air defence is so important, but we still need way more air defence because some of the rockets and missiles could be brought down by air defence, but obviously not all of them,” Baerbock said in Kyiv.
“It’s directly and strategically a direct attack on infrastructure to enable the life and survival here in Ukraine, and this is why I am calling worldwide to increase the air defence support, but also to increase support for reconstruction.”
Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the US. In 2023, it provided around €5 billion in military assistance.
Recently, Berlin pledged a third US-made Patriot battery for Ukraine as Kyiv faces a shortfall of air defences against the ongoing Russian onslaught.
The country has been resisting appeals from Ukrainian officials to provide Ukraine with the coveted Taurus missiles, which have a range of up to 500 kilometres.
Amongst other reasons, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has claimed that these would involve sending troops directly into Ukraine, which would encourage a direct retaliation from Russia.
Ukraine’s ability to defend itself ‘compromised’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted that air defence systems are needed more than ever as the Kremlin’s forces focus their efforts on the eastern Donetsk province and the northeastern Kharkiv region.
“These US and Western policies are severely compromising Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against current Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv (region) or any area along the international border where Russian forces may choose to conduct offensive operations in the future,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment late Monday.
Regarding Ukraine’s prospective EU membership, Baerbock said that Ukraine joining the bloc would be “the necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia’s illegal war of aggression.”
Ukraine has made “impressive progress” and must not let up on reforms to the judicial system, fighting corruption and media freedom, Baerbock stated.
Germany is set to host a reconstruction conference for Ukraine next month as it looks to help rebuild the country following the war.
-
News1 week ago
Skeletal remains found almost 40 years ago identified as woman who disappeared in 1968
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”: Disney's New Kingdom is Far From Magical (Movie Review)
-
World1 week ago
India Lok Sabha election 2024 Phase 4: Who votes and what’s at stake?
-
World1 week ago
Ukraine’s military chief admits ‘difficult situation’ in Kharkiv region
-
World1 week ago
Catalans vote in crucial regional election for the separatist movement
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Aavesham Movie Review
-
Politics1 week ago
North Dakota gov, former presidential candidate Doug Burgum front and center at Trump New Jersey rally
-
News1 week ago
Trump, Reciting Songs And Praising Cannibals, Draws Yawns And Raises Eyebrows