World
Israel says war on Gaza likely to last another seven months
Israel’s national security adviser says the continuing war on Gaza is likely to last through the end of the year.
In an interview with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster on Wednesday, Tzachi Hanegbi said “we are expecting another seven months of fighting” to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group.
His remarks came as Israel finds itself increasingly isolated on the world stage nearly eight months into the assault, with even the United States and other close allies expressing outrage over the civilian death toll.
Hanegbi defended Israel’s ongoing operations in Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, saying the frontier had become a “smuggling kingdom” since 2007, when Hamas began governing Gaza.
“Every rocket, every explosive device, every shot fired at Israel is because that border was breached,” he said.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesman said the army had gained “operational control” over the narrow Philadeplhi Corridor, a buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza that was created as part of the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
“In recent days, our forces have taken operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised address.
Egypt has expressed grave concerns about Israel’s Rafah offensive, saying it threatens the peace treaty.
Hanegbi’s remarks raise questions about the future of Gaza and what kind of role Israel will play in it. Already, top ally the US has demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu produce a postwar vision for the Palestinian territory, and his defence minister and a top governing partner have warned that he must take steps to ensure that Israel does not remain in Gaza indefinitely.
Israel’s assault has already devastated Gaza’s urban landscape, displaced most of the territory’s population and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe and widespread hunger. Israel claims it must dismantle Hamas’s last remaining battalions in Rafah and also said it will seek indefinite security control over the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has rejected any postwar plan that excludes the group, reiterating that it will remain in Gaza.
The Rafah offensive has so far killed dozens of Palestinians as NGOs and professional unions declared Gaza a “famine-stricken” zone.
Recent attacks have struck so-called safe humanitarian zones near Rafah, killing dozes of people, according to Palestinian officials.
Israeli tanks moved into the heart of Rafah city on Tuesday despite an order from the International Court of Justice for Israel to end its attacks on the area.
Situation ‘getting worse’
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said that in the central part of Rafah city, there is “a confirmed report of families trapped inside their residential homes, caught in the line of artillery fire”.
Israeli quadcopters had pursued people there, he said, preventing them from evacuating to safer areas.
“From the northeast to the northwest of Rafah, where tent camps have been attacked in recent days, the situation is getting worse by the hour because of the expansive military operations,” Mahmoud said.
“At the same time, nearly all health and public facilities are pushed out of service right now.”
The World Court said Israel had not explained how it would keep evacuees from Rafah safe and provide food, water and medicine. Its ruling also called on Hamas to release hostages taken from Israel on October 7 immediately and unconditionally.
Rafah residents said Israeli tanks had pushed into Tal as-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura in the centre before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as they have in other offensives.
Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday that 19 civilians had been killed in Israeli air strikes and shelling across Gaza.
Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan urged Washington to pressure Israel to open the Rafah crossing to Egypt for aid supplies, saying that there was no indication that Israeli authorities would do so soon and that patients in besieged Gaza were dying for lack of treatment.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday while saying it did not believe such an operation was under way.
The armed wing of Hamas and that of its ally PIJ said they confronted invading forces in Rafah with antitank rockets and mortar bombs and blew up explosive devices they had planted, resulting in numerous successful hits.
The Israeli military said three Israeli soldiers were killed and three badly wounded.
In the nearby city of Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed three people overnight, including Salama Baraka, a former senior Hamas police officer, medics and Hamas media said. Another killed four people, including two children, medics said.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shelled Gaza City neighbourhoods and moved deeper into Jabalia, where residents said large residential districts were destroyed.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, according to health officials.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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