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Israel says 8 soldiers killed in Gaza ambush; deadliest day in months

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Israel Army

The attacks on Saturday marked one of the deadliest days for Israeli soldiers in Gaza in months as its ground invasion of the southern region continues to ramp up.

Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said in a statement its soldiers “carried out a complex ambush against enemy vehicles” in the Saudi neighbourhood of Tal as-Sultan district, western Rafah city.

The armed group added it fired Yassin-105 RPGs at a D9 military bulldozer, killing and wounding an unidentified number of Israeli soldiers. A “rescue force” vehicle that later arrived was also attacked, “resulting in its destruction and the death of all its occupants”.

Israel’s army announced in a statement the eight soldiers “fell during operational activity in southern Gaza”, without elaborating. Daniel Hagari, Israeli’s military spokesperson, said an investigation will be launched into how exactly the attack occurred.

“We’re working to disarm all the fighters in order to prevent Hamas from targeting civilians again like on October 7. Today, we received another reminder of the high price we are paying because of this war, and we have soldiers ready to sacrifice their lives in order to defend Israel,” Hagari stated in a televised statement.

At least 307 Israeli troops have been killed and thousands wounded since October 27 when the ground invasion of Gaza was launched. At least 37,296 Palestinians – mostly women, children, and elderly – have died since the war began on October 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Saturday’s casualties will likely fuel calls for a ceasefire and heighten Israeli public anger. In January, 21 Israeli troops were killed in a single attack by Palestinian fighters in central Gaza.

Despite international condemnation and censure, Israeli forces continue to push into and surround Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians without food, water, and medicine remain trapped in the city.

Air, sea and artillery attacks on the Tal as-Sultan area intensified after the deadly Hamas ambush.

Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant.

Since a weeklong truce in November that freed more than 100 Israelis, repeated attempts to arrange a ceasefire have failed with Hamas insisting on a permanent end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu refuses to end the invasion before Hamas is “eradicated”.

More than 100 captives are believed to remain in Gaza, though many are believed to be dead. The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Quds Brigades, said on Saturday Israel could only regain its people if it ends the war and pulls out troops from the besieged enclave.

US imposes sanction on Israeli group for attacking Gaza aid convoys

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Gaza War

The administration of President Joe Biden on Friday targeted Tzav 9, a group whose stated aim is to prevent any assistance from entering Gaza. It accused the group of looting and setting fire to aid trucks.

“The provision of humanitarian assistance is vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine,” the Department of State said in a statement.

“The government of Israel has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian convoys transiting Israel and the West Bank en route to Gaza. We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence targeting this essential humanitarian assistance.”

The sanctions were announced a day after Israeli media outlets cited Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai as saying far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir pushed to prevent law enforcement from protecting aid convoys to Gaza.

For months, right-wing Israelis have been protesting and blocking roads to prevent aid shipments from reaching Gaza, which is under a suffocating Israeli blockade. The efforts have further strained the flow of desperately needed aid to the territory.

In recent weeks, the protesters have stepped up their attacks on convoys, especially as they go through the occupied West Bank. Last month, they set two aid trucks alight in the Hebron Hills area, an attack the US State Department blamed on Tzav 9.

The sanctions block the group’s assets in the US and largely prohibit American citizens from engaging in transactions with them. They were imposed under an executive order (EO) issued by Biden that set up a legal framework for US penalties against individuals and entities “undermining peace, security and stability” in the occupied West Bank.

Last week, the Biden administration invoked the same order to sanction the Lion’s Den, a Palestinian armed group.

Still, Washington has resisted calls to penalise Israeli officials responsible for abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Ben-Gvir and ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

This month, US Senator Chris Van Hollen urged the Biden administration to use the executive order to target Smotrich.

“In my view, Smotrich should be subject to sanctions under this EO,” Van Hollen stated.

The finance minister has withheld taxes owed to the Palestinian Authority, and in March, he declared 800 hectares (1,977 acres) in the West Bank to be Israeli state land.

“You’ve got this person whose stated goal is for essentially Israel to take over the entire West Bank,” Van Hollen told the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), an advocacy organisation that recommended sanctioning Tzav 9, welcomed Friday’s measures and called on Biden to target entities and individuals that help fund and enable the group as well.

“Recent revelations that Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered police to stand down and allow Tzav 9 to block humanitarian aid convoys show how this despicable strategy of starvation is coordinated from young settler activists all the way up to the highest levels of the Israeli government,” Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN, said in a statement.

“The US should not continue to ignore Israeli government involvement in these crimes and should apply sanctions to Ben-Gvir next.”

Rights advocates also called on Washington to pressure Israel to lift its siege on Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that Israel has taken “important steps” in recent months to remove obstacles to aid deliveries in Gaza, but he acknowledged it “can and must do more”.

“It is crucial to speed up the inspection of trucks and reduce backlogs, to provide greater clarity on – and shorten the list of – prohibited goods, to increase visas for aid workers and to process them more quickly,” he said at a Gaza aid conference in Jordan on Tuesday.

Blinken also urged “clearer, more effective channels” to protect humanitarian workers from military operations.

EU member states disagree on new sanctions against Russia: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Russian Central Bank

According to Reuters, EU members were scheduled to discuss the sanctions on Friday evening, but the issue was “withdrawn from the meeting agenda at the last moment”.

The potential restrictions would have included a ban on the transit of Russian liquefied natural gas and a plan to crack down on the evasion of sanctions by holding EU operators liable for violations by subsidiaries and partners in third countries.

According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Berlin fears that German companies could be hit by proposed regulations and wants to limit the responsibility of subsidiaries to certain goods or remove it altogether.

EU members reportedly hoped to approve the sanctions before the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, which is planned for June 15-16. The Alpine nation is expected to host delegates from around 90 countries. However, Russia, as well as China and Saudi Arabia, will not be attending, as Moscow has argued that the West would use the event to “dictate an ultimatum”.

The EU has blacklisted more than 2,100 entities and individuals in response to Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine. The US imposed a new round of restrictions this week, targeting the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) and major banks, as well as the country’s IT sector.

The restrictions prompted MOEX to suspend trading in US dollars and euros on Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, however, that Russia’s Central Bank was fully “capable of ensuring the stability of all markets”.

Iran says Sweden freed Hamid Nouri

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Hamid Nouri

Kazem Gharibabadi, who serves as head of the Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights, announced Nouri’s release in a post on his X account on Saturday.

“I am delighted to inform the esteemed nation of Iran that Mr. Hamid Nouri, who has been under detention in Sweden since 2019, has been released and will be returning to our country within a few hours,” Gharibabadi wrote.

He also attributed this success to the efforts of his colleagues in the Judiciary, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly late Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Nouri was arrested upon arrival at Stockholm Airport in November 2019 and was immediately imprisoned. He has been illegally jailed for three and a half years in solitary confinement in Sweden.

He was put on trial on unfounded allegations staged against him by elements representing the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group that has openly boasted about carrying out terrorist operations against Iranian officials and civilians perceived to be supporters of the government.

A Swedish court sentenced Nouri to life imprisonment in 2022. The court, which was described by Iran as illegitimate in the first place, convicted Nouri of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” entirely based on claims made by MKO terrorists living in exile across Europe.

Sweden’s Appeal Court then upheld the verdict in December 2023.

Nouri himself has vehemently denied the charges brought against him in the case while calling them fabricated.

Iran’s Leader calls for constant renunciation of US, Israel

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Ayatollah Khamenei

“This renunciation of the Zionist regime and its supporters, in particular the government of the United States of America, must be demonstrated in the words and actions of nations and governments, and it must impede the actions of the murderers,” the Leader stated in a message to the 2024 Hajj pilgrims.

The following is the full text of the message of Ayatollah Khamenei:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the best of creation, our Master Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his Pure Progeny, upon his chosen Companions and upon those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.

The appealing Abrahamic call, which by God’s command summons all human beings in all eras to the Kaaba during the time of Hajj, has once again this year, attracted the hearts of a number of Muslims from around the world to this center of tawhid and unity.

It has created this magnificent, diverse gathering of a multitude of people, revealing the human spectrum and spiritual power of Islam both to itself and to others.

When one contemplates this magnificent gathering and the complex Hajj rituals, they are a source of reassurance and increase the confidence for the Muslims, while being intimidating and a cause of trepidation for enemies and for ill-wishers.

It should not come as a surprise if the enemies and ill-wishers of the Islamic Ummah attempt to ruin and sow doubts about both of these aspects of the Hajj – whether it is by accentuating denominational and political differences, or by trying to diminish the importance of its sacred and spiritual aspects.

The Quran introduces Hajj as a manifestation of worship, dhikr (remembering God), humbleness and the equal dignity of all human beings. (It introduces Hajj as) a manifestation of a human being’s organized material and spiritual life, a manifestation of blessings and guidance, and a manifestation of moral peace and harmony between (religious) brothers in practice. And (the Quran introduces Hajj as) a manifestation of repugnance and the establishment of a powerful front against the enemies.

Reflection on the verses related to Hajj and contemplation on the acts and rituals of this unparalleled obligation, reveal these matters and similar secrets and mysteries as these that exist within the intricate arrangement that constitutes Hajj.

Brothers and sisters, as pilgrims undertaking Hajj, you are currently in a place where you can practice these truths and luminous teachings. Bring your thoughts and actions closer and closer to these, and bring back to your homes a reformed identity infused with these lofty concepts. This is the valuable, real souvenir of your Hajj journey.

This year, the issue of bara’at (renunciation of the polytheists) is more significant than ever before. The tragedies in Gaza, which are unparalleled in our contemporary history, along with the audacity of the ruthless Zionist regime, which is the embodiment of cruelty and villainy, and of course the declining state of Zionism, leave no room for any consideration or tolerance by any individual, party, government or Muslim denomination.

This year’s renunciation of the polytheists must continue beyond the time and place of Hajj to all Muslim countries and cities worldwide. It must continue beyond just the Hajj pilgrims and be extended to the general populace.

This renunciation of the Zionist regime and its supporters, in particular the government of the United States of America, must be demonstrated in the words and actions of nations and governments, and it must impede the actions of the murderers.

The ironclad resistance of Palestine and the patient, oppressed people of Gaza – whose remarkable patience and resistance have earned them admiration and respect globally – must be fully supported in every way.

I implore God for their complete and swift victory. And for you dear pilgrims, I pray that your Hajj will be accepted. May the prayers of the Remnant of God on earth (Imam Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him)) be with you.

May Allah’s greetings and mercy be upon you.

Seyyed Ali Khamenei

Dhu al-Hijjah 4, 1445

June 11, 2024

Iranian surgeons successfully separate conjoined twins

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iran Surgery Nurse Doctor

Ten-month old Roghayeh and Um al-Banin, who shared parts of small intestine, pancreas and duodenum, went through a high-risk surgery to amicably part ways.

The twins had undergone a previous surgery when they were 3.5 months old to get their livers separated, when the doctors found they share more vital organs.

Iranian forces get into armed conflict with terrorists in southeastern border

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iranian Border Guard

The heavy armed raid which took place only two weeks ahead of the presidential elections in Iran, was countered by the Iranian border guards, Brigadier General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi said.

A number of terrorists were injured and were barred from entering the country from the Pakistani side of the border, according to the commander.

The assailants fled the scene and left a large cache of munitions and weapons, including a significant amount of explosives, C4, gunpowder fuse, electronic detonators, electronic circuit, M16 camera, 251 AK-41 rifles, several handguns, dozens of US-made grenades, and a wireless communication device.

No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, but the Pakistan-based US-supported Jaish al-Adl terrorist group has staged several raids in the province during the past months.

The separatist group seeks to cede Sistan and Baluchestan province from Iran.

Survey: Over 30 percent of consumers boycotting brands over Israel’s war on Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Pro-Palestine Rally

The latest edition of public relations firm Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer polled 15,000 consumers around the world, including in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK, US and India.

In Saudi Arabia, 72 per cent of respondents are boycotting brands that they consider to be supporting a side in the Israel-Gaza war.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents in the UAE also said they would not buy a brand because of its perceived support for a side.

US-based brands such as Starbucks, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are struggling with the effects that boycotts are having on their businesses in the Middle East.

Corporations have frequently said that they do not back a particular side in the Israel-Gaza war.

McDonald’s recently reported a dent in first-quarter sales over the boycott, which it said has had its greatest effect in the Middle East.

And in March, Starbucks announced it would be laying off thousands of employees in the Middle East because of the impact boycotts over the Gaza war have had on its business.

The survey also found geopolitics is having a notable impact on brand choice. Seventy-eight per cent of customers said they will not buy from a brand because of where it is based.

Overall, 60 per cent of customers worldwide are choosing brands based on their politics, a 2 per cent increase from last year.

The report also found everyday brand actions are seen as political.

Most respondents also said trust ranks before customer service, reputation and convenience when buying a brand’s product.

Unknown gunmen murder official in western Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Crime Scene

Hamed Torkashvand was targeted in the assassination on Saturday when he was leaving his house in the provincial capital Kermanshah, according to informed sources.

The police are investigating the murder which was carried out for hitherto unknown reasons.

The organization, affiliated with the Judiciary, is part of the legal system specifying sentences for crimes according to Islamic law.

More than 40% of Israelis prefer Gantz as Israel’s prime minister: Poll

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Netanyahu Gantz

According to a poll published Friday by Israeli daily newspaper Maariv, only 35% of respondents believe Netanyahu is fit for the position of prime minister, while 41% prefer Gantz, who is also the leader of the National Unity Party, resigned Sunday from the emergency unity government.

The results of the Lazar Institute poll also showed that 24% of the random sample of 501 Israelis had no answer for their choice of premier.

A clear majority of respondents, 74%, said they think Israeli public diplomacy on the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas has been unsuccessful. In contrast, only 15% consider believed it successful, while 11% had no opinion.

According to the poll results, if elections were held on the same day, the National Unity party would secure 24 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, or Israeli parliament. The Likud party, led by Netanyahu, would have 21 seats and the Yesh Atid party, headed by opposition leader Yair Lapid, would get 15.

The survey also indicated an unexpected surge in support for right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beiteinu, led by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

With the polling results, the party would have secured an 14 seats, up from nine seats in previous polls.

The newspaper noted that the bloc supporting Netanyahu’s government would secure 52 seats, while the opposition would obtain 58 and Arab representatives 10.

To form a government in Israel, at least 61 votes are needed in the Knesset.

Given Netanyahu’s reluctance to hold early elections, there are no imminent prospects of a vote in Israel, which has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded in early May.

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