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NAM condemns Israeli fatal raid on Iranian consulate in Syria as ‘clear violation of intl. law’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Israeli strike on Iranian consulate in Syria

The coordinating bureau of the 120-member forum of countries, in a communiqué released on Wednesday, stated that such acts of violence against diplomatic and consular missions are unjustifiable.

It said that “the Non-aligned Movement strongly condemns the heinous attack conducted by Israel against Iranian diplomatic premises and representatives in Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic, which took place on April 1, 2024, and resulted in more than a dozen of casualties, including seven Iranian personnel and six Syrian civilians, and the complete destruction of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s diplomatic premises”.

“The Coordinating Bureau of the NAM expresses deep solidarity with and condolences to the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the family and loved ones of the victims of the attack,” the communiqué read.

It went on to reaffirm that such attacks against diplomatic premises and representatives are a flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and also contravene the foundational principle of inviolability of diplomatic premises and representatives as enshrined in the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961), the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons including Diplomatic Agents (1973).

NAM emphasized that “such acts of violence against diplomatic and consular missions and representatives, regardless of motive or perpetrator, can never be justified and underlines the obligation of all states to ensure the security and safety of the members and premises of diplomatic and consular missions, as well as their inviolability”.

On April 1, Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, located next to the embassy building in Damascus’s Mezzeh district.

The attack killed two senior Iranian military personnel who were on an advisory mission to Syria as well as five of their accompanying officers.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among the seven martyrs of the terrorist attack.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed that Iran will “punish” Israel and make the evil regime “regret” its crime of assassinating the country’s military advisors in Syria.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has also said Israel had resorted to indiscriminate assassinations after back-to-back failures in the face of the resistance, warning that the regime’s latest crime against Iranian military advisers in Syria “will not go unanswered.”

Russia investigating US, NATO officials for ‘financing terrorism’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Moscow Attack

The probe was launched after a referral by several Russian lawmakers, which accused the US and its allies of organizing the March 22 attack on the Moscow concert venue.

Investigators are currently looking at the potential involvement of “specific individuals from among government officials, people with civic and commercial organizations of Western countries,” said committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.

It has already been established that funding for terrorist attacks inside Russia has been funneled through Ukrainian companies, including the notorious Burisma Holdings – former employers of US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter – Petrenko added.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia has also said it would follow the evidence leading to “persons and structures located in the US, Germany, France and Cyprus.”

In addition to last month’s Crocus City Hall attack, the investigation is looking at other terrorist acts, including the assassinations of prominent public figures and the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in international waters.

Investigators are establishing the connections between the direct perpetrators of terrorist acts and “foreign curators, organizers and sponsors,” Petrenko added.

Iran Leader: Gaza most important issue for world of Islam

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Ayatollah Khamenei

Receiving the ambassadors of Muslim states and government officials on Wednesday on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, Ayatollah Khamenei called on “everyone to feel responsible” towards the issue of Palestine.

The Israeli regime’s aerial and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 last year, when the Palestinian resistance factions launched a surprise operation in occupied territories, has so far left around 34,000 Palestinians dead. The occupying regime has been accused of genocide.

The Iranian Leader praised the Iranians for the massive Quds Day rallies across the country on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan in support of Palestine and called it a “public uproar”.

He expressed satisfaction with the support for Palestine across the world “in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, and in the US itself,” saying the unprecedented event points to a new development in the Islamic world.

“Today, the nations’ hearts go out to the oppressed people of Gaza. It is not a small matter that Palestine has become the top issue in European countries and in Washington. It seems that a new development is taking place in the Islamic world,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

However, the Leader criticized Islamic governments for not holding their end of the bargain, stating that “In the issue of Palestine, Islamic governments do not fulfill their duties. Some of them even help the regime. This is betraying the Islamic ummah and helping to destroy themselves.”

Baghdad, Washington hold talks on ending coalition’s mission: Iraqi army

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Forces

Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasoul said in a statement on Tuesday that the joint Higher Military Commission (HMC) held a meeting on Monday, and the two sides discussed the work of the subcommittees accomplished during the past months.

The meeting also evaluated the threat of the Islamic State (IS) group, the security situation, and the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, it added.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 based on false claims about Baghdad possessing weapons of mass destruction, leaving a trail of destruction, death, and chaos in the Arab country.

The US and its allies re-launched a military campaign in 2014 to supposedly fight off Daesh. The group had emerged in Iraq and neighboring Syria earlier as Washington was running out of excuses to extend its meddling in the West Asia region or enlarge it in scale.

The US military claimed to be ending its combat mission in Iraq in 2021 but said it would retain some 2,500 troops in the country as alleged advisors.

UK says will not suspend weapons exports to Israel

By
IFP Media Wire
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Cameron and Blinken

The foreign secretary said that he had reviewed the most recent legal advice about the situation on the ground but this left the UK’s position on export licences “unchanged”.

But Lord Cameron said ministers had “grave concerns” about humanitarian access in Gaza as he urged Israel to turn its commitments on aid “into reality” at a joint press conference with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken.

Downing Street has come under mounting pressure from senior Tories to suspend weapons exports in light of the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and after the deaths of three Britons in the strike on aid group World Central Kitchen.

Cameron stated that continuing to allow arms exports put the UK in line with other “like-minded countries” and reiterated that the UK had a robust legal process for assessing those licences.

“We don’t publish legal advice, we don’t comment on legal advice but we act in a way that is consistent with it, we’re a government under the law and that’s as it should be.”

The former prime minister added the Israel-Hamas conflict was a “different situation” from when the UK published a summary of legal advice before taking military action in Libya, or more recently in the Red Sea.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, said Cameron’s refusal to publish the legal advice “simply is not good enough”, as he accused him of “hiding from scrutiny”.

“It’s vital the UK is not complicit in any breach,” Lammy continued, adding, “If there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, the government must suspend the sale of those arms.”

During his visit to Washington, which followed dinner with Donald Trump at the ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Cameron told reporters: “I have now reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israel’s conduct of their military campaign.

“The latest assessment leaves our position on export licences unchanged. This is consistent with the advice that I and other ministers have received and as ever we will keep the position under review.”

“Let me be clear, though, we continue to have grave concerns around the humanitarian access issue in Gaza, both for the period that was assessed and subsequently,” he continued, adding, “We’ve seen a welcome increase in trucks with perhaps as many as 400 going in yesterday, the highest since 7 October, and of course public commitments from Israel to flood Gaza with aid. These now need to be turned into reality.”

Cameron also called for the water in Gaza to be switched back on, the Ashdod port and a northern crossing point to be opened, and for aid to reach across Gaza.

The UK’s arms exports regime would prevent the supply of weapons to Israel if there was a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law. UK companies provide about 0.02% of Israel’s overall arms imports.

During six months of conflict triggered by the 7 October attack by Hamas in southern Israel, at least 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry, more than a third of them children.

Cameron refused to be drawn on the details of his discussion with Trump after making a surprise visit to the presumptive Republican presidential candidate’s Florida resort, saying only that it covered a “range of important geopolitical subjects”.

He said it was “entirely in line with precedent of government ministers meeting with opposition politicians in the run-up to elections”, adding: “I remember when I was prime minister meeting Mitt Romney when he was a candidate. I remember Gordon Brown meeting Barack Obama when he was a candidate.”

The visit formed part of his push to shore up US support for Ukraine, as he launches his latest appeal to Congress over a stalled multibillion-dollar package of aid for Kyiv.

Ukraine has plan for new counteroffensive: Zelensky

By
IFP Media Wire
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President Volodymyr Zelensky

While Ukrainian forces are presently being pushed back on the battlefield, Kiev hopes to turn the tide thanks to Western aid, the Ukrainian leader told the German tabloid Bild this week.

“Russia has more men, more weapons. But the West has modern weapons systems,” Zelensky mused.

“If we get [production] licenses from our partners, then it’s not about the number of people. It’s about the quality of the weapons.”

Kiev already has a plan for a new counteroffensive against Russia, Zelensky added, indicating that it depends on the US resuming military assistance to his country and the West in general helping Ukraine ramp up domestic military production.

Last year, Ukraine attempted a counteroffensive; Western-trained and armed troops were expected to break through Russian defensive lines and score a major victory. However, they only managed negligible territorial gains at the cost of tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and depleted their arms stockpiles. Russia estimated Ukrainian military losses between early June and late October, 2023 at roughly 90,000 troops, 600 tanks and 1,900 other armored vehicles.

The Zelensky government maintains that it cannot negotiate with Russia as long as President Vladimir Putin remains in power and would not accept any outcome of the conflict that doesn’t entail the full restoration of Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders.

A profile of the Ukrainian leader published by Time magazine last November said that his faith in Ukraine prevailing was “immovable, verging on the messianic”. Some of his aides perceived it as delusional, they told the news outlet.

Not enough humanitarian aid going into Gaza with Israeli restrictions: UN

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

The comment by spokesman Stephane Dujarric was in response to being asked during a news conference about the UN’s stance on Israel’s plans to carry out an offensive in Rafah.

Dujarric said the Israeli authorities have not provided any briefing to the UN about the potential operation but acknowledged that there are reports about the possibility of a ground operation.

He emphasized that the UN and its organizations continue to struggle with humanitarian aid deliveries.

“Given the restrictions imposed by the Israelis on the ground, given the fact that not enough aid is going in, given the fact that we don’t have enough trucks inside, given the fact that we’ve had a large number of our colleagues killed in this conflict, what we need is a humanitarian cease-fire,” he added.

Dujarric noted an increase in the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza in the last two days but said the problems persist.

“The challenges remain once they get through the crossing. There’s one thing, which is counting trucks that are going through the crossing, then there is the access to the point,” he said.

Dujarric added that not all trucks enter Gaza fully loaded “due to security reasons” and said once they pass the crossings, the aid in the trucks needs to be transferred to smaller trucks for distribution.

He emphasized that there has not been an improvement in that regard and said it is necessary to consider various aspects rather than just the number of incoming trucks.

Israel has waged a military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 33,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 76,000 injured, in addition to mass destruction and displacement.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population of more than 2 million, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

Iran president says Muslims have human, religious duty to stop Gaza war

By
IFP Media Wire
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Ebrahim Raisi

Raisi made the statement in a message on Tuesday on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

“Islamic countries have a human and religious duty to stop, through immediate measures, the continuation of the Zionist regime’s attacks, which are a crime against humanity and genocide, and reduce the suffering of the defenseless people of Gaza,” the Iranian president said.

He added Iran was ready for any cooperation within the framework of the initiatives of the Islamic countries to resolve hunger, famine and other humanitarian crises in Gaza.

Praising worldwide rallies in support of Palestinians on International Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan, Raisi stated, “It is necessary to use this valuable turnout to end the bombing and siege of Gaza by the Zionist occupation regime and send humanitarian aid.”

Israel launched its atrocious onslaught on the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, after Palestinian resistance movements launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping regime on October 7.

The regime has so far killed over 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

Netanyahu’s attitude to war in Gaza ‘is a mistake’: Biden

By
IFP Media Wire
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Biden Netanyahu

“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Univision in an interview.

Biden called an Israeli drone strike that killed several aid workers from World Central Kitchen who were distributing food in Gaza “outrageous”. That strike prompted a phone call between the two leaders, in which Biden warned the U.S. would reconsider its policy toward the war in Gaza if Israel did not do more to protect civilians.

“So what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden told Univision.

“There’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”

Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have been simmering for months as the president faces a growing outcry from activists and some Democratic lawmakers over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Thousands of voters in Democratic primaries have cast ballots for “uncommitted” or a protest vote in response to Biden’s handling of the war.

Biden has argued the Israelis have a right to defend themselves from Hamas while simultaneously pushing for Netanyahu to do more to protect civilians. In an interview last month with MSNBC, Biden stated Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping” in his handling of the conflict.

But the situation reached a tipping point last week, following the strike that killed the World Central Kitchen aid workers. Israel took responsibility for the incident and called it a mistake.

The White House said after the call between Biden and Netanyahu that Israel needed to implement “a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers”, and that “U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps”.

Israel has since opened additional crossings to allow aid into Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been without access to adequate food, water and medicine.

Pentagon chief says there’s no evidence Israel has committed genocide in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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Lloyd Austin

Austin, speaking during a Senate Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, denied that Israel is committing a genocide after protesters interrupted the committee and called for the U.S. to stop funding the war, which they referred to as a genocide.

“We don’t have any evidence of genocide,” Austin said after a question from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to respond to the protesters.

Austin also avoided referring to the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel as a genocide after questioning from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member on the committee.

“It certainly is a war crime,” Austin said of the Oct. 7 attacks after Wicker repeatedly pressed him on referring to it as a genocide.

Hamas killed more than 1,100 people in the attack and took 250 hostages. About 100 hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza and held by Hamas.

Israel has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in its response, while triggering fears of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza as people fled to the southern part of the territory.

South Africa in late 2023 filed a case at the United Nations top court, the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza. The case is expected to take years to be resolved.

The ICJ has never officially ruled a nation has carried out a genocide before. To declare a genocide, it would have to meet certain definitions under the Genocide Convention.

The Joe Biden administration has come under increasing pressure from the left to back a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and to withhold arms to Israel. The president has accused Israel’s government of going over the top with its response while urging it to do more to protect civilians, but he has held off on demanding a permanent cease-fire.

Austin at the hearing stated the U.S. is committed to defending Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks.

“I would remind everybody that what happened on Oct. 7 was absolutely horrible,” he continued, adding, “Numbers of Israeli citizens killed, and then a couple hundred Israeli citizens taken hostage American citizens as well as American citizens.”

Austin also said Israel must do more to protect civilians.

“Far too many civilians have been killed as a result of combat operations,” he stated, adding, “They need to get civilians out of that battle space.”

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