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Here’s a look at the importance of the border strip to Israel, to Palestinians and to Egypt:What is the border strip? It is land around 100 yards wide that runs roughly eight miles from Israel’s border to the Mediterranean. The Israelis used the code name Philadelphi for the strip, while Egyptian officials call it Salah Al Din. Why does it matter to Israel? Senior Israeli officials had set control of the strip, which in Israel is called the Philadelphi Corridor, as a military objective.
Persons: Israel, Salah Al Din Organizations: Hamas, Senior Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Israel’s, Rafah
A member of Egypt’s security forces has been killed during a shooting incident near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and an investigation is underway, an Egyptian army spokesman said on Monday, after the Israeli military reported a shooting incident on the border. Israeli troops took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, the main conduit between the territory and Egypt, early this month. “Several hours ago, a shooting incident took place on the Egyptian border. The Israeli seizure of the Rafah crossing, in what Israel called a limited operation into Rafah, halted the flow of aid into the enclave through that portal. Since then, most people have fled Rafah to areas farther from the Egyptian border.
Persons: Gharib Abdel Hafez, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Organizations: Gaza Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israel, Egypt
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Sunday that Moscow’s forces were massing for a new ground offensive on the northeast of his country, a day after a Russian missile strike on a hardware superstore in the city of Kharkiv killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more, according to Ukrainian officials. “Russia is the only source of aggression and constantly tries to expand the war,” Mr. Zelensky said in a speech delivered in English inside the ruins of a publishing house in Kharkiv that was destroyed last week in a Russian strike. “Russia is preparing for offensive actions,” around 60 miles northwest of Kharkiv, he said, adding that Moscow was gathering “another group of troops near our border.” Mr. Zelensky gave no further details about the potential attack. Moscow surprised Ukraine on May 10 when its troops poured across the northeastern border, punching through Ukrainian defenses and seizing villages close to the frontier. That forced the government in Kyiv to rush in reinforcements in a bid to halt the Russian advance.
Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr, Zelensky Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Kharkiv, Russia, Moscow, Kyiv
For weeks, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city, Rafah, was one of the few places where desperate Gazans could find some aid and food. Bakeries sold bread; fuel powered generators; markets were open, if expensive. But since Israeli forces began an incursion in the city this month — effectively closing the two main crossings where aid enters — Rafah has become a place of fear and dwindling supplies. “There’s always something missing in the tent,” said Ahmed Abu al-Kas, 51, who is sheltering in Rafah with his family. “If we have bread, we don’t have water.
Persons: “ There’s, , Ahmed Abu al Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Kas
The decision by three European countries — Ireland, Norway and Spain — to recognize a Palestinian state fits into a long-term goal of Palestinian leaders to secure diplomatic acceptance, but it appears that the immediate practical impact will be limited. Broadly speaking, recognizing a state means declaring that it meets the conditions of statehood under international law. But the European countries appeared to be mostly concerned with expressing support for Palestinians and sending a message to Israel at a time of deepening international concern about its conduct of the war. He gave no date for this change but said it would enable Norway to enter into bilateral agreements. Recognition would also have some “domestic legal effects in Norway in areas where issues related to the state of Palestine arise,” he said.
Persons: Spain —, Espen Barth Eide, Organizations: Palestinian Authority, West Bank Locations: Ireland, Norway, Spain, Israel, Palestine
The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said he is seeking arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. He also said he was requesting warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and for Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Credit... -/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOn April 26, Mr. Netanyahu said on social media that the country “will never accept any attempt by the I.C.C. “would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression,” Mr. Netanyahu said. is the world’s only permanent international court with the power to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Karim Khan, Khan, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Khan’s, Maya Alleruzzo, Sinwar, Deif, Haniyeh, , Gallant, , Volker Türk, Mr Organizations: International, Criminal, Mr, Hamas, Credit, United Nations, Agence France Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, Rome, Qatar, Hague, Israel’s
The International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, said Monday that he had requested arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the Oct. 7 attack and the war in Gaza. In a statement, Mr. Khan said he was applying for arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader within Gaza; Muhammad Deif, Hamas’s military leader; and Ismail Haniyeh, the movement’s Qatar-based political leader. Mr. Khan also said he was requesting warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and for Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant. “Today we once again underline that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” Mr. Khan said in his statement. “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader — no one — can act with impunity.”
Persons: Karim Khan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Khan, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, Mr, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Khan’s, ” Mr, , Organizations: Criminal, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Qatar
The United States has repeatedly called on Israel not to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. Earlier this month, President Biden said in an interview with CNN that the United States would not supply weapons for a major Israeli offensive in Rafah. Hamas said its fighters had fired on Israeli troops in eastern Rafah and close to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. In the interim, tensions between the United States and Israel over the Rafah invasion and Israel’s conduct of the war have escalated. Mr. Sullivan is expected to try to advance the deal in his meeting with the Israeli leader.
Persons: Jake Sullivan, Benjamin Netanyahu, John Kirby, Sullivan, Netanyahu, Elizabeth Frantz, Biden, Lloyd Austin, Antony J, Blinken, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prince Mohammed, Vivian Nereim Organizations: U.S, Sunday, United, White House, Washington . Credit, Reuters, CNN, Crown, Saudi Press Agency Locations: United States, Israel, Rafah, Gaza, Washington ., Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian, U.S, Saudi
Robert Fico, 59, has played a pivotal role in Slovakian politics in the years since it gained independence in 1993 and has served as prime minister longer than any other leader. The country gained independence amid the so-called Velvet Revolution, a series of popular and nonviolent protests against the Communist Party in what was at that time still Czechoslovakia. Mr. Fico, who had been a Communist Party member while it was in power, founded the Smer party in the late 1990s and began the first of his three terms as prime minister in 2006. The Smer party, which started out on the political left but has increasingly embraced right-wing views on immigration and cultural issues, has always governed as part of a coalition. Much of the international focus on Mr. Fico’s leadership in recent years has focused on his ties to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, Slovakia’s southern neighbor.
Persons: Robert Fico, Fico, Vladimir Putin of, Viktor Orban of Hungary Organizations: Communist Party Locations: Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Vladimir Putin of Russia
Israelis gathered across the country on Monday for the first national day of mourning since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, with protesters disrupting several ceremonies as they demanded that government ministers do more to secure the release of hostages. Israel’s Memorial Day is normally one of the most somber on the country’s calendar, a date when Israelis put aside their differences to grieve fellow citizens killed in war or terrorist attacks. But the protests on Monday underscored how feelings of wartime unity have given way to deep disputes over the war in the Gaza Strip, the fate of hostages taken on Oct. 7 and domestic politics. Critics heckled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he attended a memorial at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the site of Israel’s national cemetery. One person was heard shouting, “Garbage.” Another said, “You took my children.”At a ceremony in Ashdod, on the Mediterranean coast, bystanders shouted at the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, calling him a “criminal,” before his supporters tried to drown them out.
Persons: Israel’s, Critics, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mount, , , Itamar Ben Locations: Gaza, Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, Ashdod
Mr. Netanyahu, who made the announcement on social media, had previously called Al Jazeera a “Hamas mouthpiece” and said he would close it. Israeli lawmakers passed a bill last month allowing the government to temporarily close foreign media outlets that Mr. Netanyahu determined were undermining the country’s national security. “The government under my leadership has decided unanimously: The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter. Al Jazeera “will no longer broadcast here in Israel and its equipment will be confiscated,” Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, said in a video statement. Much of Al Jazeera’s reporting in Gaza has focused on the suffering of Palestinian civilians during the war, some of it involving its own staff and their families.
Persons: Ammar Awad, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Netanyahu, , ” Mr, Al Jazeera, Shlomo Karhi, Al Jazeera’s, Wael al, Al Organizations: Al, Reuters, Journalism, Qatari, Hamas, West Bank Locations: Jazeera, Jerusalem ., Al Jazeera, Qatar, Israel, Gaza
A woman in New York who was using TikTok to sell unauthorized weight-loss drugs, including products labeled Ozempic, is facing charges of smuggling and receiving and distributing misbranded drugs, federal prosecutors said. The arrest on Wednesday of Isis Navarro Reyes, 36, who also went by Beraly Navarro and, according to prosecutors, was not licensed to administer medication, followed an investigation that involved an undercover officer. Late last year, the officer sent a message to a cellphone number listed by her at the end of a TikTok video. In the video, Ms. Reyes, of Shirley, N.Y., on Long Island, showed her viewers how to inject what she claimed was Ozempic and shared her experience using the drug. In January, after exchanging messages with Ms. Reyes, the officer asked to buy some Ozempic, a drug for diabetes that has become popular for weight loss.
Persons: Isis Navarro Reyes, Beraly Navarro, Reyes Organizations: Southern, of Locations: New York, Shirley, N.Y, Long, of New York
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Wednesday that protests at U.S. universities against Israel’s war in Gaza were “horrific” and should be stopped, using his first public comments on the subject to castigate the student demonstrators and portray them as antisemitic. They could also give ammunition to Republican leaders who have criticized the protesters and accused university administrators and Democrats of failing to protect Jewish students from attack. “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific,” Mr. Netanyahu said. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty.”It was not immediately possible to solicit a response from the students, who are not organized into a single group.
Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Netanyahu’s, Mr, Netanyahu Organizations: U.S, Republican Locations: Gaza, Israel
How Israel’s Conflicts Could Escalate
  + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: 1 min
Since Iran’s large missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend, Israel’s allies have warned its leaders to avoid responding in a way that could provoke a regional war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appeared to rebuff those warnings on Wednesday, saying the country would “do everything necessary to defend itself.”Here is a look at where Israel has been drawn into conflicts, some of which could escalate quickly:IranLast Saturday, Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel. The attack itself caused little damage, as almost all the missiles and drones were intercepted by Israeli air defenses, supported by the United States, France, Britain and Jordan. But it took a clandestine war between the two nations that has gone on for decades to a different level.
Persons: Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Locations: Israel, Iran, United States, France, Britain, Jordan
European diplomats traveled to Israel on Wednesday to make one more plea for restraint in response to the aerial attack that Iran launched this weekend, but Britain’s foreign secretary acknowledged that an Israeli reprisal seemed inevitable. “It is clear that the Israelis are making a decision to act,” the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, told the BBC, just before he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But Mr. Netanyahu, after meeting with Mr. Cameron and Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said that Israel would “do everything necessary to defend itself.”He thanked Israel’s allies for their “support in words and support in actions” in remarks before a cabinet meeting, according to his office. But, he added: “They also have all kinds of suggestions and advice. But I want to make it clear — we will make our own decisions.”
Persons: David Cameron, Benjamin Netanyahu, , , Netanyahu, Tehran’s, Cameron, Annalena Baerbock, Israel, Israel’s Organizations: BBC Locations: Israel, Iran, United States, Britain, Germany
Iran’s attack on Israel has shifted focus from the war in Gaza, but Israeli military operations press on there with the aim of eliminating Hamas, the armed group that controlled the territory before the fighting began. Israel’s military launched its assault in Gaza after Oct. 7, when Hamas led an attack that Israeli authorities say killed around 1,200 people. Israel said its aims were to defeat Hamas and free the hostages taken that day, around 100 of whom remain in Gaza. Local health authorities say the war has killed more than 33,000 people, and the United Nations says the population is on the brink of famine. Here is a look at where the military conflict stands:Southern GazaIsrael withdrew its forces from southern Gaza this month, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the military still plans to invade Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, to “complete the elimination of Hamas’s battalions” and to destroy its tunnel networks.
Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Organizations: Hamas, United Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, Local, Southern Gaza Israel, Rafah, Gaza’s
Image Mourning over the bodies of relatives in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Tuesday. Rafah’s population has swelled to over a million, as people have flocked there for shelter from fighting elsewhere, and border crossings in southern Gaza are a main conduit for humanitarian aid. Much of the north, including Gaza City, has been destroyed by airstrikes and ground combat. Image Israeli soldiers outside Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, during a tour by the Israeli army last month. Credit... Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAcross the territoryExperts say the Israeli military has had considerable success in dismantling Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, , Biden, Avishag Shaar, Deir al, Robert Blecher, Yahya Sinwar, Mr, Blecher, Organizations: Hamas, United Nations, ., Agence France, Shifa, Yashuv, The New York Times, Gaza, Qassam, Group Locations: Israel, Gaza, Local, Southern Gaza Israel, Rafah, Gaza’s, Egypt, Northern Gaza Israel, Al, Gaza City, Deir, Deir al Balah
What We Know About Iran’s Attack on Israel
  + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
Iran launched a large aerial attack on Israel and the territory it controls starting late on Saturday, firing at least 300 drones and missiles. It is the first such direct attack launched from Iranian territory after decades of shadow warfare between the two countries. Here’s a look at what we know about the Iranian attack this weekend and its implications:What happened during the attack? Israel had used two primary defensive weapons systems, the Iron Dome and the Arrow 3, to thwart the attack. In addition, Jordan, which neighbors Israel, said that its military shot down aircraft and missiles that entered its airspace.
Persons: Israel, Lloyd J, Austin III Organizations: Iranian Embassy, West Bank, United, Defense Locations: Iran, Israel, Iranian, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Britain, Jordan
Here’s a look at the two Israeli systems:Iron DomeIsrael’s Iron Dome defense system can intercept many types of rockets that fly in high arcs, making them difficult to stop. It became operational in 2011 and got its first big test over eight days in November 2014, when Gaza militants fired some 1,500 rockets at Israel. The system’s interceptors — just 6 inches wide and 10 feet long — rely on miniature sensors and computerized guidance to zero in on short-range rockets. The Iron Dome was upgraded in 2021, but the details of the changes were not made public. Mr. Biden recently hinted that he could put some restrictions on weapons sales if his warnings to limit civilian casualties in Gaza are not heeded, but said defensive weapons like the Iron Dome would never be in jeopardy.
Persons: Biden, Israel — Organizations: Gaza, Patriot, U.S Locations: Iran, United States, Israel, Gaza
Six months into the Israel-Hamas war, the people of Gaza are facing a hunger crisis that the United Nations says borders on famine. The crisis in Gaza is entirely human-made, a result of Israel’s war on Hamas and a near-complete siege of the territory, aid experts say. Here’s a look at how Gaza reached this point. The food shortages in Gaza have been created by Israel’s blockade and military operations. For years before the latest war, Gaza was subject to an Israeli blockade, backed by Egypt.
Persons: , Jens Laerke Organizations: Hamas Locations: Israel, Gaza, United Nations, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Gaza’s
Nearly a week after Israel pledged to increase aid to Gaza by reopening a border crossing and accepting aid shipments at an Israeli port, neither the crossing nor the port has been put to the promised use, and there is no apparent sign of preparations to use them. Facing international condemnation after an Israeli airstrike killed seven workers for an international aid group, Israel said it would reopen the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza for aid delivery. But satellite imagery taken on Tuesday shows that the road leading to Erez on the Gaza side remains blocked by rubble from a destroyed building, a crater and other damage. The damage was also seen in satellite imagery last month and again last Friday. Before Israel closed it at the start of the war, the crossing was used by pedestrians, not supply trucks.
Persons: Israel, Erez Locations: Gaza, Israel, Erez
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran said on Tuesday that Israel’s airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, which killed three top Iranian commanders, will not go unanswered. The strike, on part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, killed three generals in Iran’s Quds Force and four other officers, making it one of the deadliest attacks of the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran. Mr. Raisi said it was an “inhumane assault in brazen violation of international law,” in comments reported by Tasnim, a semiofficial news agency. He added that it will not go unanswered, but gave no details of how Iran might respond. Switzerland acts as the United States’ representative in the absence of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington.
Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Raisi, Tasnim, Hossein Amir Abdollahian Organizations: Government, Iranian Embassy, Iran’s Quds Force, United States ’ Locations: Iran, Damascus, Syria, Israel, Iranian, Iran’s Quds, Swiss, Washington, U.S, Switzerland, United States, Tehran
Israeli strikes on an aid convoy run by the charity group World Central Kitchen killed seven of its workers in the Gaza Strip, setting off international outrage and underscoring the risks to humanitarian workers trying to alleviate a looming famine. The aid workers — a Palestinian, an Australian, a Pole, three Britons and a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen — were traveling in two armored vehicles clearly marked with the World Central Kitchen logo and a third vehicle when they came under fire late Monday night, according to the charity. The convoy was hit despite having coordinated its movements with the Israeli military, the group said. The workers were leaving a warehouse in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid that had arrived by boat on Monday, World Central Kitchen said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rarely comments on deadly strikes in Gaza, released a videotaped statement on Tuesday in which he appeared to acknowledge that the Israeli military was responsible.
Persons: , Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr, Netanyahu, , Herzi Halevi Organizations: Kitchen Locations: Gaza, Australian, U.S, Deir al Balah, Israel
The measure, Resolution 2728, followed three previous attempts that ​t​he United States ​had blocked. It passed by 14 votes, after the United States abstained from voting and did not employ its veto. The resolution also calls for the unconditional release of all hostages and the end to barriers to humanitarian aid. Days after the vote, here’s a look at what has changed and what might happen next:Has the resolution affected fighting? Israel’s air force continues to pound Gaza with strikes, and Hamas is still launching attacks.
Persons: Organizations: United Nations Security, Senior, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel
Jesus Campos said he worked at Brawner Builders alongside the men missing after a bridge collapse in Baltimore. “We’re low-income families,” said Jesus Campos, who has worked at the construction company, Brawner Builders, for about eight months. The executive, Jeffrey Pritzker, and the Coast Guard said that all of the missing workers were presumed dead, given how long it had been since the collapse. Embassies for the other two countries mentioned by Mr. Campos did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials said that in addition to the six missing workers, two people had been rescued from the water.
Persons: Jesus Campos, , , Jeffrey Pritzker, Mr, Pritzker, “ It’s, Campos, Francis Scott Key, Miguel Luna, Luna, Gustavo Torres, Jacey Fortin, Miriam Jordan, Patricia Mazzei, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Brawner Builders, Brawner, Coast Guard, Baltimore Banner Locations: Baltimore, Baltimore County, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Maryland, Petén, Mexican, Washington, Brawner
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