26/03/2025

WEDNESDAY | MAR 26, 2025

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Journalists killed in Gaza, evacuation orders issued

Russia, US studying outcome of Riyadh talks MOSCOW: Russia and the United States are analysing the outcome of talks between their officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the Kremlin said, declining to give details of the discussions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the delegations, who had been looking into the feasibility of some kind of a deal between Russia and Ukraine covering navigation in the Black Sea among other issues, had reported back to their capitals. “You see, we are talking about technical negotiations that go deep into details. Therefore, of course, the content of these negotiations will definitely not be published. This should not be expected,” Peskov said. “Secondly, I repeat once again, the reports back to the capitals are now being analysed. Only then will it be possible to talk about some understandings.” There was no talk of a three-way meeting involving Russia, the US and Ukraine, Peskov said. He added that there were no plans for a further conversation between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, but that such a conversation could be promptly organised if needed. When the two leaders spoke last week, Putin declined a proposal by Trump for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but agreed to a moratorium on attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. – Reuters WEF management reshuffle after scandal MOSCOW: The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is undergoing a management reshuffle following a scandal involving allegations of discrimination and harassment. The newspaper reported last year that WEF employees in Davos accused its founder Klaus Schwab and the management of discrimination and harassment against women and black people. The WEF is undergoing a shakeup after a committee investigation into the work culture of the Davos conference organiser, Wall Street Journal reported. According to sources, Schwab’s children are leaving the WEF and its leading executives are considering moving to other positions or leaving for good. One executive said he was leaving to start his own business. A WEF spokesperson said the organisation is reviewing and reassessing the powers and responsibilities of the management team. In May 2024, Semafor reported that Schwab would step down as WEF president and become a non executive director. – Bernama

Mubasher, was martyred in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the northern Gaza Strip,” an alert from the Qatari broadcaster said, referring to its live Arabic channel. AFPTV footage from the scene in Beit Lahia showed Palestinians gathering around the car, which had an Al Jazeera sticker on its windscreen. A body could be seen on the ground nearby. According to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel’s military in October accused Shabat and five other Palestinian journalists of being gunmen, which he denied. The civil defence agency said a media worker from Islamic Jihad affiliated Palestine Today TV, Muhammad Mansour, was killed in a separate air strike in Gaza’s south. The Palestinian Journalists

injured,” he said. The fate of the detainees remains unknown, with no official comment from Israeli authorities. Earlier Monday, Makhamra said around 30 Israeli settlers stormed Susya, firing shots into the air and assaulting residents. Jihad Nuwaja, head of the Susya local council, confirmed that four Palestinians sustained bruises and injuries from the settlers’ attack. In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s long standing occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. – Bernama Syndicate called the deaths of Shabat and Mansour “a crime added to the record of Israeli terrorism”. It said that more than 206 journalists and media workers had been killed since the start of the war on Oct 7, 2023. The Health Ministry said on Monday that 730 people had been killed since Israel resumed bombardments on March 18, including 57 in the past 24 hours. Hamas released a video on Monday showing two Israeli hostages – identified by AFP as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana – describing the danger they have faced since the resumption of intense Israeli strikes. Bohbot’s family reacted to the video with a statement appealing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to secure the remaining hostages’ release. “Imagine this is your son, the father of your grandchild, waiting to see daylight, hearing (Israeli army) bombs, and living in constant fear for his life,” the statement said. Israel’s military said it intercepted three “projectiles” launched from Gaza Strip on Monday. Islamic Jihad said it had launched rockets towards Israel. The military also said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, the sixth since the resumption of Gaza hostilities. The Defence Ministry announced the creation of an administration dedicated to the “voluntary departure of Gaza residents to a third country”, drawing outrage from Egypt. Egypt, which borders Gaza and Israel, expressed “its strong condemnation” of the creation of this authority, its Foreign Ministry said on X. – AFP

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GAZA CITY: An Israeli airstrike killed a journalist working with Al Jazeera on Monday and the military issued fresh calls to evacuate parts of Gaza’s north, as Israel pressed its renewed bombardment and ground offensive. Israel resumed intense airstrikes across Gaza last Tuesday, followed by ground operations, after talks on extending a ceasefire with Hamas reached an impasse. On Monday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued “an early warning before a strike” in the northern area of Jabalia. “Terrorist organisations are once again returning to and firing rockets

from populated areas ... For your safety, head south towards the known shelters immediately,” Adraee said on X, after issuing similar warnings for Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun. Earlier, Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli drone strike on Monday afternoon killed Hussam Shabat, who was working with Al Jazeera, near a petrol station in Beit Lahia. Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, said airstrikes had targeted more than 10 cars, including Shabat’s, in various parts of Gaza. “Hussam Shabat, a journalist collaborating with Al Jazeera

A paramedic assists an injured child at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia on Monday. – AFPPIC

Palestinian filmmaker held in West Bank

RAMALLAH: The Israeli army arrested a Palestinian from the West Bank late on Monday who was involved in producing a documentary that won an Oscar earlier this month. Anti-settlement activist Osama Makhamra, who monitors Israeli violations, said Israeli forces detained Hamdan al-Harini, a contributor to the Oscar-winning film No Other Land , during an assault by illegal settlers on the Susya community in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron. On March 2, No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

injuring al-Harini, a known activist. Witnesses and international activists told the newspaper that settlers struck al-Harini on the head, damaged water tanks, stole security cameras and smashed car windows. As he was being transported to a hospital in an ambulance, Israeli soldiers, some from an emergency settler unit, stopped the vehicle, detained him, and handed him over to other troops, Haaretz reported. American peace activists at the scene contacted police, who reportedly did not intervene, while settlers fled upon the army’s arrival. “The forces took the three detainees away, handcuffed and blindfolded, despite one being

Co-directed by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, the film spotlights a Palestinian family’s forced displacement from their home in Masafer Yatta by the Israeli government. During their acceptance speech, the filmmakers called for an end to ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank. Makhamra detailed that the arrest occurred as illegal settlers attacked Susya, after which Israeli forces and police arrived and detained three people, including al Harini. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that “dozens of settlers assaulted Palestinians in Susya on Monday”,

Ukraine military accused of targeting reporters MOSCOW: The Kremlin yesterday accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately targeting a group of Russian journalists working in part of Moscow-controlled eastern Ukraine with a fatal strike. The attack killed Alexander Fedorchak, a war correspondent from Russia’s Izvestia media outlet, as well as camera operator Andrei Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli who worked for the Zvezda television channel, the

Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed his condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives.

“The (artillery) fire was targeted. They were deliberately targeted to kill them. The Kyiv regime continues its atrocities against journalists and people who do not have weapons in their hands,” said Peskov.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian reports. Ukraine’s presidential office and its Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment outside office hours. – Reuters