12/08/2025

TUESDAY | AUG 12, 2025

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Israeli strike kills five Al Jazeera journalists

‘TEL AVIV HAS LOST ITS REASON AND HUMANITY’ ROME: Italy’s defence minister said in an interview published yesterday that Israel’s government had “lost its reason and humanity” and signalled an openness to potential sanctions. “What is happening is unacceptable. We are not facing a military operation with collateral damage, but the pure denial of the law and the founding values of our civilisation,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told La Stampa daily. “We are committed to humanitarian aid, but we must now find a way to force Netanyahu to think clearly.” He said “the occupation of Gaza and some serious acts in the West Bank mark a qualitative leap, in the face of which decisions must be made that force Netanyahu to think”. “And it wouldn’t be a move against Israel, but a way to save that people from a government which has lost reason and humanity. We must always distinguish governments from states and peoples, as well as from the religions they profess.” – AFP GAZA TAKEOVER MUST BE FIRMLY OPPOSED: CHINA NEW YORK: A Chinese envoy on Sunday expressed grave concern over Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City, saying any attempt to take over parts of the Palestinian territory must be firmly opposed. The approval by Israel’s Security Cabinet of a plan to take over Gaza City is “a matter of grave concern”, China’s permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong, said at a rare emergency weekend meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue held by the UN Security Council, urging Israel to “stop this dangerous move at once”. “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. Any action that seeks to alter its demographic and territorial structure must be met with utmost rejection and resistance,” Fu said. He said military means are not the way to resolve the long-standing conflict, and an immediate ceasefire is the only right way to save lives and secure the release of hostages. – Bernama STOCKHOLM: An activist group plans to sail a new flotilla loaded with aid to Gaza to break the siege. Two other attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and last month, were blocked by Israel. Troops boarded their vessels and detained the activists before expelling them. “On Aug 31 we are launching the biggest attempt ever to break the illegal siege over Gaza with dozens of boats sailing from Spain,” Greta Thunberg wrote on Instagram. “We will meet dozens more on Sept 4 sailing from Tunisia and other ports.”The group will mobilise activists from 44 countries for the initiative dubbed “Global Sumud Flotilla”, which will also include demonstrations. Activists, doctors and artists, including actors Susan Sarandon, Gustaf Skarsgard and Liam Cunningham, are due to take part. The flotilla describes itself as an MOSCOW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky won diplomatic backing from Europe and the Nato alliance on Sunday ahead of a Russia-US summit this week where Kyiv fears President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3-1/2-year war. Trump announced on Friday that he would meet Putin on Aug 15 in Alaska. A White House official has said Trump is open to Zelensky attending but preparations are underway for only a bilateral meeting. The Kremlin leader last week ruled out meeting Zelensky, saying conditions for such an encounter were “unfortunately still far” from being met. Trump said a deal would involve “some swapping of territories”, compounding Ukrainian fears that it may face pressure to surrender land. Zelensky says any decisions taken without Ukraine will be “stillborn” and unworkable. – Reuters ACTIVISTS PLAN NEW AID FLOTILLA TO BREAK SIEGE “independent” organisation. – AFP ZELENSKY SEEKS PLACE AT ALASKA TALKS

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CAIRO: A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in an attack condemned by journalists and rights groups. Israel’s military said it targeted and killed Anas Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a militant cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel. Al Jazeera rejected the assertion and before his death, Al Sharif had also rejected earlier claims by Israel that he was connected to Hamas. Al Sharif, 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in a strike on a tent near Al Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike. A sixth journalist, Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also killed in the airstrike, medics at Al Shifa Hospital said yesterday. Calling Al Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists”, Al Jazeera said the attack was a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”. The other journalists killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, Al Jazeera said. Yesterday, people gathered at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in the heart of the Gaza Strip to mourn the journalists. Friends, colleagues and relatives embraced and consoled one another, many o A desperate attempt to silence voices, says network

A relative of Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Qreiqeh breaks down in Gaza City. – REUTERSPIC

Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 238 journalists have been killed since the war started on Oct 7, 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 186 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict. A press freedom group and a United Nations expert previously warned that Al Sharif’s life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel’s claims against him were unsubstantiated. – Reuters

wiping away tears as they bid farewell. Al Sharif was previously part of a Reuters team which in 2024 won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. The Israeli military said in a statement that Al Sharif headed a Hamas cell and “was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops”, citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence. Journalist groups and Al Jazeera denounced the killings. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is the deadliest on record for journalists, according to the

Wong and Albanese announcing the move yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Australia to recognise Palestine next month SYDNEY: Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at next month’s UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday, a move that adds to international pressure on Israel after similar announcements from France, Britain and Canada. involvement in any future state. “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,”Albanese said at a news conference.

extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state,” Albanese said in the joint statement with Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Commitments by the Palestinian Authority to reform governance, demilitarise and hold general elections, as well as Arab League demands for Hamas to end its rule in Gaza, created an opportunity, he said. “This is an opportunity to isolate Hamas,” Albanese said. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand would “carefully weigh up its position over the next month on recognition of a state of Palestine”. – Reuters

Albanese said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and told him a political solution was needed and not a military one. Australia last week criticised Israel’s plan to take military control of Gaza, and Albanese said the decision to recognise a Palestinian state was “further compelled” by Netanyahu’s disregard of the international community’s calls and failure to comply with legal and ethical obligations in Gaza. “The Netanyahu Government is

“Australia will recognise the State of Palestine at the 80th Sessions of the UN General Assembly in September, to contribute to international momentum towards a two state solution, a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages,” Albanese said. Albanese made the announcement after a Cabinet meeting and told reporters in Canberra that recognition would be predicated on commitments Australia received from the Palestinian Authority, including that Hamas would have no