02/09/2025

TUESDAY | SEP 2, 2025

9

Tanks plough deeper into Gaza City

o Scholars say Israel committing genocide

TIANJIN: President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that “understandings” he reached with President Donald Trump at a summit last month opened a way to peace in Ukraine. “We highly appreciate the efforts and proposals from China and India aimed at facilitating the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. “The understandings reached at the meeting in Alaska, I hope, also contribute towards this goal,” Putin told the forum. Last Thursday’s attack, the first to kill top officials, struck a large number of people who had gathered to watch a televised speech recorded by top Houthi leader Abdul Malik al Houthi, and it left most members of the group’s Cabinet dead. Mourners chanted slogans as Mohammed Miftah, now de facto head of the Iran-aligned government in Sanaa, vowed revenge as well as an internal security crackdown against spies. “We are facing the strongest intelligence empire in the world, the one that targeted the government – the whole Zionist entity (comprising) the US administration, the Zionist entity, the Zionist Arabs and the spies inside Yemen,”Miftah told the crowd of mourners at the Al Saleh mosque. Miftah became the acting head of the Houthis’ government on Saturday following the death in the Israeli strike of Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi. Al-Rahwi was largely a figurehead and not part of the inner circle of power. Miftah had previously been his deputy. A raid on the UN offices in Sanaa on Sunday led to the detention of at least 11 UN personnel, the body CAIRO: Israel pushed tanks deeper into Gaza City and detonated explosives-laden vehicles in one suburb as airstrikes killed at least 19 people yesterday. Reports of the offensive came as the president of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association said it had passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. There was no immediate response from Israel on the reported offensive or on the statement from the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide. The Israeli military said its forces were continuing to fight Hamas across the enclave and over the past day had struck several military structures and outposts that had been used to stage attacks on its troops. Residents said Israeli forces sent old armoured vehicles into the eastern parts of the overcrowded Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, then blew them up remotely, destroying several houses and forcing more families to flee. Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip. In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, its military told residents to head south immediately, saying the army intended to expand its offensive westwards of the city. “People are confused, stay and die, or leave towards nowhere,” Sheikh Radwan resident Mohammad Abu Abdallah told Reuters. “It was a night of horror, explosions never

Activists display Malaysian and Palestinian flags as they depart on the Global Sumud Flotilla at the port of Barcelona on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC

ISRAEL MULLS WEST BANK ANNEXATION TEL AVIV: Israel is considering annexation in the occupied West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognising a Palestinian state. Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet, a member of the small circle of ministers said. It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions. Any step towards annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Reuters FRENCH STREAMER SAYS ‘DIDN’T KILL’ CO-HOST PARIS: A French streamer whose colleague died during a live broadcast denied responsibility yesterday, in a case that has pitted the government against the Kick platform and spotlighted extreme online stunts. “None of us killed him,” Safine Hamadi told broadcaster RTL. Hamadi is one of the former presenters of the Kick channel that showed the death of 46-year old Raphael Graven, alias Jean Pormanove, in mid-August. An autopsy ordered by prosecutors in Nice has since ruled out “intervention by a third party” playing a role in his death. Hamadi denied any abuse of Graven during the 12-day live stream, which featured the man enduring physical abuse and humiliation. The French government last week announced legal action over alleged “negligence” by Kick. The platform accusing ministers of political opportunism in response. – AFP population before moving more ground forces in. Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the planned Gaza City offensive could endanger hostages still being held by Hamas. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in past weeks. – Reuters

he has described as the bastion of Hamas. Local health authorities said the 14 people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on houses in Gaza City as tanks briefly crossed into Sheikh Radwan. A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian

stopped, and the drones never stopped hovering over the area. Many people quit their homes fearing for their lives, while others have no idea where to go,” the 55-year-old said over a chat app. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security Cabinet late on Sunday to discuss a new offensive to seize Gaza City, which

Thousands attend funeral of Houthi leaders SANAA: Thousands of mourners attended a funeral at the largest mosque in Yemen’s capital Sanaa yesterday for 12 senior Houthi figures, including their prime minister, who were killed by an Israeli strike.

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Honour guard holding photos of the dead officials in Sanaa yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

other senior officials and that it was verifying the outcome. The fate of the Houthis’ powerful defence minister, Mohamed al-Atifi, who runs the Missiles Brigades Group, remains unclear as he has not made an appearance since the attack. – Reuters

said. The Houthis have given no reason for the raid but they have held a number of Yemeni employees of the UN and other aid agencies in the past on suspicion of spying. Israel said on Friday its airstrike had targeted the Houthis’ chief of staff, defence minister and

Putin: Alaska summit opens way to Ukraine peace

“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin said. That is a reference to Ukraine’s 2013-2014 pro-European revolution, which ousted a pro Russian president. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean peninsula and backing separatists in the east, triggering a civil war. – AFP

He said he had already detailed to President Xi Jinping on Sunday the achievements of his talks with Trump and the work “already under way” to resolve the conflict and would provide more detail in two-way meetings. “For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed.” Part of the source of the conflict “lies in attempts by the West to bring Ukraine into Nato”.