16/07/2026

THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2026

9 Freed Palestinians campaign against sexual abuse

RAMALLAH: Palestinian rights organisations launched an international campaign aimed at documenting and combating sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. Campaign coordinator Youssef al Amayreh, who was released in January after spending two years in Israeli custody, said the initiative had already collected dozens of testimonies from former detainees alleging sexual violence and abuse. “Unfortunately, dozens of male and female prisoners do not dare to stand up and speak out, either for health reasons or security reasons, or because of social considerations,” said Amayreh, alleging that he had himself been sexually abused in detention. Amayreh, a resident of the village of Al-Burj in southern West Bank, did not give details of his own experience, but displayed boxes of medication he said he began taking after his release. He said the campaign aimed to

subjected to “gang rape” by guards during his detention between February 2024 and June 2025. Israel’s Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel suspended International Committee of the Red Cross visits to Palestinian security detainees after the October 2023 attacks, arguing that the organisation had failed to secure access to Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Although Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the ban in June, visits have yet to resume. – AFP Iran reports fresh US strikes TEHRAN: Iran reported fresh US strikes yesterday on a port city that is home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant, as Washington reimposed a naval blockade. Nearly a month after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding towards ending the Middle East war that began in February, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan’s armed forces said they had downed three missiles from the Islamic republic. US President Donald Trump threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table. “Next week it gets really bad for them,” he told Fox News. Despite a return to hostilities, mediated talks between both sides have not formally ended. At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for oil and gas flows. Iran blockaded Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their massive attack on the country on Feb 28, using it for leverage against its foes for months before briefly reopening it, and then again vowing it would be closed “until the US ends its aggression”. The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports, though Trump has backed down on a planned levy on ships using the strait. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum”, referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks. Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant. In the capital Tehran, there was no sign of a return to conflict. – AFP

repeatedly responded that all detainees are held in accordance with the law, that their rights are protected, and that its staff operate under continuous judicial oversight. In May, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Alice Jill Edwards urged Israeli authorities to review their detention policies. Her investigation documented “52 incidents of different forms of torture or other ill-treatment, and another 33 incidents of sexual torture and other sexualised ill-treatment”. Palestinian journalist Sami al Saee from Tulkarm said he had been

o Israel urged to review detention policies

“The wife becomes a nurse, a psychologist, a father, a mother and a source of support.” Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights organisations have repeatedly raised concerns over allegations of torture, ill-treatment and degrading conditions in Israeli detention facilities, particularly since the Gaza war began on Oct 7, 2023. The Israeli Prison Service has

“expose the crimes committed against detainees” and end Israel’s “policy of impunity”. His wife, Sabreen, described the emotional and social toll on families of survivors, saying spouses are often left navigating trauma while trying to preserve family stability. “When a person is subjected to sexual violence, the pain does not stop at their body or their psyche, but affects an entire family,” she said.

Palestinians watch the demolition of a Palestinian building near Hebron in West Bank on Tuesday. – REUTERSPIC

Hamas condemns settler housing plan ANKARA: Hamas criticised the agreement between Israeli authorities and the Civil

Israeli settlement activities as an occupation of Palestinian territories. In December 2016, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 demanding to end settlement activity, which Israel refused to comply with. In December 2025 the Israeli Security Council approved 19 new settlements across the West Bank. – Bernama disarmament of Hamas and the Israeli military’s withdrawal from the strip, according to sources close to the talks, who said there had been little progress amid deep distrust between the two sides. The second phase also includes allowing a US-backed Palestinian technocratic committee to assume power from Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza, which has been devastated by the war. – Reuters

residents,” the movement said in a statement on Tuesday. Israel’s settlement expansion activities in the West Bank is one of the main obstacles in its relations with the international community and the Palestinian Authority. Besides, these steps serve as an obstacle to the peace progress with the Palestinians, who perceive the truce halted major fighting, but has failed to stop near-daily Israeli strikes. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period. The latest violence comes as Hamas leaders wrapped up another round of truce talks in Cairo on Tuesday. The discussions – mediated by Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar – were aimed at implementing the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The talks included the

northern West Bank to construct 12,000 new colonial-settlement units, in addition to allocating US$2.6 billion (RM10.6 billion) to develop settlement infrastructure, is a dangerous, criminal, Judaising agreement and an escalation in the occupation’s cruel war and its attempts to take control of the West Bank, seize its lands, and displace its

Administration for Judea and Samaria to build 12,000 new housing units in Jewish settlements. “The agreement between the extremist Zionist occupation government and the so-called Council of Settlements in the

Israeli airstrikes kill four in Gaza CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed a man, his wife and their six-year-old daughter in the Gaza Strip yesterday, Palestinian health officials said as talks to advance the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal faltered. airstrike targeted a Hamas fighter. In Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, an airstrike killed one person, medics said.

The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the war took effect, according to health officials in the enclave. Hamas doesn’t usually disclose information about its fatalities. The

The strike on an apartment building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza killed Omar Abu Qassem, his wife, Asma, and their daughter, Habeeba, medics said. Their son survived, but was injured, medics said. The Israeli military said the