Gaza

Egypt says forced Palestinian displacement a ‘red line’ as Qatar calls it a ‘extension’ of Israel’s policy of violating Palestinian rights.

Egypt and Qatar have expressed strong condemnation over remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the displacement of Palestinians, including through the Rafah crossing.

In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the comments as part of “ongoing attempts to prolong escalation in the region and perpetuate instability while avoiding accountability for Israeli violations in Gaza”.

In an interview with the Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Netanyahu claimed there were “different plans for how to rebuild Gaza” and alleged that “half of the population wants to leave Gaza”, claiming it was “not a mass expulsion”.

“I can open Rafah for them, but it will be closed immediately by Egypt,” he said.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry reiterated its “categorical rejection of forcibly or coercively displacing Palestinians from their land”.

“[Egypt] stresses that these practices represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes that cannot be tolerated,” the ministry added.

The statement affirmed that Egypt will never be complicit in such practices nor act as a conduit for Palestinian displacement, describing this as a “red line” that cannot be crossed.

‘Collective punishment will not succeed’

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also fiercely criticised Netanyahu’s remarks, calling them an “extension of the occupation’s approach to violating the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people”.

“The policy of collective punishment practised by the occupation against the Palestinians … will not succeed in forcing the Palestinian people to leave their land or in confiscating their legitimate rights,” it said in a statement.

It stressed the need for the international community to “unite with determination to confront the extremist and provocative policies of the Israeli occupation, in order to prevent the continuation of the cycle of violence in the region and its spread to the world”.

The war of words comes as Egypt and Qatar continue to lead mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, seeking to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said Netanyahu’s comments were “incredibly controversial” since it’s the Israeli government which has outlined that “it wants the Palestinians out of Gaza”.

“The condemnation from both Qatar and Egypt is essentially telling Israel this is all a part of its larger plan, that Israel is the one that waged war on the Gaza Strip, that the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian people and the total closure of the Rafah border crossing is the reason why they’re imprisoned in Gaza, not because of anything else,” she said.

“It is Israel that single-handedly created this policy.”

An unofficial tribunal led by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the UK of aiding Israel’s war crimes and being complicit in genocide. Its findings carry no legal weight, but the testimonies of those who witnessed the suffering in Gaza have been stark.

Israeli forces attacked and destroyed the 12-storey Mushtaha tower in Gaza City on Friday after giving just 15 minutes’ warning for people to evacuate the area. The building is located near to a displacement camp where Palestinians are sheltering in tents.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Palestinian group Hamas to immediately release hostages held in Gaza, warning that “things will change rapidly,” Anadolu reports.

“Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” Trump wrote on his social media company, Truth Social.

The president did not elaborate on what measures he would take if the hostages were released or what “end” he was referring to.

Around 250 hostages were taken to Gaza following the cross-border attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Tel Aviv estimates there are 50 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, including 20 alive. Meanwhile, rights groups say more than 10,800 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons under torture, starvation, and medical neglect.

READ: US support to Israel limits EU leverage to halt war in Gaza: EU foreign policy chief

Israel has killed nearly 64,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

International efforts for a ceasefire since Israel shattered a truce in March have so far failed.

READ: Protests against Israeli team intensify at Spain’s La Vuelta cycling race

A film about Hind Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, received a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ recounts her final plea to rescuers before she was killed.

Dr Mimi Syed, a US emergency physician, joins Centre Stage to talk about the horrific reality she witnessed during her two trips to Gaza in 2024. She shares evidence she says indicates the Israeli military is deliberately targeting children, the stories she carries from the patients and families she met and explains why she believes the US is no longer merely an accessory to Israel’s war on Gaza— but fully complicit.

There was a 23-minute standing ovation along with chants of ‘Free Palestine’ at the Venice Film Festival premiere of The Voice of Hind Rajab, a film recounting the harrowing final moments of a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

The Israeli military has continued its intense assault on northern Gaza City with a series of deadly overnight attacks.

Sept. 3 (UPI) — A federal judge cited First Amendment rights Wednesday in an order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to withhold more than $2 billion in government funding from Harvard University.

U.S. Judge Allison Burroughs of the District of Massachusetts restored the funding — in the form of grants and contracts — in response to a lawsuit brought by the university and employee groups. The lawsuit accused the President Donald Trump of leveraging the funding “to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.”

Among the programs affected by the block in funding were research in science and medicine, including on radiation exposure, ALS diagnostics and tuberculosis treatment.

Trump attempted to withhold funding and block Harvard from admitting international students after taking issue with students’ anti-Israel protests over the war in Gaza. The administration accused Harvard of failing to crack down on anti-Semitism.

Burroughs said that while Harvard was wrong to not attempt to curtail “hateful behavior for as long as it did,” she doubts the administration’s stated aims.

“The record here, however, does not reflect that fighting anti-semitism was Defendants’ true aim in acting against Harvard and, even if it were, combatting anti-Semitism cannot be accomplished on the back of the First Amendment,” she wrote.

In June, Burroughs granted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s efforts to bar international students from enrolling at Harvard.

It was on August 8 that Priyanka Gandhi went quite out of her way, calling Israel’s war in Gaza genocide and using international human rights parlance. It was an exercise of raw political courage in Indian politics, when politicians avoid criticizing Tel Aviv out of fear of antagonizing Israel in case, they risk losing the favour of an increasingly strategic partner of New Delhi and Tel Aviv. But the reply was not that of the Indian government but Indian ambassador to Israel Reuven Azar, denouncing her remark as the work of “shameful deception.” His action was a first ever public rebuke of an Indian politician, a flagrant disregard for diplomatic propriety.

This raw intervention by a visiting envoy revealed an uncomfortable reality, India’s political leadership under Narendra Modi. This is increasingly coming to accept the presence of outside players inserting themselves into domestic political debates. By not condemning or even admonishing the outburst by the envoy, the Modi government left room for an embarrassment.

Diplomats are generally expected to practice restraint, especially in nations where political sensitivities are high. Azar’s statement, however, crossed the line into India’s internal affairs, raising questions about whether New Delhi is sacrificing its sovereignty at the altar of strategic partnerships.

The muted response from the government revealed how India-Israel relations have evolved. Once cautious and balanced, New Delhi’s position on the Israel Palestine conflict has undergone a sharp realignment. The Modi government has grown more transactional in its international relations placing more value on arms sales, intelligence sharing, and corporate alliances than on historical conceptions of non-alignment or subaltern solidarity. This realignment of the mind, long articulated as Hindu nationalism as a form of Zionism, has played itself out domestically as well, particularly in Kashmir, where settler-style governance becomes more apparent. Moreover, opposition parties like Congress and Shiv Sena criticized the ambassador’s comments, saying that the government of India could not safeguard its dignity. But the silence of the government was deafening.

It was a syndrome where foreign policy is less about India’s independent voice than using strategic bargains with powerful allies. This was witnessed again when New Delhi abstained from joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in condemning Israeli bombings of Iran, upholding selective usage of values. In putting transactional advantage over regional interests and human rights, India is compromising its credibility.

This compromising of credibility is not hypothetical just in foreign affairs. In the household as well, the Modi government’s autocratic instincts muzzling opponents, bullying critics, and taking minorities off at arm’s length have fashioned a climate where even visiting envoys find themselves empowered to speak truth to power. Reuven Azar’s diatribe thus not only defied diplomatic etiquette but also addressed the frailties of an India so widely seen as rolling over for it on the world stage. If a nation permits its local discourse to be shaped by foreigners free of cost, the distinction between sovereignty and dependence gets erased. The larger problem is that India is willing to offer up national pride as a sacrifice at the altar of materialistic gain. In making defence and economic arrangements, the government has forgotten the symbolic value of diplomatic ego. The scandal related to the Israeli envoy is a betrayal of how India’s rulers, present themselves as world brokers, but simultaneously have let others trample over Indian politics. Laxity in diplomatic lines can be perilous as it opens the door for future intrusions, watering down India’s global brand as also its democratic self. Last but not least, the dressing down Priyanka Gandhi received was more than a personal rebuke. It was an indication of India’s growing dependence on strategic alliances and its failure to protect its sovereignty. To protect both its democratic legacy and diplomatic mantra, New Delhi must reassert limits, impose diplomatic standards, and prioritize principles over deals. Otherwise, these incidents will continue to leave India open to accusations of not being an emerging power but rather a vulnerable one susceptible to foreign interference in its internal affairs.

UK police were recorded arresting a Palestine Action supporter for allegedly taking part in a Zoom meeting to plan a protest against the government’s designation of the group as a “terrorist” organisation.

If being forcibly displaced from their destroyed homes and neighbourhoods wasn’t bad enough, Palestinians in Gaza are facing crippling financial costs of complying with Israel’s displacement orders. Al Jazeera’s Moath Al-Kahlout breaks it down.

The Israeli military onslaught on Gaza City continues nonstop, resulting in the killing of more than 50 Palestinians, including aid seekers, as it seeks to seize control of the enclave’s biggest urban centre – home to some 1 million people.

At least 105 Palestinians were killed across Gaza on Tuesday as Israeli strikes levelled densely populated areas, particularly al-Sabra neighbourhood, which has been under attack for days. At least 32 of those were killed while seeking aid.

The attacks are intensified as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is facing a “decisive stage” of the war as it prepares to seize Gaza City despite global condemnation.

“Palestinians are in a cage in Gaza City right now, trying to survive as many air strikes as possible. Wherever they go, the air strikes follow them,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary.

“They are also dying from the food and aid blockade as they are not able to get the basic means of sustenance,” she said, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Palestinians are struggling to survive the dual threats of targeted attacks and starvation, with at least 13 people dying of starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total hunger-related death toll since the war began to 361. Eighty-three of those deaths have been recorded since a global hunger monitor confirmed famine conditions in Gaza on August 22.

Among those killed on Tuesday were at least 21 people, including seven children, who were struck by an Israeli drone while queuing for water in the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Images posted online by Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal showed children’s bodies and water containers stained with blood at the attack site, which Israel had previously declared a so-called “safe zone”.

“They were standing in line to fill up water … when the occupation forces directly targeted them, turning their search for life into a new massacre,” Basal said on Tuesday.

In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on the al-Af family home killed 10 people, mostly women and children, Gaza officials said.

“These crimes expose the criminal fascist nature of the enemy,” Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement, accusing Washington of complicity. It called Israel’s actions “war crimes under international law” and urged the UN Security Council to halt the “brutal genocide”.

Two more journalists, Rasmi Salem of al-Manara and Eman al-Zamli, were killed in the latest attacks, bringing the total number of journalists killed since October 7, 2023, to more than 270. The war in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded, press watchdogs say.

Israel starts ground assault in Gaza City

On Tuesday, thousands of Israeli reservists reported for duty as efforts to end the war seemed to be stalling.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Hamas had accepted a ceasefire proposal, but Israel had yet to respond.

“There has been no Israeli response yet,” he said, adding that negotiations with mediators and the United States had stalled. He warned that Israel’s plan to occupy Gaza “poses a threat to everyone”, including Israeli captives.

But Israel has tightened its siege of Gaza City in recent days, barring even limited humanitarian aid deliveries.

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir confirmed ground operations were intensifying. “We are going to deepen our operation,” he told reservists as tens of thousands of troops were called up. Israeli media reported that 365 soldiers have refused to report for duty.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, said in a video statement on Tuesday that “we are working to defeat Hamas.”

Yemen’s Houthi movement said its forces launched four drones targeting Israel’s General Staff headquarters near Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, a power station, and the port of Ashdod, days after Israel killed Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi along with top officials in Sanaa.

The group claimed its drones “successfully hit their targets.” It also said a missile and drone attack struck a cargo vessel in the Red Sea for violating a ban on entering Israeli ports.

International ‘indifference’ to Palestine

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed Belgium’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine on Tuesday and urged other nations to follow suit, saying it was “in line with international law and UN resolutions” and necessary to halt “genocide, displacement, starvation, and annexation”.

In a separate statement, the ministry accused the international community of “alarming” indifference to Gaza’s economic collapse and Israel’s seizure of Palestinian tax revenues. It called for urgent financial support to “enhance the resilience of citizens and their steadfastness on their homeland’s soil”.

Israel has engaged in systematic crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Gaza, according to a resolution by members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

The group says there is clear intent to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip – by bombardment, starvation and forced displacement.

The assessment comes months after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes.

And there’s a case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide.

So what tangible results can come from this new accusation?

Presenter:

James Bays

Guests:

Andrew Gilmour – Former United Nations assistant secretary-general for human rights

Ori Goldberg – Political analyst specialising in the Middle East

Jonathan Kuttab – Palestinian human rights lawyer

More than 360 people, including 130 children, have died from hunger since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

A total of 185 people in Gaza died “due to malnutrition” in August, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, as an additional 13 people, including three children, have died in 24 hours since then as the catastrophic effects of Israeli-induced famine in the enclave worsen.

The statement issued on Tuesday said more than 83 people, including 15 children, had died since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed global hunger-monitoring system, declared last month that parts of Gaza were undergoing a full-blown famine.

The Health Ministry also said 43,000 children below the age of five were suffering from malnutrition along with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. Two-thirds of pregnant women were suffering from anaemia, the highest rate in years, it added. Mothers and newborns are the most at risk from malnutrition.

The total number of hunger-related deaths in the besieged enclave now stands at 361, including 130 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Israel has killed at least 63,633 people in Gaza and wounded 160,914 during the war, according to the Ministry of Health.

The IPC declared on August 22 that 514,000 people in the Gaza Strip, close to a quarter of the enclave’s population, are experiencing famine. It expected the number to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

The IPC made its declaration after more than 22 months of war, during which Israeli forces have destroyed medical facilities, schools, infrastructure and bakeries; blocked the entry of aid into the besieged Strip; and targeted and killed Palestinians seeking food aid.

This is the first time the IPC has recorded famine outside Africa, and the global group predicted that famine conditions would spread to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south by the end of this month.

After the IPC’s declaration, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the famine a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself”.

Guterres said Israel had “unequivocal obligations” under international law as an occupying power to ensure food and medical supplies enter Gaza.

Humanitarian organisations have demanded action. For its part, Israel rejected the findings, saying there was no famine in Gaza despite the IPC’s overwhelming evidence.

At least 63 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, among them 41 in Gaza City alone, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Among the killed, 19 were aid seekers situated in central and southern Gaza.

Israeli attacks are mainly, but not solely, now focused on Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, as the Israeli army relentlessly bombards it and tries to forcibly displace its residents to the southern part of the enclave.

“Civilians on the ground are bearing the brunt. There are still hundreds of thousands of families in Gaza City,” reported Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum at midday from Deir el-Balah. “They refuse to leave because they know that there are no safe spaces in central and southern Gaza and they would rather stay close to their communities and what’s left of their houses.”

Once teeming and crowded with residential buildings, Gaza City has been home to one million Palestinians, nearly half of Gaza’s population, but it is now a landscape of rubble.

The world’s top genocide scholars formally declared that Israel’s war on Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, marking a landmark intervention from leading experts in the field of international law.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars, a 500-member body of academics founded in 1994, passed a resolution on Monday stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfil the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.