Author: Gulf News Week

Barrack said plan to disarm Hezbollah also ‘requires Israel’s cooperation’ to keep up its end of the deal.US special envoy Tom Barrack has asked Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese territory after Beirut approved a plan to disarm the Hezbollah group by the end of the year, in exchange for an end to Israeli military attacks on its territory.“There’s always a step-by-step approach, but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack told reporters on Monday, in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut,…

Rights group’s report condemns Israel for ‘systematically destroying the health, wellbeing and social fabric of Palestinian life’.The human rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza as the United Nations and aid groups warn of famine in the Palestinian enclave.In a report quoting displaced Palestinians and medical staff who have treated malnourished children, Amnesty said: “Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip.”The group accused Israel of “systematically destroying the health, wellbeing and social fabric of Palestinian life”.“It is the intended outcome of plans and policies…

More and more people in Gaza are dying from a man-made famine caused by Israel’s blockade on essential food supplies.Starvation deaths are climbing daily in Gaza, as Israel’s 22-month blockade and relentless attacks drive a man-made famine into homes and tents.As of August 17, the known number of people who have starved to death in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry there, reached at least 263 people, including 112 children.(media)Why is there not enough food in Gaza?Between March and mid-May, Israel fully sealed Gaza’s crossings, preventing food, water, and humanitarian aid from entering. The blockade created extreme shortages, pushing…

The al-Khasfa site, near Iraq’s second-largest city, could contain 4,000 remains and possibly thousands more.Iraqi officials have begun the excavation of what is believed to be a mass grave left behind by ISIL (ISIS) during its years of carnage exacted upon the civilian population after it seized large swaths of the nation from 2014 onwards, until being vanquished three years later.Local authorities were working alongside the judiciary, forensic investigators, the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation and the directorate of mass graves to carry out the excavation in al-Khafsa, south of the northern city of Mosul, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported on…

Kuwait bans the import of alcoholic beverages, but bootleg liquor is sold with no oversight or safety standards.Kuwaiti authorities have arrested 67 people accused of producing and distributing locally made alcoholic drinks that killed 23 people in recent days, including a Bangladeshi national said to head the criminal network, the Interior Ministry has said.In a statement on X late on Saturday, the ministry said it seized six factories and another four that were not yet operational in residential and industrial areas.A Nepali member of the criminal group told authorities how the methanol was prepared and sold.Kuwait, a Muslim nation, bans…

UN warns of man-made famine in Gaza as starvation deaths rise and Israel steps up plan to ethnically cleanse northern Gaza.Israel’s military has stepped up attacks on Gaza City as part of its expanded operations aimed at seizing the last major population centre in the enclave, forcing tens of thousands of starving Palestinians to flee again.The Gaza City neighbourhoods of Zeitoun, Sabra, Remal and Tuffah have particularly borne the brunt of the Israeli bombardments in recent days as a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israel’s plans to forcibly displace Palestinians to southern…

The country needs a comprehensive justice and accountability process to address past crimes.In early August, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) exchanged fire with Syrian government forces near Manbij in Kurdish-majority northeastern Syria. The tensions in the north came just weeks after bloodshed in the south’s Suwayda governorate killed more than 1,400 people and displaced nearly 175,000. The violence between Druze and Sunni Bedouin groups continued for more than a week and has still not fully abated.In March, groups loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad clashed with government forces and allied armed factions in the coastal governorates of Latakia and…

Families of Israeli captives launch protest as pressure grows to halt the Gaza onslaught and release captives from Gaza.Thousands of protesters in Israel have taken to the streets demanding an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to free captives held there, as the military intensifies attacks on Gaza City to force tens of thousands of starving Palestinians to flee again.Israeli schools, businesses and public transport have been shut down, with demonstrations planned in major cities as part of a national day of action by two groups representing a number of the families of captives and bereaved families.Protesters,…

Trump needed a break from the infighting in MAGA so he decided an inconsequential meeting with Putin would do the trick.Say you are the president of the United States and the relationship with a significant chunk of your political base has become less than blissfully harmonious. What do you do?Well, one option is to stage a summit, accompanied by much fanfare, with the president of Russia, ostensibly in order to end that country’s war in Ukraine.And this is precisely the manoeuvre that was pulled by US President Donald Trump, who on Friday rolled out the red carpet in Alaska for…

Israeli navy fires missiles at the energy facility south of Sanaa saying it was used by Houthis, but provides no evidence.The Israeli navy has carried out attacks on a power plant near the Yemeni capital Sanaa, according to Israeli media reports.Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported on Saturday that the “aggression” damaged generators at the Hezyaz power plant, sparking a fire that was later contained. The country’s deputy prime minister confirmed emergency crews managed to prevent further damage. Residents in Sanaa also reported hearing at least two loud explosions.The Israeli military claimed that the site was being used by Houthi fighters.…