Day: October 18, 2023

After an explosion at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City killed more than 500 people on Tuesday evening amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, leaders around the world have reacted with mixtures of horror, condemnation, and confusion as to how this could happen and who is responsible.

In the hours after the blast, Israel and Hamas have each blamed the other for the deadliest single event since Israeli forces began besieging the Gaza Strip after Hamas brutally terrorized Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7.

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The tragedy is already beginning to threaten to undermine efforts to prevent the war from escalating into a broader regional conflict. Several surrounding Arab states have responded with outrage, and protests have broken out from Beirut to Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, international organizations have reiterated calls for peace and the protection of civilians throughout the violence.

Here’s what leaders around the world are saying about the hospital blast.

Israel

Israel’s military denied attacking the hospital. “We did not strike that,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN. “We do not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities, any sensitive facilities, and definitely not hospitals.”

The IDF said in a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: “According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital.”

The IDF also posted a video that purports to show a misfired rocket causing an explosion.

“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X. “Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.”

Hamas and Palestinian officials

The Palestine Islamic Jihad denied accusations that the hospital blast was caused by a misfired rocket from their side as “false and baseless.” The group said in a statement: “The Zionist enemy is trying hard to evade its responsibility for the brutal massacre [it] committed by bombing the Baptist Arab National Hospital in Gaza through [its] usual fabrication of lies, and through pointing the finger of blame at the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine.”

In a televised address, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said, “The hospital massacre confirms the enemy’s brutality and the extent of his feeling of defeat,” adding that the explosion will mark “a new turning point.”

Haniyeh also said that “the U.S. holds the responsibility of the hospital attack because of the cover it gives to the Israeli aggression.” He then called on all Palestinians “to get out and confront the occupation and the settlers,” and urged Arabs and Muslims worldwide to protest against Israel. 

Hamas added in a statement on its website: “The international community and the Arab and Islamic countries must shoulder their responsibilities and intervene immediately, now and not tomorrow, to stop the arrogance of the occupation and its fascist army, and hold it accountable for the genocide it has been committing for eleven days.”

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health on Facebook said the blast was a “massacre” of hundreds of people, most of which were “sick, women, and children,” with effects “beyond description.”

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., also accused Israel of carrying out the blast and “changing the story” to blame the Palestinians. “It is a lie,” Mansour said at a news conference at the U.N. headquarters, pointing to the Israel military’s evacuation order for hospitals. “Their intention is evacuate or hospitals will be hit and they are responsible for that crime and they cannot fabricate stories to deal with it.”

Shortly after the hospital explosion, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, canceled his scheduled meeting with Biden in Jordan and declared three days of mourning, according to state media reports.

United States

President Joe Biden, who is en route to the Middle East, condemned the hospital blast in a statement released by the White House on Tuesday, saying that he was “outraged and deeply saddened.” He noted that U.S. officials are continuing to gather information about what happened but stated that the U.S. “stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict.”

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden, when he arrives in Tel Aviv, would have “tough questions” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The incident has also emboldened progressive opponents of Israel’s deadly incursions into Gaza over the last week. In a post on X, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, directed her anger toward Biden, saying “this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate.” She added: “Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslims Americans like me. We will remember where you stood.”

Jordan

In the wake of the hospital explosion, Biden’s trip to Amman, Jordan’s capital, where he was set to meet with Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, was abruptly canceled by Jordanian authorities, who said in a statement that the summit would “not be able to stop the war currently.”

The Jordanian government, which also announced three days of mourning after the hospital explosion, said on Tuesday that it would no longer hold the summit in its capital because of what state media described in a post on X as the “Israeli massacre.”

King Abdullah II said that the hospital blast was “a heinous war crime that cannot be ignored,” according to a post on X by Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court.

United Nations

The U.N.’s World Health Organization condemned the bombing of the hospital in Gaza in a statement, saying: “International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted.”

The WHO claimed that the hospital was one of 20 in the northern part of Gaza that had received evacuation orders from the Israeli military that were “impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.”
On X, U.N. António Guterres Secretary-General, also condemned the strike, saying that he was “horrified” by the killing of hundreds of Palestinians and reiterating that hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law. “My heart is with the families of the victims,” he said.

United Kingdom

“The UK has been clear,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on X. “The protection of civilian life must come first. The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza.”

Germany 

On Tuesday evening, around the time when news of the hospital explosion had just broken and condolences for the blast’s Palestinian victims poured in from around the world, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote in a post on X: “Brutal terror. The execution of defenseless civilians. Murdered infants, abducted children. … That makes our blood run cold in our veins.” 

“Israel has the right to defend itself against this,” he added. “A state has a duty to protect its citizens.”

An hour later, the German foreign ministry posted on X that it was “deeply shocked” by reports of the Gaza hospital blast. “Civilians must be protected in conflict,” the statement said.

Scholz later addressed the specific tragedy at Al Ahli Arab Hospital on Wednesday morning, writing in another post on X 10 hours after his previous post that he was “horrified” by images of the explosion. “A thorough investigation of the incident is imperative,” he noted, naming neither Israel nor Hamas in the post.

Iran

Iran’s foreign ministry condemned Israel for the “heinous attack,” according to state media.

Its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said in a speech posted on X just hours before the hospital explosion on Tuesday that “the U.S. is responsible for the recent crimes.”

“If the crimes of the Zionist regime continue, no one can stop the Muslims and the resistance forces,” the post was captioned.

Iran, known for backing Islamist militia groups including Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, has warned of “preemptive” attacks should Israel go ahead with a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Iranian foreign minister ​​Hossein Amirabdollahian—after he returned from a tour where he met with leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria—said on a television broadcast that “any preemptive measure is imaginable in the coming hours.”

“After the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in the bombing and massacre of more than a thousand innocent women and children in the hospital the time has come for the global unity of humanity against this fake regime more hated than ISIS and its killing machine,” Amirabdollahian posted on X after the hospital explosion, adding, “Time is over”—a sentiment echoed by the Iranian embassy in Syria, which also posted on X: “time is up.”

Hezbollah

On Wednesday, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia based in Lebanon and an ally of Hamas, called for a “day of rage against the enemy” after the hospital blast. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the French and U.S. embassies in Lebanon’s capital and threw stones at the buildings, chanting “death to America” and “death to Israel,” AFP reported. The Beirut government announced the closure of schools across the country on Wednesday.

Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a post on X that the hospital attack “constitutes one of the most heinous and bloodiest massacres against humanity in the modern era.”

He added in another post that Syria holds Western countries, especially the U.S., “responsible for this massacre and other massacres, as it is a partner of the Zionist entity in all organized killing operations against the Palestinian people.”

Turkey

“Striking a hospital where there are women, children, and innocent civilians is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of fundamental human values,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a post on X. “I invite all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza.”

Saudi Arabia

“Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest possible terms the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces by bombing Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. 

“The Kingdom also stresses the necessity of opening safe corridors immediately, in response to the distress calls made by countries and organizations to deliver food and medicine to civilians trapped in Gaza and to hold the Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for their continued repeated violations of all international norms and laws.”

Egypt

The Egyptian foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel should “immediately cease its collective punishment policies against the people of the Gaza Strip.”

The statement also demanded that Israel “stop targeting” the Rafah crossing, the only passageway between Gaza and Egypt, which has been shut for more than a week after it was hit by repeated airstrikes by Israel. It remains unclear who’s behind the blockage of the crossing, which has delayed the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, as its residents run dangerously low on food, water, and crucial medical supplies. 

The Egyptian foreign ministry called for intervention from countries around the world to allow Egypt, other authorities, and relief organizations “to implement humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.”

Russia

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev described the blast on messaging app Telegram as “clearly a war crime,” adding that the U.S. is to blame for the tragedy: “The final responsibility for it lies with those who cynically make money from wars in different countries and on different continents. Who thoughtlessly distributes colossal amounts of money for weapons, loading up their military-industrial complex. Who falsely proclaims their global mission to protect democratic values. USA.”

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said, “I recall the catch phrase repeatedly voiced by [former U.S. President Barack] Obama that, thanks to American policy, the world had become much safer. Well, now we all see by ‘how much’.”

The foreign ministry added on Wednesday, according to Reuters, that Israel should provide satellite images to prove that it was not involved in the explosion.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, the country’s deputy envoy to the U.N., said on X that Russia, alongside the United Arab Emirates and China, has proposed that the U.N. insert a condemnation of the blast into a Brazilian-drafted resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The U.N. Security Council will vote on that resolution Wednesday.

Red Cross and Red Crescent

Constituent members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world’s largest humanitarian network, uniformly condemned the hospital blast.

“No patient should be killed in a hospital bed,” the International Committee of the Red Cross posted on X in response to the explosion. “No doctors should lose their lives while trying to save others. Hospitals must be protected under international humanitarian law.”

“Even war has rules!” Francesco Rocca, the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies posted on X. The IFRC posted that it was “shocked and dismayed” over the loss of life in the incident. “There are no words to describe the level of human suffering,” the organization said. “Patients and people seeking refuge were killed. Hospitals must be sanctuaries for all.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement on X that it is “appalled and horrified” by the hospital explosion and that it has repeatedly called on the international community to pressure Israel into rescinding evacuation orders for hospitals. “This war crime comes despite frequent declarations and pleas by these hospitals that these orders are impossible to implement, and that they constitute a death sentence for patients,” the statement said. “The silence of the international community only emboldens such acts and increases the danger to the lives of innocent civilians.”

Back when the late Senator Dianne Feinstein’s health was fading, Senate Republicans made it clear that if she resigned, they’d block any Democratic Party attempt at replacing her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That would mean no more federal judges could be confirmed for the rest of the term. It’s why Feinstein had to remain in office until she passed away.

But now, seemingly out of nowhere tonight, the Senate has unanimously confirmed new Democratic Senator Laphonza Butler to the Senate Judiciary Committee, as announced on Twitter. So what happened? We don’t know, and we may never know. I’m fond of pointing out that 90% of politics takes place behind closed doors, and that what we see in public is a mere vapor trail from whatever really went on behind the scenes.

But I do know this. Whenever something in politics is supposed to be impossible, and then suddenly it turns out your side’s leader has pulled it off, it means your side’s leader is super savvy. In this case that would be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He turned whatever pressure knobs needed to be turned behind the scenes, so that Senate Republicans would give up and allow the Judiciary Committee vacancy to be filled.

There is no overstating just how big of a victory this is. Since 2021, President Biden and Chuck Schumer have been on a record setting pace in terms of confirming federal judges to vacancies at all levels. Now that process will continue through the end of 2024. This also means Biden and the Democrats will be able to fill any Supreme Court vacancies that might unexpectedly open up between now and the end of 2024. This is, simply put, a huge deal.

The post The Senate is officially back in business on confirming President Biden’s judge nominees appeared first on Palmer Report.

(JTA) — Before he paid his respects at the funeral of Wadea al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in what police are calling a hate crime, Rabbi Ari Hart called the officiants of the funeral to make sure his presence would be welcome.

“’I’m an Orthodox rabbi, I’m a Zionist rabbi, I need you to know that,’” he recalled telling the Chicago-area Muslim religious leaders. “And they said, ‘We understand. We would like you to come.’ And that was not easy for them. And it was not easy for me.”

Al-Fayoume’s killing, reportedly connected to his assailant’s rage over the war between Israel and Hamas, has drawn shock and condemnation from government officials as well as religious groups. On Tuesday, a broad coalition of Jewish organizations made a statement calling the murder “despicable” and speaking out against anti-Muslim hate.

Hart and three other Chicago-area rabbis — Hody Nemes and Josh Feigelson, who are both Orthodox, and Lizzi Heydemann, who runs an independent synagogue — wanted to deliver those sentiments in person. They attended the boy’s funeral in the village of Bridgeview, Illinois — a community known as “Little Palestine.”

Hart said that what drove him to attend the funeral wasn’t only his horror at Al-Fayoume’s death. It also flowed from his outrage over Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians.

“Islamophobia is wrong and killing anybody because of who they are and what they believe is wrong,” Hart said. “And we need to speak out about that. We certainly know what happens when there’s hatred and we’ve experienced that in our history. And we experienced it this week, the hatred and the mass murder.”

Hart added, “This little boy was killed solely because of his religion and his identity. We need to try to build a world where it doesn’t happen to anyone.”

Hart is the senior rabbi of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, a Modern Orthodox congregation in a heavily Jewish Chicago suburb. His career as a rabbi has featured interfaith and social justice work in the area that has addressed topics including medical debt and racial justice. He said that through attending the funeral, he wanted “to try to affirm our shared humanity, try to stand up together to any form of bigotry and hatred and murder.”

Feigelson wrote in a Facebook post that the funeral “wasn’t an uncomplicated visit.” But he said that felt safe and welcomed the entire time

“Dozens of people came up to me to shake my hand and thank me for coming. A few of us hugged,” he wrote. “While I’m sure some assumed that my presence meant that I was an anti-Zionist, those who asked learned of my Zionist attachments and commitments. And everyone seemed able to share the sentiment that what the vast majority of people want is simply to be able to raise their families and live in their communities in peace. That felt like a small glimmer of hope.

Fayoume was allegedly stabbed 26 times by his family’s landlord, Joseph Czuba who, according to reports, had previously been close with the family. According to NBC News, Czuba “listens to conservative talk radio on a regular basis” and recently began fixating on the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Czuba was also worried about reports of a call for a global “day of jihad” on Oct. 13, a country prosecutor said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Czuba believed Fayoume’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, who is a Palestinian immigrant, was “going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” the prosecutor said.

The funeral wasn’t easy, Hart recalled, describing cries of anguish, pain, and yelling that hit home for him in part because he is the father of a 5-year-old son.

“If I was in their shoes, I would have the same raw pain,” he said.

“They spoke a lot about feeling demonized and targeted. And that’s what happened to this boy,” he said. “The vast majority of us want the same things. We want our children to be safe and happy and flourish.”

Al-Fayoume’s mother was not in attendance because she was still recovering from the attack, when she was stabbed 12 times. Palestinian flags were hanging on the inside of car windows headed toward the mosque, where a digital billboard read: “Stop inciting violence and hatred against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.”

“I can’t solve the conflict between Israel and Hamas,” Hart said. “But maybe I can do something about how we live together here in Chicago. And I think their leadership probably feels a similar way.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

The post Chicago rabbis attend funeral of Palestinian-American child killed in alleged Islamophobic hate crime appeared first on The Forward.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and invited global investment in the Northern Sea route which he said could deepen trade between east and west.

Speaking on his second known trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war, Putin thanked the Chinese leader for his invitation and said Russia could play a key role in China’s modern day revival of the ancient Silk Road.

Putin called Xi his “dear friend” and heaped praise on the Belt and Road Initiative for bringing the world together.

Shortly before Putin starting speaking, a handful of European delegates, including former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, walked out of the room, a Reuters witness said.

“Russia and China, like most countries of the world, share the desire for equal, mutually beneficial cooperation in order to achieve universal sustainable and long-term economic progress and social well-being, while respecting the diversity of civilization and the right of each State to its own development model,” Putin said.

Putin said the BRI fitted with Russia which he said was developing a host of transport infrastructure to criss-cross the world’s biggest country, notably from the Northern Sea Route which runs from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska

“As for the Northern Sea Route, Russia does not just offer its partners to actively use its transit potential, I will say more: we invite interested states to participate directly in its development, and we are ready to provide reliable ice breaker navigation, communication and supply,” Putin said.

“Starting next year, navigation for ice-class cargo ships along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route will become year-round.”

Putin, who has attended previous BRI summits, brought a senior delegation from Moscow.

Among the senior Russian officials were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is due to visit North Korea shortly, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, his top oil and gas point man, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Also included were Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin economic aide Maxim Oreshkin, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and Igor Morgulov, Russia’s ambassador to China.

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A strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for U.S. President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas.

Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims, but the incident has inflamed a region already in crisis since Hamas carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died.

Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors. Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags. A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500.

Biden’s complex diplomatic mission to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region and shore up humanitarian efforts for Gaza, but after the strike, Jordan cancelled a planned summit with the U.S. president, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Abbas also cancelled plans to meet Biden, as Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah as popular anger boiled.

Protests also took place at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.

Before the hospital strike, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel’s 11-day bombardment that began after the Hamas assault, which caught Israel by surprise and led to nearly 200 people being taken to Gaza as hostages.

Speaking to reporters as Biden flew to Tel Aviv, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Biden would put “tough questions” to Israeli leaders but did not give details.

Biden will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet seeking to get a sense of Israel’s plans and aims, Kirby said. He also aims to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, where millions of Palestinians are surviving with scant food, fuel and water due to Israel’s siege.

“He’ll be asking some tough questions, he’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel, but he’ll be asking some questions of them,” Kirby said.

It was unclear what Biden could accomplish during his visit. Kirby said the U.S. president planned to speak with Abbas and Sisi on his way back to Washington.

“This sort of murky but horrific event makes diplomacy harder and increases escalation risks,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at International Crisis Group.

Biden has previously said the United States does not want the conflict to flare up into a wider war, but the State Department took no chances, and told Americans not to travel to Lebanon, as Israel and the Islamist group Hezbollah exchange fire in Lebanon’s south.

Iran, which supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, has warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Wednesday declaring that “blueprints turned into real projects” during the decade since he launch his initiative to build global infrastructure and energy networks.

Representatives of more than 130 countries, largely from the Global South, attended the forum including more than two dozen heads of state, or whom the most prominent was Xi’s “dear friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Addressing more than 1,000 Chinese and foreign delegates assembled in an ornate conference room in the Great Hall of the People west of Tiananmen Square, Xi said his flagship policy had

“boosted the flow of goods, capital, technology and human resources into the countries involved.”

Putin and other foreign leaders sat with key Chinese officials from the 25-member Politburo on the front row, as Xi delivered his opening speech.

The forum centres on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a grand plan launched by Xi in 2013, that envisioned building global infrastructure and energy networks connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through overland and maritime routes.

Although BRI at first set out to connect China to Western Europe, senior EU figures were missing. The sole head of state present from the bloc was Hungary’s populist President Viktor Orban. Other notable attendees included the Afghan Taliban administration’s commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi.

Western scepticism of Xi’s grand plans stems from suspicions over the way it would extend China’s global influence, analysts say.

China has at times bristled at criticism of the BRI, saying it carries anti-Chinese prejudice and a wish to contain its rise, while overlooking what it says are genuine good intentions.

The BRI’s original scale and ambition have been impacted by shocks, including a trade war with the United States, economic slowdown in China, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the pandemic.

Xi is pushing to make the Belt and Road smaller and greener, moving away from big-ticket projects like dams to high-tech ones such as digital finance and e-commerce platforms.

The aim is to aid a broader push for a world order that is multi-polar and gives the Global South more agency, rather than one dominated by Washington and its allies, analysts say.

The BRI has also become more focused on issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence, as Xi seeks to use it to export Chinese ideas about governance and build consensus around Chinese norms and its development model, analysts say.

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