Category: General

ANKARA: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned the Israeli war crimes committed against Palestinians following the discovery of mass graves in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

In a statement, the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry expressed “condemnation of the continued and unchecked heinous war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces, the latest of which is the mass graves discovered in the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis.”

It also said the international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law “will only result in more violations and exacerbation of humanitarian tragedies and destruction.”

The statement reiterated Saudi Arabia’s call for the international community to assume “its responsibility to stop the Israeli occupation’s attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

Over 300 bodies have been recovered so far from the mass grave at Nasser Medical Complex after the Israeli army withdrew
from the city on April 7 following a four-month ground offensive, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,180 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,000 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: The UN officials said mass graves were found in Gaza with Palestinians stripped and bound, raising war crime concerns amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes.

Over the weekend, the uncovering of mass graves in Gaza has sent shockwaves through international circles, raising serious concerns about potential war crimes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes in the region, a UN report said on Tuesday.

The discovery was made at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, with a total of 283 bodies unearthed at Nasser Hospital alone, of which 42 have been identified.

“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes,’ said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigatio
ns,” Shamdasani added.

“What we need is an immediate cease-fire,” she reiterated.

The situation escalated further with the revelation of additional bodies at Al-Shifa Hospital.

According to local health authorities in Gaza, approximately 30 bodies were found buried in two graves within the hospital’s premises. Despite efforts, only 12 of these individuals have been identified so far.

More casualties may exist, despite the Israeli Defense Forces’ claim of 200 Palestinians killed during the Al-Shifa medical complex operation, Shamdasani said.

UN slams latest series of Israeli strikes, killing women, children

The UN human rights chief on Tuesday decried the latest series of Israeli strikes on Gaza, killing mostly women and children.

Volker Turk’s remarks came after at least nine children among 16 Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli bombing targeting several homes east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

“The latest images of a premature child taken from the womb of her dying mother, of the
adjacent two houses where 15 children and five women were killed – this is beyond warfare,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a UN briefing in Geneva, reading Turk’s statement on the matter.

Turk reiterated such an operation in Rafah would lead to further breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as it would “risk more deaths, injuries and displacement on a large scale – even further atrocity crimes, for which those responsible would be held accountable.”

He also said he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Nasser Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital and the reported discovery of mass graves in and around these locations, calling for “independent, effective and transparent” investigations into the deaths.

“The intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat (someone who cannot fight back) is a war crime,” he added.

On “grave human rights violations” continuing in the occupied West Bank, Turk said that despite international
condemnation of massive illegal settler attacks from April 12-14 facilitated by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF), “settler violence has continued with the support, protection, and participation of the ISF.”

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, grave human rights violations persist despite international outcry over illegal settler attacks facilitated by Israeli security forces. The recent operation in Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem city resulted in the deaths of 14 Palestinians, including three children, further exacerbating tensions in the region.

Condemnations from all over world

Germany on Wednesday urged an investigation into media reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, stressing the need for full clarification, said Christian Wagner, a deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman in Berlin.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned Israeli war crimes and called for an international inquiry into reports of mass graves in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza.

‘It is regrettable and disgraceful that international law and
human values continue to be violated so crudely in front of the whole world,’ the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Also, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned Israel’s “horrific massacres” of Palestinians, saying the discovery is an indication that “hundreds of displaced, injured and the sick as well as medical convoys were subjected to forms of torture and abuse before they were executed and given mass burial.”

The Arab League convened an emergency meeting to discuss Israel’s continued genocidal war, the discovery of mass graves in Gaza and a US veto against Palestine’s full UN membership.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 34,151 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,00 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal di
splacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Trkiye slammed the US’ recent human rights report, calling for Washington to address its own human rights record and cease its alliances with terror organizations, said the country’s foreign ministry on Wednesday.

“We reiterate our call for the United States to focus on its own human rights record as well as to cease its partnerships with terrorist organizations and its double-standard policy on human rights,” said the ministry in a statement.

The ministry said that the report includes unfounded accusations, “erroneous information and prejudiced comments” regarding Trkiye, echoing similar patterns observed in previous years.

Ankara reiterated its refusal to endorse the report which it said “was prepared on the basis of allegations of unknown origin and discourses of circles affiliated with terrorist organizations yet another year”.

“Trkiye remains firmly committed to the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, despite facing multifaceted and severe terrorist threats,” said the
statement.

Trkiye’s counterterrorism operations are on the basis of its right of self-defense and are completely focused on combating terrorist elements and their capabilities utilized in terrorist activities, it said.

“As an ally fully aware of the scope of our just and legitimate fight against all forms of terrorism, the US’ insistence on inconsistent claims that distort the facts is incomprehensible,” the statement added.

“We are also deeply concerned that the report does not duly reflect the ongoing inhuman attacks in Gaza, which significantly impairs not only the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people but also the common values of all humanity”.

“This clearly indicates that the concerned report was prepared with political motives, far from impartiality and objectivity,” said the statement.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Wednesday with, including the US Senate passing a $95 billion aid bill, the Iranian president’s warning to Israel, and preparations by the Israeli army for an operation in Rafah.

TOP STORIES

US Senate passes $95B aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan

The US Senate approved a long-awaited $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden’s said he will sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk on Wednesday.

“The need is urgent: for Ukraine, facing unrelenting bombardment from Russia; for Israel, which just faced unprecedented attacks from Iran,’ he said in a statement released shortly after the Senate passed the bill.

The bill includes more than $60.8 billion for Ukraine, $26.6 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Indo-Pacific allies to counter China.

Iran’s Raisi says ‘nothing will be left’ of Israel if it attacks again

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Tuesday that if Israel carr
ies out another attack on Iranian territory, the situation ‘will be completely different’ and there ‘will be nothing left of the Zionist regime.’

Addressing students and teachers in Lahore, Pakistan, Raisi said Iran ‘punished’ Israel for its attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria, referring to a drone and missile attack earlier this month on Israel.

Raisi said if Israel again resorts to military action against Iran, ‘the situation will be completely different, and it’s not known whether anything will be left of the regime,’ referring to Israel.

Israeli army preparing for Rafah ground offensive ‘very soon’

The Israeli army is preparing to launch a military operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza “very soon,” local media reported Tuesday.

According to the public broadcaster KAN, which cited unnamed Israeli military sources, the army is preparing for a ground operation in Rafah that would include “evacuating a significant number of residents.”

“According to the army’s plan, more than 1 million Pa
lestinians in Rafah will be asked to evacuate the area to shelters recently established in the southern and central parts of the Gaza Strip,” said the broadcaster’s military correspondent Itay Blumental.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the PKK/PYD/YPG terror group poses a threat to Iraq’s stability, development and peace.

The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) commented Tuesday on attempts to dismantle the agency and said the real motive is political.

Student protests against the Gaza war spread and intensified at US universities on Tuesday as demonstrators demanded that their institutions condemn the war and divest from Israeli firms in response.

Israel is ‘stuck’ in the Gaza Strip amid a 200-day deadly offensive, Hamas said on Tuesday.

Cities in Gaza were destroyed more than German cities in WWII, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell highlighted on Tuesday.

Jamaica decided to officially recognize the State of Palestine on Tuesday following d
eliberations in the Cabinet the previous day.

A Turkish Navy ship arrived at the Port of Mogadishu on Tuesday following the signing of a defense and economic agreement between Somalia and Trkiye in February this year.

The resignation of the Israeli military’s intelligence chief this week could create a ‘domino effect’ in which Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and other senior officers will step down, a local newspaper said Tuesday

The Israeli army shot and wounded three Palestinians on Tuesday during clashes in the occupied West Bank.

More than 3,660 Palestinians are being held under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, the highest number since 1967, prisoners’ rights groups said Tuesday.

Qatar is still committed to mediating between Hamas and Israel to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, its Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.

SPORTS

Arsenal hammer Chelsea in Premier League London derby

Arsenal hammered Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday in an English Premier League London derby.

The Gunners t
ook over the Premier League leadership with 77 points, followed by Liverpool with 74 points and one more match to play. Manchester City are third with 73 points and two more games to play.

Polti Kometa’s Lonardi wins Stage 3 of Tour of Trkiye

Giovanni Lonardi, the Italian rider from the Polti Kometa team, won Stage 3 of the 2024 Presidential Cycling Tour of Trkiye (TUR 2024) on Tuesday.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Danny Van Poppel crossed the finish line first but was disqualified for squeezing Lonardi into the barriers.

Lonardi took first in a time of 3 hours, 24 minutes, 57 seconds.

BUSINESS and ECONOMY

Global electric car sales to surge, expected to hit 17 million

Global electric car sales are set to remain robust in 2024, reaching around 17 million units by the end of this year, according to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday.

The new edition of the IEA’s annual Global EV Outlook predicts that more than one in five cars sold worldwide this year are expected to be electric,
with surging demand projected over the next decade set to remake the global auto industry and significantly reduce oil consumption for road transport.

Turkish aviation sector grows with investments

Trkiye’s aviation sector is growing with the investments made in the field after its rapid recovery post-pandemic.

Last year, global international passenger capacity fell 12% behind the pandemic year of 2019, and Turkish Airlines, on the other hand, continued to be one of the leading airlines in the sector with a 27% increase for the same period, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) compiled by Anadolu.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Trkiye on Wednesday remembered Turks who lost their lives during events in 1915.

“We commemorate with mercy those who died in the ‘so-called Armenian Genocide,’ in which defenseless and innocent Turks were brutally murdered,’ Turkish National Defense Ministry said on X.

The statement underscored Ankara’s rejection of the label of ‘genocide’ amid debates surrounding the events.

Trkiye’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Trkiye objects to the presentation of the incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Trkiye and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday for $1.21 billion to address the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

‘The scars of war are seen on a massive scale in Gaza. Meanwhile, violence is increasing in the West Bank,’ UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

‘It is critical to support UNRWA in providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and development services in health and education,’ he added.

UNRWA said the appeal aims to respond to the most urgent needs of 1.7 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and more than 200,000 refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

‘The past months proved that there is no replacement or alternative to UNRWA,’ Lazzarini added.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,200 Palestinians have since been killed and 77,200 others injured am
id a tight siege imposed by Israel, which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

In March, the UN warned of ‘imminent famine’ in Gaza and appealed for swift action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the territory.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians reside.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian
assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Turkish security forces “neutralized” four PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.?

“Our heroic Turkish Armed Forces neutralized 4 PKK/YPG terrorists in the (Operation) Euphrates Shield region in northern Syria,” the ministry said on X.

“Terrorists’ harassing shots do not go unanswered,” it added.

Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.?

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Trkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Trkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.?

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (
2019).

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Kazakhstan and the UK on Wednesday signed a strategic partnership and cooperation agreement during an official visit by Britain’s top diplomat to the capital Astana.

A statement by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said that the agreement was signed following talks between Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

‘This comprehensive agreement will be a significant step in taking political, trade and investment relations between Astana and London to new horizons,’ Nurtleu was quoted as saying at the meeting.

‘We believe our strong and mutually beneficial strategic partnership will continue to strengthen in all areas, from energy to rare metals, from ecology to education,’ Nurtleu further said.

The Kazakh foreign minister also said that he welcomed contacts between his country and the UK at the intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary level.

For his part, Cameron expressed that the UK pays great attention to developing cooperation with Kazakhstan as a key partner in Centr
al Asia.

‘He also expressed support for the ongoing reforms in our country and the readiness of London to deepen its ties with Astana,’ the statement added.

Cameron later held talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, during which the latter noted the dynamic development of bilateral cooperation between his country and the UK.

Describing the UK as an ‘important strategic partner,’ Tokayev was quoted as saying by a Kazakh presidency statement that he is confident the strategic partnership and cooperation agreement will provide a ‘qualitatively new foundation for expanding our multifaceted bilateral agenda.’

‘We intend to strengthen our interaction in the fields of energy, education, business, culture, as well as strengthen interpersonal ties,’ Cameron was also quoted as saying.

On Monday, Cameron embarked on a regional tour to Central Asia and Mongolia. He has so far visited Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A blaze at the Limassol state forest which started early on Wednesday morning and subsided in the evening was caused by a flare, during a controlled combustion operation of flares and smoke canisters by the Mines and Quarries Service, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou said.

In statements at the firefighting coordination centre, set up, at Vasa Kellakiou local council, Panayiotou said she would ask for an administrative enquiry into the matter and the possibility of placing the Director of the Service under suspension.

She urged everyone to be very careful because this is a very difficult summer and additional aerial aircraft are not expected to be delivered to Cyprus before June.

The blaze, Panayiotou said, “was caused by a flare, during a controlled combustion operation to destroy flares and smoke canisters by the Mines and Quarries Service.”

“I have given the Permanent Secretary instructions to go ahead with an administrative enquiry and to look into the possibilit
y of placing under suspension the Director of the Mines and Quarries Service,” she added.

About 150 fire fighting personnel from various departments, 29 various vehicles and three aircraft have been working to place the fire under control. Firefighting personnel would remain in the area overnight.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

ISTANBUL: The Israeli army executed hundreds of displaced, sick and injured people during a raid on the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during a ground operation that lasted for four months, the Gaza Media Office said Wednesday.

‘The depth of the mass graves we found (in Nasser Hospital) confirms that they were dug using large machinery such as Israeli occupation bulldozers and other vehicles,’ the head of the media office, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, told Anadolu.

‘The Israeli army abducted nine doctors from the Nasser Medical Complex to an unknown location and committed the crime of enforced disappearance against them,’ Al-Thawabteh added.

The head of the Gaza media office identified some of the doctors abducted as Ahmad Mousa, Bayan Shurrab, Iyad Shaqoura, Mahmoud Shehada, Ahmad Al-Smairi, Nahed Abu Taima, Khalid Al-Ser, and Alaa Barbakh.

‘Some of the martyrs who were identified were alive when the occupation army stormed the Nasser Medical Complex, and when they (
Israeli army) came out, the governmental teams found them buried, and this was confirmed by the families of the martyrs who were in contact with their sons before the hospital was stormed,’ he said.

‘The Israeli army threatened pregnant women, prevented them from receiving medical care and hindered access to doctors for them. They also bombed some sections inside the Nasser Medical Complex, set some on fire and killed some of the wounded who were inside the complex,’ he added.

Al-Thawabteh said the Israeli army ‘stormed the Nasser Medical Complex with tanks, threatened medical staff, patients and the injured, prevented them from receiving treatment and confined them in an old and narrow building within the complex.’

‘There are many missing members of medical teams whose fate the occupation (forces) have refused to declare. We believe that they have been executed and buried, and the process of recovering the bodies is still ongoing, and we expect to find some of them,’ added the official.

‘It is not strang
e for the occupation (forces) to commit such crimes and massacres, as it repeated the same crime in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex (in western Gaza City), where government teams found two mass graves from which dozens of martyrs, including medical personnel, displaced persons, patients, and wounded, who were executed by the occupation, were recovered. Among them were women and children with clear signs of execution,’ Al-Thawabteh said.

‘The occupation (forces) also committed the same crime in the Kamal Adwan Hospital (in northern Gaza), where it established a mass grave, burying dozens of bodies with bulldozers,’ he added.

On April 7, the Israeli army withdrew from Khan Younis after four months of launching a ground operation there, which included the storming of the Nasser Medical Complex. The operation aimed to retrieve Israeli captives held by the Palestinian group Hamas, but the army left the city without achieving its objectives.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-bor
der attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,200 Palestinians have since been killed and 77,200 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency