Israeli | Pakistan

Islamabad - The Foreign Ministers of the group of eight Arab-Islamic states have condemned in the strongest terms the continued incursions by extremist Israeli settlers, into Al-Aqsa Mosque, Al-Haram Al-Sharif, under the protection of the Israeli forces, as well as the raising of the Israeli flag within its courtyards.

Pakistan, along with seven other Muslim countries, on Tuesday condemned the “continued incursions by extremist Israeli settlers into Al Aqsa Mosque” in the strongest terms, calling for an immediate cessation of all such provocative practices. According to a joint statement released by the Foreign Office (FO), the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates condemned “in the strongest terms the continued incursions by extremist Israeli settlers, into Al Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli forces, as well as the raising of the Israeli flag within its courtyards”. “They stress that these provocative and unacceptable actions constitute a flagrant violation of international law, the relevant United Nations resolutions, and the historical and legal status quo at the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem. The FO added that the foreign ministers reaffirmed their “categorical rejection” of any attempts to alter the historical and legal ...

Strikes hit five towns despite ceasefire; US deploys F-22s, refueling aircraft at Israeli bases, airports

Ireland aims to pass a law curbing goods trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by mid-July, with Israel, some US lawmakers and business groups opposing the move, Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said on Tuesday. Ireland’s government, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, first promised to sanction Israeli settlements in October 2024. The legislation has since been held up by pressure from opposition politicians who aimed to extend the ban also to the services trade, on one side, and international company lobbyists seeking to scrap the bill, on the other. Sources told Reuters last October that the bill was set to be limited to goods. Prime Minister Micheal Martin confirmed that last week and said widening the scope to services was neither “implementable” nor “viable”. Limiting the bill to goods only will impact just a handful of products imported from Israeli-occupied territories, such as fruit that are worth just €200,000 ($234,660) a year, Ireland’s Central Statistics Of...

Pakistan, along with seven other nations, condemned on Sunday the “appalling, degrading, and unacceptable actions of extremist Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir” against participants in the Gaza-bound flotilla while they were in Israeli detention. Last week, Israel’s far-right national security minister posted a video on showing the detained activists kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground, sparking international condemnation. The video, shared on X by the firebrand minister, was published after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla’s vessels at sea and began detaining hundreds of foreign activists at the southern port of Ashdod. The footage also shows Ben Gvir heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists. Later, the flotilla’s organisers said the activists were subjected to abuse in Israeli custody, with several hospitalised for injuries and at least 15 reporting sexual assaults, including rape. On Sunday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, ...

France announced on Saturday it had banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entry for a video mocking bound activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. “From today, Itamar Ben Gvir is banned from entering French territory” after “his reprehensible actions towards French and European citizens” who were part of the humanitarian flotilla, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X. He added that, along with Italy, he was also calling for European Union-level sanctions against the far-right Israeli minister. Ben Gvir’s actions follow a long list of hatred and violence against Palestinians, Barrot wrote. The ban follows a global outcry after Ben Gvir published a video on Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla. In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied. The clip, which was captioned “Welcome to Israel”, also showed Ben-Gvir heckling the activists...

Humanitarian worker Saad Edhi, who was illegally detained by Israeli forces during the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters earlier this week, arrived in Karachi on Saturday. Saad was detained by Israeli forces on Monday along with around 100 other members of the humanitarian flotilla, after at least 10 boats were intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean. He landed at Jinnah International Airport today after being deported from Israel to Turkiye on Friday, along with other foreign activists on board the Sumud Flotilla. A large number of supporters and family members gathered at the airport to welcome him home. Video footage showed people showering him with flower petals and placing floral garlands around his neck as chants and cheers filled the arrival area. Many supporters were seen embracing him and expressing relief at his safe return. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Saad — grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi — had arrived safely in Istanbul along w...

New Zealand activist Mousa Taher, who was part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla, which was attacked and intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, said he was subjected to humiliating treatment and torture after being detained. Activists from the flotilla spoke to Anadolu after arriving at Istanbul Airport aboard three Turkish Airlines flights. Taher said that after previously being detained by Israeli forces in Greece, he travelled first to Istanbul and then to Marmaris before once again setting sail toward Gaza. “The Israeli occupation forces really tortured me this time,” he said. Pointing to injuries on his face and leg, Taher said Israeli soldiers recognised him and addressed him by name because it was his second attempt to join the flotilla. He said that when Israeli forces intercepted the boat he had joined for the second time, they forced him and another activist to strip on board, while other passengers were not subjected to the same treatment. New Zealand activist...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday condemned Israel’s unlawful interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters as well as the arbitrary detention and reported mistreatment of humanitarian workers. The statement came a day after Israel’s far-right national security minister posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground, sparking international condemnation. In the statement released on Thursday, the FO said, “The government of Pakistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the unlawful interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla by Israeli occupying forces in the international waters as well as arbitrary detention and reported mistreatment of humanitarian workers onboard.” The statement said that those detained also reportedly included humanitarian activist Saad Edhi, son of prominent social worker Faisal Edhi and grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi. “Pakistan demands the immediate release of all ...

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted a video on Wednesday showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs and foreheads on the ground. The footage, published on Ben Gvir’s X account and captioned “Welcome to Israel”, shows dozens of activists on the deck of a military boat with the Israeli national anthem blaring, and in detention in Israel, where the minister is seen waving an Israeli flag. In the video he shared, he is seen encouraging staff at the detention centre as they push down an activist who had stood up to say “free free Palestine” as he walked by. Saad Edhi, the son of prominent social worker Faisal Edhi and the grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, is reportedly among the activists detained. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Gvir over his handling of the activists, adding that he had ordered the activists’ deportation. “The way minister Ben Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists ...

Organisers say Israeli forces intercepted ​44 boats in eastern Mediterranean, six boats were still sailing

Saad Edhi, son of prominent social worker Faisal Edhi, was reportedly detained by Israeli forces on Monday along with other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla after at least 10 boats were intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean. The organisers of the flotilla said Israeli forces had intercepted 10 of their boats and that contact had been lost with a total 23 vessels in the eastern Mediterranean. Earlier on Monday, Israel’s foreign ministry posted on X ​that it “will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza”. In a video posted on Edhi’s official Facebook handle, Faisal said that at around 1pm today, “the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces near Cyprus and its members have been arrested, including Saad Edhi”. He also appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action following his son’s detention by Israeli forces. “They were arrested in international waters and Israeli forces have no right to do so. Israel has arrested them illegally and their whereabouts are unknown...

Haaretz report claims ICC issued secret arrest warrants for five Israeli officials

• Strikes on Harouf medical centre kill six, including paramedics; at least five villages targeted • Evacuation warnings trigger another wave of displacement; civilians dismiss ceasefire as ‘meaningless’ BEIRUT: Israel launched a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, striking at least five villages and prompting a new exodus of residents, despite a 45-day extension of a fragile truce agreed to only a day earlier. The ongoing Israeli bombardment and expanded evacuation warnings have fuelled deep scepticism about the ceasefire among the thousands of Lebanese already driven from their homes. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah positions, but Saturday’s strikes were preceded by an evacuation warning that covered nine villages. The attacks have expanded in scope in recent weeks, reaching areas north of the Litani River and farther from the border. Since the truce began, the Israeli military has repeatedly issued such warnings ahead of strikes, compounding the humanitarian crisis in the south....

Hamas’s armed wing chief Ezzedine Al-Haddad was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza the previous day, the Israeli military and Hamas confirmed on Saturday. The Israeli military and intelligence services have waged an extensive campaign targeting the group’s senior political leaders and commanders in Gaza and across the region. On Friday, the Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike in Gaza targeting Haddad and confirmed his death on Saturday. “The IDF and the ISA announce that yesterday, in a precise strike in the area of the City of Gaza, Ezzedine Al-Haddad was eliminated,” the military said, referring to itself and the Shin Bet domestic security agency. Two Hamas officials also told AFP that Haddad had been killed in an Israeli strike. “Senior commander… Ezzedine Al-Haddad was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle in Gaza yesterday,” one senior Hamas official said. A member of Hamas’s armed wing separately confirmed his death. Haddad was kill...

More than 100 activists, including former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who were aboard aid ships bound for Gaza were released and taken to the Greek island of Crete on Friday, a day after Israeli forces seized their vessels in international waters near Greece. The activists were part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla, launched in recent months in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships set sail from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12. On Friday, an Israeli army ship transferred 168 members of the flotilla crew to Greek boats, which then took them to shore, where buses and an ambulance waited for them, organisers said and Reuters footage showed. Before communications were jammed, former senator Ahmad posted videos to social media platform X saying, “Flotilla under attack, Israeli terrorist army has captured 11 of our boats.” On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X that the former senator, “who was unlawfully det...

Pakistan and 10 other countries condemned on Friday in “strongest terms” the Israeli assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which they said was as a peaceful civilian humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. A joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Brazil, Jordan, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Maldives, South Africa and Libya said the Israeli attacks against the vessels and the unlawful detention of humanitarian activists in international waters constituted “flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law”. “The ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of the civilian activists and urge the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release. “The ministers also call on the international community to fulfil their moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for th...

TECH giant Microsoft has removed misleading Israeli designations used in the occupied West Bank and included Palestinian geographical names in its digital maps in accordance with international law, Anadolu Agency reported quoting an Arab rights organisation. In a statement, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh) said the changes included location-based services, including the search engine ‘Bing’, where labels that previously listed locations in the West Bank under ‘Judea and Samaria, Israel’ were replaced with the term ‘West Bank’. ‘Judea and Samaria’ is an Israeli term to designate the occupied West Bank, which is in contrast to international law that dictates that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must be recognised as a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. The West Bank is a key component of the future Palestinian state. The changes represent a “necessary correction,” said Lama Nazeeh, 7amleh’s advocacy manager, calling on technology companies to comply with international...

Islamabad - The foreign ministers of Pakistan, UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have issued a joint statement to condemn Israeli settlers’ incursion into Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Pakistan condemned in “strongest terms” on Tuesday the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the raising of Israel’s flag in its courtyard, terming the acts “reprehensible”. The condemnation issued by the Foreign Office said “these reprehensible acts constitute a blatant violation of international law, as well as of the sanctity and inviolability of the holy site. Such provocative steps also risk further escalating tensions in the region”. It stated that the acts of storming and the “raising of the occupying power’s flag” were carried out “by illegal Israeli settlers”. The settlers forced their way into the site through the mosque’s Mughrabi Gate, under heavy police protection, according to an Anadolu reporter. Videos circulating on social media showed occupiers performing Talmudic rituals and prayers aloud, including what is referred to as “epic prostration”, particularly in the eastern area of the compound. Photos shared online also showed two occupiers raising the Israeli flag inside the compound, wi...