Author: adminwebitaltech

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, announced late Monday that it has removed five Israeli banks and US-based Caterpillar from its portfolio, Anadolu reports. The fund’s executive board said it decided to divest from First International Bank of Israel and its holding company FIBI Holdings, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Bank Hapoalim and Caterpillar. The decision was made due to “an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict,” the fund said in a statement. The fund’s ethics council said Caterpillar bulldozers had been unlawfully used by Israel to demolish Palestinian homes in Gaza and the West Bank. “There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s […]

A World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that the evacuation of the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza, which was attacked on Monday by Israel, would be “beyond disastrous.” “I do not want to think what the implications would be if NMC (Nasser Medical Complex) would become non-functional. Would be beyond disastrous for the crippled health system and its suffering population,” Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, told Anadolu. Peeperkorn noted that there are currently no plans for evacuation and warned that it should “never” happen, pointing to the hospital’s “critical importance” as the “largest referral hospital” in Gaza. “The attacks on Nasser Medical Complex yesterday are completely unacceptable,” he said. Peeperkorn also stressed […]

Qatar said Tuesday that Israel has not responded yet to a recent Gaza ceasefire proposal, Anadolu reports. “We are in contact with all parties in pursuit of a ceasefire agreement, but there is no official Israeli response – neither acceptance, rejection, nor the presentation of an alternative proposal,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in comments carried by Al Jazeera television. Last week, the Palestinian group Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Israel, however, has not officially responded to the plan. Ansari said Gaza mediators are on daily contacts to reach a ceasefire deal. “We stress the need to urge Israel to respond and engage seriously,” he said. “We are awaiting an official response […]

The International Commission of Jurists has formally requested an investigation into International Court of Justice (ICJ) Vice-President Julia Sebutinde, stressing that her recent statements about Israel reveal a clear bias that compromises judicial integrity, Anadolu reports. In a letter addressed to ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa, the Geneva-based organization cited remarks attributed to Sebutinde during an August 10 address at Watoto Church in Kampala, Uganda, where she stated: “The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel.” The commission underlined that if these were accurate quotes of her remarks, Vice-President Sebutinde’s continued role in the court cases concerning Israel and Palestine would be “profoundly damaging” to the court’s impartiality, propriety, and integrity. They called for Sebutinde’s immediate […]

US President Donald Trump expressed displeasure Monday at a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza’s Nasser Medical Complex that killed 20 people, including five journalists and a firefighter, Anadolu reports. “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “At the same time, we have to end that all nightmare. I’m the one that got the hostages out.” The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that 20 Palestinians, including patients, health workers, civil defense personnel, and press crews, were killed, while several others were injured in the attack. The ministry said the Israeli army hit the fourth floor of one of the complex’s buildings with two airstrikes, noting that the second strike occurred […]

The day after the war in Gaza poses a major dilemma for regional and international actors, who are working to shape a plan for deploying an Arab–international force in the Strip in a bid to end the war, which is nearing its second anniversary on 7 October. The proposed plan is not new; it has been put forward repeatedly in the past and was met with strong rejection from Arab capitals, as well as a pledge from the Palestinian resistance to confront it. What is new this time, however, is Egypt’s announcement of its acceptance of deploying international forces in the Gaza Strip. Egypt’s acceptance brings with it a mix of concerns and the need for assurances, while also raising […]

Brazil has rejected the appointment of Gali Dagan as Israel’s new ambassador, leaving the post vacant since the departure of his predecessor, in a move that reflects ongoing tensions between the two sides. The decision follows a series of sharp positions taken by Brasília against Tel Aviv, including its withdrawal in July from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and its decision to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The Hebrew daily Maariv reported that Brazil ignored Israel’s request to accredit Dagan, who previously served as ambassador to Colombia. This prompted the Israeli Foreign Ministry to formally withdraw his nomination. As a result, bilateral relations will now be conducted […]

Resistance security in Gaza said on Monday that Israeli forces have been sending text messages to residents in the Strip, containing what it described as “malicious recruitment attempts” through offers of money or threats. In a statement, resistance security stressed that “these messages are nothing more than spying tools aimed at infiltrating society, gathering information, and spreading despair.” It urged residents not to engage with such messages, reply to them, or save the numbers from which they are sent. Resistance security also emphasised the need to delete these messages immediately to protect the security and unity of society. Since October 2023, Israeli forces, with direct support from the United States and Western countries, have continued a devastating war on Gaza, […]

Illegal Israeli settlers set up three new settlement outposts in the southern West Bank under the watch of the army, a Palestinian rights group said Monday. In a statement, the Al-Baidar Organisation for the Defence of Bedouin Rights said illegal settlers placed dozens of mobile homes on land east of Hebron’s Birin village, effectively creating three new sites. The group estimated that the expansion has seized around 6,400 dunums (6.4 million square meters) of land belonging to Birin, the nearby town of Bani Naim, and parts of Hebron city. It said the area has been subjected to a two-month settlement push, including the building of roads, widespread land seizures, and the destruction of crops and water wells, measures it warned […]

A leading Druze religious figure in southern Syria, Hikmat al-Hijri called Monday on the international community to support the Druze’s aspirations for a “separate” region in southern Syria.  “Our path begins under a new banner after the recent ordeal that aimed to exterminate the Druze community in Syria,” al-Hijri said during a meeting with a delegation from the “Men of Dignity” Movement, one of Sweida’s main armed factions. “We are advocates of peace, not advocates of evil, but we have the right to defend ourselves. What happened recently was a barbaric and brutal attack on us” he added, referring to the July violent clashes that erupted in the region.   According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the clashes have […]