Friday, October 18, 2024

Hamas, but not the end of the war

 

Hamas, but not the end of the war



Killing Yahya Sinwar is Israel's biggest victory so far in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

His death is a serious blow for Hamas, the organisation he turned into a fighting force that inflicted the biggest defeat on the state of Israel in its history.

He was not killed in a planned special forces operation, but in a chance encounter with Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza.

A photo taken at the scene shows Sinwar, dressed in combat gear, lying dead in the rubble of a building that was hit by a tank shell.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, praised the soldiers and made clear that however big a victory, it was not the end of the war.

"Today we made clear once again what happens to those who harm us. Today we once again showed the world the victory of good over evil.

"But the war, my dear ones, is not over yet. It is difficult, and it is costing us dearly."

"Great challenges still lie ahead of us. We need endurance, unity, courage, and steadfastness. Together we will fight, and with God's help - together we will win."

Netanyahu and the overwhelming proportion of Israelis who support the war in Gaza needed a victory.

BTS star Suga fined $11,500 for drink-driving

 

Monday, October 14, 2024

Harris courts black and Latino votes as polls suggest Trump gains

 

Harris courts black and Latino votes as polls suggest Trump gains



With just weeks to go until the US presidential election, Kamala Harris is ramping up efforts to court black and Latino voters. Despite holding a clear lead among both groups, some Democrats have warned she needs to do more to energise these voters to turn out for her in November.

That's in part due to recent polling which suggests Harris’s Republican rival Donald Trump is having success in winning over black and Latino voters, a continuation of gains he made in 2016 and 2020.

One New York Times and Siena poll indicated Harris had 78% support among black voters, compared to around 90% support for Democrats in recent elections, with men accounting for most of this drop-off.

This could prove crucial in a race that looks set to be decided by razor-thin margins. And even if this polling is off, in key battleground states modest gains among black or Latino voters could ultimately sway result.

In Arizona, for example, nearly one in four voters on 5 November is expected to be Latino, along with almost 20% in nearby Nevada. In another key state, Georgia, black voters constitute about 30% of the total. These are a significant amount of votes in seriously important states.

UN says it will not withdraw peacekeepers from Lebanon

 UN says it will not withdraw peacekeepers from Lebanon



       The United Nations says its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon will stay in their positions, despite repeated demands by Israel that they should move out of the way of its forces there.

The head of UN peacekeeping operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told journalists in New York that the decision to keep the Unifil force in place had the full backing of both the UN Security Council and the member states contributing troops to the force.

On Sunday Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly warned the UN to move from its bases in southern Lebanon, which he said were providing a human shield to Hezbollah fighters.

But the UN is standing firm.

Its head of peacekeeping said it was essential that the blue helmets stay in place, to carry out the mandate they were given by the UN Security Council and to assist the civilian population.

Israel argues that the UN has failed to stop Hezbollah from building tunnels and positioning weapons like rockets and missiles near the border, in violation of the agreement which ended the last war there 18 years ago.

The UN says its mission is to support the parties to the conflict, not to enforce the agreement.

It has accused Israel of deliberately targeting its bases, with five peacekeepers injured in the past week, an accusation rejected by Netanyahu.

In another statement last night he said Israel would do its utmost to prevent such incidents, but that UN peacekeepers needed to get out of harm’s way.