Mourners gather for funeral of journalists killed in Israeli strikes<\/p>\n
Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera<\/a> staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Dozens stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital to pay their respects to Anas al-Sharif<\/strong>, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues, killed on Sunday.<\/p>\n A sixth journalist, Mohammed al-Khaldi<\/strong> who worked as a freelance reporter, was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, were carried through narrow alleys to their graves by mourners including men wearing blue journalists\u2019 flak jackets.<\/p>\n Israel confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, whom it labelled a \u201cterrorist\u201d affiliated with Hamas, saying he \u201cposed as a journalist\u201d.<\/p>\n The four other staff members killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, also a correspondent, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher<\/strong>, Mohammed Noufal<\/strong> and Moamen Aliwa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Talks between Iran<\/strong> and the International Atomic Energy Agency<\/strong> will be \u201ctechnical\u201d and \u201ccomplicated,\u201d the Islamic Republic\u2019s foreign ministry said ahead of a visit by the nuclear watchdog for the first time since Tehran cut ties with the organisation last month, AP reports.<\/p>\n Relations between the two soured after a 12-day air war was waged by Israel<\/a> and the US in June, which saw key Iranian nuclear facilities bombed. The IAEA board said Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations a day before Israel\u2019s airstrikes on Iran sparked the war.<\/p>\n The IAEA did not immediately issue a statement about the visit by the agency\u2019s deputy head, which will not include any planned access to Iranian nuclear sites.<\/p>\n Esmail Baghaei<\/strong>, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, criticised the IAEA\u2019s \u201cunique situation\u201d during the June war.<\/p>\n \u201cPeaceful facilities of a country that was under 24-hour monitoring were the target of strikes and the agency refrained from showing a wise and rational reaction and did not condemn it as it was required,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Italy\u2019s<\/strong> defence minister said in an interview that Israel\u2019s<\/strong> government had \u201clost its reason and humanity\u201d over Gaza<\/strong> and signalled an openness to potential sanctions, AFP reports.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is happening is unacceptable. We are not facing a military operation with collateral damage, but the pure denial of the law and the founding values of our civilisation,\u201d defence minister Guido Crosetto<\/strong> told Italian newspaper La Stampa.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to humanitarian aid, but we must now find a way to force Netanyahu to think clearly, beyond condemnation.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about possible international sanctions against Israel, Crosetto said that \u201cthe occupation of Gaza<\/a> and some serious acts in the West Bank mark a qualitative leap, in the face of which decisions must be made that force (Benjamin) Netanyahu to think\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it wouldn\u2019t be a move against Israel, but a way to save that people from a government which has lost reason and humanity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must always distinguish governments from states and peoples, as well as from the religions they profess. This applies for Netanyahu, and it applies to (Russian president Vladimir) Putin, whose methods, by now, have become dangerously similar.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Gaza\u2019s health ministry said five more people had died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza<\/a> in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n That raised the number of deaths from such causes to 222, including 101 children, since the war began, the ministry said.<\/p>\n Israel says it has scaled up the entry of aid and commercial goods into Gaza in past weeks. Palestinian and UN officials say the aid is a fraction of what Gaza needs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Some further quotes from Downing Street, which said it was \u201cgravely concerned\u201d by both the killing of al-Sharif and his colleagues, and the wider targeting of journalists in Gaza by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza<\/a>,\u201d Keir Starmer\u2019s official spokesperson said. \u201cReporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law, and journalists must be able to report independently without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what action Starmer might take in response, the spokesperson said: \u201cIt is wrong to target journalists who should be able to report independently, without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely. As you have seen from what the prime minister has said in recent days, he is also clear that Israel\u2019s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We have some more quotes from Emmanuel Macron<\/a> on Israel\u2019s plans for Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThis war must end now with a permanent ceasefire,\u201d Macron said in a statement, adding Israel\u2019s plan to take control of Gaza City was \u201ca disaster of unprecedented gravity and a headlong rush into permanent war\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIsraeli hostages and the people of Gaza<\/a> will continue to be the primary victims of this strategy,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n Israel has said its military would \u201ctake control\u201d of Gaza City in a plan approved by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s security cabinet that sparked a wave of global criticism.<\/p>\n In the statement, Macron said it was important to establish a UN-mandated stabilisation mission to secure the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n \u201cThe security council must now work to establish this mission and give it a mandate,\u201d he said. \u201cI have asked my teams to work on this without delay with our partners.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Starmer ‘gravely concerned’ over targeting of journalists in Gaza<\/p>\n Keir Starmer has said he is \u201cgravely concerned\u201d<\/strong> about the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza<\/a>, the British prime minister\u2019s spokesperson said on Monday, after the killing of Anas al-Sharif and four colleagues by the IDF.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.51 EDT<\/p>\n Macron calls Israel’s Gaza plans a ‘disaster waiting to happen’<\/p>\n Emmanuel Macron has condemned Israel\u2019s plans to step up its military operation in Gaza<\/a> as a \u201cdisaster waiting to happen\u201d and proposed an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilise Gaza.<\/p>\n His foreign minister, Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot, had already strongly criticised the plans announced on Friday by Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>, saying in a statement:<\/p>\n France strongly condemns the Israeli government\u2019s plan aimed at preparing for the complete occupation of Gaza. Such an operation would worsen an already catastrophic situation without enabling the release of Hamas hostages, its disarmament, or its surrender.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a>Jerusalem’s Western Wall vandalised with graffiti<\/p>\n The Western Wall in Jerusalem has been vandalised with graffiti condemning Israel\u2019s ongoing war in Gaza, triggering widespread condemnation from religious leaders and politicians, AFP reports.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a holocaust in Gaza<\/a>,\u201d was graffitied in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.<\/p>\n A similar message was also scrawled on the wall of the Great Synagogue, elsewhere in the city.<\/p>\n Israeli police said a 27-year-old suspect had been arrested and would appear in court later on Monday, with the police requesting that his detention be extended.<\/p>\n The incident sparked immediate outrage in Israel, with the Western Wall\u2019s Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch<\/strong> calling it a \u201cdesecration\u201d.<\/p>\n National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir<\/strong> \u2013 who oversees the country\u2019s law enforcement agencies \u2013 said he was shocked and vowed that the police would act \u201cwith lightning speed\u201d.<\/p>\n Sharp condemnation also came from the opposition. Former defence minister Benny Gantz<\/strong>, now an opposition leader, called it \u201ca crime against the entire Jewish people\u201d.<\/p>\n The Western Wall lies in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, which Israeli forces captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.29 EDT<\/p>\n Journalists in Dublin<\/strong> will hold a vigil this evening to \u201cexpresss outrage at Israel\u2019s<\/strong> ongoing targeting and killing of journalists\u201d, the National Union of Journalists have said.<\/p>\n The protest has been prompted by the killing of six journalists in Gaza<\/a> by Israel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Qatar\u2019s<\/strong> prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani<\/strong> condemned Israel\u2019s killing of six Palestinian journalists, five of whom were working for Al Jazeera<\/a>, which is headquartered in Qatar and part state-funded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination, amid the inability of the int\u2019l community & its laws to stop this tragedy. May God have mercy on journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, & their colleagues,\u201d he said in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Mourners gather for funeral of journalists killed in Israeli strikes<\/p>\n Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera<\/a> staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Dozens stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital to pay their respects to Anas al-Sharif<\/strong>, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues, killed on Sunday.<\/p>\n A sixth journalist, Mohammed al-Khaldi<\/strong> who worked as a freelance reporter, was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, were carried through narrow alleys to their graves by mourners including men wearing blue journalists\u2019 flak jackets.<\/p>\n Israel confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, whom it labelled a \u201cterrorist\u201d affiliated with Hamas, saying he \u201cposed as a journalist\u201d.<\/p>\n The four other staff members killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, also a correspondent, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher<\/strong>, Mohammed Noufal<\/strong> and Moamen Aliwa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>UN human rights office condemns killing of Palestinian journalists by Israel<\/p>\n In a statement on X<\/a>, the UN\u2019s human rights office said: \u201cWe condemn the killing by Israeli military of 6 Palestinian journalists by targeting their tent, in grave breach of international humanitarian law. #Israel<\/a> must respect & protect all civilians, including journalists.<\/p>\n At least 242 Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza<\/a> since 7 Oct 2023. We call for immediate, safe & unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel said it targeted Anas al-Sharif<\/strong>, one of the journalists killed, because he was a member of Hamas. Multiple organisations, including the UN and Reporters Without Borders, have questioned the veracity of that claim.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Gaza City residents report heaviest bombardment in weeks as journalists killed<\/p>\n Palestinians reported the heaviest bombardments in weeks on Monday in areas east of Gaza City, just hours after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> said he expected to complete a new expanded offensive in the territory \u201cfairly quickly\u201d, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n Witnesses said Israeli tanks and planes pounded Sabra<\/strong>, Zeitoun<\/strong>, and Shejaia<\/strong>, three eastern suburbs of Gaza City in the north of the territory, pushing many families out of their homes westwards.<\/p>\n Some Gaza<\/a> City residents said it was one of the worst nights in weeks, raising fears of military preparations for a deeper offensive into their city, which is now sheltering about 1 million people after the displacement of residents from the enclave\u2019s northern edges, according to Hamas.<\/p>\n The Israeli military said its forces fired artillery at Hamas militants in the area. There was no sign on the ground of forces moving deeper into Gaza City as part of the newly approved Israeli offensive.<\/p>\n Netanyahu on Sunday said he had instructed the Israeli military to speed up its plans for the new offensive. \u201cI want to end the war as quickly as possible, and that is why I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to shorten the schedule for seizing control of Gaza City,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The plans to step-up the offensive have been criticised by a number of countries.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Greta Thunberg<\/strong> said she and a Palestinian activist group plan to sail a new flotilla loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza<\/strong> to break the \u201cillegal Israeli siege\u201d, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Two other attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza<\/a>, in June and July, were blocked by Israel. Troops boarded their vessels and detained the activists before expelling them.<\/p>\n \u201cOn August 31st we are launching the biggest attempt ever to break the illegal Israeli siege over Gaza with dozens of boats sailing from Spain,\u201d the Swedish campaigner said in a post on Instagram late on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will meet dozens more on September 4th sailing from Tunisia and other ports,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n