Foreign News
Israeli settlers steal Palestinian farmers’ land in occupied West Bank
Farmers in the occupied West Bank face near-daily incursions and violence from Israeli settlers, to the point that they live in fear of having their homes and land stolen, they say.
Added to that is the violence they witness in nearby urban areas, like Jein city and refugee camp that the Israeli army stepped up raids on, killing 10 people and wounding 20 in just one week.
According to the Ministry of Health, at least 237 Palestinians have been killed and about 2,850 others injured by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Farmer Ayman Assad, 45, and his family can clearly hear the attacks from their home just 2km from the camp and they have made the past few weeks a nightmare for him, his wife and five children. “The children are constantly scared, and they don’t play outside any more, it’s too dangerous,” he told Al Jazeera. “We can hear the attacks on the refugee camp, explosions and gunshots.”
Assad said his children are no longer going to school because even if they were to brave the route there, the Israeli army is blocking many of the roads in the area. All classes have gone online.
The greatest worry right now is that his chicken farm, which is further away in Area C of the West Bank, will be attacked by Israeli settlers while he is unable to defend it. “I’m scared my land will be stolen.”
Palestine is known for its olives, olive oil and vegetables, which are exported far and wide. The olive trees, in particular, are an important symbol of Palestinians’ attachment to their land.
The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Since then, about 700,000 Israeli settlers have illegally settled in the Palestinian territory. and have been stealing from, attacking and destroying olive groves, farmland and property there for years.
But these incursions have stepped up in recent weeks, as Israeli forces and settlers mount armed raids while Palestinians are confined to their homes under curfew, Abbas Milhem, director of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PAFU) in Ramallah said. His own family’s farm was among those targeted.
Just over two weeks ago, armed Israeli settlers invaded the Milhem farm, fired guns in the direction of the people working on the harvest and stole olives. One of the workers at the farm, Iman Abdallah Jawabri, 45, was harvesting olives in a crew that included her husband when five settlers came in.
“They shot towards us as if they wanted to scare us, then when they came closer, they took our phones to prevent us from taking photos of them. Then they told all the women to leave and started hitting the men, forcing them to sit on the ground under the olive trees. “We (the women) were still looking at them from afar. After this, they took all of our olives and forced us to leave.”
The farm is now under military control despite being in Area B of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority technically controls civilian matters. The Milhems and their workers have been unable to return. “The farmers are afraid of being shot if they do,” said Iman. “I have several grandchildren and fear for the future, but I also thank God for what we have and pray for the people of Gaza,” she added.
“There is a second war in Palestine which is happening in the occupied West Bank,” said Milhem. “It is also crucial to understand how it affects farmers in the occupied West Bank.”
He added that he cannot travel to visit his ageing mother in Jenin because Israeli forces have blocked many of the roads.
(Aljazeera)
Chinese news agency Xinhua quoting the China Earthquake Networks Center has reported that a total of 3,614 aftershocks had been detected as of 8 a.m. Tuesday [14] since the 6.8-magnitude earthquake which jolted Dingri County in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region last week.
Most aftershocks were below 3.0 magnitude, the center revealed.
The two strongest aftershocks, one of 4.9 magnitude and another of 5.0 magnitude, occurred on Monday night — toppling some houses in the county, local authorities said.
“As residents had earlier moved to tents and prefab houses, no casualties have been reported so far,” said Tashi Dondrup, county head of Dingri.
On Jan. 7, the 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Dingri, home to the northern base camp of the world’s highest peak, Mount Qomolangma, claiming 126 lives.
[Xinhua]
At least 16 civilians in Nigeria’s north-western Zamfara State have been killed in a military air strike, apparently after being mistaken for criminal gangs.
Residents told local media the victims were members of local vigilante groups and civilians defending themselves from armed gangs notorious for kidnapping people for ransom.
The strikes targeted militant gangs in Zurmi and Maradun areas and the state governor, Dauda Lawal, offered his condolences to the community.
The military has acknowledged conducting air strikes, which it said had dealt “a decisive blow to bandits terrorising villages in the area”.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it was investigating “reports of vigilante losses”.
“While the operation successfully eliminated several bandits and led to the recovery of some kidnap victims, the NAF views with grave concern reports of the loss of civilian lives in the course of the operation,” it said in a statement.
It said an ongoing “comprehensive investigation” would ascertain the truth of the matter, which would be “communicated to inform and reassure the public”.
The AFP news agency quoted a local as saying that the civilians were returning to their villages after chasing away bandits when they were bombed.
The villagers “recovered 16 bodies from the attacks and took several other people with severe injuries to the hospital”, Sa’idu Ibrahim was quoted as saying.
Rights group Amnesty International Nigeria put the death toll at 20 and said dozens of others were injured in the attack on Tunga Kara village, and called on authorities to “immediately and impartially” investigate the incident.
“Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone’s standard. Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect,” it said in a statement.
In recent years, Nigeria’s security forces have been fighting powerful criminal gangs, known as bandits, who have been terrorising north-west and central states. The bandits raid villages, burn homes and kill and abduct residents for ransom.
Several accidental air strikes have occurred in recent months including a Christmas Day attack that killed at least 10 civilians in neighbouring Sokoto state.
In 2023, at least 85 civilians, mostly women and children, attending a Muslim religious gathering at a village in Kaduna state were killed after they were mistaken for bandits.
In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a jet struck a camp housing 40,000 people who had been displaced by jihadist violence in a town near the Cameroonian border.
[BBC]
South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol will receive his annual pay rise despite his impeachment for briefly placing the country under martial law, the government has said.
Yoon’s salary will increase by 3% to 262.6 million won ($179,000; £147,000), in line with the standard for government officials.
Since his impeachment in December, Yoon has resisted attempts to investigate and arrest him for alleged insurrection and abuse of power, placing the country deeper in political turmoil.
While suspended from his duties, Yoon remains in office until South Korea’s constitutional court upholds his impeachment.
Yoon cited threats from “anti-state forces” and North Korea to justify his martial law declaration. However, it soon became clear that his move had been spurred not by external threats but by his own domestic political troubles.
News of Yoon’s salary increase has drawn criticism among South Koreans, some of whom say they cannot believe he is still getting paid – let alone getting a increment – while he is suspended.
Some on social media pointed out that the Yoon’s 3% salary rise is nearly double the increase in the country’s minimum wage.
“Minimum wage increased by 1.7% while Yoon gets 3% for what?” reads a post on X which has received thousands of likes.
Earlier this month, Yoon’s security blocked investigators from reaching him at the presidential residence. The stalemate saw an initial arrest warrant expire at midnight on 7 January, but a local court extended it.
Investigators are preparing for another attempt to arrest Yoon and have requested assistance from the police.
On Monday, authorities said any attempt to arrest Yoon would make sure to avoid “any casualties or bloodshed”. They also warned that security staff and lawmakers could be arrested if they obstruct the arrest.
Yoon’s lawyers said assigning police officers and investigators to arrest the president was “a betrayal of the public”. They have claimed that the arrest warrant was “illegal”.
They also demanded that personnel on the arrest team not wear a mask to “prevent rioters from breaking into a national secret site and impersonating police officers”.
In the capital Seoul, thousands have joined large-scale protests, both in support of and against Yoon.
While his critics want to see the disgraced president impeached and arrested over his martial law attempt, Yoon supporters see his short-lived martial law order as justified to protect the South Korea’s democracy.
Han Duck-soo, who became acting president after Yoon’s impeachment but has since been impeached by parliament himself, will also see his annual salary increase by 3% to 204 million won ($138,000; £114,000).
For comparison, the US president is paid $400,000 (£329,000) and the UK Prime Minister’s salary is around £172,000 ($209,000).
[BBC]
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