Headlines
Israel Tightens Siege on Gaza As Hamas Reviews Trump’s Peace Deal Offer
Israel’s defence minister has said the country’s forces are “tightening the siege” around Gaza City by extending a military corridor across the territory towards the coast.
Israel Katz also issued a final warning to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the city to evacuate southwards, saying those who remained during the offensive against Hamas would be “terrorists and supporters of terror”.
Hospitals reported that 45 people had been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza City on Wednesday, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had been forced to suspend operations there.
Israel is stepping up the assault as Hamas weighs its response to a new US plan to end the war.
Arab and Turkish mediators are understood to be pressing for a positive response, but a senior Hamas figure has said the armed group is likely to reject it.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has described Gaza City as Hamas’s “last stronghold”.
It has said the offensive aims to secure the release of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas – 20 of whom are believed to be alive – and ensure the group’s “decisive defeat”.
Israel’s defence minister told Israeli media on Wednesday that the IDF was “currently completing the capture of the Netzarim corridor to the western coast of Gaza” – a reference to the Israeli military zone that runs east-west from the perimeter with Israel.
“This will tighten the siege around Gaza City, and anyone leaving it south will be forced to pass through the IDF’s checkpoints,” the Haaretz newspaper quoted Katz as saying.
He warned that this was the “last chance for Gaza [City] residents who are interested in moving south and leaving Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City itself in the face of IDF activity that continues at full strength”.
“Those who remain in Gaza will be terrorists and terror supporters,” he warned.
The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that “under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected whether they stay or leave Gaza City”.
It also said that Israel, as the occupying power, had an obligation to ensure their basic needs were met, including by protecting medical personnel and allowing the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance throughout the Strip.
The ICRC’s warning came in a statement announcing that the intensification of military operations had forced it to suspend operations at its office in Gaza City, where it said civilians were “being killed, forcibly displaced and made to endure dire conditions”.
“The ICRC will continue to strive to provide support to civilians in Gaza City, whenever circumstances allow, from our offices in Deir al-Balah and Rafah [in central and southern Gaza], which remain fully operational,” it said.
“This includes providing medical donations to the few remaining health facilities in Gaza City and doing the utmost to facilitate the movements of first responders.”
Also on Wednesday, the IDF’s Arabic spokesman announced that people in the south of Gaza would no longer be able to use the al-Rashid coastal road to travel north to Gaza City. The road would remain open for those fleeing south, he said.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office condemned the decision, which it said was “part of the ongoing policy of suffocation, siege, and genocide perpetrated by the occupation [Israel] against our Palestinian people in the Strip”.
The IDF has ordered Gaza City residents to evacuate to a designated “humanitarian area” in the southern al-Mawasi area.
Israeli media cited the IDF as saying on Monday that about 800,000 people had fled the city since the plans for the offensive were announced in August, and that between 250,000 and 350,000 people remained.
However, the UN and its humanitarian partners said they had only monitored 397,000 people crossing into southern Gaza as of Saturday.
Unicef spokesman James Elder told the BBC that during a recent visit to Gaza City he had witnessed “multiple air strikes in the very short time” and “a mix of children who are emaciated [and] utterly exhausted women”.
“Anyone who could speak English would explain to me that staying in Gaza City is not a choice, that they don’t have the funds to go south. They don’t have the transport. Once they get south, they know there’s no land, and certainly that they don’t have a tent,” he said.
They also knew that conditions in al-Mawasi were overcrowded and unsanitary, and that it was not spared from Israeli strikes, he added.
“They’ve seen what shrapnel does to a tent. They’ve seen tents engulfed by flames. So they’re well aware that safety, be it from the skies or disease from the ground, certainly doesn’t exist.”
Medics said 29 of those killed in Gaza City on Wednesday were brought to al-Ahli hospital, in the southern Zeitoun neighbourhood.
A video filmed overnight appeared to show four severely injured men wearing high-visibility jackets receiving treatment inside a tent there.
The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency alleged that a team of its paramedics and firefighters were “directly targeted” by an Israeli strike as they responded to a strike on nearby al-Falah school, which was being used as a shelter for displaced families.
It said the rescuers had been performing humanitarian work, wearing uniforms, and driving marked vehicles, and that the attack constituted a flagrant violation of international law.
The agency initially said seven rescuers were injured and two were in a critical condition. Later, it announced that one of them, Munther al-Dahshan, had died.
Palestinian media reported that six people were killed in the initial strike on the school. One Civil Defence member said on social media that the casualties included children, and posted a video of a severely injured boy lying on a hospital bed frame.
When asked to comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it “struck a Hamas terrorist” and that “steps were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians”.
Israel’s government approved plans for the Gaza City offensive following the breakdown of indirect talks with Hamas on a previous US proposal for a deal that would have seen about half of the hostages released during a 60-day ceasefire.
Arab and Turkish mediators have been meeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, putting pressure on them to accept the new 20-point peace plan unveiled by President Donald Trump on Monday.
However, a senior Hamas figure told the BBC that it served “Israel’s interests” and that the group was likely to reject it.
The plan includes an immediate end to the war, the release of all the hostages within 72 hours in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, as well as the disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Hamas leaders had “three or four days” to accept the terms. He later warned that they would “pay in hell if they don’t sign”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile told a government meeting that he agreed to the plan because it achieved all of Israel’s war objectives.
However, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is said to have called the plan “dangerous” and “full of holes”.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 66,148 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
BBC
Cameroon ’s top court on Monday declared incumbent Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president, the winner of the Oct. 12 election. Clashes with security forces left at least four protesters dead ahead of the announcement as opposition supporters rallied to demand credible results.
Biya, 92, has led the central African nation since 1982. The Constitutional Council said he received 53.66% of votes while former ally-turned-challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary got 35.19%. The turnout was 57.7%.
In a social media post after the declaration, Tchiroma said that there was gunfire directed at civilians and two people were shot dead in his hometown in Garoua.
He said: “Toll of their attack: two dead. I wonder what will be said this time? Shooting point-blank at your own brothers — I can’t help but wonder if you’re mercenaries. Kill me if you want, but I will liberate this country by any means necessary. What blatant impunity.”
The four protesters were shot dead in Douala, the economic capital, on Sunday, as hundreds of people stormed streets in several cities. Tchiroma had claimed victory days before Monday’s announcement, citing results he said were collated by his party. Biya dismissed the claim.
According to Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region that includes Douala, several members of the security forces were injured by protesters. He said at least 105 protesters were arrested.
Dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders have been arrested in recent days. Paul Atanga Nji, minister of territorial administration, said on Saturday the government arrested several people plotting violent attacks.
One protester, Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in Maroua, said: “I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote. I voted for Tchiroma because I want change.”
Following the announcement of the results, Sani Aladji, a 28-year-old who works in a hotel in Maroua, said: “Nothing will change. I expected that Issa Tchiroma would bring change, which is why I voted for him. There’s rampant corruption under Biya’s regime. We are tired of that. We don’t have roads.”
Biya has ruled Cameroon longer than most of its citizens have been alive. Over 70% of the country’s almost 30 million population is below 35. The election has been the latest dramatic example of tension between Africa’s youth and the continent’s many aging leaders.
He first came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled the country since then, later benefiting from a constitutional amendment that abolished term limits.
Critics accuse Biya of leading Cameroon from a period of relative stability into one of crisis and conflict. The country in recent years has faced attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north and a secessionist insurgency in the country’s English-speaking North West and South West regions.
That crisis, triggered by the government’s attempts to impose French in English-speaking schools and courts, has killed nearly 7,000 people, displaced more than one million more internally and sent thousands fleeing to neighboring Nigeria.
Despite Cameroon being an oil-producing country that is experiencing modest economic growth, young people say the benefits have not trickled down beyond the elites. According to World Bank data, the unemployment rate stands at 3.5%, but 57% of the labor force aged 18 to 35 works in informal employment.
“Many young people across the country and in the diaspora had hoped for change, but that their hopes have been dashed. It feels like a missed opportunity,” said Dr Emile Sunjo, a senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Buea. “Cameroon could potentially slide into anarchy.”
Source: AP
There was mild drama in court on Monday as detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, declined opening his defence against the seven-count terrorism-related charge the Federal Government preferred against him, saying categorically that there’s “no case against me”.
Kanu, who elected to defend himself after he disengaged his team of lawyers, adduced reasons before the Federal High Court in Abuja, why he would not open his defence to the charge.
Addressing the court from the dock, the IPOB leader maintained that after going through the case file, he discovered that there is no valid charge to warrant his defence.
He contended that since he had been subjected to an unlawful trial based on an invalid charge, there would be no need for him to offer any explanations or defend himself through the evidence of witnesses.
“Join me in praising God. I have gone through my case file, and there is no charge against me,” he started.
“There is no extant law in this country upon which the prosecution can predicate the charges against me. If there’s any, let my Lord read it out to me.
“So, I should not enter any defence in a charge that does not exist under any law in Nigeria. I urge you to release me today or grant me bail.”
Consequently, he shelved his initial request for the court to issue summons to compel certain persons to appear as his witnesses in the case.
Kanu, who has been in detention since 2021, had in a motion he personally signed and filed before the court, named several individuals that included serving Governors, Ministers, ex-Governors and Security Chiefs, among the 23 persons he intends to produce as his witnesses.
Describing them as vital and compellable witnesses in his case, Kanu, urged the court to grant him a 90-day period to enable him to open and conclude his defence.
He argued that expanding the initial six-day period the court gave for him to conclude his defence has become necessary in view of the number and status of the witnesses he intends to produce to give evidence in the case.
Among the proposed witnesses in the principal list he submitted before the court, included the Governor of Imo state, Hope Uzodimma; that of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike; the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; as well as a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd).
Others are the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu; a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd); immediate past former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; as well as the former Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Yusuf Bichi.
In the motion dated October 21 and marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, Kanu equally hinted that he would call other persons whose names were not on the list he submitted.
However, he ditched the plan on Monday, a development that led the court to adjourn the matter till November 4, 5 and 6 for the adoption of final written addresses.
Before the case was adjourned however, trial Justice James Omotosho implored the IPOB leader to consult experts in criminal law to explain the consequences of his decision.
It will be recalled that the court had earlier rejected a no-case-submission that Kanu filed to be discharged and acquitted.
The court dismissed his contention that the totality of evidence the prosecution tendered in the matter failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
Kanu argued that the five witnesses FG brought to testify before the court failed to prove that he committed any offence that is known to law.
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.
Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.
But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.
“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.
“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now.”
The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.
The interview follows the release of her memoir last month in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.
She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her.
