Israel – Hamas war: Palestinian siblings see parents killed in IDF raid

Published

9 months ago

February 14, 2024

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Among the crowds of homeless people now packed into southern Gaza, there is a five-year-old boy called Mu’min who was hit by a grenade.

A fragment from the device passed through his left eye and is lodged in his brain – but the injury he sustained in the kitchen of his home forms just a part of this story.

The incident is just one of an innumerable number of catastrophes experienced by children in Gaza.

Follow latest updates: ‘Dreaded scenario unravelling at alarming speed’, UN warns

More than 10,000 have died according to the territory’s ministry of health. At least 17,000 children have been left unaccompanied or separated from their families according to data released by UNICEF.

Many thousands more have been injured or maimed – and every child is coming to terms with a terrible new reality.

On 15 December, Mu’min, who is disabled, and his siblings Ahmad and Buthaina, lost their parents after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stormed into their house in a suburb north of the centre of Khan Younis.

“They raided our house and they shot our mum and dad. Then they started shooting at us and wounded our brother,” said 11-year-old Ahmad, softly.

“We went to another room, hiding from the soldiers. Then, they started banging on the door and they blew it up,” added nine-year-old Buthaina.

The pair say they were subjected to a lengthy interrogation by IDF soldiers.

“They were interrogating us, asking us to show them the tunnels and to tell them where the resistance fighters were. Then, they gave us a white flag and told us to walk down Salahudin Street,” said Ahmad.

Father tried to avert disaster

Their father, Mohammed Khattab, who was also Mu’min’s primary caregiver, had tried to avert this disaster in the days preceding this disaster.

He asked his brother, Dr Omar Khattab Omar Al Zaqzouq, to alert the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in an increasingly desperate series of messages sent via WhatsApp.

On 7 December, the medic sent this on behalf of his brother: “He said that the tanks behind the house and excavator destroyed the near house.

“It’s very difficult to move without permission.”

On 8 December Dr Khattab pleaded with the same ICRC official: “I called my brother and he said there are tanks around the house – can’t move at all.

“It’s complicated.”

Mu’min has cerebral palsy and the family knew moving him would be difficult. Mr Khattab wanted to notify the Israelis in advance.

The ICRC’s representative tried to reassure them on the same day: “We’ve ensured that the houses would not be bombed or destroyed at night and in the future.”

But their confidence was misplaced.

IDF storm family’s house

On 15 December, IDF soldiers stormed the Khattab family’s home. The children’s aunt, Duaa Khattab Omar Al Zaqzouq, said she was in the kitchen when they entered.

“They knocked down the front wall and entered the house, we were sitting down and having lunch at the time. Then my brother Mohammed was shot. He was at the front, waving a white flag.”

A grenade was thrown into the crowded kitchen, injuring Mr Khattab’s wife Hind and blinding Mumin in the left eye. Family members say a soldier then shot and killed Ms Khattab.

The survivors were interrogated “for three hours” before being allowed to leave.

‘They were firing at us from all directions’

Duaa Khattab was one of a group of nine family members – including five children – who were evicted by the IDF and she said they were forced to walk through an active battlefield.

She said: “We went down Fifth Street and faced three tanks, they fired at us, they were firing at us from all directions. We were walking not knowing where we were going, it was getting dark… every time a child screamed, a bomb went off.”

Family members reached safety in the grounds of the Gaza European Hospital the following day and it was here, several weeks later that our team met Buthaina, sketching with her precious coloured pencils. Ahmad played a little football but we were told both were struggling to speak of their ordeal.

Aunt Duaa is busy now, learning to care for her disabled nephew. She said Mu’min cries all night and she doesn’t know how to make him happy.

She said: “They’ve lost their father and mother in one day, at the same time, in front of their eyes. This is a very difficult thing. No one can cope with this, no one can.”

Incident underscores dangers Gaza residents face, Red Cross says

Sky News provided a detailed description of events including dates, times and coordinates of the Khattab family’s home to officials at the IDF but they did not comment on this incident.

An ICRC statement said: “The tragic incident involving the Khattab family underscores the dangers residents across Gaza face.

“We note that the family’s decision to stay or leave their home was complicated by a young family member’s physical disability, a factor many other families must take into consideration as they make their own individual decisions of how best to protect family members.

“Amidst the widespread violence across Gaza, it remains the legal responsibility of the parties to the conflict to ensure civilians have safe routes to take when they are ordered to evacuate. If civilians are unwilling or unable to evacuate, they still remain protected in their homes under international humanitarian law, a fact that the parties must respect.

“When an ICRC staff member shared in a text message that houses would not be bombed or destroyed, that staff member was relaying information shared with the public by the Israeli Defence Forces specifying that the IDF would pause operations on 8/12/23 to enable the movement of humanitarian aid.

“In general, the ICRC, a humanitarian organization with roughly 125 personnel in Gaza, does not have the capacity to respond to individual families in need of safe passage amidst the fighting.”

World

Over 100 politicians from multiple countries condemn China over detention of tycoon Jimmy Lai

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2 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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Over 100 politicians from multiple countries condemn China over detention of tycoon Jimmy Lai

More than 100 politicians from 24 different countries, including the UK, the US and the EU, have written a joint letter condemning China over the “arbitrary detention and unfair trial” of Jimmy Lai, a tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner.

The parliamentarians, led by senior British Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, are “urgently” demanding the immediate release of the 77-year-old British citizen, who has been held in solitary confinement at a maximum security prison in Hong Kong for almost four years.

The letter – which will be embarrassing for Beijing – was made public on the eve of Mr Lai’s trial resuming and on the day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit of economic powers in Brazil.

It also comes as Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists.

The group of politicians, who also include representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and France, said Mr Lai’s treatment was “inhumane”.

“He is being tried on trumped-up charges arising from his peaceful promotion of democracy, his journalism and his human rights advocacy,” they wrote in the letter, which has been seen by Sky News.

“The world is watching as the rule of law, media freedom and human rights in Hong Kong are eroded and undermined.

“We stand together in our defence of these fundamental freedoms and in our demand that Jimmy Lai be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Sir Keir raised the case of Mr Lai during remarks released at the start of his talks with Mr Xi on Monday – the first meeting between a British prime minister and the Chinese leader in six years.

The prime minister could be heard expressing concerns about reports of Mr Lai’s deteriorating health. However, he did not appear to call for his immediate release.

Ms Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Stamford in the East Midlands, said the meeting had been an opportunity to be unequivocal that the UK expects Mr Lai to be freed.

“Jimmy Lai is being inhumanely persecuted for standing up for basic human values,” she said in a statement, released alongside the letter.

“He represents the flame of freedom millions seek around the world.

“We have a duty to fight for Jimmy Lai as a British citizen, and to take a stand against the Chinese Community Party’s erosion of rule of law in Hong Kong.

“This letter represents the strength of international feeling and commitment of parliamentarians globally to securing Jimmy Lai’s immediate release and return to the UK with his family.”

Mr Lai was famously the proprietor of the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily in Hong Kong, which wrote scathing reports about the local authorities and the communist government in mainland China after Britain handed back the territory to Beijing in 1997.

The tabloid was a strong supporter of pro-democracy protesters who took to the streets of Hong Kong to demonstrate against the government in 2019.

But the media mogul was arrested the following year – one of the first victims of a draconian new security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party.

His newspaper was closed after his bank accounts were frozen.

Mr Lai has since been convicted of illegal assembly and fraud. He is now on trial for sedition over articles published in Apple Daily.

World

Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy activists after accusing them of trying to overthrow the city’s government

Published

2 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy activists after accusing them of trying to overthrow the city's government

Forty-five pro-democracy activists have been jailed in Hong Kong’s largest ever national security trial.

The activists sentenced with jail terms ranging from four years to ten years were accused of conspiracy to commit subversion after holding an unofficial primary election in Hong Kong in 2020.

They were arrested in 2021.

Hong Kong authorities say the defendants were trying to overthrow the territory’s government.

Democracy activist Benny Tai received the longest sentence of ten years. He became the face of the movement when thousands of protesters took to the city’s streets during the “Umbrella Movement” demonstrations.

However, Hong Kong officials accused him of being behind the plan to organise elections to select candidates.

Tai had pleaded guilty, his lawyers argued he believed his election plan was allowed under the city’s Basic Law.

Another prominent activist Joshua Wong received a sentence of more than four years.

Wong became one of the leading figures in the protests. His activism started as a 15 year old when he spearheaded a huge rally against a government plan to change the school curriculum.

Then in 2019 Hong Kong erupted in protests after the city’s government proposed a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. It peaked in June 2019 when Amnesty International reported that up to two million people marched on the streets, paralysing parts of Hong Kong’s business district.

The extradition bill was later dropped but it had ignited a movement demanding political change and freedom to elect their own leaders in Hong Kong.

China’s central government called the protests “riots” that could not continue.

Hong Kong introduced a national security law in the aftermath of the protests.

The US has called the trial “politically motivated”.

Dozens of family and friends of the accused were waiting for the verdict outside the West Kowloon Magistrates Court.

British citizen and media mogul Jimmy Lai is due to testify on Wednesday.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told China’s President Xi Jinping he’s concerned about the health of Lai.

He faces charges of fraud and the 2019 protests. He has also been charged with sedition and collusion with foreign forces.

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42,000 march on New Zealand’s parliament in support of Maori rights

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2 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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42,000 march on New Zealand's parliament in support of Maori rights

Tens of thousands of people have marched on New Zealand’s parliament in a protest in support of Maori rights.

The huge crowds took to the streets of Wellington in opposition to a law that could reshape the country’s founding treaty between the indigenous Maori people and the British crown.

The march was described as likely the country’s largest-ever protest in support of Maori rights.

“We’re fighting for our tamariki [children], for our mokopuna [grandchildren], so they can have what we haven’t been able to have,” Shanell Bob said as she waited for the march to begin.

“It’s different to when I was a child. We’re stronger now, our tamariki [children] are stronger now, they know who they are, they’re proud of who they are.”

The bill the protesters oppose is unpopular and unlikely to become law, but opposition to it has exploded.

It would change the meaning of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and prevent its principles from applying only to the Maori people – whose chiefs signed the document when New Zealand was colonised.

Considered New Zealand’s founding document, it laid out the principles guiding the relationship between the British crown and the Maori in two versions – one in English and one in Maori.

The document gave Maori the same rights and privileges as British citizens, but the English and Maori versions differed in the degree to which the chiefs ceded power over their affairs, lands and autonomy.

Over time, the colonial rulers breached both versions, with Maori language and culture dwindling – the country’s indigenous people often barred from practicing it – and tribal land was confiscated.

What’s in the controversial bill?

The bill has been drawn up by the libertarian ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the ruling centre-right coalition government.

It seeks to enshrine a narrower interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi which it says discriminates against non-indigenous citizens.

Critics say it is motivated by a desire to reverse decades of policies that aimed to empower Maori people, who make up around 20% of the 5.3 million population.

In recent years, interpretation of clauses in the treaty have frequently guided legislation and policy, with rulings by the courts and a separate Maori tribunal resulting in growing Maori rights and privileges in the decades since independence in 1947.

The bill’s author, libertarian politician David Seymour, says that process of redress, following the earlier decades of breaches of the treaty, has created special treatment for the Maori – which he opposes.

‘We’re going for a walk!’

“We’re going for a walk!” one organiser said from a stage, as crowds gathered at the opposite end of New Zealand’s capital at the beginning of the protest.

Some people taking part had travelled the length of the country over the past nine days.

Diverse groups waited with Maori sovereignty flags at bus stops, which would have usually been occupied by morning commuters.

Youngsters were among those taking part as some schools said they wouldn’t register students as absent if they attended.

The city’s mayor joined in the protest as well as other politicians.

The Maori haka was performed by protesters as thousands more held signs in support as they lined the streets.

Some carried placards that bore jokes or insults aimed at politicians behind the bill, while others expressed pride in Maori identity, support for the protest or denounced the colonisation of the country.

Police said that about 42,000 people walked to the parliament’s grounds, with some spilling into the surrounding streets.

People sought the best vantage points, with some cramming themselves on to a children’s slide, as others climbed trees.

The legislation made it through its first vote last Thursday, after Mr Seymour made a political deal.

ACT’s coalition partners, the National Party and New Zealand First, agreed to support the bill through the first of its three readings, but both have said they will not support it to become law.

Mr Seymour briefly walked out on to the parliament’s forecourt to observe the protest and was booed by some.