Tunnels under children’s bedrooms and silent streets – Sky News witnesses flattened city in Gaza
Rafah is now a wasteland.
The city in Gaza has been totally flattened by months of war.
The rubble in places is many metres high, the buildings that are still standing are hollow shells, their dark, empty windows like vacant souls in a horror show.
Sky News visited what remains of Rafah – a city once home to hundreds of thousands of people
The IDF allowed a Sky News team into the flattened city
One IDF soldier privately told Sky News that they understood it looked bad, but claimed they had no choice
Were it not for the constant whine of drones overhead, the streets would be silent.
The silence is occasionally broken by gunfire as remaining Hamas fighters step out of the ruins to fight a battle they’re losing.
Honestly, sometimes it is just hard to find the words to describe what you’re seeing.
I stood in what was a side street, surrounded by the remains of houses with clothes still hanging in wardrobes, children’s toys on the floor, a large cuddly bear hanging from a first-floor bedroom, and a pink tricycle vivid among the grey dust and debris.
Fifty metres away was a large roundabout, the recognisable contours of a school building still stood on the far side of the street.
Two Israeli tanks were parked there, watching, guarding, ready for the slightest movement.
It was on these streets and in these buildings where Hamas built up its arsenal, dug its tunnels and planned its attacks. And they’re still there.
Clothes still hung in a wardrobe from where families seemingly left in a hurry
A lone child’s tricycle was visible in the remains of one home
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International journalists cannot independently enter Gaza without an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) escort.
So it’s impossible to know whether this level of destruction was necessary or needless vengeance, punishment for a population considered collectively guilty for the worst massacre in Israel’s history.
I’d been into Gaza before the war and as I stood still, taking it all in, my memories started to bring the streets back to life.
I could see the bustle of the markets and restaurants, I could hear the constant traffic and the noise of children, so many children – half of Gaza’s population is under the age of 18.
“I know how bad this looks,” one soldier privately told me, “but we had no choice: Hamas had months to prepare for the Rafah fight, they set booby traps in houses and fought hard.”
A few metres away was the tunnel where six murdered Israeli hostages were found two weeks ago.
The six Israeli hostages murdered two weeks ago were found in this tunnel
Sky News’ Alistair Bunkall amid the destruction in Gaza
The entry shaft was under a child’s bedroom painted with Disney figures, quite possibly directly beneath the bed itself.
I was able to picture that room as I stood quietly taking it in, and I could imagine the joy of a child going to sleep watched over by Mickey Mouse and Cinderella.
I wonder where that child is now?
The entry shaft to part of Hamas’s tunnel network was found under a child’s bedroom, the IDF says
And how do you judge that stolen innocence with the tragedy that happened beneath it? Six people, also innocent, executed with bullets in the back of their heads.
Rafah is a city of ghosts.
We had driven into Gaza along the Philadelphi corridor, the nine-mile passage that runs along the Egyptian border fence and which has been the latest and heavily debated sticking point to a ceasefire deal.
Much of it is newly tarmacked by the Israelis, creating a highway that runs east to west.
They now have full control of it, and they now surround Gaza on all four sides.
The newly tarmacked Philadelphi corridor
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on keeping an IDF presence there to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons back in.
He also fears Hamas could try to smuggle hostages out of Gaza and, he claims, into Yemen or Iran, something that Israeli security officials say is not backed up by intelligence.
The Israeli military has uncovered nine tunnels running into Egypt. They were already blocked off by Hamas and the Egyptians before the Israelis got there.
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We were shown one, big enough to drive vehicles through. Machines nearby are drilling deep into the ground in search of more tunnels. The IDF isn’t certain they will find any.
There is still hopeful talk of a ceasefire, but frankly, it doesn’t feel likely.
The IDF believes it has created the conditions for one, but the decision is up to the politicians.
Up to the leaders, Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar and Mr Netanyahu. Each blames the other for the failure to reach an agreement.
In the meantime, the war in Gaza is changing – the fighting continues and airstrikes are still killing people on a daily basis, but it’s moving towards a grinding counter-insurgency and if that’s what the Israeli government wants, then it could be like this for years.
Sky News was granted permission by the Israeli military to enter Gaza – though our team’s movements were restricted and the material we gathered had to be authorised by the IDF
A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has said “justice has been served” after she won her civil case against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter.
Nikita Hand has been awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
McGregor, 36, made no comment as he swiftly left court following the decision on Friday evening.
He had previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the weeks of her civil case against the fighter have been a “nightmare” and has impacted not only her life but her daughter’s, friends and loved ones.
“I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody,” the mother-of-one said.
Ms Hand said the civil case had been a ‘nightmare’. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.
“Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.”
Addressing other victims of sexual assault, Ms Hand continued: “I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be: Speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice.
“You can stand up for yourself if something happens to you – no matter who the person is – and justice will be served.”
McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA
Ms Hand told the court McGregor pinned her to a bed, choked her three times and “brutally raped and battered” her.
The civil court jury was told she was left with extensive injuries, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and tenderness to her neck.
But lawyers for the fighter contested the lawsuit and accused her of attempted “extortion”.
They pointed to CCTV footage of Ms Hand arriving at and leaving the hotel with McGregor and a second man, James Lawrence, whom she also accused of sexual assault.
Both McGregor and Lawrence denied any wrongdoing. While Ms Hand won her case against McGregor, she lost her claim against Lawrence.
On Monday, McGregor’s legal team told jurors it did not matter if they did not like or even loathed the famous fighter, urging them to look at the evidence and not his character.
McGregor and Ms Hand knew each other and had occasionally been in contact on social media, the civil trial heard.
Before the assault, Ms Hand had contacted the fighter, who picked up her and a friend in his car.
McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period, the court heard.
World
Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes
Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.
“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.
“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.
“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”
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A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Warrant for Hamas leader
The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.
Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.
The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.
The home secretary has refused to say if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he landed on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
But Yvette Cooper said the ICC, which the UK is a member of, is independent and while the government respects that, it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment” on the processes involved.
She told Sky News: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.
“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
However, Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.
“Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”
The government said after winning July’s election it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
An ICC arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks in Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel claims Al Masri was killed earlier this year but the ICC said that has not been confirmed, so it was issuing the arrest warrant.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right) have arrest warrants against them. File pic: Reuters
Netanyahu’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary and he would guarantee the arrest warrant would “not be observed”.
However, both France and Italy signalled they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries.
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Why have arrest warrants been issued?
The ICC originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and on Thursday announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
It is the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.
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