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Israel issues evacuation warning for parts of Gaza

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighbourhoods of northern Gaza, as it pressed a renewed offensive that has drawn international condemnation.The warning came hours after the United Nations said it had collected and begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza, the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on the territory on March 2.Under global pressure for an end to the blockade and the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire” in Gaza, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was “operating with intense force” in 14 areas in the northern Gaza Strip, accusing “terrorist organisations” of operating there.The army issued a similar warning for northern Gaza on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.After Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations “collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza”, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.Netanyahu said it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action” in Gaza.Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies, with Israel’s blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting at least 19 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday.Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as “unbearable”.”No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven’t received anything,” she said.”We barely manage to prepare one meal a day.”UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis.”I am tormented for my children,” Hossam Abu Aida, another resident of the Gaza Strip, told AFP.”For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment,” the 38-year-old added.- ‘Complex reality’ -The army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.Israel has faced mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza.European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc’s cooperation accord with Israel.Israel’s foreign ministry has said the EU action “reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing”.Sweden said it would press the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.There has been a global spike in anti-Semitic attacks since Hamas’s attack, with a gunman shouting “free Palestine” as he shot dead two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries around the world all condemned the shooting.Netanyahu said Wednesday Israel would be ready “if there is an option for a temporary ceasefire to free hostages”, noting that at least 20 held by Hamas and its allies were still believed to be alive.Gaza’s health ministry said Thursday at least 3,613 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,762, mostly civilians.

Syrians hope for economic recovery after West lifts sanctions

At a currency exchange in Damascus, Anas al-Shammaa is one of many Syrians hopeful that promised relief from Western sanctions will help revive their country’s economy after years of war and isolation.”We were totally cut off from the world,” said Shammaa, 45, who has been running the exchange shop since 2008.With the lifting of sanctions, “we hope that the Syrian economy will start to recover both gradually and quickly”, he told AFP.Syria’s economy plunged into crisis during the years of civil war, which erupted in 2011 with former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests.Western countries imposed crippling sanctions on Syria, including on dealing with financial institutions linked to Assad’s government, and froze the central bank’s assets.Last week, more than five months after Assad’s ouster, Washington announced it would lift sanctions on Syria, and on Tuesday the European Union said it would also remove economic restrictions, sparking hope among Syrians of an economic reboot.But experts have warned it will take time to see real relief, with the new authorities also needing to take steps to attract investment.Shammaa expressed hope that “the central bank will be reconnected with international banks and that commercial activity will become easier” — and that Syrians abroad will be able to more easily send money home to their families.After the US announcement, the Syrian pound surged to 8,500 against the dollar on the black market, from 13,000 a day earlier, though experts said it was a temporary jump.- ‘Historic step’ -Economics graduate Mohammed al-Halabi, 25, expressed hope that Syrians could soon abandon the black market for money transfers, where almost a third of their value can be lost in fees and other costs.Transfers could become as simple as “clicking a button”, like in other countries, he said hopefully.Throughout the civil war, Syrians abroad struggled to find ways around the restrictions to send money to loved ones back home, a vast number of whom depended on foreign remittances due to the collapse of the economy.Removing sanctions is also a key step towards rebuilding the war-torn country, as the measures punished anyone involved in reconstruction while Assad remained in power.Syria’s new authorities are now counting on international support including from the European Union to launch reconstruction, which the United Nations has estimated could cost more than $400 billion.Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Wednesday that the removal of EU sanctions was a “historic step” and welcomed “European companies wanting to invest in Syria”.Syrian central bank governor Abdul Qadir al-Hasriya said on Facebook that the lifting of sanctions “is an important step on the path of restoring normal economic and financial relations with the international community”.But analysts have cautioned that the immediate impact is likely to be limited, with the new authorities also needing to take steps such as ensuring transparency in order to encourage investment.- ‘Way behind’ -Benjamin Feve, senior research analyst at Karam Shaar Advisory, a consultancy focused on Syria’s political economy, said that “with sanctions lifted on Syria in general, we expect increased activity in rebuilding the infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals, schools”.”Countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, which have ties with the new government, are likely to accelerate trade and investment, especially in reconstruction,” he told AFP.But other sectors such as energy and banking “require significant investment and much more time… to actually materialise. So that would probably take a few more months”, he said.Feve added that foreign lenders will have to assess Syrian banking compliance standards, which “will take some time”, with Syria “way behind in terms of anti-money laundering compliance and counter-financing of terrorism compliance”.After decades of institutional corruption under Assad family rule, the new authorities have yet to announce economic reforms or laws governing foreign investment.One Syrian businessman who works between Damascus and Dubai said that since Assad’s ouster, he had hoped to broaden his investments in his native country.But legislative and procedural opacity had stopped him from doing so, he told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss his business decisions.Zohair Fawwal, 36, who sells electronic equipment in Damascus, said he didn’t expect to see an immediate impact of the lifting of sanctions.He said the most he could hope for right now was access to “applications like Netflix and TikTok”, which are currently banned in Syria.

Two Israeli staff shot dead outside Jewish museum in Washington

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine,” authorities said, with US officials and Israeli diplomats expressing shock and outrage over the killings.President Donald Trump quickly condemned the attack, saying “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!””Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” he posted on social media.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “this was a brazen act of cowardly, antisemitic violence. Make no mistake: we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice.”Gunfire broke out on the sidewalk outside the Capital Jewish Museum and Washington police confirmed the suspected shooter then walked into the museum after the shooting and had been detained.”We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect who is now in custody,” Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters.”Prior to the shooting the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum. He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun and opened fire.”After the shooting the suspect then entered the museum and was detained by event security.”She said that the handcuffed suspect identified where he had discarded the weapon and chanted “Free, free Palestine.”Police identified him as Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago.”The fatal shooting that took place outside the event that took place at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C… is a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism,” Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said.”Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line.”We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act. Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives — everywhere in the world.”Police Chief Smith said during a news conference that officers responded to multiple calls of a shooting near the museum at around 9:00 pm on Wednesday evening (0100 GMT Thursday). When authorities arrived at the scene, a man and a woman were found unconscious and not breathing. Despite life-saving efforts from first responders, both were pronounced dead.Emergency response vehicles remained at the scene into Thursday morning after police taped off the area.”We’re going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send the clear message that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.”There is no active threat in our community. What I do know is that the horrific incident is going to frighten a lot of people in our city, and in our country. I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate.”