Gaza hospital strike kills hundreds

October 18, 2023 | 4:30 pm

Israeli-Palestine-protest — PEOPLE pray as they protest after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other, in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 17, 2023. — REUTERS

GAZA — A strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for US President Joseph R. Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital, with the Palestinian Authority’s health minister accusing Israel of causing a “massacre.” Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims around the catastrophe, which has inflamed a region already in crisis since Hamas carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died.

Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors. Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags. A Gaza civil defense chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500.

Mr. Biden’s complex diplomatic mission to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region and shore up humanitarian efforts for Gaza, but after the strike, Jordan canceled a planned summit with the US president, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Mr. Abbas also canceled plans to meet Mr. Biden, as Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah as popular anger boiled.

Protests also took place at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the US embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.

Before the hospital strike, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel’s 11-day bombardment that began after the Hamas assault, which caught Israel by surprise and led to nearly 200 people being taken to Gaza as hostages.

HUMANITARIAN AID
The Israeli military urged Gaza City residents to relocate southward on Wednesday, saying there was a “humanitarian zone” with aid available in Al-Mawasi, 28 km (17 miles) down the coast of the Palestinian enclave.

“The IDF calls on #GazaCity residents to evacuate south for their protection,” said a social-media post by the military.

Speaking to reporters as Mr. Biden flew to Tel Aviv, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Mr. Biden would put “tough questions” to Israeli leaders but did not give details.

Mr. Biden will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet seeking to get a sense of Israel’s plans and aims, Mr. Kirby said. He also aims to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, where millions of Palestinians are surviving with scant food, fuel and water due to Israel’s siege.

“He’ll be asking some tough questions, he’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel, but he’ll be asking some questions of them,” Mr. Kirby said.

It was unclear what Mr. Biden could accomplish during his visit. Mr. Kirby said the US president planned to speak with Mr. Abbas and Mr. Sisi on his way back to Washington.

“This sort of murky but horrific event makes diplomacy harder and increases escalation risks,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at International Crisis Group.

Mr. Biden has previously said the United States does not want the conflict to flare up into a wider war.

Iran, which supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah have warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians.

The US State Department told Americans not to travel to Lebanon after exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by hundreds of people killed in Tuesday’s strike on the hospital.

Mr. Guterres appealed to Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and to Israel to allow immediate unrestricted access to humanitarian aid for Gaza. — Reuters

Xi Jinping warns against decoupling from China

October 18, 2023 | 4:30 pm

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against decoupling from China as he opened the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum in Beijing on Wednesday, criticizing Western efforts to reduce dependence on the Chinese economy.

Mr. Xi also lauded his grand plan launched 10 years ago of building global infrastructure and energy networks connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through overland and maritime routes, saying that “blueprints turned into real projects.”

Representatives of more than 130 countries, largely from the Global South, attended the forum including several heads of state, of whom the most prominent was Mr. Xi’s “dear friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We stand against unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and supply chain disruption,” Mr. Xi told more than 1,000 delegates gathered in an ornate conference room in the Great Hall of the People west of Tiananmen Square.

Mr. Putin and other foreign leaders sat with key Chinese officials from the 25-member Politburo on the front row, as Mr. Xi delivered his opening remarks.

Mr. Xi pushed against Western efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese economy, saying that, “our lives will not be better and our development will not be faster if we view the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk.”

Reducing their dependence on supply chains with China has become a top priority among Western economies as Beijing’s threats to Taiwan heighten geopolitical risks in Asia. The trade disruptions of the pandemic years have also added urgency to the desire to limit their dependence on China.

Although BRI at first set out to connect China to Western Europe, senior European Union figures were missing. The sole head of state present from the bloc was Hungary’s populist President Viktor Orban. Other notable attendees included the Afghan Taliban administration’s commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi.

“China has more interest right now in developing Afghanistan at this moment, so we are more engaged with China. The Chinese have more interest in economic affairs, that’s why we’re here,” Mr. Azizi told a gaggle of reporters at the ceremony.

WESTERN SKEPTICISM
Western skepticism of Mr. Xi’s grand plans stems from suspicions over the way it would extend China’s global influence, analysts say. China has at times bristled at criticism of the BRI, saying it carries anti-Chinese prejudice and a wish to contain its rise, while overlooking what it says are genuine good intentions.

In an address that followed Mr. Xi’s, Mr. Putin praised the BRI and invited global investment in the Northern Sea route which he said could deepen trade between east and west. Several European officials left the hall as Mr. Putin took to the stage.

Mr. Xi is making the Belt and Road smaller and greener, moving away from big-ticket projects like dams to high-tech ones such as digital finance and e-commerce platforms.

The aim is to aid a broader push for a world order that is multi-polar and gives the Global South more agency, rather than one dominated by Washington and its allies, analysts say.

The BRI has also become more focused on issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence, as Mr. Xi seeks to use it to export Chinese ideas about governance and build consensus around Chinese norms and its development model, analysts say.

On Wednesday, Mr. Xi reinforced those trends, pledging to “deepen cooperation in green infrastructure, energy and transportation,” and “put forward global initiative for artificial intelligence governance.”

A European business representative, who did not want to be named for sensitivity reasons, said on the sidelines of the ceremony that BRI was, “creating impact for some of the countries involved” and that, “I think there is some truth to some of the speeches about improving livelihood and connectivity.” — Reuters

4-day work week boosts Spanish workers’ health, pilot program shows

October 18, 2023 | 4:28 pm

Spain-Valencia beach — A man looks at his phone as people enjoy the beach in Valencia, Spain July 1, 2018. — REUTERS/HEINO KALIS/FILE PHOTO

MADRID — Four-day work weeks improved Spanish workers’ health such as by lowering stress while reducing fuel emissions and benefiting children, a pilot program showed on Tuesday.

The coastal city of Valencia — Spain’s third largest with more than 800,000 inhabitants — scheduled local holidays to fall on four consecutive Mondays between April 10 and May 7 this year. The project affected 360,000 workers.

Many participants used the long weekends to develop healthier habits such as practicing sport, resting and eating homemade food, according to an independent commission of health and social science experts that evaluated the program.

The data showed an improvement in self-perceived health status, lower stress levels and better feelings regarding tiredness, happiness, mood and personal satisfaction, it added.

A drop in the use of motor vehicles led to better air quality on the four Mondays during the program’s period, as less nitrogen dioxide was emitted, according to the city’s daily emissions measurements.

However, smokers and drinkers increased their overall use of tobacco and alcohol, it added.

A high percentage of those surveyed said they were more likely to read, study, watch films and pursue hobbies like photography, music or painting, the commission said. It did not specify the percentage.

Children benefited the most, thanks to improved work-life balance enjoyed by their parents, the commission found.

While the hospitality and tourism sectors served more customers during extended weekends, retailers reported a decrease in sales and emergency medical services may have been overextended as more healthcare workers took time off, the report said.

The project was designed by the left-wing Compromis coalition of progressive, green and regionalist parties, which ruled the city at the time.

Last year, the Spanish government launched a similar two-year project focused on small and medium-sized industrial companies nationwide. — Reuters

Fitch places Israel on rating watch negative as Gaza war rages

October 18, 2023 | 4:27 pm

FITCH on Tuesday placed Israel’s sovereign debt rating of “A+” on rating watch negative and warned a major escalation of the ongoing conflict with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas could result in a negative rating action.

The ratings agency said the risk that others hostile to Israel could join the conflict at scale has risen significantly.

Large-scale escalation, in addition to human loss, could result in significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure leading to a large deterioration of Israel’s credit metrics, according to Fitch.

There has been a huge spike in the cost of insuring Israel’s government debt using what are known as credit default swaps (CDS). Investors use CDS either as a protection tool or to speculate and last week the cost of buying Israel CDS has surged 80%.

Prevailing conditions likely support its current rating, the ratings agency added.

“The combination of Israel’s dynamic, high-value added economy, the record of resilience to regional conflict, preparedness for military confrontations, solid fiscal and external metrics and cash buffers make it unlikely a relatively short conflict largely confined to Gaza will affect Israel’s rating,” Fitch said.

Israel has never been downgraded by Fitch and rival rating agencies S&P Global and Moody’s.

Moody’s warned last week that a prolonged conflict with Hamas could drag down the country’s credit score.

Israel has vowed to annihilate the Islamist group after Hamas gunmen crossed the border and killed 1,300 people, mainly civilians, during a rampage through southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, the deadliest single day in Israel’s 75-year history. — Reuters

Robbed, spat at and assaulted, British shopkeepers despair over retail crime

October 18, 2023 | 4:25 pm

CROYDON, England — As shopkeeper Ben Selvaratnam recounted how his grocery store in south London was being targeted by shoplifters up to 10 times a day, he had to stop to eject two men who had brazenly slipped two bottles of premium beer into their carrier bag.

The incident, on a Tuesday morning, was unremarkable at his Freshfields Market convenience store following a “massive increase” in theft and violence that he and other shop owners put down to a lack of response from authorities to retail crime.

Repeat offenders and criminal gangs operating with apparent impunity is becoming a hot political topic ahead of a national election expected next year. Critics of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government say it shows a breakdown in society.

“We stopped reporting incidents to the police because we just felt, for whatever reason, budget cuts or whatnot, they weren’t as responsive as we needed them to be,” Mr. Selvaratnam told Reuters in his shop in Croydon, where his butcher doubles up as a security guard.

It’s a similar story in Glasgow, Scotland, where Girish Jeeva was recently left bloodied after being punched in the face when he challenged a man stealing from his grocery store in the Barmulloch district.

Both Mr. Selvaratnam and Mr. Jeeva are frustrated that shoplifters who steal goods worth less than 200 pounds are rarely prosecuted.

“That explains why some of these gangs, especially the teenagers, they don’t even run when they rob the place,” said Mr. Selvaratnam.

The issue of theft and violence has been raised by many of Britain’s biggest retailers in recent months, including Tesco, John Lewis and Primark, echoing similar reports in the United States and elsewhere.

The two British shopkeepers said the main protagonists were local organized criminal gangs, often hooded and masked and sometimes carrying weapons like machetes, who target higher-value products like alcohol, boxed chocolates and meat.

But they have also seen an increase in mums hiding goods in prams and pensioners stealing tinned meat and fish as an increase in the cost of living hits many households.

Mr. Jeeva in Scotland said the police did not take action even when he provided clear CCTV evidence of offenses and told them where the perpetrator lived.

“It’s a waste of time,” he said.

NO-GO AREAS
A Freedom of Information request by British retailer the Co-op showed the police did not respond to 71% of serious retail crimes reported.

In the six months to June 2023, it recorded almost 1,000 incidents a day of shoplifting and anti-social behavior, a 35% increase year-on-year. It has warned that some local stores risk becoming no-go areas.

The British Retail Consortium lobby group said the industry was losing almost 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) a year from theft, despite an industry spend on crime prevention of 700 million pounds in 2021/22.

Mr. Selvaratnam installed reinforced glass and steel barriers in the till area of his shop this year.

Thefts are an increasing problem for Mr. Sunak, whose Conservative Party, lagging in polls after 13 years in power, has traditionally portrayed itself as strong on law and order.

A YouGov poll found 74% of British adults believe the government has badly handled crime, and 22% see it as one of the three most important issues facing the country.

Policing minister Chris Philp recently asked forces to take a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting, including thefts below 200 pounds.

But London’s police force, the country’s biggest, said that was not realistic.

“Where a crime is being committed, a suspect is on the scene, and the situation has or is likely to become heated or violent, our call handlers will assess this and seek to dispatch officers where appropriate,” it said.

ASSAULT
The opposition Labour Party has said if it wins power it will change the law to ensure all thefts are investigated. It will ban repeat offenders from town centers, restore neighborhood policing and create a new specific offense of assault against retail workers.

But Mr. Selvaratnam is not optimistic. As well as a new approach to policing he believes the government needs to address economic hardship, social services and ways to strengthen community ties.

In the eight years he’s owned the shop he has been regularly spat at, and physically assaulted over 20 times. He has been slashed with broken bottles four times and the top part of his ear had to be reattached after it was bitten off.

“It’s out of control,” he told Reuters.

He tried to sell the business, but potential buyers pulled out when their due diligence revealed the extent of losses from theft.

More spending by the biggest retailers on their theft defenses will simply divert crime, Mr. Selvaratnam fears.

“For the small independents like ourselves, we’re just going to get it even more,” he said. — Reuters

South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean eyes submarine exports to Philippines, Canada, Poland

October 18, 2023 | 4:24 pm

SEONGNAM, South Korea – South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean has pitched offers to build submarines to Canada, the Philippines and Poland, a company official said on Wednesday, as the country pushes to become one of the world’s top four defense exporters.

Canada is studying potential builders for new submarines and has expressed interest in Hanwha Ocean among other foreign rivals, Kim Seung-min, leader of Hanwha Ocean’s naval and special ship overseas marketing team, told Reuters in an interview, without naming the competitors.

“We are now checking on our shoelaces at the start line before the race kicks off,” Kim said on the sidelines of the country’s biggest defense show, Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX).

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to step up efforts to boost weapons exports and secure cutting-edge defense technologies as he aims to build the industry into one of the world’s four largest exporters.

Currently, the top four arms exporters are the United States, Russia, France and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank.

Hanwha Ocean, formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, is a leading South Korean defense contractor that has built submarines for the South Korean and Indonesian navies.

Kim said Hanwha Ocean had responded this year to questions from Poland on its submarine building capabilities, after registering interest in the European country’s tender to build about three submarines.

Last year, South Korea inked a $13.7 billion arms deal with Poland – Seoul’s biggest ever – laying the groundwork for a major military-industrial business.

Hanwha Ocean is also vying to sell diesel-powered submarines to the Philippines, which is looking to acquire two submarines over the 2,000-tonne level, Kim said.

Tensions are rising between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea. The Philippines currently has no submarine fleet.

Kim said the company had proposed supplying the Philippines with submarines with lithium-ion batteries, which allow the subs to stay underwater much longer than those with lead acid batteries – an advantage over French and Spanish submarines. — Reuters

India to allow export of non-basmati white rice to Philippines, other countries

October 18, 2023 | 2:32 pm

NFA-rice-warehouse-import-040819 — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

India will allow exports of non-basmati white rice to the Philippines, Nepal, Cameroon, Malaysia, Seychelles, Ivory Coast, and the Republic of Guinea, a government notification showed on Wednesday.

India in July banned exports of non-basmati white rice and later imposed a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice. — Reuters

Philippines’ Marcos suspends implementation of sovereign wealth fund

October 18, 2023 | 1:02 pm

Marcos-BBM-1 — President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. answers questions from the media after his first Cabinet meeting at the Heroes Hall of the Malacañan Palace, July 5. — PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has suspended the implementation of a controversial sovereign wealth fund that he fought to bring to fruition, citing the need to make it foolproof.

His executive secretary said in an Oct. 12 memo there was a need to study the fund’s implementing rules and regulation, which were already in effect, to ensure that safeguards were in place for “transparency and accountability.”

The factors cited for the suspension were the very same reasons that critics of the fund have cited when they opposed it, which were met by repeated assurances from its backers, including Mr. Marcos, the fund would be managed with prudence.

It was not clear from the memo for how long the rules would remain suspended.

Opposition lawmaker France Castro said on Wednesday the suspension of the fund’s implementation showed the measure was “rushed and flawed in so many levels.”

“It would be better if President Marcos Jr. just scrapped the whole Maharlika law rather than just suspend it,” Mr. Castro said in a statement. “We don’t have excess fund for this.”

The government has envisaged the fund would issue a total of P500 billion ($8.81 billion) worth of preferred and common shares which the national government, state-run firms and banks can purchase.

A shortlist of candidates for the board of directors to help manage the fund was submitted to Mr. Marcos this month.

Mr. Marcos, in signing the bill creating the fund in July, touted it as a key plank of his economic goals to modernise infrastructure and accelerate the country’s growth.

It followed moves by neighbours Malaysia and Singapore and more recently Indonesia in establishing sovereign wealth funds, albeit with mixed results.

In Malaysia, a multi-billion dollar graft scandal engulfed the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund, causing widespread political repercussions. — Reuters

Putin praises Xi, pitches Russia’s Northern Sea route

October 18, 2023 | 11:52 am

BEIJING – President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and invited global investment in the Northern Sea route which he said could deepen trade between east and west.

Speaking on his second known trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war, Putin thanked the Chinese leader for his invitation and said Russia could play a key role in China’s modern day revival of the ancient Silk Road.

Mr. Putin called Mr. Xi his “dear friend” and heaped praise on the Belt and Road Initiative for bringing the world together.

Shortly before Mr. Putin starting speaking, a handful of European delegates, including former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, walked out of the room, a Reuters witness said.

“Russia and China, like most countries of the world, share the desire for equal, mutually beneficial cooperation in order to achieve universal sustainable and long-term economic progress and social well-being, while respecting the diversity of civilization and the right of each State to its own development model,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin said the BRI fitted with Russia which he said was developing a host of transport infrastructure to criss-cross the world’s biggest country, notably from the Northern Sea Route which runs from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska

“As for the Northern Sea Route, Russia does not just offer its partners to actively use its transit potential, I will say more: we invite interested states to participate directly in its development, and we are ready to provide reliable ice breaker navigation, communication and supply,” Mr. Putin said.

“Starting next year, navigation for ice-class cargo ships along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route will become year-round.”

Mr. Putin, who has attended previous BRI summits, brought a senior delegation from Moscow.

Among the senior Russian officials were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is due to visit North Korea shortly, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, his top oil and gas point man, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Also included were Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin economic aide Maxim Oreshkin, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and Igor Morgulov, Russia’s ambassador to China. – Reuters

China’s Q3 GDP growth, Sept activity show economic recovery gaining momentum

October 18, 2023 | 11:49 am

China-Beijing-skyline — A GENERAL VIEW shows Beijing’s skyline on a sunny day in this file photo. — REUTERS

BEIJING – China’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter, while consumption and industrial activity in September also surprised on the upside, suggesting the recent flurry of policy measures is helping to bolster a tentative recovery.

Rapidly weakening growth in the world’s second-biggest economy since the second quarter prompted authorities to roll out support steps over the past weeks, and Wednesday’s batch of data indicated the stimulus is starting to gain traction although a property crisis and other headwinds pose risks to the outlook.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.9% in July-September from the year earlier, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed, versus analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4.4% increase but slower than the 6.3% expansion in the second quarter.

On a quarter-by-quarter basis, GDP grew 1.3% in the third quarter, accelerating from a revised 0.5% in the second quarter and above the forecast for growth of 1.0%.

“It seems that all of that stimulus is finally beginning to take effect, with a broad beat from growth, retail sales, industrial production and unemployment,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index in Brisbane.

The economy faltered in the second quarter after a brief post-COVID recovery, dragged by a property downturn and huge debt due to a decades-long infrastructure binge.

Beijing has in recent weeks unveiled a raft of measures, including more public works spending, interest rate cuts, property easing and efforts to shore up the private sector.

The recovery momentum suggests the government’s full year 2023 growth target of around 5.0% is likely to be achieved.

“The improvement in Q3 economic data makes it less likely for the government to launch stimulus in Q4, as the growth target of 5% is set to be achieved,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

“The focus of the government and the market will shift to the growth outlook for next year. The key issue is what growth target the government will set and how much fiscal easing will take place.”

Industrial output in September grew a stronger than expected 4.5% from a year earlier, but the pace was unchanged from August, according to the data. Analysts had expected a 4.3% increase.

Growth of retail sales, a gauge of consumption, also beat expectations, rising 5.5% last month, and accelerating from a 4.6% increase in August. Analysts had expected retail sales to expand 4.9%.

Fixed asset investment grew 3.1% in the first nine months of 2023 from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.2% rise. It expanded 3.2% in the January-August period.

Property investment in the first nine months of 2023 fell by 9.1% from a year earlier, after slumping 8.8% in January-August, the data showed. – Reuters

Fiji and Australia boost cyber security cooperation

October 18, 2023 | 11:47 am

SYDNEY – Fiji and Australia will cooperate on cyber security, with Australia also boosting aid to its Pacific Islands neighbor under an enhanced partnership, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after meeting his Fijian counterpart on Wednesday.

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, on his first three-day official visit to Australia since becoming leader in December, said the relationship with Australia was warm.

Under Rabuka’s government, Fiji has put a decade-old policing agreement with China on hold, and sought to increase defence ties with Australia.

“We are more comfortable dealing with traditional friends. We have similar systems of government, our democracies are the same brand of democracy,” Mr. Rabuka told reporters in Canberra.

Fiji wanted the Pacific to be a “zone of peace”, he added.

In a speech on Tuesday evening to the Lowy Institute, Mr. Rabuka noted rivalry between the United States and China was intensifying, and the Pacific Islands countries, which span more than 30 million square kilometers (11.5 million square miles) of ocean, had a duty to carry the banner of peace.

“Pacific unity is central to the relationship in our region and Fiji plays a critical leadership role,” said Mr. Albanese.

Mr. Albanese said Australia had agreed to provide more budget support to Fiji “to help economic recovery and to boost growth”, and would sell it 14 Bushmaster protected vehicles to support the Fiji military’s peacekeeping operations around the world.

Fiji will also be included in a pilot of streamlined visa processing to make it easier for Fijians to travel to Australia. – Reuters

Hundreds said killed in Gaza hospital blast, protests erupt

October 18, 2023 | 11:43 am

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA — A view shows houses and buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City, Oct. 10, 2023. — REUTERS

GAZA – A Gaza health ministry spokesman said hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other and that ignited protests in the West Bank and around the Middle East.

Health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said an Israeli air strike caused the blast while Israel’s military attributed it to a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

The health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said early on Wednesday that hundreds were killed and rescue workers were still removing bodies from the rubble. In the first hours after the blast, a Gaza civil defence chief said 300 people were killed, while health ministry sources put the figure at 500.

Reuters could not independently verify who was responsible for the blast or how many people were killed.

Before Tuesday’s blast, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel’s 11-day bombardment that began after a Hamas Oct. 7 rampage on southern Israeli communities in which 1,300 people were killed and around 200 were taken into Gaza as hostages.

Gaza, a 45 km-long (25-mile) enclave home to 2.3 million people, has been ruled since 2006 by Hamas, an Islamist group that is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

The blast took place on the eve of a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to Israel to show support for the country in its war with Hamas and to hear how Israel plans to minimize civilian casualties. One U.S. aim is to keep the conflict from spreading.

Regardless of who is found responsible for the explosion, which Hamas said had killed patients and others left homeless by Israeli bombardment, it will complicate efforts to contain the crisis.

In one sign of this, Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, cancelled a summit his country was to host in Amman with Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders.

In another, Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah who were throwing rocks and chanting against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as popular anger boiled.

The blast drew condemnation across the Arab world, and protests were staged at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.

Television footage showed protests in Yemen’s southwestern city of Taz, as well as in the Moroccan and Iraqi capitals.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group denounced what it said was Israel’s deadly attack on the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza, run by the Anglican church, and called for “a day of unprecedented anger” against Israel and Biden’s visit.

CLAIMS AND COUNTER CLAIMS

There were competing claims and denials from Israeli and Palestinian officials over who was responsible.

Abbas said that targeting the hospital was a “hideous war massacre,” adding that “Israel has crossed all red lines.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Palestinian militants for the explosion.

“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF,” he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.”

Briefing reporters early on Wednesday, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari cast doubt on the Palestinian death count, asserted that there was no direct hit on the hospital, and said Israel had intelligence proving its claim that Gaza militants were responsible.

The IDF blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad which, like Hamas, is viewed by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.

“The IDF did not strike the hospital in Gaza,” Hagari said in a video statement. “The hospital was hit as a result of a failed rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.”

Another IDF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told CNN Israel had intercepted conversations among militants showing “they understand that it was a rocket that misfired.”

He said the Israeli government would share its intelligence with Biden and would make the intercepts public.

Speaking earlier, Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, denied his group was responsible.

“This is a lie and fabrication, it is completely incorrect. The occupation is trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians,” he told Reuters.

During the last Israeli-Hamas conflict in 2021, Israel said Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups fired about 4,360 rockets from Gaza of which around 680 fell short of Israel and into the Gaza Strip.

Clashes with Palestinian security forces broke out in a number of other cities in the West Bank, which is ruled by Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, late on Tuesday, witnesses said.

After Hamas officials initially blamed Tuesday’s hospital blast on an Israeli air strike, Arab countries, Iran and Turkey swiftly condemned it. – Reuters