Israel seizes Gaza's entire border with Egypt, presses with raids into Rafah

Israel seizes Gaza's entire border with Egypt, presses with raids into Rafah

CAIRO, May 29 (Reuters) - Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country's military said on Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory's entire land border.

Israel also continued deadly raids on Rafah in southern Gaza despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end attacks on the city, where half of Gaza's 2.3 million people had previously taken refuge.

In a televised briefing, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had gained "operational" control over the "Philadelphi Corridor", using the Israeli military's code name for the 14 km-long (9 mile) corridor along the Gaza Strip's only border with Egypt.

"The Philadelphi Corridor served as an oxygen line for Hamas, which it regularly used to smuggle weapons into the area of the Gaza Strip," Hagari said. Hamas is the armed Palestinian group that governs the blockaded territory.

Hagari did not spell out what "operational" control referred to but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli "boots on the ground" along parts of the corridor.

The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the Gaza Strip's only land border that Israel had not controlled directly.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel sent tanks on raids into Rafah. They had moved into the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday despite an order from the top United Nations court to immediately halt the assault on the city.

The World Court said Israel had not explained how it would keep evacuees from Rafah safe and provide food, water and medicine. Its ruling also called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7.

Rafah residents said Israeli tanks had pushed into Tel Al-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura in the centre before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as they have in other offensives.

"We received distress calls from residents in Tel Al-Sultan where drones targeted displaced citizens as they moved from areas where they were staying toward the safe areas," the deputy director of ambulance and emergency services in Rafah, Haitham al Hams, said.

Palestinian health officials said 19 civilians had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling across Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas militants of hiding among civilians, something Gaza's ruling Islamist group denies.

Health Minister Majed Abu Raman urged Washington to pressure Israel to open the Rafah crossing to aid, saying there was no indication that Israeli authorities would do so soon and that patients in besieged Gaza were dying for lack of treatment.

Fighting in Gaza will continue throughout 2024 at least, Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said, signalling Israel was not ready to end the war as Hamas has demanded as part of a deal to exchange its hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

"The fighting in Rafah is not a pointless war," Hanegbi said, reiterating that Israel aimed to end Hamas rule in Gaza and stop it and its allies attacking Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel needed to craft a post-war plan for Gaza or risk lawlessness, chaos and a Hamas comeback in the enclave.

The U.S., Israel's closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday while saying it did not believe such an operation was under way.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's Gaza offensive, the enclave's health ministry said.

Israel launched its war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

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CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS STRUGGLE ON

There was no word on Wednesday on developments in the ceasefire and hostage release talks. Hamas has said talks are pointless unless Israel ends its offensive on Rafah.

The armed wing of Hamas and that of allies Islamic Jihad said they confronted invading forces in Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs and blew up explosive devices they had planted, resulting in numerous successful hits.

The Israeli military said three Israeli soldiers were killed and three badly wounded. Public broadcaster Kan radio said an explosive device had been set off in a Rafah building.

Palestinian health officials said several people were wounded by Israeli fire and stores of aid were set ablaze in eastern Rafah, where residents said Israeli bombardment had destroyed many homes in an area Israel has ordered evacuated.

Around a million Palestinians who had taken shelter in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip have now fled after Israeli orders to evacuate, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA reported on Tuesday.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had evacuated its medical teams from its field hospital in the Al-Mawasi area, a designated civilian evacuation zone, because of continued bombardments.

PRCS said two of its staff were killed when an ambulance was struck while on a mission to rescue people in Rafah. In another Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, medics said five other Palestinians were killed.

In the nearby city of Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed three people overnight, including Salama Baraka, a former senior Hamas police officer, medics and Hamas media said. Another killed four people, including two children, medics said.

In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shelled Gaza City neighbourhoods and moved deeper into Jabalia, where residents said large residential districts were destroyed.

Malnutrition has become widespread in Gaza as aid deliveries have slowed to a trickle. The U.N., which has warned of famine, said on Wednesday the amount of humanitarian aid entering the enclave has dropped by two-thirds since Israel began its assault on the Rafah region this month.⍐

வெசாக்: 'தமிழ்` முதலாளியும், `சிங்கள`ப் பிக்குவும்.

Lyca charity celebrates Vesak in Batticaloa, with a helping hand

The philanthropic arm of telecoms giant Lyca celebrated the Buddhist festival of Vesak in Batticaloa last week, with extremist Buddhist monk Ampitiye Sumanarathana seen distributing ice creams for the charity.

Gnanam, the charity wing of Tamil-owned Lyca, opened the stall to celebrate the Buddhist festival,  where food is shared throughout the day. The festival comes just weeks after Tamils were arrested for distributing Mullivaikkal kanji, a rice porridge that is usually distributed to commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.

Sri Lankan officials however were seen partaking in festivities, alongside racist Buddhist monk Ampitiye Sumanarathana The monk, notorious for his racist outbursts and assaults, was seen speaking to Gnanam officials and helping distribute free food to residents in the area. 

Sumanarathana is known for his anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim remarks.

Last year, he threatened that "every single Tamil person will be cut into pieces!" in an outburst that was caught on camera. "They will all be killed! All the Tamils in the south will be cut into pieces and butchered! The Sinhalese will massacre them."

In 2016, the monk threatened to kill a Tamil government official in Batticaloa, subjecting him to verbal slander when he described him as a “Tamil dog” and a “bloody tiger”, while a Sri Lankan police officer watched. Tamils pursued a demonstration in Batticaloa calling for his arrest.

Lyca, meanwhile, has continued to pursue several business interests on the island.

Xi meets Sisi as China, Arab countries to hold conference

 

Flags hang in Tian'anmen Square on May 29, 2024 to welcome Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Tunisia's President Kais Saied, and United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on their state visit to China. Photo: VCG

Yang Sheng

Yang Sheng is a 

chief reporter 

at the Global Times 

covering Chinese 

politics, diplomacy 

and military.

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Beijing on Wednesday. Multiple top leaders from Arab countries are expected to pay state visits to China and attend the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which will be held on May 30. Experts said that China and Arab countries will boost cooperation at the conference, and discuss the ongoing crisis in Gaza as Israel bombed Rafah, causing serious civilian casualties. 

During the meeting, Xi noted that, 68 years ago, Egypt was the first Arab and African state to establish diplomatic relations with China. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, he said, adding that over the past decade, the two heads of state have worked together to guide the vigorous development of bilateral relations.

China-Egypt relations have become a vivid illustration of China's solidarity, coordination, and mutually-beneficial win-win cooperation with Arab, African, Islamic and developing countries, Xi said, adding that under the new circumstances, building a more enriched and dynamic China-Egypt relationship meets the common expectations of the two peoples. 

Xi said that China is ready to work with Egypt to deepen mutual trust, advance cooperation, build a China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era, and contribute to regional and world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Xi said that the current round of conflict has caused massive losses of innocent Palestinian civilians, while the humanitarian situation in Gaza is extremely dire. The most urgent task is an immediate cease-fire and cessation of conflict to prevent escalating impacts on regional peace and stability, and prevent an even graver humanitarian crisis. The "two-state solution" remains the fundamental path to resolving the Palestinian issue. China firmly supports Palestine's bid to become a full member state of the United Nations, Xi said. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that apart from the Egyptian president, Arab leaders including Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Tunisia's President Kais Saied, and the UAE' President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will pay state visits to China. The ministry also announced that President Xi will attend the opening ceremony of the conference with the four Arab heads of state and deliver a keynote speech.

Palestine issue

"These four countries are either actively involved in pushing for a cease-fire in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or are somewhat involved in the crisis. The participation of the leaders of these four countries at the Beijing-held conference, on one hand, reflects the importance that these countries attach to promoting cooperation with China. On the other hand, this shows that the leaders intend to take this opportunity to discuss a political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli issue with China," said Li Xinggang, a research fellow at the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim at Zhejiang International Studies University.

China and Arab States could form a joint statement on urging Israel to stop the attack on Rafah and to call for a fundamental settlement of the issue of Palestine, Li said.

The common stance to support the just cause of the Palestinian people shared by China and Arab countries has always been a significant element in China-Arab cooperation, experts said. 

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li on Tuesday met Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN Riyad Mansour, who is in Beijing to attend the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, according to the  Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Deng said at the meeting that China has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights for their nation, and stands ready to work with Palestine to take this ministerial meeting as an opportunity to push for greater development of the China-Palestine strategic partnership and elevate China-Arab cooperation to a new level.

China is deeply saddened by the prolonged Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The pressing task now is to effectively implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and immediately realize an unconditional and lasting cease-fire and ensure humanitarian relief, Deng said.

China supports Palestine in becoming a full member state of the UN and stands ready to continue to work with the international community for an early, comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-State solution, Deng noted.

Mansour appreciated China's efforts to support the just cause of Palestine, and said that the ministerial conference will set a milestone for China-Arab friendly cooperation. He expects the conference will conclude with fruitful achievements.

Israel has conducted at least two strikes against Rafah city in the Gaza Strip recently and caused serious casualties on local civilians, according to Palestinian security and medical sources. 

Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that if China and the Arab countries can form a joint statement on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the conference, it will greatly help the international community to reach a clear and firm consensus. This in turn will allow other nations to put more pressure on Israel to stop the attack in Gaza. 

Mao Ning, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at the routine press conference on Wednesday that "China expresses grave concern over Israel's military operations against Rafah and strongly calls on Israel to heed the overwhelming call of the international community and stop attacking Rafah." 

"As the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to drag on, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is extremely grave. We call on all parties to immediately cease fire and stop fighting and spare no effort to avoid the casualties of innocent civilians and prevent an even more serious humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip," Mao noted.

China-Arab cooperation

Aside from hot-spot issues, China-Arab cooperation is always a focus of the forum. Chinese analysts said that China and Arab countries will deepen cooperation in fields like traditional energies and will explore cooperation in other fields like solar power, wind energy, civil nuclear power, finance and infrastructure.  

Cooperation between China and Arab countries is likely to also focus on high-tech fields like artificial intelligence and electric vehicles. "If there are any breakthroughs we can expect they might be related to the aerospace industry and space cooperation," said Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University. 

"In addition, there are also many achievements in the field of cultural exchanges. At present, many people in Arab countries are studying Chinese, and they love to watch Chinese films and TV series, so cooperation in these fields could further boost ties between the peoples," Niu noted.

Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, said that "there are a few points where we can expect new growth, such as the digital economy and bio-pharmacy." 

China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries for years. The volume of trade between the two sides reached $398 billion in 2023, compared to $36.7 billion in 2004, according to data released by China's Foreign Ministry.

In December 2022 at the first China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, Chinese President Xi called for fostering a closer China-Arab community with a shared future.

"If we compare Arab-Chinese relations in 2004 and those of 20 years later, we find there is a vast difference. Of course, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) contributed to this growth," said Magdy Amer, former Egyptian ambassador to China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Amer, also a former deputy foreign minister of Egypt, said that "The establishment of the forum in 2004 and then the launch of the BRI in 2013 were the two key factors that together promoted Arab-Chinese relations to a completely different level."⍐

By 

Yang Sheng

 and 

Liu Xin 

 May 29, 2024 Global Times

US Ambassador discusses upcoming elections with EC officials

 US Ambassador discusses upcoming elections with EC officials

Colombo, May 29 - US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, held a meeting with R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, Chairman of the Election Commission to discuss the forthcoming elections in Sri Lanka. 

During the meeting, Ambassador Chung raised concerns regarding the conduct of the elections and sought clarity on several issues.

Following the discussion, Ambassador Chung shared on X (formerly Twitter) that the dialogue focused on the significance of free and fair elections as a cornerstone of democratic governance. She emphasized the shared commitment to upholding the integrity of the electoral process.

Chairman Rathnayake assured Ambassador Chung that the elections will be conducted in accordance with the constitutional powers vested in the Election Commission. He reiterated the Commission's dedication to ensuring a transparent and impartial election process.

29 May 2024  Daily Mirror lk

SL asked to stop labour law reform process immediately

SL asked to stop labour 

law reform process 

immediately

Amnesty International, along with other organisations, have urgently called on the Sri Lankan government to halt the current proposals for a new Labour Law and to ensure that reforms to the labour laws are only taken after due consultation with workers and their representatives.

“We express our serious concerns over the proposed reforms which, as they stand, would weaken the rights and protection of workers by removing international minimum standards and rights,” a rights group said.

ஜூன் 2024 முதல் வாரத்தில் லண்டனில் நடைபெறவுள்ள இலங்கையில் தைத்த ஆடைகளின் கண்காட்சி

In an open letter to the Government and Parliament of Sri Lanka on the imminent labour law reforms, the coalition has raised significant concerns that the proposed reforms, if implemented without proper consultation, would weaken workers’ rights and protections by eliminating international minimum standards and rights.

Amnesty International, Clean Clothes Campaign and Human Rights Watch express serious concerns about imminent and sweeping changes to Sri Lankan labour laws.

“We fear for the future of Sri Lanka’s garment industry—not just for workers but also how the proposed reforms would negatively impact brands’, human rights risk assessments and responsible sourcing— if these changes are pushed through.”

They urge the government to immediately halt the current reform process and to ensure that additional new steps towards any necessary reforms to the labour laws are only taken in due consultation with workers and their representatives.

“The concerns expressed in this letter reflect and follow those repeatedly expressed through protests and raised by a broad coalition of unions and civil society organisations in Sri Lanka,” the letter said.

The proposed draft Act contains many articles weakening the rights and protection of workers by removing international minimum standards and rights, it warned, adding, the draft Act contains clauses which threaten Sri Lanka’s compliance with international law, including ILO conventions No. 87, 98, 144, and 190.

“While there has been no clarity around the proposed timetable for discussion and passage of the draft Act, we understand that the proposed unified labour code could be placed for voting in the Parliament soon.”

The Sri Lankan garment industry has tried to set itself apart from other garment producing countries with the slogan “Garments without Guilt”.

“The imminent reforms threaten to make Sri Lanka’s garment factories synonymous with the worst forms of sweatshop labour instead,” the organisations warned.

“We, therefore, urge you to immediately halt the existing labour reform process and start an alternative process, which is transparent, consensus-based, includes all tripartite stakeholders, and meets the established Sri Lankan democratic processes on consultation, translation, and publication so all workers and their representatives to enable their effective participation, to work towards a unified labour code that respects international labour rights standards”⍐.

News The Island  2024/05/29-Inserts ENB