AFP Asia Business

Israel expands campaign in Gaza ahead of Netanyahu’s US visit

Israel’s military said Tuesday that it had expanded its operations in Gaza, where residents reported fierce gunfire and shelling days ahead of a planned trip to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The intensified operations came after days of mounting calls for a ceasefire, with US President Donald Trump — whom Netanyahu is slated to meet with next week — among those urging Israel to strike a new deal to halt the war and bring home the hostages still held in Gaza.Israel’s campaign to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas has continued unabated, however, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting Israeli forces killed 17 people on Tuesday.In response to reports of deadly strikes in the north and south of the territory, the Israeli army told AFP it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities”.Separately, it said Tuesday morning that in recent days it had “expanded its operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip, eliminating dozens of terrorists, and dismantling hundreds of terror infrastructure sites both above and below ground”.Raafat Halles, 39, from the Shujaiya district of Gaza City district, said “air strikes and shelling have intensified over the past week”, and tanks have been advancing.”I believe that every time negotiations or a potential ceasefire are mentioned, the army escalates crimes and massacres on the ground,” he said. “I don’t know why.”Amer Daloul, a 44-year-old resident of Gaza City, also reported fiercer clashes between Israeli forces and militants in recent days, telling AFP that he and his family were forced to flee the tent they were living in at dawn on Tuesday “due to heavy and random gunfire and shelling”.In the southern city of Rafah, resident Mohammed Abdel Aal, 41, said “tanks are present” in most parts of town.- Aid seekers killed -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that eight people were killed near aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza Tuesday, in the latest in a long-running spate of deadly attacks on those seeking food.One person was killed and 50 wounded when tanks and drones opened fire as crowds were waiting to collect aid near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the middle of the territory, Bassal said.The civil defence said another six people were killed nearby while trying to reach the same aid centre.Asked for comment, the Israeli military told AFP its forces “fired warning shots to distance suspects who approached the troops”, adding it was not aware of any injuries but would review the incident.At least one more person was killed near another aid centre in Rafah, the civil defence said.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.A group of 169 aid organisations called Monday for an end to Gaza’s “deadly” new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme, which they said forced starving civilians to “trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race” for food.They urged a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during an impasse in truce talks with Hamas.The new scheme’s administrator, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has distanced itself from reports of aid seekers being killed near its centres.The Israeli army said it had also opened a review into a strike on a seafront Gaza cafe on Monday that it said had targeted militants.The civil defence agency reported that the attack killed 24 people.Maher Al-Baqa, 40, the brother of the owner of the cafe, told AFP that several of his relatives including two nephews were killed in the strike.”It’s one of the most well-known cafes on the Gaza coast, frequented by educated youth, journalists, artists, doctors, engineers and hardworking people,” he said.”They used to feel free and safe there — it was like a second home to them.”The military maintained it had taken steps “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians using aerial surveillance”.- PM’s US visit -Netanyahu announced he would visit Trump and senior US security officials next week, after previously saying Israel’s campaign against Iran had created “opportunities”, including for freeing hostages held in Gaza.Israel’s declaration of victory in the recent 12-day war has raised pressure on it to put a similar end to more than 20 months of devastating fighting in Gaza.”Taking advantage of the success is no less important than achieving the success,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP the group is “ready to agree to any proposal if it will lead to an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of occupation forces”.”So far, there has been no breakthrough.”

Algeria court upholds writer Sansal’s five-year jail term

An Algerian court on Tuesday upheld a five-year prison sentence against dual-national author Boualem Sansal, whose case has strained ties with France.Sansal, 80, was first sentenced to five years behind bars on March 27 on charges related to undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet.The appeals court confirmed the sentence after prosecutors sought to double his jail term, an AFP journalist reported from the hearing.Sansal was informed he has eight days to file a further appeal before Algeria’s supreme court.His newly appointed French lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, said he would consult with his client before deciding whether to pursue another legal challenge.Following the verdict, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said he hoped Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbone would grant Sansal a pardon.”Now that the sentence has been handed down, we can imagine pardon measures, particularly in view of our compatriot’s health, will be taken,” said Bayrou, calling the situation “unacceptable”.The French foreign ministry meanwhile condemned the decision to uphold his sentence, calling it “incomprehensible and unjustified”.French President Emmanuel Macron has also urged Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” to the author.Some of Sansal’s relatives have voiced hope he could be pardoned on Saturday, the 63rd anniversary of Algeria’s independence.A prize-winning figure in North African modern francophone literature, Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.The case against him arose after he told the far-right outlet Frontieres that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period from 1830 to 1962 — a claim Algeria views as a challenge to its sovereignty and that aligns with longstanding Moroccan territorial assertions.Sansal was detained in November 2024 upon arrival at Algiers airport. On March 27, a court in Dar El Beida sentenced him to a five-year prison term and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).Appearing in court without legal counsel on June 24, Sansal said the case against him “makes no sense” as “the Algerian constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience”.He defended his remarks by citing the African Union’s post-independence declaration that colonial borders should remain inviolable.When questioned about his writings, Sansal asked: “Are we holding a trial over literature? Where are we headed?”- Diplomatic rift -Sansal’s family has expressed fears prison could jeopardise his health, noting he is receiving treatment for prostate cancer.Authorities in the North African country maintain that due process is being respected.Commenting on his health on Tuesday, Cornut-Gentille said he saw Sansal a day earlier and that “he is fine”.The writer’s conviction further strained already tense France-Algeria relations, which have been complicated by issues such as migration and Macron’s recent recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.Last month, the French National Assembly passed a resolution calling for Sansal’s immediate release and linking future EU-Algeria cooperation to respect for human rights.While his case has become a cause celebre in France, among Algerians his past support for Israel has made him unpopular with a large segment of the population who back the Palestinian cause.Sansal had faced charges including “undermining national unity”, “insulting state institutions”, “harming the national economy”, and “possessing media and publications threatening the country’s security and stability”.His daughters, Nawel and Sabeha, told AFP in May they felt “a sense of total helplessness” over their father’s imprisonment “simply for expressing an opinion”.”Enough is enough. The Algerian authorities must now understand that France defends its citizens,” said the president of Sansal’s support committee, Noelle Lenoir, in an interview Tuesday.”We are outraged by the attitude of the Algerian government, which has nothing to gain — neither at the European level nor in its relations with France.”

Indian capital bans fuel for old cars in anti-pollution bid

India’s capital banned fuel sales to ageing vehicles on Tuesday as authorities try to tackle the sprawling megacity’s hazardous air pollution.The city is regularly ranked one of the most polluted capitals globally with acrid smog blanketing its skyline every winter.At the peak of the smog, levels of PM2.5 pollutants — dangerous cancer-causing microparticles small enough to …

Indian capital bans fuel for old cars in anti-pollution bid Read More »

Over 14 million people could die from US foreign aid cuts: study

More than 14 million of the world’s most vulnerable people, a third of them small children, could die by 2030 because of the Trump administration’s dismantling of US foreign aid, research projected on Tuesday.The study in the prestigious Lancet journal was published as world and business leaders gather for a United Nations conference in Spain this week hoping to bolster the reeling aid sector.The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided over 40 percent of global humanitarian funding until Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Two weeks later, Trump’s then-close advisor — and world’s richest man — Elon Musk boasted of having put the agency “through the woodchipper”.The funding cuts “risk abruptly halting — and even reversing — two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations”, warned study co-author Davide Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).”For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict,” he said in a statement.Looking back over data from 133 nations, the international team of researchers estimated that USAID funding had prevented 91.8 million deaths in developing countries between 2001 and 2021. That is more than the estimated number of deaths during World War II, history’s deadliest conflict.- HIV, malaria to rise -The researchers also used modelling to project how funding being slashed by 83 percent — the figure announced by the US government earlier this year — could affect death rates.The cuts could lead to more than 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030, the projections found.That number included over 4.5 million children under the age of five — or around 700,000 child deaths a year.For comparison, around 10 million soldiers are estimated to have been killed during World War I. Programmes supported by USAID were linked to a 15-percent decrease in deaths from all causes, the researchers determined. For children under five, the drop in deaths was twice as steep, at 32 percent.USAID funding was found to be particularly effective at staving off preventable deaths from disease. There were 65 percent fewer deaths from HIV/AIDS in countries receiving a high level of support compared to those with little or no USAID funding, the study found. Deaths from malaria and neglected tropical diseases were similarly cut in half. Study co-author Francisco Saute of Mozambique’s Manhica Health Research Centre said he had seen on the ground how USAID helped fight diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. “Cutting this funding now not only puts lives at risk — it also undermines critical infrastructure that has taken decades to build,” he stressed.A recently updated tracker run by disease modeller Brooke Nichols at Boston University estimates that nearly 108,000 adults and more than 224,000 children have already died as a result of the US aid cuts. That works out to 88 deaths every hour, according to the tracker.- ‘Time to scale up’ -After USAID was gutted, several other major donors, including France, Germany and the UK, followed suit in announcing plans to slash their foreign aid budgets. These aid reductions, particularly in the European Union, could lead to “even more additional deaths in the coming years,” study co-author Caterina Monti of ISGlobal said.But the grim projections are based on the current amount of pledged aid, so could rapidly come down if the situation changes, the researchers emphasised.Dozens of world leaders are meeting in the Spanish city of Seville this week for the biggest aid conference in a decade. The United States, however, will not attend.”Now is the time to scale up, not scale back,” Rasella said.Before its funding was slashed, USAID represented 0.3 percent of all US federal spending.”US citizens contribute about 17 cents per day to USAID, around $64 per year,” said study co-author James Macinko of the University of California, Los Angeles.”I think most people would support continued USAID funding if they knew just how effective such a small contribution can be to saving millions of lives.”