Palestinians rallied in Gaza on Tuesday for the funerals of scores of people killed by Israeli troops a day earlier, while on the Gaza-Israel border, Israeli forces took up positions to deal with the expected final day of a Palestinian protest campaign.

Monday’s violence on the border, which took place as the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem, was the bloodiest for Palestinians since the 2014 Gaza conflict.

The death toll rose to 60 overnight after an eight-month-old baby died from tear gas that her family said she inhaled at a protest camp on Monday. More than 2,200 Palestinians were also injured by gunfire or tear gas.

Palestinian leaders have called Monday’s events a massacre, and the Israeli tactic of using live fire against the protesters has drawn worldwide concern and condemnation.

Israel has said it is acting in self-defence to defend its borders and communities. Its main ally the United States has backed that stance, with both saying that Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the coastal enclave, instigated the violence.

There were fears of further bloodshed on Tuesday as Palestinians planned a further protest to mark the “Nakba”, or “Catastrophe”.

That is the day Palestinians lament the creation of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in violence culminating in war between the newly created Jewish state and its Arab neighbours in 1948.

A six-week campaign of border protests dubbed “The Great March of Return” has revived calls for refugees to have the right of return to their former lands, which now lie inside Israel.

It was unclear whether large crowds would turn up at the border on Tuesday for the climax to the campaign after the heavy fatalities suffered on Monday.

Palestinian medical officials say that 104 Gazans have now died since the start of the protests on March 30. No Israeli casualties have been reported.

Israeli troops deployed along the border again on Tuesday. The area was relatively quiet early in the day, with many Gazans at the funerals. Protesters are expected to go to the border later.

In Geneva, the UN human rights office condemned what it called the “appalling deadly violence” by Israeli forces and said it was extremely worried about what might happen later.

UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said Israel had a right to defend its borders according to international law, but lethal force must only be used a last resort, and was not justified by Palestinians approaching the Gaza fence.

More than 2 million people are crammed into the narrow Gaza Strip, which is blockaded by Egypt and Israel and suffering a humanitarian crisis.
YOUNG VICTIM

At the Gaza hospital where the body of eight-month-old Laila al-Ghandour was being prepared for burial, her grandmother said the child was at one of the tented protest encampments that have been set up a few hundred yards inside the border.

“We were at the tent camp east of Gaza when the Israelis fired lots of tear gas,” Heyam Omar said.

“Suddenly my son cried at me that Lolo was weeping and screaming. I took her further away. When we got back home, the baby stopped crying and I thought she was asleep. I took her to the children’s hospital and the doctor told me she was martyred (dead).”

Most of the protesters stay around the tent camps, but groups of youths have ventured closer to the no-go zone along the fence, risking live fire from Israeli troops to roll burning tyres and throw stones.

Some have flown kites carrying containers of petrol that have spread fires on the Israeli side.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered a general strike across the Palestinian Territories on Tuesday and three days of national mourning.

Monday’s protests were fired by the opening ceremony for the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem following its relocation from Tel Aviv. The move fulfilled a pledge by US President Donald Trump, who in December recognised the contested city as the Israeli capital.

Palestinians envision East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel regards all of Jerusalem, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that is not recognised internationally, as its “eternal and indivisible capital”.

Most countries say the status of Jerusalem – a sacred city to Jews, Muslims and Christians – should be determined in a final peace settlement and that moving their embassies now would prejudge any such deal.

Netanyhau praised Trump’s decisions but Palestinians have said the United States can no longer serve as an honest broker in any peace process. Talks aimed a finding a two-state solution to the conflict have been frozen since 2014.

Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the Gaza violence. Hamas denied instigating it but the White House-backed Netanyahu.

“The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas. Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response,” White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters.

Trump, in a recorded message on Monday, said he remained committed to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He was represented at the embassy ceremony by his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, US envoy to the Middle East.

The Trump administration says it has nearly completed a new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan but is undecided on how and when to roll it out.

The United States on Monday blocked a Kuwait-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have expressed “outrage and sorrow at the killing of Palestinian civilians” and called for an independent investigation, UN diplomats said.

North Korea has started to dismantle its nuclear test site, which it had pledged to close down after the inter-Korean summit on April 27, according to media reports on Tuesday.

“Commercial satellite imagery from May 7 provided the first definitive evidence that dismantlement of the test site was already well underway,” Efe news agency reported citing the 38 North website report that published and analysed satellite images of the site.

Pyongyang had announced it would publicly dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear facility between May 23 and 25 by destroying the tunnels in the complex with explosions, blocking entrances and removing observation areas, research centres, and security structures.

According to the report, many key operational support buildings have been razed since their last analysis.

Some of the rails and mining carts used for excavation of the tunnels in the complex have also been dismantled and other small buildings have been removed.

During the summit, Pyongyang had pledged to work for a complete denuclearisation of the peninsula, having promised to stop its weapons tests earlier.

The commitments came ahead of a summit to be held between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump to discuss a possible end to Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

North Korea has carried out six underground nuclear tests–including the last and most powerful one in September 2017–at the Punggye-ri site.

A number of analysts have doubted North Korea’s commitment to the denuclearisation, citing the example of 2008, when Pyongyang publicly dismantled parts of its uranium reprocessing plant but kept developing its nuclear programme.

A petition was submitted in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday to register a treason case against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif following his controversial remarks on 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The petition, filed by political party Pakistan Awaami Tehreek’s (PAT) Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, stated that Sharif’s statement was against national security and state institutions. “Nawaz Sharif’s statement is tantamount to treason. Instructions should be given to register a treason case against him,” it said.

Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was also mentioned as a respondent in the petition apart from Sharif, the Express Tribune reported.

The former Prime Minister during an interview to Dawn on May 12 had admitted that “militant organisations were active in Pakistan” and “such terror strikes (26/11) could have been prevented”. At least 166 Indians and foreigners were killed in the bloodbath.

“Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me,” he had said, in a clear reference to the Mumbai killings blamed on 10 Pakistani terrorists. One of them was caught and hanged.

“We have isolated ourselves. Despite sacrifices, our narrative is not being accepted. Afghanistan’s narrative is being accepted, but ours is not. We must look into it,” he added.

Later, Sharif faced a volley of criticism for his remarks. Opposition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), launched a broadside against him, calling him a “security threat”.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the former Interior Minister, did not endorse Sharif’s statement. He held India responsible for the delay in the trial of the Mumbai attack suspects.

Following this, a National Security Committee was also held to discuss Sharif’s “misleading” statement.

The top brass of military leadership, including Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar attended the meeting, held at the Prime Minister House.

Over 8,000 people were affected as heavy rains caused flash floods in Sri Lanka’s Galle and Kalutara districts, the Disaster Management Centre said on Monday.

Several people were evacuated from their homes due to the heavy downpour on Sunday but as the rains ceased by Monday morning, the situation was normalising, Disaster Management Centre’s spokesperson Pradeep Kodippilli was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

He said no casualties or damages were reported but those living in low areas were urged to be vigilant. More rains were expected on Monday night.

Sri Lanka’s Meteorological Department said showers or thundershowers would occur over most provinces of the island country by Monday evening.

Heavy falls was also expected at some places, particularly in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva and Western provinces and in Polonnaruwa and Vauniya districts.

The monsoons, which hit Sri Lanka in May 2017, caused heavy flooding and landslides in several districts resulting in over 200 deaths while thousands were displaced.

Seven people were found dead on Friday at a rural property in Western Australia (WA), police said.

The bodies of four children and three adults were discovered in the town of Osmington, 280km south of state capital Perth, reports the BBC.

The cause of death is not ascertained but the police have confirmed that two firearms were found at the scene.

“The bodies of two adults were located outside (and) five bodies were located inside a building on the rural property,” said WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson.

If confirmed to be a mass shooting, it would be Australia’s worst since a massacre in Tasmania claimed the lives of 35 people in 1996.

Dawson said the police would launch a large-scale investigation, and were contacting relatives of the victims.

Osmington is a sparsely populated town about 20km from Margaret River, a popular tourism area.

US President Donald Trump will meet North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. The two leaders will try to make it a very special moment for World Peace.

In a tweet Trump said, the highly anticipated meeting will discuss the denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

His tweet came hours after three American nationals of South Korean-origin returned home after North Korea released them.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

Israeli air strikes against what it says were Iranian targets in Syria draw global calls to avoid further escalation.
The United Nations, Russia, France, Germany and Britain have urged Israel and Iran to avoid any further escalation after Israel carried out air raids against what it said were Iranian targets in Syria.

Israel said the bombardment on Thursday was in retaliation for Iranian rocket fire on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights. There were no Israeli casualties.

Iran made no comment about the rocket fire.

The raids come after weeks of rising tensions and followed US President Donald Trump’s decision on Tuesday to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a move Israel had long advocated.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an “immediate halt to all hostile acts” in a statement.

He urged the Security Council to remain actively aware of the situation and “shoulder its responsibilities” under the UN Charter.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was also quick to call for restraint. He said the Israeli raids were “very alarming development” and called on both Israel and Iran to avoid provoking each other.

All issues “should be solved through dialogue”, he added.

Both Russia and Iran have intervened in war-torn Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in Syria.

In recent years, it has been suspected of carrying out air strikes on installations manned by Syrian, Iranian, and allied Lebanese fighters across Syria.

What are the ramifications of US exiting Iran nuclear deal?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Iran had “crossed a red line” and the resulting bombardment “was a consequence”.

‘Provocative attack’
Iran does not want “new tensions” in the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.

“Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to strengthen security and stability,” Rouhani told Merkel in a telephone call, according to a statement on the website of Iran’s presidency.

The White House also condemned Iran’s “provocative attack” in a statement, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying Iran has deployed into Syria “offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel”.

That deployment “is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East”, she said.

Germany and Britain joined the US in denouncing the rocket fire they also said came from Iran, while France reiterated its “unwavering support for Israel’s security”.

Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, following a meeting in Aachen, Germany on Thursday, called for “level-headedness and de-escalation in the region”.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Iran must refrain from “further actions that will only lead to increased instability”, and called on Russia to press the Syrian government to work for a broader political statement.

Meanwhile, in a rare move for an Arab country, Bahrain backed Israel’s right to “defend itself” after the air raids.

Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa wrote on Twitter that so long as Iran uses its forces and missiles to try and destabilise the region, “it is the right of any country in the region, including Israel, to defend itself by destroying sources of danger.”

Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the two countries, whose foreign policies are often in lockstep, view Iran as the chief threat to the region.

Spectre of major confrontation
Outside observers see a dangerous game of brinkmanship.

“The rules of the game are worked out by trial and error, by push and shove. The pushing and shoving has become more intense,” said Heiko Wimmen of the International Crisis Group. “We are getting closer to the brink.”

It was only a matter of time before Iran pushed back, said Wimmen.

“The point will come with these actions where the Iranians will say, ‘We have to push back forcefully, we have to establish deterrence against the Israelis if we want to stay in Syria,'” said Wimmen.

Israel, too, may feel emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“Israel has been chomping at the bit to take a big bite out of Iran’s forces in Syria,” said Nicholas Heras of the Center for a New American Security.

Netanyahu sees that decision as a “green light to go after Iran in Syria, the consequences be damned”, said Heras.

“The Israelis believe they are facing a nightmare scenario right now where Iran is on the march in Syria with the intention to start a war that will end Israel.”

Aljazeera

Earlier this month, Iraqi journalist Muntadher al-Zaidi – who shot to prominence in 2008 when he hurled a shoe at George W Bush and called the former US president “a dog” – announced his candidacy for the May 12 parliamentary elections.

“I want to lock up all the thieves who’ve robbed Iraq of its wealth,” he told Al Jazeera, explaining that he plans to pass a law that would see “corrupt politicians held to account”.

The nomination of Zaidi with the Sairoon Coalition – an alliance between the Sadirst Movement and the Iraqi Communist Party – was celebrated by his supporters. But it was not received with the same level of enthusiasm among the wider Iraqi public as his “farewell kiss [to Bush] from the Iraqi people” 10 years ago.

The Sairoon Coalition led by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is one of the five main Shia factions running in the election for a new parliament.

While many parties have taken the opportunity to emphasise a unified, cross-sectarian national identity in the run-up to the vote, Iraq remains plagued by divisions along sectarian and ethnic lines.

With a large number of Iraqi journalists contesting the upcoming elections, the first since the defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also known as ISIS), observers fear that the lines between independent journalism and politics in Iraq are becoming increasingly blurred.

According to Iraq’s High Electoral Commission, there has been a record number of journalists and media personalities entering the electoral fray.

“We don’t know the exact number for journalists running in the election, but they are definitely in the tens. The numbers are visibly larger than in previous votes, said Hazem Al-Radinee, a member of the high board of electoral commissioners.

The Israeli army said on Thursday it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria overnight, accusing Tehran of launching rocket and missile attack towards its forces in the occupied Golan Heights.

“The (Israeli military) has struck dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria,” Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told journalists.

He said they targeted intelligence, logistics, storage and vehicles as well as the origin of the rockets.

A Syrian radar installation was destroyed in the attack, Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying.

“This is the first time that Israel has directly accused Iran of attacking it from within Syrian territory since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011,” Al Jazeera correspondent Harry Fawcett said from Jerusalem.
It [Israeli military] also said that some of those attacking forces were met by Syrian anti-aircraft systems and that resulted in Syrian military targets being struck as well.

“The question is whether that will be a deterrent or whether it could invite further escalation from the other side now that these things are in train, accidental escalation towards further conflict is always a possibility.”

‘Destabilise the entire region’
Israel was accused of attacking an airbase near Homs province in April. In February, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet was shot down by the Syrian military while targeting what it called Iranian sites responsible for launching a drone into the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has carried out more than a dozen strikes inside Syria in the past one year.

The two countries are still technically at war, although the border remained largely quiet for decades until 2011, when the Syrian conflict broke out.

Israeli military spokesman Conricus said that the Russians were informed prior to the attack. It is one of the largest Israeli military operations in recent years and the biggest against Iranian targets.

Moscow and Tehran are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has presided over a civil war for the past seven years. Over half a million Syrians have died and nearly half of the prewar population displaced.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Beirut, said that the move has created concerns in neighboring Lebanon after Lebanese army said that the country’s airspace was violated by Israeli fighter jets.

“Israel has been saying in the past that the Syrian government is paving the way for Iran and Hezbollah [a Lebanese Shia militia] to maintain strong military presence in the [occupied] Golan Heights not far from the border with Israel.

Ahelbarra said that any confrontation between Israel and Iran could trigger a reaction from Hezbollah [that backs President Assad].

“If that happens, then you might end up with a situation where you have different frontlines, different battlefields happening at the same time, which could further destabilise the entire region.”

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has scored a historic victory in the country’s general elections.

When he takes power, 92-year old Mahathir will be the oldest prime minister in the world. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on Thursday (May 10).

The election commission said Mahathir’s opposition alliance has won 115 seats, over the threshold of 112 seats needed to form a government.

Mahathir defeated the governing Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which has been in power for more than 60 years. BN coalition won 79 seats with just a few left to count.

The victory capped a dramatic political comeback for Mahathir, who previously ruled the country for 22 years, and came out of retirement to take on Prime Minister Najib Razak after the leader became embroiled in a massive corruption scandal.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw