Author: Afazi

A grassroots charm offensive in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city had locals handing out treats to thousands of protesting out-of-towners. As thousands of protesters against the judicial overhaul prepared to rally in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak last week, Haim Uzan feared catastrophic violence. “On the one side you have a city of 250,000 people,” Uzan, 36, said of Bnei Brak, where Haredi parties that support the right-wing government’s overhaul received 89% of the votes in last year’s general election. “On the other you have thousands of angry protesters, mostly seculars from the left, almost all of them from…

Human Rights Watch says Lebanese authorities are failing to grant their citizens the right to electricity, necessary to the internationally protected right to an adequate standard of living. Lebanese authorities have failed to uphold the right to electricity by mismanaging the sector for decades, Human Rights Watch has said in a newly released report. The US-based watchdog on Thursday said that electricity must be regarded as an internationally protected right necessary for an adequate standard of living. “Lebanon’s electricity crisis is leaving people in the dark and dramatically reducing people’s access to critical rights such as food, water, education, and health care,” said…

Israeli troops have killed at least 11 Palestinians and wounded dozens more during a raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say. Explosions and gunfire sounded as troops entered the old city of Nablus on Wednesday morning, sparking armed clashes with Palestinian gunmen. The Israeli military said it killed three wanted militants holed up inside a house who refused to surrender. Several of those killed outside were civilians, including two elderly men. The Palestinian health ministry said 72-year-old Adnan Saabe Baara was one of them. Video footage purportedly showed his body in a street next to bags of…

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that a key coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot serve as a minister because of a recent conviction for tax fraud and suspended sentence. Judges said the appointment of Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was “extremely unreasonable”. The justice minister called the ruling “absurd”. Shas said it was “political”. The decision aggravates an already unprecedented clash between the new government and the entire legal system. The government – the most right-wing in Israel’s history – has drawn up a bill which, if written into law, would allow politicians to override…

With its Soviet-era tanks and trenches, the war in Ukraine sometimes feels like a relic of the past. But it also brings, according to experts, its share of lessons… With its Soviet-era tanks and trenches, the war in Ukraine sometimes feels like a relic of the past. But it also brings, according to experts, its share of lessons for any future conflict, from the Middle East to Taiwan. The need to maintain high levels of arms stocks, high-tech warfare and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools: here is an overview. On the battlefield, spotting targets and being able to…

The Lebanese army has detained a suspect in the recent killing of an Irish United Nations peacekeeper in a move coordinated with the powerful armed group Hezbollah over the weekend, two security sources and a Hezbollah spokesperson said. The man is a supporter of the Iran-backed armed group and heavyweight political party, but not a member of the group, a Hezbollah spokesperson told the Reuters news agency on Monday. The security sources said the man was suspected of firing shots at a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle that was travelling through south Lebanon on December 15. Private Sean Rooney,…