• Cyprus pushes Syrian refugees back at sea due to #coronavirus

    About 200 Syrian refugees are stranded in northern Cyprus after a harrowing standoff with authorities on the sea.

    Nearly 200 Syrian asylum seekers are stranded in northern Cyprus after they were pushed back in the middle of the sea by authorities in the government-controlled south.

    Quarantined and under threat of deportation, they have become the latest victims of a multiplying border shutdown as countries grapple with the advance of coronavirus.

    On Friday, March 20, several Greek Cypriot patrol vessels approached a vastly overcrowded boat several miles of the coast of Cape Greco.

    A police translator with a megaphone informed the passengers in Arabic that they could not enter Cyprus and would have to turn back. The craft was holding 175 people including 69 children.

    According to authorities in northern Cyprus, all are Syrian.

    Al Jazeera spoke to three Syrians who were on board. Their names are being withheld to not invite reprisals by authorities.

    One mother in her twenties from Aleppo said: “It was very crowded, the waves were high and the boat was moving a lot. I held my children tight. The police said you cannot enter because of the coronavirus, we said we were joining our husbands and families and if you are scared about coronavirus you can put us in a camp alone or quarantine. But they refused and then the boats started to circle.”

    On March 15, Cyprus shut its borders to all except Cypriots, European workers and those with special permits for a period of two weeks.

    As of Sunday, the country had recorded 214 confirmed cases and six have died.

    In a statement given to Al Jazeera, Cypriot police spokesman Christos Andreou said: “The police acted on the ministerial decrees concerning the prohibition of entry ... to protect against the distribution of coronavirus. The police made it clear that they will not allow anyone including immigrants to enter in violation of these decrees.”

    A man from Idlib told Al Jazeera: "A bigger boat came after an hour with a cannon and weapons on top. They had personnel with guns on board who said, ’If you want water, food and fuel we will give it to you but entry to Cyprus is not allowed’.

    “We asked even for them just to take the women and children. They threw us a small bottle of diesel and drove behind us for an hour and we continued to the Turkish side. A storm came and waves started to hit the boat.”

    After a standoff of several hours the boat, that had begun its journey in Mersin in southern Turkey, turned around and eventually upturned near the shore of northern Cyprus.

    Local authorities rescued the passengers from the shoreline, and they are now being housed in apartments.

    The Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the north following a Greek-backed military coup by forces seeking to unify the country with Athens.

    Although Cyprus is an EU member, the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is recognised only by Turkey and the territories are separated by a 120-mile long UN-monitored buffer zone which cuts through the nation’s capital, Nicosia.

    Gulfem Verizoglu-Sevgili of the TRNC ministry of foreign affairs told Al Jazeera in a statement: “In the early hours of March 21, a rescue mission took place off the eastern coast of TRNC by the Karpaz Peninsula. The refugees were primarily taken to a sports hall where they underwent medical examinations and were provided with clothes and food. They have now been moved into flats.”

    The refugees received a warm reception by Turkish Cypriot authorities, but their fate is uncertain and local NGOs say they have been denied access to the apartments.

    A partial curfew is in place with movement largely restricted to essential businesses.

    Fezile Osum from Refugee Rights Association, an NGO based in northern Cyprus, told Al Jazeera: “The situation is complicated because the south closed their asylum system and here we don’t have one. Normally we would be able to conduct interviews but because of the curfew we are not allowed to do anything, and we don’t how they are being treated.”

    All crossing points that connect the Greek and Turkish Cypriot territories are currently closed.

    A man from Aleppo living in the Republic of Cyprus told Al Jazeera that his wife and children were among those stranded in the north. They are treated well, he said, but lack information.

    “Nobody is telling them anything. They should at least let us be together. If we knew about the border closures, they wouldn’t have come,” he said.

    UNHCR spokeswoman Emilia Strovolidou confirmed that deportation orders had been issued by the TRNC, but Turkey had refused the request.

    “Authorities in the north have placed them in 14-day quarantine in apartments and afterwards they will try again to deport them to Turkey.”

    Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s senior researcher on Turkey, told Al Jazeera he was concerned by cases of refoulement from Turkey to Syria.

    “Turkey has punished misdemeanour offences by arbitrarily sending people back to Syria, either those living there for a while or potentially those deported back from Northern Cyprus. There is definitely a problem with independent oversight of returns and people in detention.”

    Osum, of Refugee Rights Association, believes a dangerous precedent has been set.

    “I am afraid that Cyprus will continue to push back people and we will have more arrivals or even deaths in the sea.”
    ’Extremely saddened’

    UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi recently said that while everyday life for many has stopped, “war persecution have not.”

    He advised that screening and quarantine arrangements can be put in place “to enable authorities to manage the arrival of asylum seekers and refugees in a safe manner, while respecting international refugee protection standards designed to save lives.”

    Despite being relatively untouched during the height of Europe’s refugee crisis in 2015-2016, Cyprus is now the top recipient of first-time asylum seekers in the EU per capita registering 12,695 in 2019, the majority Syrian.

    Even pre-coronavirus the Cypriot government has taken an increasingly strident tone against irregular immigration, pr opagating the idea that refugees and migrants crossing over the porous buffer zone from north to south have been encouraged or sent by Ankara as an orchestrated attempt to alter the country’s demographics.

    Aside from the pandemic, the Cypriot asylum system may prompt yet more treacherous boat journeys.

    Corina Drousiotou from the Cyprus Refugee Council told Al Jazeera that almost all Syrians in Cyprus receive subsidiary protection status, which does not allow them to bring over family members legally.

    “We are extremely saddened by the pushback as until now the Cypriot authorities had taken every step to ensure refugees arriving on boats were able to reach our shores safely. We are contacted every day by devastated fathers desperate to be reunited with their families.”

    The woman from Aleppo who was on board the boat, said: “We didn’t go to Cyprus as tourists. We went to become refugees there.”

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/cyprus-pushes-syrian-refugees-sea-due-coronavirus-200330091614066.html
    #refoulement #refoulements #Chypre #asile #migrations #réfugiés #réfugiés_syriens

    ping @thomas_lacroix

    • Syrian refugees in Cyprus pushed back to Turkey

      On 15 May 2020, the administration of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) forcibly sent 100 Syrian refugees, including unaccompanied children, to Mersin, Turkey. They have been transferred to Kilis, near the Syrian border, where they are now. Most of the 100 Syrian refugees – 56 – are children and women and girls are in the majority.

      On 24 April 2020, the TRNC had already forcibly sent 75 Syrian refugees, including unaccompanied children, to Mersin, Turkey, from where they have been reportedly moved to a camp in the province of Kahramanmaraş. All 175 Syrian refugees have expressed their intent to apply for asylum and find protection in an EU member state. Syrians forcibly returned to Turkey face a risk of onward refoulement to Syria.

      This group of 175 refugees arrived by boat on 20 March and were pushed back to the sea by the coastguard of the republic of Cyprus as the boat was approaching the southern part of the island, which is under the jurisdiction and control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus. Many of these refugees were trying to join their families already settled in the Republic of Cyprus, which is a member of the European Union. The boat went north, capsized and the refugees were rescued by the “Turkish Cypriot administration” which has effective control over the northern part of the island. The refugees were housed in an apartment complex for a 14-day quarantine period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the quarantine period, they continued to be detained – this time arbitrarily, in violation of the law of the “Turkish Cypriot administration” which authorises the detention of irregular migrants for eight days extendable only by a court order.

      We, the undersigned organisations condemn the push-back of the vessel from Cypriot waters by the government of Cyprus, which amounts to refoulement in violation of the prohibition of non-refoulement set out under the 1951 Geneva Convention and EU law on asylum, and infringes Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

      We, the undersigned organisations also condemn the return of 175 refugees to Turkey and the arbitrary detention of these persons by the “Turkish Cypriot administration”. These acts also violate the 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The detention of minors additionally violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular Articles 9, 10, 22 and 37 on detention of children, the right to reunification with members of the family and the right of every child to be with both parents. States are obliged to provide appropriate care to unaccompanied children. On April 13, UNICEF said that all governments should impose a moratorium on detaining children and urgently release children where alternatives are possible, due to heightened risks of Covid-19 in detention.

      Recommendations

      We call on the “Turkish Cypriot administration” and Turkey to:

      Respect the principle of non-refoulement and international human rights law, including the European Convention on Human Rights, by stopping the forced return of refugees and asylum seekers to Turkey and/or Syria;

      We call on the government of the Republic of Cyprus to:

      Abide by EU and international obligations to respect the right to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement, and provide assistance to boats in distress at sea by carrying out search and rescue operations;
      Cooperate with the UN and the “Turkish Cypriot administration” with a view to allowing the asylum seekers access to territory under control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus to apply for asylum and reunify with their families;
      Terminate the suspension of access to asylum by those arriving by sea to the territory of the Republic of Cyprus in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

      https://euromedrights.org/publication/syrian-refugees-in-cyprus-pushed-back-to-turkey

  • #Chaos and hunger amid India #coronavirus lockdown

    India’s strict lockdown of 1.3 billion people disrupts lives with migrant workers facing hunger and forced to walk home.

    As countries globally began enforcing strict lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, India, the world’s second most populous country, followed suit.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown to contain the virus spread that has now killed 17 Indians and infected more than 700 others.

    The South Asian nation reported its first coronavirus case on January 30 but in recent weeks the number of infections has climbed rapidly, worrying public health experts who say the government should have acted sooner.

    India’s main opposition Congress party has also criticised the government over a delayed response.
    Government defends lockdown

    But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sundhanshu Mittal said India was one of few countries to have acted swiftly and decisively to contain the outbreak.

    “You can’t have knee-jerk reactions to such catastrophes without evaluating and anticipating the scale of the problem and looking at the international domain knowledge and consensus. A lot of administrative decisions were made,” he said.

    India’s Health and Family Welfare Ministry claims the rate of increase in infections has stabilised. “While the numbers of COVID-19 cases are increasing, the rate at which they are increasing appears to be relatively stabilising. However, this is only the initial trend,” a spokesperson said.

    According to the latest report by the country’s top medical research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,688 coronavirus tests had been carried out by 9am on Friday.

    “A total of 691 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases,” read the ICMR update. On Thursday, India witnessed the highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases of 88 people.

    While the numbers do not paint a grim picture compared to other countries that are finding it difficult to contain the virus, concern is growing among healthcare experts who believe that the number of infections could be far higher than what is being reported.

    Academics from three American universities and the Delhi School of Economics in a report based on current trends and demographics have claimed that India could experience as many as 1.3 million coronavirus infections by mid-May.
    Scaling up testing facilities

    Experts also say India’s capacity to test is poor and more robust testing would reveal the true extent of the pandemic.

    “We have to test anyone who is showing any symptoms, we can’t be restricted to hospitalised cases or those with travel history,” said Dr T Sundaraman, the national convener of the People’s Health Movement.

    “We don’t know much because the rate of testing is still modest and very limited. If the testing expands we may find the real numbers which we don’t have,” he told Al Jazeera.

    Facing its biggest health emergency since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947, the Indian government announced a series of steps starting with a 14-hour public curfew on Sunday.

    The government has also scaled up testing facilities and engaged private contractors to help it conduct tests.

    From 72 testing centres initially, India now has 104, with a capacity to test 8,000 samples daily. Another two rapid testing laboratories that can conduct more than 1,400 tests per day are also expected to be operating soon.

    Leena Meghaney, a legal expert on public healthcare, claimed that a global shortage of chemicals used in the tests and the validation of testing kits being produced domestically were hindering India’s testing capacity.

    “This shortage was not specific to India but a global phenomenon. It happened in the USA and France, and India must have faced a similar shortage. The government had to scale it up and procure testing kits from companies which had to be first validated [which] also took some time,” Meghaney told Al Jazeera.
    Shortage of PPE and ventilators

    Not only is India’s testing capability low, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the country is also facing a shortage of equipment needed to support medical staff.

    Some say shortages of N-95 masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) used by healthcare workers have been caused by a last-minute rush by the government, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) warning governments in February to scale up production.

    India has 0.7 hospital beds for every 100,000 people, far fewer than countries like South Korea (six per 100,000) that have been able to successfully contain the virus.

    Ventilators are also in short supply. India has nearly 100,000 ventilators but most are owned by private hospitals and are already being used by existing patients with critical illnesses.

    Some reports suggest that India needs another 70,000 ventilators, which it usually imports, but on Friday, the government announced that it had ordered only 10,000.

    “Ventilators are a costly and critical piece of equipment which are going to go under production by [the state-run] Defence Research and Development Organisation,” said Dr Preeti Kumar of the Public Health Foundation of India, a public-private organisation.

    “And then we have items like caps, masks, gowns and gloves. These are high-volume and low-cost consumables that will definitely be produced. It is not the state that is going to produce, it will only order. A lot will depend on how geared up our production companies are to come up to speed and start producing.”
    Migrants workers stranded

    Meanwhile, Sundaraman from the People’s Health Movement highlighted how the stress of lockdown appeared to be overtaking the stress of the disease. Sundaraman said his biggest concern was the thousands of migrants who found themselves stranded across India as Modi announced the lockdown with just four hours’ notice.

    “What is really worrying is the huge migration that has started across the country. You just can’t stop public transport like that. The lockdown should have been done in a phased way. People shouldn’t be stranded without income, without work. Even in an authoritarian state, they would know that this is something the state has to do,” said Sundaraman.

    Photographs of migrant workers walking hundreds of kilometres or crammed in trucks and empty railway crates show how the government ignored their plight.

    Police have also resorted to heavy-handedness against migrants, street vendors and meat sellers. One person died in the state of West Bengal after being beaten up by police for venturing out to buy milk during the lockdown.

    In a video shared on Twitter, police appeared to use batons on Muslim worshippers leaving a mosque during a ban on religious gatherings. Al Jazeera has not verified whether the video is authentic.

    Meanwhile, in an apparent violation of the lockdown rules, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, was seen organising a religious function in Ayodhya town.
    ’Totally unplanned’

    Reetika Khera, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a right to food activist, claimed that the prime minister’s speeches created panic among migrants and then police mishandled the lockdown.

    “Now the police are the biggest problem. They are violating government rules. Essential services are to remain open and the biggest violator is the police. I am not sure about the government’s communication strategy, they are supposed to be sharp at that but clearly that is not the case if we can’t communicate clearly to the police,” she said.

    The lockdown has also led to the shutdown of routine healthcare services, with Megahney claiming that people with other illnesses have now been stranded without healthcare.

    “I know a number of people with HIV who have been stranded. Similarly, a lot of cancer patients are finding it hard to access basic healthcare services. This must be addressed urgently because one of the fallouts of COVID-19 could be that people with other diseases could end up paying the price,” said Meghaney.

    Mittal, the BJP leader said the lockdown was announced swiftly so the government could contain the spread of infection.

    “If there are migrants who are stranded, government is making provisions to make them reach their houses.”

    Meanwhile, the Indian government on Thursday announced a $23bn fiscal stimulus package to help the poor address financial hardships during the three-week lockdown. India’s finance minister claimed that no one would go hungry during this period.

    “One unequivocally good announcement is the doubling of entitlement for existing Public Distribution System card holders,” Khera told Al Jazeera.

    India has an existing welfare programme for the poor and the government appears to be using that to provide direct cash transfers and food grains.

    However, nearly 85 percent of India’s population works in the informal sector and migrants, in particular, do not have access to these resources.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/chaos-hunger-india-coronavirus-lockdown-200327094522268.html
    #Inde #confinement #faim #alimentation #travailleurs_étrangers #migrations

    ping @thomas_lacroix @isskein

  • South Africa to build 40km fence along #Zimbabwe border

    Authorities say fence will stem irregular migration as well as spread of coronavirus in the country.

    Authorities in South Africa have said they will build a 40km (25 miles) fence along its border with Zimbabwe to prevent undocumented migrants from entering and spreading coronavirus - even though the neighbouring country has no confirmed cases.

    The planned fence is to be erected on either side of the Beitbridge Land Port of Entry to “ensure that no undocumented or infected persons cross into the country,” Patricia de Lille, the public works minister, said in a statement on Thursday.

    As of Friday, South Africa has reported 202 confirmed cases of the virus and no deaths. President Cyril Ramaphosa has already ordered 35 of 53 land entry points closed.

    “This measure will ... not be effective if the fences at the border are not secure, which in many places, they are not,” de Lille said in the statement.

    "All 40km of fence will be finished within one month. Local labour will be sourced by the contractor.

    “We are certainly not xenophobic. We have had thorough consultations with all the countries that are our neighbours. What is important for South Africa is to protect our own citizens and people coming into our country because at the border post now, you’ve got health inspectors and you’ve got environmental professionals and they are doing the testing and screening at the border. But if somebody just walks over the border, there are no such facilities,” she added.

    South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised country, has long sought to reduce irregular migration from Zimbabwe, which it sees as a threat to local jobs in a country with unemployment of around 30 percent.

    Countries around the world have been cancelling flights, banning travel from certain countries and tightening controls at borders to prevent the virus’s spread.

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 209,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the infection caused by the novel coronavirus, around the world.

    The virus has claimed the lives of at least 8,700, according to the UN health body.

    The outbreak reached Africa later than other continents, but at least 33 countries have now confirmed cases, with 13 reported deaths.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/south-africa-build-40km-fence-zimbabwe-border-200320062936120.html
    #murs #frontières #Afrique_du_Sud #barrières_frontalières #migrations #asile #réfugiés #fermeture_des_frontières #coronavirus

    ping @fil @mobileborders @thomas_lacroix

  • Netanyahu’s rival Gantz secures 61 majority to form government | News | Al Jazeera
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/netanyahu-rival-gantz-secures-61-majority-form-government-200315163518066

    Etonnant attelage entre la liste arabe (citoyens palestiniens d’Israël), Gantz (criminel de guerre libéral) et Liberman (mafia russe reconvertie)

    Hours after all 15 members of the Joint List of Arab recommended Gantz, kingmaker Avigdor Liberman, of the ultranationalist, but secular Yisrael Beiteinu party, also said on Sunday he made the same recommendation to President Rivlin.

    Gantz now has a majority of 61 out of 120 members.

    Following the decision by Liberman, whose party won seven seats in the March 2 vote, Rivlin summoned Gantz and Netanyahu to an “urgent” meeting at his Jerusalem residence on Sunday night, to discuss a possible emergency unity government - including Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White.

    The latest elections on March 2 did not hand a decisive majority to either Netanyahu’s bloc of right-wing and religious parties, nor the Gantz-led bloc of centre-left and Arab

    #israël #élections

    • Benny Gantz to get first chance at forming government after receiving thin majority
      Chaim Levinson, Jonathan Lis and Jack Khoury Mar 15, 2020 7:00 PM -
      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-gantz-to-netanyahu-someone-who-wants-unity-doesn-t-postpone-trial-

      President Reuven Rivlin will give Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz the mandate to form a government on Monday morning, after he won the majority of recommendations from Knesset lawmakers, the president announced Sunday night.

      The announcement comes after Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party and the Joint List of Arab-majority parties recommended Gantz have the first try to form a coalition earlier Sunday.

      In addition to Yisrael Beiteinu and the Joint List, the Labor-Meretz slate recommended Gantz, with its ally in the election, Gesher leader Orly Levi-Abekasis, refusing to join it in doing so. This gave Gantz 61 recommendations, a narrow majority.

      Rivlin, however, on Sunday afternoon summoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz for an “urgent conversation” in which the three will discuss the “possibility of forming a government immediately,” a statement released by the President’s Residence said.

      Gantz receiving 61 MKs to back him comes despite previous statements by Joint List lawmakers that they saw no difference between Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and by Lieberman that members of the Joint List were “enemies.” Lieberman has repeatedly called for a unity government between Gantz’s Kahol Lavan and Netanyahu’s Likud and accused the prime minister of selfishly refusing to solve the political crisis by stepping aside. On Sunday, he called for the creation of an emergency government and said Netanyahu’s only goal was an early election, which would be Israel’s fourth in a year.

      Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh told Rivlin after recommending Gantz: “If Gantz wants to form a unity government, we will be the main opponents. If he wants to form a center-left government – we recommend Gantz. If 61 MKs recommend Gantz, we ask that members of the Joint List recommend him.”

      Earlier Sunday, Kahol Lavan rejected Netanyahu’s latest offer for an emergency unity government under his leadership, which the premier claims will be able to better combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

      According to the proposal, which Netanyahu tweeted, the emergency government would be disbanded after six months, or, alternatively, would remain in place with Netanyahu serving first as prime minister, with Gantz taking over after two years.

      On Sunday morning, Knesset faction heads sat with President Reuven Rivlin to recommend their nominee for prime minister.

      Kahol Lavan said the move was an “empty gesture,” calling on the Joint List of predominantly Arab parties and Yisrael Beiteinu to recommend Gantz for prime minister, and to act together on Monday, when the new Knesset is inducted, to oust the Likud party’s Knesset speaker, Yuli Edelstein.

      Gantz derided Netanyahu’s proposal, urging the Likud leader “not to turn your back on Israeli citizens.”

      “Someone who wants unity does not postpone their trial at 1 A.M.,” Gantz said on Twitter, referring to Interim Justice Minister and Netanyahu ally Amir Ohana’s decision to freeze the court system, which allowed to delay Netanyahu’s trial for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, slated to start on Tuesday, to May 24.

      “When you get serious, we’ll talk,” Gantz concluded.

      Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman later commented that behind Netanyahu’s proposal there was “nothing but accusations and attempts to delegitimize opposition parties. The strategic goal has not changed - the override clause and the French law,” referring to two pieces of legislation that Netanyahu’s party members promoted in the past and would allow the premier to evade trial.

      “The conclusion is that Netanyahu wants to go in to new elections in six to eight months on the wings of a corona victory,” the former defense minister added. “All in all, the sea is the same sea, the Arabs are the same Arabs and Bibi is the same Bibi,” Lieberman said.

      Meanwhile, the Joint List unanimously recommended Gantz for the premiership on the condition that he does not form a unity government with Netanyahu.

      Odeh expressed hope that “The entire public understand that a shared destiny is not only to confront the disease, but that peace, democracy, equality and justice are also the true interest of us all.”

      He added that both Netanyahu and Gantz don’t have a “Jewish majority” to form a government, and that is thanks to Arab voters “coming in droves,” in addition to 20,000 Jewish voters who all chose the Joint List.

      Netanyahu’s team reportedly did not contact Kahol Lavan directly and the centrist party only learned of the proposal via Twitter, sparking Gantz to comment if Netanyahu sought unity he would not “send an emergency government proposal to the media, but send a negotiating team.”

      Netanyahu’s suggestion is to divide ministerial positions equally among the two camps. Additionally, “the prime minister would not be able to dismiss Kahol Lavan ministers, while Kahol Lavan will not be able to file for no-confidence in the prime minister.”

      Netanyahu also called on the Labor party and Yisrael Beiteinu to join in, urging their leaders to “take responsibility, and join any government we build.”

      A senior official from Kahol Lavan told Haaretz over the weekend that a “scenario whereby we join a unity government where Netanyahu starts [as prime minister], is on the table. We will see what happens with the negotiations.”

      Two faction leaders within Kahol Lavan, Yair Lapid and Moshe ’Bogie’ Ya’alon are fierely opposed to a Netanyahu-led government.

      On Sunday, Ya’alon blasted Netanyahu on Twitter, saying the embattled prime minister was taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis “for personal political reasons, as a defendant before a trial.”

      But voices within Kahol Lavan are now saying that the centrist alliance is ready to join an emergency government, where there will be equality between the right-wing bloc and the center-left bloc, or which would lean in favor of Kahol Lavan.

  • » Update: “Israeli Soldiers Kill One Child, Injure 112 Palestinians In Nablus”
    March 11, 2020 12:56 PM – IMEMC News
    https://imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-fire-at-palestinian-protesters-near-nablus-wounding-17

    The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that Israeli soldiers killed, Thursday, one child, and injured at least 112 Palestinians, during the ongoing protest on the al-‘Arma Mountain, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

    The Ministry said the child, Mohammad Abdul-Karim Hamayel, 15 , was shot with an expanding bullet in the head, and he was rushed to a local hospital before succumbing to his serious wounds.

    Tarif Ashour, the spokesperson of the Health Ministry, said at least thirteen Palestinians were rushed to Rafidia governmental hospital, including a child, seventeen years of age, who was shot with two rubber-coated steel bullets in his head, before he was rushed to surgery, and remains in critical condition.

    Shortly afterward, the soldiers shot two Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets in their heads, causing hemorrhaging in the brain; one of them remains in life-threatening condition.

    In addition, a journalist working for the Palestinian TV, identified as Bakr Abdul-Haq, was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet in his lead, and at least thirteen other residents were shot with similar rounds.

    The total number of injuries stood at more than 112 Palestinians at the time of this report, among them, 90 were suffered the severe effects of teargas inhalation, and eighteen who were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets.

    The soldiers also abducted at least three young men, after more than 40 additional military vehicles invaded the area.
    (...)
    Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors Israel’s colonialist activities, said that there have been calls by colonists to storm the mountain, in an attempt to control an archaeological historical site above its summit, and install an illegal colony after occupying the entire Palestinian Mountain.

    #Palestine_assassinée #colonialisme_de_peuplement

    • Palestinian teen shot dead by Israeli army in occupied West Bank
      11 mars 2020
      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/palestinian-teen-shot-dead-israeli-army-occupied-west-bank-20031109431552
      Israeli forces fire tear gas, rubber-coated bullets to disperse protesters blocking illegal Jewish settlers in Beita.

      According to Maan news agency, at least three Palestinians were also arrested.

      Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, said on-site medics treated more than 112 injuries, adding at least one more person remains in critical condition.

      “Locals in the area say Jabal al-Armeh [al-Armeh mountain] is a very high area … one of the highest in the Nablus area, and settlers have been eyeing this location for years, since the 1980s,” Ibrahim said.

      “There have been confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli settlers there. Usually, settlers like to settle on high areas … on hilltops … this is a way for them to keep an upper hand if anything happens, including demonstrations,” she said.

      Demonstrators have been staging sit-ins in the hilltop village of Jabal al-Armeh since February 28 to deter illegal Israeli settlers from establishing a settlement outpost.

      Beita Mayor Fuad Maali said the settlers renewed their attempt to reach the top of the mountain overnight, but hundreds of the town’s residents had camped out to block the effort.

      The Israeli military said about 500 Palestinians were burning tyres and throwing rocks at the soldiers during what it described as a “violent riot”.

      “We are aware of a report regarding a killed Palestinian and several injured. The incident will be reviewed,” an army statement said.

    • « C’est notre montagne » : les Palestiniens repoussent des colons enhardis par Trump et Netanyahou
      Par Shatha Hammad — BEITA, Cisjordanie occupée — Mercredi 11 mars 2020 — Middle East Eye édition française
      https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/reportages/cest-notre-montagne-les-palestiniens-repoussent-des-colons-enhardis-p

      Une trentaine de Palestiniens se rassemblaient autour du poêle dans une grande tente au sommet du mont al-Urma, à l’est de la ville de Beita en Cisjordanie occupée, quand Middle East Eye s’est rendu sur les lieux lundi dernier. Ils se reposaient et se préparaient à la confrontation à venir avec les soldats et colons israéliens.

      Quelques heures plus tôt, des colons avaient tenté une deuxième fois d’atteindre le sommet de la montagne, mais les habitants de Beita, au sud de Naplouse, s’étaient rapidement rassemblés pour défendre leurs terres.

      Des affrontements avaient éclaté, au cours desquels l’armée israélienne avait ouvert le feu, blessant deux Palestiniens à balles réelles et une dizaine d’autres avec des balles recouvertes de caoutchouc.

      #mont_al-Urma

  • Avec Trump c’est #jaw-jaw et #war-war, les deux à la fois,

    ’Good talk’: Trump says he spoke to Taliban leader after accord | Afghanistan News | Al Jazeera
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/talk-trump-spoke-taliban-leader-accord-200303185853220.html

    US President Donald Trump has said he held a “very good talk” with a Taliban leader in what may be the first direct discussion between a US leader and a senior Taliban official.

    Taliban Resumes Attacks on Afghan Govt Targets, Hitting Bases, Checkpoints - News From Antiwar.com
    https://news.antiwar.com/2020/03/03/taliban-resumes-attacks-on-afghan-govt-targets-hitting-bases-checkpoin

    After Monday’s announcement that they are resuming attacks on the government, Taliban forces have hit targets in 17 different provinces. Fighting hit a number of sites, including army bases, but so far the casualties seem relatively low.

    The Taliban has also made good on not attacking foreign troops in this new fighting, and while the US warned the peace is “fragile” US troops have yet to recommit militarily after the weekend peace deal.

    At issue is that the US peace deal called for prisoner exchanges, and the Afghan government has refused to release them. President Ghani says this was something the US never had the right to promise the Taliban. The Taliban are saying this is non-negotiable, however.

    US forces conduct airstrike on Taliban soldiers just days after agreement signed - ABC News
    https://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/us-forces-conduct-airstrike-taliban-soldiers-days-agreement/story?id=69383035

    The airstrike was conducted as a “defensive” measure as Taliban fighters were “actively attacking” an Afghan government checkpoint, Colonel Sonny Legget, the spokesman for American forces in #Afghanistan, said.

    #etats-unis