Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, without disrupting a nearby ceremony.
The fighting on the anniversary underscored militants’ resilience in the face of a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza that has killed about 42,000 Palestinians, according to local medical officials, destroyed large areas and displaced around 90% of its population.
A year ago, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023. On Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli strike in the country’s south, part of a wider bombardment, killed at least 10 firefighters. Hezbollah fired new barrages despite its recent losses.
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Australian opposition rejects Oct. 7 resolution over call for ceasefireCANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s main opposition party refused to endorse a government motion in Parliament marking the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, objected to the motion’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and a reference a need for lasting peace and security for all people in the region.
The spat suggests political differences over the conflicts in the Middle East will figure prominently in Australian general elections due by May next year.
Dutton said the motion should have focused on the 1,200 Israelis that Hamas killed on Oct. 7 last year.
Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should be condemned for failing to draft a motion worthy of bipartisan support.
“The prime minister is trying to speak out of both sides of his mouth and that is not something that we will support in relation to this debate,” Dutton said.
The motion was carried by the House of Representatives 85 votes to 54.
Dozens attend pro-Palestinian protest in Mexico cityMEXICO CITY — Dozens of protesters were met with car honks as pro-Palestinian groups made their way into the street for a candlelight vigil at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City.
Veronica Ivonne Hernandez Ramirez and Beatriz Vazquez Torres, academics from The National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico stood on the sidelines gathering signatures to support South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
“We also ask that they (Mexico) sever ties with Israel indefinitely,” said Torres. “This is a genocide.”
Gathered on the street, participants lit candles and stood in 365 seconds of silence to commemorate the 365 days since Oct. 7. Kim Jakobsen, a 39-year-old Norwegian living in Mexico City, said he wanted to show his solidarity with Palestine. “I think it’s very important to show up on a day like today,” he said.
New strikes in central Gaza kill at least 21, including 5 childrenDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 21 people, including five children and two women, were killed in strikes in central Gaza on Monday night, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The strikes took place on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 militant attack in southern Israel that triggered the war between Israel and Hamas.
Two strikes hit houses in the Bureij refugee camp. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies along with about a dozen wounded, including several children.
Emergency responders said more people are thought to be under the rubble.
The Palestinian death toll in the war in Gaza is nearing 42,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants.
Israel’s UN mission doesn’t invite secretary-general to ceremonyUNITED NATIONS – Israel’s mission to the United Nations had an invitation-only guest list for its commemoration of Hamas’ attack in southern Israel a year ago and it didn’t include U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was banned from the country last week. No U.N. official was on the invite list.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters the situation with the secretary-general was “sensitive.” He asserted at the ceremony that the U.N. has failed Israel “time and time again,” including failing to condemn Hamas.
Several hundred ambassadors, diplomats, Jewish leaders and students attended the ceremony.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who declared Guterres “persona non grata” last week, vowed in a video message that Israel will respond “with strength and power” to Iran’s missile attack on Israel last week.
The Israeli ambassador said that “The days when we had to rely on foreign powers to protect us are over,” to applause.
US Sen. Mitch McConnell says Iran needs to ‘feel some pain’WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says Iran needs to “feel some pain” amid a widening conflict in the Middle East and as Israel is marking the one-year anniversary of the attack on by Hamas-led militants.
McConnell is criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration for not being tough enough on Iran, saying there should be “serious consequences” like stricter sanctions on the country’s energy sector or elsewhere as Iran has backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas.
“They have to feel some pain, and that’s the only way this stops,” McConnell said in an interview with The Associated Press. The only way to stop groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, he said, “is to get Iran to back off and quit funding them.”
McConnell’s comments come as he has disagreed with both presidential candidates on foreign policy and as he prepares to step down as his party’s leader after the November elections. Repeatedly evoking President Ronald Reagan’s vision of “peace through strength,” he has criticized Biden’s administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, for not standing strongly enough with Israel amid calls for a ceasefire within the Democratic party. McConnell has also split from Donald Trump as the former president has declined to strongly back Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“Overall in the Western world, kind of a lack of confidence in American leadership,” McConnell said. “No matter who wins the presidential race, the kind of approach I am talking about is the only one that has a chance of working.”
Netanyahu says Israel ‘will continue to fight’ its enemiesOFAKIM, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel “will continue to fight” against its enemies.
Netanyahu delivered a recorded message late Monday to a government memorial service marking the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Israel responded to the attacks with a military offensive that has devastated Gaza and inflicted heavy losses on the Hamas militant group. U.S.-led cease-fire efforts have repeatedly faltered, and Israel has now turned its focus to a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militant groups.
“As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight,” Netanyahu said. “As long as our hostages are in Gaza, we will continue to fight. We will not give up on any of them. I won’t give up.”
The government ceremony was prerecorded, and Netanyahu did not attend.
Families of people killed in the Oct. 7 attack, hostages and soldiers who died fighting Hamas held a separate ceremony earlier Monday, » …
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