Israel-Hamas war: Shock Israeli ‘torture’ footage sparks calls for prison closure
The Israeli Supreme Court has considered a petition to close a desert military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians. Follow updates. Warning: Graphic
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Israeli Supreme Court has considered a petition to close a desert military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians.
It comes as a new video emerged purporting to show the sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee at the facility, known as Sde Teiman.
Rights groups have been engaged in a legal battle since June to shut down the detention facility.
The United States has responded, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the reports are deeply concerning.
It comes after passenger planes were advised to avoid flying through Iranian airspaceas tensions in the Middle East boiled over.
An Egyptian official, quoted on Al Qahera News TV, said Iranian airspace is to be avoided due to military exercises, Reuters reports.
According to the US Federal Aviation Administration the warning is most likely not linked to the Iran-Israel tensions.
Military blogger OSINTdefender said Egypt’s warning is more likely a matter of being “better safe than sorry”.
FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:
ISRAEL VOWS TO FIND HAMAS’ LEADER
Israel vowed to eliminate new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack, with regional tensions threatening to boil over as the Gaza war entered its 11th month.
Speaking at a military base on Wednesday local time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “determined” to defend itself.
“We are prepared both defensively and offensively,” he told new recruits.
Army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed to “find him (Sinwar), attack him” and force Hamas to find another leader.
Sinwar - Hamas’s leader in Gaza since 2017 - has not been seen since the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history.
OCTOBER 7 MASTERMIND HAMAS’S NEW LEADER
Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar, the man Israel says masterminded the October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war, as its new political chief following the killing last week of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.
The announcement came with the Middle East braced for Iran’s retaliation over the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran blames Haniyeh’s death on Israel and has vowed to avenge him, while Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah has also pledged to retaliate for his killing and that of its military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut hours earlier.
Sinwar, who has been Hamas’s leader in Gaza since 2017 with Haniyeh living in Qatar, has not been seen since the October 7 attack.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the selection of Sinwar sent a message that the militant group “continues its path of resistance”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Sinwar’s appointment was “yet another compelling reason to swiftly eliminate him and wipe this vile organisation off the face of the earth”.
Analysts believe that he has been more reluctant than Haniyeh to agree a ceasefire deal.
Meanwhile, in a televised address to mark one week since Shukr’s death, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group and Tehran were “obliged to respond” to the deaths of Haniyeh and Shukr.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah would retaliate “alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region, “whatever the consequences.”
‘CONSEQUENCES’: HEZBOLLAH’S WARNING TO ISRAEL
Minutes before Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s speech, Israeli jets flew low over the Lebanese capital, breaking the sound barrier.
Hezbollah’s chief has claimed his group and Iran were “obliged to respond” to Israel “whatever the consequences” after the killings last week of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The twin killings have sent Middle East tensions skyrocketing, amid fears of a regional conflict and all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been trading daily cross-border fire since Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
Iran “finds itself obliged to respond, and the enemy is waiting in a great state of dread”, Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address, adding his group was also “obliged to respond”.
Hezbollah will retaliate “alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region, “whatever the consequences,” he added.
An Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Hezbollah’s top military commander Shukr last Tuesday.
Early Wednesday, Hamas’s political chief Haniyeh was killed in an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel, which has not commented directly on the killing.
“Our response is coming,” Nasrallah said in an address to mark a week since Shukr’s killing, adding it would be “strong and effective”.
“Israel’s waiting for a week is part of the punishment, part of the response, part of the battle,” he said, adding: “It is Israel who chose escalation … and who attacked Iran.”
US TROOPS WOUNDED IN IRAQ ROCKET ATTACK
Meanwhile, it was confirmed a rocket attack on a base in Iraq wounded seven Americans, a US official said on Tuesday local time, with the Pentagon blaming Iran-aligned forces for the violence that comes as the region awaits an expected counter-attack by Tehran on Israel.
The rocket fire the previous day was the latest in a series of attacks targeting Ain al-Assad base, which hosts American troops as well as other personnel from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.
“Five US service members and two US contractors were injured in the attack,” in which two rockets struck the base, the US defence official said on condition of anonymity.
Five of the wounded are being treated at the base while two have been evacuated for further treatment, the official said, adding that all are in stable condition.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the attack the previous day, the White House said.
“They discussed the steps we are taking to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing,” it said in a statement.
A Pentagon statement on a call between Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant described the rocket fire as an “Iran-aligned militia attack on US forces” and said the two agreed that it “marked a dangerous escalation”.
The Iraqi government’s security media unit said that the country’s forces had seized a truck with eight rockets ready for launch and were pursuing the perpetrators of the attack on the military base.
It reiterated the “strong objection to any aggression, whether from inside or outside Iraq, on Iraqi territories, interests and targets.
“We reject all reckless actions against Iraqi bases, diplomatic missions, and locations of the international coalition advisers, as well as anything that could escalate tension in the region or drag Iraq into dangerous situations,” it added.
Such attacks were frequent early in the war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza, but until recently had largely halted.
‘CRITICAL MOMENT’: AMERICA’S WARNING FOR IRAN
Meanwhile, Iran has been warned by the US that an escalation in the Middle East is not in their interests, as American diplomats make moves to calm tensions amid fears of a retaliatory strike against Israel.
The US is sending messages through diplomatic channels to Iran to try and avoid the situation becoming worse, according to Reuters.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called this a “critical moment” for the region, and said Washington was “engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock” to ease tensions.
“All parties must refrain from escalation,” Mr Blinken said. “All parties must take steps to ease tensions. Escalation is not in anyone’s interests. It will only lead to more conflict, more violence, more insecurity.”
It comes as Iran’s planned retaliatory attack on Israel is likely to take place in two waves, one from Iran and the other by Hezbollah, US intelligence officials have told US President Joe Biden, according to a report.
In a National Security Council meeting this morning (AEST) intelligence officials told Mr Biden and Kamala Harris of the threat, but said it was unclear which of the two forces would attack first as Tehran was still undecided, the Axios website reports.
Mr Biden called his national security team to the White House Situation Room amid fears of Iran striking Israel within hours following last week’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Israeli military is believed to have presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with plans for a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah, advising that the country should not wait for the Iran-backed group to attack before taking action.
‘NO ARRESTS’ IN KILLING OF HANIYEH: IRAN
Iran has yet to make any arrests linked to the suspected Israeli killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary said.
The leader of the Palestinian militant group was killed last Wednesday during a visit for the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The “necessary investigations” have begun and the results will be announced “as soon as the probe is completed,” said judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir.
“Until today, no arrests have been made in connection with this case,” he said, adding that the investigations involved Iranian military officials.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh was killed using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside his accommodation in Tehran.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel and vowed to retaliate. Israel has declined to comment.
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Iran had arrested more than two dozen people, including senior intelligence officers among others, in connection with Haniyeh’s killing.
Jahangir dismissed the claims about any arrests as “rumours” and “false”.
“Haniyeh’s assassination will definitely be met with a courageous response by the Islamic Republic,” he said.
ROCKET ATTACK IN IRAQ
A rocket attack on a base in Iraq wounded multiple US personnel.
The rocket fire is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, which hosts American troops as well as personnel from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.
“There was a suspected rocket attack today against US and coalition forces” at the base, a US defence spokesperson said.
“Initial indications are that several US personnel were injured.”
“Base personnel are conducting a post-attack damage assessment” and updates will be provided as more information becomes available, the spokesperson added.
An Iraqi military source had earlier said that multiple rockets were fired at base, with some landing inside it and another hitting nearby village but not causing damage.
A commander in a pro-Iran armed group told AFP that at least two rockets targeted the base on Monday local time, without saying who had carried out the attack.
Another source in the group and a security source confirmed an attack occurred.
There has been no claim of responsibility, but Iraq-based militias backed by Iran have carried out multiple such attacks against US service members on al-Asad and elsewhere over the past several months.
TRAVEL ADVICE FROM DFAT
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong reiterated her call for Australians in Lebanon to “leave now while you still have options to do so”.
“The security situation in the Middle East is highly risky,” she said.
“We are deeply concerned about the possibility of conflict, escalation.”
- with AFP
Originally published as Israel-Hamas war: Shock Israeli ‘torture’ footage sparks calls for prison closure
Nation goes through three PMs in two weeks
The country is sinking deeper into political crisis as it moves onto its third prime minister in two weeks.
‘Living Nostradamus’ makes grim prediction
A self-proclaimed paranormal expert and fortune teller has updated his followers with a disturbing prediction that “the worst is yet to come”.