February 12, 2024

*) More than 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah A series of Israeli air strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah has killed at least 100 Palestinians, according to health officials in the besieged enclave. The strikes hit over a dozen houses and several mosques in different parts of Rafah, authorities said. TRT World correspondent Mohammad al Kassim reported that at least 40 air strikes hit several locations in Rafah and that Israeli naval and artillery shelling took part in the violent attacks on early Monday. *) Trump’s remarks put allies at risk: NATO The head of NATO has warned that Donald Trump was putting the safety of US troops and their allies at risk. The Republican presidential front-runner said Russia should be able to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who don’t meet their defence spending targets. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said “any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US.” *) Death toll in Senegal protests over delayed election rises to three The death toll amid protests in Senegal over the postponement of the presidential election until December has climbed to three. The announcement of the delay just three weeks ahead of the planned February 25 vote triggered violent clashes between protesters and police in Dakar and several other cities. President Macky Sall said the delay is necessary because electoral disputes threatened the credibility of the poll, but some opposition lawmakers have denounced the move as an “institutional coup.” *) Khan-backed independents dominate parliament in Pakistan ballot: commission Pakistan’s national election vote count concluded with independents, mostly backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, winning 101 of the 264 seats, the election commission’s website showed. The final tally was released more than 60 hours after voting ended on February 8 national elections, a delay that has raised questions about the process. The independents came in ahead of the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, which won 75 seats, making it the largest single party in parliament as Khan’s independents ran as individuals. *) Scholar fired for criticising Israel slams German academic censorship Ghassan Hage, an internationally renowned scholar, has slammed German academic institutions for suppressing criticism of Israel, after he was abruptly fired over allegations of anti-Semitic social media posts. He said: “What to me is a fair, intellectual critique of Israel, for them is antisemitism.” The scholar said he finds “Germany’s pseudo philosemitism self-serving, and at times racist, instrumentalised to racialise the Palestinian and more generally the Arab and Muslim community in Germany.”