July 21, 2024

*) Israeli air strikes kill ten Palestinians in central Gaza homes At least ten Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted two houses in central Gaza. The Al Awda Hospital said in a statement that it received four bodies and several victims who were injured as a result of an Israeli aircraft targeting a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Gaza’s Civil Defence also reported via Telegram that six Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli shelling of a house in the Bureij camp. *) Israelis demand swap deal, early elections amid Netanyahu’s Gaza invasion Demonstrations were held in several cities in Israel to demand a prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza and early elections, according to media reports. Thousands protested across the nation, including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Caesarea to insist on a deal that would lead to the release of hostages in Gaza, an Israeli daily reported. In Tel Aviv, demonstrators held banners accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “not caring about the lives of hostages held in Gaza.” *) Shoot-on-sight orders in Bangladesh as army patrols Dhaka streets Police imposed a strict curfew with a “shoot-on-sight” order across Bangladesh as military forces patrolled parts of the capital after scores were killed and hundreds injured in clashes over the allocation of civil service jobs. The curfew began at midnight and was relaxed from noon for people to run essential errands, and is expected to last until Sunday morning, allowing officers to fire on mobs in extreme cases. The demonstrations called for mainly by student groups started weeks ago to protest a quota system that reserves up to 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971. *) French police fire tear gas at protesters to clear port blockade French police have removed demonstrators from the western port of La Rochelle with tear gas, as environmentalists and small farmers mobilised against massive irrigation reservoirs under construction. Around 200 people had entered the La Pallice port terminal, including farmers with old tractors, setting up a street party with music and drinks outside a major grain trader’s facility. More than a dozen police vans and an armoured vehicle pushed them out during the morning in a cloud of tear gas, while other police vehicles blocked off access to the port. *) Greece decides to close several Turkish minority schools: report Greece will close four Turkish minority primary schools in Western Thrace, where Turks are densely populated, local media reported. The affected schools are the Hacioren, Keziren and Payamlar primary schools in Rhodope and the Karakoy primary school in Xanthi (Iskece) in northern Greece. Authorities claim the closures are suspensions due to a “lack of students”, but the Turkish minority sees it as an attempt to send students to Greek public schools.