Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu Defends Gaza Attack

 The News Cover: In the Palestinian state of Gaza, there was a building that housed offices of the ‘Associated Press’ a non-profit news agency, and another news agency called ‘Al Jazeera’. On May 15, an Israeli airstrike flattened the building. The attack sent alarm bells ringing across the world and countries were worried over the escalating Israel-Palestine violence. On 16th May 2021, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to ‘Face the Nation’ an American News programme. During the show, he spoke about the ongoing violence between Israeli forces & Palestinian militant group Hamas. Netanyahu said, "The airstrike was conducted as they had received information that the building housed a Hamas intelligence office which was plotting the attacks on Israel. 

On learning this we conducted the airstrike. So it is a perfectly legitimate target. However, there have been no injuries or deaths only the building has been destroyed. Associated Press head Sally Buzbee said, "We are not supporting either Israel or Palestine in this conflict. We are neutral. Israel says they had information about a Hamas intelligence office in the building that was planning attacks on Israel, which is why they conducted the airstrike. But there is no proof about this yet. We do not want Israel or Palestine to investigate the matter. We want an independent investigation into this matter.” After nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages. Netanyahu gave no time frame for when Israel would stop the fighting. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pleaded for an immediate end to the deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence. 

He warned that if the fighting continued people will die in large numbers and it could be very dangerous. The USA has been Israel's long-term Ally. After the airstrike on Gaza, US President Joe Biden made a phone call to PM Netanyahu Biden told Netanyahu that he understands that Israel has a right to defend itself but he is very worried about the safety of journalists amidst the violence. Many Indians are unhappy with Benjamin Netanyahu. Let me tell you why. On 15th May, Benjamin Netanyahu posted a tweet and extended his thanks to various countries for their support. He had included the flags of the countries. However, he did not include the Indian flag in this thank you post. Many are upset that even though many Indians have pledged their support to Israel but the Prime Minister did not thank India. Others are asking PM Narendra Modi to clear his stance on the issue.

Turkey calls for Muslim nations to unite against Israel

 

The News Cover: meanwhile Turkey, is calling on Muslim nations, to mobilize against Israel in the ongoing conflict with Palestine turkey's vice president wants the Islamic world to send a united and clear message to Israel Ankara also criticized world powers, for not doing enough to stop. the violence president Erdogan is a prominent critic of Israel, he described the country. as a terrorist state after the storming of the al-Aqsa mosque on Monday, Erdogan has repeatedly slammed. 

the Israeli occupation of the west bank and its treatment. of the Palestinians, Erdogan's deputy says that Muslim countries. that do not display unity are effectively party to the conflict on Wednesday duan discussed the Israel-Palestine, conflict with Russian President, Vladimir Putin he urged, the international community to teach a deterrent lesson to Israel and turkey, is also proposing to send peacekeepers to safeguard Palestinians a similar proposal was made back in 2018 as well.

Why is There a War Between Israel & Palestine?

 The News Cover: There is a war-like situation between Israel and Palestine at the moment. The bloody conflict is said to have begun about a month ago. In the area of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, there are 70 Palestinian homes. An Israeli court ordered that these 70 Palestinians will soon be evicted to make room for Jewish people to reside in the area. According to the court, Palestinians live on land that was owned by Jews since 1948. This is why the Palestinians will be evicted. Palestinians refused to accept this and there were violent clashes between them and Israeli police. 

After this, On May 7 after breaking their Ramadan fast in the evening many Palestinians went to offer prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in eastern Jerusalem. However, suddenly for some unknown reason, there were clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinians. Some Palestinians were killed in this violent clash, and after this, violence has erupted in Tel Aviv and other cities of Israel. Hamas is a terrorist organization of the Palestinian people. and they are extremely agitated. Their main objective is to take back East Jerusalem. Hamas believes that East Jerusalem is the capital of the future Palestinian nation and the land was wrongfully acquired by Israel. 

This dispute between the two has been going on for a long time now. But this time the conditions have gone out of control. Hamas militants fired rockets at Israeli cities like Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and Holon on 11th May. Officials sounded sirens that echoed all over the cities to warn people about the attacks. Amidst the loud sirens, people came out of their homes and ran towards safety. Some people were seen running towards an underpass to seek shelter. These rockets fired by the Hamas militants are so dangerous that even a 20-story Israeli building can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. 

If these rockets had fallen in different cities of Israel, it would have caused massive destruction and killed hundreds of people, but that did not happen. In various parts of Israel, there is a device called the 'Iron Dome'. When an enemy rocket is fired, the device intercepts & destroys the rocket. Leaving one or two rockets, every rocket was destroyed by the Iron Dome. Israel has also responded to the rocket attack of Hamas and has carried out airstrikes in Gaza. In this airstrike, a 13-story building was blown up by Israel.