Israel yesterday condemned as "the height of cynicism" the appointment by Hamas of a militant leader, Jamal Abu Samhadaneh, as director-general of the Pales-tinian interior ministry and police forces.
"They let the cat guard the cream there, which illustrates the nature of the Hamas government," Israeli Cabinet Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio.
He called Abu Samhadaneh a "murderer" with whom Israel had a long score to settle and who in his new position as a Palestinian government official would have "no immunity" for Israel's ongoing efforts to arrest or target him.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack earlier also criticized the appointment, calling it a "demonstration of the true nature and the true tactics of this particular Hamas-led government."
"We hold this Hamas-led government for security in the Palestinian areas and that means preventing acts of terrorism as well as dismantling terrorist groups," he told reporters in Washington.
Abu Samhadaneh is the chief commander of the Popular Resistance Committee, a group which has refused to abide by a truce endorsed by most other Palestinian militant groups in March last year, and which has taken a leading role in launching locally produced Qassam rockets at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam announced late on Thursday that he had been promoted to the rank of colonel and was the new commissioner-general of the interior ministry.
Seyam also announced the establishment of a new, special security force.
Seyam said the new force would fall under the command of the interior ministry and would aid the existing Palestinian police forces in ending lawlessness in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas reportedly did not inform Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the establishment of the security force.
As the elected president, Abbas has retained control over some of the various Palestinian security organizations, while several others fall under the authority of the interior ministry which is controlled by Hamas.
The militant Islamic movement won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January and took office three weeks ago.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
RSS