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Media Summary

Independent reports that Saudi-led bombing in Yemen has killed 8000 civilians

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In the Times, Anshel Pfeffer writes that Israel has massed tanks and armoured vehicles near the border with Gaza, although fears of a ground incursion were fading last night. Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his visit to the US on Monday after news broke of a rocket attack by Hamas which destroyed a house north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven people, including children. He quickly ordered retaliatory strikes on Hamas facilities, but was thought to be reluctant to be sucked into a conflict two weeks before a knife-edge election. By the time his plane landed in Israel yesterday an unofficial ceasefire, brokered by the Egyptians, had already come into effect.

In the Telegraph, Con Coughlin writes: “Hamas’s missile attack on Israel shows the dangers of Islamist terror didn’t end with ISIS’s defeat”.

The Independent  reports that the United Nations has called for urgent restraint in Gaza and Israel, warning an escalation of violence between warring factions could have “catastrophic consequences”. The caution by Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s envoy for the Middle East, came after more than 24 hours of cross-border fire. Mladenov told the Security Council that a “fragile calm” had returned to the region on Tuesday afternoon following intense efforts by Egypt, which helped broker the fragile truce, and the UN. However, the situation remained “extremely tense”. “I am concerned that we may once again be facing another very dangerous escalation of violence in Gaza with potentially catastrophic consequences,” he said. He added: “The UN has been working intensely with Egypt and all concerned to ensure that the situation does not spiral out of control.”

In the Guardian, Oliver Holmes writes on relations between Israel and Hamas, what he calls a predictable but fatal dance. It has become a near-monthly event with a predictable pattern, Holmes says – rockets from Gaza are traded for Israeli airstrikes. Palestinians cower in basements while Israelis hide in bomb shelters. Each flare-up signals the threat of full-blown war, but the next day it is usually over. Israel and Hamas have fallen into a bloody and fiery dance over the past year.

The Independent  reports that Syria’s foreign minister has called Donald Trump a “pirate” for recognising the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory, amid a widespread backlash over the move. Trump signed a proclamation on Monday officially granting US recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the contested land, during a White House visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognised internationally. “The US decision will affect nothing, except the isolation of the US,” said the country’s foreign minister, Walid Muallem, according to Syrian state news.

The BBC  reports that the Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria has called for the creation of an international tribunal to try thousands of suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group. One official, Abdul Karim Omar, told the BBC they were struggling to cope with the thousands who emerged from the last IS enclave of Baghuz, in the east. Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured the village last week. About 1,000 foreign fighters are among the thousands held by Kurds in prisons. The men are said to come from some 50 countries. In a statement, the Kurdish administration called for “a special international tribunal in north-east Syria to prosecute terrorists” to ensure that trials are “conducted fairly and in accordance with international law and human rights covenants and charters”.

In the Telegraph, Hamish De Bretton Gordon argues: “Alistair Burt’s resignation is a tragedy for Syria”. De Bretton Gordon writes about the resignation on Monday night of Alastair Burt, Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East, one of the very few people in government who appeared to understand the complexity of the Syrian conflict. The UK and US governments, says De Bretton Gordon, announced this week the defeat of ISIS in Syria. He concludes that the inability to help avert the humanitarian crisis in Idlib is creating the perfect breeding ground for the caliphate to re-establish.  With one of the few “experts” on humanitarian support in the Middle East, Alastair Burt, now gone, I now fear the little momentum we had to support humanitarian activity in Syria has taken a huge backward step – and this could inadvertently effect security at home.

The Financial Times  reports that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have condemned Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, with Riyadh warning that it would have a “significant negative impact” on the US’s attempts to broker an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The statements by some of Washington’s staunchest Arab allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, underline the level of frustration that the US president’s declaration has triggered over the occupied Syrian territory. Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the move was a “clear violation of United Nations charter and international law”. “It will have significant negative impact on the peace process in the Middle East and the security and stability of the region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. The UAE expressed its “deep regret and condemnation” of Mr Trump’s decision. It added that there was no “possibility of achieving stability and peace in the region as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories”.

The Financial Times  reports that according to people familiar with the matter, a congressional watchdog has agreed to investigate the Trump administration’s discussions about sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia. The Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan agency that conducts investigations on behalf of Congress, is in talks with lawmakers over the scope of a probe into the nuclear power talks that the Trump administration has held with Saudi Arabia. One person familiar with the discussions between the GAO and lawmakers said they were in their “initial phase”. In February, lawmakers accused White House officials of pushing a plan to sell US nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia in potential defiance of legal restrictions. A report prepared for the oversight committee of the Democratic-led House of Representatives said Trump aides were attempting “to rush the transfer of highly sensitive US nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia”, which may have violated the Atomic Energy Act.

The BBC  reports that an air strike near a hospital in north-west Yemen that killed at least seven people, four of them children, has been condemned by Save the Children. The NGO, which helps fund the hospital, said two other adults were unaccounted for after a missile struck a petrol station close to its entrance. Kitaf rural hospital lies about 100km (60 miles) from the city of Saada. It had been open for half-an-hour and many patients and staff were arriving when the missile hit. The dead included a health worker who died along with their two children, Save the Children said. A further eight people were wounded in the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in the country. The coalition has almost complete control of Yemeni airspace. Save the Children has condemned both sides in the war for their conduct, in particular highlighting the effects on hospitals. The NGO, which says 37 children a month have been killed or injured by foreign bombs in the last year, has demanded an urgent investigation into this latest missile strike.

The Guardian  reports that the foreign office minister Mark Field has promised to get to the bottom of “very serious and well sourced” allegations that British SAS soldiers have been injured in a firefight with Houthi rebel soldiers in Yemen. He was answering an urgent question asked in the Commons on Tuesday by the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, who suggested the Britons may have witnessed war crimes, if weekend allegations were true that UK Special Forces were training child soldiers in the Saudi-led coalition. She claimed as many as 40% of the soldiers in the Saudi coalition were children, a breach of international humanitarian law. Field said he would be making inquiries with the Ministry of Defence in light of the report. He was representing the government in the absence of Alistair Burt, who resigned as a Foreign Office minister on Monday night to vote against the government on the Brexit indicative votes amendment. The UK government has a general policy of not discussing the operations of its special forces but Field seemed determined to provide an explanation to MPs.

The Independent  reports that according to new research, a Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen that is supported by the UK government has killed more than 8,000 civilians.  In the four years since the bombing campaign began, a total of 8,338 civilians have been killed by airstrikes, including 801 women and 1,283 children. The figures were compiled by the Yemen Data Project, which analysed 19,511 air raids, and comes amid increased scrutiny over the UK’s role in the devastating conflict.

The Guardian  reports that the British regulator Ofcom has ruled that Iran International did not breach the broadcasting code by interviewing a spokesman for a separatist group who praised last September’s terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. The news channel, which broadcasts in Farsi but is based in west London, interviewed Yacoub Hor al-Tostari, a spokesman for the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz in the immediate aftermath of the attack on a military parade which left 30 people dead, and which was later condemned by the UN security council as a “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack”. During the interview al-Tostari justified the killings, which he said had hit “legitimate” military targets. Iran’s ambassador to the UK was among those who filed an official complaint to the broadcast regulator over Iran International’s decision to broadcast the interview. However, following an investigation Ofcom concluded the channel did provide sufficiently strong context to “justify the potentially high level of offence” that could have been caused by the broadcast of al-Tostari’s statements supporting the attack.

The Guardian  reports that independent commission set up to investigate crimes by the Tunisian state has accused President Beji Caid Essebsi of complicity in torture and his predecessor Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of corruption. A report by the Instance Verité et Dignité (IVD), or Truth and Dignity Commission, details the 92-year-old Essebsi’s alleged responsibility for crimes committed while serving as a minister in the regime of Habib Bourguiba. It also alleges extensive corruption by the former president Ben Ali, his extended family and wider network, including the misuse of public funds, and human rights violations including enforced disappearances and torture committed under his rule. Tunisian authorities have frequently attempted to impede the work of the Truth and Dignity Commission since its creation in 2013. It is tasked with exposing decades of crimes committed between the last year of French rule in 1955 and the 2011 uprising that overthrew Ben Ali.

In the Israeli media, Kan Radio reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu decided to increase the IDF troop deployment in southern Israel. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi ordered additional troops to be deployed to infantry and tank units in the area. The chief of staff also mobilised reservists, and cancelled scheduled replacement of units on routine security details in different sectors.

Maariv reports that Israel has been sending messages to Hamas for the past 24 hours via Egyptian intermediaries, saying a widespread military operation in the Gaza Strip is closer than ever. The leaders of the security establishment believe that if there is an escalation, it will occur before Saturday, after events marking Land Day. In discussions that took place during the night between the prime minister and the security officials, the instructions were to continue to increase troops and reinforce military readiness around the Gaza Strip.

Israel Hayom quotes a senior Israeli political official who says that fighting could resume at any moment, while also quoting an anonymous Hamas source who said, “We fired to influence the elections”. The official allegedly said that the rockets were fired “on Iran’s orders in an effort to oust Netanyahu” and “behind the backs of Hamas’ leadership in Gaza, in coordination with Iran and Islamic Jihad.”

Amos Harel in Haaretz writes that: “The unofficial cease-fire brokered by Egyptian mediators between Israel and Gaza is faltering”. He adds that: “The latest escalation now looks as if it will end the same way its antecedents did over the past year. The scenario repeats itself almost exactly: The Palestinians launch rockets, Israel condemns the aggression and declares that it will respond harshly, Hamas runs to Egyptian intelligence officers to request a cease-fire, the Palestinian factions in Gaza announce that a cease-fire has been reached (that happened Monday night at 22:00.), Israel says it’s unaware of any such agreement – but in the end, somehow, the shooting dissipates, as if of its own accord. This of course takes place gradually and depends also on the will of “recalcitrant” Palestinian organisations.” At the same time, Harel notes that: “Israel is especially worried about the demonstration planned for this Friday, when Hamas will mark the one-year anniversary of its Marches of Return…it’s enough to have tens of thousands, together with suitable encouragement from Hamas, to create a large, violent confrontation along the fence.”

Alex Fishman in Yediot Ahronoth writes that: “The turn of events of the past two days was political in nature, not military. That is why the principal players were the prime minister and the director of the National Security Council, and not the IDF chief of staff… The rocket that was fired at Moshav Mishmeret was part of that political event as well, which has been playing out behind the scenes — an event in which Israel, Egypt and Hamas have all played a role. We are supposed to see the results of that arm-wrestling match this coming Saturday, if the document of understandings is not signed.” The document Fishman describes includes a series of Israeli and international commitments towards the Gaza Strip, alongside Hamas’s consent to accept a series of conditions that were presented by Israel. “Hamas began to signal last Friday that they intended to force a crisis. Not only did it renew the violence on the border fence, but it also renewed its long-range rocket tests…The rocket was fired in an attempt to improve the terms of the truce arrangement and to serve other purposes as well. An Israeli military operation in response to the rocket fire could be used to cast the Gazans who demonstrated against Hamas the week before as traitors. Indeed, the demonstrations and protests against the Hamas regime drew to a halt.”

Yediot Ahronoth reports that the Blue and White Party has begun a comprehensive investigation in search of a suspected “mole” in the party’s campaign after embarrassing recordings that were made of Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz were leaked to the media. Two recordings of conversations that Gantz held with a very small number of people in the Blue and White campaign staff were leaked in the past two weeks to the media. In the first recording Gantz was heard saying in a closed-door meeting that he had not “locked the door” to the possibility of sitting in a government alongside Benjamin Netanyahu.  In the second conversation, Gantz was recorded saying in that conversation that he believed that Netanyahu would be willing to physically harm him on the eve of the elections. Senior Blue and White officials admitted that the second recording has been damaging to Gantz’s public image, the party and the campaign. A very high-ranking party official said in a closed-door meeting: “We have to find out how conversations of that kind have been leaked from the party campaign headquarters. This is a very grave incident.”

Haaretz reports on Likud’s new propaganda line that Gantz is mentally ill and not fit to be a leader. Chemi Shalev writes about Gantz’s recent TV interview which he describes as “wretched” adding that Gantz “was impatient, looked as if he hadn’t slept for weeks and showed how inexperienced he is in conversing via satellite.” Shalev writes that while “Likud could have legitimately used the interview to bolster its claim that Gantz is too inexperienced to serve as prime minister, but that wasn’t bad enough for them. Using studio-engineered loops, remixes and quotes taken wildly out of context, the prime minister’s aides launched a coordinated smear campaign to portray the man that Netanyahu himself appointed as army chief of staff, and who served under him for four years, as insane, bonkers, a meshuggener [crazy] with certificates. If there were any remaining red lines of vulgarity and depravity in Israeli politics, Netanyahu and his minions crossed them all.”

Haaretz reports on a senior political source who says that Trump’s Golan recognition has set the principle that allows possession of occupied land.

Kan Radio reports on the results of a poll commissioned by Kan from TNS which found Netanyahu has increased his lead against Benny Gantz in terms of suitability to serve as prime minister by 11%. The poll also found that Netanyahu’s chances of forming the next government are greater than Gantz’s but also found a majority of Israelis believe that Israel’s reaction to the rocket fire on Moshav Mishmeret was excessively weak.