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  • PM Shehbaz blasts Israeli cabinet’s Gaza takeover plan as ‘dangerous escalation’

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday blasted the Israeli cabinet’s approval of a plan to occupy Gaza City as a “dangerous escalation”.

    Earlier in the day, Israel’s political-security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, nearly two years into its invasion of the Palestinian territory. The approval came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to take military control of the entire strip, American news agency Reuters reported.

    “We strongly condemn the Israeli cabinet’s approval of a plan to take illegal and illegitimate control of Gaza City. This tantamounts to a dangerous escalation in an already catastrophic war against the people of Palestine,” the prime minister said in a post on X.

    He added that the expansion of military operations will only worsen the already existing humanitarian crisis and derail any prospect for peace in the region.

    “We must not lose sight of the root cause of this ongoing tragedy: that is, Israel’s prolonged, illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. As long as this occupation endures, peace will remain elusive,” the premier added.

    “Pakistan reiterates its unwavering support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in line with relevant UN and OIC resolutions.”

    PM Shehbaz called upon the international community to intervene urgently to bring an immediate halt to Israel’s unwarranted aggression, ensure the protection of innocent civilians, and ensure the direly needed delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

    Earlier, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan in his weekly briefing announced that Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar officiated the send-off of the 18th humanitarian aid consignment to Gaza at a ceremony held at Islamabad International Airport today.

    “Under the directives of the Prime Minister, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in close coordination with relevant partners, facilitated the dispatch of this consignment, which is the 18th shipment from Pakistan,” the FO spokesperson said.

    The aid consignment comprised of essential supplies including dry ration packs, Meals Ready-to-Eat and medicines. The ceremony was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NDMA, and the Ambassador of Palestine to Pakistan, he added.

    This consignment brings Pakistan’s total humanitarian assistance to Gaza to 18 shipments, comprising 1,815 tons of vital relief supplies, he added, saying “This sustained support reflects Pakistan’s resolute solidarity with the people of Gaza.”

    Since October 7, 2023, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 61,258 and injured 152,045 Palestinians, per the Palestinian health ministry. Bombardments have also destroyed 88 per cent of the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Media Office, with Tel-Aviv facing accusations of genocide.

    On Thursday, the World Health Organisation said that 99 people were now known to have died from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip so far this year, with the figure likely an underestimate.

    International outrage over the humanitarian situation in Gaza has ratcheted up pressure on Israel, with UN agencies warning of famine in the devastated Palestinian territory.

    Earlier in the week, Israel’s military chief had pushed back against Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn’t already control, three Israeli officials said, as the prime minister faced increasing pressure over the invasion both at home and abroad.

    FO condemns Israeli plan for complete military takeover of Gaza

    The Foreign Office, in a separate statement, condemned the Israeli plan for complete military takeover of Gaza.

    “Pakistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the reported Israeli plan for a complete military takeover of Gaza,” the statement said.

    This not only represents yet another flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, but also the occupying power’s intention to further expand its ongoing genocidal military campaign, the statement added.

    This highly escalatory action will further aggravate the prevailing grave humanitarian situation and suffering of the civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in addition to undermining international efforts aimed at achieving peace and stability in the region, the FO said.

    “Pakistan reiterates its call on the international community to ensure an immediate end to Israeli impunity and its genocidal military campaign”, the FO said, calling for concrete measures for the provision of unimpeded humanitarian supplies to millions of Palestinians in dire need, and to hold Israel accountable for its heinous crimes.

  • Defence minister rubbishes Indian air chief’s ‘comical’ claims of downing 6 Pakistani aircraft in May conflict

    Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday rubbished what he said were “implausible” and “comical” claims by the Indian Air Force chief that the country had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May.

    The comments are the first such statement by the Indian side three months after its worst military conflict in decades with its neighbour. During the conflict, Pakistan said it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat on May 7, later stating that figure as six. India’s highest-ranking general has also acknowledged that its forces suffered losses in the air, but denied losing six aircraft.

    Speaking at an event in the southern city of Bengaluru, Indian Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh claimed: “We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,” adding that the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 kilometres.

    He alleged that most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system. He cited electronic tracking data as confirmation of the strikes.

    Singh did not mention the type of fighter jets that were downed, but claimed that airstrikes also hit an additional surveillance plane and “a few F16” fighters that were parked in hangars at two air bases in Sindh and Punjab. “This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” he insisted.

    Responding to the claims in a post on X, the defence minister said: “The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed.

    “It is also ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental failure caused by strategic shortsightedness of Indian politicians. For three months, no such claims were voiced — while Pakistan, in the immediate aftermath, presented detailed technical briefings to the international media, and independent observers recorded widespread acknowledgment of the loss of multiple Indian aircraft, including Rafales, by sources ranging from world leaders, senior Indian politicians to foreign intelligence assessments.”

    Asif said that “not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed” by India, adding that Pakistan took out six Indian jets, S400 air defence batteries and unmanned aircraft of India while “swiftly putting several Indian airbases out of action”.

    He added that the losses on the Line of Control for Indian armed forces were “disproportionately heavier” as well.

    “If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification — though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure. Wars are not won by falsehoods but by moral authority, national resolve and professional competence.

    “Such comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment,” he warned.

    The defence minister iterated that every violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would invite “swift, surefire and proportionate response, and responsibility for any ensuing escalation will rest entirely with strategically blind leaders who gamble with South Asia’s peace for fleeting political gains”.

    Former envoy Dr Maleeha Lodhi said the Indian air chief’s claim was “laughable”, noting that it took him “several months to count the planes to make this ridiculous assertion!”

    Meanwhile, Indian Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said when questioned about the matter: “The question we have after today’s information … when we had such a strong army and we were advancing then under whose pressure did you stop Operation Sindoor?”

    American South Asia expert Michael Kugelman opined that “regardless of whether true or not, the timing of these claims, with US-India ties in crisis, is easy to understand.”

    Pakistan, with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) primarily operating Chinese-made jets and US F-16s, has previously denied that India downed any aircraft during the May 7-10 fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

    New Delhi had previously claimed it had downed “a few planes”. United States President Donald Trump has echoed the figure of “five jets” shot down during the military confrontation, albeit without specifying which side’s craft he was referring to.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced scathing criticism from opposition parties for its lack of “political will to fight” during the May clashes and “failures” to prevent the Pahalgam attack.

    The May conflict was sparked by New Delhi’s allegations against Islamabad, which were without evidence and strongly refuted by Pakistan, about a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. After the May 7 combat and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.

    France’s air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has previously said that he has seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale. The Indian Air Force has not commented on those claims.

    Days after the air combat, The Washington Post, based on visual evidence analysed by experts, reported that at least two French-made Indian fighter aircraft were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.

    According to The Wire, India’s defence attache to Indonesia, Indian Navy Captain Shiv Kumar, while speaking at a seminar in June, acknowledged that the PAF downed the Indian fighters.

    During his presentation at the event, Kumar had acknowledged the loss of Indian planes. According to Kumar, Indian fighter jets were “operating under strict political orders from the Modi government not to target Pakistani military installations or air defence systems”, The Wire reported.

    “This self-imposed limitation by the government was intended to prevent escalation of conflict in a nuclear environment,” the outlet added, quoting the Indian officer.

    India’s intelligence failure was central to the hour-long air battle between Pakistan and India, which led to the downing of Rafale aircraft by the Pakistan Air Force’s J-10 fighters using PL-15s missiles, according to a report.

    Reuters interviews with two Indian officials and three of their Pakistani counterparts found that the performance of the Rafale wasn’t the key problem: central to its downing was an Indian intelligence failure concerning the range of the China-made PL-15 missile fired by the J-10 fighter. China and Pakistan are the only countries to operate both J-10s, known as Vigorous Dragons, and PL-15s.

    The faulty intelligence gave the Rafale pilots a false sense of confidence that they were out of Pakistani firing distance, which they believed was only around 150km, the Indian officials said, referring to the widely cited range of PL-15’s export variant.

    “We ambushed them,” the PAF official said, adding that Islamabad conducted an electronic warfare assault on Delhi’s systems in an attempt to confuse Indian pilots. Indian officials dispute the effectiveness of those efforts.

    “The Indians were not expecting to be shot at,” said Justin Bronk, air warfare expert at London’s Royal United Services Institute think-tank. “And the PL-15 is clearly very capable at long range.” The PL-15 that hit the Rafale was fired from around 200km away, according to Pakistani officials, and even farther according to Indian officials. That would make it among the longest-range air-to-air strikes recorded.

  • Targeted by the right, Britain’s asylum hotels are places of fear and disorder. Bad political decisions made it so | Daniel Trilling

    In the frenzy of racism and culture warring, the issue of why hotels are used gets overlooked

    A broad section of Britain’s right has spent the summer behaving as if it would like a repeat of last year’s racist riots. As politicians and commentators cry “tinderbox Britain” – are they warning us, or willing it on? – far-right extremists have been actively trying to stoke violence. This year, they have pinned their hopes on asylum hotels, an issue where public fears over crime, immigration and the welfare state conveniently converge.

    In some places, far-right activists have piggybacked on protests prompted by local grievances. The most significant this year was in Epping, Essex, after an alleged sexual assault by an asylum seeker led to demonstrations that turned violent when they were joined by members of various far-right groups. A similar pattern has unfolded in London’s Canary Wharf, after untrue rumours that some of the Epping hotel residents were being moved there. In other cases, far-right activists have themselves organised the protests. A call has gone out among their online networks for gatherings this weekend in several parts of England.

    Daniel Trilling is the author of Lights in the Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe and Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain’s Far Right

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