12, October 2023
Attack on Israel: Netanyahu says every Hamas member is a dead man 0
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said every Hamas member was “a dead man” after the first meeting of his country’s emergency government.
Alongside him, opposition figure Benny Gantz said it was “a time for war”.
But US President Joe Biden said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and made it clear that Israel must “operate by the rules of war”.
The death toll in Israel has reached 1,200. More than 1,100 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Mr Biden said he understood the anger and frustration of the Israeli people but urged Israel to adhere to the principles of the Geneva conventions. He also warned Iran – which has welcomed the Hamas attack – to “be careful”.
Earlier on Wednesday Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz agreed to put aside a bitter political rivalry that had escalated into widespread protests.
Mr Gantz told Israeli citizens that the newly-formed government was “united” and ready to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth”.
Alongside Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz, the centrist National Unity Party leader and a former defence minister, the new temporary cabinet would also include Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The country’s main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has not joined the alliance. However, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz said in a joint statement that a seat would be reserved for him in the war cabinet.
“During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war,” said a statement.
“All senior appointments will be automatically extended during the war period.”
The emergency government will give broader national consensus to military action. It also brings to the war cabinet two voices who are experts in military strategy. Both Mr Gantz and also Gadi Eisenkot, who joins as an observer, are former Israeli military chiefs of staff.
The announcement of the new cabinet came in the wake of savage attacks by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip.
Source: BBC
12, October 2023
Gabon: Wife of deposed president Ali Bongo jailed 0
The wife of Gabon’s deposed president Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest since a coup in the central African country in late August, has been jailed, her lawyer said on Thursday.
Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, suspected of allegedly embezzling public funds, was jailed late on Wednesday, her lawyer Francois Zimeray told AFP, condemning the “arbitrary… illegal procedure”.
Bongo’s wife was charged on September 28 with money laundering, forgery and falsification of records.
Sylvia Bongo has been under house arrest in the capital, Libreville, since the August 30 coup brought the curtain down on 55 years of Bongo dynasty rule.
The putschists allege the former head of state and his entourage falsified the election results.
They accuse Sylvia Bongo and her son, Nourredin Bongo Valentin, of manipulating the former president, who has not fully recovered from a serious stroke in 2018.
They say the two have effectively run the oil-rich country for the past five years and have misused public money.
Nourredin Bongo Valentin has been placed in detention since the coup, charged with corruption.
“We condemned this illegal procedure,” lawyer Zimeray said.
“There is a difference between justice and arbitrary actions, between the law and revenge.”
The public prosecutor in Libreville has not yet responded to an AFP request for comment.
Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.
Many saw it as an act of liberation rather than a military coup.
Ali Bongo was elected after his father Omar died in 2009 after nearly 42 years in power.
Gabon is Africa’s third-richest nation in terms of per-capita GDP but one in three people lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
Source: AFP