Category World News

A residential building was destroyed in one of the occupied West Bank towns by Israeli forces.

As they began the demolition of East Jerusalem on Monday, soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades. According to Palestinian officials, Israel is engaged in a city-wide displacement campaign as part of a coordinated effort to expel Palestinians from their land.

As a four-story residential building was torn down by Israeli bulldozers, scores of Palestinians were forced to flee. It was the biggest demolition in the area this year, according to activists.

According to Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents, three bulldozers reportedly destroyed the Wadi Qaddum neighborhood of the Silwan district, south of Jerusalem’s Old City, housing complex with 13 apartments.

Israeli forces deployed heavily throughout the area, blocked nearby roads, and placed security personnel on the rooftops of nearby homes. A young man and a teen boy were detained during the operation.

Because the building had been constructed without a permit, the demolition order was made, according to the residents.

According to activists, Israel’s restrictive planning policies, which they claim are a result of a systematic attempt to ethnically expel Palestinians from their land, present significant challenges for Palestinians in getting building permits.

As the government continues to expand its settlement push, Israel’s security cabinet recently approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the West Bank. This number increases to 69 in total this year.

“Systematic policy of displacement”

The demolition was condemned by the Palestinian Authority-affiliated governorate in Jerusalem.

The governorate stated in a statement that the demolition of the building is part of a “systical policy” that aims to forcefully displaced Palestinian residents and remove the city’s original inhabitants.

“Any demolition that expels residents from their homes results in a clear occupation plan to replace the land’s owners with settlers.”

According to the Jerusalem municipality, an Israeli body whose jurisdiction over East Jerusalem is not recognized by international law, a 2014 court order led to the demolition.

Despite a scheduled meeting on Monday to discuss steps to legalize the building, Israeli human rights organizations Ir Amim and Bimkom claimed the demolition was carried out without warning.

“This is a continuation of a policy,” the statement read. Around 100 East Jerusalem families have lost their homes this year alone, according to the organizations, calling the demolition on Monday the largest of 2025.

Escalated attacks

In the northern town of Silat al-Harithiya, Israeli forces also damaged agricultural land and uprooted trees.

Israeli forces stormed several neighbourhoods with large numbers of military vehicles, deployed sniper teams, and established positions throughout the city in Halhul, north of Hebron.

Israeli vehicles entered Halhul through several checkpoints, including Nabi Yunis, before closing the checkpoint connecting the city to Hebron, according to Al Jazeera Arabic journalists.

Israeli forces and settlers have sharply increased attacks across the West Bank since Israel started its occupation of Gaza in October 2023.

A free trade agreement between India and New Zealand is expected to increase trade between the two nations by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The agreement between New Delhi and Wellington was confirmed on Monday, with the announcement that it would be officially signed in the first quarter of next year.

Due to the uncertainty brought on by US President Donald Trump’s extensive tariffs, governments around the world are making the announcement.

India will be able to export all goods to New Zealand duty-free under the terms of the agreement. About 70% of India’s tariff lines, which cover roughly 95 percent of New Zealand’s exports to India on a gradual basis, will be subject to duty concessions and market access, according to officials.

With anticipated gains in horticulture, wood products, and sheep wool, New Zealand is attempting to expand its exports of dairy, fruit, wool, and wine to India.

Textiles and apparel, engineering goods, leather and footwear, and marine products are expected to be the main industries that India will profit from tariff-free access to New Zealand’s market.

According to the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, New Zealand will commit to investing in India for a $20 billion project over the next 15 years, while skilled Indian professionals should have easier access to the job market in New Zealand.

Countries are less prone to rising protectionism and US import tariff increases as a result of Trump’s unconventional economic policies, which has sparked bilateral trade agreements.

As part of a wider plan to protect its economy, New Delhi has made more efforts to expand its export destinations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi put that pressure on the front foot as he welcomed Vladimir Putin from Russia earlier this month for talks on trade and the inevitably contentious subject of geopolitical tensions.

New Delhi is still attempting to maintain a long-standing balancing act between the West and the East. Piyush Goyal, the country’s commerce minister, said that on Monday. India is also pursuing agreements with the US and Canada in addition to the deal with New Zealand.

According to New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, the deal’s exports to India are projected to increase by $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion annually over the next 20 years.

According to Luxon, “boosting trade means more Kiwi jobs, higher salaries, and more opportunities for hard-working New Zealanders.”

The right-wing New Zealand First, a populist party, has criticized the agreement, though.

According to a statement cited by The New Zealand Herald, party leader Winston Peters claimed the agreement “gives too much away, especially regarding immigration.”

Additionally, the agreement could compromise some Indian sensibilities.

In a nod to those concerns, New Delhi has forbid dairy imports from the agreement, along with a number of animal and vegetable products, including goat meat, onions, and almonds, as well.

The Jewish community was appalled last week at the Bondi Beach attack, which resulted in the deaths of 15 people at a Hanukkah ceremony, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese demanded stricter laws against hate speech and violent behavior.

Albanese promised to protect Jewish Australians a week after Australia’s nation was shaken by the country’s deadliest mass shooting in a generation.

He said, “I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that occurred while I’m prime minister, and I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our country as a whole have gone through.”

Albanese pledged that his administration would work to advance the rights of Jewish Australians to “practice their faith, educate their children, and participate in Australian society.”

Attack was “preciously” planned.

Authorities in Australia continue to look into the December 14 attack, which included a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor, as a form of “terrorism.”

Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, are suspected of being inspired by ISIL (ISIS), according to police, who claim their car’s flags were discovered in their vehicle.

Naveed has been charged with 59 crimes, including murder and terrorism, despite the police killing him and still recovering from his bullet wounds in a hospital.

Police claimed the men had video surveillance of “Zionists” and that they were “their motivation for the Bondi attack” in a court filing.

According to the court documents, the suspects allegedly planned the attack for months “meticulously” and “meticulously” by “executing” “firearms training” in the New South Wales countryside.

“We won’t allow the terrorists motivated by ISIS to prevail.” In his remarks, Albanese said, “We won’t let them divide our society, and we’ll work through this together.”

He said, “Urgency and unity is what we need,” and he demanded that “create an aggravated offence for hate preaching” be supported by both parties.

Despite Australia already having some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Albanese has also proposed some of the most radical changes to gun laws, which appear to have decreased since the attack.

On Monday, the state where Bondi Beach is located, New South Wales, attempted to pass strict new draft gun laws as well as a ban on displaying “terrorist” symbols.

The new regulations would increase the number of firearms a person can own to four or ten, as opposed to 10 for exempt individuals like farmers.

Following a occurrence deemed “terrorism,” protests would also be prohibited for up to three months.

This week, the reforms are expected to pass the legislature.