Israeli military uproots thousands of Palestinian olive trees in West Bank

The Israeli military has destroyed about 3, 000 olive trees in a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the head of the local council says, as Palestinians face a continued wave of violence across the territory in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The Israeli military issued an order on Saturday to uproot olive trees in a 0.27sq-km (0.1sq-mile) area in al-Mughayyir, a village of about 4, 000 residents northeast of Ramallah.

The army justified the measure by saying the trees posed a “security threat” to a main Israeli settlement road that runs through the village’s lands.

The destruction was carried out as al-Mughayyir has been under lockdown since Thursday after an Israeli settler said he was shot at in the area.

The deputy head of the village council, Marzouq Abu Naim, told Palestinian news agency Wafa that Israeli soldiers had stormed more than 30 homes since dawn on Saturday, destroying residents ‘ property and vehicles.

For decades, the Israeli military has uprooted olive trees – an important Palestinian cultural symbol – across the occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country’s efforts to seize Palestinian land and forcibly displace residents.

The West Bank also has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes.

Palestinian men collect wheat after an attack by Israeli settlers in al-Mughayyir in May]File: Mohammed Torokman/Reuters]

More than 2, 370 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been reported across the area from January 2024 to the end of July this year, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The highest number of attacks – 585 – was recorded in the Ramallah area, followed by 479 in the Nablus region in the northern West Bank.

At least 671 Palestinians, including 129 children, also have been killed by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in that same time period, OCHA said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Saturday on the uprooting of the olive trees in al-Mughayyir.

Hamza Zubeidat, a Palestinian researcher, said the destruction is part of Israel’s “continuous” effort to force Palestinians off their lands.

“We have to be clear that since 1967, Israel is still implementing the same plan of evicting the Palestinian population from the countryside and the cities of the West Bank. What’s going on right now is just a continuous process of this eviction of Palestinians. It’s not a new Israeli process”, Zubeidat told Al Jazeera.

He noted that al-Mughayyir has a long agricultural history and, like other villages in the West Bank, relies almost entirely on agriculture and livestock as its main source of income.

“This area where more than 3, 000 olive trees]were] uprooted is one of the most fertile areas in this part of the Ramallah area”, Zubeidat explained.

Israeli attacks kill 37 in Gaza as more Palestinians die from starvation

At least 37 Palestinians, including 10 seeking aid, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as health authorities in the besieged territory recorded eight more deaths from malnutrition amid a deepening hunger crisis.

Israeli artillery shelled tents sheltering displaced families in the Asdaa area northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing 16 people, including six children, on Saturday, according to medical sources.

In central Gaza, two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in the Maghazi refugee camp.

A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces while waiting for aid near a distribution point close to the so-called “Morag axis”, southeast of Khan Younis.

Another civilian seeking aid was shot dead near the Israeli-controlled Netzarim Corridor.

Starvation deaths

Palestinian health authorities said on Saturday that eight more Palestinians, including two children, died from malnutrition over the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 281 since the onset of the humanitarian crisis.

Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on social media that among the victims, 114 are children.

“The famine is silently ravaging the bodies of civilians, depriving children of their right to life, and turning tents and hospitals into daily scenes of tragedy,” he added.

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first time it has done so in the Middle East, with experts warning 500,000 people face “catastrophic” hunger.

The UN has accused Israel of “systematic obstruction” of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the famine as a “man-made disaster”.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a global hunger monitor, said 514,000 people – close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said many other Palestinians in Gaza were at risk from malnutrition.

“The UN famine report has been very late, according to Palestinians. They have been witnessing weeks and months of this ongoing starvation,” she said.

‘Engineering of starvation’

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that it “appreciates” the declaration of famine in the enclave, although it believes the announcement was late.

“We emphasise that the engineering of starvation is one aspect of the chapters of genocide, which also include the systematic destruction of the health sector and other sectors, mass killing, and the policy of exterminating generations,” the ministry wrote in a statement on Telegram.

Since May 27, Israel has enforced a unilateral aid delivery mechanism through the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” backed by Israel and the US but rejected by the UN and major relief groups.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 2,076 Palestinians have been killed and more than 15,300 people wounded while seeking aid since the GHF scheme was launched.

Tottenham stun Man City with 2-0 win in Premier League

Manchester City’s troubles from last season have been exposed once more in a humbling 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham that raises questions about their quest to regain the Premier League title.

Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the Europa League winners on Saturday just before half-time as Spurs went top of the table, making it a perfect start for manager Thomas Frank after two league games in charge.

City’s run of four consecutive titles came to a spectacular end last season as they finished a distant third behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

A 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on the opening weekend of the campaign showed glimpses of a new-look City back to their best.

However, a series of defensive issues remain unresolved as manager Pep Guardiola must decide on who will be his number one goalkeeper going forward after a day to forget for James Trafford.

The England international retained his place in goal despite the return to fitness of Ederson.

The Brazilian is reportedly on the verge of joining Turkish giants Galatasaray, which would free up City to make a move for out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Joao Palhinha, right, of Tottenham scores the second goal during the Premier League match at Manchester City [Adam Vaughan/EPA]

City’s failure to get those deals done before the final week of the transfer window came back to haunt them in a familiar tale for Guardiola’s men against Tottenham.

In the last 13 Premier League meetings between the sides, City have won just four despite several changes of management at Spurs in that time.

Frank is the latest man in the Tottenham dugout and has made a highly impressive start.

Spurs were minutes away from beating PSG in the UEFA Super Cup before losing on penalties and have taken maximum points from their opening two Premier League games without conceding a goal.

Omar Marmoush’s return was one of two City changes as Ballon d’Or winner Rodri had to settle for a place on the bench.

Marmoush flashed a shot across goal and was then denied by Guglielmo Vicario with City’s best chance before conceding.

City’s high line was easily exposed in an embarrassing early exit from the Club World Cup to Saudi side Al-Hilal last month and is an issue Guardiola still has to resolve.

Tottenham took the lead at 35 minutes when Mohammed Kudus fed Richarlison, and he squared for Johnson to power past Trafford.

Tottenham Hotspur's Brennan Johnson scores their first goal
Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson scores his side’s first goal [Peter Powell/Reuters]

An offside flag briefly halted Spurs’ joy until a VAR review showed the slipping Ruben Dias had played Richarlison onside.

City then completely lost their composure for the period before half-time.

Trafford was fortunate to avoid being punished after rushing outside his box to block a shot from Kudus.

But the 22-year-old then endured a moment that might cost him the chance to be Guardiola’s number one this season.

Trafford’s attempted pass to Nico Gonzalez inside his own box was intercepted by Pape Matar Sarr, and even though the goalkeeper recovered to deny Richarlison, Palhinha smashed home the rebound.

Erling Haaland had the chance to reduce City’s arrears in first-half stoppage time but headed over the goal to sum up a tough afternoon for the Norwegian.

Spurs let a two-goal lead slip late on against PSG in Frank’s first game in charge but rarely looked in danger of suffering a similar fate on Saturday.

Haaland wasted City’s other big opportunity to gain a foothold when he overhit a pass to Rayan Cherki with just Vicario to beat.

Guinea military rulers suspend three opposition parties before referendum

Guinea‘s military rulers have suspended the country’s three main opposition parties, including that of former President Alpha Conde, in the run-up to a constitutional referendum next month.

The order on Saturday prevents Conde’s Rally of the Guinean People, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, led by former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the Party of Renewal and Progress from engaging in any political activities for 90 days with immediate effect.

“These parties have not fulfilled the obligations required of them,” the order stated.

In a separate order read on state television late on Friday, Guinea’s military rulers also declared that the start of the election campaign period for a revised constitution had been pushed back a week, to August 31.

Since Friday, parties have been allowed to advertise their proposals for a new version of the constitution. The referendum is scheduled for September 21.

The suspension comes as the West African nation’s main parties and civil society groups prepared to hold demonstrations from September 5 to condemn what they see as a power grab by military leader General Mamady Doumbouya.

The country’s opposition has come out against the referendum on a new constitution organised by Doumbouya, who took power in September 2021 when a coup toppled Conde, who had been president for 10 years.

Doumbouya’s military-run government has banned all demonstrations since 2022, and it has arrested, prosecuted or pushed into exile several opposition leaders.

Reporting from Dakar in neighbouring Senegal, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said that for Guinea’s opposition parties, Saturday’s suspension “strips away any pretence that the transition was actually working to protect democracy”.

“When Colonel Doumbouya came to power in a coup … he promised not only to bolster democracy but to give more space to political parties and civil society,” Haque explained.

“What we’re seeing now is three main political parties – including the one of the former president, Alpha Conde – banned, unable to go out and canvass, to post [on] social media. It feels for them like a clamping down on their voice.”

Haque added that the move will prompt more people to take to the streets in protest. “We’re going to see more people going out on the streets, confronting the security forces,” he said.

A draft constitution was presented to Doumbouya in June.

Its text opens the way to a return to civilian rule, though it does not make clear whether Doumbouya could stand as a candidate in the next presidential election.

A “transition charter” drawn up by the military government shortly after the coup had stipulated that none of its leaders, government members or heads of institutions would be able to stand in elections.

Japan’s Ishiba hosts South Korea’s Lee before key Trump summit

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Tokyo for a visit aimed at reaffirming security cooperation and showcasing friendly ties between the two East Asian neighbours facing common challenges from their mutual ally, the United States.

On his first official visit to Japan since taking office in June, Lee met Ishiba on Saturday at the premier’s residence to discuss bilateral ties, including closer security cooperation with the US under a trilateral pact signed by their predecessors.

“As the strategic environment surrounding both our countries grows increasingly severe, the importance of our relations, as well as trilateral cooperation with the United States, continues to grow”, Ishiba said in a joint announcement with Lee after their meeting.

The leaders agreed to resume shuttle diplomacy, expand exchanges such as working holiday programmes, and step up cooperation in defence, economic security, artificial intelligence and other areas. They also pledged closer coordination against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The snap election victory of the liberal Lee – following the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law – raised concerns in Tokyo that relations with Seoul could sour.

Lee has criticised past efforts to improve ties strained by lingering resentment over Japan’s colonial rule. The South Korean government last week expressed “deep disappointment and regret” after Japanese officials visited a shrine in Tokyo to Japan’s war dead that many Koreans see as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression.

In Tokyo, however, Lee reaffirmed support for closer relations with Japan as he did when he met Ishiba for the first time in June on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada.

Lee’s decision to visit Tokyo before Washington has been well received by Japanese officials, who see it as a sign Lee is placing great importance on relations between the two neighbours.

For Ishiba, who faces pressure from right-wing rivals within his governing party to resign over its July election loss, Lee’s visit and a successful summit could shore up his support.

Despite their differences, the two US allies rely heavily on Washington to counter China’s growing regional influence. Together, they host about 80, 000 US soldiers, dozens of US warships and hundreds of military aircraft.

Japan and South Korea also share common ground on trade, with both agreeing to 15 percent tariffs on US imports of their goods after Trump had threatened steeper duties.

We “agreed that unwavering cooperation between South Korea, the US and Japan is paramount in the rapidly changing international situation, and decided to create a virtuous cycle in which the development of South Korea-Japan relations leads to stronger cooperation”, Lee said alongside Ishiba.

Killing by remote control

Hind Hassan looks at the military tech that is changing the face of modern warfare: drones and AI.

Throughout the unprecedented bombing campaign that has defined Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Palestinians there have lived with a near constant, inescapable sound of drones.

It’s a sound that signals death could be close.

Hind Hassan tracks how the Israeli military has dramatically increased its use of drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to surveil, track and kill Palestinians.