₦airaland Forum

Gaza City – Israel attacked the besieged Gaza Strip with warplanes on Friday, killing at least 10 people including a commander of the Islamic Jihad group and a young girl.

Taysir al-Jabari, a commander of the al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad, died in an air raid on an apartment in the Palestine Tower in the centre of Gaza City, the group said.

The health ministry in Gaza said at least 10 people were killed including al-Jabari and a five-year-old girl. At least 55 people were wounded and being treated at hospitals as a result of the Israeli raids.

Smoke poured out of the seventh floor of the building in Gaza City. Civil defence teams rushed to the scene to evacuate people and put out a fire caused by the attack.

“We’ve just had Friday lunch and my children were playing. Suddenly a huge explosion hit the tower in which we live. We ran away. The sound was massive. We were very shocked as the place is full of civilians. I saw many casualties that were evacuated,” one resident told Al Jazeera with blood covering his clothes.

Gaza-based author and activist Rana Shubair, who lives in the al-Remal neighbourhood in the western side of the Gaza Strip, said she heard “four to five loud bangs” when Israel attacked the Palestine Tower nearby

“I was asleep and found myself waking up running, wondering what happened,” Shubair said.

“There was panic in the area, people running. You can imagine … the amount of horror that this caused for the people living in the building,” she added. “There were children playing … this was something really unpredictable for us.”

Multiple blasts could be heard and seen throughout Gaza. Israeli reconnaissance drones could be heard hovering over the besieged enclave.

Attacks also struck the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as the al-Shuja’iya neighbourhood.

In the first response to the attack, rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel could be seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system lit up the night’s sky with explosions.

‘Duty to defend ourselves’

Renewed air strikes also struck the eastern Gaza Strip, with Israeli fighters jets continuing to roam above the densely populated city on Friday evening, Al Jazeera’s Youmna al-Sayed reported.

The attacks follow days of tension with the Islamic Jihad after the arrest of senior Palestinian leader Bassam al-Saadi in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

They also came after days of border closures, including the closure of the Karam Abu Salem commercial crossing, which is responsible for the flow of fuel needed for Gaza’s sole power plant.

In a statement, the Islamic Jihad said: “The enemy has begun a war targeting our people, and we all have the duty to defend ourselves and our people, and not allow the enemy to get away with its actions which are aimed at undermining the resistance and national steadfastness.”

Ghazi Hamad, a senior official for Hamas – the group that governs the strip – said the latest attack is “a brutal crime, a massacre done by the Israeli occupation against our people”.

Hamad told Al Jazeera there is “no justification” for the attacks, adding that the Palestinian factions have the right to defend themselves and “protect” their people.

According to him, factions in Gaza have maintained “good coordination” and are exploring the “best option for the Palestinian People.

Seun:
I feel so sad.

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Thursday launched a state security outfit codenamed Community Volunteer Guards to fight against terrorists and criminals wreaking havoc in the state.

Ortom, at the launch of the security outfit in Makurdi, the state capital, promised to legally procure and equip the guards with AK-47, AK-49 rifles and other sophisticated weapons to be able to face and overpower terrorists.

Terrorists are known to have sophisticated weapons but Nigeria’s security architecture is currently centralised, meaning regional and state security outfits do not have the approval to bear arms.

According to Ortom, the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to protest Nigerians, hence the need for the state to find a way to protect its people.

He said for the first batch of recruitment, personnel were taken from the 23 local government areas of the state.

The governor said since the Buhari government has “failed to disarm the Fulani terrorists who have continued to maim and kill our people at will, the state government is going to apply for a license to legally procure AK47, AK49 and other sophisticated weapons for the Benue State Volunteers Guards to enable them to tackle these murderous terrorists effectively”.

He noted that there will be two weeks of training for 500 security personnel engaged to do the job to have some paramilitary knowledge.

VeryWickedGoat:
Americans are drug addicts that's why they let Tinubu go free.

Jerkbaba:
Very Good. Spoilt brat.

LoveFayfay:
An honest mistake?? How can that be.

American women's basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time Thursday in a case that has raised concerns she is being used as a political pawn in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Judge Anna Sotnikova of the Khimki city court delivered the sentence and fined Griner 1 million rubles, or about $16,400. She said the court took into account Griner's partial admission of guilt, remorse for the deed, state of health and charitable activities.

Prior to the verdict, Griner apologized to the court and asked for leniency in an emotional speech.

"I never meant to hurt anybody, I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population, I never meant to break any laws here," Griner said. "I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here. I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom.

"I want to say again that I had no intent on breaking any Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime," she added.

the 31-year-old was arrested at a Moscow airport and accused by Russian prosecutors of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. The two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist pleaded guilty to drug charges last month in what her lawyers say was an attempt to take responsibility and receive a lenient sentence.

The US State Department maintains Griner is wrongfully detained. Her supporters have called for her release and asked the US to take further steps to try to free her from the country, perhaps as part of a proposed prisoner swap.

Griner's lawyers, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a written statement the court ignored all the evidence they presented and that they will appeal the decision.

"We are very disappointed by the verdict. As legal professionals, we believe that the court should be fair to everyone regardless of nationality. The court completely ignored all the evidence of the defense, and most importantly, the guilty plea," they said in the statement.

"This contradicts the existing legal practice. Taking into account the amount of the substance (not to mention the defects of the expertise) and the plea, the verdict is absolutely unreasonable. We will certainly file an appeal."

US President Joe Biden said the lengthy sentence was "unacceptable" and called on Russia to release her immediately.

"Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It's unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates," Biden said in a statement.