الكاتب: kafej

Israel’s military has claimed Hamas operates at al-Shifa, which the armed group and hospital officials have denied.

Israel has attacked three hospitals in Gaza, including the enclave’s biggest medical complex, resulting in what appear to be multiple casualties, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave has said.

Israel’s military struck a yard at the al-Shifa Hospital complex, where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said on Friday.

“Israel is now undertaking these dangerous steps against the hospitals to put them completely out of commission and subsequently displace the people sheltering in them, as well as the patients and medics,” al-Qudra told Al Jazeera.

Israel’s military has said that Hamas operates a command centre at the site of the hospital, including entrances to its extensive tunnel network, which Hamas and hospital officials have denied.

Israeli officials did not immediately comment on reports of the latest strikes.

Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director general of al-Shifa Hospital, said the strike hit civilians located next to a number of journalists in the yard, wounding four, including two critically.

“This led to a lot of casualties, including critical injuries. It could have been a massacre in this place because of the number of people in this complex,” Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.

“Before that, they bombed a building very close to the hospital. And now, there are heavy clashes and heavy bombing next to the hospital.”

Abu Salmiya said that medics and patients were in a state of fear due to near-constant explosions near the facility.

“Not a second goes by without bombing close to the hospital. Many of the hospital’s windows have been broken, and there is fear and anxiety amongst the medics and the patients and the displaced people,” he said.

“This is a war against the hospitals and a war against all the [Palestinian] citizens.”

Video of the apparent aftermath of the attack showed several people screaming and scrambling for cover, and an injured man lying on the pavement in a pool of blood.

Al-Qudra said that two children’s hospitals, Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr, had also been hit by “direct attacks and bombardments” on Friday.

Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine director, said on social media that medical facilities must be protected and that “no area is a free-fire zone”.

The attack on al-Shifa is the latest in a series of reported strikes on or near the Gaza City hospital in recent days.

Last week, Israel’s military bombed an ambulance outside the hospital, killing 15 people, according to Palestinian officials.

On Monday, Al Jazeera and Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces had struck solar panels providing electricity to the medical complex, prompting denials by Israeli officials.

Israeli military officials have released pictures, illustrated maps and audio recordings that they say show that Hamas is using the facility to plan operations and hide its fighters.

“Hamas terrorists operate inside and under [al-Shifa] Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza,” spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said last month.

Hamas, health authorities and al-Shifa Hospital officials have denied that the armed group is hiding in or under the complex.

Israel’s military has repeatedly ordered the hospital to evacuate in recent weeks, drawing condemnation from humanitarian groups that say medical facilities must be spared from fighting.

“Chess saved my life,” Kamila says.

There is mischief in her eyes as she moves her queen in a piercing diagonal, opening up my crumbling defence. Checkmate is just moves away, a formality.

Once a rising chess star in eastern Ukraine, Kamila Hryshchenko was forced to leave her home in Kramatorsk when the bombs started to fall around her.

Still just 21 years old, she now lives in Hull after an international network of chess players helped whisk her and her mother to safety.

After switching to play for England to show her appreciation, Kamila Hryshchenko is now one of the highest ranked players in the country. The top spot? That’s now occupied by a Russian.

As Nikita Vitiugov makes his debut for England in the European Team Chess Championship today, we dive into the enthralling world of professional chess…

‘We knew our world chess family was going to help us’

When Vladimir Putin unleashed his war on Ukraine in February 2022, the city of Kramatorsk came under regular attack from missiles and bombs.

The first days of the invasion were marked by chaos and confusion, and incredible danger.

“I wanted to leave but we didn’t know what was going on or where Russian soldiers were,” Kamila tells Sky News.

They reached out to Andrei Ciuravin, a Ukrainian already living in the UK, who got the wheels in motion for Kamila’s long journey from Ukraine.

“Chess is a family, especially in these hard times. We knew our world chess family was going to help us.”

Kamila and her mother left via the busy Kramatorsk railway station, which in the early days of the war was constantly packed with thousands of people trying to flee west to relative safety.

A few days later, a Russian missile attack on the rail hub killed more than 30 people and wounded over 100 others.

Their hair-raising rail journey from Kramatorsk in the east to Chernivtsi on the western border with Romania saw their train constantly stopping as the driver received warnings from the Ukrainian army about bombs and blocked routes.

“Everything was connected with chess,” Kamila says, explaining how the Romanian Chess Federation and friends from the chess world helped them with a hotel and in getting her visa to the UK.

On 24 April, 2022 they arrived in England and were taken in by a family of chess players in Chichester – one month after leaving Kramatorsk.

Kamila and her mother eventually moved to Hull where they live now. Kamila studies computer science at the University of Hull – and of course continues to play chess.

Playing chess in the trenches

“That’s interesting,” Kamila says. She’s looking at our chessboard – we’re on our second game now – and considering her next move.

My king is under pressure and I’ve done my best to surround it with my remaining pieces. Have I managed to ward off the attacks from her rooks?

“Am I gonna lose? I don’t like it,” she quips. Maybe some hope for me, I wonder.

“Ah, I like it,” she adds, suddenly smiling. “Check.” It’s not long before it is, once again, checkmate.

With so many famous players hailing from Ukraine and Russia – after the decades of Soviet domination of the game – it’s unsurprising that the war has sent shockwaves through the world of chess.

Like countless other Ukrainians, Kamila had to leave her home because it was not safe anymore.

For men it has been mostly illegal to leave the country, and many have been called up to join the armed forces. Chess players are no exception.

Grandmaster Igor Kovalenko, ranked 60th in the world, didn’t know how to fire a rifle before he joined the army.

The 34-year-old was deployed to the fiercely contested Donetsk region of Ukraine. While his chess is mostly on hold, he was pictured playing an online event from the trenches during a quiet moment.

In East Yorkshire, Kamila and her mother spend much of their spare time doing everything they can to raise funds for Ukraine.

Her decision to change her chess federation from Ukraine to England – and thus play under the English flag – was a difficult one, she says.

“It was a very hard decision for me. It was so personal because of Ukraine and the war, and I want to support my country.

“When I changed federation I was thinking it’s better for my chess career and I can pay back lots of English people for their support here, supporting my chess.”

“We still support Ukraine,” she adds. “For me it’s better to help physically by fundraising and volunteering than just to have a flag next to my name.”

Read more:
Ukraine war not at ‘stalemate’, Zelenskyy says
Ban on Russian football teams to stay in place

Russian Vitiugov now England’s top-ranked player

As Russian tanks bore down on the Ukrainian capital in the first days of the invasion, an emergency meeting of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) council was held.

It voted to condemn the use of military force and barred Russian and Belarusian players from competing under their national flags.

Two months later, 44 top Russian chess players including a host of grandmasters signed an open letter to Vladimir Putin criticising the war and calling for a ceasefire.

“We share the pain of our Ukrainian colleagues and call for peace,” the letter said.

Since then, a series of senior Russian players have defected to other countries in protest against what the Kremlin is doing in Ukraine.

They include Nikita Vitiugov, 36, who has swapped St Petersburg for East Anglia.

Ranked 31 in the world, he’s now the top-rated player in England and is expected to make his debut under his new flag today at the European Team Chess Championship in Montenegro.

Changing country was a quick decision for Grigoriy Oparin, a grandmaster who grew up in Moscow and started playing chess when he was just four years old.

“It was just a total shock for me,” he said of the February 2022 invasion. “I could not believe it was happening.

“It was just so shameful that my native country started this war.”

Grigoriy, 26, told Sky News that he immediately began the process of changing from the Russian Chess Federation to the US Federation.

And while he has been able to switch his chess flag to the stars and stripes, he has been left unable to compete in official events for two years unless he agrees to pay a 35,000 euro (£30,400) release fee to the Russian Chess Federation.

“It’s a little bit unfortunate that I cannot play, but I think it’s such a minor issue considering everything that’s happening in the world.”

Karjakin’s support for war and self-imposed ban from world chess

But not all Russian chess players are opposed to the war.

Sergey Karjakin has sparked anger and criticism for his vocal support for Vladimir Putin’s efforts to annex Ukraine.

The world number nine, who himself was born in Ukraine, posted an open letter to the Russian president on social media just days after the invasion.

He discussed the “demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine and its ruling regime”.

“I express for you, our commander in chief, full support in defending Russia’s interests, our multinational Russian people, eliminating threats and establishing peace!”, he told Mr Putin.

Karjakin was handed a six-month ban by FIDE and still refuses to play in any tournament where he cannot play under a Russian flag.

Since then he has courted further controversy with his visits to occupied areas of Ukraine, including photo ops with Russian soldiers.

Among the questions about her dangerous journey to the UK and her love for Ukraine, I ask Kamila if she still enjoys playing chess, after so many years and so much else going on in her life.

“Every chess player has those moments when you want to give up,” she says.

“I still love it. I can’t really imagine myself without chess.”

Former Home And Away star Johnny Ruffo has died aged 35, six years after being diagnosed with brain cancer, it has been announced.

The Australian actor and singer died “surrounded by his partner Tahnee and family”.

In August 2017, Ruffo announced that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer and was starting “aggressive treatment”.

“It is with a heavy heart that today we had to farewell our beloved Johnny,” a statement on his official Instagram said.

“He was a very talented, charming and sometimes cheeky boy.

“Johnny was very determined and had a strong will. He battled all the way to the end and fought as hard as he could.

“Such a beautiful soul with so much more to give.

“We all love you Johnny and will remember you for all the joy you brought to our lives. Rest easy.”

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Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced resignation after chief of staff was arrested amid corruption probe.

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has dissolved parliament and called snap elections, two days after the country’s prime minister resigned amid a continuing corruption investigation.

Rebelo de Sousa said on Thursday that the country would hold snap elections on March 10, the second in as many years.

“I have chosen to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and hold elections on March 10,” he said in a televised address.

The announcement comes after Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa offered his resignation on Tuesday, following the arrest of his chief of staff as part of an anticorruption investigation that includes allegations of malfeasance and influence peddling.

The 62-year-old Costa, who first took power in 2015, denied any wrongdoing but said that he could no longer continue in his role. Prosecutors have said that he is the subject of a separate investigation.

The state prosecutor’s office has said that the country’s Supreme Court is looking at the “use of the prime minister’s name and his involvement to unlock” the activities being investigated.

“I totally trust the justice system,” Costa said on Tuesday. “If there are suspicions, then the judicial authorities are free to look into them … I am not above the law.”

By law, an election must take place within 60 days of the issuing of a presidential decree dissolving parliament.

Rebelo de Sousa had said that he would only disband parliament, where the Socialist Party holds a majority of seats, after a vote on the budget for 2024.

That budget, which includes tax cuts for the middle class, spending on social programmes for the poor, and a 24 percent increase in public spending amid flagging economic growth, was passed by the house on October 31. It must be finally approved by November 29.

After meeting with the main political parties on Wednesday and the Council of State, a consultative body, on Thursday, the president said that allowing lawmakers time to pass the budget will help “meet the expectations of many Portuguese”.

The corruption probe is focused on allegations of improper behaviour around the development of lithium mining and hydrogen projects in the country, and Costa’s chief of staff, Vitor Escaria, was arrested on Tuesday as police conducted raids on several public buildings and additional properties.

Prosecutors also named Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba as a formal suspect, and issued arrest warrants for the mayor of the town of Sines, where some of the projects were to be located, and two executives at the company Start Campus, tasked with building the hydrogen production project and data centre.

Washington, DC – More than 500 former campaign staffers who helped elect Joe Biden in 2020 have called on the United States president to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza and end the violence that has killed more than 10,800 Palestinians.

The letter released on Thursday adds to the growing calls from sources close to the Biden administration to push for an end to the war.

“As President of the United States, you have significant influence in this perilous moment,” the letter, first reported by Vox, said.

“You must call for a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and de-escalation, and take concrete steps to address the conditions of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing at the root of the horrific violence we are witnessing now.”

While the Biden administration and Congress remain steadfast in their support for Israel, staff members, grassroots organisations and activists have been expressing growing opposition to the war.

The American Postal Workers Union, which represents US Postal Service employees, also backed calls for a ceasefire on Thursday.

“We call on our government, which is the primary foreign benefactor of the Israeli government, to use all its power to protect innocent lives and to help bring about peace in the region, and not use our tax dollars for more war,” the union said in a statement.

“We join the calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less.”

Growing calls

The two statements follow earlier efforts from within the government to push for an end to hostilities.

Last week, employees at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) circulated a letter calling for an immediate ceasefire, and by Wednesday, it had surpassed 1,000 signatures.

Hundreds of Congress staffers also staged a walk-out on Wednesday to demand an end to the war.

Thursday’s letter by people who worked on Biden’s campaign highlighted the mounting death toll in Gaza and the mass displacement of residents in the territory’s northern reaches, noting that scholars have raised alarm about the risk of genocide in the conflict.

The Democratic staffers also said they were “horrified by the devastating Hamas attack against Israeli civilians on October 7″.

United Nations agencies and rights groups have also urged a ceasefire, with UN chief Antonio Guterres warning that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”.

But early Thursday, Biden ruled out any definitive stop to the conflict. When reporters asked about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza, the US president said, “None, no possibility.”

Biden has voiced unconditional support for Israel and requested more than $14bn in additional assistance for the country since its war in Gaza started on October 7, angering US progressives, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

Last month, the US president sparked outrage among Palestinian rights supporters when he cast doubt over the death toll in Gaza, saying that he has “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using”.

Rights experts and fact-checkers defended the numbers, which are released by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza based on hospital and morgue records. They explained that, in previous conflicts, the Health Ministry’s numbers matched the findings of independent researchers.

A senior State Department official also said on Wednesday that the actual Palestinian death toll may be even higher than the official numbers.

“In this period of conflict and conditions of war, it is very difficult for any of us to assess what the rate of casualties are,” Barbara Leaf, assistant US secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told lawmakers.  “We think they’re very high, frankly — and it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited.”

The Health Ministry has also said that its current statistics do not account for people who remain under the rubble or who were buried without being registered.

‘His legacy will be genocide’

When Biden ran for president, his supporters often portrayed him as a “decent” man aiming to restore unity in the US after the presidency of Donald Trump.

Biden has suffered personal grief in his life, having lost his wife and young daughter in a car accident in 1972 and his son Beau, a politician and army veteran, to cancer in 2015.

The campaign staffers’ statement called out the US president for appearing to play down — if not dismiss — civilian casualties in Gaza.

“Mr President, you have spoken intimately about the unbearable pain and grief of losing a child,” the letter said. “We were shocked and saddened to see you justify the death of Palestinian children as ‘the price of waging a war’.”

Biden made that comment while questioning the Palestinian death count on October 25, in an appearance before reporters at the White House. “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it is the price of waging war,” he said.

As the US president faces pressure from his own base, his approval ratings among Democrats are slumping. He is also seeing an enormous drop in support in Arab communities.

A recent New York Times poll showed Biden losing to Trump — the likely Republican nominee in the 2024 race — in five key swing states: Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Heba Mohammad, a Palestinian American staffer who worked for the Biden campaign in another swing state, Wisconsin, warned that the carnage in Gaza may become what people remember him for.

“President Biden has the ability and responsibility to save lives and reduce human suffering,” she said in a statement accompanying the letter. “If he doesn’t act swiftly, his legacy will be genocide.”