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Israel Revokes Order to Cut AP Live Gaza Video Feed 

A ship transporting international humanitarian aid is moored at the US-built Trident Pier as Palestinians walk along a main road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
A ship transporting international humanitarian aid is moored at the US-built Trident Pier as Palestinians walk along a main road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
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Israel Revokes Order to Cut AP Live Gaza Video Feed 

A ship transporting international humanitarian aid is moored at the US-built Trident Pier as Palestinians walk along a main road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)
A ship transporting international humanitarian aid is moored at the US-built Trident Pier as Palestinians walk along a main road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (AFP)

Israel walked back its decision to shut down an Associated Press live video feed of war-torn Gaza on Tuesday, following a protest from the US news agency and concern from the White House.

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he had revoked an earlier order that accused the AP of breaching a new ban on providing rolling footage of Gaza to Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera.

"I have now ordered to cancel the operation and return the equipment to the AP agency," Karhi said in a statement, after Washington called on Israel to reverse the move.

"We've been engaging directly with the government of Israel to express our concerns over this action and to ask them to reverse it," a White House spokesperson said.

Karhi's original order earlier Tuesday said communications ministry inspectors had "confiscated the equipment" of AP on orders approved by the government "in accordance with the law".

AP said Israeli officials had seized its camera and broadcasting equipment at a location in the Israeli town of Sderot that overlooks the northern Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued after the order, the news agency said it "decries in the strongest terms" the move by the Israeli government.

Reacting after Israeli officials ordered the equipment to be returned, it added: "While we are pleased with this development, we remain concerned about the Israeli government's use of the foreign broadcaster law and the ability of independent journalists to operate freely in Israel."

AP said Al Jazeera was among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the agency.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government "went crazy".

"This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes," he wrote on social media platform X.

- 'Attack on press freedom' -

AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd said Israel's initial order was "an attack on press freedom".

"The free flow of verified information and images from reliable sources is vital in the current highly-charged context," he said in a statement.

"We would urge the authorities to immediately reverse this decision and to allow all journalists to work freely and without hindrance."

The United Nations said it was "shocking".

"The Associated Press, of all news organizations, should be allowed to do its work freely and free of any harassment," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera was taken off the air in Israel this month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government voted to shut it down over its coverage of the Gaza war.

Al Jazeera's Jerusalem offices were shuttered, its equipment confiscated, and its team's accreditations pulled.

The AP said communications ministry officials arrived at its location in Sderot on Tuesday afternoon and seized the equipment.

It said officials had handed the AP a piece of paper, signed by the communications minister, alleging it was violating the country's new foreign broadcast law.

The ministry later confirmed the incident.

It said the US news agency regularly took images of Gaza from the balcony of a house in Sderot, "including focusing on the activities of IDF (army) soldiers and their location".

"Even though the inspectors of the Ministry of Communications warned them that they were breaking the law and that they should cut off Al Jazeera from receiving their content and not transfer a broadcast to Al Jazeera, they continued to do so," it said.

- 'Outrageous censorship' -

The AP said it had been broadcasting a general view of northern Gaza before its equipment was seized, and that the live feed has generally shown smoke rising over the Palestinian territory.

"The AP complies with Israel's military censorship rules, which prohibit broadcasts of details like troops movements that could endanger soldiers," the agency added.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel said it was "alarmed" by the confiscation of the AP's equipment, calling it "a slippery slope".

It denounced Israel's "dismal" record on press freedom during the Gaza war, and called the move against AP "outrageous censorship".

In the 2024 press freedom index by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Israel ranked 101st out of 180 countries -- dropping four positions from the previous year.

After the order to restore AP's equipment was announced, RSF said on X that it was "good to see a rapid reversal of this outrageous decision, but @AP never should have been blocked".

"The ban on @AlJazeera must also be immediately reversed - and the international community should show the same support it showed today," it added.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

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Arab World

UN Probe: RSF Actions in Sudan's el-Fasher Point to Genocide

Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
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UN Probe: RSF Actions in Sudan's el-Fasher Point to Genocide

Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)

Mass killings of non-Arab communities when the Rapid Support Forces captured the Sudanese city of el-Fasher bears hallmarks that point to genocide, an independent UN probe said in a new report on Thursday.

At the end of October last year, the RSF took over the city - which had been the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the Darfur region in the west of the country - with thousands of people killed and raped during three days of horror, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said.

It followed an 18-month siege where the RSF imposed conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of non-Arab communities, in particular the Zaghawa and the Fur, ‌the report stated.

The ‌UN mission said it found evidence that the RSF carried out a pattern ‌of ⁠coordinated and repeated ⁠targeting of individuals based on ethnicity, gender and perceived political affiliation, including mass killings, rape and torture, as well as inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction - core elements of the crime of genocide under international law.

The final draft of the report was shared with the Government of Sudan but no response was received, while the RSF did not respond to the UN mission's request to meet with its leadership, the report stated. The RSF and SAF did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

In the past, the RSF has ⁠denied such abuses - saying the accounts have been manufactured by its enemies and ‌making counter-accusations against them.

"The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation ‌by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around el-Fasher were not random excesses of war" said Mohamad ‌Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan.

"They formed part of a planned and organized operation ‌that bears the defining characteristics of genocide," he added.

Before its takeover el-Fasher's population mainly consisted of the Zaghawa, a non-Arab community, while displacement camps around the area were comprised of the Fur community, as well as Berti, Masalit and Tama, the report said.

"Survivors describe explicit threats to 'clean' the city," the report stated. Alongside attacking displacement camps, communal kitchens and medical centers ‌with drones and heavy weapons, the RSF also carried out killings, looting, beatings and sexual violence in el-Fasher, the report stated.

The RSF's "exterminatory rhetoric" and other violations indicated ⁠its intent to destroy ⁠the Zaghawa and Fur communities in whole or in part, the report said.

"Witnesses heard the Rapid Support Forces saying, 'Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all'," the report said.

Survivors recounted point-blank executions of civilians, as well as bodies of men, women and children filling roads, the report stated.

Women and girls aged 7 to 70 years old from non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa were raped and subject to other acts of sexual violence, including whipping and forced nudity, the report stated.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the international response to the report and the situation in Sudan had to be emphatic and urged for a ceasefire.

"The findings of this UN report are truly horrific - atrocities including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting used on the most horrendous scale during the Rapid Support Forces siege of el-Fasher," she said in a statement.

The UN mission was mandated by members of the Human Rights Council, following backing from countries that included Britain, to urgently investigate violations and abuses under international law in and around el-Fasher.

Arab World

Sudanese Political, Civil Groups Propose Ramadan Truce

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
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Sudanese Political, Civil Groups Propose Ramadan Truce

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)

A broad coalition of Sudanese political and civil forces has made an urgent appeal to the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), calling for a “comprehensive humanitarian truce” during the holy month of Ramadan.

The initiative calls for a temporary cessation of hostilities, guarantees for the protection of civilians, and unhindered humanitarian aid delivery, amid increasingly dire humanitarian conditions as Sudanese citizens observe their fourth consecutive Ramadan under gunfire and shelling.

More than ten Sudanese political parties made the appeal, some of which are part of the Civil Democratic Alliance of the Forces of the Revolution (“Sumoud”), led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Prominent signatories include the National Umma Party, the Federal Gathering, and the Sudanese Congress Party.

The document was also endorsed by parties outside the “Sumoud” alliance, most notably the Arab Baath Socialist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, alongside various civil and trade union groups.

The appeal urges both warring parties — the army and the RSF — to announce a humanitarian truce beginning on the first day of Ramadan. The proposal includes a ceasefire, the safeguarding of civilian facilities, the opening of safe corridors for relief organizations, the immediate release of civilian detainees, and the initiation of prisoner exchange arrangements under international supervision to ensure compliance with humanitarian law.

It also calls for clear monitoring and implementation mechanisms to prevent either side from exploiting the truce for military gains.

The signatories stressed that the initiative comes in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis, particularly among vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the elderly, and to the mounting threats to the lives of millions, which they say require urgent intervention.

This marks the second initiative put forward by political and civil forces to halt the war since its outbreak in 2023. The first resulted in the signing of what became known as the “Addis Ababa Declaration” between the Civil Democratic Forces Alliance (Taqaddum) and the RSF. The declaration was addressed to the army leadership, which neither rejected nor signed it.

Since the fall of the cities of El-Fasher and Babanusa, as well as the town of Heglig in West Kordofan State, clashes between the army and the RSF intensified in South and North Kordofan before subsiding in recent weeks and shifting into more “technical” warfare.

This phase has seen the increased use of combat drones, jamming devices, guided artillery, and aerial munitions, leading to a rise in civilian casualties and injuries.

Arab World

Anger in Iraq Over Use of ‘Greatest Arab Poet’ in Ramadan Ad

The late Iraqi poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri serves tea to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as portrayed in a Ramadan advertisement
The late Iraqi poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri serves tea to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as portrayed in a Ramadan advertisement
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Anger in Iraq Over Use of ‘Greatest Arab Poet’ in Ramadan Ad

The late Iraqi poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri serves tea to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as portrayed in a Ramadan advertisement
The late Iraqi poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri serves tea to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as portrayed in a Ramadan advertisement

Baghdad - A promotional video produced by a local platform and sponsored by several companies has sparked widespread criticism in Iraq over content described as “irresponsible,” according to the Iraqi Writers and Authors Union, for allegedly insulting the “Greatest Arab Poet,” Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri (1899–1997), as well as former royal-era prime minister Nuri al-Said (1888–1958).

Although the production company branded the advertisement “Unified Iraq,” it depicted al-Jawahiri in an AI-generated image serving tea to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani inside his office. In a similar scene, Nuri al-Said was shown serving tea to former parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, triggering a wave of public outrage.

Alongside the controversy over the AI-generated portrayals of al-Jawahiri and al-Said, another debate erupted after the video showed US Chargé d’Affaires Joshua Harris, British Ambassador Irfan Siddiq, French Ambassador Patrick Durel, and German Ambassador Daniel Krebber at a banquet, appearing to be hosted by Farhad Alaaldin, the Iraqi prime minister’s adviser for foreign affairs.

The advertisement also briefly featured the late Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, holding an umbrella while walking through the streets of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, raising further questions about its purpose.

While the video included a song about “a unified Iraq as a homeland of peace,” critics said its central narrative — built around a homeless young beggar — was confusing and poorly defined. Sources close to the production team told Asharq Al-Awsat that the creators had “their own artistic methods” of expressing the idea.

Government Distances Itself

Amid the mounting backlash, the prime minister’s office expressed rejection of “the virtual video in which al-Jawahiri appeared in a manner inconsistent with the prime minister’s respect and appreciation for his literary and national stature.”

Al-Sudani instructed the Communications and Media Commission to launch an urgent investigation into the entities that produced, promoted, or published the advertisement, citing its alleged offense to cultural icons and state institutions, as well as what he described as the irresponsible and unprofessional use of artificial intelligence technologies.

He also signaled the possibility of legal action against the party responsible for producing what he called “the offensive video against Iraq and its national symbols.”

In contrast, the production company asserted that the PM’s office had prior knowledge of the project, and that the same applied to al-Halbousi. However, sources denied being aware of the inclusion of al-Jawahiri and Nuri al-Said in the work.

The sources also suggested that a government official may have been involved in facilitating the production in cooperation with Al-Bayan University, whose building and offices appeared in the advertisement.

“Deliberate Insult”

The Iraqi Writers and Authors Union condemned what it called an “insult to the immortal al-Jawahiri” after the video showed him serving tea to the prime minister.

In a statement, the union said the act reflected “a deliberate offense to a poet distinguished by his immense cultural and moral value, and his well-known national and humanitarian positions.”

It urged relevant authorities to take a firm and deterrent stance against “irresponsible acts aimed at distorting facts and undermining Iraq’s national symbols.”

The union added that al-Jawahiri remained a national symbol “we proudly present to the world and refuse to see insulted by any party.”

The union was founded in al-Jawahiri’s home in 1959 and he became Iraq’s first journalists’ syndicate head the same year.

Claims of Prior Approvals

Facing intense criticism, the advertisement’s author and head of the production company said all participating political figures had approved the details of the project and filming inside their offices.

She stated that the scenes featuring al-Sudani and al-Halbousi were real, with only the figures of al-Jawahiri and Nuri al-Said later added using artificial intelligence.

In a statement on Instagram, al-Jumaili said the project took two months to complete and was reviewed by several international parties before being shown in Iraq, adding that “no step was taken without official approvals.” She did not specify the nature of those entities or whether the political figures were aware of the AI portrayals alongside them.

She argued that the backlash was politically driven and overlooked the advertisement’s positive messages, later explaining that the tea-serving scenes symbolized a “national identity” passed from past intellectual and political leaders to a new generation of leaders.