Ben-Gvir Orders Closure of Prisoner-run Bakeries

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. (dpa)
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. (dpa)
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Ben-Gvir Orders Closure of Prisoner-run Bakeries

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. (dpa)
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. (dpa)

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has ordered the closure of bakeries inside the Rimon and Ketziot jails, which provide fresh bread to the inmates.

Israeli media said that Ben-Gvir took this step because the bakeries are run by Palestinian inmates.

Speaking to Israel Hayom, Ben-Gvir said he "went crazy" after he knew about the bakeries.

"Prisoners cannot get such a privilege," he was quoted as saying.

This step follows a series of similar steps taken by Ben-Gvir including the transfer of inmates between prisons, depriving them of privileges, and building new strict departments.

Ben-Gvir also called for the death penalty for Palestinian attackers who killed Israelis.

The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said that the closure of bakeries proves that the occupation "has stripped itself of all humanitarian and ethical morals and values."

This also reflects the occupation’s failure to face the inmates in prisons, the Commission added in its statement.

It continued that the false claims by Ben-Gvir that the “inmates are living in luxury and hotels” are a justification he uses to escalate the war against the inmates.

The rise in tension in the prisons was triggered by raids by the repression units against several departments in Ofer, Naqab, Megiddo, and Damon prisons, assaulting prisoners, isolating dozens, and confiscating their belongings.

Palestinian prisoners started on Tuesday protest steps against the Israeli Prisons Administration, refusing to have breakfast or to undergo "security check". The inmates are exerting pressure on the Administration to back offon its recent measures.

The female prisoners in Damon prison delivered an audio message on Wednesday revealing that they are being tortured by the Israeli Prisons Administration.

There are 4,700 prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, including 29 women and 150 children and minors.



US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.