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New Zealand Lists Hamas as Terrorist Group, Sanctions 'Extremist' Israeli Settlers

Al-Qassam Brigades fighters accompany two prisoners during the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel last November (AFP)
Al-Qassam Brigades fighters accompany two prisoners during the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel last November (AFP)
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New Zealand Lists Hamas as Terrorist Group, Sanctions 'Extremist' Israeli Settlers

Al-Qassam Brigades fighters accompany two prisoners during the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel last November (AFP)
Al-Qassam Brigades fighters accompany two prisoners during the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel last November (AFP)

New Zealand on Thursday listed Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist entity and imposed travel bans on "extremist" Israeli settlers whom it said had committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement that the attacks by Hamas on Israel in October "were brutal and we have unequivocally condemned them”, Reuters reported.
But he added that "New Zealand wants to be clear that the designation of Hamas is about the actions of an offshore terrorist entity and is not a reflection on the Palestinian people in Gaza and around the world."
New Zealand has designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2010.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the whole of Hamas bears responsibility for the October attacks, making it difficult for the New Zealand government to distinguish between the group's military and political wings.
The Oct. 7 attacks killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's air and ground campaign in Hamas-governed Gaza has killed about 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
New Zealand's decision makes it a criminal offense to carry out property or financial transactions with Hamas or provide material support. It also freezes any Hamas assets in New Zealand.
It does not prevent New Zealand from providing humanitarian and future development assistance for civilians in Gaza or from giving consular support to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents in the conflict zone.
Luxon also said he was "seriously concerned by the significant increase in extremist violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers" against Palestinians in recent months.
"This is particularly destabilizing in what is already a major crisis," Luxon said.
New Zealand's consistent position has been that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a violation of international law.
The government said it would continue to support a future Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution, urging an end to the current conflict and an urgent restart of the Middle East peace process.

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Trump Urges Supporters to Deliver Victory in Return to Scene of 1st Assassination Attempt

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
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Trump Urges Supporters to Deliver Victory in Return to Scene of 1st Assassination Attempt

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)

Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, urging a large crowd to deliver an Election Day victory that he tied to his survival of the shooting.
The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off in July when a gunman’s bullet struck his ear. He began his speech with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began.
“Twelve weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America,” Trump said. “All we are all asking is that everyone goes out and votes. We got to win. We can’t let this happen to our country.”
The Trump campaign worked to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go and voting already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with “God Bless the USA,” frequently played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally.
“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled.”
At the beginning of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire in July. Classical singer Christopher Macchio sang “Ave Maria” after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13. Several of Comperatore's family members were in attendance, including his widow, Helen, who stood during Trump's remarks next to the former president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
Standing behind protective glass that now encases the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be assassin “a vicious monster” and said he did not succeed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God,” The Associated Press reported. There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.
Trump honored Comperatore and recognized the two other July rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by tractor-trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence.
How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
Pennsylvania is critical to both presidential campaigns Trump lost Pennsylvania four years ago after flipping it to the Republican column in 2016. He needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November after losing it four years ago. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states.

One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly Twitter. Musk climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he “saved free speech.”

“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. “This is a must-win situation.”